Have You Ever Just....

Traditions

2010-02-01T10:25:00.000-08:00

I have always felt strongly that having family traditions set in place will help foster good memories for Elliette's childhood. We have tried to start a few and as she gets older and we have more babies, I hope we can have MORE! I feel like the traditions I had as a child are the go-to memories that pop in my head and I want that for her and our family.

While we are setting up our new traditions with our family, I am reminded of the traditions we have with our amazing friends. One of which is the Lutsen trip we are getting ready for this weekend! It started quite a few years back and included the group of us staying in a condo on the hill and barely making back the deposit after 3 nights of ridiculous partying... Now that we are having kids, getting older, and need less destruction to judge how good of a time we had - we have morphed into a pretty laid back group. This will be year 2 of trading up to the Papa Wawa Lodge (Josh's Parent's condo on the shore) and leaving the Condo on the hill behind for another group of crazy kids.

And even though nothing is broken - we still know how to have fun!

How cute are we?

Josh even decided to take this opportunity to make me an honest woman!

We also have our Annual CAMP! Weekend at Hok-Si-La which is honestly one of the best weekends of every year. This year will mark the 7th year and I already can't wait. That might be due to my insane love for Glamping (Glamour Camping - which means I bring everything from carpet to a full kitchen), the fact that it's snowing and like 2 degrees right now or because this year we will have a new addition - Jason and Angela's new baby!

Kids and Camping! It doesn't get better than this!

Awwww....

And once the kids go to bed.....

The adults take time to enjoy a cold one... or 8 (as evidenced by the length of their Wizard Staff)

It's so great being able grow up with these friends... I love being able to count on a few experiences every year with them and see how much we have changed from the year before... It's amazing how refreshing spending time with adults (even when kids are around) can be... I sort of forgot that even though we were one of the first of our friends to have a kid - we are not the last! And instead of missing out on the opportunities with these friends - we have all just adjusted and made the most out of it - and our bonds are even stronger...

It's the little things...

2010-01-27T13:08:00.000-08:00

So I - err.. I mean Elliette, got a pretty sweet kitchen this year for Christmas... I scoured the internet looking for the perfect balance of realism and playfulness that didn't interfere too much with our modern sense of style since it would be smack dab in the middle of our living room. Once I found it - I then began to obsess over the accessories - pots, pans, plates, food, etc. I have acquired quite a few amazing little items and in the process found a love for felt food. It started innocent enough - a few bakery items, a loaf of bread, a hamburger set... NOW? Now it's a full on problem and I have started making it myself. Sort of like when a coke addict becomes a meth head because he's figured out how to make it...

Anyway, I have been working with felt for a couple of years making my Advent Calendar for Elliette. (Yes - a couple of years to make one project and NOPE still not done!! I've got 2 more ornaments to make and then I can start on the calendar part!! Seriously - you try spending 6 hours on a Christmas ornament in June - NOT POSSIBLE) I have become pretty good working with it - and so the other night as I was trying to figure out where to store the loose bread pieces - I came up with the idea to make a bread bag.

It was pretty easy - and turned out pretty cute if you ask me ---

After searching for an easy bread logo to make seem more real - I went with this version that was a COMPLETE rip off of the old Wonderbread logo

I regretfully didn't take any photos of the process - but I honestly wasn't sure it would turn out so I didn't bother... But in the end - I think it sort of completes Elliette's kitchen a little more. Here is the slices of bread - don't they look real!!??

I hope once she's old enough she will appreciate her Mother's obsessive nature to never leave out a single detail, but in the meantime - it's keeping me busy!

My Baby thinks in Colors

2010-01-25T21:13:00.000-08:00

Recently, Josh was asked to be interviewed for a Local Film Showcase that's held on the third Wednesday of every month called The Cinema Lounge. It's super intimate and interesting because you get to hear all about the behind the scenes of how they made it happen. There was once a time in my life where I was insanely devoted to the local film community here, running a film guild with over 100 members... That was of course another lifetime ago it seems, but it was really nice to be a part of it - even if only for 1 night...

While we were out galavanting with the Locals, Elliette got to spend some much needed time with her Wawa - which is what we call Josh's Mom (well not US -- he actually calls her Mom and I tend to use Susie - but the Grandkids have unanimously voted to call her Wawa) Anyway, we got back past everyone's bedtime so we tiptoed around gathering all of Elliette's stuff and we came across this note from Wawa --

And then we made our way to the fireplace to see what she was talking about and we found this --

Turns out -- my kid has some serious skills! She did that all by herself - which I am STILL in amazement of! And can I just say - the part of her that organized those balls in the most amazing little rows makes me more proud than if she had solved a quadratic equation and gave me the value of x...

If there is a question at all to where she got this skill -- ahem.... Here is some of my sewing/craft stuff:

And yes - that would be a photo of an obscene amount of craft pom poms, tiny crystals, and other misc. items organized by color and size each placed in a tiny ziplock to keep them from touching - BECAUSE THAT WOULD CAUSE MY HEAD TO EXPLODE...

Obviously, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree - and honestly, she's in for it. The world is not nice to people like us!

Best Card Ever

2010-01-21T13:45:00.001-08:00

Christmas Cards are such a fun way to connect with your friends and family. We love getting them and it seems that as we get older and our friends start having babies we are getting MORE of them. Which really just translates into the fact that all of us - are slowly turing into real life adults... FREAKY!!

Either way - we take them pretty seriously around our house now that Elliette has come into our lives. We look at it like this, we only get 18* Christmas Cards that Elliette will be in. The same rules apply with Family Vacations, Birthdays, Holidays, etc. - so we try and make the most out of every one...

Here is our card from last year --

My Sweet Angelic Baby Girl

And of course, we felt the need to "one up it" this year....

Our little Elli-Lou Who!

I know - can you stand it? SO F'N CUTE....

Anyway, we are still getting a few stray cards from friends wishing us a Happy New Year and this one came in the mail on Monday which reminded me of something...

Yeah - even if our friends are having babies now --- that in no way will ever make us grow up!

BOOM. PLACENTA IN YOUR FACE!

TAKE THAT ADULTHOOD!

* OBVIOUSLY, we will have a teenager Elliette at some point that WILL NOT play along with us. And there may come a time when she out right refuses to join us on our trip to the Black Hills when she is 17 - but DAMMIT we are gonna pretend until then, that she will always go along with us and our goofy ways!

Well I guess once again "THEY" are right!

2010-01-20T07:55:00.000-08:00

When I found out I was pregnant, I signed up for a weekly email update from Baby Center that would give me the lowdown on how my little fetus was developing and what I should expect in terms of the upcoming months. It was really useful information and it helped me feel more connected to the little life growing in me. Once Little Missy arrived, they continued to send weekly updates, but they now discussed an actual baby. I have found these to be the MOST useful since babies have a hard time telling you what they need - and it always seemed the updates were RIGHT on in terms of where Elliette was at any given time...

I got this from them yesterday:

From BabyCenter --

Your 22-month-old's social and emotional development:

New this month: Issuing orders

Now that your toddler can communicate using both words and gestures, you can expect him to become quite bossy. Mostly he's experimenting with how his ability to communicate affects the people around him. For instance, he might yell "Stop!" when you start singing his favorite song. It's not that he really wants you to stop singing. He's more interested in seeing how you respond to his order. If he demands "Help me!" when he's playing with a toy, you're witnessing a huge developmental leap. Rather than throwing a toy he can't operate, he can now ask you to help him figure it out. "Look!" is another frequent command. Usually this request signifies a need for your approval. He may want you to compliment one of his scribbles, block towers, or simply acknowledge that he put on his socks. Praising his specific achievements will give him the confidence to keep trying new things on his own.

If your toddler has begun to reject your hugs and kisses or has become uncooperative, give some thought to what could be causing him to act this way. Is there a new baby at home? Have you been working late or traveling? Your toddler may be overwhelmed by his feelings but unable to tell you. Try asking him questions about how he's feeling ("Are you angry with Mommy about something? Are you upset with me because I worked late? Would you like to spend more time with me?"), even if his answers hurt you. Understand that he's trying to make sense of his emotions.

Well there you have it people... My baby is apparently right on schedule in becoming a Toddler. I think once we are back in a regular routine and she feels safe that both Mommy and Daddy are home for good - she will be back to normal... Even last night she seemed back to her old cute self -- I mean - just look at this cheese fest!

Elliette Says Cheese from josh thacker on Vimeo.

Coming Home to a REAL Toddler

2010-01-19T10:36:00.000-08:00

Well - I am back from Denver, and happy to be getting back into a routine... However, whatever went on in my absence has turned my lovely baby girl into a FULL BLOWN TODDLER. And a bitchy one at that! The other day, she was holding up her tea pot lid and asked me "What's dis?" and I responded "It's a lid." She replied - "NO! TOP."

Well..... Yes, I guess it is a TOP sass ass, but if you knew the answer why did you ask in the first place?

I know it sounds cute - and if it ended there, maybe it would be... But pretty much everything since then has become a fight. Putting on a coat - FIGHT. Eating dinner - FIGHT. Wiping noses, the way I play kitchen, the way I read books - EVERYTHING is her way or NO WAY. She now will say "STAY" when she wants me to stay somewhere. Or "POME." (which means come) and if I don't go along with her - SCREAM FEST! Before, she would listen to me when I said - "Come here Elliette - let's XYZ". Now she looks at me - says "NO" and runs away as fast as she can and laughs at me like a psycho.

Of course I want to blame Josh for not being a little more tough while I was gone, but I am sure it's just poorly timed ACTUAL Toddlerhood hitting... We have been far too lucky thus far to think even for a second that it wouldn't hit us at some point. I mean, she has virtually been a PERFECT ANGEL BABY - so it was either now or when she's 13 and knocked up or hooked on duster (Personally - I am much better suited to deal with this)...

I was once told by someone with many years of child rearing experience that - "Everything is just a stage"* ... Soon enough, she will be through this and sweet again, but WOW. I sometimes forget that she is still a toddler that is trying on personalities. I will just be sure to let her know that this one? WILL NOT STICK if I have anything to say about it!

*Words of Wisdom by Susie/WaWa Thacker

Checking in

2010-01-13T16:42:00.001-08:00

I am currently working in Denver shooting some TV Spots and am pretty much convinced I would love to live here...

It's GORGEOUS out - like 60 degrees and sunny. People are nice and THERE ARE MOUNTAINS that you can see all the time!

We actually drove up into them a couple of days ago to shoot a portion of one of the spots and it only took 45 minutes to get to 11,000 ft.!

It was so truly beautiful, and it reminded me of my past life goal to move here someday... I forgot how much the Mountains mean to me and how majestic it all is...

I was beginning to think I wouldn't want to leave.... I mean - I met this guy!

But then today- I woke up with a deep deep heartache... I miss my baby...I miss snuggling with my Munchie Bear every night before I put her to bed.... When we read the 4 books and I sing her 10 versions of the same song. When I get up to lay her down and she points at my mouth and says "song?" and I sing one more. When I check on her before I go to bed and admire how much she has grown since the night before. And of course in the morning when she wakes up -- and this is what I see...

GOD I miss that!

Of course - I miss Josh the Babe and the Dog(s), but now that a huge part of of my heart is with her - when she's not close it turns into ache... And I can't wait to get that part of me back...

New Year, New Post

2010-01-04T10:55:00.000-08:00

There I go again pretending like I am going to blog only to follow it up with months of silence... Well this year is going to be different!! I have goals! I have ideas! I have... well I have good intentions let's just say that for now...

New Years was a great/relaxing/cold/family-filled weekend that was very different from New Years of years past. We spent the holiday in Lusten, MN with Josh's family. On any given night, you would be hard pressed to find anyone but me up past midnight - EVEN on New Years Eve. And as un-exciting as that may sound - I welcomed the extra sleep. I felt like the 2 weeks leading up to the holidays left me with 4 hours a night for sleeping and that was just not enough. And these days, I am feeling more and more need for sleep... My how things change!

I think back to 3 years ago for instance....

Josh and I threw a pretty amazing New Years Eve Party in our garage:

WE DANCED

WE PLAYED POKER

WE DANCED SOME MORE

WE SMILED HUGE FOR THE CAMERA WITH BEST FRIENDS

AND OF COURSE -- MORE DANCING!!

(What? You don't dance with Party Hats as peens at your parties?)

We stayed up as late as we wanted, slept in past 1 (PM) the next day and filled our bellies with a greasy brunch from the Uptown Bar. And then we had this to clean up the next day while we battled our hangovers.

We obviously had a good time... and it has been remarkably different for us each year since. We now have a little baby girl to remind us what we are celebrating in the first place - a new year with her. A new year with us. Taking one look at her makes the celebration part seem less important because I will in fact have to wake up when she does no matter how many Vodka Red Bulls I drank. And I want to enjoy that time instead of regret it...

So - Happy New Year Everyone from the once Crazy Party Girl... Maybe I'll see you in a few years! Until then - I will be waking up to this crazy girl with the crazy hair on New Years Day, and enjoying every minute of it...

Okay honestly - this is getting Ridiculous....

