I'm going home!!!

Snow day!! My office is closing!! I'm going to pick up my little girl and get home to our warm house and stay there! Yay!! Snow day!! I feel like I'm in grade school and I love it!

Last night was our 2nd Christmas celebration with Joy and family. The Nintendo DS dog game wasn’t such a big deal since Payton has the system. Now Kelsey has to be nice to him if she’s wants to use it. Until she gets hers…if she’s nice in Santa’s eyes. The kids seemed to enjoy their gifts and were thankful for them. Years ago, after I started making big bucks (yeah right, okay, making more than while employed at Orange Julius) we spent more money on the kid’s presents. I had so much fun shopping and getting lots of presents for each of them. Then as they tore through paper and tossed aside each present to open the next one…they asked in sheer horror “is that it?” They were too young to fully comprehend there is actually be an end to presents but it was an eye opener for me. It doesn’t matter how many gifts you give, it’s the giving that matters. I don’t believe you need to break the bank each year just to give your children as much as possible or everything they ask for. I actually think that is very sad. As a parent, I know I want the best for Lily. But I also know there are limits and some limits are good to impose. Anyhow, it was good to see the kid’s saying thank you and being happy with what they received.

Here is Lily from this morning….eating chex before being whisked away to day care…

Holiday baking

Yesterday was my holiday baking day. I pretty much baked from morning until night. We ran a few errands in the middle and occasionally had to stop to entertain tot that was climbing up my legs. The result of my hard work…
We plan to give goodies to our neighbors, friends and co-workers. I love to do this every year. Although I don’t recall baking last year, likely cuz I had a 7 week old. This year I made winter birch tree cookies, holiday cherry bars and peanut butter blossoms. I have made the tree cookies and blossoms before but this was the first time baking the cherry bars. A recipe from my aunt Julie and, although tasty, not nearly as good as hers. Maybe it was the soy milk in place of the half and half. Not sure why I put in the soy milk cuz Randall couldn’t eat them anyway with milk powder and whey in the cherry chips. Habit, I guess. Some of my readers might get lucky and get some if their husbands remember to bring them home.

We celebrated our Christmas on Saturday. We opted not to drag our presents to SD/IA only to drag them back to CO. Plus, Randy is too fidgety with wrapped gifts in the house, he has to open them as soon as I let him. Although this year I was getting a little excited myself. Probably cuz he got my presents a long time ago. I tried the shaking thing and did get one gift correct, or part of it. Baking pans. I asked for them so that cued me in when the package was super heavy. But little did I know the baking pans also contained an IPOD. I’m very excited about this new gadget. I’m also excited about not having to deal with CDs on our road trip home. It’s so tiny and I’m scared I will lose it. I’m listening to the Killers right now. Randy enjoyed his present and didn’t have a clue what it was. I got him a Plantronics Bluetooth, along with a hat and an Xbox game book. Lily didn’t get to excited about opening gifts but managed to unwrap a few books, barn that sorts shapes and letters and a small cabbage patch doll. She loves the barn and will carry it around by the handle. She will sit on the couch and stuff all the pieces inside the barn or try and stuff them in the couch until I catch her. She also loves baby dolls. She will hold them up by her shoulder and give them lots of kisses. This morning she gave her baby so many kisses it looked like the baby was slimed. Recently Lily has taken well to books. She will sit down and flip the pages. Sometimes she acts like she’s reading them. When Randy or I try and read a book, outside of bedtime, she will race over to us and snatch it out of our hands to read it herself. Now we try and read as quickly as possible, just to see how far we can get before she steals it away.

Lily’s teeth are through enough that her spirits are happy again. She is so funny and cute. I know everyone says this about their baby(ies) and if you don’t have any yet you will too someday. She loves to travel on our couch. She will grunt a few times to let us know she needs a lift and most times Randy throws (pretty gently) her onto the couch. She loves it and will crawl or walk all over. She is very good about getting down from the couch, she knows to turn around and put her legs down first. Lily remains the same with the dogs--cautiously interested. Sometimes she will touch them but is very good about not grabbing them. Max’s tail grabbed her attention the other day but instead of using it like a reign she laughed about its ability to move so quickly, sometimes getting in her face.

