Teatopia

We leave tomorrow!

I should probably be asleep considering we have to get up in 6 hours to head to the airport. I just finished packing. Whew!

Of course, aunt Flo decided to show up tonight. I think I've had my period on every trip I've been on, ever (except when I was pregnant/post-partum).

I'm excited, but there's something I'm kind of sad about. Tomorrow will be the first day my mom hasn't seen Olivia since she was born. I know it's silly. I should be thankful to have my mom here. I don't know anyone else whose mom is able to help so much. My mom has seriously seen Olivia every single day. I just feel sad that we're breaking the trend.

I'm a little worried about traveling with Olivia in general. I'm going with my grandma, but she can't walk and hold Olivia, so I'm kind of on my own.

And one of my biggest worries: Olivia is getting worse and worse about sleeping. I'm starting to wonder if something is wrong. I know babies can revert back to waking up a lot when they are teething or sick, but she does it all the time, no matter what. She's up every 2-3 hours at night, takes forever to fall asleep. Usually she screams for a while because she's just so tired, but can't fall asleep. She never naps more than 15 minutes, and never more than a couple times a day, if that. It's as if the mechanism in your body that help you fall sleep is just missing in her. I can't explain it. I've tried everything, and of course, everyone thinks they know what it is. "Have you tried cereal before bed" Uh huh. "Give her a warm bath to calm her down" Done that. We've also tried stimulating her to wear her out. Nothing works. She has dark circles under her eyes all the time. I'm beginning to think something's wrong. And I'm dreading the night-wakings (and the screaming) while at someone else's house this weekend.

I have a question for the moms who are still nursing. Now that your babies are eating food, how often do they nurse? I'm worried Olivia sometimes goes too long between feedings.

I'll try to blog while I'm away.

EEEEWWWWWWWWWWW

My toe nail FINALLY grew back from my injury back in July. (remember when my big toe nail was ripped off?) Well, it grew back kind of funny and it was totally ingrown on one side-- all swollen and filled with puss. The doctor (and Google) said that trauma to a nail can cause irregular growth. So, today, I went to the podiatrist and he numbed me (shots in the toe hurt like hell since your finger tips and toes are so sensitive). Then, he dug out the side and killed the nerves so it won't grow back. I am in some major pain. Major, major pain. This hurts worse than it did when my nail ripped off. Ouchy.

This will give you an idea of what was wrong, and what they did to fix it.

If you are interested, you can see the procedure here, although I caution you, it ain't pleasant.

And then, something else totally yucky!

A couple night ago, we had breakfast for dinner at my parents. Don't you just love eating breakfast for dinner? Yum! My sister said the syrup on her pancakes tasted funny. James said it tasted fine to him. Then he looked at his plate and said, "it probabaly tastes funny because there are tons of bugs in the syrup!" We all looked at him like "yeah, right" but when I looked at his plate, I knew he wasn't kidding. His plate was filled with bugs swimming in syrup. Gross. Do you know how glad I am that I chose then berry flavored syrup instead? My sister said she felt like things were crawling in her for the rest of the night. We're not sure how they got in, but I am so glad I didn't eat any!

BIG catch-up post with lots of pics! (we have a talker!)

A lot has happened around here at casa de teatopa. The in-laws left yesterday at 5:45 am. It was sad saying goodbye, knowing that it might be a while before we see them again. I say in-laws, but actually, it's James's mom and her bf, but we know him pretty well, so he gets the in-law title. I know Olivia enjoyed spending time with her Mom-mom. I also enjoyed the goodies they made/brought. Homemade apple pie and cinnamon bread from the Amish in PA, wine, the awesome hot wings Mike (MIL's bf) made us one night. I out-ate everyone, although I'm not sure that's something to brag about. I'm a nursing mama though, so I totally have an excuse. :-)

We went through all the boxes MIL brought down of James's stuff, and I felt like I really have learned more about him after going through his stuff. My husband never seems to remember anything. The other night I asked him about what girls he liked in high school, but he couldn't remember. I asked him about his first kiss. "I don't really remember" he said. Huh? Who doesn't remember their first kiss? From going through his stuff, I learned that he was voted "most studious" his senior year of high school. That's my nerd! I learned that he used to collect coins, and that he attended the inauguration of President Clinton for his first term. Interesting.