2009-10-21T13:18:00.000-07:00

This is me --- finally checking in, what - NINE MONTHS later? HA! Well, I have decided to not let my lack of a 12 month letter stop my blog updates any longer!! Just so you know - I DID in fact write the letter - I just never had a chance to "finesse" the letter... You see, the 12th month was by far insanely harder to write than the previous 11 because every time I started to type and recollect over the past year, I was sitting at my desk weeping for really no apparent reason. It was too emotional for me! There - I said it. I had a baby and now I am a baby - BOOM. DONE. Honestly, that kid has stirred up some very emotional feelings, most of which I can't really even put into words - so when I try - I cry. (hey at least that rhymed)... Anyway, I have decided to let that letter go in terms of this here blog and MOVE ON!

Moving on!

This last weekend Elliette and I attended the 3rd Annual Apple Picking Party a friend at work throws every year and we both had a great time... Elliette is getting to an age now where she can attend "Lady" parties with me! Someday, we will be able to come to them without a backpack of distractions!

Here we are on the wagon heading over to the Orchards

Here she is taking a bite out of an apple --- she was getting a little cranky, so I threw this at her and she was totally content for the ENTIRE time I walked around picking apples!

And finally, here she is on a big ass pumpkin... OR IS IT A TINY BABY!!??

Lovely ladies, Last Lovely Day of the Year*, and a Lovely Little Lady to share this all with!

*Obviously, that is my negativity speaking and yes - I wholeheartedly believe it!

Birthday Fun!

2009-03-09T09:01:00.000-07:00

Well - we are gearing up for Elliette's most awesome birthday of her life! But since it's her first - I can set the standards at a reasonable level.... Although - because this is me we are talking about, this birthday is going to be excellent and over the top. I mean - have you seen me camp? I camp with a FULL KITCHEN and make Bananas Foster French Toast for Breakfast....

Anyway, I have been getting my crafty on and making centerpieces and table cloth decorations. It's actually been pretty fun and may help me get in the mood to start thinking about planning a wedding! I have a coworker's wife making me a sweet cake that is going to be AMAZING - it may even include multiple tiers. We have family coming in from all over and tons of friends coming out to see the birthday girl in person. I can't wait to see how many friends and family we have at Davannis. I am sure we will be at capacity of the party room and then some. SO FUN!

On that note of party planning, I have been getting the now dreaded question - "WHEN'S THE BIG DATE???" and MAN! I have no idea! Really - I am NOT in a hurry to start this process. I still need to have the "talk" with my Dad - where he turns into Daddy and I have to ask for money and feel 16 again. I am sure in the end everything will work out, but I feel bad in these uncertain times we live in taking large sums of money from anyone - especially my Dad who works for himself in the remodeling business. Not too many people are doing cosmetic changes to their houses these days.... BUT, I can't sit here and be engaged for 3 year waiting for the market to change, so I think he may have to dig into his secret stashes of money that he hides in his sock drawer... We will make whatever he gives us work. I can't justify taking out a personal loan to get married and any savings we have needs to be saved for emergencies. It's tough - I want the awesome gathering of friends and food and wine, but it's a tough time to do that right now. We will see what it ends up being after I talk to my Dad. Once I get the dollars all lined up - I will set a date to set THE date. I may even get crazy and plan something for this summer!!

SO -if anyone has any ideas for a fun summer wedding idea - let me know. The best one I have heard so far is a couple that rented an old Boyscout Camp for the weekend and had their wedding there. I like that idea - but it may be a little too "rustic" for what I want. I need a fun, inexpensive way to have all of our friends and family gathered to watch us get married and have a fun party. Seriously - ANY ideas are welcome!

We went to an Art Opening over the weekend and were tempted to buy like 10 different pieces. We already have 1 painting by this Artist and it just so happens that he is a friend, so we will see what happened over the weekend and see if the 3 we LOVED are still around... If you have time - check out his stuff at the Roslux Art Gallery. Scott Wenner is the Artist - VERY amazing stuff...

Hope you all had fantastic weekends and the daylight saving time change didn't throw you off too much!

Elliette - Month 11

2009-02-13T11:37:00.000-08:00

Month 11
2/13/09

Dearest Almost-not-a-Babygirl Elliette,

This is my last month with you as a baby. My last 30 (actually less since February is a short month) days to enjoy the thought that every day you wake up – it’s your first time ever being alive on that day. I mean – after March 13th, I can’t say that – THIS is your very first (insert Holiday here). It will be your SECOND. The magical “firsts” will slowly become “seconds” and then who knows – maybe I will stop even keeping count! It’s been a tough month for me knowing that right around the corner is your FIRST BIRTHDAY. It’s exciting obviously, because you continue to amaze me with your personality and curiosity. But it’s also bittersweet because you can’t go back! You just keep on getting more and more independent and self-sufficient.

In fact, this week, you officially became the OLDEST baby in the infant room. WHAT? The oldest boy Sullivan went off to the toddler room, leaving you there to teach the little ones all the big kid stuff you have learned in your short little 11 months. I will admit that I cried on the way to work that day, because it was just a reminder of what is to come for you in a few short months. You will be moving into the toddler room before I know it! I understand it’s part of the process, but I guess I just wasn’t prepared for the emotional toll it would take on me! I am sure this is just the beginning of a very emotional and rewarding journey of being a parent.

I know it always seems that each month I write about how THIS is the biggest month for development yet – and how DIFFERENT you are, but that is just because every month I think that you couldn’t possibly change anymore - but you do! And of course, this month is no different.

You have gone from crawling to running on all fours, and that is only if there is nothing for you to cruise alongside of – because that is your preferred method of getting around. You use WHATEVER you can to cruise across the room. Usually it’s furniture, but you also have started to use our legs. Every once in a while I will be doing something and I don’t notice you hanging on to me standing there until I go to take a step and I am stuck! You cling on and sort of walk with me wherever I go. It’s definitely not long until you won’t need my leg or the furniture to walk around. You will just walk. And be a big kid. Oh god… I can feel the tears… Does this get easier?????

As you get older, your food needs are changing too. At daycare, they have been trying to transition you (me) to the hot lunch program. At first, I was not on board. I have been trying for MONTHS to get you to try food that had texture and you would just turn your nose up at it. I just assumed that you were not ready yet. But Mary, your teacher would try every week to explain the benefits of the program and I would put it off. Finally, I gave in and you are now officially eating what all the big kids are eating - like full on meals! The other day, they told me you ate FISH! You are getting better about trying stuff that feels weird, but you are still very picky. If it’s a bread type item – you love it. If it’s crunchy – you love it. If it’s a vegetable or fresh fruit, you will NOT go there. I am just going to try and keep my cool and offer them to you anyway. Maybe you will get crazy and decide to eat them!

This transition has been the hardest adjustment for me. When it was all bottles – it was so easy! Then, even when there was some baby food mixed in, at least it was pre-made and I knew it was healthy and easy to bring along. It’s this next stage of real food that is so hard for me. I am constantly trying to think of foods you will eat, but it’s hard! It needs to be quick and easy to make, but also healthy. I have started to make some stuff in big batches and then just re-heat them throughout the week and in theory that would work – but really, you only like things for 1 day. I gave you tater tots one night and you couldn’t get them into your mouth fast enough. I gave them to you the next day, and you wouldn’t even eat one! You tried to give them all to Lena! Trial and error I guess! I just hope you are getting enough food to grow big and strong and as we work into the next level of eating, it’s going to be harder and harder to know for sure.

You have become a little social butterfly this month. You love to be around people and other kids, and I have noticed a little flirty head tilt when you are introduced to people as if you are playing hard to get… but you always have a sweet little smile as if to say – don’t stop… I love it. You are still a pointing machine and your favorite thing to do when we wake up in the morning, is look over the edge of the bed to find the dogs so you can point and say “dog” and laugh. It’s adorable! You also have totally mastered the high 5, which is just the cutest, cutest, cutest thing ever. You really try to get behind it and make it SLAP! You are also getting very good at waving on command. HOWEVER - I think my favorite new trick, is the dancing. OH MY GOD child, you are a grooving machine! It must have been all the beat-box dancing your Daddy has done with you, but you have the beat inside Love, and we couldn’t be happier… No matter what the music is – on TV, on your toys or even something we sing – you start bouncing and wiggling that little baby bum! If you are sitting, you sway back and fourth with your little arms and you always have a very serious look like it’s totally uncontrollable. You just have to let out the beat!

You got to travel yet again this month! We went back to the Papa Wawa Lodge, but this time we took friends. You of course went to bed on cue every night without a hitch, no middle of the night wake ups and you were just a perfectly behaved little angel. I swear you make everyone around you want to have babies because you act like you could do no wrong. You always seem to save those “moments” for when it’s just Daddy and I. I appreciate that though, because I really want our friends to have babies soon!

It was also an exciting weekend at the Lodge because your Daddy surprised me with an engagement ring!! That’s right Elliette – your Mommy and Daddy are finally going to be married! It’s never been a major concern of ours. We love each other, and when we thought about starting a family, it wasn’t important to us to wait until we were “official”. Once we got pregnant with you, we didn’t want to get married just because of that – we wanted to wait until it was right. Mostly because we didn’t want it to take away from the big event of your arrival, and it would seem like we were only doing it because you were coming and we didn’t want that. Now, we are so glad we waited, because how cool is it that you get to be a part of such a special day for your Daddy and I? It will make that day even more wonderful…

The Highlights of Month Eleven:

- You have finally crossed the line of standing at the stairs to climbing them. It was so crazy – one day, you were just hanging out on the bottom step, banging it with your hands not at all interested in the potential danger – and the NEXT day (literally) I was trying to entice you (I know – IDIOT) to try and you just got it. BOOM. You went up all of them. It was pretty incredible. And now, the baby gate is our new best friend.
- Your sleeping has been less than perfect this month. And I say less than perfect, because you pretty much have always been a perfect sleeper. I am not sure if it’s because you are on the verge of major changes or if its your teeth, but it’s definitely not awesome… Thankfully it’s only been a few bad nights.
- Speaking of teeth, your mouth has completely exploded. Seriously, you went from 3 teeth to 5 and I think there is a 6th making it’s way out. The top 2 have forged their way out – and my god, child – let’s hope they shrink by the time they are visible when you smile, because they are HUGE. Like chipmunk style. If they don’t, we will just have to add Buck Tooth Belly to your list of nicknames… I promise we will still love you!
- We have started to brush your teeth and you LOVE it. It’s funny because I can’t get you to open your mouth to show off your teeth without you screaming bloody murder, but throw a little baby toothpaste on a finger brush and you open up that mouth wide! Gotta keep those massive teeth healthy!
- You have started to become a little more uneasy when we leave you in a room alone. It’s nothing crazy, but we have definitely noticed you being more attached to us. I am not complaining, because forever I just thought you were indifferent about your parents because you never went through that separation anxiety phase. Now, I feel a little closer to you because I know you need me - and not just someone.
- Your favorite toys right now: your Farm and all the animals that go with it, your finger puppets, books – especially one’s that have actual paper pages and not hard cardboard ones, dog toys, computer cords, baby gates and the garbage can in the laundry room. It’s a good thing you are having a birthday soon so you can get some new toys!
- Current foods you will eat: All crunchy stuff – especially graham crackers, jelly sandwiches, tater tots, pasta shells with cheese, cornbread muffins, waffles, cheese chunks, carrots (barely), English muffins, applesauce, and your very favorite thing in the entire world – YOGURT.
- You have finally started to use a sippy cup the RIGHT way! It took you a while to figure out how to tilt it up to get the stuff to come out. You haven’t quite mastered the sucking part because it’s way different than a bottle, but you bite down on the spout and you get some liquid so for now, that’s enough for you!
- You are starting to get frustrated when you are trying to communicate, but just don’t have the words yet. I might try to teach you a few symbols in sign language to see if that works.

Current Nicknames:

- Belly
- Belgian, Belgie
- Miss, Little Miss, Missy or Missy May
- Baby Girl
- Sass or Sassy Pants
- Punchy
- Munch or Munchy
- Sweets

T-minus 1 month to go my baby. One more month to try and get in all the snuggles, and nuzzles that I can while you are still a baby. I know it seems like I am trying to hold on to you, but it’s just that I only know you as this baby and it’s hard to imagine you not. It’s a scary world out there and I want to be able to protect you from it all. The older you get, the harder it is for me to keep you safe. I know that you are going to grow up no matter how I feel, and honestly, I can’t wait to see you grow into a toddler and then to see how you develop into a little girl, because you are one special kid. But that doesn’t mean that a part of me won’t always have this aching sadness when I think about the first few months of your life. Those months of getting to know you and watching you see everything for the first time were so wonderful and life changing. I just hope I can hold onto these memories forever because they are so precious to me… I love you so much sweets…

Love,
Momma

Elliette - Month 10

2009-01-15T12:03:00.001-08:00

MONTH 10
01/13/09

Dear Belly Bear,

Today you turned 10 months old. 10! Double digits! Which means, 2 months from now – we will be having an OFFICAL birthday party for you because you will be one whole year old. Oh my god… 1 year old!! NO WAY!!!! But I cannot dwell on that – because I still get to have you as a baby for 2 more months. I will take whatever I can get – because you are such a sweet awesome baby. I wish I could freeze you right now because I don’t want you to keep getting bigger. I want to keep you in my pocket and always be able to snuggle into your wonderful chubby sweet smelling baby neck. God I love that neck…

But as is goes - you are changing every day – becoming more and more of an individual. You love to laugh and you love to be silly which is a good thing because your Dad and I are ridiculously goofy like 85% of the time and you fit right in! We sing songs that we make up to you and I get the feeling that you wish you could jump right in and take the chorus. We play peek-a-boo and chase the baby, both of which make you squeal. You love it when one of us holds you and we run after the other person. You think it is SO fun to “chase” us. I also make you “chase” the dogs and you get a kick out of that too.