Tonight we are getting together with Joy’s family to celebrate an early Christmas. They won’t be traveling back to IA the same time we are so the kids couldn’t wait until next year to open gifts. I asked each kid for a list about 2 months ago and they were very specific on what they wanted. After we bought Kelsey’s Nintendo DS dog game I found out she didn’t even have a Nintendo DS system. Randy said she hoped to get one for Christmas. Oh boy. Maybe, just maybe, she was a nice girl and will get one. Or we will be returning a dog game.

Anyone a survivor fan? Last night was the finale and I was very happy Yul won. Thank goodness for Grey’s Anatomy and the OC on Thursdays to keep me entertained.

Lil Update

We got a walker. Lily took 5 steps last night...on multiple occasions. Both times Randy and I just looked at each other with huge eyeballs like "what just happened?" Before Lily would take 2, maybe 3 steps but would fall or most time sit down. Last night it seemed like she was liking it and kept going. Yay, not much longer. Not that there's any competition but my bro thinks Connor should walk before Lily cuz he doesn't have any teeth and Lily does. Oh boy. Connor is 3.5 months younger than Lily so in reality he SHOULDN'T walk before Lil. But he is a strong little guy and is trying to walk so it won't be long.

Update on the dress...we didn't get any of them. Ugh! The store that I took the pictures from didn't have any in stock and I drug Randy to 2 stores, just to be sure. We ended up finding one that doesn't really look like any of the photos but Randy really liked it and the price was good. I saw some super cute ones but couldn't entertain the thought of spending $60 for a dress worn once. Maybe twice.

No one warned us…

But apparently a side effect of Oragel is crazy, delirious baby that performs commando rolls. Miss Lily Pants has 4—FOUR— molars starting to poke through her tender gums. So last night I applied Oragel to all of them. Within 30 minutes she changed from normal toddler playing with her toys to wild one on a rolling mission. It was a sight to see and had us laughing very hard. Here is a little description to what we witnessed: Step 1- put right shoulder/arm under body. Step 2-roll like crazy. Not sure where she learned that move but she definitely had an order to it. She repeated this many, many times.

To keep with the theme of what people don’t tell you…one that tops the cake is diaper changes. Around month 9 or 10, there are no more easy going diaper changes. Ya know, the kind where the baby lays there relaxed throughout the entire process of removing the old diaper, wiping, applying powder, putting on fresh diaper and re-dressing. Now, child is on the move with the first unsnapping. By the time we lay Lily down to start the process, she is either very upset and using her baby wrestling move to keep from being pinned or crawling madly away from us. It’s not all horrible, once they are old enough to stand you can do most steps in this position pretty easily. Speed is another factor. If you can do it all within 30 seconds you’re doing okay. My brother and sis-in-law are just beginning to fully comprehend our diaper changing stories. Connor is 10 months old and he’s getting antsy. I proudly told him about my super diaper changing ability while Lily was sitting the entire time. I had to brag, he’s my brother.

Shopping for the man I love

My Christmas shopping is ALL done. All done. With one little exception. My husband. The most difficult person to buy for ever. I knew exactly what I was getting him…until I was ready to purchase it. Then I had 2nd thoughts. Would he really like it? Would he rather have something else? Would he smile and say “thanks” but really wish for another gift? My husband is the most difficult person to buy a gift for on the entire planet. Not only does he constantly torture me with 101 questions about his gifts but he has very detailed and has specific gifts in mind-making it impossible for me to buy something if he’s around. And if he is around then he changes his mind and wants to wait. I believe I am super easy to shop for. You buy me a candle, I’ll love it. Which makes it even harder when shopping for the man I love. I want to buy him something nice. I want to surprise him.

For his rocket launch and birthday present I put money aside for months. I wanted to get him something really nice, to celebrate a huge milestone in our lives. Finally I had enough money and wanted to buy him a nice table saw. He has stated numerous times he could really use one. I did my research, okay, not really but I emailed California Dave and my father-in-law who were way more knowledgeable about tools. I was ready to buy it until…Randy started in with a zillion questions, making me second guess myself. Instead I gave him money. No fun.

Another thing that makes gift buying for Randall difficult is when he sees the gift; he shakes it and has some super human power to know exactly what it is. A few years back, I gave him a coffee grinder. He shook it and said it’s a coffee grinder. You could imagine my facial expression. I’ve caught on and now “add” extra items to his gifts. It’s fun to throw him off with rocks.

