Its Official

11275 Bauman Ave it not "ours" anymore. It belongs to the realtor community now. Thank you to our own "green house" for all the memories.

It was the place where:

Adam and I came home to find all of our wedding present heaped onto our bed when we arrived home at 11 PM at night after honeymooning for a week and fighting our way through airports for 12+ hours. The culprits that delivered our presents thought it would be a happy thing to come home to. I just wanted my blankety blank bed primed and ready for me to crash.

Jen and I played many a game of "scoopy ball".

We expanded our family the first time by bringing a rolly-polly little ball of fur home that we eventually named Jocelyn Pooh Bear.

I spent a weekend when I was 6 1/2 months pregnant carefully painting a mural for my unborn baby to create the perfect "hundred acre woods" themed nursery.

We brought Alyssa home from the hospital.

We learned to be a family in that house.

It was K-Rock Marketing's HQ for its one and only client.

Anna and Brandy spent several nights with their super cool Aunt Christi and Uncle Adam.

Multiple 4th of July parties complete block-wide firework show.

Multiple parties where I plain old had too much to drink ~ and we have pictures of me handcuffed to Chris Leffler to prove it.

6 weeks after we were married I was forced to be a responsible wife ~ scared me more than I've ever been scared in life, I think, but it also really cemented my relationship with Adam.

I spent my last night as a single woman in that house.

I achieved my dream of having live Christmas trees. Now if only the damn lights around the front window would have stayed up, I would have been ectastic.

We bought our first car as a couple/family home to that house (and my first brand new car ever)

We fostered half a dozen dogs . . . our little part to the doggie community. And we should have adopted our first foster dog. Kipper James ~ we loved you!

I've always thought that its not the building that makes a place a home ~ it the people inside that make it a home. I don't think that's true anymore. Our Bauman house will always have a special place in my heart. It will always be home. And I hope that the next people that live there treat it well and have as many great (and not so great, but still powerful and life changing) memories as we do.

Moral Politics

Copied from Shawnie and Leslie who stole it originally from Alex. Whew!

Your scored 0 on the Moral Order axis and 2.5 on the Moral Rules axis.

Matches

The following items best match your score:

1. System: Socialism, Authoritarianism
2. Variation: Moderate Socialism, Moderate Authoritarianism
3. Ideologies: Social Democratism, Social Republicanism
4. US Parties: No match.
5. Presidents: Jimmy Carter (79.15%)
6. 2004 Election Candidates: John Kerry (76.10%), Ralph Nader (72.67%), George W. Bush (60.16%)

Since I don't have a match under US Parties, does that mean I should move to another country? I think I took a quiz once that said I belonged in Dublin . . . wonder what housing prices are in Dublin . . .

My knight in a shiny red alero

Monday afternoon I was driving back from my parents (in my mom's big, bad granny-mo-van) when I blew a tire on the interstate. It wasn't nearly as traumatic as I thought it would be. I had previously had visions of blowing a tire on the interstate and swirving uncontrollably in and out of traffic, but the only way I really knew for sure that the tire was a goner was by pulling over to the side of the road and getting out to check. My first instinct was to call Adam because he has our AAA number/card, but I couldn't get ahold of him, so I got the exciting experience of going the "on-star route". I did finally track Adam down at home and I'm sure I sounded furious as I screamed "YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! YOU'RE AT HOME!!!?!?!?!?!?" into the phone (it was 2:30 on a Monday . . . go figure!). He probably expected me to give him a hard time about playing hooky for the day, but instead he got a big dose of wife freak-out . . . semi-hysterical
"I'm on the side of the interstate with a flat tire and the tow truck won't be here for an hour and its hot and I've got a headache and I think I'm going to be sick" pouring through the phone.

I have to give my man props, though, he didn't even hesitate after hearing my craziness. He simply asked me where I was and assured me he would be there in a snap. And snappy he was . . . I've never been so glad to see that red alero in my life ~ he's a good man, my handsome hubby. I think I'll keep him.

Its the little things in life

Its the little things in life that make me the happiest sometimes.

Today for example, I had an appointment with the DMV. At the DMV AND a toddler approaching naptime . . . normally a deadly combination.

I had to get my plates renewed and I had lost the little post card thing that they send out in the mail during the move, so I was fully expecting them to give me a hard time about that. She didn't even bat an eye when I explained that I had lost it and I was well on my way with new stickers in about 2 minutes. The best part . . . I thought it was going to be over $600, but it was only $300 and some. Still insanely expensive, but better than the $1600 we paid last year.

Then I stopped at the drivers license counter to get a new license. Always a risky move, but considering I hated my last DL picture, I figured it couldn't be too bad. And I was pleasantly surprised that I actually got a halfway decent picture even though I felt like a complete moron sitting the chair waiting for the picture lady to snap my picture. I was sure that I looked like I had just swallowed a bug or something, but its actually an ok picture. Not that I'll be flashing it around a lot, so you'll have to take my word for it.

Another dose of cuteness from Alyssa

Adam ~ don't read this . . . you probably won't appreciate it. ;)

This morning I was changing Alyssa after I got her up and I noticed that she was staring at my chest with great concentration. As I sat her up after being changed she reached towards my shirt and said, very proudly, "Daddeeeee!" I was wearing a Sesame Street tank top. The "Daddeeee" she was refering to . . . Bert. I think it might have been the unibrow that closed the deal for her. lol

Adam ~ did you read it anyway?

Happy Birthday Boomer!

A big birthday shoutout to my bud Boomer ~ who celebrates his final "20-something" birthday today!!! Boomer, consider this your IOU for a piece of birthday cheesecake from the cheesecake factory this fall! ;) Have a great day!

Babies and Babies

Alyssa and I took a field trip this afternoon to see Angie and Lenka. Look at how cute our two girls are together! They are totally going to be BFF!


Right after we got there I was holding Lenka and doing the "Bumblebee" game wiht Alyssa. I buzzed Alyssa and then buzzed Lenka. Then Alyssa did it and buzzed Lenka's little toes . . . it was too stinkin' cute! I totally realized right then and there what an amazing big sister she would make. She has such a huge heart and she's really one of the sweetest kids I know. Even though she's only 19 months old she really seems to be able to express empathy and thoughtfulness (unless you happen to have 4 legs . . . then it kind of depends on the day). I think she has the potential to be a loving, patient, protective, and understanding big sister and who am I to not give her that?

Baby #2 has been a hot topic for discussion and contemplation around our house over the past few weeks. For as long as I can remember I've wanted 3 (maybe 4) kids and I've never thought twice about that plan. Until it comes time for baby #2. In essance, I am an only child. I have a half brother and half sister, but we've never let that "half" word be an issue with us. I honestly believe that Mark and Joni see me as as much of a sibling as they do each other (truth be told, I think Mark probably likes me better than Joni, but that's another story). But when you get down to it, once our dad passes away, a huge link in our relationship disappears. They'll have their own familes and their mom, but I don't really belong there. Once my mom is gone, I'll be alone. I'll have Adam and Alyssa and any other kids we decide to have, but in a sense I will be alone and I never want to do that to Alyssa. I want her to always have family to turn to and to support and love no matter what. But I'm scared. We have a good routine, her and I. We are each other's entire world pretty much and what happens when we add a third to the mix? Will she feel betrayed? Will she understand that adding another family member means more love for her instead of having to share and compete for Adam and my affections? I'm scare of losing time with her. Of forcing her to rely more on Adam and less on me because I'll have someone else to take care of. I know that once we bring another child into the family things will never be the same. And I know in my head that things will be better that it will be a good step and the right step, but in my heart I can't imagine changing things. It hurts to think about her having to share me and me having to divide myself between two little blessings.

