My big girl

I am totally, utterly, completely in love with this age . . . Alyssa is so stinkin' funny and so adorable! As much as she tires me out with all her energy, I think I would take this age over a newborn in a heartbeat. Last night I decided the time had come to wean her; not really sure what came over me, I just felt like the time was right. It was easier on both of us than I expected, but it was awfully hard to have her tug at the bottom of my shirt and tell her "no you don't need the boobie tonight", which resulted into her bursting into tears. I felt like she felt like she had done something wrong, so I sat in the rocker with tears running down my cheeks as I told her what a big girl she was, how she was my big, brave, good girl, and how her mama loved her soooo very much. But she slept through the night and tonight went down with less tears than last night, so I think we're making progress.

She found a new way to break my heart today when it comes to "sleep time" . . . when you put her down in her crib she now waves "bye-bye" to you. Oh, can you feel the torture?! I just want to pick her up and cuddle her and kiss her extra lots for being sooo darn cute!

As if she didn't have enough problems . . .

Alyssa let her mommy cut her bangs today. I think I cut them a little too short and now she kinda looks like a boy. Guess we'll be doing lots of pig tails in the next couple weeks! On the up side ~ most kids cry when you cut their hair. Alyssa thought it was really funny and tickled.

Random Thoughts

I'm having a hard time coming up with blogging topics lately, so I'll just do a bunch of brief/random thoughts . . .

1. I can't wait for the "extra people" next door to move . . . hopefully that will tone down the damn barking that goes on all the freakin' time (our neighbors have friends living with them that have 2 dogs, so there is a total of 4 dogs in that house).

2. There are too many dogs right around our yard . . . sooo much barking its starting to drive me nuts.

3. I love our garbage people. I love that they bring the recycling bin and trash container up to the house instead of leaving it at the curb.

4. I really don't think we can afford to move.

5. If we can't afford to move, should we put off having another baby?

6. It would give me more time to lose weight/get into shape.

7. But I really don't want a 3.5-4 year age different between Alyssa and our next child.

8. My tummy is awfully gurgly. I wonder if its from my lunch or from all the things I have on my mind.

9. I should go "accomplish" something, but I feel like everything I accomplish gets destroyed within 5 minutes, so why bother putting forth effort?

10. Man, I'm a downer today!

Updates

Update on Jack: They have ruled out leukemia. Its narrowed down to either a virus that mimics leukemia (how scary is that?!) or aplastic anemia, which is very difficult to treat, so we're hoping for the virus. Sounds like the little guy is in good spirits, so that's a good sign. Keep the good thoughts coming!

Update on Alyssa: Finally, after 17 months I can say confidently that MY CHILD SLEEPS THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!!! She's been doing 12 hour stretches for about a week and a half now. Bliss! Pure bliss! (Now if I could just get my bladder trained to go through the night without waking me I would be good to go)

Update on Me: I swear, its Friday. Isn't it? Shouldn't it be? Its such a Friday day.

News that made me hug my baby tighter

My mom called tonight to tell me that my aunt had flown out to Boston this morning to be with my cousin and his wife after they found out that there 4 1/2 year old very likely has leukemia. This would be a horrible blow to any parent, but my cousin Paul watched his dad (my uncle) die of cancer several years ago, so I can't even imagine what he is going through. After I got off the phone with my mom I went downstairs to give Alyssa extra kisses and hugs. As I was holding her I couldn't even big to imagine what it would be like to know that your precious perfect child had something that horrible inside. I hope Paul, Pam, Jack and Leo know how much we care about them and are thinking of them and if you have any extra prayers or good thoughts please send them their way.

Please don't beat me fellow O-towners

The middle of last week we got the news that weather people were predicting 18-22 inches of snow Sunday/Monday. Then they moved it to Sunday/Monday/Tuesday. Sunday is here and we have MAYBE 2 inches on the ground. I'm so in the mood for a huge blizzard with snow drifts up to my eyeballs! So I'm disappointed. I know I still have a couple days to get snow, but I have a feeling its all going to miss us again. Whatever happened the the piles and piles and piles of snow we got when I was a kid? Damn global warming!

