Wednesday, February 28, 2007

All about Lily

Lily has starting to frown her eyebrows. She seems to know the right time to do this. Randy dropped her off at daycare and told her good bye approximately 18 times while she played but never responded to him. Finally as he was leaving she looked at him with her frowning eyebrows as if saying “You are so not leaving, are you?”
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Lily says a new word every couple days. Last night she started saying Big Bird but her version was more like “boo bur.” She clearly was pointing at her Big Bird bath toy and repeating her “boo bur” after I would announce the character was Big Bird. She was very happy and clearly proud of herself.
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Lily has discovered her nose contains boogers. She will stick her little finger up there, twist and turn it, and come to you to remove the sticky item from her finger. The first time I learned of this was riding in the car with her and Randy. Randy had already witnessed this and told me she was picking her nose. Then she started whining so I turned around and sure enough, she was holding her little finger, waiting for me to remove her booger.
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Lily’s favorite adult book is War of the Worlds. She pretends to read it while getting her diaper changed.
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Lily’s favorite food is pasta and garlic bread. She becomes a pasta sauce mess so we usually feed her pasta on bath nights. This occurred last night. She began with a plate full of carrots and proceeded to eat a plateful of spaghetti and a slice of garlic bread. Her belly was a sight to see. Randy thought it was the biggest ever.
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According to our daycare provider…after Lily woke up from her afternoon nap she was talking to herself and was quite content doing so. The daycare provider finished up what she was doing and went to get Lily. Lily had taken off her socks (this is normal), unzipped her sweatshirt jacket, and taken off her pants. She’s never, ever done all that before.
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Lily will lay her head down on a pillow (anytime of the day) and say “nigh-nigh”---her version of night-night.
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These are just a few of recent Lily moments. She is growing up and learning so much everyday. I always considered myself a baby person. I worked in the hospital with newborns and imagined when I had a baby I would enjoy the baby stage the most. I can honestly say it just keeps getting better. I love hearing her say “mama” and reaching up with her arms saying “up” so I will pick her up. I love when I’m holding her and she pats my shoulder. I love when I’m sitting on the floor she will sit on my lap, go get a toy, return to my lap, go play with something and come back to my lap. I love when she crawls over me when I lay on the floor. I love when she kisses me (the other day she kissed me approximately 20 times!) I love when she giggles after I put her in the car seat and we play tag for a few minutes. I love when she says anything…every word is so adorable in her little voice. I love when Randy and I are chasing each other (just playing of course) and she starts laughing. I love when she grabs the cell phone and will “talk” on it while walking around. I love when we announce it’s bed time and she will start walking toward the stairs. I love when she walks away from us she will tell us bye-bye and wave backwards.

I love her more and more everyday. My wish is that everyone could experience this kind of joy in some way or another.

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Boy???

Today we had a doctor appointment and everything was great. We listened to the heart beat and it was 140 beats per minute. Immediately the doctor said "BOY!!" but it's just an old wive's tale that a lower heart rate indicates a baby boy. Anyhow, baby is doing well and so I am.

Right before the doctor came in the room Randy and I might have decided our girl name. Of course, just in time for the doctor to suggest we are having a boy. Anyhow, we both like it so I guess we will have to wait a while longer to know if we will be using that name. We haven't talked about openly discussing baby names with family and friends. My initial thought is NO WAY!! With our first pregnancy we mentioned the name Lily to my sister-in-law she immediately said "Ewww!" because of some evil lady from a soap opera she watched. So that is why we never told anyone of our previous baby names. Obviously it didn't stop us from choosing that name, what really matters is that Randy and I love the name (and hopefully baby does too someday). We are pretty conscientious about names and think a lot about what the name rhymes with or what little kids could say to make fun of the name. I would like a shorter name because we have a longer last name. This is not an easy decision! This baby will live with this name FOREVER.

On a side note Randy also decided (by himself) on a boy name...Mac Mick. Now those of you who know my last name can laugh out loud. And those of you that don't will still probably laugh out loud. He decided we could use the nicknames of M&M or Mmm. Yep, that's my husband. Don't worry, I vetoed it.

