You're obnoxious.

Me: Stop being obnoxious.

Leah (laughing): What does obnoxious even mean?

I proceed to give her an explanation. She says "but what does it mean?" I give her another... "but what does it MEAN?"

We do this about 10 times. I want to bop her on the head.

Me: You're being obnoxious right now by asking me over and over what obnoxious means!

Leah: oohhhh okay!

and she runs from the room.

Sheesh!

I’m alarmed.

This lovely chart is about the Wheel of Time books. I was just looking up the release date for the final book and I see the total for audio there (which I’ve highlighted). I’ve listened to all these books on audio.**

But when I saw that total… I was alarmed. I have actually spent 17.5 DAYS listening to that??

I certainly don’t regret it. And when the next one comes out and is another 30 something hours long? I will listen again!

btw: I actually tried to read one. But I missed the voices too much. They’re like living people in my head…

**Side note: I LOVE audible.com. Totally worth it.

I would never!

What's the most dangerous thing you've ever done?

I've never done anything dangerous. Ever. I'm innocent!

haha.

Okay, really I'm a mostly safe person. I haven't done anything particularly insane with my life.

The first thing that came to mind when I read that question was my driving when I was in my early 20s. Not as a teenager mind you - I drove pretty safely then.

But in my early 20s, I did some pretty dumb things. For example, one summer I had gone to a wedding in San Diego and I flew back in to SLC around 11:30 pm. I was headed to my bioDad's house here in Rawlins.

I got out of the airport a little after midnight, stopped got gas, a snack, etc. And I headed out. The drive is about 300 miles. It's supposed to take 4.5 - 5 hours.

I'd give you more details but I honestly don't remember much of the trip. I was EXHAUSTED. I just drove. Not only that, my car was full of all my belongings because I was in between semesters and apartments for a 3 week break. So from floor to ceiling - even in the passengers seat, the car was full. I couldn't see much around me. That wasn't particularly safe either.

And I pulled into Rawlins and it was 3:30. I looked at the clock and thought... WHAT? I knew my bioDad's wife was going to have a heart attack when I showed up so I drove around Rawlins for another 20 minutes or so. After that I decided I was too tired to keep stalling.

When I got there, she did, in fact, freak out a bit that I was there already. I didn't tell her until years later what I'd really done.

I figure I had to be going just over 100 mph at a pretty steady pace.

Driving that fast? While I was so exhausted I don't really remember the trip?

I'm glad nothing bad happened to me. Why in the world did I not get a hotel room and sleep first!?!? Ding a ling.

ETA: There was another thing during this trip... when I got to the airport I parked in the cheapest parking lot... it was quite a long way from the airport. When I got out of the actual building of the airport it was after midnight and really dark, of course.

Did I wait for the shuttle bus to come around? No. I just started walking. I walked through a dark parking lot in the middle of the night for probably 15 minutes or more to get to my car. I remember passing a couple of men and it actually crossing my mind that this wasn't safe. Aye aye aye.

NaBloPoMo - The End!

This was not hard this year. And now I have all these things I want to blog about and I can't decide which one to use to end NaBloPoMo - and then it occurs to me...

I don't actually HAVE to stop blogging today! ha. I just don't necessarily have to do it every day.

***

My Christmas dilemma:

My guess is that Hannah + A Christmas tree = DISASTER.

She is in that fantastic baby stage of "MUST TOUCH. MUST TOUCH. MUST TOUCH." everything she sees. I don't want to spend the entire Christmas season keeping her away from the tree.

I think we've decided not to put up the big tree. We can get a little 3 ft tree and put it up on a stool in the corner out of her reach. I think that will work.

I involved Leah in the idea planning for that one so that she wouldn't feel like we just arbitrarily announced we weren't putting up the big tree.

I actually love this baby stage. They're so inquisitive and learning everything so so fast. It's just fun to watch. But the tree? It's just a fight I don't want to deal with every day.

So... Merry Christmas! I promise I'm not bah hum buggin' - just not gonna have a huge tree in the front window!

Step away.

Some days I'm more snarky than others...


It's safer to just not write a real post at the moment.

Duh.

Do you think we need to have badness in order to have goodness? Why?

Of course we do. How would you even know what was bad if you didn't know what was good? How would you know what true joy was if you never felt despair and sadness?

That's a silly question to me. It seems obvious.

Am I missing something?

8 months old

Hannah is 8 months old. Yesterday. I have a hard time these days with the ages of my children but that's probably another post...

Weight: 18.5 lbs
Height: 27 inches

Big girl! She's tall for her age, about average for weight. She has these thighs... I swear you just want to nibble on them.

She's a crawling, walking along furniture, jabbering, screaming, happy bundle of baby!

We've been starting baby sign. So far she does the sign for "milk" (meaning her bottle) and is clear when I ask her "Do you want milk?" (while doing the sign). If the answer is yes she'll flap her arms and squeal or breath excitedly. If the answer is no, she just ignores me.

She'll also react to the sign/question "Are you all done?" when she's in her high chair. Same yes/no reactions.

We're starting to work on "eat" because I think sometimes she does the milk sign when she just wants food. We'll see if I can get her to differentiate the two. That would be helpful.

I love baby sign!

And I love and adore Hannah!!

Friday 5

1. What’s your favorite holiday album?

Harry Connick, Jr - When My Heart Finds Christmas (I've been listening to that one for so many years it just sounds like Christmas to me) & Amy Grant - Home for Christmas (Breath of Heaven is my fav song on that one)

2. What song’s lyrics, title, or theme best expresses the positive aspects of your general mood at this time of year?

We Wish You a Merry Christmas! I know it's a short song but is there anything more cheery?

3. What song’s lyrics, title, or theme best expresses the not-so-positive aspects of your general mood at this time of year?

I feel overwhelmed sometimes at this time of year but I can't for the life of me think of a holiday song that expresses that feeling. Is there an "I wish I could have a massage for the 12 days before Christmas!" :) Although maybe that's why I love the song "Breathe" on that Amy Grant album. The part where she says, "Help me" makes my heart ache. Such a great song.

4. What’s your favorite song about a non-December holiday?

For the Beauty of the Earth (Thanksgiving)

5. What holiday song makes you want to cover your ears and flee?

Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer. Seriously. Ew.

After the meal...

...is this how you feel?

It's not that cold.

There are a lot of facebook status messages about the cold weather in various areas. I just have to say...

THIS is cold.

The low tonight is -9 and the wind is whipping around like mad. And this is our wind chill warning...

* WIND CHILL VALUES... WIND CHILLS WILL DROP BELOW MINUS 30 DEGREES LATE THIS EVENING AND CONTINUE THROUGH EARLY THURSDAY MORNING.

* IMPACTS... PROLONGED EXPOSURE TO THESE VERY COLD TEMPERATURES AND WIND CHILLS WILL INJURE OR KILL EXPOSED LIVESTOCK OR HUMANS. WIND CHILL VALUES THIS LOW ARE EXTREMELY DANGEROUS... SO STAY INDOORS OR ADD EXTRA LAYERS AND COVER ALL EXPOSED SKIN IF YOU HAVE TO GO OUTDOORS.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

THE WIND CHILL IS THE TEMPERATURE YOUR BODY FEELS WHEN THE AIR TEMPERATURE IS COMBINED WITH THE WIND SPEED. WITH WIND CHILLS BELOW MINUS 30 DEGREES... FROSTBITE CAN OCCUR IN AS LITTLE AS 5 TO 10 MINUTES. THE MOST SUSCEPTIBLE PARTS OF THE BODY ARE THE EXTREMITIES SUCH AS FINGERS... TOES... EAR LOBES... OR THE TIP OF THE NOSE.

