O. Baby!

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Luke, 13.5 weeks

2009-03-23T09:02:00.000-07:00

So I'm a terrible mommy this time around, at least when it comes to blogging. But in the last couple of weeks I've been going back to read Ceili's blog and I find it's helpful to read what I was going through with her. It inspired me to document at least from this point on, even if I have missed out on a lot. The funny thing is, by this point with Ceili I had been writing and preoccupied by all things Boob related for weeks. And had I been blogging about you, I would have been writing and preoccupied by all things Boob related yet again! The more things change, the more they stay the same.

You are a wonderful baby. Yes, you cry. Yes, you fuss at inconvenient times. Yes, you EAT like there will never again be another meal. But you are charming, funny, and a wonderful baby. You've been smiling since 1/31, and you've been laughing for a couple of weeks, more all the time. And you experimented with sleeping through the night within the first month, and have been sleeping in your own room, in your own crib for at least 9 hours a night since 3/11* (*except for one night, you needed a 1:30 a.m. feeding, then continued sleeping for a combined total of 9.5 hours). Last night was 10 hours, and the night before that was 11 hours! So you have the whole crib-sleeping thing down.

Milk has been an ongoing challenge. You have laryngomalacia, and didn't like to nurse on the left side, resulting in that breast nearly drying up. I pumped and pumped, even rented a Symphony for a month and got a prescription for Reglan, but still it is barely producing. You were supplemented for the first tim at 2.5 weeks because you weren't gaining. :( That made me sad, but I knew I had no other choice. I strongly believe in my ability to nurse even without the greatest supply, and I know we could have done it had it not been for the laryngomalacia. But these were the cards we were dealt so we make the best of it. I'm taking domperidone now though and I'm starting to see a difference (9 days in). It would be great if I could stop supplementing, but regardless I'm proud of all the milk I AM able to give you.

Growth is definitely no longer an issue. At your last appointment on 2/18 you weighed 11 pounds 2 ounces! Height and weight were both 50% so you're right on there. Definitely bigger than your sister was. I'm curious to see what you weigh now, but I won't find out for another 3 weeks, at your 4 month appointment.

You are getting stronger all the time. You aren't really hitting toys deliberately yet though you do make contact sometimes. But you hold on to everything: clothes, bibs, toys, burp rags, your own hair and ears. It really is cute! You love to push your feet against things, especially when they give you traction to pushing off. You're sitting pretty well with support of course, and your head is getting stronger all the time.

Well, you're waking from your nap and I need to pump soon so I will end it here. I will try to post more often now, though, as I'm only home for 2 more months and I really do want to try to remember these times.

Fat suit

2008-07-08T16:18:00.000-07:00

So today I relented and wore maternity clothes. Yesterday I wore regular pants and the belly band thing I've been wearing to cheat for quite a while now. But I was really uncomfortable so I sucked it up and wore maternity clothes for the first time to work. I've been wearing some on the weekend because I have some really comfy casual clothes. But I have managed to avoid wearing any to work. I have to say I was much, much more comfortable today. I'll probably be in between still for a while, as many of my clothes are still way too big. But this is the beginning of the transition, that's for sure.

I'm also rediscovering my appetite. Thank goodness, I guess? I imagine I will start to gain weight soon as I am eating much more. I have to say that I'm eating fairly healthy though, or at least not terribly badly. For lunch today (which was a two-parter, almost 2 hours between), I had a cup of yogurt, a package of celery and peanut butter, a juice spritzer drink, a grilled cheese sandwich, a bottle of water and a peanut butter cookie. Hee hee. Oh, and a bunch of All Fruit Bars Ends & Pieces from Trader Joes. For breakfast I had a toasted asiago cheese bagel with garlic and herb schmear (my current addiction) and orange juice. And water. We'll just have to wait and see what dinner brings!!!

2008-07-07T11:10:00.000-07:00

So it was an interesting weekend. Compared to the fourth of July weekend 6 years ago when I found out I was pregnant with your sister, maybe not quite as eventful... But close! Thursday was nice and relaxing. Friday was busy - Arcadia Fourth of July parade, then a party at Daddy's step-mother's relatives house, then fireworks. Well, the fireworks were kind of a bust because of a storm coming in. They tried setting them off an hour early, then stopped 15 minutes in because of high winds. But what we saw was pretty.

Saturday, the family and Grandma Laurie and I went to lunch at a new restaurant (well, new to me). While waiting for our food, I had a slight heartburn attack. I'd left my pills in the bag from the fireworks outing, so I asked Grandma for one. She gave me one and it looked different - probably a different dosage than mine. I asked her if she was sure it was the right pill and she said yes, and I swallowed it. As soon as I did she realized it was the wrong one and told me not to swallow it. But it was too late! I'd swallowed blood pressure medicine! I ran to the bathroom and tried in vain to throw it up. Believe me, I tried. But it was not coming out. Panicked, we ran next door to CVS (a drug store) and asked the pharmacist for syrup of ipecac. That's what they give kids to make them throw up. Unfortunately they don't sell it anymore. I went to the bathroom to try again while Grandma and the pharmacist called Poison Control for advice.

Fortunately, it turns out this drug is not dangerous to pregnant women. The biggest danger is plummeting blood pressure and fortunately again, mine did not drop that low. I watched it and it was low, which is a little scary because mine is already low in pregnancy. But thankfully nothing else happened and other then a little dizziness here and there, you would never have known. I did call the OB on-call nurse, and they were really nice too. Everyone called to check on me again later and I was doing fine.

So that's our drama. I'd actually really like to see you again in there, and I contemplated making a quick appointment to make sure you're okay. But I believe in my heart everything is fine, so I will not be a worry wart and I will wait patiently for our next appointment on the 22nd. Stay safe in there and sorry for the drama.

Fourteen Weeks

2008-07-02T09:52:00.000-07:00

So here we are. I've thought myself in the second trimester for a while now, but a lot of pregnancy books etc., don't consider you there until the end of the 13th week. I've never really understood that, but whatever! I'm here and you're here and all is well. I slept terribly last night - just couldn't get comfortable and felt kind of crampy. The cramps are gone today, but I feel terrible from the lack of sleep. And I'm really starting to feel "fat" the last 2 or 3 days. Clothes are uncomfortable but technically still fit, so I'm really not into maternity clothes. I just have been wearing what I have and by the end of the day I'm miserable and anxious to change into pajama pants at home. But if the fat days are any inclination, I expect to need those maternity clothes fairly soon. They are all washed and hanging in the closet so I'm ready to go when the time comes. I shouldn't need to buy many additional clothes, thank goodness. I do need a pair or two of shorts, though I'm happy to live in capris most of the time. I have a handful of nicer work clothes, and generally a lot of stuff overall so I think I'm okay there.

I haven't really been feeling you. I still truly believe I did feel you a few times back in the 12th week, but not much since. Would be nice to connect with you that way, but I know we have plenty of time for that. Anyway - stay cozy and safe in there. I'll try not to drink so much juice - I have been craving it like crazy and I imagine it's giving you quite the sugar high. Sorry about that.

Sneak Peeks

2008-06-26T13:35:00.001-07:00

Hi baby!

2008-06-26T10:02:00.000-07:00

Hi there little one. We did get to see you on Tuesday. That was such a great visit. Daddy did come with me, Ceili did not. It actually worked out perfectly. We got to see you for a good long time and we took home a dozen pictures. I saw my favorite nurse - Mary, who helped me conceive Ceili and I've been seeing her for years. She was so excited for us. She is extremely experienced and took a wild stab at your gender even though it's really early. She said GIRL and she seemed pretty confident about it. We won't know for absolute sure until 8/5 when the official gender scan u/s will take place. But it kind of goes along with my instinct, so I believe it. Plus your heartbeat has consistently been between 165 and 168 every single time, which tends to point to girl as well.

So that was really fun. I'm still not really showing and my clothes are still mostly fitting okay. I was down another pound at the appointment, so down about 3 or 4 overall now. I went back to look at my journal with Ceili and I think I was still down 2 pounds by 16 weeks. I'm oddly not worried about it, but it is still admittedly puzzling.

I asked the nurse about some of my more annoying symptoms right now. I still get dizzy a LOT which she was able to explain well. I also have been getting almost daily splitting headaches, which she also was able to explain well. And even this weird heart/breathing problem I randomly get - she was able to explain in detail and give me things to do about it. I was really pleased with how it all went. Next appointment is 7/22. Hurrah!

Summer fun

2008-06-23T10:37:00.001-07:00

Actually so far this summer hasn't been much fun, for me anyway. Ceili is having fun with swimming lessons and ballet, and daddy is making much progress on projects around the house, including your room (a/k/a the Office). But for me it's just hot and exhausting! I spent about 4 hours on Sunday trying to get a loaner laptop computer from Fry's electronics and it completely wore me out.

Interestingly, I'm comparing how I feel to how I felt when I was pregnant with Ceili and I do see a lot of similarities. I remember feeling really faint at church with Ceili, and I feel really faint a lot of the time with you. Especially when I stand quickly. I have to be really careful with that, and in the shower where the heat makes me really dizzy.

I should get to see you tomorrow, I HOPE! I have a Dr.'s appointment and I still haven't decided if I'm bringing Daddy and Ceili. I suppose we should decide soon. Hang tight in there.

Friday

2008-06-20T09:08:00.000-07:00

Thank goodness for Fridays. This has been a really difficult week. It's a lot different at work being pregnant this time than it was with Ceili. With her, I was in a different job position and a little more able to slide by on the rough days. With you, I've had two promotions and now 16 people report directly to me. I don't get to have easy days, and I don't get to slide by on any of them. Too bad, because I could really use it - especially today. I've been feeling pretty good, but today I'm not feeling well at all. I seem to be kind of on the cusp of things. I'm 12w2d, and some days I feel great, and I'm starting to see a flash of energy creeping back in. But then other days, like the last 3 days, I've been tired, moody and just generally icky-feeling. I've gone to bed before 8:30 for the last 3 nights!

Oh well. All of that does nothing to temper my happiness about you. I'm pretty sure I've been feeling you in there, but I'm afraid to say that to too many people because it really seems too early. But I've seen you on ultrasound 4 times now, and I can say you are categorically a wiggly baby!!! So it certainly seems possible. But I've also been a little gassy (sorry TMI) so who knows which it is? Either way, I'm happy that you're in there and doing well.

I did get the results of the first trimester scan and the NT scan on Wednesday, and everything looks good. Your numbers were all within the normal range, and you had the right number of everything (i.e. legs, arms, etc.). So that is all very reassuring. The ultrasound I got in conjunction with all that testing was really cool, and very extensive. I even got in a short 4D scan which was my first one of those. I couldn't see you that well on that, but it was still interesting. I have another appointment next Tuesday and I'm not sure if I will get an u/s at that or not. We really can't wait to find out your gender, and I'm still trying to decide if I should bring Ceili and your daddy to this appointment just in case, or if it's more likely to be the next one in July. We shall see!

I'm baaack!

2008-06-03T11:19:00.001-07:00

So is it super cheesy to use the same blog for Baby #2 that I used for Baby #1? Oh well, so be it. Baby #1 is not such a baby anymore. Ceili is 5 and sassy and quite the independent individual. She loves ballet and cuddling and hates mean people. She talks back when she's tired and is terrible at cleaning her room. She tells jokes and lives to ride roller coasters - the bigger the better!

But now I have at last come to be pregnant with her sibling. It has taken years to get to this point, and a whole lot of financial and physical cost. I am still, at almost 10 weeks, afraid to believe it will really happen. I want to be excited and carefree, but there's always the nagging "what if?" in the back of my mind. It doesn't help that I spotted/bled between 6w3d and 9w5d. The good news is that I've had 3 good ultrasounds, saw the heartbeat at all three (including the first early one at 6w2d!), and heard it once. My fertility doctor has released me and I've already had my first "real" OB appointment. So here I am!

I'm going to revert in future posts to my old habit of talking "to" the baby in my posts. I liked that with Ceili when I read back on my posts months and years later. And someday when she's old enough to read and appreciate them, I hope she will enjoy that I really was talking to her. So this blog will resume it's prior format and style, but directed to a new audience: Baby O. part deux. I hope s/he will find it interesting someday.

Still there?

2008-03-06T12:13:00.000-08:00

I confess it's pretty depressing to read my last posts and see that not much has changed in the last year and a half from a TTC perspective. That last cycle I was chronicalling actually was a successful one. I managed to get knocked up and stay that way for a shaky 2 weeks. But then my HCG plateaued and dropped, and the blood started. Miscarriage, hurrah. Anyway - we went on to do 2 more with Dr. Edge, then took up acupuncture for the spring and summer, found a new Dr. we'll call Dr. Cute (trust me on this), did 2 more IUI's, had a hysteroscopy to remove a uterine polyp and just finished an unsuccessful first IVF. We did have a whopping 7 frozen embryos so I assume we're headed to Frozen Embryo Transfer (FET) next. My appointment with Dr. Cute is at 2:30 tomorrow so I'll learn for sure.

You, my lovely daughter are officially FIVE YEARS OLD. This reality both excites and depresses me terribly. I've always thought as 5 as a pivotal year. You start to really learn stuff, and remember things long into adulthood. You start to "get it." And boy are you doing that. You are an incredible person and I genuinely feel blessed to get to share my life with you. But the depressing part is that what I want to give you more than anything in the entire world is a sibling. And now, even if the FET works, you will be six when the baby comes. SIX! I don't even want to think about that. It literally is the most painful part of this process, that you keep aging while I keep trying.

