Welcome to July

Welcome to July, Natalie! Crazy to think that I get to experience most of your "firsts" right along with you. Hope you enjoy this month. Lots of fun things to come!

Isnt this a cute outfit from Nana and Papa (my parents)? It was a get-better-soon gift that arrived in the mail just yesterday.

A Mother Needs Some Help!

My daughter is out-of-control! What ever happened to my sweet, precious, smiling and good-sleeping princess I do NOT know, but within the past two weeks we have a defiant, poorly sleeping, fussy little tyrant.

Last night she was up SCREAMING at 1230am and would NOT go back to sleep. I tried holding her, rocking her, patting her, singing to her, giving her the pacifier... NOTHING worked. I knew she wanted milk - but the middle of the night feeding been something I've been giving into for almost 5 days now and this is one habit I'm not going to support. So we both laid on the floor (her writing around like a freaky little fish, arching her back and sliding backwards on the floor - breakdance style). She eventually calmed down and fell asleep. But she was then back up at 530 with the same song and dance. This time I fed her - because I honestly wanted my last hour of sleep. Yes... inconsistency is bad I know.... I can't believe I'm dealing with this and she's not even 10 months old yet!

Today, the sitter has been trying to put her down for a nap for the last 2 hours and ten minutes. We let her cry it out for an hour and fifteen minutes and finally went to go get her after she quieted down a little (but obviously wasnt still asleep). She's still tired, fussy and determined not to take a nap. Now, she COULD feel bad. But I dont think so. As soon as you pick her up she's fine - and this is NOT the first time she's done this little charade. Any advice? Any books I can read? I need HELP!

Fifteen Percent

Wednesday morning I decided to get myself out of the house with Natalie because she was super F*U*S*S*Y and I thought I might be able to distract her with a few errands. We stopped at Kohls and noted all of the stay-at-home moms cruising through at 1030 in the morning looking for bargains. Seriously - there was like one man in that whole store.

Kevin and I were in dire need of new luggage and Kohls had a good sale on it this week so I was on a mission. On my way into the store a lady starts honking and waving at me and I (in all my "maybe-she'-just-friendly-cuz-that's-how-they-are-in-Missouri" fashion wave back). She pulls over and hands me a reusable coupon for the day. Hallelujah! I take back everything I said about east coasters when I first moved here!

Coupon in tow I start looking at everything with new eyes. Now I can get FIFTEEN PERCENT off of everything. That means I can buy more!! That's when I noticed all of the women in there and I snapped out of my greedy little trance. "Stay focused Lauren!" Dutifully I headed back to the luggage and pick out a 7 piece luggage set for $80. Now only $68 with my coupon. Score! I figured even if this stuff dies on us in a couple years its no big loss as there's not a lot invested and we'd definitely have gotten our money's worth out of it. Besides - it looked like it may hold up longer than that anyway.

I picked out a couple birthday presents for myself (at the request of my mother) and make my way to the checkout line. There was one line on my side of the store at the moment and one lady behind me. Then I asked the dreaded question that certainly sealed my fate: Could you reopen my Kohls credit card so that I could use this 15% off coupon? "Sure!" she said as she pulled out a credit card application. She proceeded to ask me for my drivers license, a major credit card and parental rights to my next child. Another couple joined the line.

After giving her my SSN a total of three times along with my telephone number, etc my card was officially reopened. However she realized that my sunglasses I've picked out didn't have a tag on them to scan. There were approximately 4 people in line behind me now. She had already paged someone in Accessories but there was no one in Accessories. The manager gets on the phone as another couple joins the line and says "I'm desperately in need of a checker in mens" as she paces the floor. I debate offering to check the people out behind me. Instead I offer to go grab another pair of sunglasses WITH the tag this time.

I bolt to Accessories and back within 60 seconds and now there's approximately 7 people in line behind me. She rings me up and "whoops" forgets to apply the coupon. So then she voids it all and we start anew. Meanwhile, the old lady behind me rather loudly declares that they should be "giving things away at this pace". I shove my coupon into her hands and say "here... have a coupon". Because that's what us Missourians do.

Well, I didn't see THAT one coming.

It's been a fussy week for Natalie at home. On Tuesday she started showing signs of Hand/Foot/Mouth disease and also an ear infection. The HFM must have been something she got from her last full day at Kindercare last Thursday. What a nice parting gift.... Not.