Do you see that? Frostbite in 5-10 MINUTES!?!

If it's 30 degrees at your house? It's not cold.

That's all I have to say about that. :)

PS I finally remembered to order myself a winter coat tonight. I'm a G.E.N.I.U.S. How's that for a day late, eh?

Sometimes I Cry.

Okay that's probably a bit of an understatement. I'm a cry baby but that's not really my point...

Today we went to Leah's Thanksgiving Preschool Lunch. The kids stood up front and sang two songs to us. All 3-5 year old children, lined up in one long line.

The songs both had motions. Leah was SO into it. She was so happy and so enjoying what she was doing. Shame one me for not bringing my camera. I don't think I've ever seen her so into something. The pure happy on her face while they performed that song.... Ya. I cried.

And every now and then I have these moments... these... "Oh my gosh. I'm a MOM!" moments. And they totally overwhelm me when it happens.

There was so much longing, for so many years.

And now every once in a while in the day-to-day life of being a mother, these moments smack into me for a minute. And I feel like I can't breathe for a second and then I cry.

I love being a mommy.

I live in Wyoming.

How did you end up where you're living right now? What factors will help you choose the next place you live?

Well...

I did move to Wyoming of my own accord in 1996. I wanted to work for my bioDad for awhile and take a break from college. So that fall semester I didn't do school. I worked for him, lived here in Rawlins. In January I started taking classes again at the outreach center here. In an English class, I met Drew for the first time. And then a few weeks later I saw him at church and discovered we went to the same church and just hadn't seen each other. The rest of that is history, of course.

We moved around quite a bit but we were in Idaho after finishing college and I thought we'd stay there but alas. Drew really wanted to come back here. And he really wanted to work for the railroad. So here we are. Living in Rawlins again. Not my dream town but it's not a horrible place to live.

We will at some point move to Cheyenne. As soon as Drew has enough seniority to keep us there year round (which could be as soon as next summer). And likely we'll live there for a long time. Although you just never really know what is around the corner, I guess.

But I think I'd really like to live in Cheyenne. There are a lot of things there, it's only 45 min from Ft. Collins and only 88 miles from Denver. Way more access to a number of things than I have now.

And with all my food allergies? Seriously? It'd be really nice to be able to shop in the kind of store where I had lots of choices!

Today. 13 Years Ago...

"The life that I have, Is all that I have, And the life that I have, Is yours.
The love that I have, Of the life that I have, Is yours and yours and yours.
A sleep I shall have, A rest I shall have, Yet death will be but a pause,
For the peace of my years, In the long green grass, Will be yours and yours and yours."
~ Leo Marks

Gun Class

Well, I did it! I went.

That was step 1. Yeah me! My mom did not come because she's sick. So not only did I go but I did it on my own. Yeah me again!

As I mentioned before I had to read this book prior to the class. While it was very informative, I am telling you what. It was the driest book I have ever read in my entire life. I wanted to pull my hair out.

**And let's remember here: I have a BS in Mathematics. I've read some dang dry material. This book has no equal.

I had to read it in small doses with a highlighter in hand to keep me focused. Whew.

But in GREAT news - the class was not so boring. It wasn't a party or anything but I really liked the instructor and the other women in the class. We had fun.

We spent 4 hours going over the book and talking. He showed us a lot of what was in the book with a real gun (unloaded, etc). We practiced things on it and at one pointed I loaded pink plastic bullets in a magazine. I thought that was funny.

They were feeding us lunch - it was pizza. Since I can't eat any of that, I ran home and made a tortilla wrap. Kissed my babies and Drew and went back. After lunch he had us each hold a gun and decide which one we would use when it was time to shoot for real .

Then we talked about the book some more and then took a written test. (50 questions. Some multiple choice/some true or false.) I got 100%. Woohoo!

Then it was time to shoot. Oh man.

So we get our ear things on, glasses, etc. He had everything set up in the indoor shooting range already. So we each choose a spot. First I got to shoot a gun of his that's work like 3k. Wowzer.

That didn't seem like a bad choice for my first time shooting a gun, eh?

And I swear on my life... I. was. awesome. HA! I totally thought I was gonna miss the whole target or something. But no. I rocked it. One of the women looks at my thing and says "I think you've found your calling." That was funny. It didn't look like the target of someone shooting for their first time ever.

I asked the teacher at the end of class if I could have my target thing. He said, "You're taking that home so you can show off!" and I said, "My husband will NEVER believe me if I don't bring it home and show him!" He just laughed and got it down for me.

And I was right btw - Drew said he'd have never imagined it if I hadn't brought it home.

So that first gun had a laser sight. That was pretty awesome but I wanted to try one that didn't to see if I could still aim without it. I used a 9 mm next. My shots were still good - although not quite as good. And then after a few of that I used a revolver. I still hit the target with all 5 rounds but that was probably the worst batch. (I have a picture I'll post with this and you can see). None of it was awful.

There were a couple people in the class who were having a hard time even hitting the target so I felt good about hitting it all the time. hehe. At one point when I had 10 holes in mine I stopped and was looking at some of the others and one girl only had 2 holes. She was having a hard time not anticipating the gun. He said she just needed to keep shooting so she got used to it.

He had us each time, load 3 rounds, shoot 3, take out the magazine, etc. put it all down. Repeat.

Anyway, all-in-all it was a fantastic experience. Guns demystified.

As my friend Jeff told me - you need to transfer your fear to respect & responsibility.

Mission accomplished I think.

It was worth it!

**

PS The girls did awesome with Drew. Hannah was soooooo happy to see me when I came in the door. She was sitting on Drew's lap on the couch and when she saw me her little arms and legs just went totally wild and she started squealing. Best moment of my day!

The pictures:

The circles I shot with gun #1 was similar to THIS except there was a laser sight thing on top. Well and some other things were different but you get the idea.

In the picture the shots with this gun are the circles. The ones with the X through them are a series of 3 I did where he said he wanted us to do 3 in really fast succession.

The 2nd gun was a 9 mm. These shots are marked with a triangle.

The 3rd was the revolver. These shots are marked with a square.

The target was hanging mid air, roughly the height of a person, 25 feet away for all the shots.

Oh - and one or two of those spots - it has a circle and an X because several times I shot through that same spot. It just kept making the hole bigger.

I saw it!

I went tonight ALONE to the movie theater and ALONE I watched the newest Harry Potter movie.

ALONE ALONE ALONE.

First, the movie was fantastic. I totally loved it. I laughed, I cried a little, I screamed several times. I even threw my arms and legs into the air at one point.

I'm certain I was a sight to behold.

Second, I did all this alone. I'm so rarely truly alone. Even when it's quiet and I'm 'alone', there are still children in their beds to be watched over, etc.

Anyway, I loved it.

It never totally turns off - the mommy thing. I had my phone on vibrate and every time it would buzz for something I'd grab it to see if it was Drew calling but still... I got to revel in the movie and totally enjoy myself. It was fantastic.

Btw, Drew had the girls. Hannah was already asleep when I left and he just had to put Leah to bed. When I came home the main floor of the house was all clean, dishes done, a big cup of ice water waiting for me and an apple pie candle lit.

That was sure pleasant to arrive home to after a movie alone!

A great evening, indeed.

Tomorrow I have my 8 hour gun class. Eek.

Random Prompts

These are a few short prompts I read. None are long enough to be their own post really...

What's the first thing you do when you wake up? Say, "Hi Leah" or roll out of bed, walk to Hannah's room and say, "Good Morning, Hannah"

What's the one thing you always dread? Going to any kind of medical appointment. Doctor, Dentist, etc. Although if I had to rank them all Dentist would most definitely come out on top. I loathe going to the dentist.