Lately I've started feeling fearful of getting pregnant with twins . . . I won't even go there . . . that's another entry for another day.

My inner child . . .

Borrowed this from Leslie

Your Inner Child Is Scared

Like a kid, you tend to shy away from new experiences. You prefer what's tried and true - novelty is scary! New foods, new places, and new friends are difficult for you to deal with. Some say you're predictable, but you enjoy being comfortable.

How Is Your Inner Child?

She didn't think she was a scared inner child, either. I do enjoy being comfortable and I would prefer the tried and true, but I don't think I shy away from new places and experiences. Maybe I need to get to know my inner child more ~ maybe I should set up a play date. :)

Super Dad to the rescue

some of you know that my cell phone has been "broken" since late October. (I dropped it and the inside screen broke, so I can't see what I'm doing and its a craps shoot to try to use my phone book to call anyone). We've tried calling Verizon several times to see if we could sweet talk (or hard ball ~ as well as Adam and I can play hard ball) them into giving us new phones. Adam's phone stopped working right about a month ago after what we think was a swimming date between the cell phone and the dog's water bowl ~ you can thank your hostess, Alyssa, folks. So, earlier this week we attempted to call Verizon to tell them we wanted to cancel our plan in hopes that they would drop to their knees and beg us to stay with them and offer all sorts of impressive deals. It didn't work that way. So today I called my dad to see if I could get an appointment this weekend with a friend of his that fixes Verizon phones. Bad news was that Samsung (the brand that my phone is) won't sell him electronic pieces. They'll sell him the outside case or the inside case, but no screens. I would have to send it in and who knows how much that would be or how long it would take. So, Dad told me that he was going to call Verizon after lunch and see what he could do about getting me a new phone. He actually sounded like he expected them to just say "Yes sir, Norm, we'll be overnighting those new phones to your daughter immediately". Of course, they pretty much laughed at him when he called, but it was really sweet/cute that my Dad still wants to take care of me.

Girlfriend knows how to work it

For as long as I can remember, I've been a bookworm. Some of my favorite memories from my childhood are of my Dad reading me stories before bed. When my mom would take me shopping when I was younger, she would drop me off in the bookstore and I would happily sit on the floor in the back reading for hours. Heck, I still would do that. I guess the shop 'til you drop gene must skip a generation because I swear Alyssa could outshop me. Anyway . . . I couldn't wait to have a child that I could cuddle up and read with before bedtime. Up until the past week or so, our bedtime reading routine is me reading about 2 pages before Alyssa runs another lap around me and tosses a new book at me without stopping. She might pause slightly to glance at the pages, but as soon as I would get going in a book she would rip it out of my hands and give me a new one. The other night at about 10 PM I actually sat in her rocking chair reading "The Very Hungry Caterpiller" to myself and she was sitting on the floor across the room thumbing through her "Baby Faces" book. That's about as close to bedtime reading bonding we got.

But I think the girl has started figuring out that if she lets me read to her in her rocking chair she can squeeze a few extra minutes out of me before I'll make her go to bed. Tonight she sat still for 5 ~ count 'em 5 ~ books. As soon as I would finish one she would squirm down to pick out a new one. She even let me read my favorite of her books "Olivia" (Thanks Jeff and Megan!!!!), which she normally won't sit all the way through because its kind of long.

How does her little peanut brain figure these things out?! She cracks me up with all the "grown up knowledge" that is popping out daily. Watch out world . . . she's going to keep us on our toes!

A thank you shout out

To the person who decided that it was socially (and trendily) acceptable to wear Bermuda shorts and not look as ridiculous as a 60 year old man wearing sandals and black socks up to his knees. I will never claim to be trendy or fashionable, but I am loving the fact that I can wear these long shorts and not have to worry about a) looking stupid and b) feeling completely self conscious of my thighs/knees c) having to pull down the crotch of my shorts because it keeps riding up. It seems like I am just not a short-shorts/Daisy Dukes kind of build. Shocker! I NEVER thought I would wear Bermuda shorts, but they actually aren’t bad and I think they are actually flattering on me since the only part of my legs that I like are my calves. Sign me up for an Old Navy commercial, baby! I’m a convert! (For the record I did NOT buy my shorts from Old Navy . . . I’m still nursing the hurt of having to go about 4 sizes bigger than normal to wear Old Navy pants. Jerks)

Hey! Where's my paycheck?!

According to this website www.mom.salary.com I should be making $152,172 per year. That doesn't factor in "dog detail", so that would bump it up a little, I would think. Damn, I need to talk to someone about getting a raise!

I'm so torn

Its 7:03 PM and my child is napping. I put her down twice today for an afternoon nap and I don't think she ever really slept. She started "hollering" at me after about 30 minutes and I kept hearing her jabbering over the baby monitor, so I really don't think she was power napping. I got home from cleaning the old house about 5:15 and she was a bear, so I decided to put her down for a quick nap. I put in my time on the elliptical machine, got some dinner, caught up on my mommy boards and now I don't know if I should try to get her to sleep through the night with a bedtime of 5:30 or if I should wake her up to put her back to bed in an hour. She has had a nasty cold for the past few days, so I know she needs her sleep. But I don't really want to be up at the crack of dawn (or until midnight, either, for that matter).

I don't know what to do.

My instinct says to wake her up, but its really nice having her sleep so that I can do things. I'm sure if I do wake her up she'll be pretty clingy and that will be the end of my productive evening.

Happy Mom's Day . . .

to all the moms out there, but especially the ones that read my blog that are a constant inspiration and support system to me.

Special shout out to my own mom, who doesn't read my blog, but is the best mom a girl could ask for. We had our ups and downs during some of those wonderful "teenage year", but in the end she has turned out to be one of my best friends and biggest fans. I really hope that Alyssa and I have a similar relationship some day.

Special shout out to the new mom, Angie, who has already had to face many challenges in less than a week, but is proving what we all knew . . . she's going to be a FANTASTIC mom and Lenka is one very lucky girl.

Special shout out to Paula without whom I don't know if I can handle this mommy stuff. Thank you for always listening, always giving great advice, always sharing, and always being ready with a catty comment when I need it. ;)

Special shout out to Christy ~ my wonderful friend who has had heaps of mommy-ness dumped on her in the past year. I am so greatful that our kids will be raised together and we'll be able to be there for each other each step of the way. Evan, Charlie, and "as yet unnamed" are so very lucky to have you in their lives.

Have a great day ladies!

Evolution of Dance

My best friend from college sent me this link today. Its kinda a long video, but worth every second!

Dance

I miss the 80s!

Tipsy

So, I just wrote my first drunken/tipsy e-mail ever. Congrats to Christy who will be the lucky receipiant of my ramblings, btw. I was spell checking my e-mail and it wanted to change Alyssa to "balsa". For some reason I found that REALLY funny tonight. Drunken blogging. Drunken e-mailing. I need to go to bed. But its probably my last chance to drink for a loooonnnng time, so I had to live it up right. That'll teach Adam to leave me alone at night.