I don't think we'll try for much longer though. I am sure we'll use up these snowbabies and do 2 or 3 FET's, then decide whether to try one last IVF or not. I'll wait to make that decision until we know what happens through these FET's. I really am emotionally worn out so we'll see.

OW!

2006-10-13T08:21:00.000-07:00

If you know me, you know I'm not very stoic. I don't want to say I'm sick of hurting, because I asked for every bit of it. But the truth is, I am ready to be done with this phase.

Yesterday was the IUI. Daddy was able to do his part, and I went in to do mine. Now I'm bloated and uncomfortable, and oh yeah I still have to give myself two shots a day EXACTLY 12 hours apart. No problem. And those shots? They bruise like a mofo, and I'll have to do them until I'm 20 weeks pregnant. Do you know how long 20 weeks is? Ugh.

So I'm trying to stay positive and hopeful. I had today off thankfully so I can regroup, get some stuff done and still have a restful weekend. Lucky me!

Hiatus

2006-01-04T09:12:00.000-08:00

Time to take a break, sorry. This journal has meant so much to me, but right now I'm not comfortable with it being online. I hope you understand. Please feel free to email me anytime if you want updates. We are doing well, just looking for a little less transparency for now. We wish everyone a happy and healthy new year!

No more monkeys jumping on the bed

2005-11-30T08:34:00.000-08:00

So, yeah. I suck. Things have been, um, a bit busy of late. In addition to very busy times at work (I'll post more on the main blog about that), you have been keeping us busy as well, and so has the lovely challenge of TTC.

I can't possibly sum up all of the things we've done and the neat things you're doing now, so I will try to capture some highlights. They may be out of order, so forgive me.

Christmas lights are the big thing right now. And Christmas ornaments. And Christmas presents. And Santa Claus. Really, you're into all things Christmas. You like to redecorate the tree, moving ornaments around. I haven't wrapped the presents yet to put under the tree, but you know where they are and you ask me about them frequently. Everywhere we go, you exclaim "Christmas, mommy!" when you see a lit tree or wreath. It's really cute.

You are tall and thin. Most of your clothes that actually fit are 3T or 4T. You've outgrown a number of 3T's, never in the waist but always in the length. Now that we're into some COLD temperatures, I really need to buy you more pants.

**BTW, family and friends who might be considering gifts for Ceili, pants are a good thing! :)**

Your current amusing traits involve singing silly rhymes and songs and talking to inanimate objects. The silly rhyme of choice at the moment goes like this:

One fell off and bumped his head.
Momma call the doctor, and doctor said:
NO MORE MONKEYS JUMPING ON THE BED!
(the last line must be shouted, complete with reproving finger shaking)

You don't say the beginning of the rhyme, which I've only just managed to research and find.

The inanimate object conversations too are really amusing. Last night on the couch, you said "Uh oh." That's never a good sound, so I asked, "What happened?" and you answered, "No, I'm not talking to you. I'm talking to my cup." Oh. Okay then. You did the same thing to Daddy later, when you were sitting with him. You were talking very softly, and he asked you what you were saying. You told him, "No, not you, Daddy. I'm talking to the couch." Just so we're clear.

Thanksgiving was nice; we spent time with Grandma and Uncles Chris and Mason. Last weekend we went to visit Ember and her family, which was really fun.

Challenges still surround daycare/school and sleeping. Some mornings you throw monster tantrums when I drop you off at school. We're working on some strategies right now to minimize those, and the last two days have been much less painful. Nighttime was going so well for a few months, but we have backpedalled a bit. You've decided you're not fond of falling asleep in your bed. That's not good. The good news is you're falling asleep much sooner now that it's getting dark earlier. In fact, I would say you're getting more sleep than you have in a long time. You're usually asleep on the couch by 7:30, then I carry you to bed. Have I mentioned how BIG you've gotten? Some nights you don't wake up at all, some nights you wake up nearly a dozen times. Usually you wake up between 1 and 3 times. The trick is trying to get you to go back to bed. Potty breaks often do the trick.

Yes, the potty. *sigh* Two steps forward, one step back. That seems to be our mantra. You've gone a couple of whole days, from waking up to going to bed for the night with a dry diaper. And you've gone more than a couple of days without using the potty once. It just depends on your mood. And you will. not. poop. in the potty. Period. No amount of cajoling, gentle and subtle hints or bribery work. It's admittedly a bit frustrating. All we can do is keep trying.

We've been pretty lucky health-wise. You had a couple of weeks of a little cough, so I took you in. The backup Dr. who saw you is a bit concerned that you might be developing asthma and Grandma is firmly convinced. I'm not so convinced, and in fact the cough has almost completely gone away. But I will absolutely continue to watch you for it. Your keratosis pilaris is getting worse, but that's normal for you in the winter.

You definitely seem ready to be a big sister. I wish I could help you have that title, but so far, no good. I'm working on it, really I am.

So that's it for now. I'm sure there is a LOT I'm missing, but I'll try to post again soon!

Dragons

2005-10-21T10:20:00.000-07:00

Your life has lots of dragons and monsters in it at the moment. Not sure why, other than an admitted proclivity to be exposed to these things during Halloween.

Anyway, we got your costume and you are a purple dragon. You LOVE it. It goes to bed with you, watches cartoons with you and just generally keeps you company. It's positively adorable. This is it. Very cute. I'm looking forward to you getting to wear it. We might even go to a party though I'm not very jazzed about getting dressed up myself. We'll see.

We went to the Arizona State Fair last Sunday. That was LOTS of fun, and you slept for 3.5 hours beginning with the moment you got back in the car. There was a dragon roller coaster for kids that you wanted to ride. But by that time, we were out of ride tickets and you were essentially sleepwalking. We'll be going back with Grandma and will ride it then. In the meantime, you ask about it daily.

Your school pictures are done and they are ADORABLE! I posted them on Flickr, but they're private. So if you want to see them, please either email me with your user name on Flickr so I can add you as a friend, or I can email the pictures directly to you. I've left one public for now, but I may change my mind about that.

I've been in quite a funk lately. You haven't been, thankfully. You're growing and learning more all the time. I just wish I could give you a sibling. I'm thinking about starting another blog on that particular topic, but I'm superstitious. Like if I start it, I'm dooming myself to an even longer and harder road. How's that for cheery? :)

Monday

2005-10-03T08:57:00.000-07:00

Back to school today. It was a strange weekend. Eventful and uneventful all at once. Friday night we got to drive around taking care of Max, Tom and Talmar's kitty. He was rescued from their house fire and had to be shuttled from one ER vet to another. Poor guy. He seems to be doing really well though, thank goodness. And you were pretty good throughout the whole ordeal.

I'm hoping you are not catching my nasty cold. You were fairly clingy and cranky, and you woke up three times last night complaining of monsters. Interestingly, Daddy and I both had nightmares last night. And both of us dreamed of creepy ghosts. Weird.

I'm also hoping we get the proofs back for your school pictures last week. We found out that Ashtin's mommy wanted to get pictures with both of you. What a great idea! They're going to make sure that we get to see them too.

We missed Alyssa's birthday party on Saturday. I tried to not make a big deal of it, and as it turns out you took your nap right through the time when it would have been anyway. But I am still bummed we missed it.

No pregnancy yet. But Tom and Talmar will be having a baby in late April! Yay!

Two and a half

2005-09-27T08:17:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in ages because I've been so busy at work it doesn't leave me much time to blog. I hope things slow down just a little soon. It's really taking a toll on me.

You are doing great as always. Your language skills are incredible and you know many creative ways to express yourself. You have WAY too much energy, but that's pretty normal. A few weeks ago you were babysat by a teenager for the first time - YIKES! It was good though. You were actually asleep before she came over, so there wasn't much to do.

Today is picture day. You went to school with ponytails and ribbons. I can't wait to see how they come out.

And that's all. More later. I just finished taking my first five day dose of clomid. I'm between clomid and ovulation, so who knows what the next few weeks might bring. :)

Long weekend

2005-09-06T07:51:00.000-07:00

It was a nice long weekend; it's hard to come back to work today. You had a fun weekend. We went to a baseball game for Auntie Missy's birthday on Friday, then to a party at her house Saturday night. That involved swimming and lots of attention, which are always good things. Sunday we had a pretty lazy day, but you had your favorite lunch (Wendy's chicken nuggets with mandarin oranges and chocolate milk). And yesterday, you got to visit with Grandpa Dan, Grandma Carol, your Great-Grandmother and Great-Grandfather (different families), Uncle Danny and Aunt Kimberly. Uncle Danny left this morning for basic training in the Army, so it was a kind of farewell party. We're very worried about him but think if he can stay safe this will be a good opportunity for him.

You're doing very well with your potty time. I'd say you're using the potty almost 1/2 the time now. Yesterday was the only bad day, and you only used it once I think. The prior days you did really well, even using it twice at Missy's house. And last night you were getting fussy and whiny and when I offered to let you go to bed in your own bed, you took it without hesitation. As long as I left the light on and the door open, you were happy. The funniest part came after I tucked you in. I have this trick if you will when you wake up in the middle of the night. I come in and soothe you, and then whisper "Mommy's going to go pee-pee [babytalk; sorry!], I'll be right back." So last night when I tucked you in, awake and with the light on, you said to me "Okay, Mommy. Go pee-pee now." Ha!

Speaking of funny sleep stories... Sunday you never took a nap and it made for one LONG evening. You'd fallen asleep in the car, but woke up 10 minutes later when I tried to carry you in. So on Monday when you fell asleep in the car, I didn't take chances. Daddy and I drove around for over an hour. With these gas prices! You eventually woke up, and in your groggy still-half-asleep voice said, "Where are the monsters? Daddy, where did they go?" After giggling, we asked you some more questions and it turns out that you were clearly dreaming about monsters and apparently you were chasing and EATING them! I was happy you didn't seem scared, but when it came time for bed that night, the reason the lights were left on is because you were afraid of monsters. I guess you are at that age.

So, back to school today. This weekend we'll be taking a trip to Flagstaff with Auntie Chelle. It will be fun to get away a bit and relax. Daddy will doubtlessly enjoy the quiet break.

FIVE!

2005-09-01T08:13:00.000-07:00

That's how many times you went peepee in the potty at home in the last 24 hours. Oh yes, dear readers, FIVE! You seem to have turned a corner, flicked the switch, seen the light, whatever analogy you want to use. I came home from the dentist last night and Daddy proudly pronounced that you had gone in the potty. Sure enough, you went three more times last night, then once again this morning. It's different now. I can see you're ready. When you focus on it, pay attention to what you're doing, you can control the release. They were saying at school that you're holding it a long time so I know you're getting good at that. The trigger would be when you learned how to release at will. Now I think you've got it.

So, you proudly wore four stickers to school this morning (one sadly was removed and de-stickified). I really do hope this is the beginning of your potty days. You're 30.5 months, so it really is time.

Hooray for potty pee!

God is great, God is good...

2005-08-23T13:03:00.000-07:00

Yes, this morning you entertained me with an unexpected prayer. One I didn't teach you. That was very cute, and very interesting. Fortunately, you'll learn lots of prayers in our house. That might not have been an okay development for all families. You do not attend a Christian daycare and I was not aware that they were teaching this. I am going to ask for more info about how this came to be to satisfy my own curiousity.

Anyway, I know I've been bad about posting. You are changing so much all the time, it's really a shame I've not been keeping this blog up. Bottom line is that I'm far too busy at work, and they really do pay me to work and not to blog. When I'm home, I try not to spend much time on the internet, so this is out.

Today is a big day. Yesterday we went to the State Board of Education meeting up north and Daddy got the rubber stamp we were praying for. Today he began the first day of the rest of his professional life. He stepped on campus as a full teacher, and started classes of his very own. He's teaching Algebra 2, Geometry and AP Statistics, and I'm so proud of him I could burst.

We've decided our evenings need a bit of a makeover. Now that the house is in good shape, we can relax a little on it. We're going to try to get in a routine that centers around an earlier dinner, baths for you every night, and hopefully nights with no TV. Daddy needs to do lots for school, including a lot of reading. He doesn't want to spend every night locked up in the office so he will read in the living room with the TV off. Those nights you and I will read too, or play. But no TV. I am very happy with this idea, and think not only will I get more done around the house but I'll be more consistent with what I do with you.

That's about it. Still trying to get pregnant, but there's no news on that front. Yet.

Shrooms

2005-08-09T08:32:00.000-07:00

Okay, there are MUSHROOMS growing in my backyard. Great, big, plate-sized mushrooms. What's particularly odd about that is - in case you forgot - I live in the DESERT. And it's August. And they're growing right smack in the middle of the backyard where there is no shade. Joe's plucked a half-dozen and this morning we woke up to two bright shining new ones. We must be getting some good soaking rains lately.

But I digress.

You're doing very well, growing leaps and bounds yourself. You're officially tall enough to go into IKEA's play area but you have to be potty-trained. We're not having a lot of luck on that front, mostly because I'm still not really pushing it. You ask to use it on occasion but nothing happens. Oh well. As long as you're done by Kindergarten I'm fine. I'm still stunned by how tall you're getting, though.

You still have a love affair going on with Ashtin. He greeted you this morning with a squeal and a smile. It's amazingly cute.

