I'd like to introduce myself, me llamo Mommy

Stepping out Saturday (and Sunday): A weekend of Firsts

2012-05-15T20:04:00.000-04:00

What a weekend!!!

On Saturday, we headed over to my brother and sister-in-law’s for Monkey Butts 1st Birthday Party. It was a warm day and an informal affair, so I was all casual in some Target purchased shorts, and LL Bean flip flips. A mostly undocumented outfit. But Munchkin celebrated in style, wearing an absolutely adorable Carter’s dress (an, erm, size 18M dress…what the what?!)

The Monkey Butt was styling in his own special Birthday shirt made by yours truly. I wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out, but I was pretty pleased with it (and you guys? It has googly eyes!!!).

The next day was my first Mother’s day. We were more formally attired as we went to mass earlier in the day. I was pleased to be able to still wear a dress that I bought three years earlier from good ol’ JCPenney’s. Munchkin wore two outfits, because her first outfit was a sailor suit. While absolutely beautiful,

LiveJournal Tags: stepping out Saturday,mother's day,first birthday,monkey butt,little brown cow

the sailor suit is white…and well, when she eats she looks like this:

So a white outfit+food=not on my watch. I only got this one picture of her in that outfit…just waking up from the baby napping spot.

The rest of the day she was ever so cute (and probably much more comfy) in her romper from Koala Baby.

Again, for this Stepping Out, I’m linking up with Mandy from Harpers Happenings:

The best day off. EVER.

2012-05-09T20:08:00.001-04:00

So who has been delinquent in her blog postings?

*looks around*

*sheepishly raises hand*

*Hurries to distract with an adorable baby*

I can’t blame work, because it’s back to roses and butterflies…tee hee…maybe not that awesome, but way way way better. But I’ve been in a crafting groove—and it’s blogging or crafting. Crafting is winning. But since I have to wait for paint to dry, I decided to let you into our day off a few Fridays back.

I took the day off to go to Heidi’s Bachelor of Fine Arts Senior Gallery for the Graphic Design Program. She didn’t know I was coming as I’m usually working. I was excited both by getting a day of on what was later named the worst day of work ever and surprising Heidi. Well, I was quite surprised the next day when Marc told me he had the day off (now mind you, he pissed me off first by refusing to get up for work…lol). And then he told me he took it off for us to go to the zoo…my favorite place ever…a zoo, any zoo, but the one here is just fine.

It started off looking cloudy and cold but it cleared up. And we had a wonderful day off.

Since the bears were moving around, it caught Autumn’s eye…but she really wasn’t sure what to make of it.

I have always found the vultures to be rather dull. But something was up with them this day. There was a keeper hiding behind a bush monitoring them. The vulture was running around grabbing a stick here or a leaf there and holding it in it’s mouth like a dog would. It was hilarious.

There was a VERY loud cow that apparently was an attention hog. She would moo very loudly if someone wasn’t looking at her.

And OMG…a baby gorilla. Autumn was transfixed by the gorillas. It was so cute.

I thought the tigers were cool. Autumn could care less…the same for most of the animals—including the majestic lions.

But the giraffes…Oh did we love the giraffes! She could have stared all day.

But, a day at the zoo was exhausting…and we couldn’t take a stroller into the Rainforest, so it was a no go this day. Booo…But we have a zoo membership. I will be back! Who else is coming?

Finished off our day with a quick run to the grocery store. It was munchkin’s first time sitting up in the seat of the shopping cart. What a big girl! Mommy is so happy—it makes grocery shopping much easier.

Later, we surprised Heidi at her gallery. It was very nice—Autumn even dressed for the event. Mommy slacked and didn’t take a single picture.

We need to have days like that more often. It was so great!!!

LiveJournal Tags: shopping,zoo,giraffe,gorilla,day off

May Day! May Day! My Daughter is growing up too Fast

2012-05-01T21:03:00.000-04:00

May day…as in the term used to signal distress…My baby girl is Six months old.

Time is a puzzling thing…I can’t believe only six months ago, we were laboring (oh, and how we were laboring), but how the heck did this child get to be six months old? It seems like a dream that she was once a little nugget incubating in my belly. Goodness knows she wouldn’t fit now.

After the last doctor's appointment, the doctor had indicated that the munchkin didn’t put on as much weight as he’d like. Today, he said she’s back on track. Right up in the top percentiles for everything…that’s my big girl.

So a recap of our first six months of parenting:

Feeding: My goal was to nurse six months. And six month I nursed. We hit this mark kicking and screaming with it being only twice a day by the end. But I think we’re done. The munchkin is no longer interested it seems. I like my pediatrician—he says she got the protection she needed in these past six month with no guilt trip attached. Now we’re on to bigger and better things—can carrots really be considered better?

Diapering: Well, it’s been six months and we’re still holding strong in the cloth diaper department. We’re not crazy must-cloth-diaper-all-the-time people. The sitters have a stash of disposables to use. And when we leave the house we put on a disposable—although I have been known to forget and then have a surprise to deal with at diaper change time. Even the husband is game. Granted diaper changes aren’t his favorite, but he’ll change them. I’m still content with my decision. Prefolds and flats make up our stash…cheaper than many other options and much much easier to wash. We use a snappi instead of pins for my husband’s peace of mind. I’m solely responsible for the getting them from the pail to washer…lol. But the fact that Marc doesn’t complain about them makes up for it. And after some of the craziness from disposables, he’ll deal with the cloth to avoid the larger explosion.