Friday? No, it's only Thursday. OMG, it's really Friday!

I'm so excited for the weekend. I keep reminding myself it's Friday and I don't have to work all weekend. Yay!!!

By now it's no secret...I like to take photos. I won't say how many are on my Target/Yahoo site but it's a lot. Most people like when I share them, so here you go....







This hippo walker was given to us by a family at our daycare. When pushed, it will suck up little blocks. Lily figured out how to push it almost right away. Now she has more control and can stop it, instead of pushing it faster than her little legs could keep up












Lil and her chair. She's in chair mode-stand up, sit down, etc., etc., etc.





This is Lily's first craft project. It was done at daycare. I couldn't imagine getting 5 kids to use paint and not have it all over the place. It's very cute though.








Lil getting a piano lesson from her father. Craftiness comes from her mother, musical abilities come from her father. It all works out.










The family. Not only does father's DNA provide musical abilities but it also provides spikey hair style.

When I was little I played dolls, now...

I can dress up my baby girl. It's so much fun. I love it. I am searching for a super cute holiday dress but haven't found one in the stores yet. I found a few online and wanted people's opinions. I like them all so I really don't care which one wins. Keep in mind her coat is red. I couldn't find a picture online but it's super cute, velvet and it was on a great sale at Old Navy.


Dress 1 (the black one, minus the head thingy, so not into them)



















Dress 2




















Dress 3

Fried (not in terms of yummy food)

My brain is fried. Frazzled. Fatigued. SuperWal-Mart. I went there for the 2nd day in a row over my lunch break. Why was I sooooo stupid to return, knowing that place drove me bonkers yesterday? I had to pick up a prescription that they were holding hostage. Never again will I get a prescription via Wal-Mart. I feel my blood pressure rising just recalling my experience. Here goes…went directly to pharmacy counter, waited 10 minutes while new hire was busy finding old man’s prescription that another co-worker put in the wrong place, 5 minutes later co-worker started laughing and pointed to where he put the prescription…finally it’s my turn…when the new hire tells me I need a consult. Another one. I had one yesterday with a snooty, know-it-all tech. She’s coming at me, the same snooty, know-it-all tech…to consult me on how to open my eye and administer eye drops. She about dropped dead when I told her I didn’t have any allergies. In a very snooty, know-it-all sort of way, she lectured me that this drug was for allergies. She COULD NOT give me this drug without consulting my eye Dr. I left to do some grocery shopping when I hear my name over the loud speaker. I go directly back to the pharmacy. And wait in line, again. The snooty, know-it-all tech said the medication WAS for allergies and itchy eyes. Whatever, I wanted out of there. But did I get to leave? No. I had to get into another line and wait. I was thrilled when they told a lady in front of me to go to another window for a consult. I thought to myself, ha sucker, got your place in line. I was ecstatic when I didn’t have to pay at the pharmacy register. I did cartwheels out of there. I went on with my grocery shopping. But…I was in a very annoyed mood. And the sloooooowwwww people that either take up the entire aisle or stop suddenly did not help. I’m afraid I mumbled quite a bit about their lacks of aisle manners, mostly to myself.

I don’t have allergies or itchy eyes but I do have some rather large bumps under my eye lid. It feels really good after a 10 hour day of wearing contacts. Good as if small pebbles rubbing your eye ball every time you blink feels good. I will be contact free (due to horrible eye sight, my glasses are my new ward- robe accessory) for some time. Plus I will use my eye drops. For allergies and itching, of course.

Sorry for the rather negative post. I’m not usually a dark side blogger but I need to let some steam off. I feel much better.

White Sands, New Mexico

It took a little while for Lily to fully enjoy the sand but once she did, she loved it











Grandma McE. was pushing Lily in the sled. Her facial expression is a bit funny. It reminds me of Joey Lawrence's "Whoa"











I told you she started to like it











This is a pretty picture. If you haven't been there you get an idea how neat it is











Lily Joy

Christmas Meme

1.Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? I like both. Egg nog is definitely a holiday drink but hot cocoa is yummy all winter long. Haven’t had either yet this winter.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree? Wrapped and the paper is different from other presents in the house. Although 2 very memorable Christmases Santa put out our usual wrapped gifts but…he also left the extra special presents on our basement steps. One was our dog, Rudy (with a holiday name to boot) and the other was our Nintendo!