Your development is just unbelievable these days. We show you something and you totally try to do it! You can learn now – which is just so crazy to us! Before, I would do something and you would watch, but you didn’t have the ability to attempt it yourself. Like on your standing Jungle toy – we could not get your to understand how to make the balls go in the loop track. But then recently, we showed you again, and you figured it out! At first you were forgetting to let go of the ball so it would not actually work, but now – you are like a professional! It’s just the little things like that that make me swell with pride. You are real. You really are going to grow up and scream at me someday and someday you are going to have babies of your own that will grow up and scream at you. Totally crazy…

Speaking of learning new things, we have been busy trying to turn you into a circus baby wondering what new trick we can teach you next! Recently, you have become a pointing MACHINE! You point at EVERYTHING. I think this has to be one of the cutest things you have learned so far. It’s also a cool way to feel like I am able to interact with you. You point at something and I can tell you what it is. It’s like your way of asking, “what’s that?”. You now have started to make a sound when you point at stuff that sounds a bit like you are trying to say, “what’s that”, but we will have to see if you keep saying it. You have also started doing the classic “SOOOO BIGGG!!” which is adorable as well, even if it’s a bit… traditional for your Daddy and I. We are really hoping for the high 5 to stick – it’s a little touch and go, but you will get there. Once you start talking, I can’t wait to see what tricks we get you to do!

Your crawling is unbelievable. You FLY across the floor at warp speeds to get at something that is clearly dangerous. Which means, we have totally had to step up the baby proofing. We have installed some locks on stuff and some corner guards. But really nothing can keep you 100% out of trouble. You are SO curious and love to explore now. It’s like the minute you hit the floor you are OFF! Your favorite thing to get into is the TV stand. We always say “NOOOOO”, but you constantly try anyway. It’s like a magnet. You also like to get into the dog beds and try to tip over the garbage can in the laundry room. It’s amazing how fast you are able to get places. We look away for a second, and BOOM you are into some naughty stuff. We have like 4,000 baby toys out in the room for you and no matter what – you always want the stuff you can’t have – why is that?

Along with all this crawling you have been doing, you have been learning the art of cruising. You have pretty much mastered this as well. You can go from like 3 pieces of furniture, to a toy, to one of us and back to the couch. We have even caught you standing on your own a few times, but I don’t think you knew you were doing it. It seems like whenever we try to get you to stand, you get scared and reach out or fall on your butt. So when you do it without knowing, we try to tell each other without being too obvious about it because we don’t want you to get scared and stop!

This last month has been filled to the brim with family and events and traveling. I felt so blessed to be able to share all of these moments with you and your Daddy as a family. This was our first year as a 3-person unit, and it all seemed to be so much more special because of that. We started off the season with a Christmas Eve Eve night at Papa and Wawa’s house. We actually brought over your puppies and all of our presents and we spent the night there. We woke up early and opened some gifts and then we had to head out to South Dakota to see the rest of your families.

On the way there, we had a little bit of bad luck and we had to put some air in our tires. It was so cold that none of the air pumps at the gas stations were working, so we drove all over Albert Lea looking for one! Thankfully, we found one – but just as we were getting ready to get back on the interstate – you…. threw up. BIG TIME. Like 3 cups of whatever was in you. I thought it was because you had been coughing so we just changed you and kept on going.

We showed up a little (3 hours) late to Christmas Eve at your Great Grandma and Grandpa’s, but we got there in time for you to light your first candle and that made it all worth it. As a little girl, I have many memories of that Christmas. One of my most favorite memories is the lighting of the candle for someone who is not with us, but you are thinking about. You lit yours for your cousin Eli, and Mommy and Daddy both lit theirs for Baby Maggie and her Mommy and Daddy. It was so nice to have you be a part of that night – even if we missed most of it. Someday, Christmas Eve for you will be very different, but I really want you to have some memories of this too…

The next day, we woke up on Christmas Day at Namba’s house. We opened up our stockings and you had your morning bottle. And about 15 minutes later, you threw it up. ALL OF IT. ON ME. And so began the next 36 hours of our lives. You would throw up and it was usually on me. So the whole puking in the car thing wasn’t just cough induced it would seem. You had the full on flu – front and back door. For 3 whole days, I don’t think you had any real food – just Pedialite. You just sort of laid on me and had NO interest in toys or other people. I secretly loved every minute of you being sweet and sad and needy. I know you felt awful, and I didn’t love that part – but it was so nice to just snuggle with you for days in a row. It was like I had a 2 month old again – but without the screaming…

We had Christmas with Namba, Uncle Mik, Grandpa Jim and Grandma Judy, somewhere in there, but it definitely was not the memory-filled day I had been envisioning… Next year will be MUCH better I think. You still did try to open gifts and you wore the most adorable Christmas outfits I could find. And now that you are feeling good – you sure are enjoying all your new toys!

And after all of that – your Daddy and I STILL were not scared off from traveling with an infant! This time – we decided to go even FURTHER away! For New Years, we spent the week at the Papa Wawa Lodge with all your cousins. You did great traveling there I think partly due to the fact that your DVD player was totally awesome. The Lodge was great – even though this time it felt a bit smaller with all the babies everywhere! You went sledding for the first time with Eli, but you both kind of just sat in the sled like stuffed peppers sucking on your nukkies. I am not sure if you really enjoyed it, but everyone else sure got a kick out of you two cuties!

Of course, this trip did not go off without a hitch either… Mr. Eli started to feel pretty awful, and was having trouble breathing. He ended up getting a nasty fever too and his Mom and Dad decided they needed to go home and get him to a doctor. Turns out the poor little guy had pneumonia – so it was a good thing they decided to get him fixed up. Then in the middle on nowhere northern Minnesota, we ran out of formula for you – but thankfully we were able to make it until we drove through Duluth. Man – babies are TOUGH!

And of course approximately 18 hours after we got home – you got sick too… Daycare called and they told me you had a fever – so I drove as fast as I could to come and get you since Daycare has NEVER called during he day so I knew it must have been bad. I got there and you were the sickest I have ever seen you. You had a fever of 103 and were lifeless. I cried the whole way home because I was so scared! I got you into the doctor and you had an ear infection. So we got you on antibiotics and stayed home with you all week. You also started a TOP TOOTH teething session that week so you were particularly miserable. But finally we are all on the mend. Your tooth has come through, and I can’t wait to see what that turns your smile into. Hopefully this was the last of the sickness for a while…

The Highlights of Month Ten:

- You are starting to make some super amazing sounds that could very easily be mistaken for real words. I am pretty sure you think you are holding very intense conversations, but I am still trying to understand you. You know who “Mama” and “Dada” are and you say “dog” and point to them.
- Your hair is totally out of control these days. When I was pregnant I had assumed that you would have a full head of hair based on the amount of reflux and heartburn I had, but no. You were a baldy – but lately it seems your hair is taking off! It is however, coming in pretty crazy – and by crazy I mean sticking up all over. Your Daddy loves to try and give you Mohawks and mess it up all big so he can see what you are going to look like when you have even more!
- You love to take 2 toys and bang them together. You especially like to do this if the toys are hard and they make noise. You will sit with a bunch of toys around you and just trade off which two you clang together.
- You still love your standing Jungle Toy and now you have mastered the loop track which has made you love it even more. You also have figured out how to make that monkey sing to you, which is equally annoying and adorable. Annoying because by now, your Daddy and I have memorized the words and they sort of suck, and adorable because you now groove and dance a little whenever it starts.
- We are up to 3 teeth now, which to me is crazy. I think it’s now time you stop getting more. They make you look too old!
- You are still a texture freak and anything that has chunks is NOT going in your mouth. I have had to blend a few of the stage 3 baby foods down so you will actually eat them.
- Your snacking has gone to a whole new level. If it’s crunchy – you love it. Graham crackers are your most favorite, but you also eat Cheerios, puffs, and these little Gerber cheese things.
- You still adore your pink blanket and I actually went and found a couple more just in case something horrible happens. I brought one to Daycare and they have basically thanked me every day because now you sleep like a champ as long as you have your soft little buddy to snuggle.
- You are starting to really want to interact with the dogs now, and it’s been hard to keep an eye on all 3 of you all the time. You have tried to sneak up on Lena when she is sleeping and she doesn’t really like that, so we have to kind of corral all you when I can’t watch your every move. I am hoping eventually you will be able to have wrestling matches though!

Current Nicknames:

- Belly
- Belgian, Belgian Waffle or Waffle Maker
- Miss, Little Miss, Missy or Missy May
- Punky
- Baby Girl
- Crabinstein
- Crankzilla
- Sass or Sassy Pants (what can I say – you have been sick a LOT this month and sick babies are not very happy!!)

Well just as quickly as one month comes to an end – another one begins. It’s amazing how fast this journey has gone and how wonderful it has been. I am forever different now for having you. You make me a better person and every day I strive to be a better Mom. We are lucky that you were such a good and happy baby because now I am sure you will have a couple of brothers or sisters. I think about having more babies and it’s exciting because I want you to grow up in family with dynamics and other kids, but right now, I want to focus on you and all of the amazing parts of YOUR personality. Some day there will be more babies to have, but right now – I am so glad that I have this baby because I couldn’t ask for a better one…

Elliette - Month 9

2008-12-23T12:00:00.000-08:00

MONTH 9
12/13/08

Dear Grown up Daughter of mine,

Today you turned 9 months old – which is actually 40 weeks, which is exactly how long it took to make you in my belly. And by exactly, I really mean exactly since you were born on your due date! It’s hard for me to look back anymore at the baby you were because we are SO CLOSE to hitting that 1 year mark and 1 year olds are NOT babies! I guess I was sort of in denial that my baby was growing up and getting bigger and older. I know I talked about it – but really, I was secretly denying it. Soon, I won’t be able to call you a baby – I will have to call you a TODDLER. And --WHOA - one thing at a time here. I am not ready to go there yet…

This month was unlike any of the other months in that you have definitely become more vocal about what you like and what you don’t. If you want something – you want it NOW. I also think that with all of your new physical accomplishments, you are going through a lot emotionally. So I can’t believe I am going to say this – but you have been a bit…. crabby…. I know I know! It’s hard for me to write that because it’s just so not like you! You need to be entertained, and your attention span is like 15 seconds so after like an hour and having tried 8 different things to make you happy – I end up feeling a little frustrated. I think your lack of mobility was making you mad too. And you really depended on us to make you happy. That was – until you started CRAWLING!!

That’s right my love! You are officially a crawler as of Dec. 4th. One night you could not – and the next there you were, getting your arms and legs to work together! You took your time and were very tentative about where you went and how far you would go. Now however, you are a MANIAC! It’s like you have finally been able to release ALL THIS ENERGY! And that is what was making you a little crabby. Now – the crabby baby has been replaced with dare devil not afraid of ANYTHING.

You have been loving your activity table and Jungle Center because you can stand up at them and play. You are totally professional at pulling yourself up on things – and by things I mean ANYTHING. Couches, chairs, drawers, highchairs, boxes, shelves, and you even tried to pull yourself up on Lena. She didn’t take to that very well and you haven’t tried that one again. But honestly, overnight you have physically developed into a very agile little lady. You are totally cruising all over the couches and when you are standing at the Jungle, you go back and fourth and sometimes even cross over to a piece of furniture. I am not sure if you will be crawling for much longer with all this standing and cruising. I am so not ready for that yet. Your butt looks too cute when you are crawling around that I want you to crawl forever!

No new teeth to report, but you have been doing a lot of drooling lately, so it may be soon! You have been getting better at using the 2 teeth you have lately. I have tried a few more finger foods and you are finally starting to be able to get them into your mouth with out your gag reflex sending it right back at me. I picked up a few jars of stage-3 baby food that has some chunks in it and you HATE it! I was sort of excited about this for some reason, because it actually looks like real food instead of…. what the other stuff looks like. You tried the Spaghetti with Cheese and the noodles were too much. And the Chicken and Stars were like the worse thing you have ever had to put in your mouth apparently. You cried the whole way though dinner, and by the end you refused to open your mouth, but you were still crying – and I am sure you can imagine – THAT was hilarious….

We took your 3rd trip to South Dakota –but this time it was just you and I. I was super nervous about driving 4 hours with you ALONE, but you did great. We had the new car seat and I think it was a little harder for you to fall asleep, but once you did – it was lights out for 2 hours every time. I stopped once in Blue Earth to feed you and then you went right back to sleep again. Such a perfect little angel. For Christmas we are buying you a portable DVD player so that these car rides will be a breeze as you get older. I am thinking you may have to open that gift BEFORE we leave for South Dakota!

Speaking of Christmas, this year is going to be so fantastic! I can’t wait to spend your very first Christmas with all of our loving families. I have been working very hard to get our house ready for this holiday since I kinda flaked on Halloween. We have lights outside around the house – which is a first! We have a beautiful tree complete with new ornaments for you. We have a cute little baby tree in your room. We have garland and mistletoe and all sorts of other things that scream Christmas. I have also decided to make an Advent Calendar so we can have a new tradition like one that your Daddy used to have as a kid. I hope you like it next year! I can’t wait to see how you open your presents and how you take in all of the festivities. This holiday is what having a family is all about!