My kind of math

1 bottle of Moscato
1 Season 3 of Gilmore girls DVD
1 working DVD player
1 sleeping baby
2 dogs locked away in bedroom

Equals . . .


A wonderful (and very tipsy) evening!

Too bad Adam isn't around to enjoy this with me.

Boomer should be proud that I polished off the bottle of Moscato (I don't think I'm spelling that right) myself. I thought about calling him, but decided to keep the good stuff to myself. Tee hee!

In honor of "Update your damned blog day" . . .

I'd like to say

WELCOME TO THE WORLD
MISS LENKA JOHANNAH DWIGHT!!!

Alyssa has a new god-sister or something like that (we haven't quite figured out the relationship yet) . . . the long awaited Baby D has finally arrived, so congrats to Eric and Angie! (Although Angie looked so stinkin' good after delivery either a) she actually had the baby early this afternoon and took a shower, did her hair, ect before they allowed company or b) I'll have to re-evalutate whether I can be friends with her or not). :) As we all predicted, those two make a darn cute baby!

I have to say, I'm proud of myself for holding it together when we went to visit them tonight. This morning I called Angie as she was en route to the hospital and I started blubbering like a fool LIKE A FOOL! Much like the "had to leave the table at Olive Garden to compose myself in the bathroom after they announced they were having a baby" cry fest. Although part of that was relief that I wasn't losing one of my closest friends to the sin and smog of LA. I'm such a sap!

The "EWWWWWWWWWWWWW" Factor

Its every parent's bathtime nightmare . . . UFOs ~ unidentified floating objects. And then when you identify those floating objects as poop . . . ewwwwwww. And then when you identify the grapes that your child ate for lunch. EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

I'm ME again!

I went out to get the mail today (always a fun thing when a birthday is approaching!) and found two cards for me in the mailbox. One from my friend Kim and one from my parents. My mom had addressed my card to Christi Nelsen (my maiden name). My first thought was "how long have I been married, Mom?" (answer is a little over 3 years). But then I realized that it made me feel really warm and fuzzy inside to be referred to as a Nelsen again. It was really hard for me to change my last name when I got married. It just doesn't seem to belong to me, even still. Its Adam's name and his parents and brothers names and Alyssa's name, but just not really mine. As much as I love the flowing "K" sound of my first and last name now, there's just something about seeing my old name in print that really made my day. I'm such a sap! :)

Feeling the small town love way out here in the big city!

Okay, I know I complained about my crazy small hometown's ways in a blog a few months ago, but its times like these that I wouldn't give it up for anything in the world.

We're moving this weekend ~ in case you're new to my blog/haven't read my blog lately. 90% of our boxes have been donated by my parents. 90% of our boxes are from the hospital, liquor store, and bowling alley from my hometown. Now THAT'S something to write home about! (or blog about in my case) You couldn't get these places to even look your direction in the big "O". That's part of the reason I love small towns. When you're moving, you just call up a store say "Hey *insert guy you've know since first grade's name here* I'm moving. Hold back some boxes for me, okay? I'll be there to pick them up sometime between 15 minutes from now and July". And they happily do it!

I'm really impressed by the whole "holding" thing because Christy told me when they called grocery stores here in town you had to call before 6 AM the day you wanted to pick them up (couldn't call the night before) and had to pick them up before 8 AM ~ not a great schedule for most people.

Farewell Flowers (and other stuff)

Updates on previous posts:
Days until we close on the new house/move ~ 4
Number of boxes packed ~ 35 (approximately ~ I keep losing track)
Number of birthday presents for Adam lost that need to be found by Thursday ~ Big fat goose egg! 0! All presents found and accounted for! Hooray

My new boyfriend, Fisher, wasn't in the childcare room this morning. Actually, no one was, so Alyssa and I left early and took packages to the post office. And finally got around to calling my sister.

We have a crab apple tree in our front yard that I absolutely love. Its just a friendly little tree with these beautiful pink and white blossoms in the spring and then it gets these tiny, firm, red, little crab apples on it in the fall that stick around through the winter. Its really pretty to look out and see the red berries against the snow. Anyway, the wind picked up today and our yard in now littered with white flowers and the tree is looking more green and leafy. Bitter sweet ~ I love the green lushness of the tree, but the flowers smell so wonderful and are so prettty. Here's a picture from last week ~ not full bloom, but pretty close.

Number Crunching Part 2

Days until we close on the new house/move ~ 5
Number of boxes packed ~ 29
Number of birthday presents for Adam that have been "lost" and need to be found before Thursday ~ 3.

Crap.

Number Crunching Part 2

Days until we close/move ~ 5
Number of boxes packed ~ 29
Number of birthday presents for Adam that have been "lost" and need to be found before Thursday ~ 3.

Crap.

Number Crunching

Days until we close on the new house/move ~ 6
Number of boxes packed so far ~ 20
Number of birthday presents for Adam lost in the packing chaos that have to be found by Thursday ~ 1

D'oh!

My new boyfriend . . .

His name is Fisher, he has red hair, beautiful blue eyes, and these cheeks you just want to squeeze until the cows come home. He's about 15 months old.

For the last week or so when I take Alyssa into the childcare room at jazzercise Fisher will be there because his mom takes the class right before me. He will run over to me, hug me, try to kiss me, wants to sit in my lap, ect. It borders on stalking, but since he's under 3 feet tall, I'll let it slide. Now, I've never really "met" this kid. Never babysat for him in the childcare room, don't know his mom, it was just love at first site for him. The first time it happened Alyssa was sitting on my lap, so I thought he was making his move on Alyssa (she is QUITE the little flirt at jazzercise), but this week he has happily plopped himself down on my lap when she is across the room and he actually will strain to get away from his mom to get back to me when she comes to pick him up! Today he started whining/crying when she picked him up from my lap.

Now its quite amusing to all the other adults, but I would feel horrible if Alyssa did that to one of the other mom's, so I feel bad for Fisher's mom. And its just so bizarre that he's so attached to me. I don't think I really look that much like his moml; at first I thought maybe he thought I was her or I reminded him of her or something, but he is just obsessed. So I feel like I should stay out of the childcare room until his mom has taken him out, but part of our routine is to get to class early so that Alyssa can play and get settled for a few minutes before I have to leave. I don't want to have to just dump her and run just because of my toddler-stalker. What a weird situation. I'm subbing for someone on Monday and I think his mom takes the class that I'll be babysitting for . . . Fisher and I may have to have a talk about appropriate behavior and boundaries. ;)

At least I know that I can still drive the men wild in my post-baby old married woman body!

What year is it again?

Yesterday a vote was passed to separate Omaha schools into "White, African American, and Hispanic" school districts. Un-freakin-believable. For all the drama we have faced over the past year with the whole "one city, one school district", this seems like a million steps back. What happened to everyone wanting to be unified no matter where in town you lived or how wealthy/poor you were? This seems like total other end of the spectrum. There was an article on CNN.com today that I found really interesting Schools It talks about currently predominantly minority schools that are currently getting screwed when it comes to funding/good teachers. Supposedly this new way of dividing up schools will give the minorities more control over their funding, ect, but it seems to me like its just going to cause problems outside of schools. It seems like its going to build up a lot of close minded people. Already in the world there are so many people that use stereotypes to generalize all ethnic backgrounds and cultures. How are we suppose to fight those and bring our children up to be open minded of accepting all people when we're saying that people "different" from them are not good enough or are too good to go to school with them? A basic common factor? There has to be a better answer to this situation and I certainly hope the find it before this ruling goes into effect in two years.