Growth: Big from the beginning—9 lbs 9 oz…phew. The munchkin stays right on target for top percentiles. She weighs in today at 17 lbs 6 oz with a length of 27.5 inches. Where she gets her height from is a mystery, but she is wearing size 12 month clothes…

Milestones: We’ve started rolling from front to back. Back to front will have to wait for the toes to taste less yummy—as that is currently munchkin's favorite thing to do when laying on her back. “Mamamamama” is frequently heard throughout the house (daddy’s working on getting some “dadadada”) but I know she associates nothing with the noise, besides sheer fun. We’ve been sitting alone for a month now and boy do we love books. To eat that is…in church my biggest challenge is to keep her from trying to swipe my book or that of someone near me.

Temperament: Mad baby banished. Smiles and giggles abound in this house—with tears reserved only for tired times (and informing mom and dad that “shots hurt”). That being said, I have a very serious child. Unknown elements and even sometimes the known have to earn their smiles. But once that smile comes out to play, it’s all uphill from there.

Sleep: My child, you spoil us. You’ve been putting in 4-5 hours at a time since birth and sleeping soundly through the night since six weeks. Your next sibling (God willing) is going to make up for it I fear. You nap every two hours. When we are home it’s clockwork. When we are not—if we don’t have somewhere to lay you, you forego the nap. And then are a cranky pants sometimes—but not mad baby, just cranky—there is too much to see, do and miss out on. Today for instance. We didn’t nap—until around 5:30. We went to the doctor (although we didn’t wake up for the day until 9:45 am), went to see Memere and some aunts and uncles, and then Noni came over. No time to sleep.

That’s all I can think of for the time being. I look forward to see what awaits us in the next six months. The next six months that will take their time passing so that we can savor every great and wonderful moment with our munchkin.

Happy Six Months Baby Girl

LiveJournal Tags: six months,growing,birthday,munchkin,sitting,solids,diapers,cloth,smile

“They” are back…

2012-04-30T21:04:00.000-04:00

So it looks like work is back to normal. I liked normal; moreover, I LIKE normal. Maybe I won’t sprint away from my computer 2.5 seconds after I’m done for the day, and that means…blog posts for you!!! Also I failed on the Stepping Out series…and it’s only week two. Next week…I promise.

---

With the many milestones a child reaches comes advice. Boatloads of advice. Luckily for me, my family is great about holding back unless asked. And I do ask. And then my mother laughs at me. Pretty much every time I ask her advice—laughter. But it’s ok, she has some good advice…and good perspective.

And then there’s the interweb world. The interweb world has lots and lots of advice. Sometimes it’s helpful. Sometimes it’s pretty harsh (read about some Natural birth advocates scorning C-sections…whew…nast-ay). Sometimes it’s funny…but usually it’s contradicting.

I’ve been contemplating about this post for a while. Since my child decided that she was going to grow up in the blink of an eye and not do anything on schedule—but rather mostly ahead of schedule…the milestone advice that “they” give per age category…yeah not so helpful.

The biggie that I’m running into now is centered around starting solids. My pediatrician indicated that the current timeframe is 6 months. For the munchkin that’s tomorrow (OMG RIGHT?!!), and she’s been eating solids for a couple weeks. “They” say four months. “They” say six months. “They” say when the child is sitting. “They” say when the child shows and interest. What’s a mother to do?

I decided I’d throw in a little common sense…if she wants food, I’ll see if she can handle it. And that’s what I did. I know neither of us (or our parents or siblings) have major food allergies, and I’m staying away from the major allergy culprits for the time being. Let’s see if I get yelled at tomorrow at Munchkin’s 6 month appointment…yay more shots (booo).

But it doesn’t end there. Now there’s tons of advice for first foods. What to eat at what age. How you should space the new foods out. On and on and on…I’m still muddling through that. Again…it’s a common sense (according to me) thing.

The newest advice “they” are coming out with deals with car seat recommendations. Instead of rear facing until age 1 or 20 pounds…it’s 2 and 40. Then in a forward facing seat/booster until age 10 or something crazy like that (I know if it’s the safest it’s not crazy)…supposedly car seats “expire” after 6 years…so, um, yeah.

But today I read this really well put together article, answering some very real questions. I myself was looking for an age guideline for using an umbrella stroller. And not only did it give the age requirements, it gave the logic behind it too. So this way, I can make an informed decision—disregarding the age guidelines, but following the realistic physical/mental suggestions. First time parents…this is for you.

-----

And to counterbalance all that text….

…One day this was just the easiest way to clean the Munchkin up. Best. Smile. Ever!!!

LiveJournal Tags: they,solids,car seat,advice,recommendations,smile,allergies

Next she’ll be asking for the keys…

2012-04-25T23:06:00.001-04:00

So I’m forcing myself to sit here back at the computer for a blog post because HOLY COW IS MY LITTLE GIRL GROWING UP!!! (yes, caps were/are necessary). Work has been nothing short of a blast lately—ugh. Luckily the torment and hate is supposed to draw to a close soon (Please Please Please be true). Our department has been fielding calls for something separate from our normal routine and it’s awful. For someone who likes to avoid conflict, this just flings it in my face. And so every night…as my shift draws to a close…I run screaming and yelling (I mean I would if I had a voice) from my computer.

But it’s been one thing after another over here—as Marc says, one day we’re gonna tell her that she never wanted to cuddle because she’s always had stuff to do (I cleaned that up a little--hehe). And he’s not kidding.

First, we have this….

And this

One day right before Easter the munchkin decided she was going to sit up on her own, and after that there was no stopping her. She’ll go for 45 minutes of play without falling over. What a big girl!

Then, we decided to try this…

Autumn kept trying to swipe my cup, so I decided to buy a sippy cup. I figured she wasn’t old enough for it, but since we’d need it eventually I wasn’t wasting money. Well…she took to it and has probably had a bottle three times since (she’s still nursing twice a day, but other than that it’s all sippy cup). And, honestly, I think she prefers the sippy.