If you could have ANY animal as a pet, what would it be? There are a bazillion things I would like that have as a pet. I love animals. Currently at the top of my list is a Hedgehog.

Name one famous movie you've never seen. Why not? That's actually a long list. I don't watch R-rated movies. There are a lot of famous R-rated movies in the world!

What's your favorite poem?
I love this poem. The first time I read it I was 18/19 years old. As soon as the opportunity arose I bought a little book that had this poem and a few others by Maya Angelou so that I'd have a copy of it. I love the message and the secret in her words.

Phenomenal Woman

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman

Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

~Maya Angelou

Road Block

I put a stool in the corner to stop Hannah from getting everything on the end table.

What do you think? Did it work?



You like that look? "What, Mom? Can't you see I'm busy here??"

Some people are too mobile for their own good!

Or too mobile for my sanity.... one of those!

Laughter

Blogging Prompt: What's one thing that always makes you laugh, no matter what?

Chuck Norris Jokes.

Do I really need to say more? Every. Time. I really can't put words to why but seriously... What is more funny than Chuck Norris Jokes?

Nothing!

And for your amusement I'll leave you with a few...

1. Chuck Norris' tears cure cancer. Too bad he has never cried. Ever.
2. Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits.
3. Chuck Norris is currently suing NBC, claiming Law and Order are trademarked names for his left and right legs.
4. The chief export of Chuck Norris is pain.
5. If you can see Chuck Norris, he can see you. If you can't see Chuck Norris, you may be only seconds away from death.
6. Chuck Norris has counted to infinity. Twice.
7. Chuck Norris does not hunt because the word hunting implies the probability of failure. Chuck Norris goes killing.
8. Chuck Norris doesn’t wash his clothes, he disembowels them.
9. In fine print on the last page of the Guinness Book of World Records it notes that all world records are held by Chuck Norris, and those listed in the book are simply the closest anyone else has ever gotten.
10. There is no chin behind Chuck Norris' beard. There is only another fist.
11. Chuck Norris once roundhouse kicked someone so hard that his foot broke the speed of light, went back in time, and killed Amelia Earhart while she was flying over the Pacific Ocean.

Read More Here

Draw a Picture

Drew has a BA in Psychology. I don't know if I've ever mentioned that on here. Just an FYI so this makes more sense...

The other day he says to me "Watch this."**

(Leah was in the middle of drawing pictures)

Drew: Hey Leah! Draw a picture of yourself for me, okay?

Leah: Okay, Daddy!

Leah proceeds to labor over a picture of herself. And the longer she labors over it the bigger Drew is grinning. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why he looked so pleased with himself. He's just ever so odd. lol

It took her about 20 minutes or so and finally she says "Here ya go, Daddy!" and he praised her for the picture and she happily skipped from the room.

Then he tells me - When you ask a child to draw a picture of themselves like that, it's a measure of their self-esteem. The longer they spend drawing the picture the higher their self-esteem.

Who knew? Not me.

But it's good to know she thinks well of herself... especially since *I* think she hung the moon.

**as an aside - I hate this phrase. Leah says it 100 million times a day.

10 Years Ago

I was looking through blogging prompts and picked this one at random...

Where were you and what were you doing ten years ago?

I had to go find my husband and discuss this with him to make sure I remembered right.

10 years ago - Nov 2000. We had moved to Laramie, WY in Apr 2000 to finish college. So in Nov 2000 we were in the midst of a semester of college and living in a one bedroom apartment on campus. It was the smallest thing ever.

I remember the first day in that apartment. The manager showed us around and I acted cheery enough. She gave us the keys and left and I sat down in the middle of that tiny living room and sobbed for maybe 5 minutes. Drew was just sort of standing by me and patting me. He didn't know what to do. I was saying "I don't know if I can do this." etc.

Then I stopped. I stood up and said, "Okay. Let's unload the truck!" Poor man looked so confused. He called his brother and they proceeded to dump everything we owned into the living room (well - not everything we owned. It wouldn't have all fit!). Even the dining table was on top of the stuff upside down. It took me less than 48 hours. I was like a crazy driven woman. I had that place all organized and looking like we'd lived there forever.

We didn't live there horribly long but it was just right at the time. I think we paid 365/month? And that included all the bills - phone, internet, cable, everything. We had to pay our rent and our car insurance and buy food.

Man those were simple times. I wish we still lived that cheap! I can't quite imagine it. lol

Although it was in this apartment that I had my first miscarriage. That was not so simple. Or so great. I had no idea what was coming.

But all is well. I have a FIVE year old! And a 7.5 month old. That's so amazing to me. Life happened as it's bound to do. It certainly hasn't taken all the paths I had planned on. Okay - it's taken NONE of the paths I planned on and yet - all is well! And probably better than what I had planned. As far as children go, I cannot fathom two more delightful beings in this world. That part of life is PERFECT!

Happy Birthday, Leah!

Okay - her birthday is really tomorrow but we had planned on celebrating it today.

We're all still ridiculously sick but Leah really didn't want to put it off despite her misery. So we just had my two sets of parents over. (Drew's parents are 150 miles away) No aunts/uncles, great aunts/uncles, cousins, etc.

I didn't want to bring everyone into our den of sickness.

Anyway.... here is her with her cake.

I wanted Drew to order a 1/4 sheet cake. He got a 1/2 sheet. We have a. lot. of. cake. I usually make her cakes but with all the sickness I knew I didn't have it in me.

NyQuil Blogging

Drew & I each just took a dose of NyQuil.

Just as it's starting to set in I realize: Crap. I haven't blogged yet.

But now my brain is all fuzzy and every word has a typo.

It's so nice of blogger to underline them and let me know. Isn't that lovely? Only almost every word is underlined.

I'll fix it when I'm done.

When will that be?

Let's see. Leah's birthday party is supposed to be tomorrow. Hannah is sick. Leah is sick. Drew is sick. I am sick. We woke up this way this morning. Nice, right?

Leah's favorite cousin Elaina. Her mom called me a little bit ago to let me know that she and Elaina just tested positive for strep.

Crap.

Now she can't come tomorrow. And who wants to come to our dine of clearly contagious sickness anyway???

My poor child.

What do I do? Delay it? Have it with just a tiny bit of family? I have no idea. My poor baby.

These are my NyQuil thoughts. It's 7:20 pm and I'm going to bed now.

Yee.Haw.

Favorite MeMe

What is your favorite....

1. favorite fruit

Mangoes.

2. favorite vegetable

Fresh Peas.

3. favorite cheese

Munster. It was really hard to choose one!

4. favorite lunchmeat

Oven Roasted Turkey Breast - Thinly sliced.

5. favorite nut

Macadamia Nuts.

For Connie...

6. favorite thing on the Wii Fit

Hmm... Actually my favorite thing about exercising with the Wii Fit is the variety of things to do. I get bored easily - especially when exercising (which I do not enjoy lol). But the Wii Fit actually makes it fun. I can do yoga if I'm in that mood. I can tell it to give me a routine full of games if I'm in that mood. Or I can mix them all up and do some of each. The possibilities are endless really. And that can keep me going!

Wordless Wednesday

Sick.

Hannah is sick now. She's thrown up a little twice today. She's had several diarrhea diapers. Her nose is stuffed up. Since she went to bed an hour and a half ago she's woken about every 10 minutes.

This may be a very long night.

Or maybe she's out for the count now? One can hope.

I'm too tired already to think of anything clever to share. So here you have her from this morning in a picture. She's so freaking cute I can't even stand it.