And now for the big stuff. We've got a talker! Besides saying "uh oh" (and she now says it when stuff drops!), she says "bye bye" (but it sounds more like bah bah) and waves with both hands. She's has me tearing up constantly lately. I am so freaking proud!!!!! She's also figured out how to crawl after all that rocking and scooting. She doesn't crawl just to crawl though. It's more for utiliatrian purposes, but she's definitely crawling. She hasn't quite realized how much fun it is. She only crawls to get somewhere. It's so strange to watch her getting around on her own. It used to be that I had to carry her everywhere, but now she can get there herself, and it's making me nostalgic. She also immitates everything these days: she shakes her head at us, sticks out her tongue, immitates many sounds. What happened to my tiny girl? She's discovering so much now-- everyday brings something new.

We also gave her Gerber fruit puffs (banana flavored) a few days ago, and she loves them. She likes to feed herself (even with baby food, she wants to put the spoon in her own mouth). I bought some sweet potato puffs today, so we'll see how she likes them.

Earlier, I was taking pictures of her crawling around, and I waved to her, and she stopped, waved and said "bah, bah!"

She's also not nursing as well, but it's only a problem during the day when other stuff is going on. At night, when she's tired and it's quiet, she wants to nurse every few hours (yep, we're back to the constant waking) but during the day, she's often distracted. I mean, why would you want to face a boob when you could watch the dogs, or the TV, or try to figure out what made noise when the heat came on? I don't think she's weaning herself-- Oh God, I can't even think that. So not ready for that!!! I just think she's extremely nosey, but in a good way.

Last night, I put up our Christmas tree. Yes, I put up the tree, all by my lonesome. James was working on his end-of-semester project because he's going out of town (more on that shortly) and then when he finished, he was watching the baby. I actually picked out the tree and got it home with the help of my mom and sister (no fake tree for me. Love the real thing!). Stupidly, I didn't have them saw off the end. I didn't know where the tree stand was, and I told the guy my husband would saw it off when we were ready to put it up, because I didn't want the tree to dry out. But I ended up finding the stand myself, so I sawed off the end (took forever!) and got it up, put the lights on, and decorated it. And I totally cried everytime I unpacked an ornament I bought last year that said "parents-to-be" or when I found my pregnant snowman ornament. I remember thinking last year, as I hung those on the tree, that the next time I hung them, she'd be here, and I could hear her screaming the whole time (will those teeth ever come in??) I put them up this year.

On Friday, because it's tradition, I headed over to my mom's to help decorate the "family" tree. Olivia pooped right before we got started, and my mom told my sister and I to get started while she changed her, so we did, except that we didn't use ornaments.

Yes, that's a thong you see and no, it's not mine. I don't wear thongs. The other things you see are bananas, a coke can, and some other crap. My sister and I are so weird. You totally think I'm weird now, right?

Back to James's trip. He leaves in one week for his annual conference in Orlando, but I leave this Friday for Virginia to visit my aunt (so excited, but nervous traveling with an infant, and a breastfeeding one, especially after this). Anyway, James leaves before I get back, so we'll just miss each other. We're going on a big date this Thursday though. Any good movies playing?

OK, Olivia is fighting a nap BIG TIME right now. Gotta go.

Thanksgiving

-- Last night, James and I got into a big argument over a bunch of things: the fact he's rarely home, the fact that I never have time for myself, that I've been cleaning up after everyone AND taking care of the baby more than I should be with 3 other people in the house. I know he needs time to see his mom since he only sees her once a year, but I want a break to visit too! I totally blew up, cried, told him I was going to my mom's, but then decided that would be stupid at 1:00 in the morning, so I fell asleep mad. This morning, James apologized, and took the baby so I could sleep in. We talked about everything. I promised to be more understanding about how busy he is (full time job-- and a mgt position at that-- and grad student) and he promised to try to make a little more time to give me a break. Then, when the in-laws went for a drive, he totally made it up to me. *wink, wink* I can tell he's really made an effort today, continuously asking what he can do to help.

