This weekend was really busy with Easter, which we hosted, and general running around. A few notes about what’s happening:
On Friday Jim was off and I had a half day for Good Friday. After Nicole’s nap we went to the hospital to visit our babysitter who’s having medical issues. After that we had diner at Red Lobster, Jim’s favorite. Not that dinner wasn’t tasty, it was, but paying $40 for dinner feels crazy when our weekly grocery bill for 3 people is only about $75.
Our babysitter is probably still in heart surgery right now which means I’m home with Nicole. We took the opportunity to visit daycares around the area just in case something doesn’t go well with surgery/recovery. My sister-in-law babysits which is a very desirable option but my major hesitation is that I wouldn’t be able to visit Nicole over lunch, or, more importantly Chris (I nursed Nicole every day over my lunch break which was great as I got to see her and didn’t have to pump) ever because of the distance. It’s probably working mother’s guilt but I feel very compelled to hang out with Nicole at any available opportunity I can over my break.
All the daycares didn’t live up to my expectations – while the proximity to work is great, the cost is roughly 2X what we pay now and I instantly didn’t like the odor that seems to linger in all daycare centers. I appreciate the activities they did – one classroom was learning shapes during our visit, but felt the the home atmosphere we get with a private sitter at half the cost outweighed the benefits of structure from what I witnessed.
They were probably just being polite, but each of my tour guides commented several times how impressed they were with Nicole’s manners, language skills, and general cuteness. I never get tired of hearing my kid is great.
I got my results back from the 3 hour glucose test – I passed. No gestational diabetes and no restricted diet – hooray!
Easter was nice. We went to church, cleaned up the house and started cooking for company and entertained from 4-10 or so. We gave Nicole some coloring books, an Elmo sing-along movie, and of course some eggs with surprises inside. All of which are a big hit. Because I feel that she gets enough TV accessibility at the sitter’s all day we don’t really let her watch any here at the house. The Elmo movie and recent permission to watch Sesame Street clips on hulu.com have her fascinated and she signs and asks frantically for “more more Elmo/Abby/Zoe/Big Bird” when the clip is over. It's cute but hard to tear her from the computer chair when she's had what we feel is enough.
Too much business this morning lead to Nicole falling asleep on the way home from the tours. She's in bed now, sans lunch, and I'm making the most of the quiet time by heating a chicken cordon bleu, munching on waldorf salad and contemplating some sauteed mushrooms.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
What's happening
Things on our end are staying consistently busy but a comfortable busy rather than frantic busy.
Nicole- is saying a lot more words lately and I’ve noticed that most of the new ones over the last month have been verbs – “come here”, “see”, “look”, “sit”, “wake up”, etc. Of course she has no idea what Easter is but I'm pumping up the fact that she has a bunny dress for Easter, a fancy Easter hat, and we’re having an Easter party.
Chris- the fibernectrin test came back negative which I expected but was happy to officially hear. This means I have less than a 1% chance of having pre-term labor. The pressure has subsided a bit but not gone away. I take the 3 hour glucose test tomorrow and I'm prepping for passing this one by not eating any sweets yesterday and today and drinking lots of water.
Work is really busy right now but it makes the time go faster. I’ve not gotten to see Nicole for lunch but one day this week which makes me sad but more appreciative of our evenings. Bosses are happy with the job I'm doing and it’s nice to be appreciated.
Jim’s been extra sweet lately and I don’t think he even did anything wrong. *grin* he brought me flowers last week, restocked my cotton facial pads, and has been a great guy in general. Getting married to him specifically remains the best decision I ever made.
I heard a quote I liked this morning – “In the world there are givers and there are takers. The takers eat well but the givers sleep well.”
I don't like that Jenna & Martha's blogs are private because it's therefore at the end of my blogroll and I consistantly forget to check it. This is especially frustrating because Jenna writes often and I like like both of their writing styles so when I do remember to go look I normally have like 3 each to catch up on.
Hi Chuck & Kristi – I randomly thought of you today. Miss you both and hope you’re doing well.
Nicole- is saying a lot more words lately and I’ve noticed that most of the new ones over the last month have been verbs – “come here”, “see”, “look”, “sit”, “wake up”, etc. Of course she has no idea what Easter is but I'm pumping up the fact that she has a bunny dress for Easter, a fancy Easter hat, and we’re having an Easter party.
Chris- the fibernectrin test came back negative which I expected but was happy to officially hear. This means I have less than a 1% chance of having pre-term labor. The pressure has subsided a bit but not gone away. I take the 3 hour glucose test tomorrow and I'm prepping for passing this one by not eating any sweets yesterday and today and drinking lots of water.
Work is really busy right now but it makes the time go faster. I’ve not gotten to see Nicole for lunch but one day this week which makes me sad but more appreciative of our evenings. Bosses are happy with the job I'm doing and it’s nice to be appreciated.
Jim’s been extra sweet lately and I don’t think he even did anything wrong. *grin* he brought me flowers last week, restocked my cotton facial pads, and has been a great guy in general. Getting married to him specifically remains the best decision I ever made.
I heard a quote I liked this morning – “In the world there are givers and there are takers. The takers eat well but the givers sleep well.”
I don't like that Jenna & Martha's blogs are private because it's therefore at the end of my blogroll and I consistantly forget to check it. This is especially frustrating because Jenna writes often and I like like both of their writing styles so when I do remember to go look I normally have like 3 each to catch up on.
Hi Chuck & Kristi – I randomly thought of you today. Miss you both and hope you’re doing well.
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Tuesday Night, Wednesday Morning
Last night after dinner we went shopping – something that’s not normally done on a weekday night but we had things to get. For Christmas Lindsay and Mike got Nicole this really cool projector that shows view-finder slides (remember those!?) and has coordinated music. Jim loves/d it. Unfortunately the mechanics didn’t work quite right and it just zipped through all 20 slides continuously. We got a credit from Fisher-Price for $20 off of any of their products and have been looking at various times for just the right thing to replace it since. Jim wisely suggested we hit up Toys-R-Us as where better to find a toy?
Every time we go to TRU Jim comments about how much he loved the store as a kid. I didn’t go all that often so while we shop at the exact same store I did as a kid I'm not in as much awe as he is. Still makes me smile when he gets reminiscent though. : )
Anyway, I found these skates that clip over your shoes, something I did have as a kid, and Nicole’s feet will be big enough (size 6) to fit them by her birthday. Since they were on a shelf randomly I didn’t know the price and needed a check. To my amazement they were not only $24.99 but they qualified for the BOGO promotion Fisher-Price was having that we didn't know about. We ended up getting the skates and a learning vacuum (a favorite pastime of Nic’s) that teaches colors, alphabet and opposites, $50 in toys!, for $6.69 out of pocket! Nicole’s will get the vacuum now and the skates as part of her birthday present. THANKS LINDSAY!
After toy shopping we went to JC Penney where I might have found our curtains for the family room. OK, let me clarify, the curtains that I'll adjust and make my own as I never seem to be satisified with off-the-shelf draperies. I must have bad taste as the things I like/want don't seem to be sold anywhere and always need to be custom-created.
This morning Nicole was a terror. Breakfast was fine (how nice it is that she can use utensils and feed herself almost completely now) but then she wanted to fill her arms with books and take them all upstairs with her. Letting go of said books to lay down and get her diaper changed and clothes on led to fits, thrashing, yelling and crying. Ultimately she got a time out, stern talking to and smacked on her hand for bad behavior which did the trick and she calmed down. Sometimes I wonder if punishing her will make her mad at me but I’ve found that it typically has the opposite effect – she realizes she’s bad, thinks I'm mad, and then works extra hard to get back in my good graces. She was clingy, lovey and well-behaved the rest of the morning. Oh how I wanted to ring her little neck though!
Ironically Jim and I discussed what our morning schedule with Chris and Nicole will be the night before and I went to sleep feeling pretty confident of having a plan in place… clearly that won’t always work….
Every time we go to TRU Jim comments about how much he loved the store as a kid. I didn’t go all that often so while we shop at the exact same store I did as a kid I'm not in as much awe as he is. Still makes me smile when he gets reminiscent though. : )
Anyway, I found these skates that clip over your shoes, something I did have as a kid, and Nicole’s feet will be big enough (size 6) to fit them by her birthday. Since they were on a shelf randomly I didn’t know the price and needed a check. To my amazement they were not only $24.99 but they qualified for the BOGO promotion Fisher-Price was having that we didn't know about. We ended up getting the skates and a learning vacuum (a favorite pastime of Nic’s) that teaches colors, alphabet and opposites, $50 in toys!, for $6.69 out of pocket! Nicole’s will get the vacuum now and the skates as part of her birthday present. THANKS LINDSAY!
After toy shopping we went to JC Penney where I might have found our curtains for the family room. OK, let me clarify, the curtains that I'll adjust and make my own as I never seem to be satisified with off-the-shelf draperies. I must have bad taste as the things I like/want don't seem to be sold anywhere and always need to be custom-created.
This morning Nicole was a terror. Breakfast was fine (how nice it is that she can use utensils and feed herself almost completely now) but then she wanted to fill her arms with books and take them all upstairs with her. Letting go of said books to lay down and get her diaper changed and clothes on led to fits, thrashing, yelling and crying. Ultimately she got a time out, stern talking to and smacked on her hand for bad behavior which did the trick and she calmed down. Sometimes I wonder if punishing her will make her mad at me but I’ve found that it typically has the opposite effect – she realizes she’s bad, thinks I'm mad, and then works extra hard to get back in my good graces. She was clingy, lovey and well-behaved the rest of the morning. Oh how I wanted to ring her little neck though!
Ironically Jim and I discussed what our morning schedule with Chris and Nicole will be the night before and I went to sleep feeling pretty confident of having a plan in place… clearly that won’t always work….
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Videos of the Monkey
I bought Nicole an Easter hat at the dollar store this evening. She was wearing it around the house as she "hung out" with her friend Max.
A new fun activity that gives her mother frets...
Monday, April 06, 2009
Weekend of 4/3/09
Saturday morning we woke up early and prepared for Nicole’s second Easter Egg Hunt (this one at our church, last year we went to Mason with Meghan and Tom). We got there a little early and discovered that fashionably late would have probably been better as 1-2 year olds (Ryann came too) aren’t interested in too many activities like the Easter Bunny, face-painting or extensive coloring that would have filled the time. Oh well. They had a nice spread for breakfast and when the big moment came for Nic and Ry’s age group to be released to get the eggs… both girls headed straight for the slides and ignored all the plastic shells all over the ground. With a bit of coaxing I guided them back to the task at hand and they started filling their baskets.
Following the hunt we went to the grand opening of the neighborhood UDF where they were having 49 cent ice cream cones and hot dogs, 25 cent soft serve and fountain drinks, $1 gallons of milk, and 3/$1 Krispy Kreme donuts. You know your life is exciting when I'm reporting on our attendance of a convenience store’s opening.
That night we went to Rob and Shirley’s for about 2 hours to socialize and headed home to finish assembling Nicole’s furniture. We didn’t put the box springs in so the bed was low enough for her to get into without a step-stool but it wasn’t all that stable for an adult’s weight (just fine for her) with just the mattress in there… we need to get some cross-beams for extra support.
On Sunday morning I presented Nicole with her new room and she was SO excited. She immediately got on the bed and climbed all around, put her head on the pillow, etc. Mom suggested that we let her start napping there on the weekends to get used to it… that would kill my painting time but it’s probably not a bad idea….
I also went to the Aronoff to see Cirque Dreams: A Jungle Fantasy which was tremendous.
Bowling went perfectly with us winning 4/4 games and my bowling a 123, 151, 167 (average = 127) which made me quite pleased. Next week is the big tournament!
Following the hunt we went to the grand opening of the neighborhood UDF where they were having 49 cent ice cream cones and hot dogs, 25 cent soft serve and fountain drinks, $1 gallons of milk, and 3/$1 Krispy Kreme donuts. You know your life is exciting when I'm reporting on our attendance of a convenience store’s opening.
That night we went to Rob and Shirley’s for about 2 hours to socialize and headed home to finish assembling Nicole’s furniture. We didn’t put the box springs in so the bed was low enough for her to get into without a step-stool but it wasn’t all that stable for an adult’s weight (just fine for her) with just the mattress in there… we need to get some cross-beams for extra support.
On Sunday morning I presented Nicole with her new room and she was SO excited. She immediately got on the bed and climbed all around, put her head on the pillow, etc. Mom suggested that we let her start napping there on the weekends to get used to it… that would kill my painting time but it’s probably not a bad idea….
I also went to the Aronoff to see Cirque Dreams: A Jungle Fantasy which was tremendous.
Bowling went perfectly with us winning 4/4 games and my bowling a 123, 151, 167 (average = 127) which made me quite pleased. Next week is the big tournament!
Friday, April 03, 2009
Life Documented 4-3-09
Went to my routine OB appointment this morning and told them about the pressure. They did a Fetal Fibronectin test on me which will determine if I'm at risk for pre-term labor. He wasn’t too concerned after the initial pelvic exam but this test will tell for sure what’s going on and if I need any lifestyle changes (bedrest would be the most extreme solution). I'm not really worried about this but eager to hear the results either this afternoon or, more likely, Monday.