I also can't bring myself to take her out of these footie jammies. Could she BE any cuter? I never even got her dressed today because I couldn't stand to take them off!

I'm crazy. Oh well.

Here she is...


Just as I finished this she's waking up again... crap.

Simple Woman

For Today November 8 2010...

Outside my window... It's dark outside and freezing. The last few days it's been 60s, today high 50s. Tomorrow? The high is 34. Brr.

I am thinking... that I should probably be asleep. Instead I'm up with Drew watching Hoarders. What is the matter with us?

I am thankful for... my deliciously wonderful children. How could they possibly be more fantastic?

From the kitchen... We did a major grocery shopping trip today. We came in the door at about 11 pm and I pulled out all the cold/frozen stuff, Drew put it away and all the rest of the groceries are still laying on the floor. And where am I? I am in bed. I'll fix it tomorrow. Promise.

I am wearing... what I wear in bed.

I am creating... a tired me!

I am going... to spend tomorrow enjoying my babies.

I am reading... Book 13 of the Wheel of Time Series and Pride & Prejudice.

I am hoping... that Hannah decides tonight is the night to sleep all night long!

I am hearing... the TV.

Around the house... tomorrow a little picking up. Most everything is done. And my sheets need washed.

One of my favorite things... is being in the house alone. I adore my little family but the peace of moving about the house alone is so refreshing!

A few plans for the rest of the week: Leah has school the next few days. She is going to my Mom's on Thursday to spend the night (so fun!) and then we are celebrating her birthday on Saturday. (She'll be 5 on Sunday!)

Here is picture thought I am sharing... Hannah. Words are not necessary...

Hannah & Food

This child loves food. That is not emphatic enough.

Hannah. LOVES. food. LOVES LOVES LOVES FOOD.

If you are eating something in front of her, you must share or she must be eating too.

If she sees a perfect stranger eating, she expects some.

If she sees a food she hasn't had before, the moment she realizes it's food she wants some.

An example:

Today in church - There is a family in front of us. The kids are eating goldfish. Hannah watches for a few seconds. Food to Mouth. Food to Mouth. And then starts trying to leap off of me over the pew to get their snacks. The fit got to be so much I actually had to get up and take her out to calm her down.

It didn't matter that I had 3 different treats for her. What mattered is there was a food over there she hadn't tried yet. And she wanted it. She wanted it RIGHT NOW.

I literally have to only eat things she can also eat when she's awake. The rest of my food is while she's sleeping.

It's so fun to watch. Her hysteria, her excitement. And her absolutely DELIGHT when she tries a new food. I have to force myself to remember that she's 7 months old. There are just some things she cannot eat yet. Her little guts are too young!

Oh and she won't eat baby food anymore. It's not what we're eating - she doesn't want it either!

Movie Fun

This morning I just randomly say to Drew (as he's getting ready for work) - I think I'll call your sister and see if she wants me to take her older 2 and I'll take all 4 girls to see that new cartoon movie.

Drew: Sure that sounds fun.... Are you OUT OF YOUR MIND?

The 4 girls are 5, almost 5, 3, and 7 months.

I might be crazy but it was great fun and it went really well!

Afterward the nieces came back home with us and they all played for awhile before my SIL came to retrieve them.

They're adorable! A couple of pictures I took today...

Date Night... Maybe!

I am experimenting blogging with my iTouch. This maybe filled with typos!

I'm an effort to finally have a date again Drew & I have invented the term "date in". He has acquired Thai food for us. we are going to watch Avatar (which I have seen but he has not). Let's hope our sweet girls cooperate. Sleep on babies!

I'm excited for him to see it.

Here's to a succesful "date in"!

Cover. Your. Ears.

Do listen to this. Do NOT turn the volume all the way up.

Well, you can if you want but don't say I didn't warn you!



She's been doing this for quite awhile but the last 4 days it is constant. And this is the HAPPY version. The angry version is louder.

Enjoy! ;)

I can share...

I have lost 9 lbs in 3 days. If you want to get on this "diet" with me, you'll have to come over. I'll be happy to breathe on you. I can even lick your face.

I'm giving like that. It's just in my nature.

Just call before you come. I don't want a line of people outside my house.

Guns. Eek.

So I'm scared of guns. I don't want to see them. I don't want to touch them. I don't know what to do with one.

The power behind them, the permanency of the damage they can cause. It's just scary.

But recently a friend has convinced me that I should do something about that.

Then a couple days ago I saw this post on Facebook (I'm "friends" with the rec center):

Women's Hand Gun Basics Course will be offered in our indoor shooting range. This is an NRA Registered course taught by a certified instructor. Minimum 8 hour course. Certificate of proficiency upon completion. ONLY 8 SPOTS AVAILABLE. Begins Nov 30th. Hand guns available for participants. Cost is $25.00. For more information or questions give us a call! 324-####.

As it turns out it's actually on Nov. 20th. It meets from 8 am - 4 pm.

I'm doing it. I've paid and signed up. I told my mom about it and she decided it sounded "fun". (Crazy lady) So she's going to go with me. We were numbers 5 & 6 to register.

I have a 140 page book I have to read before the class starts.

Am I insane?

Facing the fear! Yikes.

Whine

I've decided to begin NaBloPoMo with a whine!

I woke up sick this morning. I don't want to be sick nor do I have time to catch this. My understanding from the people around who have it, is that it lasts for about 2 weeks.

TWO WEEKS. Are you kidding me?

My children seem okay so far. My step-mother came and got Leah and took her dance class. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about preschool this afternoon. I don't know if Drew is going to make it in time.

This is a lame day!

And a lame post... maybe I'll come up with something more fascinating later. For now I will leave with with something adorable...


The day before turning 7 months... wearing 12-18 m Old Navy clothes.

NaBloPoMo

Can I do it? Should I even try? It starts in one hour.... I guess maybe anyone still reading this blog is about to hear a lot of little stories about my children for the next month...

I've done this the last two years. I'd like to keep up the tradition!

NaBloPoMo 2010 here I come!

Hannah, oh Hannah, oh Hannah Reneé

We sing that to her a lot. Even Leah sings it – to the tune of the Good Morning song (Good Morning, Good Morning, Good Morning to you!)

Anyway…

So Hannah is 5 months old and I have not written a post about her in forever. I. am. so. lame.

I wrote a very, very long blog post when she turned 4 months old. And my laptop came unplugged, turned off (long story) and I lost the entire thing. I’d been working on it for like 2 hours. It was so so sad. Because I’ll never remember it all again and I didn’t have another 2 solid hours to devote to it! Sigh.

So let me think of all the things this fantastic baby is doing…

She rolls all over the place. She’ll roll several times in a row to get to something she wants. She can sit up if she keeps her hands propped in front of her on the floor. She’s also sat up a few times completely but falls over fairly quickly.

She can’t get enough of cords. Electrical cords. She’ll do whatever it takes to get to them. I keep explaining to her it isn’t safe but she’s not so much into listening. ;)

She is about 16 lbs and about 24 inches. I can’t believe how fast she’s growing!! It’s just crazy.

She. Loves. Food.

I didn’t give Leah food until after 6 months but Hannah was already at that stage where she would watch you eat. Like a tennis match. Staring at the fork as it goes from your plate to your mouth. She wanted it so much!

So we started out with rice cereal – which constipated her. So we did baby oatmeal – she ate that like she’d been eating her whole life. So funny. She quickly tired of that though.

I had pureed pumpkin in the freezer so we started with that. Oh the happy GLEE. She was giggling and squealing. And she’s done that for each food as I’ve introduced it. I think probably the most hysterical reaction was sweet potatoes.