And what falls naturally into that progression is this…

Now pediatricians these days recommend that babies start solids after six months, but this girl was ready. Along with swiping mommy’s cup, the food was also a target. So I decided to see if Autumn wanted some applesauce…silly question. She loved it…and we have slowly been building up her menu options ever since.

To add to her growing resume, yesterday Autumn rolled over for the first time (I think she has her sitting and rolling backwards, but to each their own) from front to back. She’s not proficient yet, and still gets stuck on her stomach, but it’s only a matter of time before she is a rolling maniac. I’m so sure of this, the baby gates have been installed.

She falls asleep so easily and quickly (thanks to daddy’s genetics I’m sure) and just recently we’ve eliminated the swaddling from the nighttime routine. I think she falls asleep even faster without it now (but it was a saving grace for quite a while).

She’s so much fun right now; you’d never know mad baby ever existed. Ms. Crazy Personality—she shrieks and eats our faces and get so excited over kitties and the huge truck filling cracks on our street. Everyday begins with a huge smile and is a new and awesome adventure. Stay tuned!

I leave you with the best expression ever. I don’t think she likes the grass in her face. What do you think?

LiveJournal Tags: munchkin,baby,sitting,rolling,sippy cup,solids,growing,swaddle,sleep

Stepping out Sunday…

2012-04-22T15:56:00.001-04:00

So I’m going to try to link up with Mandy from Harpers Happenings for her Stepping out Saturdays, but I’m doing it Sunday style. Since I don’t even need to dress up for work anymore, the dress code around here rarely veers from jeans and tees and rompers. But since we head off to church on Sundays, we try to change it up a bit. And since Autumn’s looking so cute, daddy cooperates for a photo session. And so I present Stepping Out Sunday…

Normally, the munchkin isn’t a cuddler…but today she was. And I’ll take all the baby cuddles I can get

Some Spitting action

Even Salem got in on the action.

On Autumn--dress: Carters (hand me down ); Long sleeve tee: Carters (garage sale snag from one of Autumn’s great aunts);Tights: Gaps Kids. On Mommy -- top: Body Central (the deals, oh the deals…I’m currently browsing the Summer catalog…such temptations); Camisole: Old Navy; Skirt: Old Navy; Necklace: Esty Shop LanOCrystal (gift from the Bro, SIL and Monkey Butt)

So I will be attempting to link up weekly…emphasis being placed heavily on attempting. As for the promised update on the every growing Munchkin…it’s coming, eventually.

LiveJournal Tags: munchkin,dressing up,Stepping out Saturday,Sunday

Ea’ter Bunny Day

2012-04-15T21:45:00.001-04:00

I realize it’s been a while since I’ve made a post…but we were busy.

We celebrated Ea’ter Bunny day, at Mark and Christine’s, with two of the cutest Ea’ter bunnies.

I love how we almost have a real smile from Autumn. At least she’s looking at the camera. Dylan sees a camera and knows he’s supposed to smile—even if it’s a cheesy smile (but it’s an awfully cute cheesy smile). Autumn sees a camera and very seriously and studiously stares at the camera.

(I love the fact that this picture captures the big wad of drool…yep, that’s how we roll. At least her eyes are smiling. )

We actually started Easter off with the Easter Vigil on Saturday at St. Leo’s where Peter was confirmed…and Wendy was baptized by Autumn (as was the kneeler and the floor). I’m so glad I decided to bring the entire diaper bag with the change of clothes; I had been debating on just throwing wipes and a diaper in my purse.

I didn’t plan the logistics of our Easter vigil outfits very well…froufrou slippery Autumn outfit plus slippery mommy outfit made the holding of the child a little more challenging than normal, but she was so cute it was worth it.

And since my family (Sarah…) feels the need to “borrow” my camera and be the paparazzi…there are some pictures to document the first family basketball I’ve participated in since 2009…it’s too dangerous to play with my family while pregnant. I managed to play a few games and not be sore the next day. I was shocked—and pleased!

But no doubt about it… Easter is an exhausting holiday.

There are so many big girl changes this week…that’ll just have to wait for the next post!

LiveJournal Tags: Easter,bunny,basketball,family

Aren’t babies hard enough to figure out?

2012-04-12T21:04:00.000-04:00

Ok so I needed to “upgrade” Autumn’s t-shirt collection. Well, her entire drawer really. We’ve hit 5 months—she’s out of 6-9 month clothing. WHAT THE HECK CHILD?!!

So, I go to the store…I stand there staring up and down the rack.

Newborn? (heck no, never needed those)

0-3? (moved on from those in January)

3-6? (Not too long ago we upgraded from those)

6-9? (That’s what we just grew out of…)

9-12?….. Um….yeah. So apparently my child will be naked for this period…

Since we can’t figure out our children, the children’s clothing company decided they too would play with new parents.

Do you know what is even better? Some children’s clothing companies do have size 9M clothing. Some clothing companies make 9M clothing (or 9-12 mos) in some articles of clothing and not in others…you know…just for fun.

So while this mother is trying to figure out what fits—because you know you can’t just have a five month old try on clothing. (Wouldn’t that be fun?)—clothing companies are hiding behind the clothing racks laughing. I swear I heard them…Or maybe I’m just paranoid?

----

And because I know it’s required….I present my growing machine sitting all by herself!

LiveJournal Tags: baby,clothing,baby clothing,sitting

The little ones meet the Easter Bunny…

2012-04-04T21:03:00.001-04:00

…or the flowers next to the Easter Bunny I’d say. You have to stand a certain distance back to use your own camera to take pictures. And the lighting and angle were less than ideal. The pictures I got aren’t the best. But I got pictures.

And the evidence shows, that while the kiddos were less than impressed with the unknown, slightly creepy rabbit they were sitting on…they didn’t cry. Well there’s always next year. Ha ha. I’m such a bad mother. My child’s refusal to look at a camera (especially when such interesting flowers are right there) is is full swing.