-- I baked a carrot souffle (like a carrot custard) and a cheesy squash casserole. Yum!

-- Olivia said her first word: UH OH! She says it all the time (I don't count baba, mama, or dada) because I think she's just babbling.

-- She waves to everyone and everything. The cutest part is, she waves with both hands!

-- She is feeding herself so well, picking up pieces of food with her thumb and forefinger. She's actually very coordinated.

-- She learned how to drink from a straw today. Once she figured it out, she cried and cried for my cup of ice water and would reach for it, put the straw in her mouth, and suck. That's my girl!

-- She is trying so hard to pull herself up. Almost there!

On the eve of Thanksgiving

I have so much to be thankful for this year.

Selfish

I always get really, really excited when we're having company, but then when they get here, I get annoyed over the stupidest things: their stuff laying around my house (in the case of my MIL, the gazillion boxes of James's stuff she brought from her basement). There are little things laying around here and there and it's annoying me. I feel like the little girl who couldn't share. If I didn't know better, I'd think my petty feelings were due to PMS, but it's not time. It feels like a million and one things are annoying me, some of them though are quite valid. Like: the smell of cigarette smoke in my house because it is NOT good for Olivia. My pristine house that I spent so much to have cleaned is going to smell like an ash tray. And the worst part is that my MIL knows I had it cleaned! Gah! Wanted her to think I cleaned it. HA! I was trying to turn on the oven tonight (because of course I cooked for everyone and cleaned it while James spent quality time with watched TV with his family) and the maids put the wrong knobs back on the stove. I was trying to figure out why the oven wouldn't turn on and James blurted out that the maids must've put the knobs back in the wrong place. Thanks, honey.

The good news is that Olivia has (finally) met her other grandma and is loving it. James's mom is a big help-- she even changed a stinky diaper.

But seriously, I feel like I'm being totally selfish and I SO need to get over it.

Can't decide between seducing the hubby to make me feel better or maybe hitting him for blabbing that I had maids clean our house when I stay home all day. Decision, decisions.

Love at first sight

Tonight I caught the end of "Never Been Kissed". In the movie, she finds the love of her life in the 6 months she spends posing as a high school student.

During every commercial, these guys discussed the movie (one of those 3 guys and a chic flick things), and they posed this question: is it really possible to find the love of your life that quickly? To me, it's more of a question of, do you believe in love at first sight? Can you "just know" when you see someone?

James says that he knew the moment he saw me. It took me a while longer, which is ironic considering I have always been a hopeless romantic and always assumed I'd "just know", but it took me a while. Although, I had just gotten out of a 3 year relationship with someone else and wasn't quite ready.

I met my husband when I was 19 and was married by 21. I always assumed I'd get married after graduating college and living on my own, but I wasn't about to let the love of my life pass me by just because I was young.

I'm not sure you can "love" someone the second you meet them. I think falling in love takes time. I think you can "know" though. I believe that God can show you your destiny. James believes God showed him his the night I came over his apartment to hang out with his roommate.

Well, there you go. That's what I believe. Now it's your turn.

Life Lessons

God is ever faithful. Today, as my house was being cleaned, I sat there in dismay, watching as the clock approached the two hour mark for cleaning and knowing that in order for them to finish, I'd have to pay $65 for the additional hour. Yes, my house was just that dirty. How embarrassing. And as I sat there, I thought about how we couldn't really afford the $65, and wished we had more money. Why couldn't we inherit something like my friend N did? Why was James's freelance project recently cancelled? Why couldn't we have money to eat out all the time like some of our other friends?

And then, there was God, quietly reminding me . .

Maid 1: working these two jobs is so difficult. I clean during the day and go to my other job at night. My son has to be dropped off at school really early in the morning way before school starts.