I did all veggies first – green beans, pumpkin, carrots, peas, carrots & pea, carrots & spinach, squash, sweet potatoes, etc. Almost all of it has been stuff I made. The things I’ve made her she won’t eat the jarred version of – dang it. Except green beans – she’ll do both of those. And I’ve not ever made the sweet potatoes myself (I will once she moves on to more chunky foods)

We’ve tried a few fruits and she really doesn’t like them very much. If I add oatmeal to the apples she’ll eat it - sometimes. And she’ll do a little peaches that way but not much. Oh and pears. But they all have to have oatmeal in them.

She squeals when she’s happy and when she’s mad. And when she’s mad it’s so high pitched it can cause you pain. Although I think at this point my ears might actually be damaged because it doesn’t hurt anymore! LOL It still hurts other people though.

She kicks. Not sometimes – not just when she’s excited – not just when she’s awake. She kicks all. the. time. I actually had to find new positions to feed her in because my right forearm was all kinds of sore from the amount of abuse it was taking. She’s strong!

She is still just the most smiley person ever. She grins and grins at people when we are out and about. As we’re shopping she kind of pulls people to us – making eye contact and grinning at them. They can’t help themselves but stop and talk to her. I love watching her do that.

She thinks Leah is the coolest thing ever. Leah can always make her laugh.

She is sleeping pretty well. Only her night starts between 5:30 & 6 pm. So it’s hard to go out and do anything. I haven’t been to the church youth group stuff in FOREVER because it starts at 6:30 and she’s already sound asleep. That part makes me sad. BUT…

She’ll stay asleep from that point until sometimes between 11 & 1. Then sleep again until 7. Sometimes she wakes up in between but she’s not hungry. Just wants her pacifier or something. And we get to go right back to sleep.

She only likes to sleep in her crib. Leah always slept with me. I loved cosleeping but alas... Hannah wants her own space! So she does all that sleeping in her room with a monitor next to my head. She will also sleep in her carseat but that’s it.

Oh! for about a week she was saying “mama” when I asked her too. She hasn’t done it for days. It’s so adorable to hear someone so small say anything! But mama is the best!

I’m gonna go ahead and post this because who knows when I’ll get to work on it again. It’s been a week of random sittings as it is. I’ll just come back and add stuff as I think of it like I did the others.

65 Questions

65 Questions You've Probably Never Been Asked...you know the rules. Tag people in this note (including the person who tagged you!) to learn more about people. Also, try to tag people who you've tagged in other notes, sometimes you learn things in new notes that you didn't know before about them...

1. First thing you wash in the shower?

My Face

2. What color is your favorite hoodie?

Olive Green

3. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again?

Definitely

4. Do you plan outfits?

No (that made me LOL)

5. How are you feeling RIGHT now?

Tired. I should be sleeping.

6. What’s the closest thing to you that's red?

My hair

7. Tell me about the last dream you remember having?

I’m pretty sure I shouldn’t.

8. Did you meet anybody new today?

Nope

9. What are you craving right now?

Cheese. It’s a constant craving that follows me everywhere. Since I’m not allowed to eat cheese...

10. Do you floss?

Sometimes

11. What comes to mind when I say cabbage?

Eggrolls

12. Are you emotional?

Very

13. Have you ever counted to 1,000?

I have no idea. Maybe when I was a kid?

14. Do you bite into your ice cream or just lick it?

Lick

15. Do you like your hair?

Yes

16. Do you like yourself?

Yes

17. Would you go out to eat with George W. Bush?

Sure. Why not?

18. What are you listening to right now?

Mockingjay (audiobook)

19. Are your parents strict?

They were.

20. Would you go sky diving?

I’d like to try it some day.

21. Do you like cottage cheese?

Yes

22. Have you ever met a celebrity?

I don’t think so.

23. Do you rent movies often?

Nope – Netflix. Love it.

24. Is there anything sparkly in the room you're in?

Not really

25. How many countries have you visited?

3

26. Have you made a prank phone call?

Yup

27. Ever been on a train?

Yes

28. Brown or white eggs?

Either. Although I can only have egg whites these days. I just buy them in a carton so I don’t have to spend all my time separating eggs.

29.Do you have a cell phone?

Yes

30. Do you use chapstick?

I will but I’d rather have carmex.

31. Do you own a gun?

I’m terrified of them  but I’ve recently decided (or rather been talked around to believing) I should learn some about them to over come the fear. No, I don’t own one.

32. Can you use chop sticks?

Yes

33. Who are you going to be with tonight?

My daughters.

34. Are you too forgiving?

Depends on the depth of my loyalty to that person.

35. Ever been in love?

Yes

36. What is your best friend(s) doing tomorrow?

Work.

37. Ever have cream puffs?

Yes

38. Last time you cried?

Last Night

39. What was the last question you asked?

Why are you both up at once? Does no one sleep all night in this house?

40. Favorite time of the year?

Halloween to New Year’s Day

41. Do you have any tattoos?

No

42. Are you sarcastic?

Frequently

43. Have you ever seen The Butterfly Effect?

Not that I remember.

44. Ever walked into a wall?

Yes. Shh. I don’t want to talk about it.

45. Favorite color?

Depends on what it is. I like shades of blue in most things but in eyes I like chocolate.

46. Have you ever slapped someone?

Yes

47. Is your hair curly?

Not even a little bit.

48. What was the last CD you bought?

Wow. It’s been 100 years. I just usually download stuff. Hmm. I really have no idea.

49. Do looks matter?

Of course

50. Last text you received?

Ok. Muah.

51. Is your phone bill sky high?

No. Not too bad.

52. Do you like your life right now?

Parts of it.

53. Do you sleep with the TV on?

No.

54. Can you handle the truth?

Yes.

55. Do you have good vision?

Nope

56. Do you hate or dislike more than 3 people?

Yes.

57. How often do you talk on the phone?

Yes.

58. The last person you held hands with?

Leah

59. What are you wearing?

Jammies

60.What is your favorite animal?

Panda Bears

61. Where was your default picture taken?

My inlaws backyard.

62. Can you hula hoop?

Not even a little bit.

63. Do you have a job?

Yes. Duh.

64. What was the most recent thing you bought?

Groceries.

65. Have you ever crawled through a window?

Yes.

As Connie said… consider yourself tagged. :)

The Last Frontier

 

I have one place in  my life where I could be alone… about 70% of the time. The shower. 

I say 70% because some times Drew comes with me. And when it’s time for Hannah to be bathed I have Drew hand her to me at the end of my shower and hold her and bathe her. (She loves this)

Leah until a few days ago thought the shower was kind of scary.

But now?

She has decided that showering is Very. Very. Cool.

She’d like to take every shower with me.

She brings toys.

She giggles a lot.

I am not alone in the shower.

Now What?

The Question & A Note

Will I ever blog again on a regular basis?

Hopefully. I miss it! I think of things to blog about through out the day but by the time everyone is asleep and I can blog… *yawn* I want sleep!

I did want to make note of one thing today. I had this Facebook status:

…is watching Hannah try to roll herself from her back to her tummy. Is it wrong to hope it takes her a long time to figure it out???

Then barely two minutes later I posted this as a comment:

…Oh for the love of heaven. I put her on her tummy myself, she army crawled forward about 6 inches and she flipped over to her back! Never mind. LOL

I just didn’t want to forget to mark the date. She was 12 weeks old yesterday. She was 11 lbs when I weighed her with the Wii this morning. She’s so fantastic!

Oh IBS how I hate thee…

So I mentioned briefly on my blog that I finally admitted to  myself I had IBS but that it wasn’t a big deal. Just a few things I couldn’t eat anymore.