You are definitely starting to mimic us and it is absolutely adorable. On your activity table there is a bowl and a spoon and you love to “feed” us. It usually ends with a fierce spoon thrust to the mouth – but hey – you are learning! You have sort of stopped waving bye-bye, but you have started to shake your head “No No No” again. I think that it’s because you hear us say it A LOT more these days. I have tried really hard to make sure you understand what “NO” means. You definitely look at me and wait to continue doing what you were doing – but it still is a little unclear what that means to you. I think this may be something that we will struggle with until you leave the house though – so I am not too worried. The funniest part is when we ask you stuff and you shake you head as if you are answering. Like the other day, you Daddy asked you if you wanted to play with a toy and you shook your head like you knew what was going on. We have fun with that one right now!

The Highlights of Month Nine:

- You celebrated your first Thanksgiving, but you slept the whole way through dinner! It was a special Thanksgiving this year because your Namba and Uncle Mik came up and we celebrated with Daddy’s family too! So you had almost ALL of your family together!
- You had your first baby sitter this month! December has been a month of parties, so when your Grandma’s are not available, we needed to find a backup. I was lucky to find a girl that I work with who loves babies to come and hang out! She said you were an angel and she would be glad to come back and do it again. THANK YOU BABY GIRL!
- Your babbling is much more intentional these days. You are saying “da da da” very well along with “ma ma” and “ba ba”, but it seems like you are trying to form different words, which is awesome! I can’t wait to hear what comes out next. I swear the other day you were saying “dog” – but we will have to wait and see if it was just a fluke!
- The most amazing thing happened. Much to your father's dismay, you have started to make the scrunchy nose face that I used to make as a baby! It's pretty cute if you ask me - but that is just because FINALLY there is proof that you are mine!
- You have been eating awesome these days which I am sure has to do with all the energy you are using up during the day crawling. I am really loving the chance to give you new stuff and to see your adorable face while you try it.
- You also have totally changed your bedtime from 8:30 to 7:30, which again I think has to do with all the crawling! It sure takes a lot out of a little thing!
- You have finally started to hold your own bottle. I guess you really just like to be catered to because it took you 9 months to get on board with this. But now - I think you sort of like being the boss of it!
- You have grown very attached to your pink blanket and your bunny and the minute we give it to you – your thumb goes in your mouth, you pull it up by your thumb and you immediately fall over on top of it like you are going to fall asleep instantly. You of course pop right back up because you do not fall asleep just anywhere – but it’s so cute to see how much you are comforted by them.
- Speaking of falling asleep – you are now officially the best napper on the planet. I lay you down in your crib when I notice you are getting tired. I give you the blanket, the bunny and the nukkie and BOOM – you are out in 5 minutes. No crying, no fighting it – just sleep. And usually we can get a 2-hour nap out of you. Sometimes even 2 2-hour naps!
- Your favorite toys are things that are NOT baby toys. I thought I was being super smart and I bought you a bunch of cheap cooking utensils and for about 3 days – you thought they were AMAZING. But then – they just basically became baby toys and now they are not fun. You still really love the standing toys, but really your fun comes from finding things to get into. What can I say – you are definitely a curious baby!

Current Nicknames:

- Belly (of course)
- Belgian or Belgian Waffle
- Bell
- Muncher, Munchy, Munchy Munchy Butt Cakes, Sugar Butt Munch (seriously the most used one right now at the house)
- Miss, Little Miss, Missy or Missy May
- Baby Girl

As wonderful as this month has been, it also was a very sad month because some very close friends of ours had a tiny little baby girl named Maggie that didn’t get to live very long. Only 9 days actually. It was very hard as parents to see people you care so much about have to go through something that horrible. When you have a baby, they are your life. They become everything you think about and to loose that after such a short time was really hard for your Daddy and I to understand why things like this happen. We feel so incredibly lucky to have you everyday and after something like this happens – we are reminded that nothing is forever. There is no sure thing. Life is precious and we intend to live our lives with you as such. No matter how many days we get with you – we want to live everyone one of them like it’s the last… I love you my wonderful baby girl. And I love being able to spend everyday I can with you by my side…

Love,
Momma

Elliette - Month 8

2008-11-14T09:50:00.000-08:00

Dear Baby Girl,

Today you turned 8 months old and it’s hard for me to believe that it’s only been a month since the last letter I wrote you. You have changed so much in the last 30 days that it seems like 3 months ago that I was writing about you rambling, and standing and attempting to say Momma…. You are different this month. You are growing up. You are becoming a little person and you are SO much more aware of the world. And because of this, my life has totally changed too.

I now constantly need to keep on eye on you because you are becoming adventurous and curious and you want to test your limits on everything. It’s so amazing to see you want to interact with everything. No matter what it is – my hairbrush, the mail, the dog toys, the carpet, or the plastic cap on my water bottle – ANYTHING and everything is awesome to you. When I give you things to look at, you examine it so very carefully and once you have figured it out – it’s on to the next thing. It’s tougher now to keep you entertained, but it also gives me the opportunity to interact with you on a much deeper level.

Sometimes you look right into my eyes and I get totally overwhelmed by how real you have become. You are thinking things now, and you are figuring things out. It’s a little scary too because now, my actions will be affecting you more. You watch me and I can tell you want to imitate me. Your Daddy and I have been able to go about our lives without really worrying about you knowing what we are doing or talking about. So now – seeing how you take everything in, it definitely makes me more aware of myself. So from now on, swearing is OFF limits, yelling at the dogs needs to stop, and watching inappropriate TV like True Blood and Dexter will have to wait until you are in bed.

So not only have you become more aware of what goes on around you, you have become more aware of how you can maneuver your little body! You are still not officially crawling, but you are doing everything BUT! You get yourself up on all 4’s and rock back and fourth. You attempt to move forward but you usually fall on your tummy. You have figured out how to get back up on all 4’s though and you can even get yourself back into a sitting position when you are lying down. If there is anything you can get a grip on, you will attempt to pull yourself up. Your face when you are focused on getting up is HILARIOUS! It’s very serious – and although you have only managed to get to a standing position twice that I have seen, you do NOT quit! I admire your go-getter attitude! When you are standing up at a toy or the couch, I can tell you feel like you are doing a pretty cool thing, and you can stand there and play for like 20 minutes! I do have to be ready to catch you at anytime though, because if you fall – you SCREAM! I know it doesn’t really hurt, but I think you just like to milk it!

This month was a big one for firsts – including your first TOOTH! Or, should I say teeth! You have 2 cute little chompers on the bottom of your tiny mouth and when you smile now, it’s SO FUNNY to see them in there! You look so much more grown up with teeth! It was a little hard on me when you got the first one… It was like I realized you would never be a gummy toothless grinner again. You will only get more. And that equals big kid… Which of course is always a little bittersweet for me. Your first one came 1 day after you turned 7 months. And the second one came last week. You were pretty easy to deal with aside from a couple of restless nights of pain. I can only imagine that it hurts terribly and I feel just sad when I know you are in pain.

You have also starting to do some cute little baby tricks. I do realize that you are NOT a puppy, but it’s sort of the same process getting you to do something new and cute. It started with you shaking your head “no no no” back and fourth. You had done this a couple months back – and then you stopped. But now, you totally do it back to us and it’s very deliberate. Then we got you to give us 5 – which is a little touch and go now. For a few days you were totally getting it, but now I think you may be over it because we can’t get you to do it very often. You also have started to clap whenever we sing this song -“Clap Clap Clap. Clap Clap Clap. Clap Clap Clap your hannies” and you are SO cute trying to make a noise with your tiny little hands. But the kicker Little Miss, is your latest trick, which is waving “Bye Bye”. You did it for the first time when we dropped you off with your Papa and Wawa. Your Daddy and I were leaving and you just starting waving! We thought it was a fluke - but now, I say “Bye Bye” Elliette and you wave your hand like a Beauty Pageant Contestant! You even try to say “Bye Bye” when you do it! I even have proof! Probably the cutest thing any child in the entire world has ever done. You are the best!

While we are teaching you these “tricks” we give you a TON of praise, which is TOTALLY throwing Lena off. She assumes that any loud “Yayyyyy!!! Good job Elliette!! Whaooooo!!” is all about her and she tries to get all up in the mix. There have been a few close calls with her wild paws and excitability, but eventually I am sure she will learn that YOU are center of the universe in our house – NOT her! You however, LOVE that dog – much to my chagrin. Before you came, I was very worried about her being resentful towards you, but really she just wants to make sure you are okay. You two are going to be good buddies I think. She makes you laugh like NOTHING else! Sometimes you just sit on the floor and watch her play with her toys and for some reason, you think it’s the funniest thing that has ever happened in your life. It’s totally hilarious listening to that belly laugh. I am very glad that you like animals, because your Daddy and I both do too!

Remember last month when I told you about the Nukkies and how I went all over Minneapolis looking for as many as I could find – only to have you decide that you didn’t need them? Well that was short lived! You now LOVE the nukkie again and for a few weeks there, I couldn’t get you to take it out of your mouth! You learned how to put it in yourself and for some reason, that freedom made you LOVE having control over that thing! So, in the end I am very glad that I found all those nukkies for you because if it makes you happy Sweets – I would have driven to the North Pole to get you more!

The Highlights of Month Eight:

- We attempted to take you to your SECOND rock show at the Electric Fetus, but the band Broken Social Scene was a no-show. It was still a cool thing to be able to take you into one of our favorite stores, but BSS would have been much cooler…
- I tried to give you chunks of bananas and kiwi, but you gagged on them so I decided that wasn’t the best idea. You are so good at eating those puffs I thought you might want to try something new! Apparently, the texture was too much for you… I didn’t actually eat bananas until I was in college because the texture freaked me out too…
- We have officially moved you into the next stage of car seats and now you are sitting in a big kid seat that stays in the car. You are still not sure what to think about it. You like being up higher and being able to see things, but when it’s dark out and you are in the seat, you tend to scream. And that SUCKS! I actually put battery operated Christmas lights all over the ceiling above it in order to give you a little glow and to distract you. Hopefully that will help!
- You were in your first Wedding this month for your Auntie Greta and Uncle Tom. You and your cousin Eli were the cutest, most adorable Flower babies anyone has ever seen. You should have heard the “oooohhhss” and “ahhhhsss” that came over the crowd when we walked you guys down the aisle. You got to meet a bunch of Daddy’s family that still had not even met you yet so that was nice.
- You are still sleeping AWESOME and I can’t tell you how thankful I am for that. On the weekends your Daddy and I try as hard as we can to get you to sleep in with us. If we are lucky we can get you to sleep in until 10am – which is pretty amazing. Maybe if we keep doing this, you will become a lover of sleeping in like your Daddy and I…
- You are really starting to figure out how to manipulate your little voice – and SCREEEEEECHING has become one of your more favorite ways to express your self. I still love it, but I am sure that will pass and I will want to put a muzzle on you eventually. Until then – keep screeching sister!
- You are totally growing and are getting reaaallllly long! I remember looking at 6-12 month outfits in your closet and thinking – “When she fits into this it will be SO WEIRD! It’s SO BIG!” I just couldn’t imagine you bigger than my little munchy newborn. But now, here you are wearing them all and they fit perfectly! And good god child, you are adorable.
- Toys you cannot get enough of: the squeaky doggy, your new Jungle Activity station, your tiny duckies, the little pink bunny (that has been lost at Target and I intend on getting you a new one before you notice) and pretty much ANYTHING that is in my hands, on the table or in the dogs mouth.

Current Nicknames:

- Belly (of course)
- Belgian or Belgian Waffle
- Bell
- Elly Belly (or Elly Bell – they actually all call you Baby Ellie at Daycare)
- Bear (or Belly Bear)
- Muncher, Munchy, Munchy Munchy Butt Cakes, Sugar Butt Munch (SORRY!)
- Miss, Little Miss, Missy or Missy May (this one is a BIG one for me this month)
- Baby Girl
- Sweets
- Shougs (like short for Sugar)

I think to myself every month as I write you these letters how incredibly blessed and fortunate I am to get to be your Mommy. And I will get to be your Mommy for the rest of my life. How did I get so lucky? How did I get the best baby there has ever been to be MY baby? Being a Mommy to such an amazing little girl is really, truly, the best thing I have ever done. Someday when I am your “Mom” and not your “Mommy”, I will remember how you changed my life and no matter what – YOU will always be my baby. I love you so much baby girl!

Love
Momma

All things Minnesotan..

2008-11-11T12:11:00.000-08:00

So yesterday, I was driving home from picking up Elliette at Daycare and what do I see, but a DEAD DEER strapped to the roof of a car. Now, I understand that hunting season just started and that this IS Minnesota, but I am pretty sure I was in ST. PAUL and not in Hugo. Honestly, is that even legal? To have dead carcasses of animals just ON YOUR CAR?

I grew up in South Dakota and believe me, I was not sheltered from this sort of thing by any means. BUT - it was a part of my childhood I would rather forget. Seeing that deer yesterday brought up a few memories that I thought I would share. I remember when Pheasant Season would start and my Dad would come home with his buddies all stinky and dirty. I just knew that whenever he came home, it meant that there was going to be bloody dead stuff all over the garage which totally freaked me out. And of course, I would always forget and accidentally walk into the garage and see bird feathers and beaks and blood and it would send me into a tailspin of crying and wanting to know "WHY!?".