I also failed my Glucose test which is not surprising because 1) I failed the first one with Nicole too and 2) sweets are a daily indulgence for me in one capacity or another. So, I have a 3-hour test for diabetes on 4-11 at the hospital starting at 7:30am. Boo!
Allergies are getting better but my ears get clogged up and require popping several times a day. Its amazing how much comes out of my nose still when I blow 2/hour.
Jim is 95% done with the deck planning stage and is prepared to submit his plans to the county next week!
Nicole’s night stand and dresser are assembled. Perhaps tonight we’ll work on her bed and have the room, furniture-wise, mostly ready. My grandfather is sanding and painting a bookcase for me and that will be the last component. I found coloring pages on the internet that I'm going to use as templates for the walls in her room (curious george). I'm going to borrow the projector from work and shine the images on the wall. Only work-around needed is that the pictures are from the current Curious George and I like the image of the classic George better. Will require some tweaking when it comes time to paint. Fear not – I’ll take pictures!
Hosting Easter this year 2X for both sides of our family. Previous conversations regarding hams that we had with Kendall are floating in my head….
I also failed my Glucose test which is not surprising because 1) I failed the first one with Nicole too and 2) sweets are a daily indulgence for me in one capacity or another. So, I have a 3-hour test for diabetes on 4-11 at the hospital starting at 7:30am. Boo!
Allergies are getting better but my ears get clogged up and require popping several times a day. Its amazing how much comes out of my nose still when I blow 2/hour.
Jim is 95% done with the deck planning stage and is prepared to submit his plans to the county next week!
Nicole’s night stand and dresser are assembled. Perhaps tonight we’ll work on her bed and have the room, furniture-wise, mostly ready. My grandfather is sanding and painting a bookcase for me and that will be the last component. I found coloring pages on the internet that I'm going to use as templates for the walls in her room (curious george). I'm going to borrow the projector from work and shine the images on the wall. Only work-around needed is that the pictures are from the current Curious George and I like the image of the classic George better. Will require some tweaking when it comes time to paint. Fear not – I’ll take pictures!
Hosting Easter this year 2X for both sides of our family. Previous conversations regarding hams that we had with Kendall are floating in my head….
Monday, March 30, 2009
Weekend of 3/27/09
Weekend was busy but very fun.
Friday: After work the Gardners came over for pizza and games. I won Scrabble and the first game of Shang Hai but lost the second. Good company, good times!
Saturday: Woke up earlier than I do for work to head out to West Chester for a big Mother’s Sale. Bought Nic and Chris each a bunch of clothes and Nicole a Fisher Price shopping cart (which was a big hit) for a grand total of $34.50. Realized again that I like two things too much – overalls on little boys and sun-dresses on little girls. Oh well, they’ll look the same every day….
After the sale I volunteered for two hours with Kids Against Hunger which I found immensely rewarding. I wouldn’t call it “fun” work but it wasn’t unpleasant or hard to do and at the end I felt like I really accomplished something.
That night Nicole and I visited my parents and Grandma who came for dinner and Jim and I started putting together Nicole’s big girl furniture. So far so good though we’re not done after about a 2.5 hour assembly investment.
Sunday: woke up too late for Church but enjoyed waffles and long baths/showers instead. Grocery shopped, bridal showered, made shrimp/pepper/asparagus stir-fry for dinner.
I'm feeling a fair bit of pressure in my “nether regions” but am not concerned enough to call the doctor before my Friday already-scheduled appointment.
Friday: After work the Gardners came over for pizza and games. I won Scrabble and the first game of Shang Hai but lost the second. Good company, good times!
Saturday: Woke up earlier than I do for work to head out to West Chester for a big Mother’s Sale. Bought Nic and Chris each a bunch of clothes and Nicole a Fisher Price shopping cart (which was a big hit) for a grand total of $34.50. Realized again that I like two things too much – overalls on little boys and sun-dresses on little girls. Oh well, they’ll look the same every day….
After the sale I volunteered for two hours with Kids Against Hunger which I found immensely rewarding. I wouldn’t call it “fun” work but it wasn’t unpleasant or hard to do and at the end I felt like I really accomplished something.
That night Nicole and I visited my parents and Grandma who came for dinner and Jim and I started putting together Nicole’s big girl furniture. So far so good though we’re not done after about a 2.5 hour assembly investment.
Sunday: woke up too late for Church but enjoyed waffles and long baths/showers instead. Grocery shopped, bridal showered, made shrimp/pepper/asparagus stir-fry for dinner.
I'm feeling a fair bit of pressure in my “nether regions” but am not concerned enough to call the doctor before my Friday already-scheduled appointment.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
A step below
I just finished a piece of Cheesecake Factory Snickers cheesecake.
It was better in real life with Sarah Ford. : (
It was better in real life with Sarah Ford. : (
Friday, March 27, 2009
Frickin' Allergies
I want to stick a spoon down my throat and scrape out all the phlegm that’s draining, getting stuck, and making me cough.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Nicole Update 3/26/09
Jim and Nicole have had quite a bit of bonding time lately as I’ve been out for a multitude of things- class on Monday, a business trip to Akron yesterday (that I didn’t get home until 9:30 from!), and an upcoming long Saturday of mother’s sale/volunteering/bridal showering. Not to mention I start all over next week with class and then cookie-making with Jenna that will keep me away on Wednesday. They’re managing very well though.
Nicole has a recent habit of recognizing colors. If you ask her what color anything is she’ll 95% of the time tell you “blue” at which point I remind her that “no, this is yellow” and she repeats “yellow”. Not sure how much it’s sinking in though… Anyway, what she DOES recognize is colors that are the same. On Monday she got excited because her yogurt cup matched her green and pink shirt and kept pointing back and forth between them showing the babysitter her discovery. Last night she was rifling through socks and found a pink pair. She held them up to her pink pants and got quite happy about them matching. Jim of course had to put them on her.
Count down to the daybed transition… 1 week. We want her to have a month of it before she moves to her new room (furniture coming in tonight!) where she’ll have time to adjust to a big girl bed and new setting before Chris arrives and takes the nursery over.
Nicole has a recent habit of recognizing colors. If you ask her what color anything is she’ll 95% of the time tell you “blue” at which point I remind her that “no, this is yellow” and she repeats “yellow”. Not sure how much it’s sinking in though… Anyway, what she DOES recognize is colors that are the same. On Monday she got excited because her yogurt cup matched her green and pink shirt and kept pointing back and forth between them showing the babysitter her discovery. Last night she was rifling through socks and found a pink pair. She held them up to her pink pants and got quite happy about them matching. Jim of course had to put them on her.
Count down to the daybed transition… 1 week. We want her to have a month of it before she moves to her new room (furniture coming in tonight!) where she’ll have time to adjust to a big girl bed and new setting before Chris arrives and takes the nursery over.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Not quite a house... maybe a trailer? ha!
I seem to have grown quite a bit lately... and people are commenting. My uncle said to me - "I'd forget you were pregnant before, but looking at you today, you're definitely pregnant." Uh, thanks? He didn't mean any harm and I realize each moring before I step into the shower that I definitely am very pregnant.
How or why then it was such a shock to realize on Friday that I still have 3 more months to go seems odd, even to me. But when I see myself as "very pregnant" and realize it's only going to get more (I don't want to use the word "worse") from here I shake my head in amazement. I'm losing the cute phase too quickly!
I don't think I look that big in real life but this picture was just taken 2 minutes ago....
How or why then it was such a shock to realize on Friday that I still have 3 more months to go seems odd, even to me. But when I see myself as "very pregnant" and realize it's only going to get more (I don't want to use the word "worse") from here I shake my head in amazement. I'm losing the cute phase too quickly!
I don't think I look that big in real life but this picture was just taken 2 minutes ago....
and yes, that looks like a big tummy to me.
Chris is a very squirmy little guy and I don't mind a bit. Since I also don't mind people touching me several have gotten the chance to feel him in action. Their smiles at feeling him kick make me smile.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
So far on a Saturday
I bought another gun today. Really I bought it but have no intention of using it. Jim couldn't buy it for himself because he has yet to get a new driver's license with current address information- therefore I was the only one who could legally buy it. For the record, this is the second gun I've bought [for him] and it was still pretty weird to be doing it. 8 minutes of a background check and no registry required in Ohio is a bit spooky....
After gun-buying we went to Chik-fil-A for lunch. Nicole climbed all the way to the top of the jungle gym and crawled through the tube by herself. Then, when done, came all the way down by herself the same way. This was pretty surpising as she was about 15 feet in the air. She's still a little nervous to go down the tube slide by herself though.
After gun-buying we went to Chik-fil-A for lunch. Nicole climbed all the way to the top of the jungle gym and crawled through the tube by herself. Then, when done, came all the way down by herself the same way. This was pretty surpising as she was about 15 feet in the air. She's still a little nervous to go down the tube slide by herself though.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Deck Design
My brother burned a copy of Home Designer and gave it to us to help design our deck. Though our first ideas started on paper and were transferred to this program, this is what ultimately helped us put things together in the final design.
I took some screen shots of the mostly completed “decorated” version. I can’t yet figure out how to make a bar and some colors are off but it’s 90% there.
Jim’s working on the blueprints now to turn into the city and he’s doing a TREMENDOUS job.
This is the dining area. you can see the back-side of the grill we'll be permanately installing.
This view is as if you were standing in our back yard looking at the house. The dark brown square on the wall is the fireplace - in real life this is sided, not bricked but the program won't let me change it. Also, as previously mentioned there will be a bar area along the left side on the wall adjacent to the grill. This will have barstools and overlook the back yard where I'll be losing in cornhole.
Jim went to Home Depot this evening while Nicole and I played at the park and not only did they know him by name but they entered his phone number from memory into the system too. SCARY.
Good news – they took our plans to their “bid room” which is basically where they submit for special pricing from the powers that be in an attempt to secure your business. They lowered the material cost about 12% overall! Working with HD has been a really good experience so far. For being a “big box” they’ve really added the personal touch.
I took some screen shots of the mostly completed “decorated” version. I can’t yet figure out how to make a bar and some colors are off but it’s 90% there.
Jim’s working on the blueprints now to turn into the city and he’s doing a TREMENDOUS job.
Here's the overview of the entire deck (this shows it in scale to the size of the house. In reality our house is 1/2 brick on the sides and has tan siding on the top half and all on the back but you get the idea...)
Here's a shot of the octagon siting area. The real deck will have some sort of outdoor furniture like this but a fire table (coffee table with a fire pit in the center) in lieu of the general table you see pictured below.
This is the dining area. you can see the back-side of the grill we'll be permanately installing.
This view is as if you were standing in our back yard looking at the house. The dark brown square on the wall is the fireplace - in real life this is sided, not bricked but the program won't let me change it. Also, as previously mentioned there will be a bar area along the left side on the wall adjacent to the grill. This will have barstools and overlook the back yard where I'll be losing in cornhole.
Jim went to Home Depot this evening while Nicole and I played at the park and not only did they know him by name but they entered his phone number from memory into the system too. SCARY.
Good news – they took our plans to their “bid room” which is basically where they submit for special pricing from the powers that be in an attempt to secure your business. They lowered the material cost about 12% overall! Working with HD has been a really good experience so far. For being a “big box” they’ve really added the personal touch.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Life Documented
I posted the bedroom furniture we’re getting for Nicole earlier.
I ordered this quilt set for her this weekend. The room is a pale yellow and I wanted a comforter that had enough colors that it could withstand redecorating and not have to be repurchased. I'm now debating hand-painting the Curious George stuff on the wall so that the hues match the bedspread versus just using the wall stickers I found online.
Vacation plans came, went, came again, went again. We’re actually back to Plan A. Hope to have this finalized in the next few days. Otherwise I might lose my sanity for good.
I haven’t mentioned it yet but class is going well this semester. Nothing out of the ordinary to report. Students turn things in late, make excuses, frown when I refer them to the syllabus that states 2X that no late assignments are accepted. Discussion is better than usual. Got my first call where a student used me as a job reference… would have been nice if she forewarned me so I didn’t totally blank on who she was when I was caught off-guard with the HR person on the other end…
I'm 2/3 in Facebook Scrabble (behind Lisa by 10 and ahead of Dan by 35ish). It’s addictive and frustrating. The application is in Beta and doesn’t work ½ the time which is annoying because I check back very frequently. Lisa’s words are pissing me off (she got like 30 points for “jin”- total bullshit). My pew of 1 point tiles for the last 5 rounds is pissing me off. I played “Careen” to try to dump quantity and pick up new, good ones. Didn’t work that round but just now I acquired not one but 2 good letters with my play of “dow”… if I can only find a place to use them…. I will admit that I feel a compelling need to win at scrabble with my degree and what I consider a large vocabulary. I’ll also freely admit that my brain has a hard time unscrambling words so finding goods ones takes a lot of concentration (which makes me annoying to play with in real life). If I have to lose though, and I'm not saying this just to suck up, losing to Lisa is acceptable because for the same reasons as me should be a good player. I still won’t be happy if I lose though.