Maid 2: I work two jobs too.

Maid 1: And get this. I got in trouble for bringing my laundry to wash at work because we have no washer or dryer and I can't afford to go to the laundromat.

Oooh. I was literally cringing. There I sat, a stay at home mom, in my three bedroom single family home-- that I so often wish was bigger. I have a husband who works a demanding full-time job, does freelance work on the side, and is getting his master's to make more, just so I can stay home with Olivia. I suddenly felt ashamed to have these people in my home cleaning for me. I watched as Olivia played in her jumperoo, then her walker, and then with her Einstein gym. So many toys. I thought about my SUV (what I always wanted) parked outside. And here, this lady was quietly complaining that she couldn't even afford to wash her clothes, while she's scrubbing my floor. I felt guilty and ashamed. We have it so good, and God seems to be reminding me of this daily. For that, I'm so thankful, and I can only hope he continues to show me this when I start to become too materialistic. Besides, most importantly, I am loved, and my daughter is loved.

And then tonight, I went to my old school where I taught to watch the talent show, directed by my mom who now teaches there. As I sat there, watching the students perform-- some new, some I taught-- I was suddenly overcome with emotion. I'm not even sure if it was sadness-- nostalgia, maybe? My eyes began to well with tears, and I looked around embarrassed, scared my family would notice. I fought them back as I watched the kids, suddenly missing being a teacher. Then I thought about how I'd feel if I had gone back this year, and I knew I'd made the right decision, but for those brief moments, I mourned my old life. Besides, it was nice dressing up tonight. I have to say, I looked hot (and James said I did). I had on stilletto pointy-toed pumps, black pants, my leather jacket, my hair was curly, and boy did the men look. It felt sooooo good, especially since only hours before, I had been wearing old maternity sweat pants and a white t-shirt soaked with breast milk (I'm leaking all the time lately for some reason). But at least I know the potential's there, if I make the effort!

Oh, and don't forget about Mommy Musings. I have an uncomfortable situation I blogged about.

Gag

Tonight Olivia tried green beans for the first time. The face was priceless. So funny in fact that I made her eat another spoonful so I could take a quick picture (bad mommy), and the the second bite was so repulsive to her, that she gagged and gagged until she threw up. Everywhere. It's all my fault. If I hadn't been so dead set on getting a damn picture.

after tasting green beans:

after throwing up green beans:

She looks so much happier!

Tomorrow, after the maids come (YES, MAIDS! WEEEEEEEEEEEEE!) Olivia and I are going to a potluck luncheon with the mom's group. We're making Thanksgiving placemats with our babies' handprints. I made pumpkin cream cheese bars to bring.

Now, back to the maids. When I found out my mother-in-law was coming this Saturday-- my MIL who owns a cleaning business by the way-- I was suddenly horrified by the mold in my shower and the dust on my blinds and baseboards. It's hard to find time to clean. Olivia still won't nap and James is never home. After GFF posted that she was having someone come to clean, I decided to treat myself, too! I've had such a good time going against my normal urge to have everything spic-n-span. I've picked hair off my sweater and let it fall to the floor-- no worries! The maids are coming!!!!!! Dirt and leaves on the kitchen floor from the storm? The maids will get it! Let's hope the MIL is mucho impressed.

I've been trying to think of what I want to cook (want to impress her!) and what we can do while she's here. I've been trying to ask James what he thinks she'd like to do. I've been making lists of what needed to be done before she comes:

-- get poodle groomed (tomorrow)
-- take charity shoebox to church (our church is doing this thing where you fill a shoebox with toys for a child. Great idea!)
-- get house cleaned (tomorrow morning at 8:30 SHARP!)
-- grocery shop (did that today!)
-- buy new linens (needed them anyway-- done)

And James's only contribution to my honey do list: lots of fun, bedtime bliss before the arrival of his mother. Brilliant idea! :-)

Oh, and if you could, please stop by and give some love to my dear friend.