Its (kinda) official

After countering our initial offer, the seller accepted our new offer, so we techincally have a new house! Of course we have to do the inspection and finalize things with a lender, but . . . EEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!

Hard to describe . . .

how I'm feeling right now. For some reason the words "yip! yip! yip!" come to mind.

Or maybe "whooo gaaaaa"

Or maybe "holy crap"

Adam and I made a bid on a new house today. Supposedly they have until noon tomorrow to respond, but the offer has to be approved by the seller's relocation company, so I'm bracing myself to have to wait until Monday to hear. Easier said than done. I liked the process the first time around. Our house wasn't on the market yet, we got a "sneak preview", offered what the seller wanted, and walked out of our realtor's office knowing that we had a new house.

Oh, and to make things even more "exciting". We would close two weeks from today.

I think maybe we're crazy ~ yip! yip! yip!

Blonde + mommy moment = uh oh!

Okay, so I’ve read stories on my mom’s board and heard stories about people taking their kids places and then realizing that they forgot to put a diaper on their kid. Or forgetting to put on one before bed or something. I never understood how that could happen, but alas . . . I am one of those moms.

Yesterday after eating lunch Alyssa told me she needed changed, so I put her down on the couch to change her. She was rolling all over the place and it was a poopy diaper, so once I got her wiped I was going to let her run around naked while I wrapped up the diaper and got it out of the house because it was STINKY!

Fast forward about 30 minutes to us walking through the Target parking lot. I couldn’t remember if I put her diaper cover back on (she was wearing a dress), so I reached around to feel for diaper. Sure enough, I hadn’t put her diaper cover on because I felt NEKKID BUNS!!! Thank goodness a) I had a diaper in the car and b) I didn’t haul her nekkid buns all through Target for the world to see (I ended up having to carry her most of the time because the new slide we got filled the entire cart and her dress wouldn’t stay down while she was being held). Although she does have awfully cute buns, so she could get away with mooning Target.

Ahhh, add one more badge to my mommy sash, I guess.

(but did you notice that my daughter TOLD me she needed to be changed? She's a GENIUS!)

My oh my ~ 18 months have flown by!

Happy 1.5 Alyssa!

I can't believe how absolutely head over heels in love I am with you. I love (pretty much) every minute of every day. I can't imagine not being able to be around you from the moment that you wake up in the morning to the moment that you go to sleep at night. This is such a fun age where you actually understand why I'm saying and are pretty good at getting your point across to me.

You aren't talking a whole lot yet, but by far the cutest thing you'll say is "way Jo?" (translated to "Where's Joey?") Then you'll put your arms up in the air like you have no idea where she is. You'll say it as the weirdest times ~ like today at the pediatrician's office. You absolutely adore Joey (and Lexi when the BIG dope isn't knocking into you). You think its the neatest thing in the world to have a 3 way tug of war with your puppies. Other words that you say are: mama, no-no (often said to Lexi when she has a toy of yours that you know she isn't supposed to say ~ sometimes we think you think Lexi's name IS no-no), hi, bye, dada (once in awhile you let it accidently slip out ~ I think you're holding out to see if Daddy will bribe you with something good before saying it consistently), yes, jo/jo-jo. I think I've heard cheerios, a form of binky, and out slip out of your mouth, too.

Speaking of out, you love, love, love, love spending time outside. You would play in the yard all day long if I let you. You get so upset when we bring you inside and you'll stand at the back door crying and throwing a fit.

You and Daddy were playing with your Little People farm a few weeks ago and he taught you how to make hammer gestures when the farm would make hammering noises. You think its the funniest thing in the world to do "play along". Inspired us to buy you a tool bench of your own, but you're not too sure about that yet. You love playing with your Cabbage Patch doll, Hannah, and with your Laugh and Learn house, still. You are a fearless little monkey that will attempt to climb anything and everything that doesn't move (and some things that do when you need a boost from mommy, daddy, or Lexi). Still love playing with cell phones and lately you've found the wonderful toy that is mommies makeup. Lipstick is your favorite (probably because it does such a great job staining the carpet!) Definately have a girly-girl on my hands!

You are one of the sweetest and most loving little girls I have ever been around. You give great hugs, we're working on giving kisses (usually you'll just lean your head into someone's lips), and you're a great cuddle partner. You and I go to Jazzercise several mornings a week and you've worked your magic on several little boys there. We're going to be in trouble once you get older!

Its been a fantastic 18 months, my sweet baby girl, and I look forward to all the days ahead.

Love always and forever,
Mommy

This bugs me

Elmo TMX

So, they're taking preorders for a toy that you don't know what it will do (if anything, really!). Who else besides Sesame Street/Elmo could pull this off? And trying to sell it as the must have toy for Christmas '06 . . . seems really cocky to me.

It scares me

Evidently there is a mumps outbreak in the midwest ~ Mumps Story

Three years ago I probably wouldn't have given it a second thought. I've had my MMR vaccinations, so I'm good to go, right? Now that I'm a mom just the thought of something like mumps going around strikes fear in my heart. Makes me immediately rush to look through Alyssa's records from her doctor's visits to see where she stands on her MMR shots. And makes me really glad that she has her 18 month well check next Wednesday so that I can get the latest scoop from Dr. K.

Sweatin', Scrappin', Shoppin', and Springin'

Its soooooo stinkin' beautiful out today. It would have been a fabulous day for the zoo if Staci and I hadn't signed up for the ass-kicking that is known as a personal touch jazzercise class. For crying out loud . . . I actually gasped out loud in pain while sitting down to go to the bathroom this morning! I did not expect it to be that crazy intense . . . and it was only 40 minutes long!

Kim dropped off the Summer Idea Book for Close to My Heart this afternoon. Pardon me while I freak out over scrapbooking stuff. I actually had to close the book because my chest was starting to hurt from all the excitement! I'll have to take it one section at a time, I guess. I can't wait for June (my hostess month) to get all sorts of free goodies!

Alyssa and I are heading out to do a little shopping this afternoon and I think it may be my most bizarre shopping list ever, so I felt that warranted a blog entry.

1. Hangers (for Alyssa's room as somehow I have 17 things that need to be hung up that mysteriously have no hangers)
2. Pressed powder
3. Storage tubs
4. Lettuce

Usually my lists have some sort of theme, but this one is just a hodgepodge.

Then we're heading to Hollywood Video. Its Wednesday and 2 in the afternoon . . . maybe we'll run into Eric!

She's her father's daughter . . .

I took these pictures last week. They crack me up!!!!

