I've been a slacker recently with updating the things Baby Girl is up to! Now that most of the major physical milestones have been crossed, the verbal ones are much more difficult to itemize in a blog.
Physically, not much has changed. She's got quite a bit more hair (but still won't keep a clippy or headband in it). She's still got some adorable little thigh rolls that keep getting gunk in them (that part is much less adorable). She's now jumping, especially on the couch, thanks to the Five Little Monkeys.
The one thing that I was fairly stressed about, physically, was that she wasn't using silverware. Silly, I know, but I know kids younger than her that were proficient at using the spoon to scoop foods other than thick oatmeal. But it seems like it's clicked recently. She actually wants to put food on her fork, instead of holding the fork in one hand and eating with the other. And this past weekend, she started having Cheerios with milk and eating it like an adult. Yes, she still picks out those last few O's with her fingers, but I understand--those last ones are tricky to get with the spoon, floating around, evading you.
Baby Girl is still sleeping well. She woke up in the middle of the night during a recent thunderstorm, but was easily calmed and went right back to sleep for the remainder of the night. She went through a spell of waking early, grunting and groaning, but this morning we had to wake her to get ready for the day.
I think we're getting ready to drop the morning nursing session. When I've picked her up from her crib the last few days, the first thing out of her mouth was "oatmeal" instead of "milk". I'll miss it (since her morning session is typically more relaxed), but it's part of her growing up, I suppose. The evening session is a struggle almost every night, but she still wants it. She twists and turns (and stands up!) and pops off every few seconds to tell me something about her day. It's adorable, but frustrating! And when she finally settles down, she'll "nurse" (because who knows if there's even anything left...) for another 20 minutes.
As far as talking, Baby Girl will say anything we ask her to. Her favorite word right now is "dangerous". We told her once that climbing behind my parents' computer was dangerous and since then, when we say "You could get hurt" she'll respond with "dane-rus". Yep, it's dangerous.
Another cute thing she says is "mup", "mon", and "moff". Don't sound like words, do they? Oh, but they are.... Whenever she's in the backseat, taking her shoes off, we'll say "Keep them on", but it comes out more like "Keep 'em on", which she hears as "mon". Or "Pick them up" becomes "mup".
She's also quickly learning her ABCs. It started with her repeating the letters after we say them, but now she can rattle off strings of them at a time. Her first string was H through L. She also is very interested in counting...but always skips the number two! So everything is "one......three....." It's a work in progress :)
Baby Girl's eating evolves every day. A few things that were on her dislike list were avocado and broccoli, both of which she's eaten in the last few days. She actually ate ALL of my broccoli while we were out to dinner (and her own zucchini and Daddy's green beans....) and begged for more. We're also starting to work in some sweets (I made a batch of cookies over the weekend and gave her some bites of mine when I would eat them in front of her), but not too many--just as a treat. Her most regular treat is graham cracker Goldfish.
Loves:
Mommy (yes, I'm called Mommy now), Daddy, Gamma (both of our moms), "Pots" (My father-in-law is called "Pops"), "Papaw" (my dad), all the kids at daycare (we even sing songs with their names), kitties, dogs, birdies, giraffes, making animal noises, trucks, cars, airplanes, FOOD (especially: "wishies", which are Goldfish crackers; peas; corn; Cheerios; cheese; taco sauce; ketchup; BBQ sauce; bread), bare feet, going "fast", "flip-flop" (tumbling), taking walks (especially when she can do the walking), her "friend" (her lullaby-singing seahorse), jammies, water, juice, pulling things off the end tables that she shouldn't have, remote controls, phones, putting away dishes, dance parties with Mommy & Daddy (we typically dance to the Glee soundtracks), Five Little Monkeys, If You're Happy and You Know It, saying her ABC's, counting, Mommy's singing, rocking in the rocking chair at bedtime, playing with hair, The Wheels on the Bus, being tickled, rough-housing with Daddy, reading (of course), Daddy reading from the front seat of the car, baths, hiding in the bathroom, going potty with Mommy & Daddy, peek-a-boo, blowing "bubbles" (raspberries)
Dislikes:
Being "stuuuuuuuuck" (in her carseat, especially), wearing shoes and socks, snuggling when it's time to be awake, blankets on top of her, being told she's all done (especially after we've read a book five times in succession), not having Mommy & Daddy's complete attention, hair bows and clippies, Mommy or Daddy pretending to sleep, cow's milk as a drink, getting out of the bath, laying still for diaper and clothing changes, the number eight (she won't ever say it!)
She really is a wonderful little girl. She's starting to develop empathy (if she sees one of us crying, she'll show concern, give us a hug, and say "cry"). She gives the best hugs and kisses. She's incredible and amazes us every single day with her abilities and we fall more and more in love with her all the time. I am so incredibly honored to be her Mommy.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Monday, February 28, 2011
Meal Plan: 2/27-3/5
I have a whole other plan I want to talk about. Maybe tomorrow. But for now, my meal plan.
Sunday: Chicken Manicotti. This, y'all? This was the best thing I've had in a long time. Baby Girl ate as much as her daddy and I did. And it's easy as long as you have enough baking time between getting home from work and dinner time. We don't, so it was a great weekend meal for us.
Monday: Beef Tamale Skillet Dinner. Hopefully the third week is the charm, eh? It sounds delicious, but we just always forgot to pull the ground meat out of the freezer!
Tuesday: Chicken Quesadillas, using leftover meat from here
Wednesday: BBQ Chicken Braid
Thursday: Tortellini Soup
Friday: Sweet Soy Glazed Chicken and Onions
Saturday: My niece's 4th birthday (birthday isn't until 4/4 but she has twin sisters whose birthday is 4/9, so we're celebrating the older one's 3/5 and the twins' 4/30)
Sunday: Chicken Manicotti. This, y'all? This was the best thing I've had in a long time. Baby Girl ate as much as her daddy and I did. And it's easy as long as you have enough baking time between getting home from work and dinner time. We don't, so it was a great weekend meal for us.
Monday: Beef Tamale Skillet Dinner. Hopefully the third week is the charm, eh? It sounds delicious, but we just always forgot to pull the ground meat out of the freezer!
Tuesday: Chicken Quesadillas, using leftover meat from here
Wednesday: BBQ Chicken Braid
Thursday: Tortellini Soup
Friday: Sweet Soy Glazed Chicken and Onions
Saturday: My niece's 4th birthday (birthday isn't until 4/4 but she has twin sisters whose birthday is 4/9, so we're celebrating the older one's 3/5 and the twins' 4/30)
Thursday, February 24, 2011
The Stigma of Nursing
When I was pregnant, it didn't feel like there was a choice to be made--I was going to try my damnedest to breastfeed my baby.
Once I had her, even though I hadn't planned on it, I put a lot of pressure on myself to be the best breastfeeder in the world. And, honestly, I was the best breastfeeder that my baby had ever had or needed. I filled her needs, eventually*.
I still, however, got jealous of those women. Those ones who had thousands of ounces of extra milk to donate, to save, to take a bath in. I also was jealous of those women who were fine to go out at night and "just give the baby a bottle". I always felt like I needed to pump if I wasn't going to feed her directly and, well, if I could just make it work to feed her directly....I'd, of course, prefer that. So I haven't missed a bedtime in almost 19 months.
I've worked my ass off to nurse Baby Girl. I've sacrificed a lot. And I like to celebrate that sometimes. She's beautiful and intelligent and funny and hasn't been horribly sick (yet), so I must be doing something right.
Why, then, did I begin to feel guilty about nursing her once she hit a year old? I was SO proud of how long I'd nursed until then. But now? I fear being chastized.
I was one of those women. Before having Baby Girl, I'd always said, "If the kid can ask for it, they're too old". I never planned on nursing this long. My kid can say "milk, PLEASE", even. She's been able to make the sign for it for half her life. And yet, I still nurse her, as much as I'd been against it before having babies. Just goes to show you can't judge anything until you're in the situation yourself.
Where is that line? When does it go from "wow, you're a fabulous mommy for doing what you do and would be a failure to yourself and to your kid if you stopped"** to "oh. gross."? I haven't figured it out yet, but would love to know. And why is it there?
I still look at the 7 year old nursing and think, "not me", but when will we stop? I have no idea. I was just talking to The Hubby about this. We'd like to have another baby...someday. And I don't want Baby Girl to still remember nursing and dive in and take it from the baby. Or to resent the baby for taking away her nursing. The plan is to let Baby Girl lead, but at 19 months and still nursing twice a day...I don't know if she's ever going to give it up. And I don't really know if I'm totally ready for her to, either.
* My milk didn't come in until day 5 or so and, therefore, we were subject to a couple of weeks of weight checks. She finally returned to her birth weight right at 2 weeks of age, so we didn't need to supplement.
** No, this is not the way I feel about it. I get that feeling from other women, though, and, honestly, I would've felt like a failure if I hadn't been able to. But I don't judge other women either way. Seriously.
Once I had her, even though I hadn't planned on it, I put a lot of pressure on myself to be the best breastfeeder in the world. And, honestly, I was the best breastfeeder that my baby had ever had or needed. I filled her needs, eventually*.
I still, however, got jealous of those women. Those ones who had thousands of ounces of extra milk to donate, to save, to take a bath in. I also was jealous of those women who were fine to go out at night and "just give the baby a bottle". I always felt like I needed to pump if I wasn't going to feed her directly and, well, if I could just make it work to feed her directly....I'd, of course, prefer that. So I haven't missed a bedtime in almost 19 months.
I've worked my ass off to nurse Baby Girl. I've sacrificed a lot. And I like to celebrate that sometimes. She's beautiful and intelligent and funny and hasn't been horribly sick (yet), so I must be doing something right.
Why, then, did I begin to feel guilty about nursing her once she hit a year old? I was SO proud of how long I'd nursed until then. But now? I fear being chastized.
I was one of those women. Before having Baby Girl, I'd always said, "If the kid can ask for it, they're too old". I never planned on nursing this long. My kid can say "milk, PLEASE", even. She's been able to make the sign for it for half her life. And yet, I still nurse her, as much as I'd been against it before having babies. Just goes to show you can't judge anything until you're in the situation yourself.
Where is that line? When does it go from "wow, you're a fabulous mommy for doing what you do and would be a failure to yourself and to your kid if you stopped"** to "oh. gross."? I haven't figured it out yet, but would love to know. And why is it there?
I still look at the 7 year old nursing and think, "not me", but when will we stop? I have no idea. I was just talking to The Hubby about this. We'd like to have another baby...someday. And I don't want Baby Girl to still remember nursing and dive in and take it from the baby. Or to resent the baby for taking away her nursing. The plan is to let Baby Girl lead, but at 19 months and still nursing twice a day...I don't know if she's ever going to give it up. And I don't really know if I'm totally ready for her to, either.
* My milk didn't come in until day 5 or so and, therefore, we were subject to a couple of weeks of weight checks. She finally returned to her birth weight right at 2 weeks of age, so we didn't need to supplement.
** No, this is not the way I feel about it. I get that feeling from other women, though, and, honestly, I would've felt like a failure if I hadn't been able to. But I don't judge other women either way. Seriously.
Monday, February 21, 2011
A Weekend of Growing Up
This was a wonderful weekend for our family. We had a fabulous time spent together, playing, cleaning, eating--we did everything as a family.
Two things happened this weekend that really show how much Baby Girl is growing up.
You know she calls me "Mom-mom"? It's always actually bothered me a bit. She can say "daddy", but "mommy" just never came out....it was always "mom-mom". It's adorable, yes, but why am I not mommy? I've always called myself mommy and The Hubby has always called me mommy (well, you know, since Baby Girl was born...that would just be creepy otherwise) and she's always called me "mom-mom" in response.
But this weekend she started calling me mommy. And you know what? I sort of miss "mom-mom". I didn't think I would, but now "mommy" sounds odd coming out of her mouth.
For the other part of the story, I need to go back to last weekend. Baby Girl has been really interested in going into the bathroom whenever we do. She'll sit on her stool and read while we go potty and she always wants to watch us, so we let her whenever we don't have guests. She loves to watch Daddy make "bubbles" (lol--he would probably kill me if he knew I wrote that here) and always needs to wash her hands when we do.
Since she's been interested, we thought we'd get her a potty, just to get a little more comfortable with having one around. We definitely aren't pushing her to potty-train anytime soon--she's not even 19 months old yet! We picked up the potty on Sunday, February 13th and she's practiced sitting on it off and on all week. On Saturday (2/19) Baby Girl told me she had to go potty (not unusual), so I took her into the bathroom, took off her diaper, and sat in there with her. She asked for her book and sat there reading. She stood up and wanted to play and I explained that if she didn't have a diaper on, she either needed to sit on the potty or needed to put the diaper on. She then started to grunt a little and I sat her back on the potty. She tried to get up once more (I don't think she's ever actually pooped when she isn't laying down or standing up--she's not a squatter), but I gave her my finger to squeeze and she sat there and pooped on the potty!
I have no idea what this will mean--I don't expect her to fully potty-train or anything, but it looks like we're officially on our way...how frightening! After telling my mom this story, she told me that I was fully trained by the time I turned 2 and that I was really easy to train--I was ready and once I was trained during the day, I was done at night, too. So hopefully Baby Girl will be the same. If not, that's totally okay--I don't have any expectations.
What a big, big girl....I cannot believe she's over a year and a half old and working her way toward 2.
Two things happened this weekend that really show how much Baby Girl is growing up.
You know she calls me "Mom-mom"? It's always actually bothered me a bit. She can say "daddy", but "mommy" just never came out....it was always "mom-mom". It's adorable, yes, but why am I not mommy? I've always called myself mommy and The Hubby has always called me mommy (well, you know, since Baby Girl was born...that would just be creepy otherwise) and she's always called me "mom-mom" in response.
But this weekend she started calling me mommy. And you know what? I sort of miss "mom-mom". I didn't think I would, but now "mommy" sounds odd coming out of her mouth.
For the other part of the story, I need to go back to last weekend. Baby Girl has been really interested in going into the bathroom whenever we do. She'll sit on her stool and read while we go potty and she always wants to watch us, so we let her whenever we don't have guests. She loves to watch Daddy make "bubbles" (lol--he would probably kill me if he knew I wrote that here) and always needs to wash her hands when we do.
Since she's been interested, we thought we'd get her a potty, just to get a little more comfortable with having one around. We definitely aren't pushing her to potty-train anytime soon--she's not even 19 months old yet! We picked up the potty on Sunday, February 13th and she's practiced sitting on it off and on all week. On Saturday (2/19) Baby Girl told me she had to go potty (not unusual), so I took her into the bathroom, took off her diaper, and sat in there with her. She asked for her book and sat there reading. She stood up and wanted to play and I explained that if she didn't have a diaper on, she either needed to sit on the potty or needed to put the diaper on. She then started to grunt a little and I sat her back on the potty. She tried to get up once more (I don't think she's ever actually pooped when she isn't laying down or standing up--she's not a squatter), but I gave her my finger to squeeze and she sat there and pooped on the potty!
I have no idea what this will mean--I don't expect her to fully potty-train or anything, but it looks like we're officially on our way...how frightening! After telling my mom this story, she told me that I was fully trained by the time I turned 2 and that I was really easy to train--I was ready and once I was trained during the day, I was done at night, too. So hopefully Baby Girl will be the same. If not, that's totally okay--I don't have any expectations.
What a big, big girl....I cannot believe she's over a year and a half old and working her way toward 2.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Doctor Updates
(Dude...this is long.)
Wow. I was looking back through my old blog posts and realized I never posted an update to our specialist appointments we had at the beginning of December. I must've been a bit burnt out from NaBloPoMo (or whatever the abbreviation is!).
Since her 15 month appointment, we've now visited three specialists and the pediatrician three times (at least?).
Specialist #1, The Cardiologist: On December 1st we had an appointment at a center run by the local Children's Hospital because of the heart murmur that has persisted. Our pediatrician told us he was really sure it wasn't anything, but thought we should get it checked out. Good news is that he was right. The cardiologist told us that it's not problematic and that we shouldn't even mention it on medical history forms. We left that meeting feeling really great!