The Last Few Days

I just realized I haven't posted in two days! I've been so busy enjoying my daughter and watching her struggle to crawl, that I didn't even think about it. That's good though, right? :-) She is SOOOOO close to crawling, and maybe already is considering she can go anywhere pretty quickly, but she doesn't exactly have the one-knee-at-a-time down yet!

Here are some random things from the last time I posted, in no particular order:

-- I've realized that when nursing in public, there are two types of people: those who try hard to avert their eyes, and those who treat it like a peep show. Yesterday, I bared my bosom to a complete stranger, quite by accident. I went to my car to nurse after Olivia kept pulling the blanket off on a bench. When I got to my car, I quickly looked around as I always do, just to make sure there wasn't anyone right there. I didn't see anyone, so I whipped out Lucy (she's the left one) and began feeding Olivia. She (Olivia, not Lucy) was in a busy, playful mood, and kept pulling off to reach for the stereo buttons, and then would try to latch back on, so there was a lot of me holding my breast and trying to get it in her mouth. Suddenly, I felt eyes on me, and I look over to see this guy with his nosed pressed against the glass in the car next to me, just gawking. When he saw me look up, he turned away faster than you can say "boob". We won't be telling James. He doesn't like me nursing where people can see.

-- Tonight we went to a Holiday tasting thing at our local grocery store, Publix. My whole family was in line waiting to get food, and my sister and her boyfriend joined us. Then, the old man behind us starts yelling at them for "butting" and threatened to beat up my sister's boyfriend. What insued was a hilarious (at least to me) exchange of not-so-nice words between my sister's mouthy b/f (the funniest guy EVER) and this old man. His poor wife was so embarrased, she kept telling him to be quiet. Here's what I heard:

OLD MAN (OM): You wouldn't hit an old man!
B/F: Yes I would. You just told me you were going to hit me. I'll hit you back.
OM: (to wife) He thinks he's some kind of hero.
B/F: I wish you were some kind of a hero, but you're not. You need to cut this out before you get into something you don't want to get into.

This old man went on and on and on. He seriously wanted to fight. It was so funny, and I feel horribly guilty for thinking so! Other people were laughing too.

-- Olivia and I are travling to Richmond, VA with my grandma on 12/01 to visit my aunt. She lives on the water and we are so excited! It'll be OLivia's first plane ride. Speaking of which, get this. Hope that won't be me, because I will definitely be nursing my baby when that plane takes off and lands because it helps the pressure in their ears. And I can tell you, Olivia doesn't always like a blanket on her head, but I requested an aisle with 2 seats so I can be against the window and my grandma will be on the other side. I DARE someone to say something to me.

7 Months

Olivia Boo-boo Beth,

I almost missed writing this 7 month letter on the actual day because you wouldn't go to sleep! I must say though that you've been a MUCH better sleeper the past week or two, and we are so thankful. I think co-sleeping is really helping. Besides, I love having your sweet face next to mine (and yes, even your finger poking at my eye in the middle of the night).

I was going to take you to do one of your favorite things today: swinging, but it rained. You've been to the park a few times with our mom's group and you love to swing! You laugh so hard you can barely catch your breath and it makes all the other mommies laugh too. I teared up as I watched you swing the other day. You are so amazed with the world.

You have also taken a greater interest in our dogs. You've pulled poor Wrigley's ears many times, and he yelps, but always comes back for more attention. You also love their toys and can't tell the difference between theirs and yours. Sometimes you suck on the dog toys and it freaks me out. I'm trying not to obsess over germs!

You had solid food for the first time this month. You love sweet potatoes and peas the most. But really, you love anything we put on a spoon. You get impatient inbetween bites and you grunt loudly until the spoon goes back in your mouth!

You also have discivered how much fun it is to talk into cups. You grab all cups and glasses and squeal into them, and then squeal even louder in delight. You also happily babbbled into a roll of wrapping paper today and laughed at the echo. You are so funny and have such an ability to recognize what's funny: a shirt over my head, a funny face, when I dance for you, you even laugh when we laugh. I love it! You also make the funniest face when something interests you. You concentrate so intensely!