I ordered this quilt set for her this weekend. The room is a pale yellow and I wanted a comforter that had enough colors that it could withstand redecorating and not have to be repurchased. I'm now debating hand-painting the Curious George stuff on the wall so that the hues match the bedspread versus just using the wall stickers I found online.Vacation plans came, went, came again, went again. We’re actually back to Plan A. Hope to have this finalized in the next few days. Otherwise I might lose my sanity for good.
I haven’t mentioned it yet but class is going well this semester. Nothing out of the ordinary to report. Students turn things in late, make excuses, frown when I refer them to the syllabus that states 2X that no late assignments are accepted. Discussion is better than usual. Got my first call where a student used me as a job reference… would have been nice if she forewarned me so I didn’t totally blank on who she was when I was caught off-guard with the HR person on the other end…
I'm 2/3 in Facebook Scrabble (behind Lisa by 10 and ahead of Dan by 35ish). It’s addictive and frustrating. The application is in Beta and doesn’t work ½ the time which is annoying because I check back very frequently. Lisa’s words are pissing me off (she got like 30 points for “jin”- total bullshit). My pew of 1 point tiles for the last 5 rounds is pissing me off. I played “Careen” to try to dump quantity and pick up new, good ones. Didn’t work that round but just now I acquired not one but 2 good letters with my play of “dow”… if I can only find a place to use them…. I will admit that I feel a compelling need to win at scrabble with my degree and what I consider a large vocabulary. I’ll also freely admit that my brain has a hard time unscrambling words so finding goods ones takes a lot of concentration (which makes me annoying to play with in real life). If I have to lose though, and I'm not saying this just to suck up, losing to Lisa is acceptable because for the same reasons as me should be a good player. I still won’t be happy if I lose though.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Driving
I don’t know a kid out there who doesn’t like to drive. With all the video games out now, I suspect most youngsters first taste of driving is in the form of Mario Kart or maybe in a simulator at a Chuck E Cheese equivalent. Every few minutes at Kings Island this summer I bet there'll be some hopeful 6 year old standing with his back to Yogi Bear's raised arm to see if this year he can have his own bumper car instead of sitting alongside Mom or Dad.
When I was tall enough to drive the bumper cars I had absolutely no intention of bumping. My turn at driving wasn’t going to be spent jarring but getting the most time driving as possible. That involved avoiding all collisions and mostly sticking to the outer edge which was fine by me.
My favorite memories of driving are from grade school mostly when my dad would take me and my brothers up to Colerain High School on a Saturday afternoon so we could cruise around the parking lot. When we were little he’d let us sit on his lap and he’d control the pedals but even lack of full control didn’t matter – I was steering and to me that was the most important thing. Up past the baseball fields, across the front courtyard, swinging around the back entrance- we went everywhere about 8 times each.
Weight and height probably played a role in graduating us to drive the car ourselves versus sitting on Dad’s lap. Regardless, it was always a thing to do with Dad. Oh we’d gush to Mom about how well we did behind the wheel but the fact that he let us drive the real car before we were really allowed always made Dad cool
It was that same parking lot years later that Mark tried to teach me to drive a manual. After taking those same routes all over the school he suggested we head out on the real road, something Dad obviously never had the opportunity to do in our practice sessions. My heart raced and I prayed for continual green lights. Though I did stall his car more than once, Mark like Dad, was very patient and consistently encouraging.
I'm embarrassed to report that that was the first and last time I ever drove a stick shift. Call me blonde, call me unprepared for an emergency, but the thrill of driving is quite different in the parking lot of the high school compared to the real world. I like those memories better.
Though I’ll miss seeing it with my kids, I feel tradition must continue and Jim get some glory (whether he wants to or not!) for taking Nic and Chris up to that same lot. Though Nicole is so much fun at this age, this is one of those things I look forward to hearing about when she’s old enough to drive herself.
When I was tall enough to drive the bumper cars I had absolutely no intention of bumping. My turn at driving wasn’t going to be spent jarring but getting the most time driving as possible. That involved avoiding all collisions and mostly sticking to the outer edge which was fine by me.
My favorite memories of driving are from grade school mostly when my dad would take me and my brothers up to Colerain High School on a Saturday afternoon so we could cruise around the parking lot. When we were little he’d let us sit on his lap and he’d control the pedals but even lack of full control didn’t matter – I was steering and to me that was the most important thing. Up past the baseball fields, across the front courtyard, swinging around the back entrance- we went everywhere about 8 times each.
Weight and height probably played a role in graduating us to drive the car ourselves versus sitting on Dad’s lap. Regardless, it was always a thing to do with Dad. Oh we’d gush to Mom about how well we did behind the wheel but the fact that he let us drive the real car before we were really allowed always made Dad cool
It was that same parking lot years later that Mark tried to teach me to drive a manual. After taking those same routes all over the school he suggested we head out on the real road, something Dad obviously never had the opportunity to do in our practice sessions. My heart raced and I prayed for continual green lights. Though I did stall his car more than once, Mark like Dad, was very patient and consistently encouraging.
I'm embarrassed to report that that was the first and last time I ever drove a stick shift. Call me blonde, call me unprepared for an emergency, but the thrill of driving is quite different in the parking lot of the high school compared to the real world. I like those memories better.
Though I’ll miss seeing it with my kids, I feel tradition must continue and Jim get some glory (whether he wants to or not!) for taking Nic and Chris up to that same lot. Though Nicole is so much fun at this age, this is one of those things I look forward to hearing about when she’s old enough to drive herself.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Rambling
This is going to be more of a journal entry than most – notes so I can document what’s going on in every-day life should I care to read it later.
I'm tired more mornings than most lately. We’ve had our share of stress and smiles lately at home and there’s no end in sight….
Vacation got changed a bit lately which was frustrating because of the hours and hours I put in researching accommodations and locations- all of which now is moot. Still waiting for some outstanding information before we can finalize plans. We’re all still going, that’s the good news.
Nicole has been singing more lately, especially when we put her to bed and turn off the lights. I sat outside her room the other night and listened to “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” about 6X through. She can’t pronounce all the words but she “uh uh”’s the right amount of syllables to fill in things like “the world so” and then concludes with a clear “high”. It’s really really cute. She was up singing until 9:05 last night (went down at 8:30 like normal).
Other thing she’s really into – pulling all of her bed items (2 blankets, 6 animals, 1 Curious George book) out, surrounding herself on the floor with them and laughing hysterically. We’re not sure what’s so fabulous about having your bed friends out of bed, but it never ceases to make her outright giddy.
In my toddler 1/week newsletter I get via email it gave a chart of what kids should and might be able to do in the months ahead. She can already do some of the things that are 24 month “shoulds” like name body parts, make 2-3 word sentences, etc. but can’t yet put on clothing (a “might” for 22 months). She does understand some non-physical concepts like “sorry”, “ready”, and “here” and “now” and uses those words correctly in everyday speech. Thanks to Sarah's zoo book she knows roughly 20 animals by sight now (walrus, penguin, lizard) and can say most of them like rhino, lion, frog, etc. too (though flamingo is still "pink bird").
Yesterday at daycare the sorries came out more than a few times as she bit another kid not once but twice. She was put on the time-out step after they explained why & she cried the whole time she sat. When I came at lunch to visit Marsha told me what happened and I sat her down and firmly explained that teeth are for food only. There’s no doubt she understood that – she burst into big tears as soon as I said the word “bite”.
Jim’s been spending hours drawing deck plans so that we can submit them to the county for approval. At Home Depot we’ve designed and refined the plans in their software system. More than one associate knows him and our plans now and when he comes they say “oh, you have the nice deck”. In fact, our plan is called “nice deck” in their system. We’re investigating hiring part of the building process out because of the ledger board primarily – hopefully we’ll know more by the end of the week on this front.
We bought a new Dell and sold our old one for about a third of the cost of the new. We still have to buy a monitor though (sold the old one with the computer) so as of yesterday we can't actually use our new toy...
We’re not going to NYC anymore but are going to do a popular “staycation” instead.
I think our bed is finally broken in – I'm more and more comfortable in it than ever before and don’t like to leave it if I don’t have to. :)
I'm tired more mornings than most lately. We’ve had our share of stress and smiles lately at home and there’s no end in sight….
Vacation got changed a bit lately which was frustrating because of the hours and hours I put in researching accommodations and locations- all of which now is moot. Still waiting for some outstanding information before we can finalize plans. We’re all still going, that’s the good news.
Nicole has been singing more lately, especially when we put her to bed and turn off the lights. I sat outside her room the other night and listened to “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” about 6X through. She can’t pronounce all the words but she “uh uh”’s the right amount of syllables to fill in things like “the world so” and then concludes with a clear “high”. It’s really really cute. She was up singing until 9:05 last night (went down at 8:30 like normal).
Other thing she’s really into – pulling all of her bed items (2 blankets, 6 animals, 1 Curious George book) out, surrounding herself on the floor with them and laughing hysterically. We’re not sure what’s so fabulous about having your bed friends out of bed, but it never ceases to make her outright giddy.
In my toddler 1/week newsletter I get via email it gave a chart of what kids should and might be able to do in the months ahead. She can already do some of the things that are 24 month “shoulds” like name body parts, make 2-3 word sentences, etc. but can’t yet put on clothing (a “might” for 22 months). She does understand some non-physical concepts like “sorry”, “ready”, and “here” and “now” and uses those words correctly in everyday speech. Thanks to Sarah's zoo book she knows roughly 20 animals by sight now (walrus, penguin, lizard) and can say most of them like rhino, lion, frog, etc. too (though flamingo is still "pink bird").
Yesterday at daycare the sorries came out more than a few times as she bit another kid not once but twice. She was put on the time-out step after they explained why & she cried the whole time she sat. When I came at lunch to visit Marsha told me what happened and I sat her down and firmly explained that teeth are for food only. There’s no doubt she understood that – she burst into big tears as soon as I said the word “bite”.
Jim’s been spending hours drawing deck plans so that we can submit them to the county for approval. At Home Depot we’ve designed and refined the plans in their software system. More than one associate knows him and our plans now and when he comes they say “oh, you have the nice deck”. In fact, our plan is called “nice deck” in their system. We’re investigating hiring part of the building process out because of the ledger board primarily – hopefully we’ll know more by the end of the week on this front.
We bought a new Dell and sold our old one for about a third of the cost of the new. We still have to buy a monitor though (sold the old one with the computer) so as of yesterday we can't actually use our new toy...
We’re not going to NYC anymore but are going to do a popular “staycation” instead.
I think our bed is finally broken in – I'm more and more comfortable in it than ever before and don’t like to leave it if I don’t have to. :)
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Operation: Relax is a go!
Vacation plans are made and hopefully by the end of the day will be set (as in deposits in). Miraculously ALL of my immediate family is going – parents, brothers, niece, everyone! This will be the first time in several (3?) years that we’ve all gone together. As a result we’re getting a house rather than a condo and it should be really nice – has 5 bedrooms (one for the girls!), foosball, air hockey, is 3 [long] blocks from the beach. With so many people the cost for us all is split and significantly reduced when it comes to lodging compared to when it was just Mom/Dad and my family. I'm already looking forward to it.
Random realization: Though some of her songs are catchy, I think I can safely blanket statement that I don’t like Gwen Stafani’s music.
Random realization: Though some of her songs are catchy, I think I can safely blanket statement that I don’t like Gwen Stafani’s music.
Monday, March 09, 2009
Weekend of 3/6/09
This weekend was crazy busy. Some quick notes/observations:
1) What recession!? On Friday, Jim, Nicole and I met my parents at Graeter’s for ice cream and then came back to our house to play Scene It. When we arrived at Graeter’s, which for those of you out of town is $3.25/scoop premium ice cream, there was not a single table available and over a half dozen people waiting in line. Things didn’t slow down while we were there. If everyone’s so hurting in this economy why the heck are they eating expensive ice cream!? Even if you want a treat go to friggin’ Kroger and buy a HALF GALLON for $3 or Wendy’s and get a dollar Frosty. This leads me to believe that the recession is only real for those who don’t have a job and therefore don’t have an income. The rest of us employed folk are going on right as usual.
2) On Saturday I went to a mother’s sale which is essentially a big indoor garage sale where kids clothes, toys, shoes, and necessities like cribs, etc. are sold by moms in the area. I bought Nicole 5 things (3 dresses, 1 capri pant and 1 pair of shorts) and Chris 5 things (all overall sets & one set of PJ’s) and spent $23.50. I can’t resist a good deal ($4 sundress with the $22 tags still on!).
3) Immediately following I met Mike, Lindsay and Ryann up at the local elementary school for a carnival. I won’t go into long detail but I thought that it was a very very affordable event, well managed, and a good atmosphere. Nicole got a puffy headband with antennae that she adored and a recorder she can’t figure out how to blow in.
4) Bowling was not good due to below-average performances which lead to a 0/4 night. HOWEVER, because of our exceptional bowling last time we were one of the Top 10 teams in the entire center and therefore get to go to a special tournament where the minimum payout just for showing up is $25/person. Wahoo! We’re cool! There’s no cost to bowl as it’s an honor to have made it and our dues along the way pay for it. It’s based on how much over our average we bowl that afternoon. NYC just got bumped. We’re west siders….