Specialist #2, The Endocrinologist: The same day we went to the cardiologist (in the same building), we visited an endocrinologist, who was supposed to look at her development. He asked us a lot of questions and looked over Baby Girl and determined that there wasn't any reason for concern unless we started noticing more signs of her approaching puberty (pubic hair, armpit hair, etc.). We still haven't and, in fact, her baby boobies seem to be more in proportion than they were. Great doctor visit again!
Pediatrician visits: Ear infection after ear infection. Enough said.
Eighteen Month Pediatrician Visit: Still planning a whole post on her development, but should give the important stats. Weight: 23 lbs 4 oz. (30th percentile) Height: 31 inches (35th percentile) Head circumference: 75th percentile (although we're done with head measurement now) She got some vaccinations and handled them really well, as usual. She'll get one or two more at her 2 year appointment (2 year??!??!?!!??!!) and then that will be it until she starts kindergarten (again...kindergarten???!??!??!?!!?!). The doctor was impressed by her development but did think we should talk to a specialist about our suspicion of a milk allergy. He told us "Before we'll through, we'll have you at every specialist in town". Let's hope that isn't true. He figured it wasn't a big issue, but thought we should get her tested.
Specialist #3, The Allergist: This morning The Hubby and I took Baby Girl to see our allergist (I started going to him years ago, then he went and visited him not long before Baby Girl was born), who was also the person that our pediatrician was recommending to us. We got there at 9:00, checked in, then were taken for Baby Girl to be weighed. She was a little freaked about standing on the scale and cried some, but was fine by the time I took her off. We went back to the room where we found....TOYS! They weren't great quality (much to the dismay of The Hubby, the Etch-a-Sketch was broken), but Baby Girl was excited to play with them all. We gave some background to the doctor's assistant, then to the doctor himself. The assistant asked us to get her disrobed (or nakey, as Baby Girl calls it) from the waist up, then came back and had us lay Baby Girl across my lap. Begin tears (from Baby Girl...not me. This time.). She didn't even know what was coming, but still started crying. The assistant then left to allow the reactions to happen.
We were looking at her back during the 15 minute wait and saw 2 pretty large spots that were reacting and then one much smaller and another that was BARELY red. We assumed one of the big spots was milk. When the doctor came back he said one of the big spots was a control and the other was eggs. The smaller spot below the egg one was milk and then the very smallest was peanuts. She didn't react to tomatoes, cod, soy, chocolate, and some others. The doctor mentioned that the reason she doesn't seem to like eggs (the only way we've gotten her to eat them is by covering them in ketchup) might be because of the allergy but said that as long as we don't notice a reaction from things made with eggs, we can continue to cook with them and proceed as we are--just don't try to force her into eating just eggs anymore.
As for the milk, he said we could keep giving her milk and milk products as we are now and give her cow's milk when we're ready as long as her reaction doesn't worsen. He says it isn't doing any harm to keep giving her milk.
He also said that there isn't any connection between allergies and breastfeeding. Bummer! Sort of glad no one told me that in the first few months of nursing.
Lastly, he said we should delay introducing nuts until she's 3 because she has other food allergies. Not a huge deal, I suppose (although I love peanut butter and that makes me a teeny bit sad that she can't have any until then!).
We'll go back in a year to get her retested.
Whew. And that's it. For now.
Wow. I was looking back through my old blog posts and realized I never posted an update to our specialist appointments we had at the beginning of December. I must've been a bit burnt out from NaBloPoMo (or whatever the abbreviation is!).
Since her 15 month appointment, we've now visited three specialists and the pediatrician three times (at least?).
Specialist #1, The Cardiologist: On December 1st we had an appointment at a center run by the local Children's Hospital because of the heart murmur that has persisted. Our pediatrician told us he was really sure it wasn't anything, but thought we should get it checked out. Good news is that he was right. The cardiologist told us that it's not problematic and that we shouldn't even mention it on medical history forms. We left that meeting feeling really great!
Specialist #2, The Endocrinologist: The same day we went to the cardiologist (in the same building), we visited an endocrinologist, who was supposed to look at her development. He asked us a lot of questions and looked over Baby Girl and determined that there wasn't any reason for concern unless we started noticing more signs of her approaching puberty (pubic hair, armpit hair, etc.). We still haven't and, in fact, her baby boobies seem to be more in proportion than they were. Great doctor visit again!
Pediatrician visits: Ear infection after ear infection. Enough said.
Eighteen Month Pediatrician Visit: Still planning a whole post on her development, but should give the important stats. Weight: 23 lbs 4 oz. (30th percentile) Height: 31 inches (35th percentile) Head circumference: 75th percentile (although we're done with head measurement now) She got some vaccinations and handled them really well, as usual. She'll get one or two more at her 2 year appointment (2 year??!??!?!!??!!) and then that will be it until she starts kindergarten (again...kindergarten???!??!??!?!!?!). The doctor was impressed by her development but did think we should talk to a specialist about our suspicion of a milk allergy. He told us "Before we'll through, we'll have you at every specialist in town". Let's hope that isn't true. He figured it wasn't a big issue, but thought we should get her tested.
Specialist #3, The Allergist: This morning The Hubby and I took Baby Girl to see our allergist (I started going to him years ago, then he went and visited him not long before Baby Girl was born), who was also the person that our pediatrician was recommending to us. We got there at 9:00, checked in, then were taken for Baby Girl to be weighed. She was a little freaked about standing on the scale and cried some, but was fine by the time I took her off. We went back to the room where we found....TOYS! They weren't great quality (much to the dismay of The Hubby, the Etch-a-Sketch was broken), but Baby Girl was excited to play with them all. We gave some background to the doctor's assistant, then to the doctor himself. The assistant asked us to get her disrobed (or nakey, as Baby Girl calls it) from the waist up, then came back and had us lay Baby Girl across my lap. Begin tears (from Baby Girl...not me. This time.). She didn't even know what was coming, but still started crying. The assistant then left to allow the reactions to happen.
We were looking at her back during the 15 minute wait and saw 2 pretty large spots that were reacting and then one much smaller and another that was BARELY red. We assumed one of the big spots was milk. When the doctor came back he said one of the big spots was a control and the other was eggs. The smaller spot below the egg one was milk and then the very smallest was peanuts. She didn't react to tomatoes, cod, soy, chocolate, and some others. The doctor mentioned that the reason she doesn't seem to like eggs (the only way we've gotten her to eat them is by covering them in ketchup) might be because of the allergy but said that as long as we don't notice a reaction from things made with eggs, we can continue to cook with them and proceed as we are--just don't try to force her into eating just eggs anymore.
As for the milk, he said we could keep giving her milk and milk products as we are now and give her cow's milk when we're ready as long as her reaction doesn't worsen. He says it isn't doing any harm to keep giving her milk.
He also said that there isn't any connection between allergies and breastfeeding. Bummer! Sort of glad no one told me that in the first few months of nursing.
Lastly, he said we should delay introducing nuts until she's 3 because she has other food allergies. Not a huge deal, I suppose (although I love peanut butter and that makes me a teeny bit sad that she can't have any until then!).
We'll go back in a year to get her retested.
Whew. And that's it. For now.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
A surprising first
Yesterday I decided to delay our arrival home by a few minutes. After breakdowns in the car (by both of us), we needed a little fun without thinking about sickness...too much.
We stopped at the library.
This may not sound like a big deal to most. And you might think that the kid who had a book-themed first birthday party would have amassed many books on her library card, but that isn't the case at all. This was Baby Girl's first trip to the library. And it was everything I had hoped for. She was ready to run and just completely enamored by the number of books. I first picked up my reserved book and then guided her toward the kids' books. She trotted up the aisle, touching books and then finally grabbing one off the shelf. She looked at me and said "book?" and I told her she could sit down and read it. And so we did. We sat in the middle of the small aisle of books and flipped through the book. She then decided she was done with that one and left it in the aisle. I put it back for her but told her that they needed to go back where we found them when we're done. So she went racing through the aisle again and eventually stopped at another book. She sat and read it for awhile, then looked at me and said "back?". Good girl. We put the book back where it belonged and then I guided her to the aisle I was aiming for--I wanted to get either some Llama Llama books or the If You Give a books. None of the Llama Llama books appealed to her (they're a little long, especially when her attention is scattered while surrounded by books), so I grabbed a few of the If You Give a books. I asked her if she was ready to check out our books. I put her on the counter and told her all about what we were doing and she was loving the "beep" when the book was scanned.
All in all, it was definitely a bright spot to a pretty awful day yesterday (we aren't even getting into the many meltdowns we both had and my poor baby getting quiet and saying "Mom-mom? Mom-mom? Cry?").
We'll definitely be returning to the library soon!
We stopped at the library.
This may not sound like a big deal to most. And you might think that the kid who had a book-themed first birthday party would have amassed many books on her library card, but that isn't the case at all. This was Baby Girl's first trip to the library. And it was everything I had hoped for. She was ready to run and just completely enamored by the number of books. I first picked up my reserved book and then guided her toward the kids' books. She trotted up the aisle, touching books and then finally grabbing one off the shelf. She looked at me and said "book?" and I told her she could sit down and read it. And so we did. We sat in the middle of the small aisle of books and flipped through the book. She then decided she was done with that one and left it in the aisle. I put it back for her but told her that they needed to go back where we found them when we're done. So she went racing through the aisle again and eventually stopped at another book. She sat and read it for awhile, then looked at me and said "back?". Good girl. We put the book back where it belonged and then I guided her to the aisle I was aiming for--I wanted to get either some Llama Llama books or the If You Give a books. None of the Llama Llama books appealed to her (they're a little long, especially when her attention is scattered while surrounded by books), so I grabbed a few of the If You Give a books. I asked her if she was ready to check out our books. I put her on the counter and told her all about what we were doing and she was loving the "beep" when the book was scanned.
All in all, it was definitely a bright spot to a pretty awful day yesterday (we aren't even getting into the many meltdowns we both had and my poor baby getting quiet and saying "Mom-mom? Mom-mom? Cry?").
We'll definitely be returning to the library soon!
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Okay, I give
I was planning a post in my head all about how my daughter has taught me to go with the flow, especially when it comes to sickness. In her 18 months of sicknesses (and there have been plenty), she has very rarely acted sick. So why should I stress so much about us getting sick and passing it around the household? Is it worth the weeks of stress (since the incubation & contagious periods can be so long) and not enjoying my daughter (and, more importantly, not getting her kisses) to then just get sick anyway? Or even if we don't end up getting sick...was it worth it?
But now? Ugh. Now I'm totally over it. I'm beyond stressed out. I'm scared to death that my daughter is going to get sick.
Why? Because my husband has pneumonia. Seriously??? Pneumonia? I always thought pneumonia was something you got after being sick for weeks--I thought it was something that "settled in". But no, not for The Hubby. He started coughing a bit and feeling a bit phlegmy on Sunday night, but we just assumed it was a cold. The panic set in for me at this point, but that realization that I need to just relax came last night as I got my snuggles and smooches from Baby Girl. He went to work, not feeling great, but again just assuming it was a chest cold.
He wasn't able to sleep laying down last night so he slept in the recliner (Best. Purchase. Ever.). I brought Baby Girl downstairs to him while I showered (since she woke before I could get in the shower) (and now I'm kicking myself for doing). He told me he wasn't going to work and was going to go to the doctor.
I got a call from him while in a meeting, so I called him back around 3 after the meeting was over. And that's when he tells me that he has pneumonia. And he had a fever of 103.6.
And I lost it. I just feel so incredibly done right now. I don't feel like I can handle anymore. Of course I will, but I just...I'm so tired and stressed out. I want to cry.
I still can't hear out of my left ear. It's been two weeks now (been almost a week since I took my last antibiotic). I don't have any more pain, but it's just a reminder that I'm still sick. Baby Girl has been waking up snotty every morning for about a week and has been coughing overnight, but it hasn't developed into something else. Yet. The kids at the daycare are all coughing and sick, so I assume it's only a matter of time.
And now I get to be a single parent. Much less stressful when I can take her to the sitter's and still go to work during the day (well, at least it's a different stress...I still stress about her and home, but I don't have to spend the day occupying her and watching her get sick...I get to occupy myself with the immense stress I'm under here at work). It's not The Hubby's fault that he's sick, but damnit, I just....need a break. And I need to not feel the need to stress about keeping Baby Girl and myself healthy.
I'm so done with this. With all of this. I've had an overwhelming feeling of "I'm done" for awhile now...and that was independent of the sickness. This just feels like the straw that will break my back.
But now? Ugh. Now I'm totally over it. I'm beyond stressed out. I'm scared to death that my daughter is going to get sick.
Why? Because my husband has pneumonia. Seriously??? Pneumonia? I always thought pneumonia was something you got after being sick for weeks--I thought it was something that "settled in". But no, not for The Hubby. He started coughing a bit and feeling a bit phlegmy on Sunday night, but we just assumed it was a cold. The panic set in for me at this point, but that realization that I need to just relax came last night as I got my snuggles and smooches from Baby Girl. He went to work, not feeling great, but again just assuming it was a chest cold.
He wasn't able to sleep laying down last night so he slept in the recliner (Best. Purchase. Ever.). I brought Baby Girl downstairs to him while I showered (since she woke before I could get in the shower) (and now I'm kicking myself for doing). He told me he wasn't going to work and was going to go to the doctor.
I got a call from him while in a meeting, so I called him back around 3 after the meeting was over. And that's when he tells me that he has pneumonia. And he had a fever of 103.6.
And I lost it. I just feel so incredibly done right now. I don't feel like I can handle anymore. Of course I will, but I just...I'm so tired and stressed out. I want to cry.
I still can't hear out of my left ear. It's been two weeks now (been almost a week since I took my last antibiotic). I don't have any more pain, but it's just a reminder that I'm still sick. Baby Girl has been waking up snotty every morning for about a week and has been coughing overnight, but it hasn't developed into something else. Yet. The kids at the daycare are all coughing and sick, so I assume it's only a matter of time.
And now I get to be a single parent. Much less stressful when I can take her to the sitter's and still go to work during the day (well, at least it's a different stress...I still stress about her and home, but I don't have to spend the day occupying her and watching her get sick...I get to occupy myself with the immense stress I'm under here at work). It's not The Hubby's fault that he's sick, but damnit, I just....need a break. And I need to not feel the need to stress about keeping Baby Girl and myself healthy.
I'm so done with this. With all of this. I've had an overwhelming feeling of "I'm done" for awhile now...and that was independent of the sickness. This just feels like the straw that will break my back.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Weekly Meal Plan: 1/30-2/5
Have lots of posts, as usual, but no time or energy to post them. This one is an easy one since we plan out our meals anyway :)
Sunday, January 30th: Cheesy Potatoes with Smoked Sausage
Monday, January 31st: Mexican Mac & Bean Skillet
Tuesday, February 1st: Breakfast (scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, waffles)
Wednesday, February 2nd: Saucy Slow-Cooked Chicken Thighs with rice & veggies
Thursday, February 3rd: Slow Cooker Chicken Fajitas (from the $5 Dinner Mom cookbook)
Friday, February 4th: BBQ Chicken Pizza
Saturday, February 5th: out (we have a couple of birthdays to celebrate, so we'll be out with someone that night, we think!)
Sunday, January 30th: Cheesy Potatoes with Smoked Sausage
Monday, January 31st: Mexican Mac & Bean Skillet
Tuesday, February 1st: Breakfast (scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, waffles)
Wednesday, February 2nd: Saucy Slow-Cooked Chicken Thighs with rice & veggies
Thursday, February 3rd: Slow Cooker Chicken Fajitas (from the $5 Dinner Mom cookbook)
Friday, February 4th: BBQ Chicken Pizza
Saturday, February 5th: out (we have a couple of birthdays to celebrate, so we'll be out with someone that night, we think!)
Monday, January 24, 2011
Wake me up when this winter ends
At least one person in our house has been sick since December 21st, when The Plague hit The Hubby.
Actually, I take that back. Baby Girl had had a cough since the day before. So make that December 20th.
So The Hubby had The Plague late 12/21 until 12/23ish (he was still feeling rough on Christmas Eve). I felt really nauseous, but still don't know if it was from the anxiety of the situation or if I had a mild version of it.
Baby Girl started puking Christmas morning (total of 3 times....completely freaked out both her and me). This is why I haven't blogged about Christmas much. The good news? Most of the people at Christmas (we were at the in-laws') had already had The Plague. Another piece of good news? She was done puking by 8:30 a.m. and then acted like her normal self. We thought maybe she was vomiting due to the phlegm in her stomach and not The Plague.