The floors are done. Praise God. It's been a long time coming, but we're finally able to start putting things away and really having our house back. There are still plenty of little things to be done (i.e. new baseboards, new interior doors, etc.), but that's all manageable. We also have all the furniture replaced that needed it except the dining room table. That will be our next quest. There's one at Pruitt's I really like, but we'll need to get serious about measuring it and seeing if it will fit. Handily it is a long oval so there are no sharp corners to bang into when you are chasing Princess around the house.

TTC'ing continues. My body remembered how to do it's girlie thing albeit a couple of weeks delinquent. So I'm hopeful that last month jogged it into remembering how to do the rest of the job. We'll see. Pregnancy now would result in an early May due date. That would be fine. Much later and I am looking at Arizona heat misery in my last month. Not so sure about that part.

Daddy's meeting with the principal of his school today to review the details of his job. He's going to be teaching Algebra 2, Geometry and AP Statistics. He is going to see his new classroom today and start sorting out the finer points of his coming career. I am so very excited for him. It's been a long time coming and while it's not completely set in stone and won't be until the final board meeting on 8/22, at least it's right around the corner. He's going to be such an incredible teacher. We decided to carpool too, which means we'll both be there to drop you off and pick you up each day. I see a rut in our future and I am looking forward to it!

So, that's pretty much it. I'm swamped still at work and with people leaving unexpectedly I don't see it getting better anytime soon. But it's almost autumn and that alone has me pretty happy. Better weather always improves my mood.

Birfdays!

2005-07-26T14:29:00.000-07:00

Today has been kind of a crappy day, but that's okay. I really had my birthday over the weekend, with a fabulous birthday party and great times with friends and family. It was great, you were great and I can't really complain a bit.

Plus I got an iPod Mini! I had asked everyone for one, but told them I didn't really expect anyone to pay for it. Sure enough, Daddy wanted me to have it and surprised me with one. I used it at the gym yesterday and it was great.

You went to the gym with me yesterday and I guess you had fun too, because you asked me this morning if we could go back!

So, things overall are good. Just in a weird funk today. I think it's improving though; only 1.5 more hours of work left. :)

Love Story

2005-07-20T14:15:00.000-07:00

It's a sweet story but I just can't imagine 74 years of marriage. Hell, I can't imagine being 105 years old. But it sure would be interesting!

Developing

2005-07-19T14:43:00.000-07:00

I should post more often on your development. Not sure why I don't do that. I suppose part of it is because the changes are so gradual. But I really do think to myself every day how lucky we are to be your parents.

Right now you're really pushing your independence. You can sometimes dress yourself, top and bottom. You can get socks onto your feet and sandals, too. Tennis shoes are a little trickier, but you try. You LOVE lotion, washing your hands, using toilet paper, and even cleaning/picking up. Yes, that's nice I must admit. You sing the Barney clean up song and happily pick things up. If your milk spills, you try to find a towel or napkin to clean it up. If something falls over in another room or the dog makes a mess of some sort, you will come to get one of us to drag back and show it. When I give you a cheese slice or stick, or banana, you will eat the food and take the wrapper or peel to the trash can by yourself. It really is wonderful.

You are also old enough now to make up your mind. Unless you're tired you almost never do the random contrary statements. When you say you do want to do something, I can trust you mean it. You think before answering me when I give you choices, and you won't hesitate to tell me if you want a choice I haven't given you. You also won't hesitate to tell me that you're unhappy I won't relent to it becoming one of your choices. But usually choices involve milk or water, cartoons or movie, this outfit or that one, stroller or walking. The latter, incidentally is hardly a choice anymore. You definitely are not interested in sitting in the stroller. And a cart? Fuhgettaboutit. Unless it's one of those newfangled carts that doubles as a race car, it's just not going to happen. Our grocery store of choice just got these, but you can't take them out of the store. How annoying is that?!?! But I digress.

Honestly, you amaze me more all the time. Whether you're chasing daddy around the house while he vaccuums and you're pushing your popcorn popper toy to imitate him, or talking to Grandma on the phone, I find you very entertaining.

Entirely too hot

2005-07-18T09:07:00.000-07:00

I still don't know what's up with my body. It's not the big P, I'm sure, just... weird.

Of course, part of it might be because it's 57,000 degrees outside. Okay, more like 116 but seriously, how long can a person survive in 116 degrees? It's been weeks at over 111, and a good solid week over 114. Nobody is normal in heat like that. Our ancient air conditioner is fighting hard to keep the house below 80. That made the flooring experience this weekend lots of fun.

Fortunately, we got it done and your bedroom looks GREAT! We dismantled the crib (sniff) and put it neatly under your bed. We moved the bed to the other side of the room and reorganized everything. It leaves you with an incredible amount of room. We were even able to put most of your toys in your room for the first time ever! Maybe we'll be able to use our living room as a living room again and not a toy box. Mostly I hope you'll want to play in there more often, though I think I need to get you a rug. I'll post photos here soon.

Work will be very busy this week, and then Saturday is my birthday party. I don't kno what there is to celebrate. I'll be 30 next Tuesday. Maybe that's why my body is acting up: Protest! It all makes sense now.

Interesting

2005-07-14T15:44:00.000-07:00

So I turned in your application to the Montessori school of our choosing. Of course, it would be $750/month, so I also picked up the financial assistance package. I don't know what to think. In an ideal it would be perfect, and it's worth a shot. But there are drawbacks too. Not the least of which is that your (hopefully) future brother or sister would be $1,150/month as an infant. Yeah, no. That's more than our mortgage payment. So either we'd have to get that basically knocked off, which might happen if they looked at those two in relation to our income. OR the future child would have to go elsewhere, probably where you're going now. It's about 1/2 block away, so it's not really inconvenient.

Aaaaanyway, while we're on the subject of the future child... We were, weren't we? Yes, well. Man, I'm a bad prego wannabe. I'm not used to be a la natural, sans pregnancy-preventing hormones. So a lot of the weird crap my body's been doing in the last couple of weeks and really the last couple of days do nothing to help. What is all this stuff? My body's blissfully happy with The Pill. Well not blissful but relatively uneventful. Now I have all of these hormones. I have mood swings, hot flashes, boob sweating (WTF is up with that?!) and general pregnancy-type feelings that only come full force right before you get your period. Sorry, TMI. I'm sure my lovely Aunt Flo is around the corner, but in the meantime her impending visit leaves me with Attitude. And how! My coworkers are lucky to share in the joy that is me right now.

Of course, there's always the chance it's not a test. No, shut up you. Go away now. I am not in danger of forgetting that when you're TTC'ing, every twinge, flash, flicker and blip of a body change signals your mind to say "Oooh, oooh! That's what you feel when you're pregnant, right? I must be pregnant!" Then your evil Mr. Hyde reminds you that you're a bloody fool.

Yeah, so I'm having some fun at present. Stay tuned. I am pretty sure I'm losing my mind.

P.S. No, I'm not drunk. I'm at work. More like punch-drunk with exhaustion.
P.P.S. You, yes you - Don't snap at me for not telling you anything first. There's nothing to tell you. Didn't you read above? If I pee on a stick and it says anything, I will call you. But I won't be peeing on a stick anytime soon. As Chez Miscarriage says, "Go away, evil eye."

Finally!

2005-07-13T09:18:00.000-07:00

I don't know how my blog got so messed up, but I finally fixed it with a happy little float:left command. Phew.

Woot!

2005-07-12T08:20:00.000-07:00

I so would have bought these if they hadn't been sold out when I first saw them. $11.99 for two digital cameras? I would have given one to you and probably one to Grandma or something, just to spread the wealth. But I would have really enjoyed seeing what you would do with your own camera.

Last night I gave you my very special ring. You were playing with Daddy's wedding band and demanding a ring of your own. So I dug into the bag of my childhood and miscellaneous fun jewelry and sure enough, I found my real gold ring with an enamel Minnie Mouse charm from when I was very young. It's adjustable, and when I put it on your hand it fit beautifully. You couldn't believe your luck. Of course, you fell asleep with it on. Your hand was even spread where you left it, watching it as you fell asleep. Way too cute. I put it away and will bring it out another special time.

One hundred and fourteen degrees. It should be illegal. We did get to swim in the pool on Sunday though while Auntie Chelle was over. You really enjoyed that, and I hope we get to do it again.

Prayers

2005-07-06T13:29:00.000-07:00

If you're the praying type, please keep a very special little girl in your prayers. I don't have her linked for her own privacy, but an online friend just found out that her daughter who is a little older than Ceili appears to have leukemia. I've known this mother for a while now and watched her beautiful daughter grow along with Ceili. I admit I'm very worried and a little frightened for them. Please keep them in your prayers.

Three years ago today

2005-07-05T10:11:00.000-07:00

On July 5th, three years ago today I found out I was pregnant with you. I'd been having heartburn for a couple of weeks and that day my breasts were really sore. Sorry, TMI. It was a Friday and Daddy was up in Heber with Grandpa Dan checking out the fire damage on the rim. Grandma Laurie and I drove to Nogales because she needed to get some medicine. She asked me why I hadn't taken a pregnancy test yet, and I told her there was no way I was pregnant. I thought I knew when I ovulated and it was while I was out of town. She talked me into taking a pregnancy test anyway.

When I got back into town, I went and bought some groceries including a six-pack of hard cider. Thinking how bad it might look, I went to a different drug store to buy the pregnancy test. I went home, drank some cider, peed on a stick and actually forgot about it. A short while later I went and checked... And screamed! I started talking to Princess like a mad woman because there was nobody around to tell. Daddy wasn't coming back until the next evening. So I called Grandma Laurie and broke the news to her by saying, "So what do you think? I just took a pregnancy test and it's positive. Should I call Joe or wait?" She laughed, congratulated me and told me to wait. That was already my plan but it was funny.

It seems like yesterday and a lifetime ago, all at once.

Houpy farth!

2005-07-01T16:24:00.000-07:00

It's the long July 4th weekend, hooray! It's going to be a ridiculously hot one here, too. That part sucks but what can we do?

Tonight Daddy and I have a date. Tee hee. So exciting. We'll probably go to a bar and play NTN trivia like complete nerds.

Tomorrow morning I'm going to run some errands and go to The Children's Place (evil giggle) and then at 1-2ish we'll head over to America West Arena for the preshow before the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus! I cannot wait. It's your first circus, and mostly I'm looking forward to you getting to see the elephants; they're you're favorite.

Sunday it's off through the smoky wildfires of central Arizona to Prescott for the rodeo with Grandma and Grandpa Fricke. That will be lots of fun too, if we can get there. Whole sections of freeway and highways are shut down for the fires and backburning.

Monday the Fourth it's a big family gathering at Aunt Chelsie's. Uncle Paul is back from Iraq for a few months with his family, and I think Great-Grandma Devine's coming up from Tucson for what will be her 82nd birthday. We're supposed to bring potluck food and I'm at a loss of what to do but I'm sure we'll work something out. I think in the morning of the fourth, you and I and Grandma Laurie will probably go to the little neighborhood parade like we did last year. That was fun and very neighborly. I would like it to be a tradition. Maybe Daddy will come this year.

So, as usual it's a really busy weekend. But a great one, full of friends and family. I hope everyone else has a fabulous long weekend, and I hope I don't think about work or computers once until Tuesday morning!

Me!Me!

2005-06-30T15:50:00.000-07:00

What 5 Things do you miss about your childhood?

But first, the rules to this meme game: Remove the blog at #1 from the following list and bump every one up one place. Add your blog’s name in the #5 spot; link to each of the other blogs for the desired cross pollination effect.

1. Busy Mom
2. Tale of a baby Human
3. Mrs. Flinger
4. Bunintheoven
5. O. Baby!

Next: select new friends to add to the pollen count. (No one is obligated to participate--forgive me if you’ve already done it and I haven’t seen it yet. and forgive me just because unwanted pain in the arse meme's can be taxing.)

1. Sara
2. Jen
3. Allie
4. Wendy

Okay, here are my personal 5 things that I miss from childhood:

1) Having my best friends within 2 blocks of my house. I could pop over unannounced and spend the day playing in their backyard with them. We could meet at the park down the street and swing or slide to our heart's content. I would see my friends more if they lived 2 blocks away, even if our idea of playing has changed somewhat.

2) Summer camp. Going away without the parents was SUCH a big deal. Especially if it involved prepubescent girls and boys and innocent romance. *sigh* I still think fondly on the songs that take me back to summer camp "loves" like Europe's "Carrie", Bon Jovi's "Never Say Goodbye", The Cure's "Fascination Street."

3) Mixtapes! I loved the funky '80's multi-colored tapes. I would cram as many varied weird songs as I could possibly fit onto a tape and write up elaborate song lists on the inserts. My friends loved them so much they made me make them their own.

4) Hanging out at the mall and going to movies with my girlfriends and not worrying. Our parents would leave us at the mall all afternoon, and I don't think they ever thought twice about it. The memories of that freedom are so bittersweet now, because I know my children will never be so lucky.

5) My Grandparents, particularly my Grandmother. My mother's mother died when I was 8, and I still think about her all the time. I would give anything to have one more day with her, to show her my incredible family. I know she sees us and I talk to her in my own way, but so much of my young childhood was filled with her love.