This month you also started sitting up without having to support yourself with your hands. You're also scooting everywhere, and kind of crawling, but you still don't have the motions down completely. You always want to stand though, and you're starting to take some steps when we hold your hands!

You also grew an extra chin this month. You have the cutest fanny and the fattest thighs (we call them thigs) ever. I think I could live in the folds of your thighs and kiss them all day!

I feel like the luckiest mommy in the world. It's scary me how much I love you. I feel so complete. Life doesn't get much better than this-- I get to spend each and every day with you, watching you discover new things, kissing you, nursing you, laughing with you, listening to you snore when you sleep. I love every second of it!

Love,
your Mommy

Atlanta and Magazines

We had an awesome time in Atlanta today with my parents. It was a long day, with lots of time in the car (we got lost) and Olivia was so good!

We did some shopping at one of the awesome malls up there. It's one of the ones celebrities go to, but I've never seen any. :-( I thought of GFF because we ate at the same restaurant (California Pizza Kitchen) and sat at the same table because there's a lot of room for a stroller. I saw a million things I wanted and had to continuously remind myself that the reason I could not buy them is because I am staying home with Olivia, and then I didn't want them anymore. Well, almost . . .

Next, we headed to the Whole Foods Market where I stocked up on fresh produce to make more baby food (so much cheaper!!!) and shampoo/conditioner (got some awesome mint stuff really cheap-- love that tingly feeling!)

Then tonight, I had a rare luxury: a long bath. James went to bed with Olivia and I had time to soak and catch up on my magazines: Saveur, Bon Appetit, Mothering, Parenting, American Baby . . .

BTW, I'm trying to decide what magazines I want to renew since most of my subscriptions are up in the next few months (except Saveur, paid for 3 years). Any recommendations? What do you like to read?

Tomorrow (well today actually) my daughter is 7 months!!! I'll write her letter tomorrow complete with many new pictures.

So Sad

I don't know how my sister works at a hospital. I think it's great, but I just couldn't do it.

Yesterday, a 7 month old baby girl came in who had been raped and saudomized. And then, she died. It was also in the local paper today.

It made me cry harder than I have in a long time. I feel like I can't put Olivia down.

And some other guy got his face chewed off by a pitbull. Even hearing the description made me want to vomit.

Please pray for these families. I think I'd rather die than feel the pain that mother probably feels right now.

Why?

Can someone please tell me why the balance in my checkbook NEVER matches what the bank says, even when I've gone through EVERY SINGLE STATEMENT and checked off my records against theirs?

And can you please hit me for not living as frugally* as I am now? It's amazing how much money I could have saved and/or used to pay stuff like loans when we had 2 incomes. I could kick myself!

*Is this even a real word???

Idiots abound around here (and some good things too)

V nice day today, with a couple exceptions.

Met with the mom's group again at Monkey Joe's. It's like Chuck-e-Cheese, but all the play things are inflatable, like a million different types of moonbounces so no one gets hurt! I went on everything with Olivia and held her. She had a blast playing with the other babies and bouncing up and down. I had a good time talking with the ladies (about our labors, what we feed our kids, about the hubbies, etc). But then . . .

I accidently kind of threw some kid off this one play thing. I say accidentally, but it was more like instinctually and on purpose because she was about to knock out my kid. OK, first of all, why don't people watch their children? There were a million kids jumping on people, acting irresponsibly, falling down, pushing peopls, and the moms were off in the sitting area gossiping. None of these moms were in my group thank goodness. This one little girl, who was probably 4-- old enough to know better, kept trying to get on this inflatable dinosaur while Olivia was sitting on it. Her mom was nowhere in sight and the girl came close to jumping on my baby several times, so I took Olivia off (we were in the middle of trying to take pictures) and waited until the girl left. Then, I wedged Olivia in the inflatable dinosaur and got my camera. In a matter of 2 seconds, the little girl nose-dived on the dinosaur and came about 2 inches from not only landing on my child, but headbutting her. Oh no you don't! I didn't have time to un-wedge Olivia, so I pushed the girl off the dinosaur, surely saving them both from concussions and saving her mom not only medical bills, but also my fist from hitting her in the face! The girl honestly could've killed Olivia with how hard she was coming down on her. The area under the dinosaur was inflated, so it's not like the girl would've gotten hurt at all!