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? We don’t have a specific tradition but instead mix it up. This year our tree is white because we plan to put up multi color lights outside. If the weather gets warmer this may happen.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Yes, and used it multiple times already. I also tried to get a single guy friend to take advantage with a girl he likes (at our party last Saturday) but he wimped out.

5. When do you put your decorations up? Usually the weekend after Thanksgiving. Anytime before Thanksgiving is silly. Melissa and my mom are the only people I know that decorate (not always) before Thanksgiving and they are both silly.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? I like the traditional holiday dinner of turkey, mashed potatos, stuffing, beans, rolls, etc. But since we have at least 2 full dinners between our families, I like when my mom-in-law makes her awesome Korean food. Yummy. Can I have some now?

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: Growing up we had the same traditions every year, and I like that. Christmas Eve was spent at my Grandma McGuire’s house with all the family (Grandma and Grandpa McGuire, my mom, dad, Jay, Brian, aunts and uncles: Susie and John/ Barb and Gary and cousins: Andie, Steph and Mike/Julie and Larry and cousins Cody and Courtney/Mady and Rory and cousins Kevin and Ashli. I had to list them all to show what a big family we had and every year everyone was there. We also attended Christmas mass either before our family gathering or after. The 10PM mass was only lit by Christmas lights and candles. It was beautiful. My brothers and I got to open one present on Christmas Eve from our parents. One year we thought we were opening socks and turned out to be our catholic school t-shirts. Not sure why we were so excited to get those t-shirts, maybe the joy of not getting socks??

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? One word…Kelly. Kerry’s older brother, Kelly, ruined my Santa belief. I don’t believe he did this out of older brother meanness but rather thought I already knew. Not sure how old I was, maybe 10ish.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Already anwered this above. We opened a lot of presents on Christmas Eve between the McGuire family gathering and the 1 gift at our house. Now, I make Randy wait until Christmas day.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? We bought a real tree even though it came from the supermarket. Next year I’d like to cut down our own. My aunt Susie made all the cousins ornaments every year so all of those go on our tree. Plus we purchase a few pretty ones every year. Lily got a couple ornaments last year.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? I love snow. I don’t love the cold, freezing temperatures. CO is crazy weather. Last Christmas it was 60 degree weather. I like my Christmas with snow. Once, growing up, when we lived on the pig farm (bet you didn’t know that about me, huh?). The farm was nestled in some hills. It starting snowing on Christmas Eve and was so pretty. I was about 5 or 6 and this is still a vivid memory. The next day Jay and I got snowtubes (could you imagine our sadness if it didn’t snow?!) and we took them on the hills. This story has been an ongoing argument between Jay and I for years, 25 to be exact. Here’s my side, the correct one…Jay popped his tube and took mine. He fed me some crazy story about how he switched them and was using mine when it popped. Older brother meanness.

12. Can you ice skate? I like to but can I??? I will definitely fall a few times. I haven’t done this for years. Maybe this year. Sounds romantic, hint hint.

13. Favorite Holiday movie: There is only one favorite…The Christmas Story. We have watched that movie for years and multiple times each year. We don’t always see it from start to finish but it’s a movie I can start watching if it already started. Ask Randy how much I hate watching movies that already started. Another top choice is Elf with Will Farrell. He’s funny.

14. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Cherry fudge bars my aunt Julies makes. Or my Grandma McGuire’s divinity. She makes the nut-less kind special for me.

15. What is a favorite holiday tradition? My parents used to take us for pizza and to drive around and see all the decorated houses.

16. What tops your tree? An unlit star. Randy and I wished it was lit, it would be prettier.

17. Which do you prefer: giving or receiving? Definitely GIVING!!! It’s so much fun to shop and wrap and see the people open our gifts. I don’t need much so it’s hard coming up with a Christmas list.

18. What is your favorite Christmas Song? There are so many. Silent night, The First Noel, We Wish You a Merry Christmas are all songs from Christmas mass that I like and sing. I also like the Chipmunks holiday song, the one song sung by the boy who had been bad (anyone know this one???). I like to listen to holiday music on the radio.