IKEA fun

2005-06-27T15:48:00.000-07:00

So we had a fun weekend. All things being relative. Friday night we watched a movie and generally relaxed. Saturday morning, we decided to take everything out of our house, rip out all of the carpet and install the laminate flooring. It was a busy day especially with all of your expert "help." I'm sure you dreamt about "NO, Ceili, no touching! Owie!"

Sunday morning we wrapped it up and decided it looked so nice there was no way we were going to put the same ugly furniture back into it (besides our newish pretty IKEA bed). So, we called Michelle, hopped in the cars and headed off to IKEA. WAAAAY too much money and hours later, we loaded up the car and the truck with IKEA furniture.

On our way out, when everything was loaded up and we were ready to head to lunch on our way home, I had to roll up the car windows. You were moved over to accommodate the ridiculous furniture and had stuck your hand out the window. What did I do? I rolled the window up on your finger and promptly walked off to join Michelle, clueless to what I'd just done. Thankfully Daddy was in the car and was able to fix it when he saw the carnage and heard you screaming.

I joke, but I felt HORRIBLE. Thankfully, you're fine and that's the only reason I can be flippant about what could have been awful. You have a slightly sore finger and a small blood blister/bruise. Nothing a Wendy's happy meal, toy bus and green balloon couldn't fix.

Daddy and I put all the furniture together last night, and we were shocked at how fast it went together. We didn't finish the double wide short dresser, but we assembled two large wardrobes, a tall dresser, two end tables and two lamps. Yay us! It looks SO nice too. Daddy was left today to put all the baseboards back in and finish the last dresser. I can't wait to see it when we get home tonight.

The Children's Place

2005-06-22T13:27:00.000-07:00

Oh no. The Children's Place is having one of their huge sales. I do not have time to go there this weekend but avoiding a TCP sale is like trying to avoid the 114 degree heat in Phoenix in June. Just can't happen.

How on earth can I fit that in between work, gym, emptying a bedroom, installing laminate flooring, caring for a 2-year-old, etc. etc. etc.? I don't know, but it must happen. Damn this addiction.

Wet Wednesday

2005-06-22T10:38:00.000-07:00

So, you're having a day of "water fun" at school today. Every Wednesday starting with this one, the 2-year-olds are going to play outside with sprinklers, etc. I don't believe there are any pools involved, or I'm pretty sure I'd have some reservations. But you went in today with bathing suit, sandals, sunscreen, et al. Of course, it was 114 degrees yesterday, so I just hope they try to keep you in the shade as much as possible.

I'd imagine you will sleep well tonight.

Returning to school on Monday was really very amusing. You kept asking about Ashtin the whole trip, and occasionally Megan and Becky. But mostly Ashtin. When we walked in on Monday morning, you were very excited. And who was the first kid we saw? Of course. Ashtin. You bolted across the room and hugged him. Then the others fell in and I think I watched you get about 12 hugs (including 2 or 3 more from Ashtin alone). Ashtin, for the record, is an incredibly cute 2-year-old red head. Very fair and really a nice kid. Kind of shy and I've never seen or heard of him misbehaving. But he plays a lot and he just seems to adore Ceili. Even his mom tells me he talks about her at home too. Ceili's first boyfriend. Heh.

Oh, and we like the name so much we've decided if we have a boy we just might name him Ashton. We'll see. With the middle name we've picked that'll make him "ADO." Could be worse I guess.

Update number one: Trip

2005-06-21T09:27:00.000-07:00

This will probably take me half the day, but I'm so behind in updates I have to give it a shot. This first one will be about the trip, and the next about Father's Day festivities and miscellaneous updates. Let's see how it goes!

So... We took off for the festive humid east at 4 a.m. on Thursday 6/9. You were a bit of a handful during the first flight, but nothing we couldn't handle. You did finally take a short nap which saved our sanity.

Friday we headed to Hershey Park. Holy crap did we have a good time! Seriously, it was awesome. You were just tall enough to ride some of the bigger rides, and to ride some of the smaller rides by yourself:

YOU are a bona fide daredevil. You rode rides I wouldn't ride.

It really was an incredible day. Tons of fun, minimal sunburn and many happy memories. The next day we spent with your Great Great Aunt Thelma (Grandma Laurie's aunt). That was really nice, and I got a few nice pictures too.

After that, it was off to College Park, MD for National History Day. You ate at the original Ledo restaurant,

climbed trees,

and more. A couple of days later, we did the whole tourist thing in DC, which was a lot of fun but very tiring. Two full days of sightseeing later, we were wiped out. After the final ceremony for NHD, we headed for the airport and a long series of even more exhausting air flights.

We were very happy to be home.

Vacation? Check.

2005-06-17T07:46:00.000-07:00

Phew, I'm exhausted. We had such a fabulous time this past week, and I'll post more about it soon. Just wanted to say "Hi" and "We're back." Oh, yeah and "I'm off the pill."

Heh.

PRAISE GOD!

2005-06-08T14:40:00.000-07:00

Well, we did it! Daddy's life-changing meeting was today, and it went absolutely as well as we could have hoped. He got the good answer we needed, and we're almost done. It goes to the State Board of Education now, who will hopefully just confirm it as they usually do. There's no reason to think they won't.

SOOOOOO, Daddy's happy, mommy's happy, everyone's happy. Daddy's career is on track, and he should be teaching algebra, geometry and AP Statistics starting 8/22. Our vacation will be cheerful and without the stress on our minds and hearts that has been there for weeks and weeks. And Mommy's going off the pill at the end of this pack. Okay, I haven't told Daddy that part, but we'll discuss it on vacation.

I am so relieved, I can't put it into words. I hope your day was half as rewarding as mine was!

Ridiculous Nerves

2005-06-07T14:20:00.000-07:00

Sorry so quiet. With our vacation Thursday coming up, I'm utterly swamped at work getting ready.

And on top of that, I can't think straight I'm so incredibly nervous about tomorrow. Daddy's career will be decided in one fell swoop. So, fellow readers if you are the praying type, pray for a good outcome of tomorrow's meeting. A bad outcome not only ruins a lot of professional things for Daddy, but also ruins the mood for our little family vacation. Both would suck hugely.

I give up!

2005-06-02T11:38:00.000-07:00

Okay, working mothers, help me out here. How on earth do I potty train my child?! Seriously, I'm trying and the problem is not with Ceili - it's with me! I just know it. I do not spend the whole day with her, only the evenings and weekends. How do I potty train her in that time? I ask her when i think of it (which is fairly often) if she needs to go. Sometimes she tells me she needs to, and I rush her in there only to have absolutely nothing happen. She hasn't peed on the potty at home in over two weeks. I have no idea about daycare because they TELL ME NOTHING. Sure, I could make a point to ask, but who do I ask? Her main teacher isn't there when I drop her off, and Joe's the one to pick her up. I know he won't ask.

So I feel very frustrated right now. I just don't know how a working mom is supposed to tackle this project that I think just MUST be easier for SAHM's. Not that it's easy for anyone, but at least they get a chance!

I'm doing so much research on preschools my brain hurts. And of course all the good ones that I really really want her to go to have two things in common: 1. They are expensive. 2. She must be potty-trained.

I give up!

Horrible, simply horrible

2005-06-01T14:39:00.000-07:00

Everytime I read these stories, my heart breaks a little. But when you read what happened, and if you have ever been a parent of a toddler, you recognize just how painfully easily this could happen: Mesa toddler drowning.

My prayers are with his family.

Fun and busy

2005-06-01T09:19:00.000-07:00

Sorry I've been so remiss in posting. Work is incredibly short-staffed, and that's usually when I post. So, quick update.

Long weekend: We had a very nice weekend. You went to a birthday party on Saturday, then spent Saturday evening at Grandma's while we watched the Suns lose miserably. Sunday we missed church because you were napping, but you were so happily asleep on me, I didn't mind. We went and shopped 'til we dropped, having fun at IKEA and Arizona Mills. Monday morning I got to play racquetball with Grandma, and then we went to a really fun party at Uncles Chris and Mason's house. You had the time of your life, charming everyone and running non-stop for hours. You had to practically be hosed off at the end of the night, but it was worth it. You saw most of your grandparents, got presents, played with other toddlers, danced to Uncle Chris's band and more!

On that note, I took digital video of you dancing with a pinwheel that is incredibly cute. But it's sideways. I took it with the camera tilted vertically and now it plays horizontally. Anyone know how to turn it? Want to offer to help? It's cute and I'd love to post it but don't want to be responsible for snapping anyone's neck.

Anyway... all is well on the sleep front too. Thank goodness. You've settled in to a nice routine, even though it still doesn't involve falling asleep in your own bed. You sleep through the night every time now (except for one night which I think was a nightmare; you didn't actually get out of bed, just cried), and wake up at 5:55 a.m. ON THE NOSE. I'm not kidding, it's been over a week and you wake up at exactly the same time every single morning. Very funny.

You know an insane amount of words, and you're communicating so much better every single day. And you insist that you want a sister. A baby sister. A baby girl. No matter how I ask it, your answer is the same. Girl. Sister. No boys. Well, hopefully we can place our order soon. I'll let you know.

Next Wednesday is the turning point in Daddy's career. I'm not being too dramatic by saying by the end of business Wednesday 6/8, Daddy's professional life will be decided for him. Needless to say, he's a nervous wreck. And to make matters worse, on Thursday 6/9 at 5:30 a.m. we'll be leaving for PA/DC. So, good news will make the trip quite fun. Bad news? Well, let's just hope they have some alcohol near Hershey Park.

Weird weekend

2005-05-23T13:27:00.000-07:00

It was a good weekend, but a weird one. The trip to Prescott didn't start off so well. The drive was okay, but as soon as we got to the Highland Games, everything just felt wrong. It was hot, dusty, and miserable. The site would have been lovely in February. On Saturday it was entirely too hot, and there was NO shade. Daddy was cranky, I was pissy and you were throwing tantrums left and right. So we decided it was not the place for us to be. Grandma suggested we go into town to the Prescott Brewing Co. for lunch - it's her favorite restaurant.

And lunch was awesome. Perfect and exactly what we needed. We felt rejuvinated and as Grandma left for her drive home, the three of us walked down Whisky Row and enjoyed the old town Prescott square. We crossed into the Courthouse lawns, and you played in the grass with ladybugs for ages. I think we sat barefoot enjoying the shade and breeze for well over an hour. Positively lovely. BTW, pictures in the current album of the Prescott fun.

We drove home and enjoyed the rest of our weekend, complete with church and Phoenix Suns games. "Go Suns!" you still love to chant.

All is well on the sleep front. You are going to bed sometimes in your own bed now, with my help. That's fine. I don't mind the whole bedtime story thing. And when you've awakened in the night, you go back to bed without too much struggle. In the morning, one of us comes to open the door and you climb in for the last 1/2 hour or so of slumber. Again, I can handle that much. It's the 2 a.m. ones where you crawl in and nobody gets any more sleep that kill me.

You take the good, you take the bad

2005-05-20T14:04:00.000-07:00

So, the good news was last night. I told Daddy I was going to have you fall asleep in your own bed last night, period. I get stubborn like that sometimes. Obviously you do too, because you weren't having any part of it. You were waaaaaaay overtired before long, and I thought there was no way you were going to give in. Finally, I sat down on the bed next to you, in the dark, and read an imaginary story out of a book. I don't even know what book I was reading because I couldn't see it, but the rhythm of my voice and the dark lulled you very quickly to sleep. You basically fell asleep sitting up and fell over into my lap. I flipped you back onto the bed (but not the pillow) and you stayed there, sound asleep. I put the blanket on you and shut the door behind me.

I shut the door because we also decided last night we were not going to let you come and climb into our bed. We didn't know how you'd react, or how we'd react, or exactly what we'd do but we were determined to find out.

So you didn't even try. Didn't wake up until I foolishly creaked the door open at 6 a.m. to wake you up. I think it was the blanket. You've been sleeping with just a sheet because it's been so warm, even with the air conditioning on. But last night I thought to actually put a blanket on you and I'm wondering if that didn't make the difference. You can bet I'll be doing that again tonight.

The bad news? No Flagstaff. I was SO looking forward to getting away from the city, the hustle and bustle of our normal weekends, and the 110+ degree heat. It's supposed to be in the one-teens by Monday! That's just wrong. But unfortunately the cabin is still winterized and we wouldn't have any water. That won't work. We might still go to Prescott for the Highland Games tomorrow, but that's it. No restful weekend, just driving and returning home much too soon.

Poop. Hopefully we'll at least get some sleep.

Old houses

2005-05-19T16:27:00.000-07:00

This isn't really about you, but the more I thought about it the more I realized it does impact your life. Our house was built in 1954, hardly a 1920's Tudor but definitely an old house in Phoenix terms. People react very strongly when they learn the age of our home. Uncle Chris and Uncle Mason bought a house built just before ours, as did Uncle Tom and Uncle Talmar. 1950's houses in Phoenix are developing a certain cache. And while it's not quite as cool as the aforementioned 1920's Tudor, I happen to agree with a lot of what this writer has to say:

Does Lurch Live Here?

Old houses are the best. I don't know if we'll ever own a new house, and I am 100% okay with that. I think you'll appreciate it too.

The Latecoming Family Bed

2005-05-19T15:28:00.000-07:00

We managed to avoid the whole cosleeping pitfall through your infancy. As a baby and toddler, you've slept (somewhat) happily in your crib. I thought the transition to your new bed would prove that track record sound and all would be well.