Puke session #2 for Baby Girl: morning of 12/26. Oh yeah...it's The Plague. We go to my parents' house anyway because that's what they want. She then pukes the morning of 12/27 as well. She throws up once, sleeps for a bit, then wakes up and is normal for the rest of the day. We avoided everyone but my parents for fear of passing it along.
Morning of 12/28....no puke from Baby Girl. My mom, however, is another story. Ugh. We leave town and come home (my dad got sick the next morning). At this point I'm coughing and have been doing so since just before Christmas. When we get home from traveling, we get one last vomit from Baby Girl. We've then left The Plague behind us.
The Cold, however? Not so much.
Baby Girl starts coughing. I'm coughing. The Hubby is sort of coughing. We take Baby Girl to the doctor and she's given azithromycin, hoping to knock this cold out. I get progressively worse, but tell myself it's just a cold and will go away. In the meantime, I lose my voice for about 3 days. That part sucked. Happy New Year.
By mid-week the first week of January, I go to the doctor. I braved a snowstorm, but I went and was rewarded with a Z-Pack. Got it in my system and I was feeling markedly better by the 10th or so. Still had a lingering cough, but it wasn't horrible.
Baby Girl, however, gets worse again (although you would never know it...she has acted sick probably twice in her life, not counting when she was vomiting). She makes a return trip to the doctor on Monday the 10th. She gets a prescription for Omnicef and diagnosed with her fifth ear infection in seven months. This means we'll be talking about ear tubes with our regular pediatrician at her 18-month checkup. She takes the antibiotic like a champ (she's only hated amoxicillin so far) but is tugging at her ears a bit toward the end of the ten days of antibiotic, something she's actually never done with any of her ear infections. We wait it out.
She's done with the antibiotic on 1/19. Still tugging on the ears, but letting her go--this is also one of her tired signs.
We actually all seem fairly healthy for once. Woohoo! Maybe we've kicked it!
Oh no. Of course not. This is when God just laughs in my face. The Hubby and I both start feeling scratchy on Saturday (1/21). I wake up Sunday with definite sinus pain and a sore throat. This morning I woke up feeling like I had two softballs in the back of my throat. I would think it was my tonsils except I haven't had any for 25 years. The softballs are gone at this point, but I'm still scratchy and experiencing some sinus pain.
If you are keeping track, this makes over a month now that at least one of us has been sick. And you know that if I get fully sick everyone else will, too. I can keep from kissing my husband for a few days on the mouth, but my baby girl? Oh hell no. She offers up the sweetest kisses and even makes the smacking sound. I'll do my best to resist, but it'll be tough!
Actually, I take that back. Baby Girl had had a cough since the day before. So make that December 20th.
So The Hubby had The Plague late 12/21 until 12/23ish (he was still feeling rough on Christmas Eve). I felt really nauseous, but still don't know if it was from the anxiety of the situation or if I had a mild version of it.
Baby Girl started puking Christmas morning (total of 3 times....completely freaked out both her and me). This is why I haven't blogged about Christmas much. The good news? Most of the people at Christmas (we were at the in-laws') had already had The Plague. Another piece of good news? She was done puking by 8:30 a.m. and then acted like her normal self. We thought maybe she was vomiting due to the phlegm in her stomach and not The Plague.
Puke session #2 for Baby Girl: morning of 12/26. Oh yeah...it's The Plague. We go to my parents' house anyway because that's what they want. She then pukes the morning of 12/27 as well. She throws up once, sleeps for a bit, then wakes up and is normal for the rest of the day. We avoided everyone but my parents for fear of passing it along.
Morning of 12/28....no puke from Baby Girl. My mom, however, is another story. Ugh. We leave town and come home (my dad got sick the next morning). At this point I'm coughing and have been doing so since just before Christmas. When we get home from traveling, we get one last vomit from Baby Girl. We've then left The Plague behind us.
The Cold, however? Not so much.
Baby Girl starts coughing. I'm coughing. The Hubby is sort of coughing. We take Baby Girl to the doctor and she's given azithromycin, hoping to knock this cold out. I get progressively worse, but tell myself it's just a cold and will go away. In the meantime, I lose my voice for about 3 days. That part sucked. Happy New Year.
By mid-week the first week of January, I go to the doctor. I braved a snowstorm, but I went and was rewarded with a Z-Pack. Got it in my system and I was feeling markedly better by the 10th or so. Still had a lingering cough, but it wasn't horrible.
Baby Girl, however, gets worse again (although you would never know it...she has acted sick probably twice in her life, not counting when she was vomiting). She makes a return trip to the doctor on Monday the 10th. She gets a prescription for Omnicef and diagnosed with her fifth ear infection in seven months. This means we'll be talking about ear tubes with our regular pediatrician at her 18-month checkup. She takes the antibiotic like a champ (she's only hated amoxicillin so far) but is tugging at her ears a bit toward the end of the ten days of antibiotic, something she's actually never done with any of her ear infections. We wait it out.
She's done with the antibiotic on 1/19. Still tugging on the ears, but letting her go--this is also one of her tired signs.
We actually all seem fairly healthy for once. Woohoo! Maybe we've kicked it!
Oh no. Of course not. This is when God just laughs in my face. The Hubby and I both start feeling scratchy on Saturday (1/21). I wake up Sunday with definite sinus pain and a sore throat. This morning I woke up feeling like I had two softballs in the back of my throat. I would think it was my tonsils except I haven't had any for 25 years. The softballs are gone at this point, but I'm still scratchy and experiencing some sinus pain.
If you are keeping track, this makes over a month now that at least one of us has been sick. And you know that if I get fully sick everyone else will, too. I can keep from kissing my husband for a few days on the mouth, but my baby girl? Oh hell no. She offers up the sweetest kisses and even makes the smacking sound. I'll do my best to resist, but it'll be tough!
Weekly Meal Plan: 1/23-1/29
In our effort to get organized again (more on that later), I'm going to start posting our weekly meal plans again. We've been meal planning the whole time, but I think this will keep me accountable and love to share recipes with all of you!
We figured out the meals Saturday night and Baby Girl and I went to the grocery Sunday morning. We spent an ungodly amount for us ($95), but that included a lot of stocking up--pear juice for Baby Girl, WW ice cream (usually over $5 apiece, but on sale for around $3), paper towels (this was the first time I've actually paid for paper towels in years...and they were still on clearance), large bag of rice, large bag of string cheese (should last about 3 weeks--Baby Girl gets one daily in her lunch), and a few other things. So this coming week's shopping trip should be a bit less expensive--I hope so, anyway!
Sunday, January 23rd: Taco Joes (delicious!), lime rice, and peas
Monday, January 24th: Ribs (bought on manager's special a few weeks ago), mashed potatoes (not a thrifty purchase, but I love Ore Ida's Steam & Mash), corn, and cornbread
Tuesday, January 25th: Chicken & Stove Top (my mom has been making this for forever) with mashed cauliflower
Wednesday, January 26th: Pork Chops & Rice (pork chops were also bought on manager's special)
Thursday, January 27th: Pasta & Bean Skillet
Friday, January 28th: Chicken Parmesan
Saturday, January 29th: Planning on eating out if we don't eat out during the week sometime--it's Baby Girl's 1 1/2 birthday!
We figured out the meals Saturday night and Baby Girl and I went to the grocery Sunday morning. We spent an ungodly amount for us ($95), but that included a lot of stocking up--pear juice for Baby Girl, WW ice cream (usually over $5 apiece, but on sale for around $3), paper towels (this was the first time I've actually paid for paper towels in years...and they were still on clearance), large bag of rice, large bag of string cheese (should last about 3 weeks--Baby Girl gets one daily in her lunch), and a few other things. So this coming week's shopping trip should be a bit less expensive--I hope so, anyway!
Sunday, January 23rd: Taco Joes (delicious!), lime rice, and peas
Monday, January 24th: Ribs (bought on manager's special a few weeks ago), mashed potatoes (not a thrifty purchase, but I love Ore Ida's Steam & Mash), corn, and cornbread
Tuesday, January 25th: Chicken & Stove Top (my mom has been making this for forever) with mashed cauliflower
Wednesday, January 26th: Pork Chops & Rice (pork chops were also bought on manager's special)
Thursday, January 27th: Pasta & Bean Skillet
Friday, January 28th: Chicken Parmesan
Saturday, January 29th: Planning on eating out if we don't eat out during the week sometime--it's Baby Girl's 1 1/2 birthday!
Friday, January 21, 2011
Half a Lifetime
I just put on a sweatshirt from my high school's boys' basketball team. It has their schedule on it and I got it from my Chemistry teacher--an assistant on the team. I looked at the back, where the schedule is, and realized that it is from the 1995-96 season, which means I've had the sweatshirt for 15 years...half of my life.
It's so hard for me to understand that high school was half a lifetime away. I felt like everything that happened while in school was incredibly significant. I remember who friends dated, when we had first kisses, teachers, subjects, even specific tests. Many people told me that college would be the best years of my life...but I remember high school as the happiest time of my life.
College brought...complicated times. Independence (and not necessarily in a good way). A severe drop in self-esteem (not that it was great in high school...that *was* when I was not eating, after all).
It's just so hard for me to believe that high school, the time I was the most popular, when I had great, lifelong friends, when I felt like I BELONGED was almost half a lifetime ago.
And, honestly, it makes me really sad. It makes me sad to realize that I've lived as much time away from those friends as I did with them. It makes me sad to realize that I've spent half a lifetime not feeling like I belong, like I fit in, like I'm liked.
All this is really brought on by a picture I saw from college. I was FAT. Hideously huge. And I was part of a group that had structure built in, but I still didn't belong with my smaller part of the group. I just didn't. And I hate that. I spent all of my 5 years trying to fit in and never did. And it makes me so sad to think about. College was a time of failure for me. Failing to get decent grades. Failing to maintain a reasonable weight. Failing to make people like me. Sure, I had friends. College is where I met The Hubby and some of our best friends. But the masses didn't like me like they used to. I used to be the "it" girl in my circle in high school. Not college. Not by a long shot.
This is another one of those posts that I'm just going to publish because it's late and I need to do some stuff and just get this off my chest. I have a lot more to say about it all...high school...college...belonging...FAT. But not right now. Nope, I need to get my shit together and get out of here so I can see my girl.
It's so hard for me to understand that high school was half a lifetime away. I felt like everything that happened while in school was incredibly significant. I remember who friends dated, when we had first kisses, teachers, subjects, even specific tests. Many people told me that college would be the best years of my life...but I remember high school as the happiest time of my life.
College brought...complicated times. Independence (and not necessarily in a good way). A severe drop in self-esteem (not that it was great in high school...that *was* when I was not eating, after all).
It's just so hard for me to believe that high school, the time I was the most popular, when I had great, lifelong friends, when I felt like I BELONGED was almost half a lifetime ago.
And, honestly, it makes me really sad. It makes me sad to realize that I've lived as much time away from those friends as I did with them. It makes me sad to realize that I've spent half a lifetime not feeling like I belong, like I fit in, like I'm liked.
All this is really brought on by a picture I saw from college. I was FAT. Hideously huge. And I was part of a group that had structure built in, but I still didn't belong with my smaller part of the group. I just didn't. And I hate that. I spent all of my 5 years trying to fit in and never did. And it makes me so sad to think about. College was a time of failure for me. Failing to get decent grades. Failing to maintain a reasonable weight. Failing to make people like me. Sure, I had friends. College is where I met The Hubby and some of our best friends. But the masses didn't like me like they used to. I used to be the "it" girl in my circle in high school. Not college. Not by a long shot.
This is another one of those posts that I'm just going to publish because it's late and I need to do some stuff and just get this off my chest. I have a lot more to say about it all...high school...college...belonging...FAT. But not right now. Nope, I need to get my shit together and get out of here so I can see my girl.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Her Favorite
Baby Girl has been going to the new sitter for two and a half weeks now and I think it's time I tell you all about it.
In a word? Fabulous.
And the best part (you know, for MY ego) is that the sitter confided that Baby Girl is her favorite. She's the one she brags about to her friends and who she enjoys seeing each day. She says she's the happiest kid she's ever met. She's always telling us how impressed she is by her talking and everything she does at her age.
And the best part of Baby Girl is that she loves it there. She's happy when we pick her up, but doesn't fuss anymore when we leave. She waves as we go and plays with her friends. There are 6 kiddos there total but all 6 are there only on Wednesdays. Baby Girl is in the middle as far as age and I think that helps her--she loves doting on the babies and I think she learns from the big kids. She's eating well, doing art, learning, playing...it's a great situation so far.
We have one small reservation--each of the last 4 days we've picked up the sitter has been on the phone and it's seemed like a personal conversation. It strikes us as odd and a little bothersome. We aren't sure how long we'll let it go on before we say something. Her stated hours of operation are 7:30-5:30 and we all pick up by 5:00, so she's technically getting off early. She's got some free time during naptime, too, to make business (or personal) calls. But if that's our only gripe...we're doing really well :)
In a word? Fabulous.
And the best part (you know, for MY ego) is that the sitter confided that Baby Girl is her favorite. She's the one she brags about to her friends and who she enjoys seeing each day. She says she's the happiest kid she's ever met. She's always telling us how impressed she is by her talking and everything she does at her age.
And the best part of Baby Girl is that she loves it there. She's happy when we pick her up, but doesn't fuss anymore when we leave. She waves as we go and plays with her friends. There are 6 kiddos there total but all 6 are there only on Wednesdays. Baby Girl is in the middle as far as age and I think that helps her--she loves doting on the babies and I think she learns from the big kids. She's eating well, doing art, learning, playing...it's a great situation so far.
We have one small reservation--each of the last 4 days we've picked up the sitter has been on the phone and it's seemed like a personal conversation. It strikes us as odd and a little bothersome. We aren't sure how long we'll let it go on before we say something. Her stated hours of operation are 7:30-5:30 and we all pick up by 5:00, so she's technically getting off early. She's got some free time during naptime, too, to make business (or personal) calls. But if that's our only gripe...we're doing really well :)
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
2011
I'm not one to make resolutions because I definitely don't ever remember keeping one. So we'll call these....goals.
1) To cut out (or at least down) cursing in the car. Now that Baby Girl is with us in the car almost every day, I need to watch the road rage. It isn't healthy, either, but now I have another reason for chilling out.
2) To take at least one picture every day. I have Cassie to thank for this one--I think it's a great idea. I started on January 2nd and have taken pictures every single day. And so far each day I've taken pictures of Baby Girl, of course. It's an easy subject and I can't take too many landscape photos since I'm not at home when it's light outside :) I'm hoping this will both capture moments as well as help me learn my camera. My favorite unedited photo so far:
Beautiful, isn't she? :)
3) I'm going to start doing something for me more often. I have a hard time saying every day, but I'd like to do something for myself every day, even if it's as little as taking a 5 minute walk around the building at work. Tonight I plan to do some working out after Baby Girl is in bed and then I want to paint my toenails--something I've done maybe once or twice since she was born. I have a really hard time putting myself first, but I think I should make a point to *try*.
1) To cut out (or at least down) cursing in the car. Now that Baby Girl is with us in the car almost every day, I need to watch the road rage. It isn't healthy, either, but now I have another reason for chilling out.
2) To take at least one picture every day. I have Cassie to thank for this one--I think it's a great idea. I started on January 2nd and have taken pictures every single day. And so far each day I've taken pictures of Baby Girl, of course. It's an easy subject and I can't take too many landscape photos since I'm not at home when it's light outside :) I'm hoping this will both capture moments as well as help me learn my camera. My favorite unedited photo so far:
Beautiful, isn't she? :)
3) I'm going to start doing something for me more often. I have a hard time saying every day, but I'd like to do something for myself every day, even if it's as little as taking a 5 minute walk around the building at work. Tonight I plan to do some working out after Baby Girl is in bed and then I want to paint my toenails--something I've done maybe once or twice since she was born. I have a really hard time putting myself first, but I think I should make a point to *try*.
Pep-poo and other cute things
(This post was started a week and a half ago....and instead of adding to it, I'll post it now and be writing an 18 month update in a week and a half!)
The last two months have brought about a lot of changes for Baby Girl--most of them verbally!