The Monkey Butt looked at the camera eventually…he did look up to check out the creepy bunny, but wasn’t sufficiently concerned. He trusts his aunts and memere way too much. Unfortunately my camera first was on video and then I dunno, so the pics aren’t so great

The best pictures actually are from Wendy’s phone…ugh. Somehow she captured the one second that munchkin was looking at us.

Hope everyone has a Hoppy Easter (or Passover) weekend (you know, in case I slack and don’t post again this week)!!!

LiveJournal Tags: easter,bunny,flowerss,pictures

Artery Clogging Yumminess

2012-04-03T21:04:00.000-04:00

So about a week ago, I promised to provide my recipes for what was promised to be the most awesome cupcake every made. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes certainly sound yummy. But man o’mercy they are a ton of work! It took me a span of three days to produce this:

Granted the decorating added a bit of time, but this cupcake on its own is three steps. First you make the cookie dough—you will need to plan ahead because it needs to be frozen so it doesn’t cook with the cupcake. Then, you mix up the cupcake batter, place the cookie dough and batter in the cupcake pan (NOTE: These are very, very heavy cupcakes. Use the paper cupcake liners…otherwise you may not get them out of the pan). :Lastly you will make the frosting and frost the cake. And yes it took me two boxes (8 sticks/4 cups) of butter!

These are heavy. My family (including Eric) could not eat this in one sitting. They could be a meal of their own. I recommend eating them with a fork.

If you want to try making this goodness, CLICK HERE.

I’m not sure if I’d make these again. True, they were good, but not all of awesome—at least to me. And they took a long, long time to make. However, my family very graciously volunteered to eat them anytime I wanted to make these cupcakes. If you make them, let me know what you think.

----

Now for the bunny ears I made fondant from marshmallows. This recipe I’ll definitely make again. It was so easy and gave me a different way to decorate my cakes. The recipe suggests dyeing small potions for different colors individually, which I may do depending on how I plan on decorating the cake. In this instance though, I have Food coloring markers so I colored on the fondant. This is cheap and easy fondant—plus you can flavor it so it doesn’t taste like the nasty store bought stuff.

You can find the recipe HERE.

I used big marshmallows and my hand mixer. After mixing it, I kneaded it in the bowl. Saved on a big mess on my counter. I kept it in the fridge until I was ready to use it—I did take it out about an hour before I used it to soften. But it was super easy.

A recommendation for storing the fondant decorated cake: Even in my parents’ kitchen, which is not the warmest place (read that to say “often frigid”), the ears began to soften and droop. Next time I’ll store it in the fridge until I’m ready to serve it (or outside in the winter—biggest refrigerator in the world (doesn’t use any extra electricity either)).

I present my final product: A field of Bunnies

And my little helper. She taste tested the frosting and gave it her approval.

LiveJournal Tags: easter,cupcakes,frosting,fondant,chocolate chip cookie dough,marshmallows,buttercream,bunny

You can indeed kiss a baby too much.

2012-03-31T19:26:00.001-04:00

With a face like this, all you want to do is smooch kisses all over those cheeks…

Especially, when kisses make her laugh and laugh and laugh….

And so you kiss and kiss and kiss…

And you know for sure when you’ve kissed this baby too much, when you realize how chapped your lips are.

But it’s so worth it.

LiveJournal Tags: kisses,munchkin

Time and Talent We Treasure

2012-03-30T21:39:00.001-04:00

We made an announcement last May and have since realized we know such crafty people. Not just crafty people, but those who are so generous with their time and talent. While we most definitely appreciate all the generosity from ALL our friends and family—no matter in what form it was given--I thought I’d share a little taste of the handiwork that you all showered on the Munchkin.

This very beautiful and unique (the pattern has since been dubbed the Autumn Rose) blanket was crocheted by my co-worker Adrian. It’s is sooo heavy. Currently, it' serves as Munchkin Central and this is where we play…evidenced by the ridiculous number of toys in the picture.

Serving as the blankets to cover munchkin while in her Pack n Play and her Bouncy seat we have another crocheted blanket and this custom made froggy quilt from Marc’s co-worker and my mother in law’s co worker respectively.

And in this corner is the most awesome hat in the world…currently not appreciated by my hat-hating child, but loved by EVERYONE else (don’t worry she’ll come around). In case you can’t tell it’s a fish!!! Do you like that I’m holding it’s like it’s really a fish? Andrea…you’re awesome!

My ever handy father made this cradle for all the Knox Grandkids…even those without the last name Knox. This was the Munchkin’s sleep spot from the day she came home until just recently. The multiple bed sheets, such as this one with colorful stars are from the sewing machine of one awesome Memere. They’re much better than the boring ones she could have bought. She even made her own pattern…and all this from a Memere that really doesn’t enjoy sewing.

These two blankets are from the knitting needles of two wonderful ladies. The creator of the fishy hat made this green blanket, and the grandmother of a friend knit the yellow one—and I’ve only met her once!

These cute little bears are also from the hands of the wonderful grandma that made the yellow blanket up above. Because she didn’t know if it was a girl Munchkin or a boy Munchkin…she made one of each. The soft white blanket underneath the bear pair (oh what a poet I am), was gifted to us by a friend’s mother. I didn’t use it for a few months because it was perfect for her baptism and I wanted it to stay clean. But now it’s in the blanket rotation.

I looked all over for a shelf to put in the baby’s room. I had a lamp and radio to put on top and a place for books or toys and what have you. I couldn’t find what I wanted. So I begged and pleaded (actually I just asked nicely) with my dad to make me one…and now I have just what I wanted.

These awesome wall decals were mentioned in an earlier post. But they are from the artistic brain of Brandy.