1) What recession!? On Friday, Jim, Nicole and I met my parents at Graeter’s for ice cream and then came back to our house to play Scene It. When we arrived at Graeter’s, which for those of you out of town is $3.25/scoop premium ice cream, there was not a single table available and over a half dozen people waiting in line. Things didn’t slow down while we were there. If everyone’s so hurting in this economy why the heck are they eating expensive ice cream!? Even if you want a treat go to friggin’ Kroger and buy a HALF GALLON for $3 or Wendy’s and get a dollar Frosty. This leads me to believe that the recession is only real for those who don’t have a job and therefore don’t have an income. The rest of us employed folk are going on right as usual.
2) On Saturday I went to a mother’s sale which is essentially a big indoor garage sale where kids clothes, toys, shoes, and necessities like cribs, etc. are sold by moms in the area. I bought Nicole 5 things (3 dresses, 1 capri pant and 1 pair of shorts) and Chris 5 things (all overall sets & one set of PJ’s) and spent $23.50. I can’t resist a good deal ($4 sundress with the $22 tags still on!).
3) Immediately following I met Mike, Lindsay and Ryann up at the local elementary school for a carnival. I won’t go into long detail but I thought that it was a very very affordable event, well managed, and a good atmosphere. Nicole got a puffy headband with antennae that she adored and a recorder she can’t figure out how to blow in.
4) Bowling was not good due to below-average performances which lead to a 0/4 night. HOWEVER, because of our exceptional bowling last time we were one of the Top 10 teams in the entire center and therefore get to go to a special tournament where the minimum payout just for showing up is $25/person. Wahoo! We’re cool! There’s no cost to bowl as it’s an honor to have made it and our dues along the way pay for it. It’s based on how much over our average we bowl that afternoon. NYC just got bumped. We’re west siders….
Friday, March 06, 2009
The Day
Jenna and I went through a MOUNTAIN of clothes last night and discovered that
- Chris has more 0-3 month stuff than I thought (most of it green and yellow but that’s okay) as far as onsies go.
- Lisa’s comment to me in the car about little boys needing pants on is running through my mind. I let Nicole hang out in just a cute onsie (that was intended to stand alone as they’d have designs on the butt) but maybe that’s not how boys work? Maybe I need to buy him some shorts?
- My biggest clothes hole is 12 month spring/summer stuff
- Jenna kept saying that she thinks Chris will be long. I'm looking at these pants I bought for him and wondering if he’ll look dumb if they’re too short if she’s right…. Oh well! He’ll just be sitting/laying around anyway so you probably wont’ be able to tell.
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I went to a funeral of a life-long friend of mine – a neighbor, Bill Miller. It was a very Catholic service and had me wondering about some logic. According to the priest’s homily:
- He (the priest) feels that living life without a belief in a heaven would be a sad existence. Essentially knowing you were leading up to something better should inspire you to live happily and fully
- We (all people) weren’t created with this life in mind but our heavenly eternal life
What had me wondering then was why this guy kept pushing Bill through surgeries, painful medication, and a rough life because the sanctity of life was more important and letting yourself die is against God’s will.
Well, if I'm created for a heavenly life and I believe it’s waiting for me, why the hell do I need to be resuscitated 50 times + over the course of 20 years to stay on this Earth?
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I got a picture card of Max in the mail that had Jim and I laughing out loud. Only Lisa would use the word “sucks” on a baby card. Ha!
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Today over lunch Jim and I went to see Nicole. This was the first time we BOTH went to see her over lunch and it was nice it was warm and we could all play outside. She figured out how to push the button and drive the power wheel and was having a grand time zooming around the yard. She’s getting to be a big kid.
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
23 Weeks & Counting
Few folks were kind enough to ask how Chris and I are doing – so far so good. The day I was sick, Friday, must have been loud with my stomach churning – he was up ALL DAY squirming around. I didn’t mind a bit because I was so bored and it least it was entertaining waiting to see where his next kick would come from. Apparently that wore him out because he was really quiet the next two days.
I'm still in the “cute” stage of being pregnant – big enough that there’s no mistaking that I'm knocked up versus just fat, but not a house yet. Now, being cute pregnant is not the same as being cute. Whereas other women might “awww” at me, sexy is not an adjective I’d remotely use. Poor Jim. I think I am smaller than I was with Nicole and I'm hoping this continues.
I have a bigger sweet tooth than last time though and I really have to keep myself in check to not munch an entire row of girl scout cookies. I go to the doctor on Friday and unlike last time I could care less how much weight I'm gaining – if I'm at 20lbs. already so be it.
Again I find myself happy we know the gender. Partially because I'm a planner and partially because it’s nice to be able to refer to the baby by name. Nicole can say “baby brother” and “baby Chris” if you say it first but won’t answer questions about him without the answers directly prompted. For record, we'll probably call him Christopher, Chris or CJ interchangeably.
Jenna’s coming over tomorrow night to help Nicole and I sort which clothes are gender-neutral enough to re-use. I need a greater feel of how much more of what he needs before I head to the mother’s sale on 3/28. Searching my memory back 19 months ago, many of the newborn onesies Nic had were green/yellow/orange and will work but by the 6 month size her wardrobe turned sharply to teal and purple and I fear his pickins will be slim. Jenny, Mom, and my Aunt Mary bought me a few clearly boy items and I picked up about $40 worth of stuff at Old Navy but a lot of it was 6-12 month in size and I think, again if memory serves me, I’ll have a [hopefully small] hole in the 3-6 month clothing size and definitely 12+.
I'm still in the “cute” stage of being pregnant – big enough that there’s no mistaking that I'm knocked up versus just fat, but not a house yet. Now, being cute pregnant is not the same as being cute. Whereas other women might “awww” at me, sexy is not an adjective I’d remotely use. Poor Jim. I think I am smaller than I was with Nicole and I'm hoping this continues.
I have a bigger sweet tooth than last time though and I really have to keep myself in check to not munch an entire row of girl scout cookies. I go to the doctor on Friday and unlike last time I could care less how much weight I'm gaining – if I'm at 20lbs. already so be it.
Again I find myself happy we know the gender. Partially because I'm a planner and partially because it’s nice to be able to refer to the baby by name. Nicole can say “baby brother” and “baby Chris” if you say it first but won’t answer questions about him without the answers directly prompted. For record, we'll probably call him Christopher, Chris or CJ interchangeably.
Jenna’s coming over tomorrow night to help Nicole and I sort which clothes are gender-neutral enough to re-use. I need a greater feel of how much more of what he needs before I head to the mother’s sale on 3/28. Searching my memory back 19 months ago, many of the newborn onesies Nic had were green/yellow/orange and will work but by the 6 month size her wardrobe turned sharply to teal and purple and I fear his pickins will be slim. Jenny, Mom, and my Aunt Mary bought me a few clearly boy items and I picked up about $40 worth of stuff at Old Navy but a lot of it was 6-12 month in size and I think, again if memory serves me, I’ll have a [hopefully small] hole in the 3-6 month clothing size and definitely 12+.
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Uno
Not sure if you'll be able to view the video - it's about a minute so I started uploading it at home and am writing this at work (so I haven't closed my home browser).
Nicole has taken a renewed interest in her "counting crab" that she got for her first birthday. Funny thing is that she only says the spanish....
Monday, March 02, 2009
What we're up to - with pictures!
Well, after reading up a bit, I again agree with Martha – sounds like a food intolerance on Friday. I ended up getting sick again after I posted and reading the fine print of email was more than my stomach could handle (felt like car sickness) so I left at noon. Most of the afternoon was spent eating chicken noodle soup in shifts and laying in bed. Just like last time. :(
Next day though I was good as new which was helpful since we had things to do. Remember our list of goals for February? We’ve pseudo-accomplished all of them.
1) filled the settling cracks – this is 80% done – light plays a factor in our ability to finish it which means it’s a weekend project mostly.
2) The will – we picked a lawyer out, filled out a ridiculously comprehensive worksheet and are waiting on one final answer before our appointment on Wednesday
3) Nicole’s bed- selected after visiting several stores.
We’re getting her a white, full-sized one from IKEA. Ignoring the price in the picture I stole from their website, she’s getting the bed, end table, dresser and mirror. Once we coordinate a truck we’ll pick it up
4) Deck design – as you know, we settled on a shape. Yesterday we spent several hours at the
Home and Garden show where we got some ideas to refine the details a bit more (use of stone and permanently putting in a grill). There were so many outdoor chimneys there on display that it got my mind turning but they’re ridiculously 
expensive ($5K-15,000) so it’s not going to make the final plans.
Goals for March include:
1) Fixing my car from the accident
2) Having a final draft of the will in our safe
3) Buying Nicole’s furniture, linens, curtains & artwork (Curious George
is going to be the theme I think) and I found these cute wall stickers, amongst others, to decorate!
4) Making decisions on the morning room furniture (found some on Saturday we liked, just have to measure the room)
5) Sorting Nicole’s clothes for Chris-usable items
6) Submit deck plans to the city for approval
7) More??
We’re (Jim and I only!) also trying to plan one last get-away to NYC for April. Need to get doctor’s approval at my appt. on Friday though.
Next day though I was good as new which was helpful since we had things to do. Remember our list of goals for February? We’ve pseudo-accomplished all of them.
1) filled the settling cracks – this is 80% done – light plays a factor in our ability to finish it which means it’s a weekend project mostly.
2) The will – we picked a lawyer out, filled out a ridiculously comprehensive worksheet and are waiting on one final answer before our appointment on Wednesday
3) Nicole’s bed- selected after visiting several stores.
We’re getting her a white, full-sized one from IKEA. Ignoring the price in the picture I stole from their website, she’s getting the bed, end table, dresser and mirror. Once we coordinate a truck we’ll pick it up4) Deck design – as you know, we settled on a shape. Yesterday we spent several hours at the
Home and Garden show where we got some ideas to refine the details a bit more (use of stone and permanently putting in a grill). There were so many outdoor chimneys there on display that it got my mind turning but they’re ridiculously 
expensive ($5K-15,000) so it’s not going to make the final plans.Goals for March include:
1) Fixing my car from the accident
2) Having a final draft of the will in our safe
3) Buying Nicole’s furniture, linens, curtains & artwork (Curious George
is going to be the theme I think) and I found these cute wall stickers, amongst others, to decorate!4) Making decisions on the morning room furniture (found some on Saturday we liked, just have to measure the room)
5) Sorting Nicole’s clothes for Chris-usable items
6) Submit deck plans to the city for approval
7) More??
We’re (Jim and I only!) also trying to plan one last get-away to NYC for April. Need to get doctor’s approval at my appt. on Friday though.
Friday, February 27, 2009
UGH, my turn AGAIN!?
As I lay in bed this morning, awake and ill at 3:30am, I thought to myself, “why am I getting sick so often lately!?” It’s annoying and disruptive to life to be sick and normally I'm pretty healthy.
Bad news- I think Martha’s right, it is food poisoning. I think so because
- Feeling bad happened several hours after a meal (3:30am)
- only lasted about 6 hours total
- vomiting and diarrhea were the main symptoms
This unfortunately leads me to believe that it must have been my lunch because Jim and Nicole aren’t sick and we ate dinner at home together. It pains me to admit this, but lunch was Skyline (a chicken burrito, not chili). I can’t remember a few weeks back to recall if that’s what I ate the last time this came on or not…
I will say, it continues to amaze me how much better I feel after I throw up. Not perfect, but certainly good enough to go to work for the day. Of course it’s no fun while you’re on your knees praying to the porcelain god, but man, after, it’s like flipping a switch.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
The Rest of the Story
The doctor’s appointment went as well as can be expected. We got there on time but they were running behind so we had to wait for about 25 minutes to see the doctor. In that time Nicole got diarrhea (Jim thinks from nerves) and went through the only 3 diapers and all the wipes I had in her bag. It got on my pants, it got on the examining table, it was not fun. The only advantage was that I was mid-changing her [again] when the doctor finally came in so it was not as traumatic for her to evaluate the boil since she was already undressed in that area.
The pediatrician said that we’ve cleaned out 75% of the contents and that it’s not likely more will come out. Warm compresses, continued oral and topical medication use, and supervision is all she needs for the next few days. We don’t even need to bandage it since it’s mostly covered by a diaper and clothing.
She’s taking her medicine now with promise of using a “big girl cup” (one of our regular glasses) which works out well since she’s supposed to have plenty of water with the medicine.
The boil is deflating and went from red (Monday) to purple (Tuesday) to white (today). The doc was very pleased with the progress there and said the medication is clearly working.
I get the impression that MRSA at Nicole’s level is like herpes – you can get a cold sore/boil once and never again or you can get them routinely but if you get them routinely you see the signs early and can sometimes prevent a sore all together. The more people I’ve told the more I hear “oh yeah, so and so had that…” which is comforting and concerning at the same time. The story’s outcome ranges from cases like Nicole’s to “they ended up in the hospital for 2 days” or even one that finished “… and they had to cut off his toe”. EEK! We're aiming for one and done.
The pediatrician said that we’ve cleaned out 75% of the contents and that it’s not likely more will come out. Warm compresses, continued oral and topical medication use, and supervision is all she needs for the next few days. We don’t even need to bandage it since it’s mostly covered by a diaper and clothing.