KC really doesn't want the HFM kids to come back to play with the rest of the healthy ones (understandably) so she's been home this week adjusting to the new caregiver that's been coming to the house two of the days I work from home and then just hanging out with me. But it's been a very fussy and un-Natalie week. When you don't feel good I guess its hard to find the gumption to crack a smile on a regular basis.

So I swung by Kindercare today with Natalie in tow to collect her things as the "trial" period for the sitter had passed and we didnt want to double up on childcare $$ for longer than we had to. When I got to KC I found myself hit with a strange reaction that in a thousand year I didnt anticipate.... lest you forget my initial reaction with taking her there.

Natalie perked up when we walked in and bust into a smile once she saw all of her friend and her teacher. WHAT?!?!? This is my sick kid who has been fussing all morning for me! I was really surprised about how difficult it was to pack up all of her things and march out of there. Not only was I was sad FOR her but she burst into tears when I put her in the carseat! She'd been there for a measly 4 months, but in that time she'd been doted on by some really nice women, she'd developed a ton socially and physically and she had enjoyed the interaction with other kids. I found myself worrying that she might not like it as much at home with me as shd did at this place that catered to round-the-clock entertainment for its kids. Do I sing enough silly songs and do enough educational play? How can I possibly keep up and manage to get things done around the house? Is this kid going to even like me?!?!

I'm sure I'm just being silly and that there are several factors into why she's been a bit fussy (new schedule, sickness, etc). She'll have to get used to not being held 24/7 and going to sleep without someone else in the room - but that will happen in time. Deep down I think that being home with me will be really good for her (and me too), but right now I'm left a little shell-shocked with how it felt to leave. Totally didn't see that one coming.

She's on the move...

Well the days of "perfect baby" are over and our heads are now spinning by a NEW phase in Natalie's life. Who knew a 9 month old could give us a run for our money? Natalie has started crawling and pulling up all the time now and she has resolutely decided that she does NOT like being penned in with a baby gate and especially in her crib. The past few days have brought mayhem and LOTS of tantrums when she goes down for nap or bedtime. Neither one of us thought we'd have to deal with the tantrum thing quite so early and it's left us wondering "What would the Super Nanny do?" I think she'd be proud at our efforts - but the fight isnt quite over yet!

Last night we had a major standoff. It was 10pm and Kevin and I had just enjoyed a night out strolling though the grocery store, Bed Bath and Beyond and stopping for ice cream. We'd taken Nat with us and, while keeping her out late was probably a bad idea, we needed to get out of the house. She'd done a lot of whining, crying and screaming during what was supposed to be naptime earlier that day and we just needed a break! During our trip out, she stayed in a good mood and fell asleep for a while.

Once we got home, though, she was not content to dutifully go to bed for the night. Instead, she stood in her crib shaking the rails, snot running down her nose, screaming for all she was worth. If there's anything that will break your heart as a parent its that look in your kids eyes when they're competely a wreck and dying for you to pick them up. Kevin and I both looked at each other in bewilderment. What were we supposed to do? She was obviously tired but she wasn't content to be rocked. And the previous trials with naptimes and the crib were making putting her to bed nearly impossible!!

You might be wondering what we did..."did she feel poorly" "is she teething"? But the answer to that was quickly answered when she quieted down the moment she was released from bondage...aka the crib. So our heart-wrenching solution was to sit in the darkened room quietly and lay her down every time she stood up in the crib. I think I laid her down a total of 15 (not kidding) times before she eventually quieted down enough for me to pat her back so she could go to sleep.

This afternoon's nap was the same ordeal, but a bit shorter... Ahh... something tells me that this is a sign of things to come and we should be very, very nervous. Both Kevin and I are strong-willed and something tells me we have it coming to us!

We'll try to get another video of how "on the move" she really is these days. Stay tuned...

Goodbye Tinkerbell

It's been a hectic week and while there's been a lot going on, I'll spare you the details because most of them are mundane and involving lots of time in the car. Let me just say... I'm tired. And it's only Tuesday! I don't think that it's going to be this crazy normally - just part of getting spooled up on the new job.

Natalie has totally mastered the crawling thing and is moving on to beginning to "cruise" the furniture. She's not quite there yet - but Kevin and I can tell it's definitely coming. Baby gates are up!