Monday, February 26, 2007

Jenni's Alphabet

A--Available, Married or Single: Married
B--Best friend: Randy, he knows everything about me…and still loves me. My 2 female best friends are Kerry and Melissa. We have known each other since we were babies and they still love me too.
C--Cake or Pie: Pie I suppose. Pumpkin to be exact.
D--Drink of Choice: Diet vanilla pepsi. Right now chocolate milk.
E--Essential item you use everyday: DVR. It’s a beautiful thing.
F--Favorite Color: Pink!
G--Gummy bears or worms: Sour gummy worms. Always accompany me on road trips to SD/IA.
H--Hometown: J-town, South Dakota. Population 520, no stoplights, 2-3 bars.
I--Indulgence: Anything spa related…massages, pedicures, facials.
J--January or February: Neither is too exciting for me.
K--Kids and names: Lily Joy and wouldn’t you like to know #2 (so would I!!)
L--Life is incomplete without: my family
M--Marriage Date: August 5, 2000
N--Number of siblings: 2 brothers, older and younger. I begged my mom for a sister but gave up on the hope about 10 years ago.
O--Oranges or apples: I would choose strawberries or watermelon over both.
P--Phobias or fears: Snakes! I don’t mind big snakes, it’s the little gardener snakes that freak me out. Seriously FREAK ME OUT.
Q--Fave quote: Do unto others as you would want them to do unto you.
R--Reason to smile: Staring at my beautiful daughter while she’s playing, eating, sleeping, anytime.
S--Season: Fall is my favorite. I can still get outside for walks and enjoy the amazing fall colors.
T--Tag 3 people: Pamela, whoever, whoever.
U--Unknown fact about me: I find car washes (automatic ones) to be relaxing.
V--Vegetable you don't like: Asparagus---yuck.
W--Worse habit: Bite my nails…until my cuticles throb and bleed.
X--Xrays: I hate dental x-rays. They always make me cry…not cuz I’m sad but cuz they pinch a facial nerve.
Y--Your fave food: My mother in law’s cooking (any of it), my grandma’s strawberry rhubarb jelly and Sunday eggs, my aunt Julie’s ice cream cones, my parent’s BBQ chicken, mashed potatoes and corn on the cob. But they all live far way. :(
Z--Zodiac sign: Virgo
Okay, time to get my butt in gear and start posting. I thought about writing over the weekend but it never happened. Since I sit in front of the computer for 8 hours 5 days a week, the weekend is my time to escape the bright screen and computer keys.

Our weekend was filled with the usual activities of cleaning, hanging out and watching our niece play basketball. We did get together with our CA friends, Dave and Sara, that moved to CO over a year ago. We ventured down south to their place to hang out and then went to dinner. You probably don’t have to put much thought into where we went…knowing me and my recent posts. But I do have to say it wasn’t my idea…anyhow we ate at Red Robin. My usual chicken sandwich was delicious. On Sunday the house renovation bug hit us. I started the morning feeling very tired, I even laid on the couch after cooking Lily breakfast. I guess flipping those pancakes plum wore me out. Randy began fixing and trying to finish his bamboo floors and somehow it got me in the mood. Not that mood. But I started painting. I changed a few colors in our squares (if you’ve never been to our house our kitchen and family room connect but we have 2 different colors so we connected them with squares of different colors) and fixed up a few spots of trim, etc. In the afternoon, Randy played ultimate frisbee while Lily and I hung out. We never even changed out of our pajamas. It was a great day, mixed with getting stuff done that has bugged me for a while and also being lazy in the afternoon.

Randy is busy thinking of other home renovations to do with our tax return. He’d like to add a deck out back…which would be great. Our backyard is pretty pathetic. Two years ago we tried to plant some shrubs and flowery bushes but the majority of them died, mostly due to our male dog, Max, who lifts his leg on everything. So sitting on our concrete steps not only do you get a view of dead scrubs and the Dr. Seuss tree (dead pine tree thing that Randy cut off the bottom so Max could pee on it instead of the few other living trees) but you can also view the craters that Cali has dug up in the grass/dirt. It needs help…a lot of help.

We have been graced by some nice weather. The anticipated snow/rain that was supposed to hit over the past weekend missed us. The warmer weather and sunny skies have made me think a lot about the summer approaching. I am so excited to do so many new things with Lily. I picture us writing on the driveway and sidewalks in chalk, pulling her in her red wagon, playing at the playground, blowing bubbles, going to the pool and going to the zoo. I know this summer will be fun…time to spend alone with Lily before the new baby arrives.