Alas, the longer I test out different foods, the longer the list gets of things that upset my system.

So, as I do, I decided this clearly required more research.

http://www.helpforibs.com/diet/trigger2.asp – this is a list of things I CANNOT eat. But in summary for you – anything too high in fat, red meat (including wild game which I have a freezer full of), pork, dark meat poultry & skin, egg yolks, dairy products (although I figured out I can have a little bit mixed in things – my tolerance is just low), chocolate, carbonation, artificial sweeteners (as a diabetic – WHAT A PAIN), and MSG (that crap is in everything). There are other things on that trigger list but since I don’t do coffee or caffeine or alcohol – those things were really easy to give up! haha.

Now fiber – this is the big juggle. There are two types of fiber. Insoluble and Soluble. We all need insoluble fiber. It’s what your body breaks down and uses as fiber, it keeps the pH balance in your GI system. But in an IBS person this stuff triggers attacks (which are just awful).

So what to do? This is a pretty good list of insoluble fibers - http://www.helpforibs.com/diet/fiber2.asp. This is a list of soluble ones  - http://www.helpforibs.com/diet/fiber1.asp. (If you look, notice how much incredibly short the soluble fiber list is. Not fair I think!)

So the deal is that if I have soluble fiber first then I can follow it with a little insoluble fiber and hopefully not suffer any consequences and still give my body the things it needs. For example, starting my meal with a salad – not good. But I can eat some rice and then have a small salad.

Oh add things high in sulfur (garlic, onions, some veggies, etc), anything highly acidic (too much citrus, vinegar, cooked tomatoes), and anything too high in fructose. – those are also things to be very careful with.

And all of this I have to balance with the fact that I have diabetes of course. If you look at the soluble fiber list you’ll see that many of those things are high in carbs – things that raise my blood sugar the most.

Add to that some things that are triggers for my acid reflux. Like citrus. I had about an inch of homemade lemonade awhile back – had acidic heartburn for 9 hours. And then IBS consequences for 48 hours. It was not awesome.

And then there is the endometriosis – which only effects me and rears it’s ugly head once a month but it is nonetheless wildly annoying. 

So I don’t want to be this person. This person with all the health issues. But apparently I don’t get a say.

I just want to get to the point where the IBS “diet” (I put that in quotes because it’s for the rest of my life of course) is second nature to me and I don’t have to think about it tons. Like my diabetes – just part of life.

The other day my sister asked me if I kept the receipt for this body. We had a whole hilarious conversation that followed. I love her!

Then my friend Kathy says to me on FB yesterday - your body isn't nearly as tough as your spirit!! (I was posting about my sunburn. Two hours total outside on a 70 something Wyoming May day and I look like a lobster! Ridiculous.)

And that I’d say is exactly what is at the root of my mental issues with this. I’m tough! I can take a lot – mentally, emotionally, spiritually. I have been through lots of things and come out the other side stronger each time. But my body? It’s not tough. Not at all. And it irritates me to no end!

Hannah – 2 months old!

The last couple of months is such a blur. I guess sleep deprivation does that to you… or it could be the fun!

Hannah is such a happy smiley person. It’s so fun when she first wakes up in the morning and gives me huge grins in greeting.

Let’s see…

• Hannah still hates to poop. However, it doesn’t normally involve crying anymore. She just concentrates and gets it done. She will make her displeasure known if you don’t get that poopy diaper off her quickly though!
• Something I forgot to mention last time (although I did talk about the lazy suck) – Hannah eats slow. Not a little bit slow. A LOT slow. She averages 5-7 minutes per ounce – which is an improvement over a month ago. So a 4 oz bottle (which she regularly does now – sometimes up to 6) takes about 45 minutes with the burping, etc. Each bottle is a time commitment so sometimes when she lets me know she’s hungry I’m running around going to the bathroom, make the bottle, get a drink. I feel kind of bad for the poor hungry baby but I know once I sit down I know I won’t be getting up. SHE doesn’t care if I need to pee. haha.
• We found a pacifier Hannah likes – which was ENTIRELY necessary. She sometimes would ask to eat and then get mad when food came out of the bottle. She just wanted to suck but she didn’t like any of the pacifiers we had. We were constantly making bottles and she would eat 1/4 of an ounce and fall asleep. So I went on the internet and found the ones Leah used to like. They’re the most similar to the bottles we have and when I offered her that one she was happily sucking away within a split second. Whew!
• She’s also recently figured out she could try to fight sleep. But I’ve got her number! She can’t stay awake if I sing to her. Sometimes she doesn’t make it through a whole song. Sometimes maybe 5. So we rock and sing and she falls asleep quickly. I love those moments. So so sweet!
• Hannah is full of grins. She smiles at lots of people if they try long enough but I get all her big grins. She did give one to Drew today. He got SO excited. It was adorable.
• She’s starting to sleep really well. One 4-5 hour stretch every night and last night she did an almost 7 hour stretch!

And now she needs me to go rock & sing to her. She won’t go to sleep for Daddy. If I think of more things to add I will come back in a little while.

Oh! And for those of you waiting for pictures on her picture blog. I’ll put more up tonight or tomorrow. I left my camera at  my mom’s last week with the card full of pictures. I have some from my cell phone from this week but I went and got my camera back yesterday. Whew! I’m no good at being without my camera!

ETA – She’s about 10 lbs now but I don’t know exactly. I only know that from the weigh myself holding her method.

A Constellation

The other day I was doing a worksheet with Leah. (practicing 10, 20, 30, etc). It was a dot-to-dot thing. There were stars all over it and then the dot-to-dot made a star. 

After she’s done I say, “Cool! What did you make?”

“A constellation.”

She’s supposed to say star but technically there are several stars on that page so I didn’t correct her.

Haha.

Happy Mother’s Day

My Mother’s Hands

By Lorie Barton

I’m thankful for my mother’s hands, which help me every day.

With her hands she shows me how to work and how to play.

It seems that when I need some help, her hands are always there

To tie my shoes, or make me lunch, or comb my messy hair.

Her hands know how to fix my bike and how to make my bed,

And how to find a scripture verse to ease my worried head.

 

I want my hands, like Mother’s, to serve others every day.

I want my hands to know, like hers, how to work and play.

I know that when she needs some help, my hands can help her too.

Because she’s taught me well, they know exactly what to do.

I’ll thank my mother for her hands and hug her really tight.

And promise her to use my hands to always do what’s right.

LDS.org - Friend Article - My Mother’s Hands

****

I was reading this magazine with Leah yesterday, just going from page to page reading things to her and we got to this poem and it choked me up (of course) and when we got to the last line Leah pulled my hands to her chest and hugged them. So adorable.

 

Happy Mother’s Day! Most especially to my own Momma. Love you!

about Hannah…

…who is one month old today!

I’ve been thinking about how to formulate this post and have it make any sense – or least be more story like but I give up making it work out. Here you will now get a bulleted list of things about Hannah!