We officially shrunk our family last Friday and let me tell you it's a bittersweet thing. No, I didnt get rid of Kevin... (although he knows if he doesnt pick up his socks he might be next.. j/k!). We found another home for our younger cat, Tinkerbell. It was just time. Unfortunately we had been overrun by cat hair ever since she arrived and had recently found *gasp* lingering dingleberries NOT in the cat pan. Uggggg! We found a very nice woman on craigslist to offload our cat on and she was very excited about it. She was seeking out a friend for her female cat and has someone cleaning her house every other week - so she shouldn't even notice the shedding hair. Hopefully the poo incidents were isolated ... (cross your fingers folks!) I'm celebrating having only one animal. It's helped the house stay clean and I've found that I appreciate Chloe so much more now. It's probably better for all of us - Tinks included.

Words Cannot Express

the excitement/anticipation/nervous energy, etc that I'm feeling right now. Tomorrow is officially my last day at my job as I've put in my two weeks it's all coming to a close. We're so blessed in that I've been offered a part-time work-from-home position with another company. I'll be excited to see a little bit more of the rugrat and hopefully she'll enjoy the extra time together too.

9 Months Going On 15

When your 9 months old, its not hard to do something for the 1st time. Here's a list of several 1sts within the past week....

1. First road trip (4.5 hours Saturday and 4.5 hours Sunday) She was pretty darn good.


2. First trip to NY, NJ and Pennsylvania. For the Missouri folks reading this, did you realize we drove through 5 states in that 4.5 hours??? (She'd already been to Delaware and Maryland - of course.) I've been stuck on the road in KS and TX longer than that!


3. First real crawl. She has to be bribed with things she can't have. Crawl to a toy? No way! Crawl to a sharp object that I can poke my eye out with? YES!!!


4. First real banana, blueberry and tsaziki sauce. "What??!!", you say? It's what you do when you have a fidgety 9 month old and you're trying to finish your gyro.


5. First game of mini golf (and she won...don't let the guy with the golf club fool you!)
   
   


6. First pull to stand. This is a big one. What made it so cool is that my mom was there to see it!


7. First Martha Stewart sighting. We drove past her enormous property and think we saw her from the back on a golf cart. Not everyday you can say you've seen Martha Stewart's backside!


8. First 95 degree weather. Hotter than HEdoublehockeysticks


9. First ice cream. And first ice cream in her nose. =)
   
   

Happy 80th Birthday Aunt Pat!

This weekend my parents and sister came to town and we had a whirlwind trip up to Bedford, NY (home of Martha Stewart) to celebrate my great Aunt Pat's 80th birthday. She had yet to see Natalie and they took to each other right away!
Aunt Pat is my late grandmother's sister. She reminds me so much of my beloved grandmother and has many of the same mannerisms and hobbies my grandmother had. I miss my grandmother very much but am comforted to know that her spirit lives on!
Aunt Pat

Mom, Dad, Grandpa Frank, Aunt Kathi and Wendell

Natalie and cousin Nola

Hot New Ride...

Good ole garage sale find. I just can't get over how big she's getting. She's really close to crawling. I know I'm going to regret once she really starts, but right now I'm just so excited for her to be more mobile.

This Week In Pictures

But, Mom, I don't want my picture taken!!


I bought a Leap Frog Learning Table (at a yardsale of course) and I do believe it was the best $10 I've ever spent!


Happy Moments from Memorial Day!

Are You Feeling Crabby?

Thursday night we had our first crabs of the season - and, man, were they good! For those of you reading this from a location other than Maryland, you may not be familiar with what I mean when I say crabs. Like I was prior to MD, you may THINK I mean crab legs - the type you get at Red Lobster when you really splurge - the kind you dip in butter and crack with the frustrating metal cracker thing. But that's not at all what I'm talking about.

Allow me to introduce the blue crab.


Who looks like this once he's cooked:


I think one of the biggest adjustments I had to make when moving to MD was the eating of crabs and the shock of how barbaric the whole affair is to an outsider. Now, I accept the task of gutting and eating the suckers with glee, but I have to admit, it's still pretty gross when you really think about it. We use wooden mallets and knives and eat on butcher paper with big mugs of beer and ears of corn. Then we rip off the legs, break open the shells, remove lungs, intestines and "mustard" or fat and then pick the meat out. (some people eat the mustard by the way - ick) It all kind of takes you back to biology class. =)

I've included a set of instructions with pictures to give you a better idea.

*For the record... I DON'T eat the females. I stick with everyone else's notion that they taste different. Something about scraping out the eggs just icks me out every single time. Ewwww..