Regarding the new baby…I am feeling great. I am very lucky to have relatively unremarkable pregnancies. Don’t get me wrong I get a queasy stomach in the beginning but my worst symptom is excessive sleepiness. Now that I’m into the 2nd trimester this is shaping up a bit. I am starting to show and had a growth spurt last week. Most of my clothes still fit but I have dipped into my maternity clothes. Mostly out of morning freak out mode when I can’t find anything to wear. When I was pregnant with Lily I battled over when to wear maternity clothes. I seemed to wait until the last possible minute and I really don’t know why. Now I’m pretty much over it. They are very comfortable clothes and well, I am pregnant so that’s a pretty good reason to wear them. I am dealing with food issues a little, most things just don’t sound very good. Occasionally I still eat my ranch, tomato, and iceberg lettuce salads and I love chocolate milk (not together!). Someone was mentioning pickles (typical prego craving) and that sounds really good right now. I think I will make a trip over my lunch break. When I was pregnant with Lily I stopped eating yogurt. It didn’t sound appealing and still doesn’t. With this pregnancy I can’t eat asparagus. I started eating asparagus about 2 years ago thanks to Pamela and her garlic butter recipe and I loved it. A few weeks ago, I knew I wasn’t in the mood for it but made it for Randy and Lily. The next morning Randy was preparing his lunch and the smell of the asparagus almost put me over the toilet. Luckily I was on my way to work and hurried out of the house. The thought of asparagus is repulsive.

Friday, February 23, 2007

I have nothing.

Sometimes I have nothing to say. Imagine that. Maybe...just maybe...if you're lucky you will hear from me this weekend. Just don't hold your breath.

TGIF!!!

Thursday, February 22, 2007

ELMO

To Aunt Julie,

Lily LOVES Elmo! Last weekend she pointed to his box indicating she was ready for him to come out. She won’t stop smiling at him, hugging him, lugging him around. She likes to poke at his eyes and nose. Lately she is wanting to be held more often but yesterday Randy used Elmo as a distraction and it worked! Upon hearing Elmo’s name she wanted out of my arms and immediately walked right over to him. Now…when we push the button for him to laugh, talk and move…she still freaks out. But the minute we turn him off she is hugging him again. Who knew?? All your hard work to find the TMX Elmo doll has paid off. The 2 hour drive on Christmas Eve, the return of the other present you bought in disappointment of not having the Elmo doll is NOW worth it.

We thank you, Lily thanks you.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Last weekend we journeyed to the mountains and stayed at a friend's very nice condo. We went with Staci and Nathaniel and their 2 little girls and Heather and Matt and their little girl. We had a great time hanging out, getting coffee while the guys watched the little girls, and playing board games until pretty late Saturday night. So late that when we went to bed we woke up Lily and she decided to NOT go back to sleep. I brought her into bed with Randy and I and she enjoyed touching my nose then rolling over and playing with Randy's hair. It was too cute to not enjoy myself but this resulted in approximately 2 hours of sleep. That mixed with a few bouts of Lily spitting up/throwing up in between all the playing. It was strange and possibly related to something she ate for dinner. The next morning she was fine and even enjoyed her first sled ride.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

First Dum-Dum

In the past 16 months we have experienced a lot of firsts with Lily. First baby, first poop, first smile, first tooth--you get the point. Yesterday when Randy and Lily visited me at work the receptionist scared Lily. Lily needs a while to warm up before screaming in her face how cute she is. To make the situation better or to earn points, the receptionist gave Lily a dum-dum sucker. Lily hung onto that sucker while going from office to office dealing with another person screaming in her face how adorable she is. That little sucker was a lifesaver for approximately 15 minutes until...she decided the wrapper needed to come off. I took it off. She beamed with huge smiles and didn't put the sucker down for over 30 minutes. She was covered with blue stickiness all over her mouth and hands. Silly parents that forgot baby wipes don't help the situation.





Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Randy is the B-E-S-T!!

When I came home from work yesterday Randy met me at the door and immediately made me promise to NOT go into the spare bedroom. Typically this request would be met with sheer happiness because of huge mess but when he tells me not to...then I want to. That's how it works, when I'm told to do something I rebel. Especially when I know the next day is Valentine's Day. But...I was true to my pinky promise (he made me pinky promise) and didn't go in the wild kingdom spare bedroom.