This beautiful sweater comes from the hands of my crafty great aunt. Munchkin has some growing to do yet before it fits, but she will be warm and oh so cute when it does fit.

This little elf is showing off her colorful and cozy sweater made just for her by her Great Aunt Kathryn. It arrived to our door quite timely. Following the string of 70s and 80s (notice the munchkin’s bare legs) we’ve had some cold weather. And she’s been warm and cozy and oooh so cute. We get comments everywhere we go.

Here the munchkin is making good use of another handmade quilt. This quilt, however, it’s a well loved and passed on quilt that originally was a gift from Great Aunt Kathryn to Munchkin’s mommy to keep her warm and cozy when she was a little girl (for those of you not gifted in simple genealogy—that was my blanket )

I think that is a complete accounting of all the handmade goodness that spoiled us. Tell me if I forgot something so I can add it and show off you awesome and much appreciated talent.

Believe it when I say that every single one of these items is loved and appreciated. They will be well cared for and passed for as long as we are able…for Munchkin’s siblings…or Munchkin’s munchkins (but we’re not thinking about that now) some day.

THANK YOU!!!

LiveJournal Tags: gifts,crafts,knit,crochet,love,talent,treasure,time

A deviation from my norm…

2012-03-29T15:57:00.001-04:00

So normally my posts are filled with joyful screeches and cute pictures of the munchkin, but this post has been stewing in my head for a while…

I have become an apathetic American, and I hate it. But I have found it increasingly difficult to care about the political state of my country. From uneducated political comments on Facebook annoying the hell out of me—from which I refrain from commenting because I just don’t want to get into that—to political campaigns beginning practically the day after an election. It’s too much in your face.

I hate that people use Facebook as a place to discuss politics. Why? Well frankly there are a ton of people you are friends with on Facebook with whom you would NEVER in a million years discuss politics. As the saying goes, politics falls among religion and money as three topics that are not brought up in polite company.

Then there’s the whole, I’ll vote for you and your platform, but once you get into your position, Congress, or fellow legislatures, or town boards, etc. etc. etc.…will veto and turn down all the propositions I have voted you into government for. Then the populace will says you didn’t deliver…as president, or country exec, or whatever. But the ignore the fact that the propositions were made, the laws were introduced and shot down…One person is not to blame. In fact usually it’s a majority to blame. A majority I have no control over…and therefore…I get disgruntled…and become quite uncaring.

I do vote…and start paying attention once MY STATE’s primary happens. My feelings are that you can’t complain unless you’ve tried to do something about it. And what I can try to do is get someone I agree with (mostly) into office—and hope that the majority agrees with them.

I hate debates—rarely does any politician answer the questions…annoying. I won’t watch them. I know when they are happening though because my Facebook wall fills up with play by plays of the debates….again, enough with the Facebook politics.

I hate party politics, but try as we might that’s never going to go away. When you have votes split entirely with Democrats voting only with Democrats and Republicans with Republicans…they aren’t voting their conscience. Recently (perhaps today) there was a vote on Big Oil (we are not going to discuss that, how I feel about it or how you feel about it). I believe only three or four crossed party lines. I want to know who they were. I’ll vote for them—clearly they aren’t playing the party politics. When Clinton was up for impeachment (again….not discussing the yea or nay), again the vote was split down the line with only one or two crossing over. I’m sorry, but that wasn’t a situation where politics should have come into play. That was base on fact and law, and personal interpretation. If that indeed was the case Democrats and Republics would not have been so cleanly divided…

And so. Therein lies the cause of my apathy…If you’ve made it this far—I apologize for the rant…I just needed to put this into words somewhere. Maybe some of you feel the same way. Maybe some of you feel I’m ridiculous.

And now we return to our regularly scheduled broadcast….

LiveJournal Tags: politics,apathy,election,primary,american,voting

What you can do with two boxes of butter…

2012-03-28T21:16:00.001-04:00

Work has been crazy busy. Enough that I don’t want to sit at my computer any longer to do a real blog post…

That said, this is what I did today—and yesterday and Sunday. These cupcakes are not a one sitting project.

I link up the recipes and such later….

Also, since I’m told that all people care about is Autumn…I leave you with the screecher.

The Screecher

LiveJournal Tags: cupcakes,easter,bunny,autumn,munchkin

Daddy’s Little Clone

2012-03-22T21:04:00.000-04:00

So as I was skimming back to older posts, I realized I alluded to the fact that my child looks like her father. Totally and completely—apart from my toes—my child has none of my physical attributes as of yet. Her features are softening and the stark resemblance to daddy has faded (only slightly) but she still looks like her Daddy.

November 2011:

March 2012:

I have been told on more than one occasion: “I’m sorry but she looks NOTHING like you.”

Oh, well…I’ll deal. There’s always the next one.

Then there’s another trait this child gets from her father. This one is inevitable I suppose. She has a need to grab at phones, iPads, Nooks…although she does try to put them in her mouth. I’m pretty sure her father doesn’t do that."

”Technology. Don’t mind if I do.”

Perhaps she’s going to be a musician. Marc has had the munchkin playing the piano app on his iPad, and so I found one for my Nook.

Technology? Don’t mind if I do.

Think she likes it?

LiveJournal Tags: technology,baby,music,munchkin,daddy,piano

It was an accident

2012-03-21T21:04:00.000-04:00

On Sunday night I was feeling rather lazy, and preyed on the Daddy-loves-his-daughter side of Marc and asked him if he’d put the munchkin to bed.

And he did…but not in the bed where she normally spends the night.

I, upon going up to go to bed myself, see that she’s not in the cradle but the crib and walk downstairs a bit sad.

“She’s in her crib…” I say. and Marc turns around with an apologetic look on his face.

“Oh, no. I’m sorry.” He says.