He also would take the meat from these birds and soak them in a bowl of water in the fridge until he ate it. This meant that I was unable to open the fridge for any reason until they were gone. If there was absolutely no one around to get whatever I needed out of the fridge then I would close my eyes and grab whatever I needed as fast as I could - and I usually screamed the whole time. I don't know why that meat scared me so much, because it's pretty much just like chicken only darker. I think it was because I saw them whole with feathers and I knew that my Dad turned actual birds into meat. It was freaky!!

What's freakier? Is that for some ungodly reason, I was able to take the legs of these birds, pull on the main tendon and make them open and close. WHY on earth was I able to do that - but I couldn't even LOOK at the meat??!!? I am insane I guess. So insane that I actually took two Pheasant legs to show in tell in 4th grade. And everyone thought I was gross.

SO - Let the Hunting begin!!

1...2.....3.... WEDDING!

2008-10-23T11:26:00.000-07:00

SO - tonight marks the beginning of a weekend filled with wedding extravaganza for Josh's Little Sister Gretchen. She is getting married on Saturday, which hopefully will be one of the last beautiful days left in this year - FINGERS CROSSED! My Mom is also coming in to town, to help watch Elliette so we have a lot to do. I have been trying to get all my laundry done this week and all of the little cleaning things. Last night I had to remove the wax from my stovetop after a candle fell off the back and sprayed hot wax EVERYWHERE the other day. Yes, that's right. I said the OTHER day and I just cleaned it last night. For those that don't know my cleaning habits - my house is generally CLEAN and at the very least, always picked up. I can't really relax until I don't see clutter or things out of place. I have such a need for clean that I have given up having a cool wardrobe, dinners out and whatever else I need to sacrifice in order to have my cleaning lady come every 2 weeks. It's like better than ANY of those things to me. And totally the only way Josh and I can live in a house together. So - to leave the stove for 3 days with wax all over it was TORTURE. I would purposely walk by it with my eyes averted and refuse to cook in order to avoid it. But last night - it stared me down while I was putting groceries away and taunted me until I gave in and cleaned it - which took 45 minutes. DONE. THANK GOD.

So tonight the wedding blow out begins with a dinner with all the girls at Molly's, rehearsal dinner on Friday and the Wedding on Saturday - with an open bar at the reception - PARTY! And then brunch on Sunday. I may just need a weekend for my weekend!

This wedding stuff isn't ALL bad - on Friday I will be getting a complimentary manicure and pedicure, and honestly the last time I had one of those, I was whoring it up at the bar every night spending my paycheck on highlights and raspberry kamikaze's.... Ahhhhh the good ol' days..... I also had an excuse to buy a new dress to fit my "new" body (Damn you Elliette!) But on the other hand - I had to buy a new dress... Which means I had to go to the store and TRY STUFF ON - which I HATE! I think I actually tried on 36 dresses before I found one. Now, if I could only find a place to wear it other than this wedding, I could justify the price tag! Maybe while cleaning the tub????

Let the biting begin...

2008-10-17T12:55:00.000-07:00

ELLIETTE HAS A TOOTH! Or what will become a full on tooth! I was hoping she would skip the whole teething thing all together, but here we are 1 tooth deep!! Everything makes sense now as far as her crazy screaming night on Saturday and the excessive drooling all day Sunday. I discovered it while feeding her the nighttime bottle on Tuesday. She started screaming out of nowhere and just for fun, I felt her gums... It seems like the worst is over and we will be able to see it soon. It is SHARP! I am so glad that I am done nursing, because if that accidentally bit down on a nip??!!! OH MA GOD.

It's the bottom right and so far it's the only one I can see... She is VERY protective of her mouth - so I can't pry open her mouth for longer than 3 seconds. So obviously I don't have a picture of the actual spot. But thats not for lack of trying! Here is my attempt... and without knowing what the bottom one is a photo of - it could pass as porn.

This is bittersweet for me. I am glad she has teeth, because dentures at 3? NOT COOL. But this all just means more big kid stuff is happening for her! What next? Am I going to have to buy her a training bra?!!???

Elliette - Month 7

2008-10-15T11:55:00.000-07:00

MONTH SEVEN
10/13/08

Dear Baby Girl,

Well here you are just trucking along… Everyday seeming less and less like the baby you were and more like the big kid you are becoming... You used to lie in my arms and look up at me, but now you want to stand up on my lap and pull my hair. You used to coo and need help being engaged, but now you sit on the floor screeching and playing by yourself for hours. It’s really amazing how in seven months, you have completely become a new kid. A kid I have grown rather fond of and can’t wait to see what milestone you hit next!

You are still not interested in crawling and therefore have not tried to figure it out. We have tried to peak your interest with your favorite toys, your favorite non-toys like phones and remotes, us and even the dogs, but really you just don’t want any of those things enough to care. I think it’s getting closer for you, because we have noticed you pushing your butt up in the air, but you get frustrated so quickly that you haven’t figured out what you are doing. I try not to care, because all babies hit milestones at different times, but I have noticed myself really wanting you to crawl lately so that you are on track. I know you will in your own time – and who knows – you may skip crawling altogether and just walk!

You have starting to stand REALLY well and I have caught you a couple of times standing almost on your own! I can put you up to a table and you stand there banging the top like it’s no big deal. You love to feel like a big kid. Next thing I know you are going to be cruising along the sides!

Your talking is getting even closer to sounding like real words daily! You have started to say “Momomomommom” VERY distinctly whenever you are sad or crying. It is absolutely adorable, and it makes my heart flutter a little bit. I am sure you have no idea that it means me, but you somehow have associated it with needing to be picked up and THAT’S pretty amazing!

Speaking of your ramblings, you have discovered a new way to manipulate your voice when you are on your changing table. You have started whispering little noises at us. “shashansbabababa” all at a whisper soft level and it’s ADORABLE. Your Daddy is especially fond of this and he melts in a puddle the minute you start.

We brought you to South Dakota again this month to visit all your family there. You were once again a wonderfully well-behaved little girl and everyone wanted to steal you from us. Your Namba threw a party and your Auntie Jenese got to feed you. The driving part was not quite as easy as the first time we took you there, but you did really well. The last hour or so was a little tough and we were throwing toys at you left and right hoping something looked cool enough to occupy you. We all made it home in one piece and that’s what matters!

There is no mistaking the fact that you like to suck. You LOVED the pinky when you were tiny, and once we found the perfect nuk, you loved that as well. Recently, I found out that your nuks had been changed and they stopped making the version you preferred so I kinda freaked out. I called every baby place in town and managed to find 14 packs of your nuks to keep you happy until the nukky fairy comes and takes them away from you. I spent a ridiculous amount of time finding all those nuks, and of course it would just so happen that about 3 days later, you became an avid thumb sucker. Ha! You still do like the nuk when you are falling asleep, but 9 times out of 10 when I go to check on you in your crib, your thumb is in your mouth and the nuk is nowhere to be found… Oh well, maybe I can sell those nuks on ebay!

Speaking of your thumb, you are on a constant mission to take whatever toy you are holding and try to get it and your thumb in your mouth at the same time. It started with soft toys, because I think you associated the softness with a comfort, and that is what made you want to try and suck you thumb – which you also do for comfort. But now, it’s turned into a funny game. The other night in the bathtub, you were trying to get these little rubber ducks in your mouth along with your thumb and it was absolutely hilarious! Sometimes, you will also be sucking on a bottle and think you need to throw your thumb in just because. Also when I feed you baby food, you try and suck that thumb after every bite. I am not sure if it’s because you are used to sucking to get your food and having your thumb in your mouth makes it easier to swallow – or if you just like suck your thumb! All I know is that it makes me CRAZY because it’s hard to get you to take a bite when you have a thumb in your mouth. It also makes a giant mess and I always try to keep you as clean as I can…

The Highlights of Month Seven:

- Bathtime is still fun for you, but only up until its time to clean you. You have started to HATE having water on your face, which I figured was going to happen at some point. You also do NOT like being interrupted from sucking on your tiny duckies!
- You got another cold this month, which resulted in a fever – only a slight fever, but still it was your first one! No ear infection or anything, but it is taking you a long time to get rid of it!
- You are still an amazing sleeper and sleep all night. There are those few times here and there that you wake up – but it is always related to you needing something – like needing to burp, your head is stuck under the mobile, or it was too dark in your room when you woke up. A few days ago, you woke up and freaked out for a few hours in the middle of the night. I could tell you were in pain, but nothing I did seemed to help. I love you more than anything in the world, but at 3 in the morning when you scream like that – I almost forget that…. Although when you woke up the next morning smiling, it pretty much washed all the bad feelings away. All except for the exhaustion!
- You love going to restaurants because you get to sit like a big kid at the table and eat puffs. It’s so cute to see you figure those things out. You LOVE them- especially now since you have mastered getting them into your mouth!
- I have taught you to blubblubblub your lips by putting a finger on them and pulling your bottom lip down. You started by letting me do the finger part and you just made the noise, but now you have mastered it on your own, only you use your entire hand! Your Daddy hates that I have taught you that, but I think it’s adorable and you are SO SMART to be able to learn things that I teach you! I can’t wait to teach you all sorts of stuff!
- Your favorite toys right now: the activity table you stand at, your tiny duckies in the bath, anything that you can shake and it makes a sound and of course your pink elephant.
- You are finally coming around on the food stuff and you will eat food with chicken in it. I still can’t get you to eat anything green, but somehow Daycare can so I know you will eat it. It also seems like you will try different flavors now and actually give them a chance. So far, your favorites are still Sweet Potatoes and any fruit I put in your mouth.
- You are definitely getting bigger as you are starting to outgrow all those new 3-6 month clothes that I bought you. It seems like you are growing faster than before because you have not been in this size very long. You still do wear mostly 3-6 month stuff, but I can tell it won’t be long!

Current Nicknames:

- Belly (of course)
- Belgian or Belgian Waffle
- Bell
- Elly Belly (or Elly Bell – they actually all call you Baby Ellie at Daycare)
- Bear (or Belly Bear)
- Gummy Bear (Because of your adorable gummy smile)
- Muncher (again, Butt Muncher…. Sorry)
- Missy or Missy May
- Baby Girl
- Pumps (as in Pumpkin)
- Sugar

My muchkin muncher butt cakes, I love you SO MUCH. It’s really amazing how much you have developed and changed in 7 short months. You make every single day joyful and happy for your Daddy and I. We feel like you have brought a light into our lives that we didn’t know existed. Everyday when I get off of work, I rush as fast as I can to pick you up from Daycare because every minute away from you I feel a little less whole. It’s hard to imagine 7 months ago what life was like before you came, because really it seems like life didn’t even start for me until I had you. I am just so grateful that I have you now to show me what it means to be alive. You are my inspiration and I love you more every single day…

Love,
Momma

This is NOT a post about Elliette!

2008-10-06T13:02:00.000-07:00

So last week I went to dinner with some lady friends and my blog came up and the fact that it has sort of.... well stopped. Unless I am writing an update for Elliette which is not what this blog was about in the beginning... SO - I have decided to make an effort to keep it fresh! Keep it real yo! There is much more to me than being Elliette's mommy! Wait - I wasn't going to talk about Elliette....

Anyway - the world on the outside of mommy-hood is still not quite as exciting as staying at home with my Munchkin, so I really don't have a lot of stuff to talk about. I have enjoyed a few nights out here and there, but really, I prefer to do the bedtime stuff with my baby so I hate to miss out. I know that "partyin" isn't the only way to enjoy the world, but that is my struggle. I need to engage myself with stuff that I find fun and interesting, but not take away from the fact that I feel the need to be with my daughter anytime I am not at work. Maybe it's because I feel guilty having Elliette spend like 50 hours a week with someone other than me while I only spend about 18 hours a week with her. It's really hard to live with that fact sometimes... I know she is a baby and will not hold any of this against me, but I guess I wish I could have more time with her than some person I pay...I am thinking that she will eventually not be such a good baby and I won't miss her so much.... Maybe? But probably not...

I have been pretty busy with the voiceovers lately, which is a welcome surprise. I love walking into a session, working for 20 minutes and then walking out a couple hundred dollars richer. It's like the BEST job ever. If only I could do it a ton more and quit my real job! Oh well.. for now it sure helps with the INSANE amount of money we pay for daycare... Seriously!

I also have been on the political train like just about everyone else who is tired of the world. I have been paying close attention to all the debates and have been trying to convince anyone I know that is undecided what they should do in order to make the world a better place for Elliette and all the other kids out there. I will say that it is CRAZY the amount of people out there that are still convinced that the republicans can be elected and things will change. A lot of my family is still cloudy with party loyalty and race issues that I can't quite believe it. I really have tried to inform and educate the ignorant people in my life about what they can do to make the world better. One guy I know said that he doesn't care about it at all - he just wants to go to work and come home and not deal with the election. And that he will probably vote for McCain because he doesn't want a black guy in office. Truly truly truly scary. That he doesn't care enough to know the issues - he only cares enough about the color of someone's skin. I can only imagine there are like a million more of that guy out there...

Tonight on my way home I am going to count the signs in people's yards. I am feeling very confidant that Obama signs are everywhere, but I want to know how many. I live in a predominately white liberal district so I know that there will be more Obama signs than McCain, but I want to really feel it. To give me back some hope!