Christy ~ don't read until after Sunday! ;)

Alyssa and I hit babies R us for our quarterly diaper/wipe stock up yesterday. (I wait until I get a $5 off every pair of diaper coupon from BRU and have a stash of $1 off pampers coupons and then usually buy 3 or 4 boxes and end up saving $6-$7 per box ~ I'm proud of my method!) I decided to walk through the baby department to see if they had any summer outfits that I liked to get for Charlie as part of his baptism present for this weekend and I was OVERWHELMED by how many super cute things they have out there for boys! Makes me want a little boy! I love the outfit we (Alyssa and I ~ I value her opinion, you know) picked out for Charlie. I keep pulling it out of the bag and admiring it.

Warning ****This is what being a stay at home mom does to you ~ you get excited about REALLY lame things. Its not just visits from the UPS/FedEx guy that does it for me anymore***

They're out to get me (or my money)

Would you believe . . . at 1:42 PM Central time today I received a call from the state troopers association asking for a donation. Of course they plugged their "we give teddy bears to all frightened children in car accidents" and "this money will go towards our wishing well program for terminally ill" children card. They don't even have to ask; I'll just hand over a check when they say that.

Then at 1:50 PM Central time TODAY I got a call from the stinkin' sheriff's society asking for money. Usually I can say no to them, but this time they started plugging their "we help children from being abducted" and "we fingerprint children at country fairs to help them stay safe" program, so they had me, too!

8 minutes and 50 dollars . . . BAM! Gone!

I swear, as soon as the state troopers found out I was a pushover for the kids' programs, they got on the horn to all the other groups and said "Hey, just mention the words 'ill' 'scared' or 'children' and this lady'll give to you in a heartbeat".

They are really great programs, but honestly, getting hit up twice in less than 10 minutes? Couldn't they each have a different month or something to spread these things out? Don't they know that my husband works darn hard so that I can work hard spending his money?! ;)

Naughty Girl?

This is so silly, but its been bugging me all day, so I decided to blog about it . . .

this morning Alyssa and I went to Jazzercise, per usual. Its Monday, so that means that two of my good friends are the babysitters in the childcare room, so I feel totally comfortable leaving Alyssa there and I know both Staci and Steph adore Alyssa. Today they had 22 kids in there (2 over capacity, but they made an exception this time). After class I thanked Staci and Steph for watching Alyssa and they told me that they almost had to come get me because she got 3 warnings. They told the kids that they each would get 2 warnings if they misbehaved and then if they got a 3rd, they would go get their mom. Alyssa got two warnings for throwing a ball and one for climbing on the chairs, but Steph said that since she was so young they decided to let it slide.

I *think* they were just messing with me ~ they both have a sarcastic/teasing sense of humor, but its really bothering me. We have this one family of "devil children" that every child care provider dreads to take care of and I would be horrified if I found out that anyone felt that way about taking care of Alyssa.

But she's 18 months old . . . she can barely throw a ball, its more of a drop, so I can't see her getting in trouble for actually throwing it . . . she couldn't hit anyone/thing if she tried! And she does like to climb on things, but its not like you can do much to stop her from doing that at this age besides distracting her with something else.

I'm so torn up about this . . . I seriously feel like I'm going to cry just thinking about it! I feel so horrible! Its not like she was doing anything REALLY wrong like biting or pinching or hitting, but I still feel absolutely sick about it. And the worst part is, I really think they were just giving me a hard time.

Have I mentioned that I really hate insomnia?

I loved it in college . . . it was the best time to get my laundry done! But now that I'm a "grown up" its just kind of a pain in the arse. I've been up for about an hour and a half now. I think I woke up because Alyssa was coughing and/or playing with her crib aquarium, so I waited to see if she would start crying (and started panicking about how I go about putting her back to sleep in the middle of the night if she wakes up and wants to nurse), but she didn't make a peep. Kind of surprises me since I had to wake her up this afternoon from a 4 1/2 hour nap. I wonder how long she would have slept if I would have let her. It was such a blessing since I got so many things done for Angie's shower while she was sleeping. I really don't know how I would have finished everything up if I hadn't had those 4 + hours (with the breaks every 30 minutes to go make sure my kid was okay). I'm so excited about Angie's baby shower! Maybe that's why I can't sleep. Or maybe my brain thinks that I still need time to get ready, but I think I have everything ready. Just need to throw everything all together in some sort of box/bag to take to Panera. Thank GOODNESS we're not having the shower at my house . . . I'll never do that again after Christy's baby shower. Its too much to worry about keeping a house clean ~ especially with a toddler and husband underfoot! ;)

Speaking of Christy ~ she and I are hitting the big Carters sale at the outlet mall after the baby shower today. I hope I can score some great deals on pjs for Alyssa. (And I hope I can avoid going too crazy over all the cute and cuddly Carter stuff). I can't wait to hang out with her and catch up on how being back to school after having Charlie and all the new house stuff is going!

After going out for dinner with the Dwights last night we stopped at Target so that I could pick up a few fun things to send out to Boston for Jack while he is in the hospital/having treatments. I had such a hard time picking out things for a) a boy and b) a boy that I haven't seen since he was 8 months old (he's now almost 5). I settled for a Thomas the Tank Engine/Train (or whatever) activity book, colored pencils, a 24 piece Seasame Street puzzle and a matchbox car brand airplane (bought one of those for little bro Leo so that he wouldn't feel left out, too) Now I need to figure out how to wrap it so that its not too much of a pain for Aunt Elaine to take with her when she flys back out next week.

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!

Random Updates

Its 2:25 AM and I'm wide awake. This has happened the last 3 nights. Friday night I stuck chicken in the crockpot at 1:30 AM and finished reading my US Weekly . . . I wonder how many people can say they've done that in their life. I hope this trend stops soon. Takes me back to my days of insomnia in college when I would do laundry at 4 in the morning because I couldn't sleep. Darn good way to make sure that you get all the washers/dryers you need at once. But I bet the people that lived next to the laundry room hated me.

I have strep throat for the first time in my life. I don't recommend it. Its not a fun game. I have a sinking suspicion that Adam is going to catch it from me. As he said to me today, "you can say sore throat to me and I'll instantly have a sore throat", so I'm hoping that his tingly throat is all in his head. But its also his turn to be sick.

We went to look at houses today and found one that we really loved. Adam is supposed to call our mortgage company tomorrow and talk numbers, then we're going to go look through it again Tuesday night. They were having an open house today (actually yesterday since techincally its Monday), so we had the added pressure of an extra realtor lurking in the corner, so I don't feel like I really got to take a good look at the place. But it had a really good once over! The part the excites me the most right now is that the master bedroom is HUGE. So huge that Brendan Wellington (my elliptical machine) will be able to move in, so thus will end my "do I catch up on my TiVoed stuff or exercise" dilemma. Now I can do both at once! My gut instinct is we'll find out that our monthly payment would be more than we can comfortably afford, so I can't tell if I'm not over the top excited about this because its not really THE house or because I know that its not going to happen in the end. I think its the second option. Which is good because I need to work on my "realist" qualities.

Thursday night I went to a Close to my Heart (scrapbooking) party at the house of someone I had never met. Debbie and I are in the stamp club that Kim started together, but since this was the first month of the club we had never met. I was really proud of myself for going (and going by myself without taking my back ups Julia and/or Angie with me) since normally I'll run as fast as I can away from situations where I have to meet new people on their turf. But I had a good time being out around adults and playing with stamps. Granted, I talked about Alyssa pretty much nonstop all evening, but I'll tell msyelf that's just because Kim has a son that's only a month older than her and we wanted to compare our kids.