Now that I work closer to home I also work closer to Randy's work. When he asked me to lunch I was thrilled. 1.) I love going out to eat and 2.) we've never done a lunch date since I started working so close. When I called Randy this morning to make plans-- instead of meeting at the mall in between our jobs he said he would pick me up. When I told him to call when he got close...he said he would come up to my work. That was it...I knew something was up. I thought he was keeping a bouquet of flowers in the spare room and was bringing them to my work. But when he arrived he didn't have any flowers. Instead...he had LILY!!! Randy and Lily suprised me and took me to lunch (after showing off Lily to million co workers). Guess where we went to lunch??? My present favorite...Red Robin. And yes, I got the same darn sandwich I always get. Lily loved the atmosphere and enjoyed her canteloupe and corn dog. After lunch we hit the bookstore next door to use up a gift certificate. Lily (and our) favorite book is Miss Spider's Tea Party. Lily got this book as a gift from Marianne's tea/birthday party. It's the last of 2-3 books we read every night and she beams with happiness when we pull it out and read it together. Because of our gift certificate (thank you Pamela, yes I still hadn't used it from my b-day) we had to buy other Miss Spider books. Story time tonight will be very exciting! Oh yeah, I almost forgot one of the sweetest Randy moments ever. When we headed to the car to go to lunch...in my seat was a huge heart shaped Valentine. Randy hand made it...cut out the heart from posterboard, glued on felt hearts and lacey borders, etc. When I asked if he bought the heart shaped poster board because it was so perfect he told me he took measurements. That's what being married to a rocket scientist is like...perfectly shaped home made hearts! Because it was that impressive I had to share with you all...

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

My claim to fame...

well not really but I knew someone on Wheel of Fortune last night. Katie O. went to school with my little brother and they were good friends. And...her parents are best friends with my mom. So that's my claim to fame...a J-towner was on the Wheel.

It's snowing again. I can handle the snow and cold but it's the layer of ice stuck to my windshield that I don't like. It might also be one downfall to owning a mini van. Haha...I hear you all laughing that I just said ONE downfall. Yes, the label of being a mini van owner can be seen as a downfall but whatever. I'm over it. The mini van's windshield is sooo wide and slightly curves back which makes scraping the windshield very difficult. Add being short and pregnant enough to have a slight tummy sticking out to make things that much more difficult. Luckily Randy was still upstairs getting ready and didn't know I was outside cursing at the ice and windshield. Many times he has rescued me in his pajama bottoms and coat and forces me inside while he is the MAN and scrapes the windows. But being the WO-MAN I don't want my MAN to have to do that in the cold, I'd rather take one for the team. And I did. And I cursed the whole time.

Lily has started a new habit...not a good one. It's whining. She whines like a champion. She would win the whining competition for 16 month olds...if it existed. She will politely ask "dez" and while the 2-4 seconds pass that it takes for us to figure out what she wants and to start getting it...the whining begins. Anyone have great suggestions to stop the whining in its tracks?

Lily is the youngest child at daycare...until her baby bro/sis comes along. The other children are 2-5 years old. Three of the 2-3 year olds just became potty trained. Our daycare provider mentioned Lily showed some interest, mostly in the marshmallow reward for going in the potty,without actually doing anything that requires a reward besides saying "dez." My mom-in-law gave us a potty chair when Lily was approximately 5 months old. Even though Randy was potty trained around 10 months old I believe the gift of the potty chair was more to store rather than train our child before she could sit up. Last Sunday, before bathtime, when Lily was in her birthday suit, I got the potty chair out of the closet. She obviously knew the parts to it and immediately opened the lid and turned to put her butt on it. She needed a small boost and didn't like sitting on it longer than 1 second. She proceeded to explore the handles and evaluated the entire chair by the time I noticed she tinkled...next to the potty chair on the bathroom floor. Heehee. So much for "trying" and I think we will wait just a while longer. Don't get me wrong for those reading this rolling their eyes that I even got the chair out. I'm not looking for a trophy for mother that has a potty trained child under 2 years. Rather I was just exploring her readiness. BUT, guaranteed next time I will have marshmallows ready.