Physically, she's got 7 teeth now (#5 showed up the Saturday after Thanksgiving, #6 that next Tuesday, and #7 that next Friday--3 new teeth in a week and no fussing involved). We think #8 is coming soon based on a low-grade fever and some major chewing this morning (edited to add: #8 showed up 1/10).
She's jumping. It's mostly with each foot off the ground separately, but it's a-dor-able to watch her trying.
She LOVES pretzels. Serious love. Those and Goldfish. We made the mistake of giving her some pretzels in the car one day and now she asks for them every time we get in the car. But she says them "pep-poo" and it's so sweet...so we typically give in. Not like she's asking for a Snickers. ;)
She's gone through some pickier phases with eating, but seems to be back to eating like a tank after our unfortunate illness. We send her to daycare with the following: her lunch (leftovers from the night before), pretzels (probably about 25 of the little sticks), full can of mandarin oranges, small box of raisins, and something else. She eats it all after eating over 1/2 cup of baby barley and sometimes part of a banana. And then she acts like she's starving, so we give her some pretzels when we get home and then she eats all of her dinner. And she still nurses in the morning and before bed. That girl can put it away!
Baby Girl LOVES animals. The new sitter has a bird, a cat, and a HUMONGOUS dog. She asks for the kitty all evening and wants to pet it as soon as we get there in the morning. She asks to see the dog (usually says "woof woof", although yesterday finally said something like "dog") when we're leaving--but she's scared of him when we get close (his head seriously comes up to my boobs and I'm 5'7", so I don't blame her). We also have to pet the kitty (which she calls a kitty). She doesn't call many animals by name, but rather identifies them by their sound (you should hear her make the elephant sound...so cute!).
She's also starting to string together words--at the sitter's she said "more color" to indicate that she wanted to color more or that she wanted a new color of crayon.
Speaking of coloring...it's ALL she wants to do. That, play with block, and read books. But it always comes back to "color? COLOR?" It's cute....but gets annoying. Because you know she can't do it on her own. Oh no...she must have "mom-mom" (her name for me) or daddy color with her. And we oblige...because we miss her so much during the day. But we're running out of things to color on plain paper (because Grandpa makes paper, we get free reams all the time). We typically do footballs, trees, flowers, and try our best at some animals. She does circles, squiggles, and lines. Curvy ones. :)
Baby Girl also has reasoning skills that really impress me. We'll be in the car and she'll say "Emma?" (one of the kids at daycare) and before we can respond, she says "home". Yep, honey, Emma went home. And the first day at the sitter's, K, the sitter, told her that Mommy and Daddy went to work. So whenever someone else would be dropped off, Baby Girl would say "work". Then when the first kids were picked up, she'd say "home".
The last two months have brought about a lot of changes for Baby Girl--most of them verbally!
Physically, she's got 7 teeth now (#5 showed up the Saturday after Thanksgiving, #6 that next Tuesday, and #7 that next Friday--3 new teeth in a week and no fussing involved). We think #8 is coming soon based on a low-grade fever and some major chewing this morning (edited to add: #8 showed up 1/10).
She's jumping. It's mostly with each foot off the ground separately, but it's a-dor-able to watch her trying.
She LOVES pretzels. Serious love. Those and Goldfish. We made the mistake of giving her some pretzels in the car one day and now she asks for them every time we get in the car. But she says them "pep-poo" and it's so sweet...so we typically give in. Not like she's asking for a Snickers. ;)
She's gone through some pickier phases with eating, but seems to be back to eating like a tank after our unfortunate illness. We send her to daycare with the following: her lunch (leftovers from the night before), pretzels (probably about 25 of the little sticks), full can of mandarin oranges, small box of raisins, and something else. She eats it all after eating over 1/2 cup of baby barley and sometimes part of a banana. And then she acts like she's starving, so we give her some pretzels when we get home and then she eats all of her dinner. And she still nurses in the morning and before bed. That girl can put it away!
Baby Girl LOVES animals. The new sitter has a bird, a cat, and a HUMONGOUS dog. She asks for the kitty all evening and wants to pet it as soon as we get there in the morning. She asks to see the dog (usually says "woof woof", although yesterday finally said something like "dog") when we're leaving--but she's scared of him when we get close (his head seriously comes up to my boobs and I'm 5'7", so I don't blame her). We also have to pet the kitty (which she calls a kitty). She doesn't call many animals by name, but rather identifies them by their sound (you should hear her make the elephant sound...so cute!).
She's also starting to string together words--at the sitter's she said "more color" to indicate that she wanted to color more or that she wanted a new color of crayon.
Speaking of coloring...it's ALL she wants to do. That, play with block, and read books. But it always comes back to "color? COLOR?" It's cute....but gets annoying. Because you know she can't do it on her own. Oh no...she must have "mom-mom" (her name for me) or daddy color with her. And we oblige...because we miss her so much during the day. But we're running out of things to color on plain paper (because Grandpa makes paper, we get free reams all the time). We typically do footballs, trees, flowers, and try our best at some animals. She does circles, squiggles, and lines. Curvy ones. :)
Baby Girl also has reasoning skills that really impress me. We'll be in the car and she'll say "Emma?" (one of the kids at daycare) and before we can respond, she says "home". Yep, honey, Emma went home. And the first day at the sitter's, K, the sitter, told her that Mommy and Daddy went to work. So whenever someone else would be dropped off, Baby Girl would say "work". Then when the first kids were picked up, she'd say "home".
Friday, January 14, 2011
Mojo
Like Austin Powers, I've lost my mojo. This time, though, it doesn't just seem to be my bloggy mojo.
I have four minutes to write this, so I don't think I can get in-depth completely. But I guess I just needed to get *something* out there.
I'm feeling pretty down. I don't know if it's the weather, the sickness that've encompassed our house for the last month, or a combination of that and other things. I don't know how to fix it and I don't know if there's anything, really, to fix. It's a never-ending circle of:
- I go to work
- I miss my kid
- When I get home with my kid, I'm exhausted and don't spend quality time with her
- She goes to bed
- I'm still exhausted and do nothing the rest of the night (The Hubby doesn't, either, which reduces my motivation even more)
- I miss my kid and feel awful that I didn't make the most of the little time we get together
- I go to bed
- I start the cycle all over again.
I get upset at little things. I cry at the drop of a hat. I don't feel like I'm enjoying my little girl when I actually have the time to do so because I just want to take some "me time", even though I know I'll get my "me time" once she's in bed.
I get depressed at the state of our house, but don't have the energy to do anything about it. Honestly, I feel like we're living in filth and I think it's mostly because we have mice. Not one mouse....mice. And I feel gross. We find mouse poop in bizarre places (who knew mice could climb to the top of a 6-foot shelving unit????). The Hubby removed two bodies from the house the other night, but we think there are more. We have mouse poison in our basement and in the garage, which means we can't take Baby Girl to either place. *I* don't want to go to either place to do laundry or clean because I don't want to come across another one (I was the one that discovered the first one when it scampered across the laundry room floor while Baby Girl and I were looking for clothes for her). This means we have no clean clothes. I might be wearing a puke-covered shirt. What's worse is that I don't actually know if I am. All I know is that there's something flaky on the entire left shoulder that I just discovered at 3:00. And I got the shirt from my bedroom....what I thought were clean clothes.
It's a mess. We're a mess. And I'm so overwhelmed by it all that I just want to climb into bed and cry.
I'm not going back and editing and I'm just hitting Publish. Not looking for pity....just needed to get something--ANYTHING--out there. Because even this is better than silence.
I have four minutes to write this, so I don't think I can get in-depth completely. But I guess I just needed to get *something* out there.
I'm feeling pretty down. I don't know if it's the weather, the sickness that've encompassed our house for the last month, or a combination of that and other things. I don't know how to fix it and I don't know if there's anything, really, to fix. It's a never-ending circle of:
- I go to work
- I miss my kid
- When I get home with my kid, I'm exhausted and don't spend quality time with her
- She goes to bed
- I'm still exhausted and do nothing the rest of the night (The Hubby doesn't, either, which reduces my motivation even more)
- I miss my kid and feel awful that I didn't make the most of the little time we get together
- I go to bed
- I start the cycle all over again.
I get upset at little things. I cry at the drop of a hat. I don't feel like I'm enjoying my little girl when I actually have the time to do so because I just want to take some "me time", even though I know I'll get my "me time" once she's in bed.
I get depressed at the state of our house, but don't have the energy to do anything about it. Honestly, I feel like we're living in filth and I think it's mostly because we have mice. Not one mouse....mice. And I feel gross. We find mouse poop in bizarre places (who knew mice could climb to the top of a 6-foot shelving unit????). The Hubby removed two bodies from the house the other night, but we think there are more. We have mouse poison in our basement and in the garage, which means we can't take Baby Girl to either place. *I* don't want to go to either place to do laundry or clean because I don't want to come across another one (I was the one that discovered the first one when it scampered across the laundry room floor while Baby Girl and I were looking for clothes for her). This means we have no clean clothes. I might be wearing a puke-covered shirt. What's worse is that I don't actually know if I am. All I know is that there's something flaky on the entire left shoulder that I just discovered at 3:00. And I got the shirt from my bedroom....what I thought were clean clothes.
It's a mess. We're a mess. And I'm so overwhelmed by it all that I just want to climb into bed and cry.
I'm not going back and editing and I'm just hitting Publish. Not looking for pity....just needed to get something--ANYTHING--out there. Because even this is better than silence.
Monday, January 10, 2011
The Sweetest Thing
A week ago, I was a bit incredibly anxious about sending Baby Girl to the new sitter. It was Sunday and I was realizing how much I was going to miss being with my girl once The Hubby and I returned to work after 12 days off. I, like I tend to do these days, started crying.
Baby Girl looked up at me, said "Mom-mom? Mom-mom?". She leaned in and wrapped her arms around my neck.
And then she put her sweet little hand on my face and wiped away a tear with her thumb.
I melted.
And then she looked at me and said, "Wet". Yep, honey, mommy is a little wet. And then I got a little wetter still.
Baby Girl looked up at me, said "Mom-mom? Mom-mom?". She leaned in and wrapped her arms around my neck.
And then she put her sweet little hand on my face and wiped away a tear with her thumb.
I melted.
And then she looked at me and said, "Wet". Yep, honey, mommy is a little wet. And then I got a little wetter still.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Pumping....still
I think 95% of you will think "wow, she's a little crazy" when I tell you this.
I'm still pumping at work.
Yep, Baby Girl is 17+ months old and I am still pumping once a day at work (down from 4 when I first came back to work after maternity leave).
The remaining 5% of you will probably be switched to the "she's crazy" side when I tell you this part.
I have been getting just over one ounce per day. ONE OUNCE.
I keep doing it because, somehow, I'm convinced this means I can still nurse Baby Girl on the weekends during the day. And she still asks for it. All. Day. Long. The Hubby and I can't decide if she's bored, wants some bonding time, or if she actually wants milk (she'll say "Milk?", then if I tell her it isn't milk time, "Eat?"), but if she's asking for it, I want to give it to her because...I'm just like that.
I actually came here to post that I may be pumping for the last time at work. I figured if I got less than an ounce today, it's not worth it anymore and that she really isn't getting much milk during the day from me anyway, so she'll probably be just as happy nursing and not getting anything.
But then I looked down and realized that I might get closer to two ounces. And I completely rethought that.
I feel neurotic for still doing this. It feels silly to keeping pumping, especially since it doesn't matter much to me whether she's drinking the milk at the sitter's--it's ONLY about being able to nurse on the weekends.
So we'll see. I'll see how much I actually get today, put it in the bag, and decide after the weekend what to do. Just taking it one day at a time since I cry every time I think about being done with nursing. I'll miss that time with my baby. She's not a huge snuggler when she's not tired, so I'll miss the snuggly time we get together. Ah...such an incredibly emotional thing, whether it's my body "failing" (obviously not a failure at 17+ months!), her leading the weaning, or my leading the weaning.
I'm still pumping at work.
Yep, Baby Girl is 17+ months old and I am still pumping once a day at work (down from 4 when I first came back to work after maternity leave).
The remaining 5% of you will probably be switched to the "she's crazy" side when I tell you this part.
I have been getting just over one ounce per day. ONE OUNCE.
I keep doing it because, somehow, I'm convinced this means I can still nurse Baby Girl on the weekends during the day. And she still asks for it. All. Day. Long. The Hubby and I can't decide if she's bored, wants some bonding time, or if she actually wants milk (she'll say "Milk?", then if I tell her it isn't milk time, "Eat?"), but if she's asking for it, I want to give it to her because...I'm just like that.
I actually came here to post that I may be pumping for the last time at work. I figured if I got less than an ounce today, it's not worth it anymore and that she really isn't getting much milk during the day from me anyway, so she'll probably be just as happy nursing and not getting anything.
But then I looked down and realized that I might get closer to two ounces. And I completely rethought that.
I feel neurotic for still doing this. It feels silly to keeping pumping, especially since it doesn't matter much to me whether she's drinking the milk at the sitter's--it's ONLY about being able to nurse on the weekends.
So we'll see. I'll see how much I actually get today, put it in the bag, and decide after the weekend what to do. Just taking it one day at a time since I cry every time I think about being done with nursing. I'll miss that time with my baby. She's not a huge snuggler when she's not tired, so I'll miss the snuggly time we get together. Ah...such an incredibly emotional thing, whether it's my body "failing" (obviously not a failure at 17+ months!), her leading the weaning, or my leading the weaning.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Because I know you're all wondering....
(Actually, because I haven't had any adult interaction today and just feel like talking...)
Been a really long 24+ hours in our house.
5:00: The Hubby starts feeling nauseous
6:30: The Hubby leaves for work party, leaving me alone with Baby Girl to do bedtime, etc.
11:30: The Hubby comes home and tells me about said nausea
12:30: The Hubby wakes up to get sick for the first time. I get up and go down to basement to sleep. Upon failing to sleep (cable box is broken down there, so it was far too quiet for me and my thoughts), I come to the first floor, listen to him get sick, feel very nauseous myself, post on the blog, kick ass at a typing game on FB, watch Storage Wars until Ipass out fall asleep on the couch (around 3:00).
5:30: The Hubby gets sick for what will be the last time (knock on wood).
8:00: I wake up, scrub down the first floor and disinfect everything in sight.
9:15: Baby Girl wakes up (latest she's ever slept--I assume it's her body fighting off the sickness)
9:20: The Hubby tries to come downstairs and I send him back to our bedroom
10:30: Baby Girl and I go to my work to get my wallet, then to Target, then to CVS, then to Kroger. If Target had just had what I needed and I hadn't forgotten my wallet at work, Target would've been the only stop. I notice that I still feel nauseous (wondered if it was in my head last night, but now confirming that it isn't)
noon: Come home with Baby Girl, have lunch, play. Give The Hubby a sandwich and my home remedy (onion juice and peppermint tea found here).
1:45 Nurse Baby Girl, put her down for nap at 2:10. Check on The Hubby and he's sleeping.
3:45: Baby Girl wakes up and we play and have a snack. Feeling very nauseous the whole time. Had a nice time playing with her, though.
5:30: Fix and eat dinner of black beans and barley. Sits fine for me and Baby Girl eats well over one adult serving.
6:30: Build blocks, read books, played with Mr. Potato Head
7:30: Nursed and bedtime
8:15 (it was a long, drawn-out bedtime): Checked in on The Hubby. He's just woken up from his "nap" that started around 1:30. Brought him dinner and chatted for about five minutes. Realized how much I've missed him today.
8:30: Cleaned up some things, talked to my mom on the phone, and here I am. Still nauseous.
Praying that Baby Girl stays healthy. Not sure when we can start to breathe. Not sure when I can let The Hubby out of our bedroom, either. Praying that this nausea is all I'm going to experience. After consulting with some people who have had this bug, it sounds like most people don't feel nauseous for long before they get sick, so I'm hoping the bug is presenting in me as just nausea. And I'm hoping I was successful in keeping Baby Girl from getting it. No mouth kisses. Hands washed so much they're raw. Lysol used repeatedly. Being out of the house for a couple of hours. Giving her a probiotic (after taking one myself). I've put a lot of work into keeping her healthy--I hope it was all worth it.
Been a really long 24+ hours in our house.