She’s taking her medicine now with promise of using a “big girl cup” (one of our regular glasses) which works out well since she’s supposed to have plenty of water with the medicine.
The boil is deflating and went from red (Monday) to purple (Tuesday) to white (today). The doc was very pleased with the progress there and said the medication is clearly working.
I get the impression that MRSA at Nicole’s level is like herpes – you can get a cold sore/boil once and never again or you can get them routinely but if you get them routinely you see the signs early and can sometimes prevent a sore all together. The more people I’ve told the more I hear “oh yeah, so and so had that…” which is comforting and concerning at the same time. The story’s outcome ranges from cases like Nicole’s to “they ended up in the hospital for 2 days” or even one that finished “… and they had to cut off his toe”. EEK! We're aiming for one and done.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Boil Boil Toil & Trouble
Nicole’s doctor appointment yesterday has led to some new medical routines at home. The doctor is thinking MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and gave her the anti-biotics as if she has it but said that when the culture comes back and she sees the progress the boil has made on Wednesday she’ll know more and can change medications if necessary.
Nicole is antsy during a diaper change and clamps her legs together like a vice because she expects it to be sensitive but if you leave her diaper on and just push the elastic aside (it’s on the inside of her leg) she doesn’t really care what you do. Problem is that now that it’s bandaged it’s hard to get to fully if her diaper is still on.
We have to put warm compresses on it “many” times a day (“as often as possible”) which in our world will mean 3 times (morning, lunch & bedtime), try to massage more “stuff” out of it, put a topical medicine on and bandage it with gauze and tape, and then give her an oral medicine 2X/day that she doesn’t like at all (I tasted it and it is horrible). So far this process has happened twice since the appointment and has been a challenge on all fronts but eventually she gives in or gets to tired of fighting it.
Hopefully this gets easier as she gets used to it happening. When we’re not messing with it she’s oblivious, plays, gets carried, etc. with no problems. Her appetite has reduced due to stress though.
Nicole is antsy during a diaper change and clamps her legs together like a vice because she expects it to be sensitive but if you leave her diaper on and just push the elastic aside (it’s on the inside of her leg) she doesn’t really care what you do. Problem is that now that it’s bandaged it’s hard to get to fully if her diaper is still on.
We have to put warm compresses on it “many” times a day (“as often as possible”) which in our world will mean 3 times (morning, lunch & bedtime), try to massage more “stuff” out of it, put a topical medicine on and bandage it with gauze and tape, and then give her an oral medicine 2X/day that she doesn’t like at all (I tasted it and it is horrible). So far this process has happened twice since the appointment and has been a challenge on all fronts but eventually she gives in or gets to tired of fighting it.
Hopefully this gets easier as she gets used to it happening. When we’re not messing with it she’s oblivious, plays, gets carried, etc. with no problems. Her appetite has reduced due to stress though.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Need a vacation day to catch up from my weekend
This weekend was ridiculously busy. Some highlights:
1) Friday – I went to the Cyclones hockey game (and thought of Sue the whole time) while Jim stayed with Nic. He doesn’t like hockey and prefers her sleep schedule stay pretty consistent so this arrangement worked out for both of us as I didn’t get home until 11.
2) Saturday – we all slept in which never seems to happen anymore. I was going to skip the morning concert as a result but thought Nicole might appreciate it so we rushed around and flew out the door.
Cincinnati had their Fine Arts weekend and the morning show was done by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and was a shortened version of a fall concert titled Bugs. They played La Cucaracha, the Bugs theme song, The Spiders Feast (which had CCM doing and interpretive dance), some song about a guy loving a flea just a bit too much, and, the highlight, the Itsy Bitsy Spider sing-along. Nicole was VERY attentive during the concert and really my taping it was the only thing that distracted her from the music. At first she was so startled that the thousand or so people at the concert all knew IBS, but then she joined in. This video is kinda rough because she was sitting on my lap as I was taking it.
3) That afternoon Nicole headed to Aunt Lindsay’s for her nap because Jim had a bowling tournament and I went to go see Jenny and Tom’s performances that afternoon. Both were absolutely fantastic (and I’m not just saying that because they both read this).
4) When I got home Chris from Cridersville (Jim’s friend) was waiting for me and we all hung out, went to dinner, and hung out some more. We skipped Church because of his visit and didn’t finish the errands we wanted to run because of Nicole’s nap time. I did get $60 in clothes (23 pieces) from Old Navy – ½ off clearance prices so the most I paid for a single item was $3.74 for a dress for Nicole; most of the other things were $1.49 - $2.49.
5) We bowled AMAZING that night and walked away 4/4 with a solid placement for the upcoming tournament.
6) I had to take Nicole to the doctor this morning because what I thought was a pimple forming on the inside of her leg turned into a boil on Sunday. They pierced it, squeezed a bunch of blood and puss out and are sending it all to the lab. She was NOT happy to be pinned down or in pain but was all smiles once she was allowed up. We have antibiotics to give her and need to use warm compresses 2/day to try to extract more out of it. She heads back on Wednesday. Goal is to hear that it’s not MRSA but we’ll know more when the results come back.
7) We also staked out the deck in the yard and are going with option #1 but bigger square footage-wise than what you see below.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Decking Decisions
As previously mentioned, Jim and I are in the throws of deck planning. Some of the things we started with and have since eliminated
1) hot tub – jim doesn’t want to walk through the cold to get to it in the winter
2) multiple levels – somewhat of a pain due to the slope of our yard and while I’d REALLY REALLY like to incorporate aesthetically, I'm not sure if it’s practical or necessary
3) reading nook – the deck materials are expensive and space can be used in more practical ways
Here was the first design I did:
What I like about it is that it’s not just a square, there’s some dimension to it. The intention would be that sitting furniture and a fire table would be put in the octagon and a dining area with grill would be in the large rectangle. This design makes maximum use of the land because that are near the office on the far right is only about 15 feet from our property line and not much would be done with the space if a deck wasn’t there. Finally, I like that from our family room, which has lots of windows to look out of, I’d be gazing upon a pretty sitting area with couches and cushions.
Then I got to thinking…. If I'm eating dinner and forgot to get the ketchup, do I really want to walk all the way across the deck, through the only door, into the kitchen then all the way back out for that? Doesn’t it make more sense to have our main activity on the deck, eating, be closer and more convenient to the entry? So, I rearranged things so the seating area and dining area were reversed:
This will save greatly on materials because it’s smaller but now I have “dead” space by the office and I'm not sure it’s going to be that pretty to look at (we'd fill it in with a garden maybe?).
Thoughts?
1) hot tub – jim doesn’t want to walk through the cold to get to it in the winter
2) multiple levels – somewhat of a pain due to the slope of our yard and while I’d REALLY REALLY like to incorporate aesthetically, I'm not sure if it’s practical or necessary
3) reading nook – the deck materials are expensive and space can be used in more practical ways
Here was the first design I did:
What I like about it is that it’s not just a square, there’s some dimension to it. The intention would be that sitting furniture and a fire table would be put in the octagon and a dining area with grill would be in the large rectangle. This design makes maximum use of the land because that are near the office on the far right is only about 15 feet from our property line and not much would be done with the space if a deck wasn’t there. Finally, I like that from our family room, which has lots of windows to look out of, I’d be gazing upon a pretty sitting area with couches and cushions.
Then I got to thinking…. If I'm eating dinner and forgot to get the ketchup, do I really want to walk all the way across the deck, through the only door, into the kitchen then all the way back out for that? Doesn’t it make more sense to have our main activity on the deck, eating, be closer and more convenient to the entry? So, I rearranged things so the seating area and dining area were reversed:
This will save greatly on materials because it’s smaller but now I have “dead” space by the office and I'm not sure it’s going to be that pretty to look at (we'd fill it in with a garden maybe?).
Thoughts?
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Dinosaur Quest
The search for dinosaurs has continued and I’ve been really touched and happy with the help (and interest!) others have been lending. Carol sent me several links of things including a $100 plush rocking dinosaur which I later found at HomeGoods for $50 on a family friend’s suggestion. (side note: I’ve never even heard of HomeGoods, it was the TJ Maxx of home stuff and if it was closer might be a place I stop at more often to find a hidden treasure). Jenna sent me links of a variety of things from animals to mobiles and Anjali went to the trouble of finding me stencils for the walls.
The set I found that I liked the most has been discontinued for two years and finding the bedding (bumpers, not sheets) has cost me several more hours of searching:
Lindsay saw this set on a Kmart commercial and sent it to me:
It’s got the essentials (bumpers, sheet, comforter & bedskirt), is the right color palate that I was looking for and is only $50 – FANTASTIC!!!!!! Too bad it’s out of stock. Grrrr…. I put my name on the registry to have Kmart email me when they have it again. Meanwhile I’ll look for the brand elsewhere. This could be the ticket!
The set I found that I liked the most has been discontinued for two years and finding the bedding (bumpers, not sheets) has cost me several more hours of searching:
Lindsay saw this set on a Kmart commercial and sent it to me:
It’s got the essentials (bumpers, sheet, comforter & bedskirt), is the right color palate that I was looking for and is only $50 – FANTASTIC!!!!!! Too bad it’s out of stock. Grrrr…. I put my name on the registry to have Kmart email me when they have it again. Meanwhile I’ll look for the brand elsewhere. This could be the ticket!
Should any of you continue to be interested, bored, or come across something randomly like Linds did, I still need some wall art!
Monday, February 16, 2009
Some random thoughts and weekend updates
1) per comments and questions below, Christopher James is the name we’ve picked out for #2. I hope that it’ a strong enough name for our future President. Ha!
2) I feel better, thanks for asking. Apparently it was an annoying 24-hour bug because I was back to eating normal [amounts of] food on Saturday and haven’t had problems since.
3) Though Valentine’s Day is largely uncelebrated in our household Jim did bring home Nicole and I a red rose each . It was very sweet. Nicole’s hand-made Valentines went over well and she got some in return as well as a ballerina doll from Grandma that is bigger than her. She and the doll have waltzed around the family room several times since!
4) I'm wearing a borrowed shirt of Sarah’s today (a navy blue cotton one) for the first time and I LOVE IT. It’s so comfy, can be dressed up or down, and isn’t too low-cut (a common and confusing problem with maternity tops). It immediately became my new favorite shirt.
5) On Saturday I took Nicole to Furniture Fair to look for a big girl bedroom set. Unfortunately she was not living up to the purchase and threw a tantrum in the front entry when I wouldn’t give her Cheerios (I didn’t want her to spill them everywhere in the store). After about 2 minutes of cajoling I hauled her back to the car, sat her on my lap and told her that she was not to behave badly again or we were leaving. We did give it a second go, the nice salesman even brought her a balloon which made her smile but when I tied it onto her stuffed cow (so it wouldn’t float to the ceiling if she let go) we started on tantrum #2. My girl friend Jamie told me once that her son Ryan was so bad in the grocery store that she took him out with items still in her cart. This memory gave me motivation to apologize profusely to the salespeople and take Nicole out of the store immediately, never having made it past the first 20 feet of the store. I was steamed. On the way home Nicole got a lecture about good behavior in stores, how acting that way embarrasses both of us and that she was getting a time out once we got home. She sniffed and looked pathetic on the drive home but, true to my word, she sat on the step for a minute once we got back and she didn’t budge an inch. I don’t know if she got it or it was luck, but she was an absolute angel the next day when we took her out for several hours to the mall and Meijer.
6) They announced on the radio today that there was a speed trap around a certain exit on the highway. While I appreciate this as a driver it doesn’t seem “right” that they can just publically announce this over the airwaves. Then again, if the point is to ensure that drivers are safely driving, maybe the city of Montgomery doesn’t care that people are being warned…
2) I feel better, thanks for asking. Apparently it was an annoying 24-hour bug because I was back to eating normal [amounts of] food on Saturday and haven’t had problems since.
3) Though Valentine’s Day is largely uncelebrated in our household Jim did bring home Nicole and I a red rose each . It was very sweet. Nicole’s hand-made Valentines went over well and she got some in return as well as a ballerina doll from Grandma that is bigger than her. She and the doll have waltzed around the family room several times since!
4) I'm wearing a borrowed shirt of Sarah’s today (a navy blue cotton one) for the first time and I LOVE IT. It’s so comfy, can be dressed up or down, and isn’t too low-cut (a common and confusing problem with maternity tops). It immediately became my new favorite shirt.
5) On Saturday I took Nicole to Furniture Fair to look for a big girl bedroom set. Unfortunately she was not living up to the purchase and threw a tantrum in the front entry when I wouldn’t give her Cheerios (I didn’t want her to spill them everywhere in the store). After about 2 minutes of cajoling I hauled her back to the car, sat her on my lap and told her that she was not to behave badly again or we were leaving. We did give it a second go, the nice salesman even brought her a balloon which made her smile but when I tied it onto her stuffed cow (so it wouldn’t float to the ceiling if she let go) we started on tantrum #2. My girl friend Jamie told me once that her son Ryan was so bad in the grocery store that she took him out with items still in her cart. This memory gave me motivation to apologize profusely to the salespeople and take Nicole out of the store immediately, never having made it past the first 20 feet of the store. I was steamed. On the way home Nicole got a lecture about good behavior in stores, how acting that way embarrasses both of us and that she was getting a time out once we got home. She sniffed and looked pathetic on the drive home but, true to my word, she sat on the step for a minute once we got back and she didn’t budge an inch. I don’t know if she got it or it was luck, but she was an absolute angel the next day when we took her out for several hours to the mall and Meijer.