Not so lucky. You won't fall asleep in it - just in the living room as you used to. And you won't stay asleep in it. *sigh* Every single day this week, you've crawled into bed with us, sometime between 2 and 4 a.m. Usually you seem to really be sleepwalking. And last night was the first time I really tried to take you back to your own bed, and that just wasn't happening.

Our bed is only a queen bed, and you take up more than half of it with your sideways sleeping, kicking, stroking, etc. Daddy and I are getting increasingly bleary-eyed, and I'm getting anxious about finding a solution. I suggested to Daddy that we start shutting your door like we'd originally planned. But we both know this will lead to you either walking smack into the door, or finding it shut and pounding and screaming until we rescue you or you fall back asleep on the floor. I don't want to do that to you either.

So, I don't know what we'll do. I'd like to think you'll grow out of this phase, but I'm not so sure.

And no potty pee this morning, no stickers. Hopefully tonight.

Day 2

2005-05-18T09:52:00.000-07:00

No luck last night and almost no luck this morning... until you sneezed. You started to pee on the floor and I plopped you on the potty. So I can't count that as you intentionally using it, but you figured out what was going on and you got cheers and stickers anyway. We'll keep trying.

Still waiting for the results of our service's search, but I'm being patient. I am not moving you just yet anyway. I want to do thorough research and I want this to be as painless as possible.

You're coming out of a growth spurt by the way, and looking more like a big girl every day. The pudgy tummy is almost gone, and you're just so tall I can't believe it. *sniff* No more baby Ceili.

Pee Pee in the PotTY! (to a conga line beat)

2005-05-17T10:36:00.000-07:00

Pee pee in the potty! Pee pee in the potty! Ceili is big girl! She is not a ba-bee!

Sorry, had a little proud mommy moment there. You woke up in our bed this morning (due to a 3 a.m. sleepwalking incident that had you crawling in bed with us), and stayed asleep there as we got ready for work. I finally woke you up to get you ready for school and took you in to pee in the potty. I thought it wasn't going to happen as we read through the Elmo counting book for the third time. But all of a sudden, you gasped and the flow began!

I made a HUGE deal out of it, singing the pee pee song, giving you a sticker of your choice, putting a lollipop sticker on your doggie calendar bought just for that purpose. You just loved the attention, of course, and you were happy and cheerful and still singing the pee pee song at daycare. You were very excited to show everyone your SpongeBob sticker and tell them you got it for going pee pee in the potty!

Yes, I know, the potty talk will be getting old. But I'm excited for you. We tried all night last night to get you to pee in the potty, but you just wouldn't. It's been months and months since you last did, mostly because I haven't been consistent at all. Not anymore. We have a plan and we're sticking to it!

I also started in earnest getting some info on additional schools. I have a great benefit here at work that I'd forgotten about that will do most of the initial legwork, research and contacting places for me! Then I can take their research and go from there. I'm going to stop at the montessori I like with the huge waiting list and pick up some more info too.

Beware the empowered PMS-ing mama.

Toddlers, potties and daycare, oh my!

2005-05-16T14:21:00.000-07:00

So many things occupy my mind and my time right now. Honestly, how I remember to get up in the morning amazes me. I have been needing to make myself two doctors' appointments for two weeks, but I keep forgetting. Maybe I'll do it today. Maybe not.

Anyway... I had a chat with Becky, your teacher this morning. It started by me asking her if she has your art anywhere. When you were in the one year old room, you had artwork almost daily. Daddy still has a pile in his car (that's another story). But since you've been in the two's room, I think we've brought home only two or three pieces. She did in fact have a small stash of about five pieces, and she's working on cubbie holes for each child's artwork. The cubbies are there, they're just not being used. Um, duh. But she surprised me when she said she hasn't been doing it because most of the parents basically don't care. She said most don't even come back into the classrooms to pick up or drop off their kids, they wait in the office for their kids.

WHAT?!

Okay, so then I figured I'd bite the bullet and ask about potty training. I told her that I wanted you to start this, but no matter what I do with her at home, it will be worthless unless she and the daycare push it too. And I wanted to know what she thought about it. She said that there's no sense in doing it at daycare if the parents aren't working on it regularly at home too, and most parents don't/aren't willing to.

WWWHHAAATTT?

I assured her that (a) I was very interested in what my daughter is doing at school, and in fact would appreciate knowing MORE about her schedule, her interests, etc. in addition to getting her artwork, and (b) potty training is very important to me, and my husband and we have been and will continue working with her at home and would appreciate if she supports us in that with her efforts at daycare.

Don't get me wrong, she's really nice. And she wasn't trying to say that I'm not interested in these things, just kind of the opposite. Nobody else is interested in these things in their kids. That is simply f'ed up.

So I made a decision right then and there. First, I don't want my daughter in an environment where the kids are in families that don't frankly care about the quality of their education or daily life. Second, I don't want my daughter in an environment where the staff expects that kind of an experience for their students (I want them to expect me to do my part!). And third, I want you potty trained, and fast. The sooner you are potty trained, the sooner I can get you out of there.

And the icing on the cake? One of your two-year-old classmates showed up in her Daddy's car (with FOUR large "Viva Bush!" bumper stickers on the back). Her Daddy got out of the car to come around and get her out, flicking a cigarette. I looked more closely and realized that he'd driven up, smoking a cigarette, with all the windows UP. From the film on the windows, it was far from the first time.

Something's gotta give.

Big Girl Bed

2005-05-12T10:39:00.000-07:00

So I woke up this morning to Daddy gasping in surprise. He was surprised by your sudden appearance in our bedroom at 5:30 a.m. You woke up, and without a peep (we have the monitor on, remember!) got out of bed, came down the hall (still no fix for your doorknob), pushed our door open and climbed into bed with us. Not a peep. Grand. As long as all you do is come into our bedroom, that's fine, but I admit I'm concerned you'll start wandering the house. More babyproofing in our future, I fear. But you can get into things you couldn't before - like the darned refrigerator! I can just envision you hopping out of bed, wandering to the kitchen and helping yourself to the jug of milk. Welcome to childhood, right?

So, now I have to make a decision... I can fix your doorknob so I can shut it and you can't get out, which means that when you wake up I have to come and get you. And you seem to be waking earlier, which is a bit annoying. Or, I can leave things as they are and let you have control over where you go and what you do. That means I run the risk of having you playing with the TV, the piano, the refrigerator, etc. etc. etc. Hmmm.

Oh, and no luck getting you to fall asleep in your own bed since that first night. We're back to the fall-asleep-on-the-couch routine we're all used to. I still want to change that one.

Last night = Not so good

2005-05-10T08:23:00.000-07:00

Yeah, well, you didn't do quite as well last night as the night before. You would NOT go to bed by yourself, even with me in the room. And I was really tired to begin with. You finally fell asleep on the couch as usual, and I left Daddy with the task of putting you to bed. I had a lot of trouble sleeping, as I'm coming down with a cold I think, and between that and the THREE times you woke up crying, I got very little sleep. I feel dreadful today.

One remaining item from last Friday that I didn't get into was your behavior. You were sent home with a note on Friday that you had severely bitten your friend, and that you'd been aggressive with your classmates all week long! Great. Just the news we wanted to hear. We spent much of the weekend reminding you about how to be a good friend, and discussing appropriate behavior. I think you got it, and yesterday she said you were pretty good. I asked yesterday morning for more details about last week, and it seems usually you're pretty normal (all toddlers bite once in a while). But Friday your bite was particularly bad. Anyway, she said you're usually provoked into it and the girl you bit was basically your best friend.

This has prompted us to do some thinking, and I'm looking once again into your schooling options. I called two montessori schools yesterday. The first had a waiting list of 18 people for just the toddler room and the enrollment director for the second was already gone. I'll have to call again today. I'm going to contact the state for more info too. But the cost... the cost! We're paying roughly $440/month right now, and the cheapest decent montessori I've found is $660 for full-time school/daycare. Grrrr. I still think it's an option we're going to have to seriously consider. I think you need more structure, and more learning opportunities. That just means we're going to have to pay for it.

I'll keep you posted.

O. Baby? O. Child!

2005-05-09T10:02:00.000-07:00

So, I don't think I can call this a baby blog for much longer. You are less and less of a baby with every passing day. Today you are significantly less of a baby, and I'm a little sniffly over it.

Saturday night when you fought going to bed so badly, you screamed and demonstrated that yes in fact you can climb out of your crib. You didn't, but only because I pulled you down. It showed us that it was time to say goodbye to the crib after all.

So, Sunday after the Mother's Day festivities, we brought out the nearly pristine bed rail we scored for $3.00 at Goodwill. No, I'm not ashamed to admit that! Daddy scrubbed it with cleaner and hosed it down, not that it really needed it, but did I mention we got it at Goodwill? While it dried, I gave your room some attention. I cleaned generally, and put up high or relocated any possibly dangerous items. I put a door handle guard on the inside of your door and hooked the baby monitor back up. Daddy took the front off of your crib and put it behind for storage.

When it was dry, we entertained the idea of putting the bed rail on the crib, but that folly only lasted a couple of minutes when we realized just how easily you could push the entire bed, mattress and yourself included, right on to the floor. So, we turned our attentions to the daybed which has served as your changing table and general storage site for some time. Cleaned off and readied, the bed rail fit right on. It was perfect.

After your nap, I showed it to you and you were really excited by it. You climbed up, and quickly overcame your fear of climbing back down.

At bedtime, you were again fighting going to sleep. It should be no secret by now to readers of this journal that I've never made a big deal of making you go to sleep by yourself in your room. But I had an epiphany and decided, what better time to start? It took a bit of coaxing, and I had to stay with you for quite a while, but guess what? You fell asleep in your big girl bed. With Elmo and your "new doggie" (actually a big stuffed bear that looks kind of like a dog) at your side.

You slept through the whole night, never waking once. At 6:30 when I came out of the shower, Daddy was settling you in the living room to watch Finding Nemo for the 11,452nd time. He said he'd found you in the hall, calmly calling, "Mommy?" You woke up, climbed down, opened the door and came out. All by yourself. *sniff*

Now I need to replace the doorknob on your door. I couldn't close it last night because it is very squeaky and I was afraid it would wake you up. Seeing as how you clearly have NO problem getting out of bed by yourself, I really ought to do something about this!

Nice weekend

2005-05-09T09:27:00.000-07:00

We had a very nice Mother's Day weekend. Friday evening we went to see Uncle Chris's band play at Paisley Violin. It was First Friday, which means the whole downtown arts area was just jam-packed with people. It was a really neat scene and I wish you were a little older and could enjoy it more.

Saturday was our annual company picnic, which was a blast! Pictures are in her Ofoto gallery. If you need the link, send me an email. You got to ride a pony... no, TWO PONIES! You had the time of your life, and between the ponies, the petting zoo and the bouncies, I think you thought you were in absolute heaven. You were really good, too, only getting fussy at all when it was well past nap time. We had a brief scream-fest as we were leaving at about 2:00, and you screamed for about 15 minutes as we headed home. You slept for 2.5 hours, which caused a VERY late bedtime Saturday night. In fact, Saturday night's bedtime prompted some events that will be a post of their very own immediately following this one.

Sunday morning, you slept in until 7 a.m.! Yippee! That's what happens when you go to bed at 10:45. But it was a nice morning. After a quick breakfast, we went to church where you were pretty well-behaved. Then we went to Flat Iron for a Mother's Day lunch. OMG, that was an INCREDIBLE lunch. We had beef tenderloin in a merlot reduction, salmon wellington with dill bernaise, seasoned asparagus and carrots, fingerling potatoes and a dessert of raspberry creme brulee. Speaking of dying and going to heaven! Actually, Uncle Chris, Daddy and I had that. Grandma had her favorite meatloaf, and was just as happy. Oddly, you refused to eat even one single bite (besides a tiny piece of bread before the food came). And then cheerios for dinner. It was not a day of culinary delights for you, I'm afraid.

Sunday evening, more relaxing and another 3 hour nap this time for you. Yikes! But it let us get some things done related to the coming entry, so it was worth it. And you were asleep by 9:30 so all was not lost.

All in all, a wonderful and rejuvinating weekend. I hope everyone else had the same!

God bless the child

2005-05-08T17:14:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day!

Safari, baby

2005-05-03T14:20:00.000-07:00

You have a very strange Grandmother. And Uncle Chris. I just received this email from Grandma regarding our imaginary African Safari this weekend for Mother's Day:

"I'm not sure if Chris cc'd you with this, but since
you're invited along, I thought you should have the
information re the Safari and leaving on Saturday PM:

Everything is in readiness -- we'll have to take a
second plane and parachute into the jungle with the
Land Rover, but the flight to Kinshasa leaves Saturday
evening. They have the cutest baby parachutes, though,
so Ceili will look adorable even as the wind whips
past her."

I told her I'm not going unless I'm assured of two things. First, the Land Rover must parachute BEFORE I do. Second, photographers must be on hand to record our plummet toward Earth. My demands had better be met, or I'm staying put.

Boom!

2005-05-03T13:42:00.000-07:00

Well, last night was eventful. After a bout of racquetball with Grandma, I came home and tried to be Supermom. Generally I'd say I was successful, finishing 3 loads of laundry and some dishes and straightening of the living and bedrooms. Of course, we didn't eat dinner until 7:45, but something's gotta give, right? Gah. I didn't mean to feed you that late, but time slipped away from me.