5:00: The Hubby starts feeling nauseous
6:30: The Hubby leaves for work party, leaving me alone with Baby Girl to do bedtime, etc.
11:30: The Hubby comes home and tells me about said nausea
12:30: The Hubby wakes up to get sick for the first time. I get up and go down to basement to sleep. Upon failing to sleep (cable box is broken down there, so it was far too quiet for me and my thoughts), I come to the first floor, listen to him get sick, feel very nauseous myself, post on the blog, kick ass at a typing game on FB, watch Storage Wars until I
5:30: The Hubby gets sick for what will be the last time (knock on wood).
8:00: I wake up, scrub down the first floor and disinfect everything in sight.
9:15: Baby Girl wakes up (latest she's ever slept--I assume it's her body fighting off the sickness)
9:20: The Hubby tries to come downstairs and I send him back to our bedroom
10:30: Baby Girl and I go to my work to get my wallet, then to Target, then to CVS, then to Kroger. If Target had just had what I needed and I hadn't forgotten my wallet at work, Target would've been the only stop. I notice that I still feel nauseous (wondered if it was in my head last night, but now confirming that it isn't)
noon: Come home with Baby Girl, have lunch, play. Give The Hubby a sandwich and my home remedy (onion juice and peppermint tea found here).
1:45 Nurse Baby Girl, put her down for nap at 2:10. Check on The Hubby and he's sleeping.
3:45: Baby Girl wakes up and we play and have a snack. Feeling very nauseous the whole time. Had a nice time playing with her, though.
5:30: Fix and eat dinner of black beans and barley. Sits fine for me and Baby Girl eats well over one adult serving.
6:30: Build blocks, read books, played with Mr. Potato Head
7:30: Nursed and bedtime
8:15 (it was a long, drawn-out bedtime): Checked in on The Hubby. He's just woken up from his "nap" that started around 1:30. Brought him dinner and chatted for about five minutes. Realized how much I've missed him today.
8:30: Cleaned up some things, talked to my mom on the phone, and here I am. Still nauseous.
Praying that Baby Girl stays healthy. Not sure when we can start to breathe. Not sure when I can let The Hubby out of our bedroom, either. Praying that this nausea is all I'm going to experience. After consulting with some people who have had this bug, it sounds like most people don't feel nauseous for long before they get sick, so I'm hoping the bug is presenting in me as just nausea. And I'm hoping I was successful in keeping Baby Girl from getting it. No mouth kisses. Hands washed so much they're raw. Lysol used repeatedly. Being out of the house for a couple of hours. Giving her a probiotic (after taking one myself). I've put a lot of work into keeping her healthy--I hope it was all worth it.
Scratch that plan
The Hubby and I both took off work 12/22 so we could prepare for our Christmas traveling--doing laundry, packing, finishing up gift-buying, wrapping, etc. Then on 12/23 we were planning to head to the in-laws.
Not so much anymore.
The Hubby got home from a work holiday party around 11:30 telling me that his stomach didn't feel good. We're very aware of the stomach bug going around--his brother, sister-in-law, and our three nieces all had it the end of the last week and had to postpone sister-in-law's family Christmas until January because of it. So when he told me that he was nauseous, I knew where this was going. Somehow I was able to fall asleep, but was awakened about an hour later by him rushing to the bathroom....and then kept awake by the noises that followed.
After he came back out, he offered to go to the basement, where we have a guest bed set up. I told him that I should go down there so he could be closer to the bathroom. I took the baby monitor with me. I tried to fall asleep down there (it really is a comfy bed), but kept fluctuating between anxious, mad*, and sad/disappointed and didn't have anything but my thoughts (our cable box down there died). I couldn't sleep.
So here I am in the living room watching TV, feeling nauseous from either the anxiety or the actual stomach bug, waiting to hear Baby Girl awake, sick, trying to decide what I should do with her if she seems healthy in the morning. Should we go out and about to minimize our interaction with The Hubby? Should we go stay for a day at my parents' house?
I worry about going to my parents' house because if we're carrying the virus already, I'd hate to take it down there. I also would hate to delay the inevitable and end up with us sick on Christmas Day. If we're all going to get sick, might as well have December 22nd be the worst day of our year. But if Baby Girl and I can avoid it, I'd love that, obviously. I have no idea what to do and know that sitting up at 2 a.m. isn't the answer, but just cannot sleep. I'm going to go peek in on Baby Girl (she did cry out earlier, so I want to be sure she didn't get sick and fall back asleep or something) and then try again to go to sleep. If I'm going to be fighting this with my entire being, I need to have some rest. Heck, even if it's just that I'm going to be taking care of Baby Girl by myself, I need rest.
*Yes, mad. I've always felt like The Hubby didn't take the care he should to avoid getting sick and/or bringing sickness home. I realize that some sickness is a part of life, but I take as many precautions as I reasonably can--washing hands ALL.THE.TIME, using paper towels to open doors, using hand sanitizer or washing hands before eating, etc. And he just...doesn't. And maybe it's because he's not as paranoid. But it seems that he's the one bringing this virus into our house, so part of me blames him (okay, a BIG part).
Not so much anymore.
The Hubby got home from a work holiday party around 11:30 telling me that his stomach didn't feel good. We're very aware of the stomach bug going around--his brother, sister-in-law, and our three nieces all had it the end of the last week and had to postpone sister-in-law's family Christmas until January because of it. So when he told me that he was nauseous, I knew where this was going. Somehow I was able to fall asleep, but was awakened about an hour later by him rushing to the bathroom....and then kept awake by the noises that followed.
After he came back out, he offered to go to the basement, where we have a guest bed set up. I told him that I should go down there so he could be closer to the bathroom. I took the baby monitor with me. I tried to fall asleep down there (it really is a comfy bed), but kept fluctuating between anxious, mad*, and sad/disappointed and didn't have anything but my thoughts (our cable box down there died). I couldn't sleep.
So here I am in the living room watching TV, feeling nauseous from either the anxiety or the actual stomach bug, waiting to hear Baby Girl awake, sick, trying to decide what I should do with her if she seems healthy in the morning. Should we go out and about to minimize our interaction with The Hubby? Should we go stay for a day at my parents' house?
I worry about going to my parents' house because if we're carrying the virus already, I'd hate to take it down there. I also would hate to delay the inevitable and end up with us sick on Christmas Day. If we're all going to get sick, might as well have December 22nd be the worst day of our year. But if Baby Girl and I can avoid it, I'd love that, obviously. I have no idea what to do and know that sitting up at 2 a.m. isn't the answer, but just cannot sleep. I'm going to go peek in on Baby Girl (she did cry out earlier, so I want to be sure she didn't get sick and fall back asleep or something) and then try again to go to sleep. If I'm going to be fighting this with my entire being, I need to have some rest. Heck, even if it's just that I'm going to be taking care of Baby Girl by myself, I need rest.
*Yes, mad. I've always felt like The Hubby didn't take the care he should to avoid getting sick and/or bringing sickness home. I realize that some sickness is a part of life, but I take as many precautions as I reasonably can--washing hands ALL.THE.TIME, using paper towels to open doors, using hand sanitizer or washing hands before eating, etc. And he just...doesn't. And maybe it's because he's not as paranoid. But it seems that he's the one bringing this virus into our house, so part of me blames him (okay, a BIG part).
Monday, December 20, 2010
If you're easily offended, keep on moving...but if not, come on in!
I have two stories to tell that were hilarious when they happened in my bedroom. Whether they're hilarious as told in my blog will be a totally different story.
Baby Girl's favorite game is peek-a-boo--it has been for months and months. It seems that with each day, she play peek-a-book in a different way. It started out just giggling when we'd hide, but now it's to the point that she will hide or even just put her hands over her own (or you) eyes and say "peek!"
Well, we were enjoying a relaxing morning in bed on Saturday morning. I had just finished nursing her and we were snuggling and tickling and having a great weekend morning. And then...she realized that she could play peek-a-boo. Using my bra. So she kept saying "peek!" and pulling my bra down (I should note that I still wear a nursing bra...so it's easy peek-a-boo access).
Seriously, though...the game went on for like 5 minutes. She'd pull down my bra, say "peek!", giggle, and hide it again. Rinse and repeat. The Hubby and I were trying to contain our laughter a bit so she didn't realize what an incredibly hilarious game this really was...we don't need to encourage her playing peek-a-boo like that in public! I explained to her (although I know she didn't understand) that this is a game that we only play in mommy and daddy's room...we can't play peek-a-boo with mommy's boob in public.
This kid gets more and more clever every day.
Then Sunday morning she picked up something off the floor and said "cheese!". Her "cheese" sounds really similar to her "please", so I had to look to see whether she wanted me to do something (thus the "please") or if she found some cheese.
I look in her hand and what do I see? Something in a (mostly) white wrapper that *did* look an awful lot like a piece of string cheese...
A tampon.
No, Baby Girl, that's not cheese...
Baby Girl's favorite game is peek-a-boo--it has been for months and months. It seems that with each day, she play peek-a-book in a different way. It started out just giggling when we'd hide, but now it's to the point that she will hide or even just put her hands over her own (or you) eyes and say "peek!"
Well, we were enjoying a relaxing morning in bed on Saturday morning. I had just finished nursing her and we were snuggling and tickling and having a great weekend morning. And then...she realized that she could play peek-a-boo. Using my bra. So she kept saying "peek!" and pulling my bra down (I should note that I still wear a nursing bra...so it's easy peek-a-boo access).
Seriously, though...the game went on for like 5 minutes. She'd pull down my bra, say "peek!", giggle, and hide it again. Rinse and repeat. The Hubby and I were trying to contain our laughter a bit so she didn't realize what an incredibly hilarious game this really was...we don't need to encourage her playing peek-a-boo like that in public! I explained to her (although I know she didn't understand) that this is a game that we only play in mommy and daddy's room...we can't play peek-a-boo with mommy's boob in public.
This kid gets more and more clever every day.
Then Sunday morning she picked up something off the floor and said "cheese!". Her "cheese" sounds really similar to her "please", so I had to look to see whether she wanted me to do something (thus the "please") or if she found some cheese.
I look in her hand and what do I see? Something in a (mostly) white wrapper that *did* look an awful lot like a piece of string cheese...
A tampon.
No, Baby Girl, that's not cheese...
Friday, December 17, 2010
Thrifty Thursday (on Friday): Gift Cards
'Tis the season, y'all!
Yep, this is the time of year when many restaurants start offering free gift cards when you buy a certain amount of gift cards. For instance, Bob Evans will give you a $10 gift card when you buy $50 in gift cards from them. 20% extra exceed what you'll ever earn in fuel perks by buying your gift cards at the grocery store.
The idea behind this is technically that you could buy your friend a $50 gift card and keep the $10 for yourself, but if you typically eat there, why not keep all $60 for yourself?
Look around at your favorite restaurants--you'll see many are participating in something like this. We're creatures of habit, so we go to the same restaurants all the time. We'll be buying at least $50 in Bob Evans gift cards, probably at least one gift card to Chipotle (or more!) (they are giving you a free burrito for every $25 gift card you purchase), and maybe an Outback Steakhouse gift card as a special treat to ourselves.
No reason not to treat yourself (and save money you would've spent anyway!) this holiday season.
Enjoy!
Yep, this is the time of year when many restaurants start offering free gift cards when you buy a certain amount of gift cards. For instance, Bob Evans will give you a $10 gift card when you buy $50 in gift cards from them. 20% extra exceed what you'll ever earn in fuel perks by buying your gift cards at the grocery store.
The idea behind this is technically that you could buy your friend a $50 gift card and keep the $10 for yourself, but if you typically eat there, why not keep all $60 for yourself?
Look around at your favorite restaurants--you'll see many are participating in something like this. We're creatures of habit, so we go to the same restaurants all the time. We'll be buying at least $50 in Bob Evans gift cards, probably at least one gift card to Chipotle (or more!) (they are giving you a free burrito for every $25 gift card you purchase), and maybe an Outback Steakhouse gift card as a special treat to ourselves.
No reason not to treat yourself (and save money you would've spent anyway!) this holiday season.
Enjoy!
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Some days I just feel like quitting
I want this blog to be private-ish. I don't care if most people read it, but I don't go advertising that it belongs to me. I don't connect it with my FB account because I want to remain a little bit anonymous. But do people I know IRL read? Yep. But they all know that these are my thoughts and feelings and they can't judge me for anything I write here.
And I'm still incredibly careful about what I write. I have MANY posts that I want to write but don't feel I can because I don't want to offend someone. I have people I've wanted to complain about, but held back, for fear that they might read my blog. It's my blog, though. Shouldn't I be able to write whatever the heck I want on my blog?
The answer, you'll all tell me, should be yes. But it's not.
This is why so many people are going to private blogs. I don't *want* to go private--reading a private blog can be a hassle since you can't (that I know of) put them into your blog reader and, therefore, have to remember to check in every once in awhile. I like meeting random people through my blog--I've made a good friend because she found my blog (who I still have yet to meet in person...but someday!).
But is the risk greater than the reward? This is what I'm trying to decide. I'm tired of censoring myself, of worrying that someone I know IRL will find this blog and be mad at anything I might have written. I already take such care not to post anything that I wouldn't want read by someone I know, but then there are times I go back and read posts and think "eh, maaaaybe I shouldn't have written that because someone, somewhere could get offended". Do I need that added stress?
And I'm still incredibly careful about what I write. I have MANY posts that I want to write but don't feel I can because I don't want to offend someone. I have people I've wanted to complain about, but held back, for fear that they might read my blog. It's my blog, though. Shouldn't I be able to write whatever the heck I want on my blog?
The answer, you'll all tell me, should be yes. But it's not.
This is why so many people are going to private blogs. I don't *want* to go private--reading a private blog can be a hassle since you can't (that I know of) put them into your blog reader and, therefore, have to remember to check in every once in awhile. I like meeting random people through my blog--I've made a good friend because she found my blog (who I still have yet to meet in person...but someday!).
But is the risk greater than the reward? This is what I'm trying to decide. I'm tired of censoring myself, of worrying that someone I know IRL will find this blog and be mad at anything I might have written. I already take such care not to post anything that I wouldn't want read by someone I know, but then there are times I go back and read posts and think "eh, maaaaybe I shouldn't have written that because someone, somewhere could get offended". Do I need that added stress?
Embarrassing Moment of the Day
I know it's been awhile since you've heard from me. There is a lot I need to catch up on. But I had to tell you all about this.
At theChristmas Holiday party for work. Have been sitting for awhile and get up to put my coat on. My boss (who is a woman who I am pretty close with....thank goodness) looks down and sort of makes a noise, asking what was on the floor. I look down. And I gasp. It's a nursing pad. From my bra. On the floor.
I said, "Oh, that's mine." I look in my shirt to be sure there isn't another one soon to follow. She's looking at me funny. I said to her what I wouldn't say to pretty much anyone else at work, "it's from my bra". She laughs and tells me she thought it was a coffee filter.
Crisis averted, I suppose. But wow. I was still glowing bright red, I believe!
At the
I said, "Oh, that's mine." I look in my shirt to be sure there isn't another one soon to follow. She's looking at me funny. I said to her what I wouldn't say to pretty much anyone else at work, "it's from my bra". She laughs and tells me she thought it was a coffee filter.
Crisis averted, I suppose. But wow. I was still glowing bright red, I believe!
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Meal Plan 12/4-12/10
Sunday: Southwest Sloppy Joes (we didn't do the slaw) and Southwest Butternut Squash--this was DELICIOUS! We all (all three of us!) wish we could've had it again the next night. This will definitely be on our regular rotation. I found this through my friend, Cassie's, food blog.
Monday: Baked Chicken Fingers and Baked Basil Fries
Tuesday: Vegetable Pizza--just going to throw some sauteed veggies, pizza sauce, and cheese on a pizza crust and cross my fingers!
Wednesday: Christmas dinner leftovers--I made a ham, green bean casserole, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, and rolls (and a friend brought over corn casserole...and, honestly, I didn't do as much cooking as I typically do because I was with Baby Girl...story to come later), so we're planning to eat all this for dinner
Thursday: Breakfast Strata--made with leftover ham
Friday: BBQ Chicken Pasta
Saturday: Sesame Chicken and broccoli
We'll also have sweet potato fries with one of these meals since I have some leftover from last week. Just need to figure out which night...might be tonight.