To anyone who may read this and be offended by my very strong political view, I am sorry. But not sorry that I feel this way, just sorry that you don't understand why. I hope your political view goes deeper than the color of someone's skin or because you can't imagine voting against what you have always stood for. If you have issues and reasons beyond this, then I will respect you and your stance, but ignorance cannot be tolerated. Do the right thing and research the topics and know why and what you believe in. If you don't do it for yourself, do it for Elliette who is going to have to pick up all the messes we leave behind...

I didn't really intend on this post having anything to do with Elliette or politics but hey - that's what a blog is right? What ever comes to mind!I also want to extend the challenge to you all - count the signs! I wanna know what people out there are seeing....

Elliette - Month 6

2008-09-24T10:13:00.000-07:00

MONTH SIX
9/13/08

Dear Baby Girl,

Wow. 6 whole months on the outside. THIS is a major accomplishment. Not only for you but also for your Daddy and I as parents. We have officially kept you alive and healthy and happy for an entire half of a year! Not that it is very hard, since you truly are a perfect baby girl. But it really is a major milestone to hit and from here on out, everyone tells me that things go very fast!

You have basically gone from a baby to a genuine big kid! Among the list many new things you have tried, you have added sitting up like a professional to the very top! It’s so exciting to see you sit there, with no help for a length of time that is determined only by your attention span. You hardly ever fall over, and if you do it’s because you are holding your little soft baby and I swear to god – you rock her back and fourth and sometimes you rock too far and fall over. As sad as you sound when you fall, you could NOT be any cuter cuddling that baby!

Speaking of cuddling, you have really started to squeeze back and cuddle and for a Mom, THAT is the stuff I live for. I have spent the last 15 months taking care of you – 9 of those months while you were still inside of me, but to finally have those moments of love that you give back to me are truly awesome. Having my baby girl reach out and want to hug me around the neck is one of the greatest feelings in the world. You like me! You really do!

I am constantly reminded of how lucky your Daddy and I are to have such an amazing baby girl. You never cry really and if you do, we can run down the list of stuff – hungry, tired, diaper, or bored and it will work 90% of the time. And for the 10% it doesn’t, it’s usually related to you not feeling well, or because you are trying to re-adjust from a schedule change somehow. I hope that this is your temperament forever, because I think about how much fun you are going to be when you are able to walk and explore. And because of how easy going you are we are going to be able to do everything! I can’t wait!

We went camping again and this time it wasn’t as easy on you as it was the first time. Immediately upon arriving to the campsite, you broke out in a rash due to the heat and it really didn’t go away until we got back home. It was pretty hot and because you weren’t sitting up great yet, we had to hold you and that caused a lot of sweaty uncomfortable-ness. You also were waking up a little earlier and we couldn’t get you to fall asleep again like at home. Now that I type these things, you really weren’t too hard to deal with; it’s just that when you are not “perfect” we notice! You tried swimming in a lake for the first time, but you really didn’t think it was too cool. You cried until you got used to the temperature and then you just kind of hung out and didn’t really enjoy it. Next year is your lake year babe!

Your chatter lately has turned into full on conversations. You are constantly in a state of mumbles and bababababa’s and dadadadada’s and mommamamama’s. It’s awesome to hear your tiny little voice. Every once in a while, we think we hear you say something that you clearly have no idea what you are saying like – “ouch” or “why” or the other day when your Dad heard you clearly say “Obama” and he couldn’t have been more proud! You also have quite a screech that you pull out usually in public, which we totally encourage because it is so flippin’ cute!

You have not shown any signs of crawling or scooting yet, but I think that is because you are too busy sitting up right now to care. Your Doctor told us that some babies do not ever crawl – but they learn to scoot right there in the sitting up position! We will see what you end up doing. The thought of you crawling is both exciting and completely frightening. We definitely need to baby proof the house and it’s very nice to be able to leave you sitting somewhere and know you will remain there until I get back. But watching you learn a new skill is so addicting to us that once you figure out how to crawl– we may explode with pride!

Your eating is officially big kid now too. You are a pro solid food eater and are LOVING it! You even eat cereal, fruits and veggies at Daycare. That was a big step for your Daddy and I when we heard you were sitting up at the baby bar eating with all the other big kids. When we get home from Daycare I get to feed you your Dinner and I absolutely love to see you try new stuff. Your faces are HILARIOUS! So far you LOVE sweet potatoes, pears, bananas and oatmeal. But I cannot get you to like peas or anything with a chicken flavor to it. You literally gag when I feed it to you. I laugh every time, but it would not be so funny if that gag turned into a full on puke…

The Highlights of Month Six:

- Since you are sitting up so well now –we have put you in highchairs at restaurants and carts at stores. It’s so cute to see you sitting up checking everything out. We can definitely tell you are proud of yourself while you sit there.
- You LOVE these little Gerber puffs that melt in your mouth. It’s the best distraction ever. I am willing to bet I could keep you occupied with these things for an entire 24-hour period of time as long as I kept them coming. You only get about 1/3 of them in your mouth, but that’s not for lack of trying! You can’t quite figure out how to get them from your hands into your mouth. They usually end up getting stuck on the inside of your palm and you suck on your fist until it basically disintegrates. Every once in a while a whole one gets through and your face is AWESOME while you attempt to “chew” it.
- Bath time is now taking place in the big tub. We were having trouble in the sink with you slipping around so we got a mini tub to put in the big tub. You get so excited when I pour water on your head that you loose your balance and fall over. I have now started to put a towel on the bottom of the mini tub and that works awesome. You love your bath and even more so since bath toys are becoming totally fun for you.
- You are totally into all toys now and our diaper bag has turned into a suitcase full of noisy goofy distractions. I barely have room for diapers! Your favorites right now are the Hedgehog Teether, the fake remote that says “GOAL!!”, and a pink elephant that your Great Aunt Jenese bought you that plays a lullaby.
- At night you are sleeping awesome, but you have turned into quite a mover! I put you down at 9:00pm and by Midnight when I go to bed – you have somehow completed changed positions. You could have rotated 180 degrees, you could be sideways, or you could be butted up with you head in the corner. It’s always hilarious to see where you end up when I come to check in on you.
- You are still TINY! We took you to your 6-month check up and your little 13lbs 12 ozs. only put you in the 15th Percentile for weight. It also has posed a slight problem in the clothing department. I had anticipated that by the time the weather changed you would be rocking the 6-12 month clothes, but you are JUST now fitting perfectly in 3-6 month stuff. So of course, I had to go out and buy you an entire warm clothes wardrobe to get you through the fall. Which, as I am sure you can imagine was torture. Hahaha – I kid of course, but it may have actually been torture for your Dad because he has made it a point to try and stop me from buying you clothes every minute of every day. But he can’t argue that you are the best-dressed baby this side of the Mississippi!
- You have finally rolled over the other way now – from your back to your tummy but you really don’t care to do it. I have only caught you doing it a few times. I know some babies use rolling over as a form of movement – and they could get all the way across the room. I think you are just not very concerned with trying to get away from us yet. ☺
- We have definitely taken you out this month. You visited the State Fair, the Minnesota Zoo and you have even gone to a Twin’s game! You loved going to all of these places and because you are so easy going, it makes us want to bring you everywhere!

Current Nicknames:

- Belly (of course)
- Belgian or Belgian Waffle
- Bell
- Elly Belly (or Elly Bell)
- Bear (or Belly Bear)
- Muncher
- Missy
- Baby Girl

Baby girl you are getting so big you are hardly a baby girl anymore. I can tell already that the next few months are going to be full of milestones that make you more and more independent. And as much as I love watching you learn and grow, I am going to very much miss the times that you are still small enough for me to carry and cuddle and rock to sleep at night. I promise to always remember these months for you so that when you ask me someday what kind of baby you were - I will be able to tell you about how amazing it all was and how much I loved being your mommy…

Love,
Momma

Elliette - Month 5

2008-08-13T11:13:00.000-07:00

Dearest Elliette-

Well here we are just moving right along – Month 5! I promised myself I wouldn’t make a huge deal about how fast you are growing and changing and how you should stop and all that – but really? 5 whole months old? You are barely a baby anymore! Turning 5 months is like turning 12. Not really a milestone month, but still older and cuter nonetheless!

There are so many little things you have done this month that make your Daddy and I scratch our heads and wonder – we made this? So much more of your personality has developed and as it turns out – you are hilarious!

One of the funniest things you do is the minute a bottle hits your lips your left hand immediately makes a “four” and you hold it up to the right side of your mouth. It’s like you were reminding us 6 times a day that you were in fact 4 months old…If you start to make a 5 after today – I may start you in pre school this fall…

You have also figured out that not only can you grab things we put in front of your face, if you try hard enough you can basically grab ANYTHING within reach! So you do – and it’s lead to a few “close” calls… I guess it’s time to start baby proofing! You are loving hair and noses and pretty much anything that is NOT meant for babies… Your curiosity is one of the most amazing things as a parent to watch. It’s like you are finally ready to soak up all you can in your sponge of a brain and I want to show you everything in the world.

My new most favorite time of the day is when you wake up in the morning…. You have hit a new level of sleeping awesomeness and are sleeping in until 8am or later. You also do not even cry when you wake up. I go in to check on you when I get out of the shower and find you awake, just hanging out with your mobile and your feet – totally content. Of course, the minute you see me – your face lights up and you smile the kind of smile that makes the Mom in me weepy…When I get you out, you grab me around the neck and pull your face in and screech – like you want to eat me. I consider this your way of hugging me and had I known what this felt like – I would have had babies 10 years ago…

You are on the verge of full on sitting which I think is going to be one of the biggest milestones yet! It will give you so much more freedom – no more bouncy chair! You can hang out without having to be on your tummy or back. You are only able to maintain a good sit for about 5 seconds or so, but you are good enough that I can give you a bath in the sink without the aid of a baby tub and you LOVE being submerged in water up to your chest.

The Highlights of Month Five:
- You LOVE water! Bath time is now totally fun for you because you LOVE to splash around in the water. Sometimes when we are trying to keep you entertained, we fill the bathroom sink up a little bit with water and let you kick your feet around in it. I think I may need to fill up a pool before summer is over so you can enjoy that too….
- You are now able to anticipate getting out of the car seat. After you get unbuckled, you lift your head up and try to help me get you out – it’s so cute…
- You have figured out how to turn your mobile on with your feet. And as cute as that is - you sometimes flail those legs of yours around in your sleep and you accidentally turn it on and it wakes you up… which you hate!
- Speaking of crib stuff – we are now able to put you to bed when you are sleepy but awake and you fall asleep all by yourself. I was sure you would hate this and would need me to rock you to sleep, but as it turns out, I needed it more than you! As much as I miss that special time where we snuggled and I watched you drift into sleep – I know this is best for you in the end… We have now just made it a different kind of routine – you have your nighttime bottle, we read a book and we rock for a just a few minutes before I lay you down. Honestly – what did I do to deserve such a GREAT baby??
- You still only roll over one way, but you are so close it’s a matter of days… I think that you can do it and you are just holding out for the perfect moment…
- We have tried Rice Cereal and you really are not into it. You can’t figure out what I am doing with that spoon in your mouth. Your faces are hilarious, but you really do not seem like you want to learn this new thing. I am hoping that you just hate the taste of it and once I can throw you some green beans – you will be all over it! We will see next month!!
- I am sure everyone will say there is no way you are able to do this – but we can get you to shake your head “NO”. It takes a while and sometimes you just are not in the mood to do it – but you are definitely shaking your head back and forth and know you are doing it… AMAZING!
- You are not saying any real “words” but you have developed some amazing new noises. It started when we went looking for a mattress – we walked into HOM Furniture and all of a sudden you started screeching. And you didn’t stop all day long. To me – it’s the sound of something awesome but I am sure to others – it’s more like the sound of – SHUT THAT KID UP ALREADY! I don’t care – I am the boss of you and I say – KEEP SCREECHING!
- You totally know your name now and will look at us when we call out to you – which surprises me considering the amount of nicknames we have given you…
- We have caught you doing the downward facing dog when we put you on your tummy, which is a move very close to a crawl… You don’t mean to do it – and it’s usually only after you are getting mad and trying to figure out a way to change positions, but it’s pretty cool to see you try new moves!

Current Nicknames:

- Belly
- Belgian
- Bell
- Elly Belly (or Elly Bell)
- Bear (or Belly Bear)
- Potato Munchkin
- Potato Muffin
- Muncher
- Butt Muncher (I know- BAD)
- Punchkin
- Jell
- Peanut Butter
- Waffle Maker (or just Waffle)

Another month has flown by and it seems that just when I get used to you being a certain age – you go and get bigger on me… So today on your 5-month birthday, I am going to try and appreciate this month for what it is – 30 days of your life. It’s not the baby you will always be, but it’s the baby you are today. And as far as babies go – you are hands down the best yet. I am so proud of you and all of your accomplishments in your short 5 months of life that I can’t imagine what it will feel like when you are 2 or 5 or 10. Someday months won’t seem to matter and we will look back at your life in years, but until then – I will cherish these amazing first months of you in our lives and how incredible it is to watch you grow…

Love,
Momma

Daycare Drama

2008-07-29T13:18:00.000-07:00

So I am getting used to the whole back to work thing. It's taken a while, but I am getting there... All was going well at Daycare until this week... It actually started a while back with the woman who would come and fill in sometimes from the other location. And because she wasn't there much - I was able to overlook the bad hair, inappropriate clothes and the tattoo of baby feet on her boob, which I couldn't avoid looking at because her boob was showing... Josh and I both made comments about her to each other and started calling her "Feet Teet" for code...