As a result, you were fed and awake well after 8 when you should have been winding down. It actually took holding you, cuddling you, turning all the lights off and a lot of persuasion to get you to fall asleep at 9:15. I was grateful it wasn't later, since you showed signs of making it a long one. We caught the end of a show we were watching and I headed off to bed at 10:00.

At approximately 10:15, I'm guessing, I thought we'd been hit by a nuclear bomb. The most intense white flash surrounded the house and an enormous boom sent me flying 5 feet out of the bed. Of course, you slept right on through. How is that possible? But I digress.

Daddy and I immediately ran outside, where we saw the houses across the street had power but our side didn't. We heard voices and ran to the backyard, and it was clear the houses on the street behind us were out too. Turns out it was the power line behind our house, the transformer thing blew itself up. So, when it was all said and done, after hours on the phone with the electric company and "sleeping" while waiting for the electric company and through their repairs to the lines, then being restless the whole rest of the night worrying if Daddy's cell phone alarm would actually work... well, we were just beat. And you woke up about 1:45 a.m. in the middle of the final night's quiet, just for the heck of it.

So, I've decided tonight, no racquetball, no cleaning, something easy for dinner before 6:30 - and I'm going to paint my toenails bubblegum pink, just for the hell of it. And I'll be snoring by 9.

OMG!

2005-05-02T16:06:00.000-07:00

Okay, without the "my" in there, OMG is your new phrase. So, setting aside the heresy I have to relate how you say it because it cracks me up. Let's say someone walks by on the street and the dog goes crazy with barking. You will come running through the room to me with a look of wonder and shock on your face and in the breathiest, most amazement-filled voice whisper, "Oh God! Oh God!" You did not get this from us, of course. I am re-teaching you "Uh-oh!" if you can believe that, because I'm trying to get this phrase back out of your vocabulary! Egads.

This weekend was a weird one. I had a yucky random fever on Saturday and you slept a ton so the day was a wash and I didn't get to go the walk. Very bummed about that, and not sure what's going on with my health. I should see someone about that.

Sunday was a handful. We went to church, then to the mall (got my engagement ring fixed - yay!). You got a new Nemo plate and enjoyed a lunch of rice and beans. Imagine the diaper I received as a gift from THAT later on! Lovely.

Friday night's concert was okay. The band is great, but they were a middle set and had to keep it short. They also didn't play the handful of songs I really wanted to hear. Add to that my absolute and utter exhaustion and we weren't much fun. We watched Wonder Stuff, then stumbled home to get you and crash in bed.

One good thing came from this weekend though. The Phoenix Suns swept the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the NBA playoffs. And what does Ceili say? "GO SUNS!" You're better at "GO D-BACKS" which you will now randomly yell out at inopportune moments, but you managed to get on board with "GO SUNS!" pretty easily. You can even yell "Defense!" and cheer/clap and boo at the appropriate times. Ah, that's my girl.

Clingy and cranky

2005-04-28T09:21:00.000-07:00

This whole week, you've been w h i n i n g enough to make me want to pull all of the hair out of my head. Really, I love you, but could you stop already? I try all the tricks. I distract, I cajole, I trick, I plead, I yell, I ignore, I reason... nothing. Grrrrrrrr. You're really funny and really entertaining when you're being good, it's just that good this week is hard to come by. You've thrown a fit nearly every morning about getting dressed, getting in the car, going to daycare (enter the super clingy part), etc. Then in the evening, it's even worse because you're tired and cranky.

I wonder if you're getting a nap at school or not. I'm also not entirely sure you're enjoying it there right now. You're always playing hard when Daddy comes to get you, but there are just little worrisome signs. Last week, for instance, you were being clingy and didn't want me to go. This is unusual for you until very recently. I had talked you into letting go of me, and I was just waiting for the teacher to herd the two-year-olds in before stepping out. A little ugly runt of a boy (sorry, not PC but who cares?) walked up to you holding a ball (not offering, just holding), and you got the nastiest look on your face and yelled "NOOOO!" I was shocked. I guess you don't like him. Not that I blame you, but it was kind of weird, and a bit alarming.

Anyway, I'm going to have to keep my eye on things. I'd like to start getting things set up for Montessori or other school, but you need to be potty trained first. We're a LONG way from that.

Tonight, nothing exciting but tomorrow night you're going to go to Grandma's because Daddy, Uncle Chris, Uncle Mason and I are going to the cheap seats We're going to see Wonder Stuff and it should be great. I'm out of touch with them but a concert of theirs about 10 years ago is still on my top concerts list. Very definitely looking forward to it!

Fun stuffs

2005-04-26T16:20:00.000-07:00

So, springtime in Arizona is when Everything Happens. Sure, you say that's the case everywhere but in Arizona you really cannot do anything at all in the summer, and I think most people from somewhere else just assume you can't do anything in the winter though in fact it's cool enough. No, everyone just schedules events for spring. Which means March ushers in a whole new world of busyness.

Last weekend it was Bike to BOB. The weekend before was National History Day in Arizona. The week before that was the March of Dimes WalkAmerica.

This coming weekend, it's the American Cancer Society Relay for Life. Next weekend, my company's picnic. The following Saturday I get to train some folks for a test they're taking on Tuesday, and the following Saturday? Prescott's first annual Highland Games and hopefully a stay at the cabin in Flagstaff. Now we're up to Memorial Day, and it's time for a party at Uncle Chris and Mason's house. Fast forward just 10 days and we're off to DC.

Sigh. Something every weekend until mid-June. Some take up the whole weekend, some are just one day which means surely something else will come up to take up the rest. This just as work is ramping up to our busy season too, so any escape I need will have to be satisfied by an active engagement.

And all of these things include you too. Poor thing. I hate dragging you around so much, but you do seem to at least enjoy yourself. Thank God for that.

Flickr and On This Day

2005-04-21T21:18:00.000-07:00

So, I started a Flickr account. More on that later. But what really got me was this...

My friend Stefani started a group called "On This Day" where people post pictures of what was happening with them on this day in history. So I went back in this journal to last year (not so exciting; about Aunt Flo), and then to the year before. Now that was a noteworthy day. Two years ago today you spent your very first day in daycare.

Whoever said "Time flies" was the King of understatements.

Better

2005-04-19T12:28:00.000-07:00

You're feeling infinitely better. I am so thankful for that, because it really was a horrific time for everyone. Daddy doesn't even handle poopy diapers well, so holding you while you threw up into a towel I was holding was incredibly hard for him. The laundry room's probably glad you're feeling better too. You refused to hurl into a bowl or trash can after the first few times, so all you would use was a towel or blanket. Yeah, that took some serious washing.

Last afternoon I got a nice reprieve as you were feeling fine so Daddy watched you while Grandma and I went to play racquetball. That was really fun, and just what I needed. I hadn't been out of the house since Saturday afternoon.

Anyway, you're back at school today and I'm back at work. If I was busy before, I'm suicidally busy now. Seriously, it's insane. I don't know how I'm going to dig out. One project at a time, I guess.

Bike to BOB this weekend gives me something nice to look forward to.

U2 and sick, too

2005-04-17T14:24:00.000-07:00

Holy crap that was an incredible concert. Absolutely awesome. I wouldn't have changed a single thing. You had fun with Auntie Chelle too, from what I heard.

Yesterday we got lots of things done, and it's a good thing. At 5:15 this morning, you were screaming at the top of your lungs, clearly the "something's very, very wrong" cry. Yep, vomit everywhere. So, we've spent today doing 5 loads of laundry and answering your slightest whimper between naps with a bowl and a towel. I hope this passes soon and I sure hope if we get it too it passes on quickly. I'm way too busy at work to miss much, but I'd bet a lot I'm missing tomorrow. Poop. (and no, you haven't been doing that, thank God)

Tonight

2005-04-15T13:37:00.000-07:00

U2! U2! U2! You're going to spend the evening with Auntie Chelle while Daddy and I indulge in a little U2 enjoyment. I canNOT wait.

Quick update

2005-04-12T15:27:00.000-07:00

Still swamped at work, but wanted to log in a few interesting things lately.

Last night you slept better, thanks to exhaustion and maybe a little Benadryl. The Benadryl wasn't just for sleeping, though. You have some very weird rash going on on your face. Anyone who knows you in real life knows you have uber-sensitive skin, and that Keratosis Pilaris thing, but this is different. You were incredibly itchy last night and no amount of Neosporin, Benadryl cream, aquaphor, vaseline, Lamisil, or hydrocortisone would stop you from scratching your chin. It was awful. You were scratching it in your sleep! Other than being raw this morning, it seemed better. I still don't know what it was.

Current favorite: Finding Nemo. You want to watch it when you wake up, when you get home from school, before going to bed - you even call out Nemo in your sleep! You will watch it from credits to credits without complaint. It's kind of freaky. I actually really like the movie, but it's scary that I really do think I have memorized the whole thing from beginning to end now. *sigh*

What else? Hmmmm. I guess that's it for the moment. Grandma's picking you up today because she feels she hasn't gotten to see you enough lately. Fine by me! Daddy's issuing the AIMS test at his school today so I'm sure he can use a break.

(Editors Note: I was getting a TON of hits for Keratosis Polaris here - because I had it misspelled. If you find this site from those keywords, please try searching for KERATOSIS PILARIS instead and you will find infinitely more useful information. Thanks!)

Tired

2005-04-11T12:58:00.000-07:00

You shredded my last nerve last night. I don't know how I managed to stay so calm about the whole thing except by remembering that you couldn't help it. Your nap schedule got off enough that it resulted in an evening and night filled with alternate fitful sleeping and furious screaming. It was a LONG night.

Yesterday was fun though, and you got to see Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Angel, Thomas, little Brian, etc. The day before was NHD and you got to run around the capitol. That's always fun.

I'd elaborate but I'm exhausted and swamped. Hopefully I'll feel more chatty later this week. Oh, and I do have your newest photos up. New link to new album in the family and friends blog. Email me or post in comments for the password.

Sweaters in summer

2005-04-07T09:42:00.000-07:00

So, the sweater story got far more complicated than expected. I drove all the way out there, and they couldn't find it. Anywhere. I waited over a half hour and they never could find it. So, I went home, getting there around 7 p.m. on Friday night. So much for my evening! Oh well.

Turns out they called on Saturday while I was at the walk and they found it. They Fed-Exed it and we got it in yesterday. Just in time for 90 degree temps. Oh, well. You still need it in the mornings.

Anyway, things are rolling along as usual. NHD is this Saturday and you'll be playing with Daddy all day since all of your babysitters and backup babysitters are unavailable. Grandma's not happy, but such is life. You'll get to come and see us all and be our mascot around lunch time though. My only worry is that's your nap time too, so you might be cranky.

You really are incredibly entertaining. You talk masterfully, with new words all the time and sentence structure that amazes me. I try to encourage the talking and I work really hard to understand you since you seem to throw less tantrums if you feel like you're getting your point across. Of course you still throw the no-you-can't-have-that tantrums, but those are unavoidable. I try the whole reverse psychology positivity thing, "Yes, you can have a cookie, but not until after dinner" and that does sometimes help.

No biting this week. Tomorrow you're taking pictures. Great. I still don't have the electronic copies of your three pictures from last month. Maybe I'll ask Grandma for those again.

March of Dimes - DONE!

2005-04-02T10:43:00.000-08:00

It was a great day for a 6.2 mile walk. You did pretty well, just getting fussy around mile 5 when you finished a popsicle and wanted more. Generally though, I'm proud of the shape I'm in and had no trouble, and I'm more proud of the $295 I managed to raise (including my company's match). VERY AWESOME! Thank you everyone who participated with your donations. I'll enlist you to participate with feet next year. :)

Sweater fun

2005-04-01T09:19:00.000-08:00

So I tried to find an example of your rhinestone initial sweater, but I can't. Anyway, you wore it to the wedding on Saturday and I've been sort of trying to find it since. Only last night did I realize it really is gone and freaked out a little.

I called the GORGEOUS resort where the wedding was held and said, "Hello, I attended a wedding there last Saturday, and I believe that I may have left my daughter's sweater behind." His answer? "Oh! Is it small and kind of maroon with..." "Yes, with an initial 'C' on it!"

"Finally! We know who the owner is! We've been trying to figure it out all week."

So apparently your sweater has been the source of some angst for them the past few days. I will be picking it up in FOUNTAIN HILLS *sigh* this afternoon at the front desk.

March of Dimes - Last Chance!

2005-03-31T15:15:00.000-08:00

I am indeed walking in this in TWO DAYS! This is your last chance to sponsor me in this walk. Click the link above to help with March of Dimes research if you are feeling so inclined. If you've already pledged or donated to my or anyone's walk, THANK YOU!

Back to our regularly scheduled programming...

Easter update

2005-03-31T15:06:00.000-08:00

I shouldn't have said "Easter Schmeaster." Every time I look at that title I cringe. Maybe I'll change it.

Anyway, Easter weekend was F.U.N. (esoteric TMBG reference there). We had a wedding on Saturday night at which you were relatively well-behaved. Except that we could NOT get you off the dance floor. At one point (the First Dance), you allegedly screamed bloody murder because Daddy had to remove you from the dance floor. *sigh* Yeah, that was the low point. Thankfully I was in the bathroom and missed the whole thing! Heh. Otherwise, you were pretty good and conked out before we were even out of the parking lot.