19. Candy Canes? I like them for props but not a big fan of eating them. Maybe why I have never had any cavities. 



Since this is a meme and I'm not the only one having trouble coming up with posts, I am tagging Staci, Heather, Meredith and Renee.

Our weekend

Friday night was my work holiday party. It was a huge success. I read holiday stories and when the kids got restless we played duck, duck, goose. We played A LOT of duck, duck, goose. Yes, I chased a bunch of kids around, in front of my co-workers. Oh well. I’ve worked here for 3 months, it’s about time they learned who I really am.

Saturday night we hosted a going away party for our friend, Ted. I’ve about had it with friends moving away. Please stop. It’s not fun, it’s not nice. The party was great and went into the early morning. Of course, we couldn’t have a party without playing Catch Phrase, guys vs. girls. Yep, probably don’t have to tell you who won, you probably already guessed right. The girls are the champions. Again.

Lucky for us, Lily slept in Sunday morning, which made our going to bed after 2AM a little easier to deal with. We actually woke up in disbelief she hadn’t woken us up yet. We dropped Lily off at Joy’s house in hopes of getting our Christmas shopping done. It didn’t happen, we are not all done. But we had fun together. We walked around the mall, got coffee and didn’t worry about changing diapers, feeding a baby, pushing the stroller around. Instead, Lily was loving life hanging with her aunt, uncle and cousins. She did throw a small fit when they wouldn’t let her stick her head through the stair railing. Then we switched kids and kid-sat while Joy and Bobby went shopping. Randy and nephew, Payton, scored tickets to the Denver/Seattle game. Not only were they free but the seats were apparently great- 40 yard line, Denver side, 18th row. Besides the 15 degree weather, Randy left a happy, happy man. He likes the Seahawks.

Lily got this present from my bro and sis-in-law for her 1st birthday. Not sure why it took so long for us to un-box it and put it together but this just occured last week. Lily absolutely loves it. She beams with smiles when she sees it from afar and will crawl (yes, still crawling) so fast her whole body moves like a worm. She will sit down, move around, walk around it, sit down again, sit facing the right, sit facing the left, put a foot on the seat, then sit down again, turn pages from the book, push the light that makes noise, turn the hands of the clock that leads into a song, and sit down again. This toy is also loved by her parents. She is entertained by this chair longer than any other toy she owns. It's lovely.

Parenting advice needed...besides feeding Lily one green bean at a time, any other way to teach her to eat one item at a time? She will grab as many green beans as possible in one swoop and jam pack her fist into her mouth until all green beans made it in. Then when I say "one at a time" she smiles and giggles. Making her giggle with a mouth stuffed full of food is definitely a choking incident waiting to happen. It's not just green beans it's raisins, crackers, veggie puffs, carrots, all food products.

Breastfeeding news flash---all done. I actually finished over a week ago but I just remembered to blog about it. Ya know since I haven't restricted any talk of my milk producing abilities so far, why stop now? It went better than expected and I had a rum and coke to celebrate my hard work for 13 months. Our new nighttime routine is this--put pajamas on before child escapes the room, force wiggling child to brush teeth without biting us and read 2 bedtime stories in her room with her cute, blue star night light creating a relaxing effect. Before a week ago she never sat still, especially on a lap, for a story. Now she melts into us and cuddles with her crocheted blanket and listens to the story. She will play with her blanket, putting her fingers in the holes over and over. Her normal blanket, that she loves, doesn't accompany her into bed. The crocheted blanket is more reassuring for first time parents that the holes will enable her to continue breathing when she puts it over her face, which she likes to do. After 2 stories, Randy turns out the light, I sing to her and put her in bed. Occasionally she will fuss for a few minutes but will fall asleep on her own.

Tonight will be interesting...I won't be there for the bedtime routine. Randy gets to do it all himself. I have my work holiday party tonight. I mentioned it was last night but that was wrong. Maybe I was still drunk from that rum and coke. Definitely joking on that one.

We plan to FINISH, yes finish, our holiday shopping this weekend. Soooo...we need shopping lists from a few people that have yet to give them to us and we have NO idea what to get them. You know who you are...a certain person named Joey and another one named Cheri. Doubt either read this but hey, if you know them, pass it on. :)