Normally Marc doesn’t put Autumn down for the night, but for a nap. And she naps in her crib. She spends the night in the cradle.

But not anymore.

Now, she sleeps in her crib. I felt silly waking her up and moving her on Sunday, when in my head I know she’s ready. She’s sleeping through the night—and has been for a very long time. And moving her to her room now is probably easier than moving her later. I intended to wait until she was rolling and, thereby, making the cradle unsafe—but sometimes fate, or a forgetful daddy, steps in and makes the decision for you.

So now…when she fusses in the middle of the night…I have to do the drunken not fully awake stumble into her room. The first night that happened once, the second not at all…but the third…last night I was up a bagazillion times…or maybe 6. I will be honest, had that happened on the first night, she’d be back in the cradle still.

Wish me good luck…I do enjoy my sleep. I know, I know, I get a good amount of sleep for a mother of a four month old. But I’m spoiled…

I hope that after the munchkin goes to sleep tonight, that the next time I see her, this is the happy face I see at 8:30 am…and no sooner.

------

And following the theme of sleep…a couple cute pictures for the road. I present the sleeping munchkin and monkey butt:

LiveJournal Tags: baby,autumn,munchkin,monkey butt,sleep,crib,cradle

Who jinxed me?

2012-03-20T21:04:00.000-04:00

So back in the early days, people came to visit. We went visiting. And my daughter? Well, she rolled with the punches. It was not uncommon for her to be sleeping…anywhere and everywhere.

For instance…

(look how much she has changed from the beginning)

In arms, table, on the boppy….this child was like her father and could fall asleep anywhere. I’d have to have people put her down when it was time to eat or she wouldn’t wake up. Now…now she must be in a bed—pack n play, my bed, her crib…away from distractions and wrapped tightly (trying to break that need because this warm weather she sweats like crazy when she’s swaddled), with her music playing and her pacifier in her mouth.

When she’s put down in a bed, the minute you start to wrap her she knows it’s time to sleep and is pretty easy to get to sleep. However if you’re out and about and want her to sleep in her car seat, or in your arms….Forget about it. This makes church a blast let me tell you…lol.

The car also isn’t a guarantee. Put her in her seat? She may fall asleep…

…or she may not. But she definitely isn’t one of those kids whose fussy spell can be broken by a car ride. She’ll also often fall asleep on a walk…but usually not until the end of a thirty minute walk. The other day we decided to try the stroller since she could fully recline, and wouldn’t you know she became a chatterbox…no going to sleep there.

But when she does fall asleep in the stroller…boy, isn’t she cute.

Also, my super nurser…the one who was a good feeder from the beginning…yeah that one has decided she only wants to be fed from a bottle during the day. Morning and nights are fine to nurse, but God forbid during the day. Makes it a bit more difficult that’s for sure. I’m bound and determined to make it at least through the 6 month mark with my child getting at least some of the “good stuff.” So even if she gets it in a bottle, she’s at least still getting it.

Yeah so…. who jinxed me…

(It’s so crazy how drastic they change month to month, week to week, day to day. I’m interested in seeing what else will change.)

LiveJournal Tags: sleep,nursing,breastfeeding,bottle,stroller,car seat,car,swaddle,jinx

Yeah, so I think March came in like a lamb….

2012-03-20T00:45:00.001-04:00

Our planet is a mess…It is absolutely 100% not winter-like at all. Heck I think we skipped Spring…Is it wrong of me to enjoy the results of a messed up Earth? (Except for the mosquito bites on the bottom of my foot and the ant invasion beginning early that is)

The temperature has been in the 60-70+ range for days. On Saturday my child was barefoot for the first time in her life (well post-natal anyway—I’m pretty sure she didn’t wear socks in the womb. If that happened I’d love to see the expression on the doctor’s face). And she was in a romper. And it’s March. AND IT’S STILL WINTER!!!!

This weather has also caused a post I had started yesterday to be bumped for this one and all the summer/winter photos of the munchkin.

Sunday, the same thing. I even managed to drag the hubs for a walk.

And today…Autumn and I decided to investigate our neighborhood park. I’m kinda loving the idea that we have a park that we can walk to. So that’s where we went. Munchkin had her first go on a swing. I think she liked it. Granted swinging meant my hand on the swing barely moving it. But since she’s never even been in a baby swing, this is all new.

My big girl is also riding in the stroller without the whole travel system in place (aka no car seat attached). With so much to look at she didn’t fall asleep until the end of the walk.

The other nice thing about bare feet—the world can see the only physical trait my child has as of yet acquired from me…our pinky toes.

My attempts at a Mommy and Munchkin picture…Since no one else takes my picture, I best perfect the self-portrait shot…or take out my Gorilla Pod…

I hope you are all enjoying this “wintery” week as much as we are!

LiveJournal Tags: winter,munchkin,playground,swing,bare feet,toes

Just like Mommy…

2012-03-14T21:35:00.001-04:00

Finally! Some indication that she is my child…

As her father says “Just like your mommy, you don’t give me a chance to get a word in.” Since as of right now that is the only clearly mommy-like trait displayed, I’ll gladly admit that I talk a lot (like I could deny it anyway). However, most of the world hasn’t seen this side of the munchkin…yet. Like her mommy, she’s quiet around new people…getting a feel for the place, the people and the situation…then comes the real Me. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before the whole world gets in on the babble.

And then there’s the shriek. It’s randomly interspersed in the babble…or occasionally while she’s entertaining herself—I think she gets the shrieking from her daddy. hee hee

In the last few days, we’ve seen some other changes and emerging personalities.

Most of the time when she wakes up now, it’s with a babble (usually as she’s trying to figure out how to get the pacifier in her mouth, since we fake swaddle her hands—that’s what I call it anyway). It’s the best way to wake up in the morning. Then when she notices you watching her…the biggest grin appears on her face. “Good Morning Mommy!” I love it!