I also wanted to share one other recipe that I think I'm going to make at least once a week. Seriously. It's a hot dip using sweet onions, cream cheese, & parmesean cheese. But I can't find the recipe. So I'm going to keep you all in suspense until I find it. But once I do....you'll really appreciate it because this dip? I can't get enough.
Monday: Baked Chicken Fingers and Baked Basil Fries
Tuesday: Vegetable Pizza--just going to throw some sauteed veggies, pizza sauce, and cheese on a pizza crust and cross my fingers!
Wednesday: Christmas dinner leftovers--I made a ham, green bean casserole, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, and rolls (and a friend brought over corn casserole...and, honestly, I didn't do as much cooking as I typically do because I was with Baby Girl...story to come later), so we're planning to eat all this for dinner
Thursday: Breakfast Strata--made with leftover ham
Friday: BBQ Chicken Pasta
Saturday: Sesame Chicken and broccoli
We'll also have sweet potato fries with one of these meals since I have some leftover from last week. Just need to figure out which night...might be tonight.
I also wanted to share one other recipe that I think I'm going to make at least once a week. Seriously. It's a hot dip using sweet onions, cream cheese, & parmesean cheese. But I can't find the recipe. So I'm going to keep you all in suspense until I find it. But once I do....you'll really appreciate it because this dip? I can't get enough.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Okay, I'm going to say it...
Baby Girl has been sleeping through the night for a week now. Let's hope tonight is night number eight.
She slept through the night on Thanksgiving night while we were at my parents' house. She was totally worn out from the day and not getting a good nap, so we figured it was a fluke. But then she did it the next night.
What was different about sleeping at my parents' house than at our own house? Well, she was in a pack-n-play in the same room with us. And we also had a space heater on, making it like 80 degrees in the room (my parents don't have heat or a/c upstairs b/c it's such an old house).
So we figured we'd try making her warmer at home. We've started putting on a long-sleeved onesie underneath her pajamas. And yesterday I went out and got her some fleece jammies (that are SOOOOO cute!!! These are them.)
And she's been sleeping through the night ever since.
Seriously, kid? You've just been COLD??????
Of course that hasn't been the case this entire time, but it's been our fix now. Just wish we could've figured it out a few months ago!
She slept through the night on Thanksgiving night while we were at my parents' house. She was totally worn out from the day and not getting a good nap, so we figured it was a fluke. But then she did it the next night.
What was different about sleeping at my parents' house than at our own house? Well, she was in a pack-n-play in the same room with us. And we also had a space heater on, making it like 80 degrees in the room (my parents don't have heat or a/c upstairs b/c it's such an old house).
So we figured we'd try making her warmer at home. We've started putting on a long-sleeved onesie underneath her pajamas. And yesterday I went out and got her some fleece jammies (that are SOOOOO cute!!! These are them.)
And she's been sleeping through the night ever since.
Seriously, kid? You've just been COLD??????
Of course that hasn't been the case this entire time, but it's been our fix now. Just wish we could've figured it out a few months ago!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Christmas Cards
My absolute go-to website for photo prints is Shutterfly. I've ordered many photo books from them, including a wedding album that I put together for our parents (and am planning on putting together for us since we can't seem to get our shit together to order one through our photographer!).
Speaking of getting out shit together...I wanted to do photo birth announcements. But didn't. lol I threw a photo into our holiday card last year for some people, but generally didn't get it done. But when I was looking at announcements BEFORE Baby Girl arrived, I looked at these on Shutterfly.
I've previously also ordered Mother's Day and Father's Day cards from Shutterfly for our parents with pictures of Baby Girl (Shutterfly is always offering great promotions).
The best promotion they've done, though, is one that I think a lot of you may have read about at this point. They are offering 50 free holiday photo cards for bloggers who write about their products! I'm so stinking excited. I had actually already put together the photo cards I wanted to use on Shutterfly when I realized that I should participate!
This is one of our favorite designs:
Another favorite is this one:
Although while trying to find the ones that I loved, I might have fallen in love with some others... lol After the holidays, I'll be sure to share the final product!!!
Speaking of getting out shit together...I wanted to do photo birth announcements. But didn't. lol I threw a photo into our holiday card last year for some people, but generally didn't get it done. But when I was looking at announcements BEFORE Baby Girl arrived, I looked at these on Shutterfly.
I've previously also ordered Mother's Day and Father's Day cards from Shutterfly for our parents with pictures of Baby Girl (Shutterfly is always offering great promotions).
The best promotion they've done, though, is one that I think a lot of you may have read about at this point. They are offering 50 free holiday photo cards for bloggers who write about their products! I'm so stinking excited. I had actually already put together the photo cards I wanted to use on Shutterfly when I realized that I should participate!
This is one of our favorite designs:
Another favorite is this one:
Although while trying to find the ones that I loved, I might have fallen in love with some others... lol After the holidays, I'll be sure to share the final product!!!
Monday, November 29, 2010
Fail
Things have been hectic. I honestly thought I'd get online during my Thanksgiving break to blog, but just haven't had the time or motivation. We spent Thursday morning through Saturday late afternoon with my parents, then came back and spent Saturday evening and Sunday at home. It was a good long weekend, but far too short.
Work has been insanely busy--I haven't had much time to breathe or eat, let alone write a blog post.
Baby Girl is in the midst of a verbal explosion. She's willing to try to say any word we say (which is a little scary sometimes...) and watches our mouths intently, trying to figure out how we're forming words. While playing Thanksgiving Bingo at my aunt's house, I won a foam alphabet puzzle, so we've been playing with that. It's adorable to listen to her try to say the letters--all the ones that end in the "ee" sound sound about the same.
We've been piecing together childcare, which has been sort of interesting. It has been a blessing that our work is SO flexible and allows us to work from home in the evenings or for The Hubby to go into work for awhile when Baby Girl is down for the night (like he's doing tonight and last night). We've spent quite a bit of time with Baby Girl, which has really been nice. Today The Hubby stayed home with her, my mom is coming up tomorrow, Wednesday she has her major doctor appointments, then I'll be home with her in the afternoon, then Thursday and Friday The Hubby's coworker's daughter (who is in a Master's program--not a 12 year old or something) will watch her. This girl, K. (because "The Hubby's coworker's daughter is sort of lengthy), will be watching Baby Girl until Christmastime. We're hoping to have something else lined up very soon that would begin in January!
Baby Girl has quickly made her way into toddlerhood. She is hitting, throwing tantrums for no reason, and is refusing food. She wants to dip food (she was dipping cornbread into BBQ sauce tonight at dinner) and refuses food she used to eat all the time. If it weren't for peas, she wouldn't be eating much. We're still sticking to our guns and not fixing anything special for her for dinner, but it's getting difficult. Tonight we had shredded chicken, frozen veggies, and cornbread. She just wasn't really interested in any of it.
So I failed at this NaBloPoMo thing. I totally dropped the ball over the last four days, but hope to finish out the month strong. Today is Baby Girl's 16 month birthday, so I should probably do a monthly update post, but am having a hard time finding the motivation to do so. I'm horribly worn out from work and from battling this toddler...all I want to do is retreat and sleep.
Work has been insanely busy--I haven't had much time to breathe or eat, let alone write a blog post.
Baby Girl is in the midst of a verbal explosion. She's willing to try to say any word we say (which is a little scary sometimes...) and watches our mouths intently, trying to figure out how we're forming words. While playing Thanksgiving Bingo at my aunt's house, I won a foam alphabet puzzle, so we've been playing with that. It's adorable to listen to her try to say the letters--all the ones that end in the "ee" sound sound about the same.
We've been piecing together childcare, which has been sort of interesting. It has been a blessing that our work is SO flexible and allows us to work from home in the evenings or for The Hubby to go into work for awhile when Baby Girl is down for the night (like he's doing tonight and last night). We've spent quite a bit of time with Baby Girl, which has really been nice. Today The Hubby stayed home with her, my mom is coming up tomorrow, Wednesday she has her major doctor appointments, then I'll be home with her in the afternoon, then Thursday and Friday The Hubby's coworker's daughter (who is in a Master's program--not a 12 year old or something) will watch her. This girl, K. (because "The Hubby's coworker's daughter is sort of lengthy), will be watching Baby Girl until Christmastime. We're hoping to have something else lined up very soon that would begin in January!
Baby Girl has quickly made her way into toddlerhood. She is hitting, throwing tantrums for no reason, and is refusing food. She wants to dip food (she was dipping cornbread into BBQ sauce tonight at dinner) and refuses food she used to eat all the time. If it weren't for peas, she wouldn't be eating much. We're still sticking to our guns and not fixing anything special for her for dinner, but it's getting difficult. Tonight we had shredded chicken, frozen veggies, and cornbread. She just wasn't really interested in any of it.
So I failed at this NaBloPoMo thing. I totally dropped the ball over the last four days, but hope to finish out the month strong. Today is Baby Girl's 16 month birthday, so I should probably do a monthly update post, but am having a hard time finding the motivation to do so. I'm horribly worn out from work and from battling this toddler...all I want to do is retreat and sleep.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Baby Girl's Day
Baby Girl had an exciting day today! A very good friend offered to watch her since she was off work, so Baby Girl got to experience life as if she were a twin. My friend has a 15-month-old of her own, so she, as she put it, "had twins with a return policy". lol
It sounds like they had a fabulous time--such a good time that neither kid (neither of whom is a great sleeper) wanted to take a nap! They both fell asleep after lunch, though, and napped for 2 hours! They must have worn each other out :)
She didn't even cry when we left--in fact, she waved at us as we walked out the door! I guess that's what happens when she is spending time with someone she already knows (and who is feeding her something tasty like grapes!).
On this Thanksgiving Eve, I'm just so incredibly thankful for a friend that is willing to watch our daughter, to give us the peace of mind of knowing she's with someone we trust 100% and who loves her and only wants the best for her. We were both able to work, knowing Baby Girl was having a great day (I got an email update, a phone call, and Daddy got a text with a photo!). Thank you.
It sounds like they had a fabulous time--such a good time that neither kid (neither of whom is a great sleeper) wanted to take a nap! They both fell asleep after lunch, though, and napped for 2 hours! They must have worn each other out :)
She didn't even cry when we left--in fact, she waved at us as we walked out the door! I guess that's what happens when she is spending time with someone she already knows (and who is feeding her something tasty like grapes!).
On this Thanksgiving Eve, I'm just so incredibly thankful for a friend that is willing to watch our daughter, to give us the peace of mind of knowing she's with someone we trust 100% and who loves her and only wants the best for her. We were both able to work, knowing Baby Girl was having a great day (I got an email update, a phone call, and Daddy got a text with a photo!). Thank you.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Bah
We're having a verbal explosion in our house (and this time it isn't by The Hubby). Baby Girl is trying to say every word you ask and is now identifying shirt, coat, and pants (on her own), and repeating red, green, and blue (and then some). Today she started saying "bye" (although I'm not sure why it took her so long to start). Most people probably wouldn't know what she's saying, but if you pay attention the context, you can typically figure it out.
For instance, there are a lot of words that sound the same. Sock. Truck. Stuck. Duck. But you can typically figure out which she means...eventually.
This brings me to Bah. Bah is her new favorite thing. We walked around my office today, looking for Bah. We were hanging out at the house and she NEEDED to see Bah.
Who is Bah? Well, it's this guy:
Yep. While we may not watch much TV in our house (and, for some reason, I'm generally not a fan of an attachment to characters, even though I was obsessed with Kermit as a kid), apparently my mom kept cartoons on all day the days she watched her. That's fine--it's better than her watching adult programming (we prefer she watch sports....), but it seems like my mom sought out this guy. They watched a lot of Spongebob Squarepants. And now she's obsessed.
Somehow, she also knows that Bob the Builder is Bah (we have a book featuring him). Either way, she loves her Bah.
For instance, there are a lot of words that sound the same. Sock. Truck. Stuck. Duck. But you can typically figure out which she means...eventually.
This brings me to Bah. Bah is her new favorite thing. We walked around my office today, looking for Bah. We were hanging out at the house and she NEEDED to see Bah.
Who is Bah? Well, it's this guy:
Yep. While we may not watch much TV in our house (and, for some reason, I'm generally not a fan of an attachment to characters, even though I was obsessed with Kermit as a kid), apparently my mom kept cartoons on all day the days she watched her. That's fine--it's better than her watching adult programming (we prefer she watch sports....), but it seems like my mom sought out this guy. They watched a lot of Spongebob Squarepants. And now she's obsessed.
Somehow, she also knows that Bob the Builder is Bah (we have a book featuring him). Either way, she loves her Bah.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Off the wagon
We were doing so well with our meal planning and getting motivated to do things in the evenings to get ourselves to a place where we're comfortable and happy in our space. All that fell to the wayside when we all got sick and didn't have the energy to go do anything. Making things even worse, The Hubby and I weren't sick at exactly the same time, which meant when one wasn't feeling well, we did nothing. We haven't really touched the basement in a couple of weeks and need to have it fairly empty by December 4th, when we host our annual Christmas party (we have friends that will sleep down there and we might hang out down there once the kiddo is sleeping). Nothing like a deadline to whip us into shape, eh?
Maybe....
Of course, then my tooth extraction happened. And now we're both having to do evening work to make up for time we're spending with Baby Girl during the day because we don't have a sitter today and tomorrow. So it doesn't look like it's going to happen before Thanksgiving and we're just going to have to be okay with that.
Meal planning for the week is just eating whatever is left from last week that we didn't have because I either didn't feel like cooking or didn't feel like eating. I'm still experiencing some soreness on one side of my mouth, so who knows how dinner tonight will go down.
We'll get back on the wagon...someday. But for now, we're just going to be a little less organized and a little more chaotic. And we have to be okay with that.
Maybe....
Of course, then my tooth extraction happened. And now we're both having to do evening work to make up for time we're spending with Baby Girl during the day because we don't have a sitter today and tomorrow. So it doesn't look like it's going to happen before Thanksgiving and we're just going to have to be okay with that.
Meal planning for the week is just eating whatever is left from last week that we didn't have because I either didn't feel like cooking or didn't feel like eating. I'm still experiencing some soreness on one side of my mouth, so who knows how dinner tonight will go down.
We'll get back on the wagon...someday. But for now, we're just going to be a little less organized and a little more chaotic. And we have to be okay with that.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
The Mother of All Tantrums
Well, it's official. Baby Girl is a toddler.
We're still in this weird place where she refuses to take an sort of afternoon nap, but won't sleep more than an hour for us in the late morning. Then she's a total mess.
Today we went and interviewed a potential childcare provider and I was scared of what it would be like...until she fell asleep in the car. She took a nice little nap while The Hubby sat and listened to the Browns game and I went inside to talk to the lady. When she awoke, she was confused, but happy. She warmed up to the house and got out a bunch of toys and seemed really happy.
We figured since she was in such a good mood, it was a BEAUTIFUL day, and we were already close, we'd go to where we wanted to take her Christmas card photos. We did and got some really cute photos. We decided to let her play on a hill, running down it toward me--she loved it!
What she didn't love was being told it was time to go. She threw the MOTHER of all tantrums when The Hubby picked her up to take her to the top of the hill. We were hoping to take some more photos, but realized we were done when she was kicking, hitting, sobbing, and screeching, refusing to be done. He put her in the car and she shrieked until we were about halfway home. By the time we got home, she was okay, but man, that was UGLY. Seriously.
Welcome to toddlerhood (toddlerdom?), kiddo. May we all survive it intact.
And as a reward for reading, here is one of the pics I took today, straight off of the camera (no editing):
We're still in this weird place where she refuses to take an sort of afternoon nap, but won't sleep more than an hour for us in the late morning. Then she's a total mess.
Today we went and interviewed a potential childcare provider and I was scared of what it would be like...until she fell asleep in the car. She took a nice little nap while The Hubby sat and listened to the Browns game and I went inside to talk to the lady. When she awoke, she was confused, but happy. She warmed up to the house and got out a bunch of toys and seemed really happy.
We figured since she was in such a good mood, it was a BEAUTIFUL day, and we were already close, we'd go to where we wanted to take her Christmas card photos. We did and got some really cute photos. We decided to let her play on a hill, running down it toward me--she loved it!