But this week - she is filling in FOR THE ENTIRE WEEK. Which means Elliette is exposed to Feet Teet ALL DAY for 5 days straight. Not only does she dress like she is trying to get knocked up by homeless dudes, she smells like pubes AND for two days in a row she has had green buggery mucus covering her nose holes. You think I am exaggerating - but I swear to you it's true. If this woman can't wipe her own nose - how can I expect her to wipe Elliette's? It's really really hard to leave her there everyday and focus on work. Josh is calling the Daycare Director to make a complaint and hopefully she will at least be required to have her personal hygiene up to par with Taco Bell employees by tomorrow... We'll see. It's hard to imagine paying the amount we pay every week to have this chick watch my baby. I think I would trust my brother more - and considering my brother eats Jag-bombs for breakfast - that is a pretty major statement....

So tonight when I pick her up, hopefully I don't get any looks like - "you totally ratted on me" or "I am going to wipe my nose on your baby later" or "I might try and breast feed your baby when you're not looking..." because I may just have to bring Elliette into work with me for the rest of the week.

Elliette - Month Four

2008-07-17T14:34:00.000-07:00

MONTH FOUR
7/13/08

Dear Baby Girl,

Today you turned 4 months old, which is completely too old if you ask me…. I wonder when I will stop wanting you to stay just where you are and accept that you grow constantly. I bet once you get past the baby phase and you become just a big kid, it will be easier. But for now – you are still my baby and I will hold on to every moment I can because I am not ready to let that go.

I am just going to say this, and it’s NOT because I made you, but you are the most incredible child in the entire world. I know all parents say this of their babies – and most probably believe it… But if they had you as their baby for 1 hour, they would realize that you are in fact the most perfect, beautiful baby girl ever and they would then try to convince me to give you to them. Or buy you for some ridiculous amount. Which wouldn’t be the first time, because after first meeting you, your Great Aunt Jenese offered us $15,000 to buy you. We laughed and then kinda glanced nervously at each other because it was an amount that was almost too real to be a joke… So I kept a close eye on you until we left in case she decided to just steal you instead…

You have gone from grins and tiny laughter to flirtatious smiles, uncontrollable giggles and absolutely adorable squeals that just make our hearts skip a beat because we can’t believe you are ours. We can’t go anywhere without someone stopping us to ask us about you and to comment on your beautiful eyes or skin. We feel like the luckiest parents in the world to have been given you as our daughter. And we wonder daily what we did to deserve you…

As you can tell, this month has been a pretty amazing month – not only developmentally for you, but also emotionally for us as parents. As we now begin to acclimate to life with a baby and I transition back to work, being parents is really starting to set in. It really is an amazing journey becoming a Mom or a Dad, and I think it takes a few months before it feels really good because there are so many unknowns. But now, your Daddy and I for the most part have figured you out. Which means we can take you places and introduce you to all there is out there in the world. It’s so much more fun! The scary what-if’s just don’t happen that much anymore. We can anticipate your needs and therefore eliminate almost all of your cries and instead just enjoy each other. It really is an awesome experience being your Mom and it’s hard to believe we are just getting started!

Developmentally, you are like a new baby this month. It’s like a switch went off one night and here we are with a new baby that can do ALL THIS STUFF! Like grab your feet and EAT them! WHAT? One day you had no idea that they were even attached, and the next they are in your hands and the day after that they were in your mouth! Now that you have found your new best friends, diaper changes are easier because you hold your little butt up for us. It also means you will spend up to a half hour on the floor trying to figure out what to do with them next. Which is nice for your Daddy and I because we get a few minutes to get some stuff done.

Oh – did I mention that you also ROLLED OVER? Ah yeah… That one happened on July 10th after I put you on your tummy to enjoy some tummy time. You have started to actually enjoy spending time on your tummy because you have figured out how to hold yourself up pretty well. But now – you are almost never on your tummy because every time I put you on it – you roll over! You have ALMOST rolled from your back to your tummy, but that one seems a little harder for you.

We went to your Great Grandpa and Grandma’s Lake Cabin for your first 4th of July and you did great. You slept right through our fireworks show on the beach so you didn’t get to experience that, but we took you on your first boat ride on the Pontoon and you loved it. You basically would fall asleep and not wake up until we woke you up. The hum and the movement just put you in a trance. You also tried out the baby pool we got for you. I filled it and let it warm up in the sun for a couple of days before I let you get in, but you seemed to like it! It was so nice for you to spend this holiday with your Namba and the rest of the family. They don’t get to see you very often and that made it so much more special to have you there. I have been coming to this cabin since I was a baby and I am just so excited to share this place with you as you grow. I have a lot of great memories here and I hope someday you will too!

This month, we are both going through yet another major change – breast-feeding… When we were home together, my body was making TONS of milk. I made enough to save away like 60 4oz bottles for when you went to Daycare before I headed back to work. But once I was at work, pumping wasn’t going so great. My body started to produce less and less milk. And as you became more comfortable with the bottle and the immediate gratification that came with it – breast-feeding was getting to be stressful. You would fight it because it took too long for the milk to come out… Which, of course, led to me producing even less milk.

I had decided to supplement with formula for 1 feeding a day to make sure you were getting as much as you could take in before bed so you would sleep all night. You were still getting breast milk during the day at Daycare, but I knew the freezer stash was going to run out soon because I was not able to put back the amount I was taking out every day so I wanted to introduce formula to your system. I tried to pump 3 times a day at work, but I was not getting very much milk and it was taking a very long time to get it. I was stressing out about it and it was becoming more work that it needed to be.

So I stopped pumping at work and just fed you in the morning and after Daycare. But you are growing and needed more milk and my body just wasn’t cutting it so we started doing formula all the time at home. And last week, the last of the freezer stash was used at Daycare so you are now on formula there too. It’s been hard for me to not give you the best of everything and when I know that breast milk is better for you than formula it kills me that I can’t provide it for you. But I had to do what was right. And you and I both are happier for it. I still feed you in the early am hours if you wake up from the breast, but it’s mostly for comfort and not really to fill you up. I will say that I miss that bonding experience, but I also enjoy watching your Daddy have a new thing to share with you now so it makes it easier.

The Highlights of Month Four:

- Your standing has now become so intense that the other day I put you up to the coffee table and you were standing there ALL BY YOURSELF! I can also get you to take little steps if I walk with you holding my hands. I swear you will be walking before you crawl!
- You have turned into a little wiggle worm lately and we have to be careful when we are carrying you because at any moment you may decide you want out and arch your back to try and change positions.
- You LOVE to laugh and smile! Every night after we get home from Daycare, I put you on your changing table and we have a laugh session that just melts me. You are so funny and sweet – I want to eat you…
- Speaking of changing tables…. WHOA. You have officially changed your pooping routine and it’s pretty much adult and gross. You only go about once a day now – it’s like you are saving it up for one giant download. And MAN does it ever smell!! Your Daddy and I now argue about who has to change them.
- You are finally able to understand and enjoy toys! I can put something in front of you and you can grab it with no problem and get it into your mouth. It’s pretty crazy to see you interact with them finally!
- You LOVE your excer-saucer toy that Auntie Andrea bought you. We set you in it and love to watch those little wheels in your head turn!
- You have officially transitioned into your Big Girl bed now and are doing great. You haven’t really changed your sleeping pattern at all. You have even slept until 7am a few times now and because of that – I will buy you a pony someday.
- Your hands, I have decided, are just a part of your mouth now. They are ALWAYS in there! I am not sure if you are teething or just exploring the many ways you can get your fingers in there, but you cannot keep them out – unless of course your feet are in there…
- I have been trying to get you to say Ma Ma and Da Da and Ba Ba, but so far you just make funny noises trying to mimic me. No matter what comes out of your mouth though– it’s still adorable and again, I want to eat you.

Current Nicknames:

- Belly (of course)
- Belgian
- Elgen
- Bell
- Elly Belly (or Elly Bell)
- Bear (or Belly Bear)

So there you have it Missy – Your fourth month of life... And what a month it was! You are loved beyond belief and if next month is anything like this one, I hope my heart doesn’t explode with all the joy and happiness you bring into my life….

Love,
Momma

Elliette - Month Three

2008-06-11T11:57:00.000-07:00

MONTH THREE
6/13/08

Dearest Elliette-

Month three? MONTH THREE? It really is incredible how fast you are growing and changing and learning. In this last month you have done some SERIOUS big girl stuff. It’s almost like you are a new baby altogether. That baby you were back at 8 weeks? WAAAYYY immature and super needy – this baby you are at 13 weeks? Totally big time grown up girl doing big kid stuff. Like LAUGHING!

You seriously make ME laugh with all your goofing off! I think you may be the most hilarious baby I have ever met! Your full on coos and gummy grins that seem to take over your entire body are LIFE CHANGING for your Dad and I. Honestly, when you started cooing and smiling, I thought nothing was better. But now when we poke our faces in front of yours you make some of the most incredible noises I have ever heard. Screeching, full force arm and leg movements fake coughing and the grins that will soon be followed by hilarious giggles (SOON!) make every day so much fun. I try EVERYTHING to get that giggle to come out. It has escaped a few times and it’s totally the most adorable thing you have ever done. I am thinking another week and you will be laughing at EVERYTHING!

We took you camping this month and you were amazing. I was totally freaked about stuff that in the end was NOT a big deal at all. How would I heat your bottles? How would I keep your breast milk cold? How would I keep you happy if you the weather was icky? What would I do with you during naps? How would you sleep at night? Turns out – heating your bottles was super easy with our coffee percolator – we got the water super hot on the camp stove and then set your bottle in it to warm up. It took like 3 minutes. The breast milk was still frozen 2 days later, you were happy the entire time so I never had to worry about keeping you happy. You took naps on the tent bed and even fell asleep by yourself. You slept one night from 10pm to 6:45am – longer than you have ever slept in your life…. In a tent! Honestly – you did better camping than you usually do at home… and I have considered putting the tent up in the backyard just in case…

You also started Daycare this month… Which was VERY hard for me, but you seem to have taken it in stride. Mary, your Daycare teacher thinks you are pretty sweet, but it’s still hard for me to leave you with someone else everyday. I want to be the one to see you try all the new things and see all of your milestones. I know though, that no one will ever replace me in your life because no one can love you like your momma. It’s just going to take me a few weeks to adjust. You did come home the other day in a new outfit because you “blew out” of the first one… HAHA – in your face Daycare! But then, on Friday, you came home with the sickness…. I now am sick with some yucky yuck and you have your first ear infection and eye infection. It didn’t take long! Hardy har – in MY face I know I know….

The Highlights of Month Three:

- You LOVE to stand. On our laps, on the floor, and even in the bathtub. I hold on to you and get you to even take a few steps!
- Your head holding up abilities has grown now into the INability to NOT hold up your head. I look in the rear-view mirror in the car and I see you in your car seat holding your head WAAAAY forward just so you are not resting that neck.
- You have now decided that you in fact LIKE the car seat and like going on car rides!! We can drive pretty much anywhere and you don’t make a peep – unless you are talking to your toys and making cute noises instead of those scary ones that make me want to run us off bridges.
- You have officially giggled. The first time was when we were getting ready for a walk and I had you in my arms face down and I heard you make the sweetest noise EVER. I think your neck was being tickled by my arm and it was totally involuntary. It’s not easy to get you to make the ACTUAL giggle but when I do I feel like life could stop… It’s the BEST!
- You love taking baths and are now splashing and kicking like crazy! It’s a great way to pass the evening time before bed because you cannot help but be happy in the water.
- You love being outside – which is why I think you did so well camping. We go on walks and you just can’t stop those arms and legs from flailing like crazy!
- Whenever we pick you up from Daycare, I am reminded that no child is safe from the dreaded SNOTTY CRUSTY NOSE. It’s gross but I still love you.
- You still HATE tummy time, but we make you do it anyway. You definitely are much stronger in the legs than in your arms, but we are working on it.
- You LOVE your Winkle. I know that may sound a bit disgusting, but really it’s just a cool toy with plastic tubes that you can grab onto. It’s in your car seat and you always have a pretty good grip on it when I get you out.
- You are finally able to grab objects and bat at things we put in front of you. It’s going to be crazy when you are able to grab things when I am not dangling them in front of you – like all the booze and poison we keep in the house….
- You are still sleeping in our room in the bassinet, but I think after this month we are going to transition you into your big girl bed… and by transition you I mean me because I am going to have a hard time not having you so close.
- You get the biggest kick out of your Daddy and I when we sing to you. We make up the most ridiculous songs and your smiles make us think we are doing something right!
- You don’t hate sleeping anymore and you actually will fall asleep when you are tired without much of a fight. EVEN in the car seat!!
- You still totally love your hands and still drool copious amounts… Also you blow bubbles all the time and you have almost mastered the noise to go along with it!