Monday, February 12, 2007

KANGAROO KINGDOM

Lily was finally healthy so we spent mom and daughter time at Kangaroo Kingdom on Saturday. Kangaroo Kingdom is probably what you envision-- lots of soft, colorful shapes of all sizes for kids to climb on, play with, pretend to eat, slober on, etc. ...Unfortunately we can't attend the toddler only time during the weekdays but Lily still enjoyed herself and didn't notice the 4ish year old that decided Lily was way too slow going up the steps to the slide and instead of waiting patiently pretended Lily was a climbing ladder and crawled right over her. I was happy to see the girl's mother did witness this and instructed her daughter to wait next time. Lily really enjoyed the "ball pit" which wasn't the scary kind where you wonder if there are snakes and/or used drug needles hiding somewhere in there. Here is proof she enjoyed herself, via the cell phone so not the greatest shot in the world.


Here is a great reason why Kangaroo Kingdom sort of places work...to assist child with passing out. Of course, passing out occurred after she decided she was too hot and just had to remove her socks.

Friday, February 09, 2007

Photo Time!

Last night's dinner include chicken parmesan. We normally don't put a bib on Lily but you can see why I grabbed one. Never mind the bib says it's her first birthday. In the first photo you can see the dogs next to the high chair. They don't move from that area the whole time we feed her. When Lily doesn't like something or is finished she will toss the food off the side. The dogs, waiting and drooling, sometimes catch the food in mid air.


























Thursday, February 08, 2007

Hobbies

I have many hobbies that I love to do but don’t do them very often. I love to sew (although not very good, don’t ask me to sew a sleeve) and do crafty things. I can make a cute cookie bouquet or a diaper cake without problems. My absolute favorite hobby is SCRAP BOOKING. I love it. Before Lily was born I decided to make a scrap book for each child. I knew this was a huge commitment and if I did one for the first child and I HAD to make one for all of them. I made this choice because of my baby book. My mom kept baby books for all 3 kids. She might say she didn’t do a very good job cuz they aren’t finished through 5 years (which she has said before) but they are very well completed at least through the first year. The first year is the most important to me. All the changes that occur are huge events, the birth, sitting up, crawling, teething, eating, walking, etc. I love to read my baby book and get an idea what kind of baby I was. Every time there was a question about eating my mom indicated I was a picky eater and it started at 6 months of age. It’s still true to this day. Thank you mom for keeping our baby books! It is very special to me.

I started the scrap book before Lily was born and included details of my pregnancy and pregnant photos. After Lily was born our camera exploded. It didn’t break, rather it exploded by taking so many pictures ALL THE TIME. Millions of pictures + new born baby = not enough time to complete my scrap book. Right now…the scrap book is completed through bringing Lily home from the hospital. In the past 1.5 years that is all I have completed. Sad. Very.Sad. Now that I’m pregnant again I have to get a move on. My mom got me a really neat scrap book organizer. I organized all my scrap book papers, stickers, markers and stencils a few weeks ago. This organizer even rolls. I can roll on over to anyplace to scrap book.

Before I sound like a fuddy duddy I will note that I did complete a small scrap book a few months ago. When Randy was away for a long time doing rocket stuff I made him a scrap book of just him and Lily. It was as special to him as my baby book is to me.

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

I had morning duties with Lily today. This means I get myself out of bed, shower, dress, do hair and makeup, let dogs outside to do their thing, gather food for the day, feed the dogs, dress squirmy child, and drop off at daycare. All of these events have to occur before 7:30AM when I am supposed to start work. Now, on a good day I arrive at work on time. I’ve mentioned before how I have some difficulties getting myself up and to work on time. Throw in dog and child duty and I’m surprised I made it to work before 11AM. I was helped awake by Randy who was getting ready for his day which was a lot earlier than normal. I actually had time to do everything mentioned above. I’m not saying I got to work on time but I did get there before 8AM. I was proud. Mornings with Lily are very entertaining. She is one happy camper in the mornings. I couldn’t see Randy but when I told him I put her hair in a pony tail I’m sure he rolled his eyes. Randy doesn’t do pony tails. It’s fun having a daughter and dressing her up, even if it’s just for a day at daycare. Here is a picture from this morning...
















When I wonder what this baby is inside me…a boy or a girl I get excited either way. Not too long ago the thought of one girl let alone multiple girls freaked me out. My friend, Karen, and I decided that having all boys would be a great thing. At the time of this conclusion, raising boys seemed to be easier than girls, a lot of that has to do with pre-teen and teenage years. Now that I have a girl I realize girls are fun. Not only the dressing up, doing her hair, but she’s my daughter. We will have that special female bond forever. She is already a girlie girl. She watches me put on my makeup with curious eyes, pouts her lips for Vaseline application and carries my purse on her shoulder at least once a day, something Randy is convinced I taught her. For me it’s cute and special seeing her act girlie. I look forward to having a boy someday but the thought of having a 2nd girl doesn’t scare the daylights out of me anymore.