Clean Carpets

I feel like I've stepped even further onto the side of a grown up . . . today we had our carpets cleaned by a professional. I watched him empty his water "tank" after cleaning both of the bedrooms and the dining room. I swear to you, the stuff that ran out was thick and muddly looking and I wanted to throw up thinking that that was in my carpet. I know some of it was the cleaner/soap stuff they use, but seriously to think about my carpets have the potential to produce that SLUDGE . . . bleck! So, I KNOW the carpets are clean, but they don't really LOOK that much better, so it makes it hard for me to justify the money (even though we got a good deal). We practically could have put wood floors in the kitchen and dining room for the amount of money we spent on carpet cleaning. We could buy Alyssa 1 book when she goes to college with that money! Damn!

On another note, our cleaner guy (who happened to own the company, so I'm sure he did a good job) was a total schmoozer (sp?). But a word to all the "ladies men" out there . . . after you tell a girl she looks great for just having a baby (17 months ago . . . I better look good by now) don't tell her that her house doesn't smell like dog pee anymore. I know they are both compliments, but one kind of tarnishes the other.

Niiiiiiiiiiice!

Stolen from Leslie

Christi -- [adjective]: Sexually stunning 'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Tidbits about me!

I stole this from Chris' Livejournal (too lazy to link it). Thought it was kind of fun and interesting and I've been struggling for blogging topics lately.

thirteen random things you like :
01. Scrapbooking
02. Reading
03. Summer nights
04. New shoes
05. Tickling (either giving or receiving)
06. Corny Chick Flicks
07. Traveling
08. My bed
09. Long Beach Ice Teas
10. Bodies of water (lakes, rivers, streams, oceans)
11. Decorating
12. Singing
13. Little King sandwhiches

twelve movies you like :
01. A Walk to Remember
02. Peter Pan (Disney version)
03. Father of the Bride (I and II)
04. Sliding Doors
05. The Princess Bride
06. Rent
07. Center Stage
08. The Prince and Me
09. Bye Bye Love
10. Ocean’s 11
11. 50 First Dates
12. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days


eleven good bands/artists :
01. Bare Naked Ladies (Lord knows I love the ladies)
02. Hawk Nelson (Eric ~ tour update? ;) )
03. Bowling for Soup
04. Jack Johnson
05. Shania Twain
06. Black Eyed Peas
07. Beach Boys
08. No Doubt/Gwen Stefani
09. Rascal Flatts
10. Jewel
11. Jessica Simpson (don't flog me . . . I dig her tunes)

ten things about you :
01. I love to cuddle
02. I love to laugh
03. I wish I had a bigger and closer extended family to hang out with
04. I love to play board games.
05. I can twirl a baton (actually two of them!)
06. I consider myself very creative and to have a vivid imagination
07. I like to cook and bake
08. I hate shopping for myself
09. I love the color blue
10. I would like to own a turtle someday

nine good friends:

01. Julia
02. Angie
03. Paula
04. Christy
05. Staci
06. Erin
07. Lindsay
08. Eric
09. Boomer


eight favorite foods/drinks :
01. Mexican
02. Pasta
03. Cheese
04. Better than Sex cake
05. Diet Root Beer
06. M&Ms
07. Crystal Light Raspberry Iced Tea
08. Spinach/Artichoke Dip

seven things you wear daily :
01. underware
02. my wedding band (usually)
03. diamond stud earrings
04. a baby on my hip
05. a smile
06. pjs
07. contacts

(the 6 thing list is missing, so I’m adding my own)

six things you want to do before you die:

01. Go on a Disney cruise with a bunch of friends
02. Get a tattoo (I think)
03. Hit my goal weight
04. Go scuba diving
05. See my kid(s) graduate college, get married, and have families
06. Tour more of Europe

five things you touch everyday :
01. My keys
02. Silverware
03. My super cute baby girl
04. Doorknobs
05. Diapers

four shows you watch :
01. Gilmore Girls
02. Survivor
03. Who’s Line is it Anyway?
04. The Ellen Degeneres Show

three celebrities you have a crush on :
01. Joshua Jackson (Sorry Angie . . . it was JUST a TV show!)
02. Brendan Fraser
03. Topher Grace

two people that you have kissed :
01. Adam
02. Erin (I guess I’ll do just about anything if I’m drunk and someone offers me a quarter)

one person you could spend the rest of your life with:
01. Adam ~ good thing I married the crazy guy!