Jeez this is turning into a novel . . . unfortunately I'm no more sleepy now than I was when I started it.

You know you're a mom when . . .

you can't for the life of you find a pen anywhere on/in your desk, but you do come across no fewer than 112 crayons. And you wonder if a signature in crayon on an official document would hold up in a court of law . . .

Get a dictionary, people!

Marinara: Being or served with a sauce of tomatoes, onions, garlic, and spices

After visiting with Christy and Charlie today, Alyssa and I stopped by Fazolli's to pick up lunch. Here's my conversation with the drive through person:

Me: I would like a small baked ziti with marinara sauce.
DTP: You know that has meat in it, right?
Me: The marinara sauce?
DTP: Yeah. Do you want it with tomato sauce instead?
Me: *dumbfounded* Sure.

And low and behold my ziti with tomato sauce had chunks of either hamburger or sausage in it. Back in the day Julia and I ordered ziti with marinara sauce all the time and you know it didn't have meat in it because she won't eat the animal carcass.

Adjoining: 1. To be next to; be contiguous to 2. To attach

This afternoon I called to get hotel reservations for Hope and Eric's wedding in June. One of my "requirements" of the hotel be that the two rooms be adjoining (have a door connecting the two of them). Simple, right? Not so . . . of course. Because nothing is ever simple.

Me: Do you have an adjoining rooms?
Hotel Lady: Yes, we have adjoining rooms where the rooms are on the same floor and in the same section or we have connecting rooms. Which would you rather have?
Me: *doesn't adjoining mean the same thing as connecting?* Connecting, I guess.
Hotel Lady: So you want the rooms to be physically connected by an adjoining door?
Me: Yes.
Hotel Lady: So you want connecting, not adjoining, right?
Me: Who's on first?

TGIO!

(Thank goodness its OVER!)

The RMP Film Festival II went off smoothly this weekend and was a smashing success from all the feedback I've heard. I'm so proud of everyone involved with it ~ making being a founding member of the RMP Widow's Club worth while.

Check out pictures here of the Friday night cram session, premiere at the theatre, and the after part (minus some pictures of yours truly getting mighty darn tipsy!)

Shout out to her peeps!

The diva says "Good luck this weekend, boys. Sorry I won't be able to make an appearance, but I have an important date with Grandpa and Grandma."

Question for my RMP boyzzzzz

What did Eric say last night that I decided was the funniest thing I had ever heard and was going to tattoo to my ass? I can't for the life of me remember . . . I think I might have been drunk.

(and by RMP boyzzz I really mean Boomer or Eric because I KNOW Adam won't remember. Its one of the things I love about him)

Cute thing #5,934,270

What did I do for entertainment/blog entries without this kid?!

For the past few days every time I pull out a Lysol wipe to wipe down the counters in the kitchen I instantly feel a little tug at my pants and hear this pitiful little grunting. I look down and this short little thing is reaching desperately for my wipe. So, I give her a wipe so that she can clean, too. I think its a pretty common thing for toddlers this age to imitate housework, ect, but the funny thing is that she goes straight to her house (the Laugh and Learn one we got her for Christmas) and starts cleaning her house! Once in awhile she'll do the table or the floor of the kitchen, but 9 times out of 10 she'll go clean her own house. Today was clean out the mailbox day.

If only it would countdown the minutes . . .

and until I don't have a to be a single mom anymore!!!!!!!!

Interesting Tidbit

Here's something I bet you didn't know about me (unless you're married to me and knowing Adam he's probably forgotten).

When I'm playing solitare on the computer I HAVE, HAVE, HAVE to have the aces go red, black, red, black or black, red, black, red. No matter what order they appear in in the "deck" I can't have the two reds together or the two blacks together.

There's no challenging that OCD diagnosis, is there?

(Okay, I'm REALLY going to bed now)

Damn you Veggie Tales!

Actually, just damn the Veggie Tales theme song creators . . . the actual Veggie Tales characters/story lines are quite charming and likeable. I had a horrible time sleeping last night because I kept waking up to the voice in my head singing "Lima Beeeeeeeeaaaaanns, Collllllllllard Greeeeens! Peachy Keeeeeeen! Veggie Tales!".

Now almost 24 hours later I am settling down for bed and all I can hear is that same voice chanting "There's never ever ever been a show like Veggie Tales!".

I acknowledge that fact. Its in a catagory all of its own. Now can you pipe down so I can get some sleep? Pleeeeeeeeeeeasssseeeeee!?

Ahh, sweet small town, USA!

Alyssa and I ventured east this morning to spend the weekend with my parents. Mostly for the annual Chipman food fest aka Super Bowl party, but a generous spoiling from the parents/grandparents can never hurt.

I, being the space cadet lately that I am, forgot to pack the baby monitor. I had been planning on buying a new one because ours is on the fritz and figured that I would just give our old one to my parents to have on hand. Well, I figured the time had come for me to buy another baby monitor. So, we head out shopping. Would you believe in this town (its not that dinky, population 5500!) they do not sell baby monitors?! Pamida (the wal-mart of small town Iowa) has a huge baby aisle that tells every gadget and gizmo other than monitors. Wouldn't you think that a monitor would rank semi-high up there on the "needs" list? Thankfully Alyssa and I share a wall when we are sleeping, so I'll be able to hear her if (okay, who am I kidding WHEN) she wakes up.

Then we decide to go rent a movie. My parents DVD player is broken, so we had to resort to these crazy things called V-H-S? Anyway, I was thinking that we would have to settle for some movie from the early 90s because, after all the movie selection in this town is limited and with DVDs being all the rage, why buy new movies on DVD AND VHS? We walked into the store and probably 70% of the store is still VHS. And people were lined up in front of the VHS shelves; the DVD section was like a ghost town. Who would have figured? And its not all the old people out for some Saturday night excitement that were getting movies . . . it was the 20 and 30 crowd, too, which I'm willing to be is the prime purchase age of a DVD machine.

Anyway, Christy and Jeff ~ I think we need to re-evaluate our retirement plans. ;)

What stinks?

Britney Spears to Launch New Fragrance

"Its been annouces that Britney Spears' Curious perfume brand is releasing a limited edition perfume called "In Control" in April.

The fragrance will combine the essance of yearning with the zest of romance and the desire for a man to come home and feed the baby."

What?! I can't imagine what that would smell like ~ or that it would smell very good (Especially if its based off of K-Fed). Let's hope its VERY limited edition. Crazy.

Gotta strut my stuff!

Your walk is: Zombie-like Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

Tested by Dr Mom (that's me!)

Last Thursday Alyssa caught "the snots" from darn old Rowan at Jazzercise. (Just kidding ~ I love Rowan, but I love giving Staci a hard time even more) So she's been a bundle of snotty, stuffy, crabby joy the past few days and she passed it on to me. I decided to give some new cold products a try.

I tried air-borne for the first time ~ not sure how long its been out and about, but everyone I talked to just RAVES about it. It didn't work like I expected. I thought I would take a dose and instantly feel better, but for about 24 hours after taking it I felt like I was on the cusp of getting a "horrible, horrible, haven't been this miserable in years" cold. After 5 doses I feel pretty much normal, so maybe it just prevented my cold from getting too bad. I would definitely use it again and would recommend it. I had the orange flavor . . . it reminded me a lot of the glu-cola drink that you have to drink before getting tested for diabetes when you're pregnant. And I'm one of that crazy 2% that actually kind of enjoyed the drink. Give me a glass of ice and a straw and I can drink just about anything.