6) They announced on the radio today that there was a speed trap around a certain exit on the highway. While I appreciate this as a driver it doesn’t seem “right” that they can just publically announce this over the airwaves. Then again, if the point is to ensure that drivers are safely driving, maybe the city of Montgomery doesn’t care that people are being warned…
Friday, February 13, 2009
Sick
Nicole's virus finally kicked in in me. I'm home from work. Her symptoms were vomiting the first night followed by a croupy cough and a runny nose and lots of lathargic activity, I started feeling "off" on Wednesday, only ate peas for dinner that night and threw up lunch and dinner at 2am last night. BLEH.
Christopher can hang out for four months in me and not cause any morning sickness but the general world's gotten me under the weather about 3 times in the last 8 months.
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We watched the movie Taken (A-) last night. Story line is that a retired special forces father's daughter is taken by a sex trafficing ring while on holiday in France and he has 96 hours to get her back. I found it thought provoking and a sad reminder that these types of things actually are going on all around the world all the time.
I asked Jim if he'd go to such lengths to get Nicole back and he correctly answered that he wouldn't have the skill to do all the things that the main character did. She's never going anywhere alone for the rest of her life.
Christopher can hang out for four months in me and not cause any morning sickness but the general world's gotten me under the weather about 3 times in the last 8 months.
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We watched the movie Taken (A-) last night. Story line is that a retired special forces father's daughter is taken by a sex trafficing ring while on holiday in France and he has 96 hours to get her back. I found it thought provoking and a sad reminder that these types of things actually are going on all around the world all the time.
I asked Jim if he'd go to such lengths to get Nicole back and he correctly answered that he wouldn't have the skill to do all the things that the main character did. She's never going anywhere alone for the rest of her life.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Random Updates
- Nicole is in a singing phase. On Monday night she sang to herself for over a half hour in lieu of going to sleep. We sing in the car, sometimes to the radio, sometimes not. And she’s learning words to her favorite songs – she will start and chime with “twinkle twinkle star” and “up above… high”. It’s really really cute. When she sings AND dances you can’t help but smile. Other thing she really likes – songs that have hand motions (itsy bitsy spider, wheels on the bus, etc.)
- I got hit on Monday in my work parking lot. I was backing out of a space and some guy backed out into me. The estimate for repairing (not replacing) my back bumper was $508. I need to give this to him today and see what our next steps are.
- The new baby is moving around much more frequently to the point that I can feel him inside and outside now. Jim’s not all about putting his hand on my stomach but humors me if I insist.
- Jim and I have a LONG to-do list. He’s helped make the task less daunting by giving us four February goals which should be achievable – work on our will, buy Nicole’s new bedroom furniture, repair the settling cracks in the corners of our crown/base molding, measure the house for the deck. He’s been spending gobloads of time reading deck-building books, calling the county, etc. Too bad I’ll be 8 months pregnant when this project starts. Shucks!
- JC Penney has shoes on sale for $7.95! After being pregnant the last time my foot grew a whole size permanently which means that there aren’t as many options for 8.5s –they get swallowed up pretty quick. I had envy for all the 7.5 wearers – there were SO MANY cute shoes. I did find two new pairs – a brown stiletto sandal and a pointy-toed black heel. I also scooped up a simple black dress for $14.95 and a pair of work pants for $6.97. Fingers crossed that they fit after this is all said and done (couldn't try them on now)….
Monday, February 09, 2009
Foods I don't like
Pepperoni
Jerky- any variety
Brussel Sprouts
Crème Brule
Jalapenos
Iced Tea
Runny Eggs
Splenda
Crawfish
Jerky- any variety
Brussel Sprouts
Crème Brule
Jalapenos
Iced Tea
Runny Eggs
Splenda
Crawfish
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Decorating Blues
UGH. I clearly have bad taste because the things I am looking for DO NOT EXIST. Not in stores, not online, not anywhere.
I decided that I’d like a dinosaur-themed nursery for the baby. You’d think dinosaurs would be pretty popular given the gender but nooooooo… no one makes sets that aren’t discontinued, “gentle” (aka not fierce) dinosaur wall art is impossible to locate, and to find any bedding is making me pull my hair out. I went to a fabric store willing and able to make my own bumper pads but even they don’t carry any dinosaur material.
A smarter woman would give up and pick a more common theme like trucks.
If this kid was 8 or something, and not terrified of the beasts, I would think this was pretty cool (it’s a wallpaper stick-up):
I decided that I’d like a dinosaur-themed nursery for the baby. You’d think dinosaurs would be pretty popular given the gender but nooooooo… no one makes sets that aren’t discontinued, “gentle” (aka not fierce) dinosaur wall art is impossible to locate, and to find any bedding is making me pull my hair out. I went to a fabric store willing and able to make my own bumper pads but even they don’t carry any dinosaur material.
A smarter woman would give up and pick a more common theme like trucks.
If this kid was 8 or something, and not terrified of the beasts, I would think this was pretty cool (it’s a wallpaper stick-up):
Friday, February 06, 2009
Baby News
Went to the ultrasound today to see the baby. Very squirmy little one - it was all over the place!! Here are some pictures:
Profile
Head on
Arm
2 feet (crossed)
And the money shot......
He's a BOY!
I had a "big talk" with Nicole (who's home sick today with croup and vomiting) about being a sister and she shook her head "yes" when I told her she'd have to share toys and be nice, etc. She'll tickle my tummy and say "get you get you" but I doubt she fully understands what's going on yet.... :)
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Anticipation
So tomorrow is the day we find out that baby #2 is doing well and, hopefully, the gender. People ask what we want, boy or girl, or if we don’t care. Honestly, it’s my goal to find out that everything looks “normal” and that there’s only one. I have no reason to think there are more than 1, but man if there were, whew! Obviously it would be exciting but oh so much more to do and plan. Not to mention the expense as things to get would be a larger vehicle (SUV), not just another crib.
Jim thinks we’re having a girl. So far he’s the only one that thinks that. EVERYONE else expects a boy.
I'm very excited for tomorrow morning but it seems almost too soon to know! I’ve been so busy personally and professionally that this day seems to have come suddenly. Almost like I haven’t “done” enough to deserve to know yet. Not that I'm complaining….. : )
Jim thinks we’re having a girl. So far he’s the only one that thinks that. EVERYONE else expects a boy.
I'm very excited for tomorrow morning but it seems almost too soon to know! I’ve been so busy personally and professionally that this day seems to have come suddenly. Almost like I haven’t “done” enough to deserve to know yet. Not that I'm complaining….. : )
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Parenting Concern
Last night I told Jim about a concern that I’ve had but really jumped out to me that afternoon. Nicole is a very loving little girl. I assume it’s because we’re very touchy-feely at home and greet those we meet with hugs that she sees it as perfectly normal to greet her friends with a hug. The problem is that there are a lot of other kids who aren’t like her in this capacity. For example, Nicole adores her cousin Ryann and will often try to hug her, hold her hand, etc. Ryann will often hold her hand and walk with her but is not initially inclined to hug Nicole upon first seeing her. Ryann really likes Nicole – she says her name and they play together really well. She’s just doesn’t find the need to hug Nicole as frequently as Nicole wants to hug her.
This weekend that was also the case for our friends’ daughter, Julia (2 years), who wanted nothing to do with Nicole physically though they were pretty content playing next to one another. I was really happy (though maybe they were cringing inside) that Kendall and Lisa let Nicole love on Max. She hugged him, kissed him, and tried to say his name. While other parents might shy away from letting their 7-week old have so much physical interaction (germs and all, I know), they didn’t tell Nicole to stop and as a result she was very happy telling me “baby Max kdajfdo akfkdfj” (stuff I didn’t understand after his name) well after he left for the night.
When I went to visit Nicole at daycare yesterday one of the other kids, a 5 year old boy named Cameron, was sitting and watching a DVD on a portable player on his lap. This is certainly not the first time Nicole has gone to him, gently stroked his arm and said “hi Cameron”; he totally ignores her. After several times repeating, I had to sharply say “Cameron, Nicole is talking to you” at which point he acknowledged her and said “hi”.
About 10 minutes later a 3-year old girl (ironically named Cameron too) came in and was feeling some abandonment after her mother left. Nicole, upon seeing her upset patted her back and said “ok, Cameron” which she, like the first Cameron, also ignored.
Now, I know the girl Cameron was distracted with emotion, but these many examples make me concerned – what if Nicole starts getting put off that other kids aren’t responding to her affection (which I see as a positive) and she stops reaching out? I realize that, like the comments from my last post clearly show, some people are more comfortable with physical touch than others and I need to respect that. It’s probably something that is a positive for Nicole to learn early. I also try to see the other side – maybe Nicole is TOO touchy and tells Cameron “hi” 8 times and hour and he’s just annoyed and therefore ignoring her which is nicer than yelling at her to leave him alone.
Jim’s response was that we continue to hug and kiss her at home. He reminded me, which made me very sad to think of, that we can’t control her interactions when we’re not with her. There’ll be kids who make fun of her at school (who would dare!?) and we can’t stop it – she has to learn on her own. I guess these lessons, while I recognize their value, are coming a bit earlier at 18 months than I thought they would…….
This weekend that was also the case for our friends’ daughter, Julia (2 years), who wanted nothing to do with Nicole physically though they were pretty content playing next to one another. I was really happy (though maybe they were cringing inside) that Kendall and Lisa let Nicole love on Max. She hugged him, kissed him, and tried to say his name. While other parents might shy away from letting their 7-week old have so much physical interaction (germs and all, I know), they didn’t tell Nicole to stop and as a result she was very happy telling me “baby Max kdajfdo akfkdfj” (stuff I didn’t understand after his name) well after he left for the night.
When I went to visit Nicole at daycare yesterday one of the other kids, a 5 year old boy named Cameron, was sitting and watching a DVD on a portable player on his lap. This is certainly not the first time Nicole has gone to him, gently stroked his arm and said “hi Cameron”; he totally ignores her. After several times repeating, I had to sharply say “Cameron, Nicole is talking to you” at which point he acknowledged her and said “hi”.
About 10 minutes later a 3-year old girl (ironically named Cameron too) came in and was feeling some abandonment after her mother left. Nicole, upon seeing her upset patted her back and said “ok, Cameron” which she, like the first Cameron, also ignored.
Now, I know the girl Cameron was distracted with emotion, but these many examples make me concerned – what if Nicole starts getting put off that other kids aren’t responding to her affection (which I see as a positive) and she stops reaching out? I realize that, like the comments from my last post clearly show, some people are more comfortable with physical touch than others and I need to respect that. It’s probably something that is a positive for Nicole to learn early. I also try to see the other side – maybe Nicole is TOO touchy and tells Cameron “hi” 8 times and hour and he’s just annoyed and therefore ignoring her which is nicer than yelling at her to leave him alone.
Jim’s response was that we continue to hug and kiss her at home. He reminded me, which made me very sad to think of, that we can’t control her interactions when we’re not with her. There’ll be kids who make fun of her at school (who would dare!?) and we can’t stop it – she has to learn on her own. I guess these lessons, while I recognize their value, are coming a bit earlier at 18 months than I thought they would…….
Monday, February 02, 2009
Friday, January 30, 2009
Pleasantly Surprised... at least so far
Much to my pleasure, Obama has been doing and saying things that I agree with. While Pelosi doesn’t care for his extension of tax cuts for the rich (ironically something he said was going to happen right away and will now likely be pushed off until 2010), it doesn’t bother me one bit. I haven’t heard anyone, myself included, complain about the pay freezes he put on Washington and I think doing so sent out the right message to the country.
Yesterday, Yahoo! News published the following article: Obama calls $18B in Wall St. bonuses 'shameful'. Mr. President, I couldn't agree more.
Yesterday, Yahoo! News published the following article: Obama calls $18B in Wall St. bonuses 'shameful'. Mr. President, I couldn't agree more.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Busy Bee
I'm at home from work today because the streets are WAY too bad to drive on. Hooray!
So, I took some time to try to get Nicole to do some counting on video for posterity. We mostly count in two places - on the steps as we go up or down or in the car while driving. So, this video is a little choppy as I'm filming while helping her down stairs, but, well, you get the picture.
What else is she up to? Learning to cook, hide in cabinets, and make lots and lots of noise....
Monday, January 26, 2009
Quick Call
My speeddials on my old, non-data phone went 1: voicemail, 2: home (my parents), 3: Jim cell, 4: Jim work, 5: dad cell, 8: mom cell. I don’t know what happened to 6, 7 or 9.
Now that I have a data phone I can have one speeddial per letter. With this in mind I initially assigned sd’s by the person’s first name. Jim took J, my mom took L (for Linda), the babysitter, Marsha, took M. Somehow Lindsay got put on Q which I discovered last week by accident but have used 2X since so I guess it works out!