Back from the Dead... well, almost

So I've been quiet this week, I know, but I've been fighting for my life against the evil snot, fever and productive chest cough villian known as Sinus Infection. I'm still skeptical and think it could have just been a cold as Natalie brought it home with her last week and promptly shared it with both Kevin and me, but who knows? I've been dutifully taking my Amoxicillin and hoping for the best. It's been more than a week now and I'm starting to get impatient. Grrr...

Natalie actually is also on an antibiotic for a double ear infection. Funny though, if she was feeling much worse than me, you never would have known. It amazes me how resilient kids are. She was content to bounce, gurgle and roll around on the floor while I was only happy moaning my last dying wish for ice cream and hot soup from under the covers. Alas, though, my mother does not live with me and as helpful as Kevin was, he wasn't going to drive to the store for my every last whim (he did make me a grilled cheese panini with chicken noodle soup though). Luckily we're all feeling better than earlier this week - or else we'd definitely be calling in some reinforcements for baby duty this weekend.

As for this weekend, my plan is to sleep more than 7 hours a night, shop for some summer sandals, go to a Memorial Day feast with my husbands family, and just relax. Maybe I'll even finish a book. Ooooh...the possibilities are endless.

Some videos of Natterbug

Kevin here... Finally got my capture software set up on my laptop, since my old PC I used for editing bit the dust. Here are a few somewhat recent videos!

Natalie splish splashin' in the sink at bath-time!




Here's the little munchkin in the morning waking up. I love this moment, everyday. It makes the start of every day a bit better, just seeing this :)




Hope you enjoyed them!

Excuse me Ma'am, but you have shrubs on your face.

I got out of the house on Saturday and had some much overdue "me time". Kevin was gracious enough to watch Natalie for a good portion of the day while I went out to get a pedicure and squeeze in some retail therapy. Hmmm... although when you shop places like TJ Maxx, Filene's Basement and the clearance racks at the mall maybe its called "Discount Therapy".

Anyway - I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

My first stop was the nail salon to get my toes done. I hit up one of my favorite nail salons (the kind where you can get a pedicure and a manicure for $28 - you know the kind) and sat down to a relaxing 45 minutes of pampering. One of the first things out of the girl's mouth as she sloughs away the rough spots on my feet was "Do you want anything else done? Are you sure you dont want your eyebrows waxed?".

Umm... "no thanks".

Gee... I didnt think they look THAT bad. I don't exactly look like Sasquatch or anything. I decide to just let that one roll past me - this is my "me time" after all - better enjoy it! We chat on and she finishes painting my toes. As she was shaping my nails she starts in.. "Lauren, why don't you want get eyebrow's done?". Geez. Is it just the cultural divide or is this girl totally oblivious to the fact that you can't just offend people like that? I try to be polite again and she goes on and on about how my eyebrows are uneven and how they really need waxed. Argg!!! Either my friends have just been secretly relishing in my wretched and unsightly eyebrows for their own selfish motives or this girl seriously needed some extra cash. I mean, have you ever??? I wasnt quite sure how to react, but I knew I HAD to hold my tounge or I'd say something I'd regret later. Granted, there were a lot of reasons I didnt want to have my eyebrows waxed - namely because I cried last time someone did them because they took WAY too much off and I practically needed a pencil to draw them back in. But I didn't feel like discussing any of these reasons with someone who I shared a language barrier with. Feeling rather self-concious I left the salon for my shopping excursion. At least my nails looked good. *Sigh*

I had several items on my "list" for things I was looking for on Saturday: summer handbag, sandals, bermuda shorts, dressy tops and cute undergarmets - because after having a baby one MUST have cute and properly-fitting undergarmets. It had been a long time since I'd been shopping so this list was longer than my normal shopping list. You should have seen me on Saturday... literally STARVED for shopping time by MYSELF I RAN from store to store trying things on and hemming and hawing over prices.

Ultimately I came to a familiar realizaton - I'm cheap. I just can't spend $50 on summer sandals. I simply refuse to. It was so frustrating because I found shoes and sandals I liked but I couldn't rationalize spending the $$ that was required and Payless didn't have anything I liked. A bit defeated I trudged home with a few more undergarmets and a handbag. Hopefully Target will have some cute things this summer because I usually am fine with their prices and they're also a bit more kid friendly than the mall. Welcome to the new chapter in my life - the "I only shop at Target because I can buy clothes AND toothpaste in the same trip" chapter. At least I usually like their things.

I've Been a Readin'

Just finished my third book of 2008. Yes, folks... its true. I started to read.