After Monkey Joes's we all had lunch. Man, do these girls eat out! I can't afford to keep going out like this, and I wonder how they can? They're all stay at home moms too. Most of them are army wives, but my hubby is an engineer, so he makes good money too. Everyone there is so nice. This one mom, we'll call her German girl, (like GFF's Australia girl) is so much fun to talk to and her baby has the fattest cheeks ever! This other mom, with a really pretty, unusual name, has a 13 month old daughter who is so tiny and dainty, and gorgeous!

Next was voting time, and everyone joked that Olivia was the youngest voter that day. Some schmuck came up and asked how old my little boy was (yes, my little boy wearing the pink sweater which you can see below) and I know I gave him a look. I didn't even mean to, but he was like the 3rd one there to ask about my "boy." Hello??? Is everyone blind? He quickly said, "or is it a girl?" and I told him that she was. So then he has the nerve to tell me that she looks like a boy. Who freaking says that? She looks like a boy? Um, I don't think so. I should've told him he looked like an ass.

Her sticker says "Georgia Voter"

So off we go to Target and I bled through my clothes! GRRRR . . . I miss the days of not having a period!!! Nasty, nasty!

Later this evening, I finally stopped being a tight wad and let Olivia play with some food. I am way too neat and I need to get over it. I gave her some banana and let her wipe it everywhere. Good times people, good times!

SCORE!

FINALLY found a mom's group that I love!!! The others were fine, but none of the moms had infants. This group has quite a few moms with non-walkers, content to sit on a blanket in the park on a gorgeous day and gab! SCORE!!! MF and I both went, and we agreed that this was a winner. WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! I feel like I'm in high school and I just found a new group of friends!

Caught up on me DVR shows last night. "Nip/Tuck" was weird, as always. Also got caught up on my "Mom's on the Road:Africa" V cool. Can anyone suggest a show that isn't pure filth? "Moms on the Road" ends next week and "Nip/Tuck" is totally sleezy, but addictive.

I've been tired and lazy the past couple of days. Then today, I got my period which totally explains it. No BC pill means heavy frequent periods. Sucky. I'm worried about not producing as much milk, which is why I'm not on any.

Ok, time to check on the lasagna. James's co-worker made us his fab sausage/pepper lasagna since James helped tutor him for grad school. :-)

Guilty as Charged

We started co-sleeping because we honestly didn't know what else to do! Olivia woke up constantly in her own bed, and screamed for me to get her, wouldn't go back unless I was there. No one got any sleep, we all had dark circles. The ped said CO-SLEEP! So we accepted it and gave in with peace of mind.

But last night, Olivia fell asleep in my arms, and I put her in her own bed so Mommy and Daddy could have some "adult fun" by the fireplace, and when we finally came in to go to bed, we both looked at the empty spot between us in our bed, looked at each other, and it didn't even need to be said. I got up and acutally got our sleeping daughter (WHO WAS SLEEPING IN HER OWN BED!!!) and laid her between us. Then the 3 of us drifted off to sleep . . .

Am I nuts? I just might be, but I'm also finding that it's not just Olivia who wants to sleep with us. I think we're really loving sleeping with her!

I admit, it can be very aggravating to have her finger in my nose in the middle of the night, but I guess I'd rather her wake up in a playful mood than wake up screaming like she used to.

I love our family bed!!!!

P.S. If you could, head on over to Mommy Musings. I have a question about baby's first Christmas.