Now that I have a data phone I can have one speeddial per letter. With this in mind I initially assigned sd’s by the person’s first name. Jim took J, my mom took L (for Linda), the babysitter, Marsha, took M. Somehow Lindsay got put on Q which I discovered last week by accident but have used 2X since so I guess it works out!
Friday, January 23, 2009
Ode to a Friday
Today is Friday. Work is lighter with the promise of the weekend freedom ahead, moods are lifted, it’s generally a good day.
I was thinking about Fridays this morning while I was straightening my hair. My Friday night antics now in adulthood are much different than they were as a kid, as a teenager, or as a newly graduated student. Here’s a quick anecdote about a Friday night when I was 16….
I was 16 so out doing what many 16 year olds are doing – I was on a date. The boy and I had been dating for a while and were comfortable enough to set out for the night with no plans initially in mind. Of course now, 13 years later, I don’t remember exactly what we did the first part of the night because the end of the evening overshadows my memory of the entire date, but I remember the casual mood.
Back then my curfew would have been around midnight or so, so after doing whatever it is we did, we took the opportunity to find a dark parking lot to fool around in. <insert: I almost used the word “neck” here but while it was the first verb in my head for our activities, it 1) shows my age and 2) doesn’t hit the level of “necking” we were doing> We weren’t there more than 20 minutes but activities like that don’t take long to steam up windows. Even through the haze there’s no mistaking when really bright lights fill up your once dark car.
If you’ve ever been doing something you shouldn’t in a place you shouldn’t and the cops pull up, you know the exact feeling that races through your head and heart. Fortunately making out didn’t have the two of us fully unclothed. Unfortunately we were unprepared and couldn’t find all of said clothing in the urgency of putting it back on. When the tap at the window came and we got out of the backseat I only had one sock on and no shoes whatsoever; and wow was that gravel rough on my feet as I fidgeted.
The two policemen asked us all the normal questions – what are our names, can they have our drivers licenses, do we realize this is private property, yada yada. Things got a little stickier when our licenses revealed that he was 18 and I was underage. The questions then turned to are you here on your own free will, is he hurting you in any way, etc.
They stalled for time and let us sweat it out a bit in the front seat while they “processed” things. In hindsight I'm sure they were sitting in their patrol car laughing at our nervousness and the crazy things kids do. Maybe reflecting on the crazy things they did. I like to think that it was because of this last thought we were told to behave, not come back again, and drive safely home. Drive home we did, laughing at ourselves and praying that our parents weren’t called in that few minutes of “processing”.
-------------------------------
What am I doing tonight? Having stir-fry with my husband and daughter and entertaining a grade school friend and her family for board games.
Man, am I glad I was 16 once.
I was thinking about Fridays this morning while I was straightening my hair. My Friday night antics now in adulthood are much different than they were as a kid, as a teenager, or as a newly graduated student. Here’s a quick anecdote about a Friday night when I was 16….
I was 16 so out doing what many 16 year olds are doing – I was on a date. The boy and I had been dating for a while and were comfortable enough to set out for the night with no plans initially in mind. Of course now, 13 years later, I don’t remember exactly what we did the first part of the night because the end of the evening overshadows my memory of the entire date, but I remember the casual mood.
Back then my curfew would have been around midnight or so, so after doing whatever it is we did, we took the opportunity to find a dark parking lot to fool around in. <insert: I almost used the word “neck” here but while it was the first verb in my head for our activities, it 1) shows my age and 2) doesn’t hit the level of “necking” we were doing> We weren’t there more than 20 minutes but activities like that don’t take long to steam up windows. Even through the haze there’s no mistaking when really bright lights fill up your once dark car.
If you’ve ever been doing something you shouldn’t in a place you shouldn’t and the cops pull up, you know the exact feeling that races through your head and heart. Fortunately making out didn’t have the two of us fully unclothed. Unfortunately we were unprepared and couldn’t find all of said clothing in the urgency of putting it back on. When the tap at the window came and we got out of the backseat I only had one sock on and no shoes whatsoever; and wow was that gravel rough on my feet as I fidgeted.
The two policemen asked us all the normal questions – what are our names, can they have our drivers licenses, do we realize this is private property, yada yada. Things got a little stickier when our licenses revealed that he was 18 and I was underage. The questions then turned to are you here on your own free will, is he hurting you in any way, etc.
They stalled for time and let us sweat it out a bit in the front seat while they “processed” things. In hindsight I'm sure they were sitting in their patrol car laughing at our nervousness and the crazy things kids do. Maybe reflecting on the crazy things they did. I like to think that it was because of this last thought we were told to behave, not come back again, and drive safely home. Drive home we did, laughing at ourselves and praying that our parents weren’t called in that few minutes of “processing”.
-------------------------------
What am I doing tonight? Having stir-fry with my husband and daughter and entertaining a grade school friend and her family for board games.
Man, am I glad I was 16 once.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
What Nicole's Been Up To
Some new things Nicole’s into lately:
- Using silverware. This makes me torn – obviously it’s a great step towards her being a fully self-sufficient eater but man, it takes SO much longer than me feeding her or her using her fingers. She’s gotten insistent however on using a “moon” (spoon) for everything.
- Becoming a picky eater. This is very frustrating as Nicole has always been a diverse eater. Suddenly she snubs some foods she used to really like such as blueberries, shrimp, & broccoli. Why she’s suddenly smitten with blackberries is beyond me too. The babysitter said this normally happens around 2½ and is a phase that lasts about 4 months and is suddenly past. I don’t want to make her a separate dinner than us as I want her in the habit of eating what we’re eating, but some nights I fear she hasn’t eaten enough because she promptly announces she’s “all done” after only the chicken is gone. I refuse to make her mashed potatos every night as her veggie. The child needs some green.
- Cartoon names. It’s because we let Nicole watch less than ½ hour of TV a week at our house that I'm surprised she knows a bunch of cartoon character names. The TV is on all day at daycare (there are kids of all ages who watch various shows and it’s on for background noise) so apparently Nicole has picked a lot of it up. Though I’ve never seen an entire episode of any of these shows she will say the following by name when she sees them: Spongebob, Dora, & Pooh. I'm sure knows more but I haven’t been there when they’re on to hear her to wildly cheer when the theme song plays.
- Animals. Mackenzie gave Nic a zoo book for Christmas and we read it several times a day every day. It has flaps that show different animals doing different things so we open each of them as we go page by page. She’s learned penguin, walrus, and flamingo as new animals from the book so far.
- Lining up toys. Another new activity that makes me groan because she does it in the bathtub with all of her wet toys that inevitably put lots of water OUTSIDE of the tub and onto me/the floor. I name each as she puts them up and knocks them down but I'm never overly excited when this new routine begins starts over for the night.
When Viki comes in this weekend we’re making a trip to IKEA to look at bedroom furniture for Nicole. She’ll be moving down the hall this spring and the furniture in that room won’t cut it for forever use. Still working on a new theme for the room but it might be dependant on what gender the new baby is – if it’s a boy the nursery might go “jungle” at which point Nicole’s room won’t be “zoo”.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Did you notice?
I had to change my blog layout. I was tired of clicking on everyone’s links just to find they STILL hadn’t posted anything new, but to get the new timed blogs that you see on the left I had to do the update. I don’t like it. I lost a few fonts and a few layout elements I had before that I don’t think look as good as what I previously had. It’s probably just me being picky and resisting change (I am one of the few people I know who hasn’t updated her background the whole time I’ve been blogging). There must be more updates I haven’t done as I don’t even see the templates that some of you are using (lisa, sarah w, etc.).
Send me your link in a comment so I can add it – when I did the conversion I somehow reverted to my first year of links so I had people who don’t even have blogs anymore listed and lots of people I’ve added over the years missing.
Send me your link in a comment so I can add it – when I did the conversion I somehow reverted to my first year of links so I had people who don’t even have blogs anymore listed and lots of people I’ve added over the years missing.
Outside Living
Part of Jim’s day off was spent beginning to read a book about deck building that he got last Christmas. The deck is shaping up to be the major house project of 2009 and I was surprised to hear he wanted to start it as soon as April/May.
We’re in agreement on several design elements – we want it to provide
We’re in agreement on several design elements – we want it to provide
- an open view of the back yard,
- be lush with landscaping,
- have multiple levels and
- include several functional areas.
So far we have a basic sketch of what we want and it incorporates three main areas: a place for grilling and eating, a hot tub, and a reading nook (think swing and wicker furniture for lounging). While our perfect house would have allowed for things like a covered area with ceiling fan or potentially even a screened in section, the way that the windows are placed in the back of our house makes it (completely impossible?)… difficult to do this. Goals for the retirement house 30 years from now….
While this is certain to be a five digit project (largely driven due to our decision to use synthetic wood and get a hot tub), we estimate that even with this addition and the eventual finishing of our basement (YEARS down the road) our house still won’t be the most expensive in the neighborhood though it will have the most custom add-ons. We’re [too?] mindful to keep our house reasonable with our neighbors’ prices even though with the recent purchase of the back lot we’re in the top 20% of expensiveness. Like I mentioned, we expect to be here for decades so cost-basis isn’t an immediate concern.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Conversation
Because of my job and personality in general, I often lead conversation. By this I mean that I kick-off meetings, make it a point to remember names/dates/events so that I can use them in future conversation, ask a lot of questions, etc. This flows from my work life and into my social life. It doesn’t bother me much though – people like to talk about themselves and I enjoy learning about people.
As a result, I'm always very aware when someone else is doing this to me and I'm talking a lot. First, I notice because I'm not thinking as much during the conversation. My mind isn’t jumping to the next thing we have in common or general thing (ie movies, news, weather) that is going on in the world around us. I don’t need to think when talking about myself – I just simply answer. It’s very relaxing to be on the giving side of the conversation.
The second thing I feel is guilty that I'm not “doing my part” to carry the conversation. I look for a break that I can turn it back to them.
This weekend Jenna did this to me in the car. Jim’s aunt and cousin did it to me when we went to Spencerville for Christmas. Granted there are a pretty decent amount of things a person could ask me about – my new job, teaching, pregnancy, Nicole, house projects, etc. – but I'm starting to feel like I'm a bad friend for not reciprocating but man is it nice to be “lazy” in a conversation once in a while.
As a result, I'm always very aware when someone else is doing this to me and I'm talking a lot. First, I notice because I'm not thinking as much during the conversation. My mind isn’t jumping to the next thing we have in common or general thing (ie movies, news, weather) that is going on in the world around us. I don’t need to think when talking about myself – I just simply answer. It’s very relaxing to be on the giving side of the conversation.
The second thing I feel is guilty that I'm not “doing my part” to carry the conversation. I look for a break that I can turn it back to them.
This weekend Jenna did this to me in the car. Jim’s aunt and cousin did it to me when we went to Spencerville for Christmas. Granted there are a pretty decent amount of things a person could ask me about – my new job, teaching, pregnancy, Nicole, house projects, etc. – but I'm starting to feel like I'm a bad friend for not reciprocating but man is it nice to be “lazy” in a conversation once in a while.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Who We Are
Jim was talking with his ex-fiancé the other day and the subject turned to her 4 kids. She commented that she’s a mom and that’s basically it (followed by her wishing she was "more"). This comment brought Jim and I to talk about what title we most identify with. We both agreed that husband/wife was the first one that came to mind and that we felt strongest about... but we had different reasons.
Jim: Husband is a title that started 4 years ago and will most likely (other than son) be the one that he keeps the longest, fingers crossed.
Karen: I love Jim. That’s why I married him. I love him more than any of my friends or any of my family. There is no one else I’d rather be with than him so I relate most to being his wife than anything else.
Father/Mother came in second, as you can imagine, and we agreed “friend” came in third. Though I'm extremely close with my parents I tend to think of them as friends versus a parent (authority figure) now that I'm an adult.
It was no surprise that our job titles weren’t on the top of the list. They’d actually come behind “athlete”, “reader”, & “teacher” for us.
I was really pleased that unprompted our lists matched – shows that our priorities in life are lined up. I believe, and frequently hear from “experts”, that the key to happy parenting is to maintain a happy marriage. Since that’s clearly our main concern I think we’ll do all right in life.
Jim: Husband is a title that started 4 years ago and will most likely (other than son) be the one that he keeps the longest, fingers crossed.
Karen: I love Jim. That’s why I married him. I love him more than any of my friends or any of my family. There is no one else I’d rather be with than him so I relate most to being his wife than anything else.
Father/Mother came in second, as you can imagine, and we agreed “friend” came in third. Though I'm extremely close with my parents I tend to think of them as friends versus a parent (authority figure) now that I'm an adult.
It was no surprise that our job titles weren’t on the top of the list. They’d actually come behind “athlete”, “reader”, & “teacher” for us.
I was really pleased that unprompted our lists matched – shows that our priorities in life are lined up. I believe, and frequently hear from “experts”, that the key to happy parenting is to maintain a happy marriage. Since that’s clearly our main concern I think we’ll do all right in life.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Proper Order
My friends who are couples are often referred to in the same order each time.