• Hannah is an eating machine. On average babies eat about 2.5 oz per day for every lb they weigh. Hannah exceeds that everyday. Sometimes by a little, sometimes by quite a lot. (She is, as I’m typing this, starting to stir next to me. It’s been roughly an hour and a half since she ate. I bet she wants more already). Sometimes we have 12 feedings in a day. Sometimes less. It’s impossible to guess how much she will eat from bottle to bottle. Sometimes 1 oz because she wanted a snack, sometimes 4. Even 5 once. I’m just saying – she likes to eat. Which leads me to…
• Food coma – after she eats a large amount she’s like a floppy noodle. When she’s hungry she can hold her head up, look around, move her body about but when she’s full? It’s like she loses all ability and goes completely limp. It’s hysterical.
• She has gained about 2.5 lbs since we left the hospital – in her first month of life. She was 6 lb 10 oz at birth, 6 lb 3 oz when we left the hospital, 7 lb 11 oz at her 2 week appt. And doing the ‘weigh myself holding her, weigh myself without her' thing – she’s just over 9 lbs now. Amazing!
• Hannah hates to poop. And I don’t mean she kind of dislikes it – She LOATHES pooping. She has at least currently reached the point where she doesn’t cry her eyes out every time she poops. I have to put her in “poop position” (as I have come to call it. Catchy, right? I’m clever. I know.) and she will concentrate and get it done without crying. If she needs to poop and I haven’t noticed it yet she will cry until I put her in that position and immediately stop. I keep telling her – You aren’t gonna out grow this pooping thing so you might as well get used it. People poop. It’s part of life – but she doesn’t really listen to me. ;)
• She makes tons of faces. I have posted picture proof on her picture blog. She can furrow her brow like no ones business.
• Hannah is very easy to put to sleep and once she is asleep I can set her down anywhere comfy and she will keep sleeping. (This is a new experience for me. Leah would only sleep if I was holding her or laying down with her & holding her. I couldn’t do anything) This is fantastic for me. So I can get things done in little bursts between the feedings. This isn’t to say I don’t hold her through many naps because – well – I love holding a sleeping baby. It’s just nice that I CAN set her down when I need to clean or cook dinner or play with Leah or whatever.
  • I should interject here that Drew disagrees with this. She’s easy for *me* to put to sleep. It takes her longer and she’s way more fidgety if anyone else is doing it.
• If she’s hungry and you kiss her on the lips she will open and close her mouth and kiss back. Okay really she’s trying to latch on because she’s hungry but it’s adorable. And I do it every chance I get.
• She has gas troubles. She’s on formula to reduce gas, bottles to reduce gas, gas drops with each bottle – and still the child has gas. Not as bad as if you forget the drops but still gas. I just have to keep her legs bent and it passes fairly quickly but as with pooping – she does not like it. And of course gas pains hurt so who can blame her.
• Hannah has the worst latch. It’s called a lazy suck I learned. Even at the hospital I feed her the first few times and the nurse feed her once while we were out getting something to eat and when we got back she asks me “How did you even get her to take that much!” (meaning about .5 oz) and went on to talk about how lazy her suck reflex was. She’s done much better since we left the hospital and are using wider/larger bottle nipples. But this contributes to the gas of course. And to the fact that when she drinks a 4 oz bottle we have to stop 2-3 times to burp her during it. You can tell when it’s time to burp because she gets all squirmy.
• Burping – she’s the best burper ever! Sometimes all you have to do is sit her up and she burps but it never takes more than a minute or so. And normally much less.
• Her gag reflex however is superb. She can’t use the soothie pacifiers they use at the hospitals because it’s too long and makes her gag every time. Poor kid. She will also gag simply from having to much spit gather in her mouth. She has to sleep at an angle. If she’s flat on her back she will gag in her sleep – and wake up of course.
• I’m forgetting things to add. Maybe I’ll come back later if I think of more. Not that this isn’t already an insanely long-winded list…
• ETA (the next day - I knew there would be something!) - Hannah LOVES being in the water - as long as I'm holding her & with her. Whether it's sitting in the bathtub or taking a shower. It makes her all calm and happy. She only cries when she realizes it's over. So fun!
  

Now one more thing I want to address. I’ve had a few quiet questions about Hannah’s race. So I’m gonna share about it here but first let me share my reasoning with you for doing this.

I understand, of course, that race is a sensitive issue and that people are worried about asking it because it’s not “PC” and no one wants to offend. But if *I* don’t talk about it and show my genuine delight and excitement about the mixture that is Hannah, how will she know? How will she know to be proud of all of the parts that make up who she is? If we’re quiet about it will she think it’s something to be ashamed of? Because that’s a horrifying thought to me!

So – Hannah is 1/4 African American, 1/4 Italian, 1/8 Vietnamese, and 3/8 Caucasian.

Her coloring seems to be changing every day. Her eye color definitely has changed several times. She even had a stretch where she had 3 rings of color in her eyes at once. They seem to be blending now. I find the genetics fascinating. And it’s like we get to watch the interplay of these things work themselves out inside her body. Bi or Multi-racial children can take several months to gain whatever color they may be in the long run. Leah only took about a month – and still her color is different depending on the season.

Anyway! We are having a fantastic time here. Hannah is a joy and has fit quite well into life.

Leah is absolutely loving having a baby sister but that’s another (probably long winded) post that will have to wait for another time. I have to go show Leah how to tie dye now. She’s REALLY excited! (She got a kit from Aunt Leah for Christmas and we just aquired white t-shirts this weekend – thanks to Nana for stopping at Walmart!)

He’s funny

 

*Drew makes some rather bad joke*

Me: *fake laugh* ha ha ha.

Drew: You know I love that fake laugh.

Me: Oh ya?

Drew: Ya. It makes me feel all fake warm inside.

Me: *real laugh*

Baby Bag

I couple of weeks before Hannah was born I saw this pattern at Wal-Mart and I found this fabric – and I just had to have it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I read the list on the back. I had to buy a zipper. What? A Zipper? I’d never done that before. But it was way easier than I expected and it turned out great! Actually the only piece of clothing I had ever made was a man nightgown/caftan thing out of candy bar fabric once. It was hysterical and I never finished all the hems and stuff because Drew wouldn’t give it back to me. He loved it. Crazy man. This turned out better!

 

It has come in very hand with it being so cold the last few days and she looks adorable in it!

(There are pictures of her in it I’m sure you’d love to see but I’m too tired to get up off the couch! LOL)

Picture Blogs

I don't remember if I've ever posted about Leah's picture blog but now I have one for Hannah too.

They are both set to private so if you'd like to see them you just need to give me an email and I'll send you an invite.

I'm not super secretive truly. It's just a "there are creepy people in the world" thing.

Leah's I have not updated since December (I'm lame obviously). Hannah's has some pictures on it already. I updated it yesterday.

:)

Introducing…

Leah’s little sister - Hannah Reneé!!

Friday, March 26th
6 lbs 10 oz
19.5 inches

Friends

Leah: Mommy do you know how to play this game?

Me: Yes Leah
(It's the game of Life)

Leah: Do you want to play?

(I think to myself. This is starting already? It's 7:45 am. Heaven give me strength! But I say...)

Me: I do want to play with you but I need to clean up this mess.
(I've been sewing... the living room is trashed.)

Leah: Well then I'm gonna help you clean!

Me: (surprised) You are?

Leah: Yes because that's what friends do. They help each other.

Be still my heart.

PS We cleaned up the living room and she really did help. It's not finished but we're gonna play Life now. The details need finished but we're gonna play a game of Life now.

Leah’s Duvet

So last month or so Leah decided she liked sleeping in the guest room. I don’t remember how it started but it kept up for several weeks. And much  more often in that bed she would sleep all night than in her own. So I wanted to switch the beds (from her twin to this queen) but I need to find a duvet cover that would work with all her existing things – which we just got in November.

As it turns out it was kind of a pain to find something so specific. So I solved it by doing the project below.

2 flat queen sheets
a yard to a yard and half of fabric

I cut the fabric in about 4.5 inch wide strips and sewed them together in sections long enough for 3 sides of the sheets.

I did this in a box construction. I had no pattern. This was very “by the seat of my pants”. So I sewed up the sides to one sheet, than the other, pinning it first to make sure it would match up. I left the corners open and did them last.