-->I swear she was trying to copy my dramatized sniffing-the-flowers noise, but I’ll willingly admit I may have an overactive imagination.

-->Sleeping kitties….first they are stared at…then, if within grabbing distance, out come the hands…so far I’ve been able to deflect into a petting motion. Poor kitties, it’s only a matter of time.

-->Autumn can now hold a small bottle for herself. At her last doctor visit, Autumn hadn’t put on quite as much weight as the doctor would like (really?! try holding her for any length of time—and she has baby rolls) so I have been giving her two extra bottles of 2 oz after her mid day feedings. I know it won’t help build up any additional “natural supply” on my part, but with working and other factors—it is what it is. But I make her feed herself. She wants it—so she has to work for it. I know, I’m a mean mom.

-->That’s also my policy with the pacifier. I hand it to her and she has to put it in her mouth. It quiets her down while she’s concentrating just as well—and it’s good for hand-eye….mouth coordination. As for the pacifier my goal is to have it strictly for sleeping (and possibly car rides and church…desperate times calls for desperate measures…) by six months. As it is, during the day she never has it but for naps, it’s the evenings when I’m working that are going to be tougher.

-->Also I’m teaching her to beat up her cousin. That’s ok right? She has to defend herself—he’s always trying to rip her face off…

Or an appendage…

And it’s such a cute face….

(Please pardon the cruddy video/photo quality—my phone is no bueno in the media department.)

LiveJournal Tags: munchkin,cousin,talking,babbling,baby,pacifier,bottle,smile

A whole lotta weekend

2012-03-13T21:28:00.001-04:00

Shots. Suck. Autumn had her four month shots on Friday. I think she knows that the doctor is the mean man—she cried before she even got her shots. But luckily the shots don’t usually bother her until the next day (and oh she was unhappy in the morning—nothing a little Tylenol couldn’t fix) because we had a wedding to attend. I could have gotten a babysitter, but I would have been worried about how she was feeling. If she was cranky I’d just leave early. But my little girl was sooooo good. She got a lot of loving from her Memere and her Aunts, not to mention her mommy and daddy. I was nice to have something to dress up for. Now that I work from home and have this adorable munchkin, I don’t have much cause to get all dolled up. I had fun.

My child simply refuses to look at the camera.

Saturday was a Mommy Downer day…I was full of the gloom. Luckily, we had a chance to head over to some friends house for some baby face time (you know, the old fashioned non iPad/iPod/iPhone meaning). The kiddos still haven’t made super successful introductions, but they did stare at each other…next time.

Sunday was an impromptu decision to go celebrate a cutie pie turn three. Happy Birthday Big Guy!!!

Autumn and I got there in time to have cake before our dinner. The munchkin has decided that taking a nap in the carseat or while being held isn’t cool. And that made for a long morning in church and birthday present shopping…without a nap. So I let her sleep and arrived to the party late to avoid a repeat of Mad Baby (who hasn’t shown up at this house in over a week—yay!)

Look at all those pictures of my cutie (yeah still not looking at the camera)—not a single one with her mother. No wonder I can never find many with the two of us. If it’s because I’m not holding her when there is a camera around, that’s because you people don’t let me.

Look at those beautiful flowers. It’s been so nice outside I had to bring some Spring in the house. You can never go wrong with flowers from Aldi. See fellows, cheap, pretty and makes a girl happy—but I bought these myself.

I finally finished the project that was begun and bumbled badly. I patched the wall, painted, put up the shelves. Just need to finish deciding what to put on the shelves.

I’ll send you on your way with a picture of the munchkin—looking at the camera (only took like ten pictures). Not that you can tell here, but she was jabbering away. Quite the talker these days, at least to mom and dad.

LiveJournal Tags: munchkin,wedding,dressing up,birthday,flowers

Window Shopping

2012-03-12T21:25:00.001-04:00

(So I wrote this blog on Friday…it chose not to post at it’s scheduled time…)

When the season’s start to change, I get the urge to shop. Particularly from Winter to Spring and Summer to Fall. Well this year has been a little different, as I have no idea what my size will be once I stop nursing—and online shopping is tricky because clothing fits me differently now. Also, I’m working part time and from home. I don’t have a need to dress up—practically never. I’m trying to be good about my purchases.

So what do I do? I online “window” shop.

Sites with expiring sales are the best. I browse, add things to my cart and when I think maybe I’ll buy it—it’s gone. No buyer’s remorse. I’ll probably break down as it gets a little nicer outside. I emptied out my closet back in January I think and sent Sarah home with a ton of clothes that just isn’t going to fit me anymore…or for quite a while. She might as well wear it, rather than have it take up storage space in my closet. Autumn stole our extra dresser for a changing table so…less space to keep things too.

Then there are the clothes for munchkin. Thankfully I am too practical for my whim or I’d be in seriously trouble. Little girl clothes? Have you seen it? That and the fact that my child currently is growing like a weed. I have no idea what size she’ll be in which season. We’ll find out tomorrow how much this growth spurt continues…

that and shots….

Fun to come!

Slow that baby down

2012-03-07T22:29:00.001-05:00

No seriously, can we? Seriously, the munchkin is FOUR months old already. Count ‘em…1…2…3…4…I used almost all of my fingers on the right hand (or was it my left?) to count that high. I’m not ok with that.

Well, maybe I am, kinda…because it seems like over a period of hours my child developed a personality. Not even exaggerating. I can tell you when it happened. It happened Sunday. We celebrated my new decade (just a few weeks late) and then we went home. As Marc was changing Autumn, she started hamming it up. And she hasn’t stopped since. She has become such a goofball. It’s so much fun around this house now—seriously. We may have even vanquished Mad Baby (give me a high five!!!).