Lisa & Kendall
Tom & Meghan
Sarah & Danny
Joe & Carol
Mark & Caitlin
I'm pretty sure we’re “Jim & Karen” (as opposed to Karen & Jim). Even my parents say it that way and I'm their kid so you think I’d be first.
I’d be interested to see if “my” way to order these couple’s names is what everyone else says too. I know Dale says “Tom & Meghan” but Tom is his better friend of the two so I previously rationalized it that way.
What these orders do have in common, to over-analyze the situation, is that the man is ahead of the woman unless the woman has a two syllable name. Or, put another way, the one-syllable name is first unless both names are two-syllables at which point the woman tends to go first.
OK, I'm thinking about this too hard…..
Lisa & Kendall
Tom & Meghan
Sarah & Danny
Joe & Carol
Mark & Caitlin
I'm pretty sure we’re “Jim & Karen” (as opposed to Karen & Jim). Even my parents say it that way and I'm their kid so you think I’d be first.
I’d be interested to see if “my” way to order these couple’s names is what everyone else says too. I know Dale says “Tom & Meghan” but Tom is his better friend of the two so I previously rationalized it that way.
What these orders do have in common, to over-analyze the situation, is that the man is ahead of the woman unless the woman has a two syllable name. Or, put another way, the one-syllable name is first unless both names are two-syllables at which point the woman tends to go first.
OK, I'm thinking about this too hard…..
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Pregnancy Update
I’m now 16 weeks pregnant and this is the first picture of me. This second kid is getting ignored already (I had weekly pictures from weeks 6-41 with Nicole). According to my email updates, the baby is roughly the size of an avocado, 4 ½ inches long. S/he’s busy growing toenails, stretching its arms, and doing backflips.
I can’t feel anything yet and I suspect I have another 2-4 weeks before that will happen. We go for the ultrasound which technically is used to verify that growth is going well, no apparent symptoms of birth defects exist and to clarify the due date. We’ll also be looking to determine the gender at that point. Perhaps I'll take Lisa's cue and wait to be showered with presents before I reveal if it's a boy or a girl? ha!
Thanks to Sarah I have a new injection of maternity clothes into my wardrobe. She has TONS more than last time which is good because my other clothes donator from my previous pregnancy is pregnant now so I didn’t have any of her stuff to wear. The pants are getting to be a must but many of my sweaters are baggy and still okay though not overly fashionable.
I’m feeling great physically and hope it continues!
I can’t feel anything yet and I suspect I have another 2-4 weeks before that will happen. We go for the ultrasound which technically is used to verify that growth is going well, no apparent symptoms of birth defects exist and to clarify the due date. We’ll also be looking to determine the gender at that point. Perhaps I'll take Lisa's cue and wait to be showered with presents before I reveal if it's a boy or a girl? ha!
Thanks to Sarah I have a new injection of maternity clothes into my wardrobe. She has TONS more than last time which is good because my other clothes donator from my previous pregnancy is pregnant now so I didn’t have any of her stuff to wear. The pants are getting to be a must but many of my sweaters are baggy and still okay though not overly fashionable.
I’m feeling great physically and hope it continues!
Random Fact About Me
I really like to eat stuffed foods. Combos, mushroom caps, boston crème donuts, fortune cookies, chicken cordon bleu, calzones… I don’t know what it is about them, but I have a hard time resisting.
Friday, January 09, 2009
Movie Reviews
We’ve watched several movies lately. One I can’t even remember and these two:
Pineapple Express (D)- this was rated as a top 10 movie
of 2008 by People magazine for its witty humor. It’s about two guys on weed trying to escape the danger they brought upon themselves by being witnessed witnessing a murder (catch that?). Pregnancy or not, it deserved me falling asleep in the middle of it. I didn’t even care how it ended once I woke up.
The Happening (C)- normally a fan of M. Night Shyamalan and his creative twists, I didn’t know anything about this movie when Jim
borrowed it from my brother. The plot is that strange things are happening in the Northeast that cause people to go crazy and kill themselves. Mark Walberg and crew work diligently to run away from the completely unexplained phenomenon and save their own lives. Though I felt like it wasn’t headed anywhere during the show I kept waiting with anticipation for the clarification on what the hell was going on to cause this… that never happened so at the end I felt like “that had no point”. Fortunately it was only 80 minutes.
We're making steady progress on Heroes Season 1 and I'm totally hooked! I've predicted several things that are going to happen but it just makes me happy I know the show so well.
Pineapple Express (D)- this was rated as a top 10 movie
of 2008 by People magazine for its witty humor. It’s about two guys on weed trying to escape the danger they brought upon themselves by being witnessed witnessing a murder (catch that?). Pregnancy or not, it deserved me falling asleep in the middle of it. I didn’t even care how it ended once I woke up.The Happening (C)- normally a fan of M. Night Shyamalan and his creative twists, I didn’t know anything about this movie when Jim
borrowed it from my brother. The plot is that strange things are happening in the Northeast that cause people to go crazy and kill themselves. Mark Walberg and crew work diligently to run away from the completely unexplained phenomenon and save their own lives. Though I felt like it wasn’t headed anywhere during the show I kept waiting with anticipation for the clarification on what the hell was going on to cause this… that never happened so at the end I felt like “that had no point”. Fortunately it was only 80 minutes.We're making steady progress on Heroes Season 1 and I'm totally hooked! I've predicted several things that are going to happen but it just makes me happy I know the show so well.
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Back in action... sort of
So we got our computer back yesterday, after 3 visits to the computer “doctor” and an eventual complete reimaging of the machine. We had saved most of our stuff to our external hard drive before we initially took it in but when we got it back the second time I downloaded a month’s worth of pictures that didn’t get saved externally. Of course they ignored my call about getting that one file saved and then reloaded so I lost all of Nicole’s pictures for the month of December. UGH.
Should we buy a new computer and just be done with it? Maybe… Jim got a new game for Christmas and our processer isn’t up to running it so he’s SOL. But this was a virus and I'm not sure it could be helped by a new computer. Further, what we use it for is pretty basic – spreadsheets, email, blogging, downloading hardcore porn (just kidding! ha!), etc. We shouldn’t need a new computer but it has been 6 years and those Macs do look pretty cool…..
I suspect we’ll stay where we’re at for a while and see how it goes.
Should we buy a new computer and just be done with it? Maybe… Jim got a new game for Christmas and our processer isn’t up to running it so he’s SOL. But this was a virus and I'm not sure it could be helped by a new computer. Further, what we use it for is pretty basic – spreadsheets, email, blogging, downloading hardcore porn (just kidding! ha!), etc. We shouldn’t need a new computer but it has been 6 years and those Macs do look pretty cool…..
I suspect we’ll stay where we’re at for a while and see how it goes.
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Nicole Update - 18 months
Nicole went for her 18 month check-up yesterday. Here’s a quick report!
1. She apparently remembered that the doctor’s office is the place for shots (she got 6 on her last trip) and squirmed like crazy any time a nurse or doctor got near her. Though this made measuring her hard, she hit the roughly 50% mark for head and height and hovered the 75% for weight at 26lbs.
2. She got her first hair cut last night – a bang trim in the kitchen. Though she sat pretty still with Dad, Mom is a novice and cut them a bit too short. :( The locks went into the baby book though regardless.
3. Current favorites: reading the shape book (it’s pop-up), riding in her new wagon, saying hi to Bubble (her new goldfish), doing everything herself first and asking for help second, saying “thank you” for every individual item you hand her
4. She’s at the early stages of potty-training. She understands the concept but typically will tell you in hindsight that she went “poo poo”. She sits on her chair and is praised regardless. She really seems to like washing her hands after but I suspect that’s just to get to the drying part where a teddy bear towel waits for her use.
5. The doctor said she was ahead of schedule on her speech (for reference, 18 month olds should know 4-6 words and to be “ahead” you need to be able to say 2-word sentences like “more please”) as she can actually say around 50 words on her own (not just repeating what we say) and uses 3-word sentences on a daily basis. There are a great many times though that she knows what she’s saying and Jim and I have no clue. She’ll repeat herself and repeat herself and sometimes get frustrated that we aren’t responding “correctly”. From what I hear, this miscommunication will last about the next 16 years.
1. She apparently remembered that the doctor’s office is the place for shots (she got 6 on her last trip) and squirmed like crazy any time a nurse or doctor got near her. Though this made measuring her hard, she hit the roughly 50% mark for head and height and hovered the 75% for weight at 26lbs.
2. She got her first hair cut last night – a bang trim in the kitchen. Though she sat pretty still with Dad, Mom is a novice and cut them a bit too short. :( The locks went into the baby book though regardless.
3. Current favorites: reading the shape book (it’s pop-up), riding in her new wagon, saying hi to Bubble (her new goldfish), doing everything herself first and asking for help second, saying “thank you” for every individual item you hand her
4. She’s at the early stages of potty-training. She understands the concept but typically will tell you in hindsight that she went “poo poo”. She sits on her chair and is praised regardless. She really seems to like washing her hands after but I suspect that’s just to get to the drying part where a teddy bear towel waits for her use.
5. The doctor said she was ahead of schedule on her speech (for reference, 18 month olds should know 4-6 words and to be “ahead” you need to be able to say 2-word sentences like “more please”) as she can actually say around 50 words on her own (not just repeating what we say) and uses 3-word sentences on a daily basis. There are a great many times though that she knows what she’s saying and Jim and I have no clue. She’ll repeat herself and repeat herself and sometimes get frustrated that we aren’t responding “correctly”. From what I hear, this miscommunication will last about the next 16 years.
Friday, January 02, 2009
year in review
Following tradition from the past 4 years, here’s this past year’s recap.
Age: 29 (I am ALREADY planning my 30th birthday party)
Weight: 151 (ok, for the record I get a bye because that was my weight at the doctor, fully dressed and 15 weeks pregnant. BEFORE I got knocked up I was 139)
Height: 5’6”
Hair: Blonde
NYE Activities: We babysat Ryann and watched the girls play until 9:15. Then we watched two episodes of Heroes on DVD, Dick Clark for 3 minutes, kissed, and talked in bed until Mike/Lindsay came. Didn’t miss the festivities of going out at all which probably makes Mike’s statement of “you’re more like Grandma and Grandpa all the time” true.
Best Of…
Movie: I really enjoyed Meet the Robisons and was pleasantly surprised by Hancock
Song: Little Wonders by Rob Thomas
Friend of the year: Jenna. She arrived on the scene in the first part of the year and I really enjoyed getting to know her better throughout. From the sound of it she’ll be around for quite a while (she’s living with my brother Greg).
Most fun thing of 2008: Finding out we were pregnant again. Our free vacation in the Caribbean. Watching Nicole learn.
Most disappointing thing of 2008: the paycut I took for the new job. An ego bruise by choice is still painful but I’m hoping it proves worth it through this year.
Most Impressive: Nicole’s progress in every possible area.
Looking to 2009…
Most Anticipated Thing: losing my sanity while raising two kids… it’s time for man-on-man defense as they say
Most Nervous About: being one of those people who becomes kid-crazy and loses their own individuality
Goal: plans for our next big house project complete (deck? Back lot? Basement? Porch?). Even if it doesn’t get done this year I want to know what the plan is.
Resolution: Same as last year: To continue to put Nicole and Jim first. Nicole: Leaving work on time, to continue to help her learn and develop. Jim: to go on dates, remind him how much I love him on a daily basis, not nag
Age: 29 (I am ALREADY planning my 30th birthday party)
Weight: 151 (ok, for the record I get a bye because that was my weight at the doctor, fully dressed and 15 weeks pregnant. BEFORE I got knocked up I was 139)
Height: 5’6”
Hair: Blonde
NYE Activities: We babysat Ryann and watched the girls play until 9:15. Then we watched two episodes of Heroes on DVD, Dick Clark for 3 minutes, kissed, and talked in bed until Mike/Lindsay came. Didn’t miss the festivities of going out at all which probably makes Mike’s statement of “you’re more like Grandma and Grandpa all the time” true.
Best Of…
Movie: I really enjoyed Meet the Robisons and was pleasantly surprised by Hancock
Song: Little Wonders by Rob Thomas
Friend of the year: Jenna. She arrived on the scene in the first part of the year and I really enjoyed getting to know her better throughout. From the sound of it she’ll be around for quite a while (she’s living with my brother Greg).
Most fun thing of 2008: Finding out we were pregnant again. Our free vacation in the Caribbean. Watching Nicole learn.
Most disappointing thing of 2008: the paycut I took for the new job. An ego bruise by choice is still painful but I’m hoping it proves worth it through this year.
Most Impressive: Nicole’s progress in every possible area.
Looking to 2009…
Most Anticipated Thing: losing my sanity while raising two kids… it’s time for man-on-man defense as they say
Most Nervous About: being one of those people who becomes kid-crazy and loses their own individuality
Goal: plans for our next big house project complete (deck? Back lot? Basement? Porch?). Even if it doesn’t get done this year I want to know what the plan is.
Resolution: Same as last year: To continue to put Nicole and Jim first. Nicole: Leaving work on time, to continue to help her learn and develop. Jim: to go on dates, remind him how much I love him on a daily basis, not nag
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