Friday night I bought the new Sudafed (I think) Vapor plug in for Alyssa's room. I'm not sure if it really worked or not, but it left her room smelling vick's vapor rub fresh! Actually, I think it did work because she didn't wake up dripping in snot or stuffed up so bad that she could barely breathe, which was a great improvement over her last couple colds. Warning on this product ~ plug it in far away from your bed because it can be REALLY intense. We had it plugged in next to the rocking chair and after about 5 minutes in the chair in the middle of the night (after it had been plugged in for 4 hours or so) I had to get up and walk away because I thought I was going to be sick. It does leave your entire house smelling kind of fresh . . . or kind of sterile, one of the two.

Bath toys . . . they aren't just for babies anymore!

We've known for a long time that we have a water baby. Be it swimming pools, dogs' water bowls, or the tub, she loves her a splashing good time. So, being the wonderful mommy that I am I've purchased several bath toys to entertain her during bathtime. Wanna see her favorite toy?



















That's right folks, its a wash cloth.

But my money towards bath toys is not wasted.


Adam loves her "TUBmarine" ~ Its a submarine that you can wind up and it'll float through the water and the scope goes from side to side . . . very hip with the computer programmer crowd.















And my most recent purchase I fell in love with this evening (on its maiden voyage across the tub) Its a frog that floats on its back and when you pull the fish on a string the frog squirts water a foot and a half in the air. Its like our own private fountain in our bathroom! Alyssa did think it was kind of funny to get nailed on the head with the water squirting up, so maybe there is hope for her liking her bath toys yet.



If not . . . we'll "regift" the rest of them to the Dwight baby. ;)

Conversation with a toddler

From our kitchen yesterday morning:

Me: "Look at you Alyssa, you ate all your breakfast! Do you want more banana?"
Alyssa: *signs "more"*
Me: *walks to chair and starts slicing banana onto her tray*
Alyssa: "NO!" *while shoving banana slices into her mouth*
Me: "I don't think you really know what no means, do you?"
Alyssa: "No no, mama!" *folds arms in "pout stance"* (she's been doing this thing where she folds her arms across her chest, frowns slightly, and sighs heavily the past couple days and its a RIOT!)

Oh this kid, she cracks me up.

Homeschooling . . .

is it getting more popular or is it another one of those "now you're in the mommy club and you can know about this" things. You know, the things that you assume are there because you always hear about them, but you don't realize HOW THERE they are until you're actually a parent. It feels like I've stumbled upon a lot of moms that homeschool lately.

Maybe that's my way to get rid of my "I regret not getting my education degree" regret ~ I could homeschool my kids. No, I couldn't. Let's face it, they would learn nothing except whether Joey and Dawson end up together or what Ellen's topic is for her monologue of the day. And maybe a little bit of Gilmore Girls drama thrown in for good measure. (PS I had to look up monologue, so you can bet yer arse they wouldn't know how to spell it!).

I'm too lazy to homeschool.

And the Kleffman/Micek family grows!

Congratulations to Jeff, Christy, and Evan on the arrival of BEAUTIFUL Mr. Charles (Charlie) Michael this afternoon at 3:55 PM!!!!

Christy invited me to the hospital to watch Charlie be born and I have to say its one of the most amazing and emotional things I have ever done. I absolutely loved every single minute of it! I sobbed as Charlie was born and could not stop gushing to Christy about how beautiful and perfect he was. I think she is so amazing and brave and strong! She did such a great job!!! As she was pushing she said "Come on Charlie, I want to meet you" and it totally just broke my heart (in a good way). I hope little (okay, big ~ weighing in at 10 lbs and measuring 23 1/4 inches) Charlie knows how much his mommy and daddy love him and want him!




Thank you Christy for letting me share this incredibly special day with you! I will never forget it and I'm absolutely honored that you asked me to be there. Lots of love to you and your boys!

Chicken Fat, eh?

You will sink in a mire. You like to think you're
normal, but deep down you really just want to
strip off your clothes and roll around in
chicken fat.


What horrible Edward Gorey Death will you die?
brought to you by Quizilla

My next child . . .

will be a love child between me and the person who came up with the idea to put jelly in a squeeze bottle. ABSOLUTELY genius! I ADORE this person.

Happy Birthday Colin!

Happy First Birthday to Alyssa's "local" boyfriend, Colin! Hope you have a WONDERFUL first birthday, big guy!

15 months old

Dear Alyssa,

You are 15 months old today! We had your check up with Dr. K and he mentioned that the 15 month check up is hard for a lot of moms because its the last "baby" check up. From here on out your are a toddler in the eyes of the medical community. Although I've been thinking of you as a toddler for all practical purposes since you started "toddling" right around your first birthday, you will ALWAYS be my baby . . . just for the record. You had a great appointment ~ in this corner we have the adorable Miss Alyssa Marie weighing in at 22 lbs 4.5 oz (40th percentile) and 30.5 inches (55th percentile). You were quite the charming little flirt as always with Dr. K., but could really do without nurse no-name who keeps coming at you with those darn needles.

So this month has been full of a lot of fun memories. You finally started getting signing down ~ although you make up your own signs. Who needs the official American sign language anyway? You throw your hands up the air for "all done" (Daddy thought you were doing "touchdown" and wanted to know how on earth you learned that when you have only been exposed to about 3 football games in your life), you put your pointer finger of one hand into the palm of your other hand for "more" (you first did that to Grandma Sandy when we were shopping in the toy department at Target ~ I told her that it meant "buy me something, Grandma, and put it right there), and you'll either put your finger to your mouth or do the "more" sign if we ask you if you want to eat. We were at the bank with Angie a few weeks ago and I told you to "come here" and beckoned to you with my finger. With a sly little smile on your face you planted your feet firmly on the ground and used your finger to tell me to "come here". No one is going to push you around. :)

Your new obsession seems to be putting things around your neck. We really need to get you some beads or something ~ watch out future boyfriends! I have to be really careful to keep the closet door shut and the dresser drawers shut in our bedroom or you'll wander around with my underwear, Daddy's boxers, or my bra hung around your neck. You don't even care if they are clean or dirty! There's a good story for your 16th birthday! You also quickly discovered that if you push the red button in the middle of mommy's key chain the car makes a really cool and loud "BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!" noise. Ahhhh the power of it all!

Your favorite food is still mandarin oranges, but string cheese and Capt'n Crunch with Crunchberries come in close seconds. You love the puzzles that you got for Christmas, but you get really frustrated if someone tries to put the pieces back where they belong. Puzzles are for taking pieces out, not putting them in, in your eyes. "Santa" brought you the Fisher Price Laugh and Learn house and you really seem to love it. You love pressing the doorbell and getting your mail from the mail box.