What she didn't love was being told it was time to go. She threw the MOTHER of all tantrums when The Hubby picked her up to take her to the top of the hill. We were hoping to take some more photos, but realized we were done when she was kicking, hitting, sobbing, and screeching, refusing to be done. He put her in the car and she shrieked until we were about halfway home. By the time we got home, she was okay, but man, that was UGLY. Seriously.
Welcome to toddlerhood (toddlerdom?), kiddo. May we all survive it intact.
And as a reward for reading, here is one of the pics I took today, straight off of the camera (no editing):
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Spirited
I think many people would call my daughter spirited. I might agree most of the time, but there are definitely times when I would call her a pain in the ass.
Like tonight, when I was trying to change a disturbingly disgusting poopy diaper and she kept raising her bottom of the ground, trying to roll to run away, and kicking me...all at the same time.
Or when I was trying to get clothes/shoes/coats on her and she's running away, flashing that impish smile.
Or when she looked at me and smiled as she dropped her Cheerios off her high chair.
Or when she whines and whines...and WHINES, wanting SOMETHING, but not telling me what it might be. And then once I figure it out, she won't say please (which she'll do any other time). So she starts to throw a complete fit.
All of these were redeemed, though, when she looked at me as I'm sobbing (she hit me pretty hard in the cheek where I'm still feeling some pain from having my wisdom teeth removed) and looks at me with big, sad brown eyes. I ask, through my tears, if I can have a hug. She obliged with the sweetest, biggest baby hug I've ever gotten.
She also is willing to give just about anyone a hug if they ask. This might become a little scary later, but for now it's incredibly sweet.
She might whine when I cut her off (from food, her bath, her playing), but within 5 seconds she's forgotten what she had been doing and stops whining.
Spirited, yes. But sweet as can be and I wouldn't have it any other way.
(although I might have appreciated her sleeping through the night last night....yeah, I totally jinxed it)
Like tonight, when I was trying to change a disturbingly disgusting poopy diaper and she kept raising her bottom of the ground, trying to roll to run away, and kicking me...all at the same time.
Or when I was trying to get clothes/shoes/coats on her and she's running away, flashing that impish smile.
Or when she looked at me and smiled as she dropped her Cheerios off her high chair.
Or when she whines and whines...and WHINES, wanting SOMETHING, but not telling me what it might be. And then once I figure it out, she won't say please (which she'll do any other time). So she starts to throw a complete fit.
All of these were redeemed, though, when she looked at me as I'm sobbing (she hit me pretty hard in the cheek where I'm still feeling some pain from having my wisdom teeth removed) and looks at me with big, sad brown eyes. I ask, through my tears, if I can have a hug. She obliged with the sweetest, biggest baby hug I've ever gotten.
She also is willing to give just about anyone a hug if they ask. This might become a little scary later, but for now it's incredibly sweet.
She might whine when I cut her off (from food, her bath, her playing), but within 5 seconds she's forgotten what she had been doing and stops whining.
Spirited, yes. But sweet as can be and I wouldn't have it any other way.
(although I might have appreciated her sleeping through the night last night....yeah, I totally jinxed it)
Friday, November 19, 2010
Childcare Update
A few updates....
We went and visited a daycare on Wednesday afternoon. Not overly impressed, but we're sure she would be safe there. If nothing else, there's that. They could get us in as early as December 6th.
The Hubby's coworker's daughter (who we both know) is coming home from college (where she's getting her Master's in some sort childhood education) very soon and doesn't have a job. The coworker was confident that the daughter would want to watch Baby Girl while she's home, which would offer a solution from November 29th through the beginning of January (we're both taking off December 22nd until January 3rd, so we don't need anyone at that time). Waiting to hear from the coworker.
This Sunday we have a meeting set up with a lady who used to have a daycare in another suburb, but has moved and is starting a new daycare in her home January 3rd. She has a set circullum, which sounds really appealing to us. I hope we like her as much as I like the idea of her.
Then there are a few centers that we want to check out that could take Baby Girl once she turns 18 months (at the end of January). My mom is planning on retiring very soon (waiting on a replacement), so if she does, she could watch Baby Girl for the majority of January if needed.
Lastly, a good friend has offered to watch Baby Girl next Wednesday. She has a little boy her age and I think it will go really well!
If everything falls into place, next Monday and Tuesday are the only days we don't have a good plan. We have vacation time that we can take, but I'm insanely busy at work. It might require us to take Baby Girl to work with us for a bit or something. We'll see...
Stay tuned!
We went and visited a daycare on Wednesday afternoon. Not overly impressed, but we're sure she would be safe there. If nothing else, there's that. They could get us in as early as December 6th.
The Hubby's coworker's daughter (who we both know) is coming home from college (where she's getting her Master's in some sort childhood education) very soon and doesn't have a job. The coworker was confident that the daughter would want to watch Baby Girl while she's home, which would offer a solution from November 29th through the beginning of January (we're both taking off December 22nd until January 3rd, so we don't need anyone at that time). Waiting to hear from the coworker.
This Sunday we have a meeting set up with a lady who used to have a daycare in another suburb, but has moved and is starting a new daycare in her home January 3rd. She has a set circullum, which sounds really appealing to us. I hope we like her as much as I like the idea of her.
Then there are a few centers that we want to check out that could take Baby Girl once she turns 18 months (at the end of January). My mom is planning on retiring very soon (waiting on a replacement), so if she does, she could watch Baby Girl for the majority of January if needed.
Lastly, a good friend has offered to watch Baby Girl next Wednesday. She has a little boy her age and I think it will go really well!
If everything falls into place, next Monday and Tuesday are the only days we don't have a good plan. We have vacation time that we can take, but I'm insanely busy at work. It might require us to take Baby Girl to work with us for a bit or something. We'll see...
Stay tuned!
Sleep update
I really hesistate to do this, but I'm putting it out there. Baby Girl has slept through the night for the last four nights.
There, I said it. And I'm sure tonight she'll be up around 1.
At the end of last week, she started to get sick. Since she was acting normal besides the river of snot, we went ahead with our plans to cut out overnight nursing. The first night was rough, but she slept through the night that next night (I think that was Friday). The Hubby and I were both getting sick and didn't want to deal with her when she woke up in the middle of the night Saturday night, so I nursed her. She got up again Sunday night and The Hubby and I worked with her...after being up for over 2 hours. But since that night she's been sleeping all night long.
She actually defies all the baby laws and sleeps better when she's sick, so who knows if this will last now that she's on azithromycin for her latest double ear infection (ugh....), but we're keeping our fingers crossed that this is it.
But now it's time for a confession. I sort of miss her. I've felt better, though, since she's been falling asleep while nursing, which makes an extra long nursing session. Love that (for now) since I know our nursing time is coming to an end. I'm down to pumping 3-4 ounces a day at work, but she's still nursing like normal when I'm around her. She hasn't gotten frustrated by the lack of volume, so we'll keep doing it.
I am SO happy to be getting some sleep, though, finally, especially since The Hubby and I have had this same cold since last weekend and then I had my three remaining wisdom teeth pulled yesterday. It's good to get some reliable sleep. She's been waking around 5--sometimes for the day and sometimes to fall back asleep nursing. Not sure if we're going to try to discourage that or if we'll just roll with it until it starts moving toward 4. Just playing it by ear for now.
There, I said it. And I'm sure tonight she'll be up around 1.
At the end of last week, she started to get sick. Since she was acting normal besides the river of snot, we went ahead with our plans to cut out overnight nursing. The first night was rough, but she slept through the night that next night (I think that was Friday). The Hubby and I were both getting sick and didn't want to deal with her when she woke up in the middle of the night Saturday night, so I nursed her. She got up again Sunday night and The Hubby and I worked with her...after being up for over 2 hours. But since that night she's been sleeping all night long.
She actually defies all the baby laws and sleeps better when she's sick, so who knows if this will last now that she's on azithromycin for her latest double ear infection (ugh....), but we're keeping our fingers crossed that this is it.
But now it's time for a confession. I sort of miss her. I've felt better, though, since she's been falling asleep while nursing, which makes an extra long nursing session. Love that (for now) since I know our nursing time is coming to an end. I'm down to pumping 3-4 ounces a day at work, but she's still nursing like normal when I'm around her. She hasn't gotten frustrated by the lack of volume, so we'll keep doing it.
I am SO happy to be getting some sleep, though, finally, especially since The Hubby and I have had this same cold since last weekend and then I had my three remaining wisdom teeth pulled yesterday. It's good to get some reliable sleep. She's been waking around 5--sometimes for the day and sometimes to fall back asleep nursing. Not sure if we're going to try to discourage that or if we'll just roll with it until it starts moving toward 4. Just playing it by ear for now.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Sitter Drama
We haven't been completely happy with our sitter for awhile, but since Baby Girl was happy there and seemed safe, we left her there. Over time, though, the little things began to add up and took their toll on our family. The sitter always made us feel guilty for having our own opinions and for asking about Baby Girl's day. For instance, last week after I'd asked about her nap that day, "It was a normal day. When it isn't a normal day, I will tell you." I was upset, to say the least--I should be able to ask without getting a bunch of attitude.
But as with everything that we've had happen, we let it roll off our backs. It's just a bit of attitude, right? She's still caring for our daughter.
Over the weekend, we really discussed the care, though, and our concerns. The Hubby and I realized that there are other concerns besides the attitude that we get from her. We've picked Baby Girl up and she's been poopy--and she doesn't poop quietly. We've picked her up twice with scratches on her face that the sitter hadn't even noticed. I seriously don't care what happened--accidents happen--but she should've at least seen it. She sits in her chair all day doing plastic canvas-work while the kids play. She then sells said projects--so she's essentially making money while she's making money watching my kid.
We dropped Baby Girl off on Monday with her bags of frozen breastmilk that the sitter had requested (we had been bringing it daily) and the sitter "wanted to be sure we're decreasing this" and was pushing us to introduce cow's milk. Then we were chatting with the sitter and another mommy who has a 5 month old and is nursing her. The sitter says to the other mommy "Just so you know, I'll be cutting her off at 12 months. It's just too many bags and too much." Um, lady, you have NO right to say that. It was just indicative of her attitude with everything. She pushed Baby Girl to one nap before I think she was ready because it was convenient for her. It's all about what's easy for her.
After the interaction on Monday morning, I sat in the driveway with The Hubby, sobbing. I wanted to go get Baby Girl and take her home with us. I was tired of dealing with this lady. I was DONE.
He convinced me to go to work that day, but I was just emotional all day long (and then got to work to find out I had screwed up something big and spent the entire day working to fix it). We were going to leave our 2-week notice when we picked up, but chickened out. We decided to email her that evening, even though we didn't have anything else lined up. It was really scary, but we knew we could make something work, even if that meant The Hubby working evenings and me working days. We also knew my mom could help out some.
The sitter was closed yesterday, so my mom had her at home.
This morning The Hubby took Baby Girl to the sitter's because he was scheduled to stay late for a meeting. I came into work, but got a call from him as I was driving. The sitter had met him and Baby Girl at the door with all of Baby Girl's belongings (including frozen milk) as well as our checks for the last two weeks. She told him, "You didn't give the right notice." He replied, "What?" She repeated herself and he said, "I'm sorry it has to end this way." She said, "You shouldn't be surprised." and he told her that he was. She then repeated, "You shouldn't be" and closed the door in his and Baby Girl's face.
When I talked to him, I think he was in shock. He took Baby Girl home and they've been spending the day together. We're meeting at 3 to go to a daycare close to work to check it out. I'm a little wary, based on reviews by a coworker (it doesn't sound like Baby Girl would be unsafe--just that I might not have as much control as I would like--some might call me a control freak), but the coworker says she would be safe and happy. We also have leads on a few places that could take Baby Girl when she turns 18 months (in late January). We might use other resources until then or we might put her in this daycare until then, we haven't decided. I've also found someone on Craigs.list this afternoon that sounds great and contacted them.
So it will be for the best in the end, but I'm just SO SO upset and sad that it had to go down like this. I hate to make people upset and hate thinking about what she's saying about us to the other parents. I just don't like drama or confrontation. I KNOW Baby Girl will be better off somewhere else, but getting there is going to be rough. This could be a really rough 2 1/2 months for us. But hopefully when we get to February 1, we'll be a happier, healthier family.
But as with everything that we've had happen, we let it roll off our backs. It's just a bit of attitude, right? She's still caring for our daughter.
Over the weekend, we really discussed the care, though, and our concerns. The Hubby and I realized that there are other concerns besides the attitude that we get from her. We've picked Baby Girl up and she's been poopy--and she doesn't poop quietly. We've picked her up twice with scratches on her face that the sitter hadn't even noticed. I seriously don't care what happened--accidents happen--but she should've at least seen it. She sits in her chair all day doing plastic canvas-work while the kids play. She then sells said projects--so she's essentially making money while she's making money watching my kid.
We dropped Baby Girl off on Monday with her bags of frozen breastmilk that the sitter had requested (we had been bringing it daily) and the sitter "wanted to be sure we're decreasing this" and was pushing us to introduce cow's milk. Then we were chatting with the sitter and another mommy who has a 5 month old and is nursing her. The sitter says to the other mommy "Just so you know, I'll be cutting her off at 12 months. It's just too many bags and too much." Um, lady, you have NO right to say that. It was just indicative of her attitude with everything. She pushed Baby Girl to one nap before I think she was ready because it was convenient for her. It's all about what's easy for her.
After the interaction on Monday morning, I sat in the driveway with The Hubby, sobbing. I wanted to go get Baby Girl and take her home with us. I was tired of dealing with this lady. I was DONE.
He convinced me to go to work that day, but I was just emotional all day long (and then got to work to find out I had screwed up something big and spent the entire day working to fix it). We were going to leave our 2-week notice when we picked up, but chickened out. We decided to email her that evening, even though we didn't have anything else lined up. It was really scary, but we knew we could make something work, even if that meant The Hubby working evenings and me working days. We also knew my mom could help out some.
The sitter was closed yesterday, so my mom had her at home.
This morning The Hubby took Baby Girl to the sitter's because he was scheduled to stay late for a meeting. I came into work, but got a call from him as I was driving. The sitter had met him and Baby Girl at the door with all of Baby Girl's belongings (including frozen milk) as well as our checks for the last two weeks. She told him, "You didn't give the right notice." He replied, "What?" She repeated herself and he said, "I'm sorry it has to end this way." She said, "You shouldn't be surprised." and he told her that he was. She then repeated, "You shouldn't be" and closed the door in his and Baby Girl's face.
When I talked to him, I think he was in shock. He took Baby Girl home and they've been spending the day together. We're meeting at 3 to go to a daycare close to work to check it out. I'm a little wary, based on reviews by a coworker (it doesn't sound like Baby Girl would be unsafe--just that I might not have as much control as I would like--some might call me a control freak), but the coworker says she would be safe and happy. We also have leads on a few places that could take Baby Girl when she turns 18 months (in late January). We might use other resources until then or we might put her in this daycare until then, we haven't decided. I've also found someone on Craigs.list this afternoon that sounds great and contacted them.
So it will be for the best in the end, but I'm just SO SO upset and sad that it had to go down like this. I hate to make people upset and hate thinking about what she's saying about us to the other parents. I just don't like drama or confrontation. I KNOW Baby Girl will be better off somewhere else, but getting there is going to be rough. This could be a really rough 2 1/2 months for us. But hopefully when we get to February 1, we'll be a happier, healthier family.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Well, there goes that.
So much for NaBloPoMo! I didn't have the emotional energy to post yesterday and nearly didn't post today. I'll try to do better and maybe double up one day this week.
As for yesterday, we're changing sitters. And it's scary. And we let her know last night. And I had a ridiculously bad day yesterday, complete with tears through about 6 hours of it. No, no one died...just me being really emotional. When I'm upset, I cry. Mad? Cry. Sad? Cry, of course. I cry whenever stress gets to me or I get overwhelmed. I'm not weepy by nature, but it's how I react to strong emotion, nonetheless.
And today? Today was just busy, as every day at work is going to be for awhile. You see, we're going through some major changes and I've been put in charge of spearheading it. It's really exciting, but really overwhelming. I'm just hoping I don't screw this one up.
But I'll try to post tomorrow. I have some things I'm thinking and feeling, but fear putting it out on my blog will alienate people. So maybe not. We'll see. My goal in life is to please everyone and my own happiness be damned. So I hate to upset anyone, even those who I'm not that happy with.