Then instead of doing buttons I made these ties out of the strips of fabric. Just folded some strips in half, sewed them up one side and turned them right side out.

I cut nine pairs of ties (18 total) and then pinned and sewed them to the top of the sheets. I just did a stitch straight across the seam already in the top of the sheets. (I was using a contrasting purple thread the whole time)

   

So now everything in her room still works. Her bed has flannel tinker bell sheets under all of that.

Did you know it’s hard to find Tinkerbell sheets in queen size??

I need to move the pictures around for the new furniture configuration but she could care less. She loves her bed.

And the best part is? The whole project – 35 dollars. How crazy is that? All the ones I had saved during my online shopping were 100+. Yeah me!

Birds

Leah & I – forever ago – bought this bird feeder and hung it in the bush outside the living room window. It’s been month at least. Maybe six weeks and today the birds finally discovered it’s there. Leah was SO excited. We took these pictures through the (rather dirty) glass, laying on our tummies watching them eat. A third bird came after awhile having a little chirping fit. I think because there wasn’t room for him. Leah said we needed to make a third hole and get a third stick. I decided he could wait his turn. lol

Cute little birds…

What’s up around here?

Okay. It’s true. I just keep putting cooking posts up. There is still stuff going on around here.

But mostly I just haven’t been blogging much. Food pictures and recipes are easy and take very little thought. lol

This last 6 weeks or so – had I been blogging – would have been a lot of:

Leah’s sick.

I’m sick now.

Leah’s sick again.

My turn to be sick.

Drew was sick for 10 minutes. (he has the most ridiculous immune system)

Me again.

In January I finally admitted to myself I had IBS. Forever ago I had some posts about what the docs thought was probably a gall bladder attack. Although one doctor told me it could be IBS. He’s the 4th doctor to tell me I probably had that. But I don’t want it. I have diabetes. I most likely have endometriosis. Do I want a third incurable disease? Give me a break!

But my special “ignore your physical issues” powers are not working. And I had a 12 day attack and was in a lot of pain for all those days. I finally had to sit down and do some research – still feeling doubt that this was my problem. And while reading what the worst food triggers are for attacks I was eating pumpkin seeds. Guess what’s on the list? And what I’d been eating for 3 days. Pumpkin seeds/Pepitas. No more of those for me! 12 days of pain. NO GOOD. So I accept. I have it. Slowly figuring out what my triggers are. Frustrating state of affairs. My body hates me! But I’m getting a handle on it and now it can just be a few foods I avoid or eat less of. Not so bad!

Then Leah got sick and was sick for a full 2 weeks overlapping that. And then I got that 2 week cold and it’s just now starting to go away.

I made Leah a duvet cover yesterday and finished the details today. I should do a post about that. We’re switching the queen bed in the guest room for her daybed. She’s taken lately to sleeping in there. And she seems to sleep better and longer.

You know when I hear people talking about their babies sleeping through the night I just chuckle to myself (okay sometimes I want to poke them in the eye). Leah still normally doesn’t. I don’t have to get up and make her a bottle at least. I keep telling her she doesn’t have to wake me. Just get in bed with me – that’s usually all she wants. But she always has to wake me up and inform me of what she’s doing.

Anyway! If that big bed helps – I’m all for switching them around!

That pretty much covers that last month. Not that we aren’t having fun in there but with so much sickness going back and forth some how fun blog posts are not just coming out of me. ;)

Today Drew did tell me about a little conversation he had with Leah. She’s decided that boys are scary (and really 4 year old boys are very different animals from 4 year old girls LOL) After one of her little rants about how she doesn’t like boys. He says “but Leah! *I* am a boy!”

“You are NOT! You’re a DADDY!”

That’s some good logic, eh?

Valentine’s Breakfast

Happy Valentine’s Day! This was great fun for Leah…

I’d tell you how I perfectly centered that egg… but then I’d have to kill you.

Pancake -

Leah’s Plate… 

Later I should post about Drew’s Valentine’s Day Present. He wanted my Green Chili (you can see that HERE) and tamales. I’ve never made tamales. It’s like some unreachable thing that people sell, right? Like you can buy A tamale for 2 bucks. Crazy. I told him no way. He didn’t ask for that FOR Valentine’s just mentioned I should add that to my list of things to learn. So I decided for V-Day I would do it. And homemade refried beans and Spanish Rice. It was a meal that took 2 days to prepare and 20 minutes to eat. Just like Thanksgiving! I invited my Mom & Dad over. Drew was a very happy man. (as were Mom & Dad!)

Oreo Balls & Molten Lava Cake

I made two things today. Well three. I did the Shrimp/Zucchini Tostada that are HERE (I had a craving for those) but two new things. This is going to turn into one really long blog post with two recipes but here goes…

Oreo Cookie Balls

These were really very simple to make.

Combine:

1 regular pkg Oreos
1 – 8 oz pkg cream cheese

I did this first in my food processor which chose the moment half way through to seize up and begin to spew smoke! Excellent timing, don’cha think? So then I transferred it to a bowl and finished with my immersion blender. I should have just done that to begin with LOL

After you blend these things together you can form little balls and place them onto a foil covered pan (or wax paper. whatever you have). I used a 1/2 TBSP spoon and another spoon to scoop it out to form the ball. Then you put them in the fridge for an hour or so.

**Leah’s mouth covering… She’s sick and she kept coughing all over the place. I said she could keep helping me but that she had to wear that. She was not too pleased with the idea but she had no choice.

She really was very good at making the balls though!

Towards the end of that time you melt some chocolate of whatever chocolate floats your boat. I saw a lot of suggestions about chocolate bark but I used Ghirardelli milk chocolate baking chips (one whole bag). I melted them in a double boiler.

Then I pulled out the balls and formed them into more perfect balls with my hands. Then I just used a spoon to roll them around in the chocolate. Back onto the foiled pan.

 

Once the chocolate was set some we drizzled decorating gel over the top and stuck them back in the fridge.

I don’t know what I expected of these but they’re delicious. The inside goo stuff looks like black tar which is mildly frightening but they’re delicious! What’s not to love? Oreo, cream cheese, and chocolate. Yummo.

Molten Lava Cake

So for such a “I always eat this in fancy restaurants” kind of dessert this is fascinatingly simple to make.

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for muffin tins
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar, plus more for muffin tins
• 3 large eggs
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted ( 1 1/3 full cups of chips)
• Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
• Whipped Heavy Whipping Cream (to top with when you eat. you could do ice cream or something of course)

Preheat to 400 degrees.

So you take a 6 cup muffin tin (or use a 12, just do this to 6 and put a little water in the other 6 to avoid scorching during baking), coat them in the extra butter, then liberally coat each cup in sugar.

Don’t skip this part. It gives a delightful outer crust to the cake!

Now mix until fluffy the butter and the sugar. Add the eggs – one at at time and blend thoroughly after each egg. On low, add the flour and salt until blended. Now slowly added the melted chocolate (do this by hand) and just folded it in until combined.

Split the batter between the 6 cups, bake for 8-10 minutes.

*Note – if you cook these too long they will not be ruined. They won’t be lava cakes anymore. They will be rich dense cupcakes.

Turn them upside down, dust with powdered sugar, and top with a dollop of whipped cream.

I took this first picture before I took a bite of course. Then I cut it open and got so excited I kept taking bites and forgot the original flowing lava picture. Oops. LOL Although this one still looks dang yummy!

That is one worthy dessert.

Drew was at work while I did all this and I didn’t realize he was coming home at 3 in the afternoon and he walks in and all 3 of these things were hot and waiting. He was one happy man!