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

My friend Kerry sends me our daily horoscopes. This is mine for today:

Stay away from the mall today. From impractical shoes to high-calorie snacks, there are too many things there calling your name -- things that you don't need in your life right now. You are at a very suggestible phase, and you could fall under the spell of something shiny and new that will only drain your bank account and leave you feeling silly. Check through your DVD collection and distract yourself by watching something you've already paid for.

I still get a kick out of the first sentence. STAY AWAY FROM THE MALL TODAY. I'm not much of a shopper in a sense of buying lots of clothes, shoes, jewerly, etc. I am a shopper in the sense of being able to spend $50-$100 at Super Target and not have a clue what I just bought. When Kerry sent the horoscope to me this morning I laughed. Haha, Randy and I just did the budget last night and there is NO way I would be spending money. Every time we analyze our budget we realize we overspend. We don't get in trouble but we spend way too much. We have bills and debt and places the money SHOULD go besides Super Target and eating out for lunches. I actually feel better after doing the budget. I like the challenge, the challenge of saving money or paying off a bill. Better yet I like the feeling of having the bill paid off completely.

After seriously months of trying to plan a lunch date I finally was able to meet Staci and her girls for lunch. I was thrilled when she mentioned Red Robin because I had $10 in Red Robin bucks (thanks to a b-day gift certificate purchased yesterday) so that meant I didn't have to use my $10 weekly allowance. Yay! Plus I have been wanting the Red Robin honey mustard chicken sandwich for a very long time. But the sad, sad ending to the lunch date/budget story is that my $10 Red Robin bucks were only redeemable after Feb. 26. Reluctantly and sadly, I used all my weekly allowance. And it's only Tuesday.

Monday, February 05, 2007

The weather is warm, so warm I had to take my coat off while running errands over my lunch break. My weather feature on my homepage says 58º, tomorrow is supposed to be in the 60’s and the rest of the week in the mid 40’s! Yay! I like the snow and don’t really mind the cold. The best place in the world is being at home so I like to have excuses to stay home. Unfortunately many of our excuses have been secondary to illnesses. I’m ready for some warm temperatures even if they are short lived. Sorry to be bragging for those in SD where my weather feature says 8º, without wind chill.

Lily has been doing great. She continues to take her antibiotics but hasn’t acted sick or ran a fever for multiple days. She is back to playing with her toys, especially her dolls and stuffed animals that she slobbers with kisses. She also enjoys being in the kitchen where she gets her exploring on with in the refrigerator, the cabinets that contain Lily friendly items and the food pantry. The shelf that is equal to her curious eyes is full of baking goods and decorations. The will grab the sprinkles and carry them throughout the house. Lily has been increasingly speedy with walking. It appears she is trying to run but her little legs can’t keep up. If she does fall on her butt she will get right back up and continue on her way. Her aunt Joy gave her a spongebob fuzzy chair and she loves to sit in it. She’s not happy when her father pretends to be using the chair, it’s clearly HER chair but luckily she hasn’t started saying MINE. She does say many words, recent additions to her vocabulary include Dora (thanks to 2-3 year old girls at daycare and a ball her father just bought) and Elmo (I’m sure my aunt Julie is thrilled!). But…she started saying Elmo after receiving an Elmo sticker at her recent doctor appointment. I thought maybe she liked him enough that I got out the Elmo Julie and Mady gave her for Christmas. If you don’t know which Elmo I am talking about check out this video on Youtube…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4x-VW_rCSE
The video is by someone else but as you can see by the dog’s reaction to Elmo, he tends to be scary to little people and animals. I prepped Lily by talking to Elmo myself and showing that he was harmless (sort of). She was interested enough that I turned Elmo on and pushed his tummy. Wrong move momma! I couldn’t turn him off quick enough. Elmo went back into his box but we will try again in another month.