Sunday morning we had breakfast with Grandma and Uncle Chris, then our own little Easter Egg (chocolate/caramel eggs) hunt in the front yard. Pictures forthcoming, of course. You got a couple of pieces of chocolate, and have only had a couple since but you ask for them now ALL the time. I should hide the basket. Church followed, and you looked darling in your white dress with pink butterflies. After Church we wen to the Duncan family reunion, which was pretty fun. You got to play on the big kid play equipment and generally ran Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Angel ragged. Again, asleep before we left the parking lot.

So, it was fun. The not-so-fun part came on Monday. I can only deduce it was a result of overdoing things over the weekend, but you apparently were quite misbehaved. You spent 1/4 of the day in time-out by yourself because you didn't play well with others. In fact, you had four separate biting incidents, two of which were fairly significant. I felt terrible when I heard the news and you were even very badly behaved Monday evening at home with us. We had some good long chats about it Monday night and every morning and evening since. Tuesday you were just fine so I am hoping it was just a bad day.

Incidentally, anybody want to take over accounting for my daughter's daycare? They apparently are incapable of doing math. They're trying to tell me I owe them almost $500 and I've had to literally go back and print out the copies of the cancelled checks. For Pete's sake!

Easter Schmeaster

2005-03-25T12:53:00.000-08:00

Am I the only heretic supposed Christian who forgets what all the events were this Holy Week? I get Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday all goofed up in my brain. I know the general chronology, but beyond Palm Sunday I am at a loss.

Anyway, I know that Easter Sunday means breakfast with the family, a chocolate Easter egg hunt in the front yard, church at 10:00 and the Duncan Family Reunion. That should be interesting considering I don't know the Duncans, and they don't know me. Your daddy's mother's mother was a Duncan, and she passed away when Daddy was 2 years old. After that, they never had a lot of contact. So when they say reunion, they mean reunion. Anyway, it should be interesting at least.

The teacher in the baby room at daycare just adores you. She sent you home with an Easter basket with table tennis toys and candy. Every night when I walk in the door, you excitedly point to the basket which is now safely stored on the very top of the china hutch. You babble to me about toys and candy and how badly you want to play with it. Daddy and I have taken turns reminding you that you get to have the basket in three - no, TWO! - more days. Daddy even illustrates this with, "Fall asleep, wake up, fall asleep, wake up and then you can have it!" *sigh*

What this has really done though is make me annoyingly self-conscious about the basket we have for you. Can it match up to Mama Sylvia's surprise basket? Ours is a tiny green woven $1.99 Target special filled with bunny-shaped sidewalk chalk, a $2.99 clearance Little People girl and cow, a mini-See 'N Say and a free bunny I got from purchasing 3 Hallmark cards. Your easter eggs are actually just chocolate eggs in multi-color foil, so I really hope you find them all or we'll have dogs and cats sniffing our bushes for an Easter chocolate bonanza.

Anyway, I hope the basket stands up to your investigation and tops the table tennis and candy. With our luck your Grandmas and Grandpas will give you more baskets and trump me yet again. Have I mentioned how spoiled you are?

March of Dimes WalkAmerica

2005-03-18T14:09:00.000-08:00

So, I've decided to do this - in two weeks! Nothing like waiting until the last minute. Please visit my page and consider pitching in. So many people I've encountered have had premature babies. Even Ceili was technically premature. But the research that March of Dimes is doing might help prevent preterm labor and ultimately stop the steady increase of premature births.

Click my link above if you feel so inclined, and let me know if you have questions! Ceili and I will be there, with bells on.

Yesssss!

2005-03-16T13:42:00.000-08:00

So, thank God that "no" is no longer your favorite word. Now it's "yes." Oh, that's so much more manageable. The phrases currently heard most often in our household are now "Yessssss!" and "Thank you, Mommy." Both of those are just music to my ears. The latter gets repeated... and repeated... and repeated. You love to hear me say, "You're welcome, baby" so you will just say it over and over. Very cute. So far, you are almost flawless with your thank you's and getting better with your please's. Now if only we could get you to be so courteous physically. The hitting and kicking tantrums continue. Depending on how tired you are, they can get pretty unpleasant.

Speaking of sleep, you must be going through another growth spurt (great) since you're suddenly sleeping like crazy. Last night you fell asleep at 7:45, and I had to wake you up this morning at 7:00 a.m. Wild. You were cheerful and rested, though so I can't be too concerned about it.

Daddy's evening job is thankfully coming to a very quick end. His last night of it is tomorrow. He got offered a full time job at the high school where he was, and doesn't need the night one. My prayers have been answered and now I can stop hearing you ask, "Daddy coming soon?" every night. That wasn't so fun.

Because the Night

2005-03-07T07:48:00.000-08:00

Well, we're into our new schedule now. Today is Day One. Daddy is done with his student teaching. He is substitute teaching today, then he's going straight to his "new" Security job. "New" because he did it before, through the end of the year last year actually, but he was doing it during the day. When you were a newborn and up until you were about 8 months old, Daddy did this job at night too. So it's not entirely new to us, just a revisiting of an old (non)favorite.

The good and bad of it really got more complicated when he found out that he has been offered a long-term subbing job for the end of the school year. That means if he does both, he'll be working 7 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. M-Th, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday for the next nine weeks. If that doesn't sound like burnout, I don't know what does. Next week is Spring Break, so he'll only have to worry about the night one. Beyond that? We'll see if everything pans out, but right now I'm pretty uncertain about what's going to happen.

What I do know is that I get to pick you up each day this week and next. On Mondays and Wednesdays you will go to the gym daycare with me. Fridays Daddy will be able to get you, so that's good. Hopefully you won't mind the gym daycare too much. You've gone twice. Once you could care less and once you had a complete meltdown. One for two ain't bad? Right. I'd like a better track record than that.

We'll find out tonight.

You did have a fun weekend. We finally got your two-year pictures and you were unbelievably well-behaved. We were asked a dozen times how old you were because nobody could believe a just-two-year-old could be that well behaved. It was freaky. You even held some unnatural poses and gave some nice wry smiles on command. Made me think fleetingly that you really could do modeling if we had the desire. Nah.

You got to hang out with Aunt Chelsie and Uncle CR on Saturday day, too. You seemed to really enjoy that, and you got so worn out you took a three hour nap! But I heard you had a blast. Good girl. You have such a great family.

I anticipate a change to the background picture soon, as soon as Grandma gets your new photos scanned in. Maybe an Easter theme for a few weeks, then one of the other cutes ones. We'll see.

Event Fun

2005-03-03T14:22:00.000-08:00

Did I ever mention that we DID get to go to the Heffalump movie? I'm not sure if I did or not. You did pretty well, got a bit restless, but mostly behaved and enjoyed. I thought it was a really cute move, and like Lumpy the Heffalump tremendously. Now Disney needs to get some merchandise out there! I know I'd buy some, so I can't figure out why they're missing this opportunity!

Anyway... I'm hoping to maybe get your two-year pictures taken this Sunday. I've been remiss in that already.

Plus, I'm considering taking you to a Spring Training game. You can be a bit more rambunctious at a ST game, plus they're cheaper. You got some ADORABLE baseball clothes from Grandma and Grandpa for your birthday, so you're geared up and ready to go.

Also, update on yesterday's 2-year-old checkup. You weighed in at 30.9 lbs. (90%) and measured at 34.5 inches (75%)! Way to grow. She wants us to try Children's Claritin with you for a while, as she's worried about your snoring and possible apnea. If that doesn't work, we'll be headed off to an ENT. Otherwise, the visit was wonderful. You were cheerful, even giggly. And you took your Hepatitis A shot without even a whimper. I simply couldn't believe it. The Dr. said she couldn't believe it either, at your age. You just thought it was all very interesting and entertaining. Whatever the reason, I'm just thankful as it could have been much worse.

So there you go. Happenings as they are. More on the not-so-great changes in our life and schedule next time.

Spoiled toddler

2005-02-28T09:39:00.000-08:00

I have to be honest. You are a very lucky kid. You have two parents who adore you, you have a solid roof over your head and never want for anything. On top of it all, you get the best presents. Okay, not the BEST presents. We're not millionaires. But you get some pretty neat ones.

This weekend, you got this:

It's your birthday present from us, and bought to match what you got from Grandma and Grandpa this weekend which is this:

Together with your coupe car, your big cottage/house and more, the backyard is officially yours. We are looking forward to the warmer weather, when we can break out the pool too. This is it:

New stuff

2005-02-25T09:04:00.000-08:00

So, the excitement of the birthday weekend has passed, and I confess that I'm glad. The first few days of your third year of life were, well, HELL! You developed this insane attitude, very physical and LOUD. I really was amazed and a little worried about how life was going to be with this new facet of your personality to contend with.

Thankfully the last few days as you've been back at school and back into your routine, life has been much easier. You're still rambunctious, but that's to be expected.

Your birthday party was incredible. So many loving people around us, so much tasty pizza and cake, and an awesome collection of presents to spoil you. You loved it all and really were the star of the day. Every time I looked up someone else was dragging you around to play games. It was so much fun, I would recommend the pizza place birthday party to anyone. A little pricey, but we knew that would be the case.

You said another new bad word the day before yesterday, this one near the top of the bad word list. I asked you to repeat it about 10 times because I just couldn't believe you were saying it! But you were. Hopefully it doesn't become a habit.

You're using sentences with regularity now. And you've got a fairly decent grasp of verb tense, which is nice. Yesterday you picked up your stacking cups, sorted them properly, then showed it to me with a proud announcement of "I did it!" That was pretty cool.

We're in the crazy hand-washing and lotion stage now. You LOVE to wash your hands, and Auntie Missy gave you some anti-bacterial lotion stuff for your birthday that you just can't get enough of. It smells wonderful, like apples, so I don't really mind.

That's it for now. Work is keeping me quite busy this week, so my apologies for the minimal updates!

Two? Already?

2005-02-19T06:21:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday, baby girl.

Discipline

2005-02-16T09:20:00.000-08:00

So, we've been trying some new ways of disciplining as your 2-year-old spunk shows itself more with each passing day. Obviously we're sticking with the old standards, like if you throw something after I've told you not to, then it gets taken away. That almost always works. If you scream at me, I can't hear you. That usually works, though when you're really riled up you just don't care if I hear you or not.

But the biggies, like aggressively pulling the doggie's hair after we've told you not to, or hitting me or Daddy repeatedly... Those things have to be dealt with differently. So, we've officially jumped on the time out bandwagon. And you know what? It works. I don't know why I ever doubted it, not that I did really, I just wasn't sure you were old enough. Oh, but you are. We've only had to do it 3 or 4 times so far in the last week but it's effective. I remove you from the situation and place you on a dining chair, pulled sideways and away from the table. It's tall so you can't easily get down and don't feel tempted to try. It's in the dining room, which I keep dark when we're not eating, so it's lonely. You can still see me, and I don't watch you but rather ignore you (so you think; I'm really watching you out of the corner of my eye). You can't see the TV, or Daddy, and I make Princess stay away from you. After just a couple of minutes, I come over and talk to you about why you had a time out, give you a hug, and let you down. It works like a charm.

I'm sure next month I'll be lamenting the fact that it doesn't work anymore, but I think the key for us is not overusing it. That's a last resort when you've really done something naughty. Usually you're a good girl so we don't have to worry.

On a completely unrelated note, turning 2 means spending less money on daycare! I've been anxious to find out the savings and guess what? We're saving THREE DOLLARS a week. *sigh* It's a couple of tacos, right? Oh well.

The Um Game

2005-02-15T12:47:00.000-08:00

I have to call it The Um Game, because I'm not sure what else to call it. You have this great new game. You roll your eyes up and to the side, like you're thinking, say "Ummmmmm..." then "Nose!" and I'm supposed to point to my nose. You giggle, then repeat, with "Hair!" and on and on through all the body parts you know how to name.

The variation on this was found this morning when you wanted to watch TV after waking up (not that we have time, but you always try). "Ummmmm... Barney!" "No, baby, Barney's sleeping." Giggle. "Ummmmm... Elmo!" "Nope, sorry, Elmo's still sleeping too." Giggle. "Ummmmm... Tahtoons?"

So cute, it's painful.

Movies

2005-02-14T13:56:00.000-08:00

You also watched Shark Tale with us on Friday night, and you watched it so attentively, with such good behavior that we have decided we will definitely take you to see the Heffalump Movie. So, next weekend probably on Sunday we're going to do that with Aunt Chelsie. I can't wait!

Valentine's Day

2005-02-14T09:23:00.000-08:00

We had a fun weekend, but aren't they all? ;) After a fun day of shopping and traipsing through the rain on Saturday, including a tasty Indian lunch (who knew you were such a fan of pappadums?), you spent the evening with Grandma so Daddy and I could have a nice evening out. And we did; it was a great time.

Sunday we had church, and it was Chocolate Sunday. You had some chocolate pretzels and enjoyed the revelry. Sunday we fought the nap monster for hours (probably due to Chocolate Sunday) before I finally had enough and put you in your crib by yourself. Amazingly, you didn't scream at me. You played with all of your stuffed animals (which I have recently relocated to your room, out of the living room). Occasionally, you'd cry a bit, then stop and play some more. Before I knew it, you were actually asleep. It was a godsend. We will be doing this more often.