In just the last week or so we’ve made some headway into understanding what makes the munchkin tick. And what makes her tick is our new found schedule. I have discovered that she wakes up before she is truly done getting her needed sleep. And we used to get her up when she cried (thanks to some random comment on some random baby site), I no longer do that. Not unless I get the wide eyed, busy tailed “Mommy, I’m awake” Smile. No smile, nap isn’t over. And what a huge difference it makes. I get breakfast AND a shower in the morning and housework done in the after noon.

I have also discovered that the little girl is very happy at keeping herself entertained for decent spans of time. AKA…more housework, usually laundry. She’s quite the persistent little girl and has become Miss Grabby. In just a week she went from swinging and missing at things in front of her, to adeptly snatching things directly in front of her. She still isn’t super skilled to the right and left, but she’s getting there. Watch out! In fact she grabs at the toys attached to her bouncer chair and gets sooo mad when she can’t put them into her mouth.

So, we’re all learning in leaps and bounds. She can sit propped up quite well…not on her own yet. But it’s only a matter of time, because when you go to lay her down she’ll tighten her abs and fight it. She can hold up her head when she’s on her tummy like a champ (but that’s really nothing new). She’s slowly adding the grabbing routine to her tummy skills, but it’s not really something she can brag about yet.

She naps in her crib now, but is still in the cradle in Mommy and Daddy’s room at night, because Mommy isn’t ready quite yet to move her out. But we know she accepts her crib as a sleeping place, and I’m pretty sure that will be a smooth transition (*knocks on wood*).

The munchkin has developed the cutest little belly and baby rolls. Can you say chubby legs? We had to upgrade to the regular sized cloth diapers already. We’ll get the official measurements (and her four month shots) on Friday.

Oh, yeah. Munchkin also had her first haircut. It was a little nerve-wracking endeavor for us. But we did it. It was mostly a trimming of the long crazy baby hairs flopping about on her head and evening up the back. But all was accomplished without injury to mommy, daddy, or baby.

Before:

After:

We’ve spent some time getting all acquainted with the Monkey Butt…but some one needs to teach that kid boundaries. As in you don’t lift girls’ skirts…

Or look down their shirts…(for the record that was right before he totally pulled my neckline out…

It’s been a busy week, not to mention month, of growing, changing and being. I’m sure now that it’s started we’re just going to accelerate to college…anyone know where they hide the pause button on these baby units?

LiveJournal Tags: baby,four months,growing,mad baby,happy baby,monkey butt,munchkin,haircut,shots,naps,schedule

BKFF (Best Kitty Friends Forever)

2012-03-06T21:02:00.000-05:00

Autumn has recently discovered that there are two other “things” in her house (because we know we don’t run this place anymore) that move. Just within the last few days when the cats cross her line of vision, they become the newest all engrossing object of adoration (read as: thing to stare at).

Cat tails, are very interesting. Salem and Jasmine just you wait! I have happened upon the kitties and Autumn napping together—no where near being harmful no worries. I’m convinced Autumn naps better when Jasmine is around. It’s pretty ironic really—Jasmine would leave the room the minute Autumn cried at the beginning and is now the one to pay the most attention to her. As Jasmine is the more laidback of the two, I don’t mind that at all. As it is, Salem and Jasmine are going to be her Best Kitty Friends.

LiveJournal Tags: kitties,cat,baby,nap,friend

The Sieve

2012-03-02T21:05:00.000-05:00

(or, since I’m a fan of alternate titles, “The post Sarah was wondering if I’d every get to”)

The other day, after asking my mom to remind me to stop over at my Grandpa’s, she called me a Sieve. No term has more accurately described my brain of late than that term. Everyday, many, many, many times a day the words “Where is my cell phone” come out of my mouth. I walk into a room to do one thing, only to leave it without accomplishing the task…some of this has to do with a little sleep deprivation (I know, I know, my kid sleeps through the night. But Marc works, then I work when he gets home. So I stay up too late to spend time with him—and the morning wake up call comes no later than eight…).

There are some things, however, you should not do when sleep deprived. One of those things is this:

Hanging Shelves…especially when that requires math…not such a good idea. Because you will end up with this:

A wall that needs patching, priming and painting. Yeah…reading 144 inches as 14’ 4” does not a centered shelf make.

Because Sarah and I so successfully completed one projected (complete with rehanging and spackling the wall), we decided to do another. But this time we had adequate supervision:

See who is in charge of the tape measure? This project turned out with much less fanfare (that’s good…it means we didn’t mess up).

(Sherri, recognize those sconces? Yep, wedding present. Only took just shy of three years to put up)

But before the job is complete, the supervisor must do a final inspection.

It’s serious business these inspections. She seems to approve…as does the baby in the mirror.

Now I just need to paint over the primed and spackled holes, rehang the shelves and then accessorize. I already know the main item…Our Wedding Present from Heidi (but we just got this one THIS CHRISTMAS—slacker lol). It’s pretty nice isn’t it? Marc and I in our younger years…

LiveJournal Tags: shelves,home improvement,sleep deprivation,sieve,autumn

If I didn’t have a baby, they’d institutionalize me…

2012-03-01T21:02:00.000-05:00

Seriously, the things parents say must sound insane to the surrounding world.

For instance I took a walk with my newly turned four month old (and in denial about that… moving on…)

As we walked we “talked.” By we, clearly I mean me…

And by talking I mean that I said the following:

“Oh look at the tree. Isn’t that a big tree? You like trees. Oooh look another tree…it’s a different tree. Isn’t that an interesting tree…”

Wash, rinse, repeat.

Ad nauseam…

Does it frighten anyone else that people exhibiting certifiable behavior are the very ones allowed to care for children?

What a big girl!

LiveJournal Tags: baby,parent,walk,tree,sanity