I don’t want to jinx myself but Lily is a darn good sleeper. When people say that once you have kids you never sleep again…they can be wrong. I know we are probably pregnant with a child that will never sleep but as for Lily she is awesome! We start her bedtime routine at 6:30 and she is asleep by 6:45-7PM. She doesn’t wake up until 7AM or on weekends she may sleep in past 8AM. This past Sunday Randy and I laid in bed, waiting for her to wake up. We were just fine staying in bed cuz it’s the most comfortable bed in the world but we were clearly awake long before she made a peep. Once she does start to talk to herself we will go into her room and she will stand up and hand us her blanket while she walks around in her crib. Randy taught her how to turn on her mobile and music so now she does this every morning. But for some reason she doesn’t do it until we come into her room. Otherwise I guess she just lies there, talking to herself or her stuffed doll until we come and get her.

Because she loves her baby dolls we have started talking about the baby in momma’s belly. She smiles and will rub or pat my belly. Fingers crossed she will still like babies when her new baby brother or sister enters the world!

Friday, February 02, 2007

Bridezilla

If you haven't seen this video on youtube you should--
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VMDE1w8Qh0

It's long but highly entertaining. Mostly it will make you feel good about yourself, feel sorry for her and that know her friend/bridesmaid isn't very supportive (the one in the hallway drinking champagne and laughing the whole time).

I wasn't a bridezilla on my wedding day. I was relatively relaxed and had fun getting ready. But I did have one homecoming dance where I got my hair styled professionally that turned into a nightmare. It was hideous! I re-styled it myself and was happy with the end product. But as a teenager, I did throw a fit and wasn't pleasant to be around for that time. But then again, was I ever pleasant to be around as a teen??? My favorite word was WHAT.EVER. My mom loved when I said that. heehee.

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Working Mothers

I am a full time working mother. I chose to be. Randy and I could have chosen to live in an apartment, share one car, not have cable tv, 2 cell phones, or not have other “luxuries” of occasional new clothes, haircuts, eating out, etc. But instead we purchased a nice house, own multiple cars, etc. To maintain our lifestyle I have to work. I want to work, I like to work. I don’t know if I could handle staying at home with children all by myself ALL the time. I think mothers or fathers that do this are superheroes. It’s actually easy for me to come to work. I sit at my desk in front of a computer. I don’t do anything else. Being at home with Lily on weekends is exhausting! We have loads of fun but she wears me out. Sometimes Mondays are my vacation days!

My perfect situation would be working part time and being at home part time. I want to be with Lily more than she is with our daycare provider each day. I want to teach her everything (she has started saying eye and will poke me in my eye!) But, in reality, working part time is not feasible at this time. Things will definitely change in the future and maybe it will include part time hours, maybe not, who knows. Right now we make it work. It’s not always easy, especially with Lily being sick the past few days. The first day I stayed home but Randy stayed home the next day. I had feelings of guilt from being a mother and nurse and not tending to my sick child. I went to work because I have used quite a few sick days between Lily and myself already this winter. When I got home from work it was clear Lily and her father had a good day. She loves being with him so I know it’s good for both of them too, that is time without me around.

One VERY frustrating aspect to being a working mother is extra circular activities. I frequently search for fun things to do with Lily like story time at the library, toddler tumbling classes, sign language, swimming, kindermuskic, itsy bitsy yoga, basically any classes that would let Lily and I play together but she could also interact with other toddlers too. Guess when they are offered….right bam smack during the day time. Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9AM-10AM or Mondays and Wednesdays at 1PM-2PM, etc. What about me?? What about working parents that want to stimulate their children or get out of the house for some fun? If I was a stay at home parent I would definitely be participating in some of these activities as a way to entertain outside the house. But why are the only times offered during the day? Where are the angry working parents that are staging protests? Oh yeah, here I am, that person, writing about it on my blog. Definitely not reaching the appropriate people that can change the rules.

To note…there was a swim class on Saturday but the class was full. We were first on the waiting list but never got called. Gee, wonder why those weekend classes were full??

Another slightly annoying but somewhat funny at the same time was a prenatal yoga class. I would love to go to this class and it wasn’t offered during the day!!! So what’s the problem, you ask? It was at 7:30PM…at NIGHT! Most pregnant ladies are busy at 7:30PM….SLEEPING! If I’m not sleeping-- I am tired and laying on the couch, forcing myself awake so Randy can’t make fun of me for falling asleep before 8PM. Sure the sleepiness should get better come the 2nd and 3rd trimester but still. Prenatal yoga at 7:30PM just makes me laugh…in annoyance.