I'm out of here. I'm heading out the door to go home, see my girl (who hopefully has napped for grandma (our sitter is closed today because of a family issue)), have dinner, then head to book club for some girl time. It should be fun.
As for yesterday, we're changing sitters. And it's scary. And we let her know last night. And I had a ridiculously bad day yesterday, complete with tears through about 6 hours of it. No, no one died...just me being really emotional. When I'm upset, I cry. Mad? Cry. Sad? Cry, of course. I cry whenever stress gets to me or I get overwhelmed. I'm not weepy by nature, but it's how I react to strong emotion, nonetheless.
And today? Today was just busy, as every day at work is going to be for awhile. You see, we're going through some major changes and I've been put in charge of spearheading it. It's really exciting, but really overwhelming. I'm just hoping I don't screw this one up.
But I'll try to post tomorrow. I have some things I'm thinking and feeling, but fear putting it out on my blog will alienate people. So maybe not. We'll see. My goal in life is to please everyone and my own happiness be damned. So I hate to upset anyone, even those who I'm not that happy with.
I'm out of here. I'm heading out the door to go home, see my girl (who hopefully has napped for grandma (our sitter is closed today because of a family issue)), have dinner, then head to book club for some girl time. It should be fun.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
The pregnancy test
Since my lovely monthly visitor returned in mid-June, she'd been fairly predictable. Prior to Baby Girl, I had a 28 day cycle almost every month. It's been much of the same since then. Until this month. This month I was on cycle day 30, had spotted a bit and cramped a bit about 4 days prior, but then...nothing. It was eerily similar to the month I got pregnant.
So I was in the bathroom yesterday and glanced under the sink and found the leftover digital test from that successful cycle. It expired in April 2009. I figured, what the heck. I peed on it. And as that test sat blinking, calculating, I held my breath. I realized how scared I was and how ready I was NOT to have another baby. How much I want to keep spending time with MY baby without having to split that time with a new one. But then, watching that test blink, I started to accept it, to know that we'd be okay if it came up "Pregnant".
But boy was I happy when it read "Not Pregnant".
And then about 2 hours later, I didn't need to have used that test after all.
So I was in the bathroom yesterday and glanced under the sink and found the leftover digital test from that successful cycle. It expired in April 2009. I figured, what the heck. I peed on it. And as that test sat blinking, calculating, I held my breath. I realized how scared I was and how ready I was NOT to have another baby. How much I want to keep spending time with MY baby without having to split that time with a new one. But then, watching that test blink, I started to accept it, to know that we'd be okay if it came up "Pregnant".
But boy was I happy when it read "Not Pregnant".
And then about 2 hours later, I didn't need to have used that test after all.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Odd, but good
Had a weird day today. Woke up at 6:00 to realize that I'd just (technically*) gotten 9 straight hours of sleep. That's right, Baby Girl didn't wake up and cry at all last night.
* I say technically because both The Hubby and I woke up repeatedly, waiting for her to get up. Isn't that always how it goes?
Anyway, we were all in pretty good moods and hung out together in bed for awhile. This is some of my most cherished time, even though it's not fun snuggle time. Oh no, it's Baby-Girl-trying-to-sit-on-our-faces time.
But then we got up, had some breakfast, then Baby Girl and I went and met a friend at her craft bazaar. We had a great trip, Baby Girl was charming, as always, and it was nice to do something different and see a good friend. Baby Girl loved greeting all the people and they seemed happy to see the little lady in the Buckeye cheerleader outfit (besides the older gentleman who asked if she was a boy or a girl...in a dress)
The Hubby and I had decided that we needed to try one nap this weekend because when trying two naps last weekend we got no good sleep from Baby Girl.
On my drive home from the bazaar, Baby Girl fell asleep. Of course.
Many people think this might be a good thing, but if Baby Girl falls asleep in the car, it's all over. It means she's not going back to sleep anytime soon and it's impossible to move her from the car to her bed sleeping (this was even true when she fell asleep after bedtime and slept a full hour in the car).
We got home, had some lunch, nursed, then decided we'd try to put her down. After she'd been up there for about 10 minutes, The Hubby went to check on her since he heard weird noises and discovered that she'd pulled the cords to her wave machine and her lamp into the crib and was playing with them. He removed them from the crib and told her to go to sleep. After about 20 minutes more, we heard another weird noise and I went up. She'd gotten the cord again, but this time I noticed that it stunk, bad.
Of course, she'd pooped. *sigh* And this was no normal poo. It was huge. And stinky. And a near blowout. Yuck. Guess it's a side effect of the cold.
So I changed her (with some distraction by Daddy that I enlisted). Then I moved her crib a foot away from the wall. I tried to get her to go to sleep on my shoulder, but she wasn't having it. I left her in her crib and she stayed up there, happily, for another 40 minutes or so. At that point The Hubby got her and brought her back down.
She was really pleasant. We went outside and enjoyed the beautiful weather we've been having (mid-70's in mid-November? Yes, please!) then played inside some. When she rubbed her eyes (around 3:30 by this point--you know, at the start of the Buckeye game), we (The Hubby) tried to put her to bed. She slept, but only for about 40 minutes. And when she woke up, she was CRANKY. Ugh. Like signed for milk, I held out my arms for her to come see me, and she melted down in the middle of the living room floor cranky.
Dinner finally arrived (The Hubby begged for pizza, so I finally gave in) and she ate 1 1/2 slices of Papa John's pizza. And then she was happy. Apparently she was just hungry. Guess that's what a massive poo will do to you.
So then we had a great time watching the second half of the game. It's a good thing she slept through a lot of the first half...it was ugly. But the second half was fun, Baby Girl was fun....it was good.
Our highlights (besides the actual football):
Baby Girl showed us the sign for "loss of down" when the ref did it--amazing how much attention she pays to these things!
Baby Girl repeatedly held her arms up for "touchdown"
Daddy and Baby Girl danced around (mostly marching) when we'd score a touchdown. He and I would sing the fight song while they danced and when we were done, she'd clap. And then she'd twirl in circles until she fell down.
Yep, she was getting a bit slap-happy. But it was adorable and she was SO much fun. She would hide around the corner, then jump out and giggle like crazy. I was actually a bit sad to see her go to bed. Luckily, she went down easily, which surprised both her daddy and me. I'm just hoping she stays there for awhile, especially since I'm headed to bed now. My throat hurts worse than I remember it hurting in a VERY long time. I think it's just some post-nasal drip going on, but wish either the cold would really start (snot coming out of my nose, that is) or it would just go away. This sore throat is awful.
Good night! And Go Bucks!
* I say technically because both The Hubby and I woke up repeatedly, waiting for her to get up. Isn't that always how it goes?
Anyway, we were all in pretty good moods and hung out together in bed for awhile. This is some of my most cherished time, even though it's not fun snuggle time. Oh no, it's Baby-Girl-trying-to-sit-on-our-faces time.
But then we got up, had some breakfast, then Baby Girl and I went and met a friend at her craft bazaar. We had a great trip, Baby Girl was charming, as always, and it was nice to do something different and see a good friend. Baby Girl loved greeting all the people and they seemed happy to see the little lady in the Buckeye cheerleader outfit (besides the older gentleman who asked if she was a boy or a girl...in a dress)
The Hubby and I had decided that we needed to try one nap this weekend because when trying two naps last weekend we got no good sleep from Baby Girl.
On my drive home from the bazaar, Baby Girl fell asleep. Of course.
Many people think this might be a good thing, but if Baby Girl falls asleep in the car, it's all over. It means she's not going back to sleep anytime soon and it's impossible to move her from the car to her bed sleeping (this was even true when she fell asleep after bedtime and slept a full hour in the car).
We got home, had some lunch, nursed, then decided we'd try to put her down. After she'd been up there for about 10 minutes, The Hubby went to check on her since he heard weird noises and discovered that she'd pulled the cords to her wave machine and her lamp into the crib and was playing with them. He removed them from the crib and told her to go to sleep. After about 20 minutes more, we heard another weird noise and I went up. She'd gotten the cord again, but this time I noticed that it stunk, bad.
Of course, she'd pooped. *sigh* And this was no normal poo. It was huge. And stinky. And a near blowout. Yuck. Guess it's a side effect of the cold.
So I changed her (with some distraction by Daddy that I enlisted). Then I moved her crib a foot away from the wall. I tried to get her to go to sleep on my shoulder, but she wasn't having it. I left her in her crib and she stayed up there, happily, for another 40 minutes or so. At that point The Hubby got her and brought her back down.
She was really pleasant. We went outside and enjoyed the beautiful weather we've been having (mid-70's in mid-November? Yes, please!) then played inside some. When she rubbed her eyes (around 3:30 by this point--you know, at the start of the Buckeye game), we (The Hubby) tried to put her to bed. She slept, but only for about 40 minutes. And when she woke up, she was CRANKY. Ugh. Like signed for milk, I held out my arms for her to come see me, and she melted down in the middle of the living room floor cranky.
Dinner finally arrived (The Hubby begged for pizza, so I finally gave in) and she ate 1 1/2 slices of Papa John's pizza. And then she was happy. Apparently she was just hungry. Guess that's what a massive poo will do to you.
So then we had a great time watching the second half of the game. It's a good thing she slept through a lot of the first half...it was ugly. But the second half was fun, Baby Girl was fun....it was good.
Our highlights (besides the actual football):
Baby Girl showed us the sign for "loss of down" when the ref did it--amazing how much attention she pays to these things!
Baby Girl repeatedly held her arms up for "touchdown"
Daddy and Baby Girl danced around (mostly marching) when we'd score a touchdown. He and I would sing the fight song while they danced and when we were done, she'd clap. And then she'd twirl in circles until she fell down.
Yep, she was getting a bit slap-happy. But it was adorable and she was SO much fun. She would hide around the corner, then jump out and giggle like crazy. I was actually a bit sad to see her go to bed. Luckily, she went down easily, which surprised both her daddy and me. I'm just hoping she stays there for awhile, especially since I'm headed to bed now. My throat hurts worse than I remember it hurting in a VERY long time. I think it's just some post-nasal drip going on, but wish either the cold would really start (snot coming out of my nose, that is) or it would just go away. This sore throat is awful.
Good night! And Go Bucks!
Friday, November 12, 2010
Off to bed
Well, friends, I had fully intended on writing a great post today, but work got in the way and now it's time for bed. Yes, I realize it's 8:10 p.m. Don't judge. :) We slept very little last night and fear tonight will be much of the same. Plus I'm feeling really scratchy and am trying to fend off this cold that Baby Girl has contracted.
As a consolation, I'll leave you with a pic of my little dalmatian on Trick or Treat night:
As a consolation, I'll leave you with a pic of my little dalmatian on Trick or Treat night:
Thursday, November 11, 2010
New words and how my Thursday was thrifty
I'll try to do a real Thrifty Thursday post tomorrow, but since I was home today, I spent the day with my family.
First of all, Baby Girl has some new words that are adorable. She says "garage" when we say we're going out to the garage or even when we're heading that way sometimes. She also says something that sounds like "I did it" (which would be her first phrase if that's what it ends up being...). I love how expressive she's getting and it feels like she's learning more every day. Today when I picked her up from the sitter's (The Hubby and I worked around the house and sent her to the sitter's part day) she turned to the door and asked "Daddy?" I told her Daddy was at home and we'd see him when we got there. Then we were in the car and I asked her if she'd like to take a walk when we got home and she said, "walk". I said, "yeah, maybe we can take a walk when we get home" and she says "Daddy". It amazed me that she remembered that Daddy is at home, the walk is at home...so the rest of the ride she was saying some combination of "Daddy", "walk", and "home".
And because I can't write a post on Thursday without mentioning how thrifty I am...
The Hubby wanted to do something a little special with Baby Girl before we sent her to the sitter's (you know, to help us feel a bit better about it), so we went out to breakfast. We went to Bob Evans because we had a gift card--hello free breakfast! As a side note, Baby Girl ate almost an entire sausage link, almost a whole piece of bread, and then almost a whole scrambled egg, only AFTER we put ketchup on it, which she'd never tasted before. Yuck. lol
Anyway, we then went to Low.e's to pick up some lawn bags and maybe a utility sink. We found a sink for a decent price and also picked up a furnace filter. We had a gift card for there, too. If I'd known we would be going, I could have gotten a coupon...see what happens when you don't plan ahead?? :) The gift card didn't cover it all, but it was helpful.
Lunch was breakfast leftovers.
Dinner was chicken parmesean (well, just chicken with pasta sauce over it with some pasta & peas) and I used some sliced French bread I'd bought on Manager's Special to make some cheesy garlic crostinis. Yum :)
And now I'm baking chocolate chip cookies, just because (and because I had all the ingredients here).
It was tempting to go out for lunch or to go shopping while home, but we resisted and have had a great day.
Happy Veteran's Day to all of you. We are incredibly thankful for the service of our men and women who help preserve the freedoms we all enjoy.
First of all, Baby Girl has some new words that are adorable. She says "garage" when we say we're going out to the garage or even when we're heading that way sometimes. She also says something that sounds like "I did it" (which would be her first phrase if that's what it ends up being...). I love how expressive she's getting and it feels like she's learning more every day. Today when I picked her up from the sitter's (The Hubby and I worked around the house and sent her to the sitter's part day) she turned to the door and asked "Daddy?" I told her Daddy was at home and we'd see him when we got there. Then we were in the car and I asked her if she'd like to take a walk when we got home and she said, "walk". I said, "yeah, maybe we can take a walk when we get home" and she says "Daddy". It amazed me that she remembered that Daddy is at home, the walk is at home...so the rest of the ride she was saying some combination of "Daddy", "walk", and "home".
And because I can't write a post on Thursday without mentioning how thrifty I am...
The Hubby wanted to do something a little special with Baby Girl before we sent her to the sitter's (you know, to help us feel a bit better about it), so we went out to breakfast. We went to Bob Evans because we had a gift card--hello free breakfast! As a side note, Baby Girl ate almost an entire sausage link, almost a whole piece of bread, and then almost a whole scrambled egg, only AFTER we put ketchup on it, which she'd never tasted before. Yuck. lol
Anyway, we then went to Low.e's to pick up some lawn bags and maybe a utility sink. We found a sink for a decent price and also picked up a furnace filter. We had a gift card for there, too. If I'd known we would be going, I could have gotten a coupon...see what happens when you don't plan ahead?? :) The gift card didn't cover it all, but it was helpful.
Lunch was breakfast leftovers.
Dinner was chicken parmesean (well, just chicken with pasta sauce over it with some pasta & peas) and I used some sliced French bread I'd bought on Manager's Special to make some cheesy garlic crostinis. Yum :)
And now I'm baking chocolate chip cookies, just because (and because I had all the ingredients here).
It was tempting to go out for lunch or to go shopping while home, but we resisted and have had a great day.
Happy Veteran's Day to all of you. We are incredibly thankful for the service of our men and women who help preserve the freedoms we all enjoy.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
My New Love
Move over, Hubby, and make room for my newest love.
This guy:
It's the FoodSaver Mini Plus. And I'm officially in love.
I got this little guy for just $21, shipped (down from $79), but didn't get a chance to play with it until last night.
Last night's dinner was black beans (I made the whole bag of dry beans with the intention of freezing the two extra "cans" worth), steamed rice, and some other stuff. Well, I decided to try out this guy on the beans and the extra rice and it was wonderful.
(To tell the truth, it was The Hubby who used it last night and I watched in awe...it was a three.some of sorts)
It sealed up everything to perfection, sucked all the air out but didn't squish everything. It was a thing of beauty. And now I have two cans of black beans in my freezer as well as some rice for fried rice sometime.
This guy:
It's the FoodSaver Mini Plus. And I'm officially in love.
I got this little guy for just $21, shipped (down from $79), but didn't get a chance to play with it until last night.
Last night's dinner was black beans (I made the whole bag of dry beans with the intention of freezing the two extra "cans" worth), steamed rice, and some other stuff. Well, I decided to try out this guy on the beans and the extra rice and it was wonderful.
(To tell the truth, it was The Hubby who used it last night and I watched in awe...it was a three.some of sorts)
It sealed up everything to perfection, sucked all the air out but didn't squish everything. It was a thing of beauty. And now I have two cans of black beans in my freezer as well as some rice for fried rice sometime.
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