You are starting to talk a lot more. You have "mama" down pat and have started adding a very clear "mommy" to your vocabulary every once in a while. "Hi" is mastered, but "dada" could still use some work. We've gotten it every once in awhile, but Daddy is still waiting for the day when you coming running up to him when he gets home from working yelling "Dada". As it is, when you hear the garage door go up at the end of the day you'll say "oh!" and get a surprised and excited look on your face before rushing to the top of the steps. You also say "yes" and "no-no" at times. Thankfully "no-no" hasn't been too common. The other night you pointed at Joey's bowl of food and said "no-no". Maybe you are finally grasping that you're not supposed to eat Joey's food.

You're such a character my sweet baby girl. I love watching your personality develop every day and I love the little person you are becoming.

Love always,
Mama/Mommy

TiVo and BILs

Its really sad how completely, madly in love I am with the TiVo that my brother-in-law, Ben, got for our family for Christmas. He bought us the actual TiVo box or whatever its called and a lifetime membership/subscription. I honestly don’t know how we lived without it. I love, love, love that I can sit down and have ½ a dozen different TV shows that I love just waiting for me at any time of the day to watch and fast forward through the commercials. What a great present from a great guy!

And I have to say that I have the two best brother-in-laws in the world. Ben because of the previously mentioned TiVo, of course, but he’s also just a really great guy. Both he and Chris are. Both are really good, supportive “big brothers” when I need them to be. I will never forget how INSANELY excited Chris was to meet Alyssa when she was born. He called at least twice to find out when we would be ready for visitors and actually met us at the door to my post-delivery room. He brought adorable PINK gifts for Alyssa, but also brought a USA Today paper so that we could keep track of the headlines on her birthday and cheese/cracker snack pack things in case I got hungry and didn’t want hospital food. What kind of guy thinks of that?! I don’t know that I would think of that and I think I’m a pretty thoughtful person. Maybe its because he’s a doctor and is well acquainted with hospital food (especially the hospital food at that hospital, which is nothing to write home about), but it still really touched me. Somehow my crazy in-laws brought up three rather fantastic boys!

Waiting for the UPS man

According to my tracking on Amazon the chair that I bought for Alyssa with her Christmas money from G&G Nelsen is out for delivery as of 5:52 AM today. And it has an "on time" delivery date of January 10th. TOMORROW, folks! I'm hoping that's a mistake. This is not that big of a town that it takes the UPS guy two days to delivery a package and if it went on the truck this morning I'm hoping, hoping, hoping that its delivery today.

*my heart just skipped a beat as I saw something brown out of the corner of my eye in the street, but it was the Durango from across the street. DAMN THEM for teasing me*

Have I mentioned that I'm sooo excited about this chair? I really think Alyssa is going to love it. She loves crawling on and off of things. She'll play for hours crawling in and out and upside down with Joey's dog bed. (At least someone/thing is getting some use out of it)

Speaking of Joey . . .

Last Friday morning I was sitting on the floor in the nursery calling for Alyssa to come get her diaper changed. I trying bribing, I tried talking sternly, I tried begging, I tried guilt tripping, but nothing was going to bring her near me because she knew there a "diaper change" air in the room. You would think that she would want her diaper changed after 12-13 hours of peeing in it overnight. Anyway, Joey was happy to occupy my lap, so I started thinking to myself "hmmm, I bet it would be easier to diaper a Pomeranian than a 15 month old" . . . the result . . . YES, it is easier to diaper a pomeranian than a 15 month old (at least mine). Its a lot quieter, too.

Pictures

Some of my favorites from today
"What the hell is this?! I told you Mom, NO BOWS!" (the awful object in her hand is a hair bow)

"Training to be the youngest person ever to balance a spoon on her nose"

"Just plain 'I could eat her up' cute"

Update PLEASE!

You know who you are *cough* Angie *cough* It has now been officially a MONTH since you blogged last. If you're worried about your parents disowning you for writing about your true feelings/life then start a new blog for crying out loud! I'm going through withdrawal!!!

BTW ~ Good luck to you and Eric today. Thinking "crossed legs" vibes so that you don't get a sneak peak at Little MF/Little Dude's goods. I can't wait to hear how it went and see pictures!!!

We so need a better nickname for the kid. Come on Boomer ~ we are two college educated, creative people . . . put your thinking cap on!

Damn car commmerical!

I'm started to hate the car commercial (I think its Ford) that uses the Peanuts song . . . every time I hear it I get this little "Charlie Brown Christmas" memory jolt and its starting to annoy me. As much as I love the movie, the commerical is a bit much. I think they should be banned from using songs from classic movies in commericals. But just my 2 cents.

Prayers for Millie

I found the most BEAUTIFUL and SWEET cocker spaniel wandering around outside today. I thought I saw her a couple days ago and then this afternoon Lexi and Joey started doing their "there is a dog within a two mile radis of our house and it did not get prior permission" freak out. I saw the dog again, so I put our dogs in the bedroom and went outside to see if she was still around. She was poking around the bushes and came running over as soon as she saw me. I got a little bit of Joey's food out of the bag we keep in the garage and she inhaled it like she hadn't eaten in days (or like she was Lexi) and then she was my best friend. I took her inside, fed her some more and gave her some water. Once Adam got home I took her to the Humane Society, which I know is best because it'll hopefully help her find her family, but she was so sweet part of me wanted to keep her.

I loved her silky black ears and her white fuzzy little chest. She was quite the little lady . . . she didn't knock Alyssa over for the food that she was eating like SOME dogs we know would do, she was well behaved on a leash, she climbed into the backseat of my car and just sat there like a little angel. She was shaking so bad when we got to the Humane Society. I hated to put her down in that cold metal cage. :(

The lady at the Humane Society said that she could tell that she had been groomed recently, so she probably just got away while her collar was off. She made it sound like she had a really good chance of finding her family, but please give out some prayers and good thoughts that Millie (she looked like a Millie to me) find her home!

If I had a dime . . .

for everytime I've heard "why by the cow when you can get the milk for free" from Adam's computer today while he's working on "Kitty Cats and Exit Signs" I would be a VERY rich woman.

I may run out of the theatre screaming at that point during the premier as I think I'm pushing my limit as to how many times I can hear that.

Happy New Year!

Happy 2006 to you and yours!

Our "old people party" was a smashing success . . . although SOME people *cough* Dwights *cough* overstayed their welcome by leaving at 12:16 instead of 12:05 like the invite instructed! ;) I was super impressed with all of us, especially Angie, managing to stay fully awake until midnight. Even Alyssa made it to 10:30, which I'm now paying for since she wants nothing to do with a normal bedtime tonight. I think she now thinks that we stay up and eat yummy food and play goofy games every night while she's sleeping ~ who would want to miss that kind of action?!

Thanks to everyone who brought yummy food and celebrated with us. Even Chad who decided that he needed to leave early and bring in the new year with a bunch of nekkid women. What a New Year for him; seeing a celebrity at the grocery store while shopping for Oreos (the guy that played The Rock's dad in "Walking Tall" and he's in "Everwood", but I can't for the life of me remember what his name is) and strippers ~ what more could a bachelor want?

I made 3 New Years resolutions this year:
1. Lose Weight (Given ~ this has been one for me for about 15 years now, I think)
2. Do one big thing each month to get more organized. I finished January's "task" already by consolidating my 3 address books into 1 super duper clean and updated one.
3. Get pregnant. Kind of an oxymoron when you look at 1 and 3 together, but whatcha gonna do?