This morning, you brought some cookies to school. You were supposed to bring Valentines too, but your dodohead mommy lost the list of your classmates. So, they get cookies and not much else. Oh well!

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! Ceili, your birthday is in 5 days. That still blows my mind.

2 years old - almost!

2005-02-09T13:27:00.000-08:00

So, I don't think it has anything to do with the post below, truly. But yesterday when I picked you up, I noticed that your basket was missing. Why? It had been moved into the 2's room. This morning when I brought you in, I asked Miss Sylvia where I should take you. She said the 2's room.

Yes, my baby girl is in the 2-year-olds room. With 2-almost-3-year-olds. How did this happen?! I remember being so excited about you moving up to the 1's room, but to be completely honest that was mostly because we were getting a big break on the weekly tuition rate. (How selfish is that?) This time, I am looking forward to it because I've heard through the grapevine you don't like "some" of the teachers who work the 1's room. That's an entirely different issue, and is in fact quite related to my post a couple of days ago about school searches.

So, one more milestone. One more good thing about the 2's room? They take regular, scheduled teaching trips to the potty each day. Yes indeed. Finally I have help with the potty plan. I think you'll catch on quickly!

Yearning

2005-02-09T13:02:00.000-08:00

It's the only word I can use. I'm going through another phase of longing for Baby #2. If this is only the result of the passage of time and the knowledge that in 7 months or so we'll get the green light, then I can only imagine how bad the longing will be a few months from now. *sigh*

And I was doing so well.

Singleton after Gestational Surrogate Quads

2005-02-08T14:13:00.000-08:00

This story just made me smile: A 'miracle': Surrogate quads have new sister

It's a reminder of how varied our human family is, and a reminder to never give up hope.

Super Sunday

2005-02-07T11:46:00.000-08:00

So, I'd say you were pretty well-behaved yesterday. You are two afterall, and I can only expect so much. There was a lot of toy playing and cracker munching involved with keeping you at an even keel, and you were admittedly at your rope's end by the time the game was ending. You promptly fell asleep in the car as soon as we left, which was just what we'd hoped for. But really I admit I'm happy with how you behave in general around adults and in non-kid places. You usually listen to me, and though you try to throw a tantrum or two here and there you're usually aware they won't actually work.

It would have been better if the Eagles had won, but what can be done about it now? Bummer.

So, your birthday is in 12 days. I still can't believe you'll really be two. You know so many incredible things now. Your speaking is getting better all the time (yesterday you spotted and named "elephant" perfectly!). I'm starting my research into Montessori and preschools for what our next options might be. So many things to think about, and I want to make sure we make the right decisions for you. No pressure.

CO

2005-02-04T14:51:00.000-08:00

This unrelated story reminded me of my most recent house acquisition: A carbon monoxide detector. It's just one of those weird things you always figure you should have, but never really get around to acquiring. We have a fairly aged gas heater in our house, and it's located in the hall right across from the door to your room. When a weird quirk of planning ended up with me killing time in Home Depot (no! the anguish!), I remembered that "Someday" item.

This also let me relocate the smoke detector that was in the hall into your room, so we have an added layer of security there. We already have fire extinguishers in two locations inside the house, so now I guess we're even more safe. It's a nice feeling.

(By the way, ours looks JUST like that one, but was only $19.99 at Home Depot. That's the other reason I bought it, because they're getting so much cheaper! Go on out and get one to protect yourself too!)

Uh-oh

2005-02-04T07:51:00.000-08:00

You have a fun game you like to play with Daddy lately. It's the typical game where you sit on Daddy's bent legs and he bounces and rocks you in the air like an amusement park ride. It's also a fabulous workout for Daddy. The most amusing parts are when you BEG to be tickled ("Tickle, tickle!" while pointing to your side or chest), or ask Daddy to "Bite!" where he nibbles on your pajama-clad feet and roars. *sigh* Children.

So in the midst of your playing last night, Daddy remembered something he'd forgotten to do in preparation for our gardener's visit today. He promptly proclaimed, "Sh*t!" And you promptly repeated it. And grinned.

Your first curse word. I'm so proud.

Mommy presents

2005-02-01T13:21:00.000-08:00

I don't think I mentioned my new toys. At work, I won an award that came with a $100 gift card that could only be used at a few select places. I debated what to do with it and was going to buy work clothes, only I recently did that. After talking it over with Daddy I decided to buy a couple of things I've really wanted but couldn't justify buying normally. So, I got a bea-U-tiful Fossil watch, and this:

I've been wanting it since even before you came into this world. I've asked Daddy for it, and he looked for it in stores but never found it. I've had it bookmarked forever. And now... I'm wearing it! I love it. I'm weird about my jewelry. I don't have a lot and I don't wear much, but the pieces I have usually mean a lot to me. This one means the world.

(Edited to add the link to Red Envelope under the picture - I should have had it link back from the get-go but plum forgot. Sorry and thanks for the reminder!)

Two weeks

2005-01-27T15:17:00.000-08:00

So, two weeks, no binkie. I guess it's safe to say you're officially done with it. I'm not sure why I'm not 100% thrilled about it. Probably a combination of wishing you didn't have to stop being a baby quite so fast, along with the fact that you're much more VOCAL without it. I like the talking, I do, but sometimes the volume is deafening. You were nowhere near this vocal with the binkie in your life. I'd still rather have it this way than not. And you usually respond appropriately when I remind you that I can't hear you when you yell, you need to speak to me in a normal tone. Yep, I'm one of those mothers.

Your birthday party's booked at Chuck E. Cheese's so I guess that's really happening. Yet another thing I'm not 100% happy with, but what can you do? I'm going to work on the invitations tonight, but realistically they probably won't go out until this weekend. Nothing like giving ample notice, eh?

Snip snip

2005-01-24T13:55:00.000-08:00

You got your first "official" haircut this weekend! It's a cute bob and pictures are forthcoming. It was getting unruly, so we had to do something about it. Still no bangs at Daddy's insistence, but that's fine.

We got the new mattress and the bed is taking some getting used to. Hopefully I'll adjust.

You got to see lots of fun people this weekend, including Auntie Chelle (you can say "Chelle!") and Aunt Talmar and Uncle Tom. All in all, I think you had a pretty fun weekend. There was a fair amount of Barney-watching going on, so that's a plus. You also got to color and play with your new blocks. It was pretty exciting.

Your birthday party looks like it might end up at Chuck E. Cheese's, though my initial inquiries into this costs of this idea have left me shaking my head in disbelief, so we'll just have to see.

Heffalump movie

2005-01-21T09:24:00.000-08:00

Oooooh, I want to take you to see this!

Pictures!

2005-01-20T13:50:00.000-08:00

I've uploaded the pictures from the last couple of months, including a separate album for Christmas pictures. I don't have a lot from Christmas morning, but they're in the Christmas album. And the 18-24 month album has pictures from Vegas with Jackson!

Links on Friends and Family page. Email me or leave a comment for access if you don't already have it or have forgotten the password. Thanks!

(PS - made appointment for 3/2 - shots await you!)

Binkieless and lovin' it

2005-01-20T09:05:00.000-08:00

Last night marked the one week point since the binkie went away! You actually had one sometime over the weekend to soothe you in a particular car ride nap, but that's the only time and you gave it up willingly at our destination. I'm so proud of you.

No new developments on the potty front. We talk about it and sit on it and hang out waiting for the peepee and poopie, we have the peepee song memorized, and no real luck yet. Oh, well. We'll keep trying. While I'd LOVE to say goodbye to diapers for a while before thinking about Baby #2, I also don't want to push you in this area. You'll get sick of diapers soon enough, and we'll be ready.

Still boogery and this morning you were coughing quite a bit. It worries me so I'm going to really have to keep an eye on it. Which reminds me that I need to make your 2-year Dr.'s appointment here soon. Maybe I'll go do that now.

What we did on our daylong vacation

2005-01-18T15:11:00.000-08:00

We cleaned the house, then went out and bought a really nice new mattress, and this:

You got to join us on the excursion to IKEA, made much more pleasant by the lack of rush hour traffic on a normally-holiday Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. birthday.

Our old bed was awful awful awful. I can't believe even YOU could sleep on the darn thing. Now it's a catch-22. We're waiting for the new mattress to be delivered on Saturday, and so the old mattress is sans box spring on the bed frame. Well, our old mattress is such a piece of junk it's basically a cement-hard slab of beat-up coils and fabric. Ugh. It's quieter and moves around less, but it's hard as a ROCK. My poor back.

On other fronts, the goobers in your nose seem to be tapering off. I am over my cold too, so at last we're on the mend again. Thankfully this one sped through pretty fast. My asthma is another issue entirely.

Birthday planning

2005-01-13T11:24:00.000-08:00

So, I'm still picking a theme for your birthday. I think I have it down to three choices:

1. Care Bears
2. Sesame Street
3. Disney Princesses

I prefer them in that order, and will probably go ahead and go with Care Bears. For some reason, though, I keep waffling. Probably because my REAL #1 choice is actually SpongeBob but I'm going to refrain from that for a two-year-old's birthday party.

One more day to Friday!

2005-01-13T11:02:00.000-08:00

Things are rolling along fine. I've been very very busy with work. Interviews for promotions, meetings with clients, training people on new processes... It's been very tiring, and worse since I'm also getting sick. So before I brag on my brilliant and beautiful daughter, I'd like to take a moment to brag on my incredible, loving husband.

Do you know how incredibly cool your Daddy is? How much he loves you? I know I've said it before, but he is just so natural with you. This week I have been a giant ball of stress, and busy a lot, even completely absent one full day/night. And he has stepped up to take care of business. He has gotten you out of bed and dressed for school almost every morning this week. He loads you in the car every morning, sparing my bad back. He makes you dinner, feeds you, cleans you up. He entertains you with his fabulous drumming, shoulder rides, Barney and Sponge Bob, reading stories, and more. It's amazing, and has taken so much of the load off of me this week. And this while he's stressed out himself, teaching new classes every day and learning how to navigate the new world of a high school teacher. He gets short with me sometimes, but something has to give and I do understand that. He even made dinner last night (good SPICY tacos!) because I just wasn't feeling up to it. WE LOVE DADDY!

Not much news on your front just cool things you do that I haven't logged yet. Lots of talking, even in sentences now, which is fun. I don't understand them all, but when it's something like "I want Mommy!" or "Ceili [has/is wearing] Mommy's shoes!" it's just downright cute. You also understand enough to understand situational lying now. That is fascinating. You were in the car with me and Grandma last week, kicking the back of Grandma's seat. She stretched her arm across the seats and looked back as you gently kicked her arm. She said, "Who's kicking me? Ceili, are you kicking me?" You smiled slyly and slowly shook your head no. You thought that was really funny, too, and giggling ensued. Great.

Counting is still going well. It's more rote memory, but that's where it comes from right? We're talking up potty training, but I've been so busy this week, we've made no real headway there this week.

And I realized this morning as I was getting you out of the car for daycare that you were binkie-less yesterday. When I got home, you didn't have one. You didn't have one before dinner or after. There weren't any around, so you didn't pick one up post-dinner. You didn't have it before or during your bath. And after your bath during your lotion massage as you were getting sleepy, you didn't ask for one. When you cuddled with me, with Daddy and eventually fell asleep with your blanket on the rug, you never had a binkie.

Maybe binkie's days are numbered without a lot of hoopla. Could it be? I'm going to keep them hidden for now and see what happens. Maybe you'll forget all about them. Wow.

Nice weekend

2005-01-10T09:14:00.000-08:00

We had a very normal weekend, and it was wonderful. The hectic days of the last few months are a thing of the past. I couldn't be happier.

Saturday after looking at furniture with Grandma, you spent a couple of hours with her concentrating on potty-talk. We're really stepping this up now, trying to get you excited about the potty and the big girl panties you'll get to wear. Last night, in fact, I let you try on the JoJo's Circus panties and you danced around the living room enjoying them. Then it was back into diapers and jammies.

Anyway, I was able to clean and reorganize your bedroom FINALLY while you were with Grandma. It was great to be able to put your new big white bookshelf in there. Finally room for all your books. In fact, it looks like you have none, taking up less than 1/5 of the room on there. I'm sure that will change.

We also put the Christmas goodies in the attic, which itself was cathartic. I feel like we have our house back at last.

Yesterday we enjoyed a nice stroll up to Mama Java's coffee shop with Grandma and Uncle Chris and later in the afternoon we got to enjoy some free gourmet gelato at a new gelato joint at 36th St. and Camelback. That was really nice, and you are a gelato convert. Too bad the freebie stuff is over and I'm sure that little cup you enjoyed will probably be $3.00 today. Oh, well, it was a special treat.

You're still doing well, though you've got a little cough going on. Considering how nasty my cough has gotten (I'm finally going to call the Dr. on that), yours seems very minor. Hopefully it'll go away quickly.

So, back to the grind. Next weekend - shopping! And soon I'll be planning for your birthday and making your 2-year Dr.'s appointment. I'd better get on that considering how far out they make well baby appointments.

Confession

2005-01-07T14:02:00.000-08:00

I have a confession to make. I want another baby.

Actually, I want two more. But I'll start with one.

I can't do anything about that right now, and it's sheer insanity to imagine taking care of two (my mind goes back to the ER night with you, or the ER day with me), but still...

Must be hormones talking. Shhh. Go away. We'll talk in a few months.