*Much cheering*

I guess I figured it's high time I attempt to get back to my roots (my mother is a librarian) and focus on a little thing called literacy. Ok ok.. I've known how to read - its just that I didn't. Anyway, I'm mainly sticking with easy reads - "page turners" if you will. All of the stuff in the news recently about the polygamists in TX got me curious about how those folks do it. I just can't imagine sharing a husband and I thought it would be interesting to read up on why women wanted to do it and just HOW it worked. The book I just finished is called "Shattered Dreams - My Life as a Polygamist's Wife". Let me tell you it is SO good. I had no idea that many women were living in abject poverty to live "The Principle" (or polygamy). Irene Spencer's struggle to find love and fulfillment in her marriage, sanity as a mother of 13 and peace with God is really heartrending. I was constantly in awe of her resolve as I would have thrown in the towel far before she did. Definitely, definitely something you should read.



Oh, and because I didnt post them here, my first book of 2008 was "One for the Money", fiction by Janet Evanovich. Warning - a bit raw in parts, but I thought it was very good. A quick, appetite-whetting read. I'm getting ready to start the second one in the series, "Two for the Dough".

And then I read another novel called "P.S. I Love You" by Cecelia Ahern. So sad, but yet so good. The movie just came out in DVD I think but I heard they've changed it a bit - not sure.

Happy 8 Months

Happy 8 Months, Natalie!

I Have Not Forgotten You

My darling boy, I have not forgotten you. I have not forgotten what it was like to hold you, so small, in that hospital blanket. Your little hands, so tiny but perfectly formed. Your little body - unfairly robbed of wholeness - unable to contain you and all that you had to bring to this world.

I think about what our life would look like if you had stayed with us just three short years ago - Would I have taken that new job? Would your room be in what is now our office? Would you be potty trained yet? Would we be constantly telling you to wipe your feet, say 'please', stop running, not yell inside? Would you be a snuggler? I think about how you'd make your sister giggle. My heart aches to hold you again.

This day is your day. It's the day you were born into this world and the day we said goodbye to you. It's a day of mourning and of celebrating. Your brief existence here had more impact than some ever have in an entire lifetime. I consider myself lucky to be your mom.

Joseph Nathanial, we miss you.

I Heart Summertime

Last night Kevin and I made some yummy chicken enchiladas after the schnip (yes I'm referring to my daughter) went to bed. We had a good time and goofed off as we each took a part in the ordeal. Kevin chops, I shred the chicken and then glance frantically around the kitchen a the mess that we're making thinking of how I just cleaned this dang room not 24 hours ago and bark out orders to make sure he cleans up his mess, because I ALWAYS clean up mine (ok, he'd have some words to say about this one but I'm writing this post and he's not... hee hee hee).

I digress.

I eye up the avocados we bought a couple days ago for *gasp* $1.50 a piece and we muse about how we'd like to live in California for the cheap avocados - although Kevin is quite sure he could not handle the "left coast" (as he calls it). I ponder that it might be nice to buy fresh avocados for 30 cents a piece and super good mexican food, but we'd lose the savings by paying 1 Million for a house out there. Hmmm... Think I'll stay put.

So I pick the ripest of the two and mash it up with a fork being quite liberal with the salt and adding a touch of garlic powder. Next comes the grated onion and a generous pour of salsa. Stir and Voila! Summertime in a bowl! Kev and I both agree that this is much better if it "melds" in the fridge, but I never can wait for that to occur. So we open a bag of chips and dig in.

I wish I could take credit for this recipe, but alas its my friend Jill's recipe (from California). I'd had guacamole once prior to trying hers and I HATED it. It was in 3rd grade when we learned Spanish from a group of high schoolers who came to our school. They obviously had no idea what they were doing because I remember it as bland and boring. Come to think of it - a lot of food I ate growing up in the midwest was bland - not a lot of salt and/or heat. Anyway... I'm a changed woman. And guacamole = good = summertime.

Yum.

My computer is s...l...o...w

So I'm sitting here munching on some of these and wondering why my computer is

so

s.l.o.w...

Good grief. The cursor is even creeping along. Something must be wrong with this thing. Too bad its maxed out on 768 MB of RAM. Man... that used to be so good. Not no more!

I put Natalie in this tonight:

She paddled around the kitchen like a little pro. Once she got near the black bag in the picture here she reached up and grabbed it like she owned it. That got me thinking as to how much crap I've got at eye level for her once she starts getting mobile. That's going to be a whole new ballgame - one I dont think I'm ready for.