P.P.S. The market was awesome! The luncheon was awesome! Pictures later of my finds at the market. (hint: tropical fruit salad with julienned lemon verbena)

Good Things

Today actually felt like fall. I am so used to the cooler temperatures we had up north, and I hate that the seasons don't really feel like seasons down here, except for summer of course. Every season feels a bit like summer! Today MF and I took lunch from our favorite Thai restaurant to my mom. If you remember, my mom now teaches where I taught the last few years, and as we drove off, I remarked to MF how relieved I am to be home with my baby girl. Life is good. Lately I think I've lost sight of how blessed we are! I've been worrying so much about money, but I have a wonderful family, a nice home, 2 reliable cars, and I love to cook, which is great since we rarely eat out these days. Life is good!

Olivia and MF's baby sleeping in my car. Too cute! We joke that they're going to get married!!!

Tonight, I made sweet potatoes with cinnamon, sugar, and melted marshmallows like my MIL makes. Yum! I let Olivia have some of the plain potato and she'd swallow and wait patiently with her mouth open while I picked out some non-marshmallowy potato fo her! After dinner, we ran some errands and I went shoe shopping. I totally thought I had scored BIG TIME when I found a BOGO (buy one, get one free) sale, except I couldn't find anything to fit my freakin' huge feet!!! I used to wear 8.5, sometimes 9, now I need a 9.5, which is the ONLY size they didn't have in all the ones I liked. Pooh! My disappointment was quickly forgotten though when we left the store and I put Olivia's winter hat on. She didn't even wake up, which is good because I never would've gotten this picture. Hats=evil. Mittens=more evil than the devil himself.

When we got home, James tried to get Olivia to say "dada" and she said it immediately. Everytime he says "dada" she repeats it. She used to make the "mmmm" sound and "mamamama" but hasn't in a while, but now everything is "baba" and "dada". And tonight she danced for the first time, and I burst into tears. I'm such a dork.

Tomorrow morning, we're going to an Organic outdoor market downtown. It's the last market day of the season, so I'm hoping to score some fresh produce to make baby food. After that, we're heading to a luncheon hosted by my grandma. It's a yearly Thanksgiving celebration for her camping club. Why would I want to go, you ask? THE FOOD! They have the best casseroles and good Southern Cooking. I swear every woman there cooks like Paula Deen. I'm bringing fudge-mint brownies, which are so simple.

Teatopia's fudge-mint brownies:
-- follow fudge-like brownie directions on the back of the box, subsituting milk for water (a tip my dear friend Entsar taught me long ago!)
-- add a dash of mint extract and mint flavored Hershey's chocolate chips

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Personal Shopper

I need your input . . .

I need to get some fall shoes-- something not too dressy, but not too casual. You know, that perfect inbetween shoe. Now, I have my share of shoes in my closet, but one more lovely symptom of my pregnancy I've just discovered is that my feet are bigger. I had this baby months ago, and still, I discover new things every day, like the fact that the inside of my belly button is discolored because it was popped out for so long!

Keep in mind, I'm much more into comfort these days. I WISH I could tolerate all my boots, but they seem to annoy me these days for just every day stuff. I'll save the pain and frustration for when I need to look really hot!!

Ok, here are the ones I'm considering.

I like these a lot because they look cute and comfy, but I try not to follow trends too much and these are kind of trendy . . .

And I like these sneaker-ish shoes.

I also like these. I don't really care for loafers, but these don't seem too loafery.

I seriously hate buying shoes. I used to love it, but these days when money and tighter and time is scarce, it just seems like a chore.

The stuff trashy talkshows are made of . . .

This ought to be on Jerry Springer and actually happened to one of my best friend's sisters just last week . . .

After not even being sure she was pregnant-- and never going to the doctor to check, even after her family continued to ask her is she was pregnant-- she sat down on the toilet to give birth to what she thought was a turd and ended up with a baby instead! Yes, the baby actually fell into the toilet water. Can you imagine?

My life seems so normal and uneventful . . . Thank God!!!

My friend is just sick over this (as am I). He doesn't live near his sister, so he didn't know about any of this until his mother called him last week.

Please pray for this baby born to such a mother.