Current Nicknames:

- Bell –(sometimes I think we should have named you Belle because we call you it so much!)
- Belly
- Belly Bear
- Bellisimo
- Belgian
- Lollypop (This is your Papa’s Nickname for you)
- Munchkin
- Muncher
- Pumpkin Head

Overall, this month has been the biggest month of changes for you yet. You rounded a corner of development that has really made hanging out with you awesome. You like to just be a baby now and want to see any and everything we can get in front of you. It’s such an amazing experience to show you stuff and watch you learn. Being a Mom to you is the most enjoyable and exciting thing I have ever done with my life. Never stop being curious and never stop being the sweetest, most beautiful baby in the entire world…

Love,
Momma

We survived!

2008-06-03T09:31:00.000-07:00

Alright. Day one is over and day two is halfway through... I can already tell that this will get a little easier every day, but yesterday was ROUGH! I woke up pretty much mad at the day that was ahead of me just dreading every part of it - the packing of the baby stuff, my stuff for work, making sure Elliette was fed before we went and being late.

Of course I cried. I cried before we were even at the Daycare. I started about 5 blocks from our house on the way there. It was just overwhelming. I couldn't imagine leaving my baby and then going into work! We walked in to the Daycare and I immediately broke down and said "I'm a mess"... and Mary the lead teacher was great. She assured me that all Mom's have a tough time with this. We got Elliette all settled in and left. I cried all the way to Josh's office to drop him off and I cried all the way to mine. I waited in a Caribou parking lot for a few minutes trying to get my face to calm down a little before I walked in to Periscope. Once I was feeling better I walked up to my office and all it took was one person looking in my direction for me to break down again. I went on like this for about an hour and then I finally started to get the hang of interacting with people without loosing it.

I left work early just so I could feel better about leaving Elliette for the first time and when I picked her up, she was a perfect sleeping baby. Apparently, she loves to sleep everywhere but at home because she slept for 2 hours in the morning and was 1 hour into an afternoon nap when I showed up! She was absolutely unaffected by me leaving her there which is both comforting and insulting at the same time.... I mean I have spent every waking minute of the last 3 months trying to figure out what makes her happy and what her schedule should be - and in one morning someone else totally figured her out! It does however, feel really good knowing that she is happy and in good hands....

Today is easier and I didn't even cry once. I was only a half hour late for work so it must be getting easier! I am leaving a little early again but not just for Miss Elliette's sake - for Zoei... She has to have a DRAIN TUBE removed from her back due to a horrible run-in with a Dick Face dog that attached her while we were camping on the beach.

We had just set up our spot with the baby and all of our stuff when out of nowhere a huge 90+ lb dog came at Zoei from behind and snapped her up in it's jaws and proceeded to try and kill her. I ran over to them and Zoei was making sounds I have never heard her make before. I brought her back to our towels and checked for injuries and I found a hole in her back. It was horrible.... Josh ran her to the front office of the campsite where they were able to find a vet to come in and help us. Thank god! When the vet looked at Zoei's wound, she saw that it was really deep and she needed to sew 2 layers of muscle back up in order to fix it so she had to cut a bigger opening for her to get into the layers. Once she had her all patched up she wanted to make sure there was no internal draining so she put in a drain tube. Poor Zoei has a 4 inch gash on her back sewn up like Frankenstein and a plastic tube seeping sweet stuff out of it.... I will be so happy to have that thing pulled out of her so she can finally lay on stuff without leaving behind a small gooey piece of herself. She hates having to wear a cone, but it's totally necessary until it heals a little more. Thankfully she is going to be fine, but it definitely reminded me that she is not always going to be around and I need to not loose sight of her awesomeness with all the baby stuff that happened.

Here she is on Sunday after we got back from Camping...

As far as camping is concerned - our baby is AMAZING. I was totally prepared for the worst when it came to Elliette and the outdoors but as it turns out - she LOVES sleeping in tents and hanging out in the wilderness. She went to bed on the first night at 10pm and slept until 6:45am - the LONGEST she has ever slept. She even took great naps and fell asleep by herself every time. I can't wait to go to the lake in a month and see how she likes the boat!

We took some ridiculously cute photos of her enjoying the outdoors so check Josh's flickr page soon to see!!

T-minus 3 more days.....

2008-05-27T21:39:00.000-07:00

3 more days of this week and then - dun dun duuuuuunnn --- I have to go back to work. I start back on Monday which still seems IMPOSSIBLE. It seems impossible that I have an almost 3 month old baby. It seems impossible that I will be physically able to leave my baby with strangers for 8 hours a day 5 days a week. It seems impossible that I will be able to do this whole thing without being TOTALLY un-stoked. SO I guess I will just do what I have to in order to get through it... It has to get better with time!

It really hit home today when we stopped by the Daycare Center to go over all the details and to get her acquainted with the teachers. It was nice to see everything again, but it's funny how now that I actually have a real baby and not just a "baby" in my belly - NOTHING is good enough. I want to bring her toys and blankets and everything she will need so she won't have to use stuff all these other kids play with... But that is crazy talk and I know I will get over it soon enough. I know that she will have fun playing with kids and everyone there seemed very happy...

I had all these things I wanted to do before my time off was over and it always seemed like I had 4 more weeks - but here were are - 3 days away and I have a TON of stuff to finish! I started a Baby Photo book that I wanted to have up to date before I went to work so I could easily add to it as she grew. I am not even done with the Pregnancy photos - let alone the 400 shots we took of her first month of life!!!!

I also wanted to get all my planters done and the backyard looking great. I have managed to buy 2 planters, but there is nothing in them or the other 8 planters for that matter.

I wanted to have a rummage sale - but even if I didn't actually have the sale before I went back, I wanted to at least have everything ready - priced and organized. HA! I have 2 giant piles of stuff in the garage and what seems like no hope to ever get that one done. I guess we will have a big weekend project on our hands!

Other than those things - I really wanted to just feel like I did everything I could with Elliette. We have of course done the Shopping outings, Lunch with friends and walks in the parks - but I guess I just wanted to feel like I had exhausted every last moment of this leave so I didn't regret anything. But here we are and I wish I had 3 more months to spend watching her learn and seeing her change every day. She is just becoming such a little person with a fun little personality to go with it. I love her to pieces and I hate to feel like I am missing anything.

I know I am making the right decision to go back to work, it's just going to be a huge adjustment - emotionally and physically. I have really been in an alter state of my life that is NOTHING like it was before. And now, I have to return to the old life but with a baby! It will be good to get back into a rhythm of getting up and going to work and learning how to get Elliette to the Daycare and me to work on time. I am sure the first few weeks will be interesting!

Other than all these emotions I am feeling - I LOVE being a Mom to such an amazing baby girl. She is my everything and I can't imagine not having her. What a gift she is to her Dad and I. We LOVE LOVE LOVE her!

Elliette - Month Two

2008-05-22T19:16:00.001-07:00

Dearest Elliette –

Okay, we are at 2 months here and I am ready for you to stop getting so big already! The time is flying by and I can’t even start to prepare for the fact that in 3 more weeks – I have to go back to work and leave you in someone else’s care. I will admit that staying home with you for the last 2 months has been challenging, but seeing you change and grow has been amazing. I am still trying to figure you out. You are a tough cookie to crack as you change up on me daily!

You are still the center of our universe and your Daddy and I can’t wait until the next milestone. I however am starting to see what everyone kept on warning me about – how fast you GROW! All of your clothes that are 0-3 fit perfectly so I am having a blast getting you ready in the morning. So many cute clothes! I actually had to put away all the newborn sized onsies and a few pajamas. That was a bit sad for me - I think back to you at 3 weeks old and it seems like yesterday, but you are so much more grown up now. You have a little personality. You know what you like and you definitely know what you DON’T like!

Speaking of what you DON’T like – you sure hate sleeping during the day! I just figured babies sleep during the day when they are tired – but not you! You are super hard to get to sleep and then getting you to STAY sleeping if I happen to trick you into falling asleep is impossible. It is the most trying part of our day when Daddy is at work. Sometimes I feel like all I do is try to get you to take a nap all day. I have tried putting you to sleep in your bassinet, in your pack and play, in a swaddle, in the swing. I have pulled your black out curtains tight so there is no light, and I added a fan for noise. I have tried you on your side, on your back, and even on your tummy, but I can’t seem to get more than 20 minutes of a nap out of you. I am hoping this “phase” will end soon so you can get the amount of sleep you need!

As much as I complain about your sleeping patterns during the day, we could not be luckier when it comes to nighttime. You are an AMAZING baby from the hours of 9pm – 6am because you sleep THE WHOLE WAY THROUGH. You do this pretty much every night and you have been doing this for about a month now. Like I said AMAZING. Everyone always told me to SLEEP NOW because once that baby is here you will never sleep again, but I think we only had like 3 weeks of bad sleepless nights. So THANK YOU from the bottom our hearts… You Daddy and I TRULY appreciate it. So please don’t go changing that up on us!

You took your first trip this month to South Dakota to meet all of my family. Your Namba (which is what we are currently calling my Mom) threw you a wonderful party complete with a cake and slushy drinks. You were finally able to meet all those relatives we don’t see very often since they live 4 hours away… You were a perfect little traveler. You slept the entire way to and from South Dakota as long as we would throw a pinky in your mouth every time you tried to wake up. You even slept well at night in the crib that Namba got for you. I was a VERY proud Momma to introduce such a special girl to my family.

The Highlights of Month Two:

- You coo and smile now ALL THE TIME. We can just look at you and you start to talk to us. I think you are trying to get a new noise out but it comes across more like a scream – I can’t wait to hear what that will turn into!
- You have begun holding your head up big time and you LOVE it! We tried out the Bebe Pod and you sat in that thing and thought you were the coolest baby in town holding your head up. It’s pretty cool to see you notice that you are able to do stuff like that and how proud you are of yourself.
- Your poop is no longer cute. It’s actually disgusting and it smells. Who knew such a sweet little baby girl could stink so much! Your Dad calls it the smell of wheatgrass even though neither one of us have any idea what that smell is. We just assume it’s bad. Kinda like your poopy diapers.
- You LOVE being naked – and LOVE taking baths because you can be naked. Let’s just be clear on something – being naked is cool and all, but this will have to be something that you grow out of okay?
- You still crave the pinky but we are now only using it for EXTREME SCREAMS and those are usually in the car. Your Daddy will sneak it in your mouth every once in a while because it’s like an off switch to your crying and he hates to hear you cry.
- You have begun to use your hands more and I have caught you checking them out a couple of times. I have noticed when you are feeding that you are constantly scratching at my breast with your tiny little fingers. You also grip my arm when I am rocking you to sleep. All of which is adorable.
- You are starting to chew on your hands when you can get them to your mouth, which is a great step towards self-soothing, the only downside is the amount of drool you can produce. We are talking some serious drool Miss Drooly McDroolerson!
- You still absolutely hate your car seat but it does NOT stop us from constantly putting you in it. I am hoping you will figure out that its just part of the deal and learn to like it. Maybe you will even fall asleep in it!!
- You love to play Patty Cake and I think I got a giggle out of you once when I was “rolling” the dough on your belly.
- We are going to attempt to take you camping at the end of this month. Outdoors camping with a baby…. I am scared but also excited to introduce you to something I LOVE!

Current Nicknames:
- Belly
- Bellisimo
- Missy
- Skeener
- Chunky Monkey
- Cheeks
- Lady
- Baby Girl
- Potato Muffin (this is Daddy’s new name for you)
- Punchkin (this is my new one for you)
- Sugar pie
- Peanut Butter and Jelliette
- Bells and Whistles
- Belgian or Belgian Waffle

I am so excited to watch you learn what the next cool new thing you can do. I know that someday you will not need me to help you learn things, but until then I will be here to hold your little hand through it all.

Love,
Momma

Mass Update!

2008-04-15T21:51:00.000-07:00

Okay - so if you haven't been over in a bit - there have been LOTS of lengthy updates - sorry about that! I have been working on the Birth Story for a while using those free 5 minutes I have every 16 hours... And along with that, I have been keeping tabs on Miss Belly's progress and what it has been like this month for us. I would LOVE to have a letter for her every month and be able to show her someday on a monthly basis how she changed in my eyes. So that when she is 16, she can rip them up and pee on them right in front of me to prove a point... Kidding of course!

Not too much going on - just trying to adjust to less sleep and more daytime TV. I swear, there was a time when I loved being lazy and watching endless hours of daytime TV, but now - I need OUT. OUT OF THE HOUSE! So every chance I get, I do whatever I can to convince Josh when he comes home from work that there are ERRANDS! ERRANDS we need to run - like NOW. Even at 4:30pm in rush hour traffic JUST to buy a playmat from Babies-R-Us. Because without it - our child will surely flunk First Grade.

The dogs are still holding up well, mostly since they are getting more treats from us. We need to somehow feel like we are at least making up for our lack of doggie love time...

I think I am going to try and wean her a little from me - I know I need to be able to go out without her - but it's hard! I am going to try and start with a hair appointment next week and leave her with a Grandma for the first time. I need to start small however because I can't even think of leaving her at all right now. Am I crazy? I just love her to pieces and I would miss her so much!! Okay, I answered my own question - yes - I am crazy! I am sure it will get easier with time. And in a couple months - I will have to leave her everyday at Daycare!

Josh's sister is 35 weeks pregnant and has just been sequestered to Bed Rest for High Blood Pressure until the baby comes or until they can't let her continue. We may end up having babies MUCH closer together than we thought! Hopefully her little Eli can hang on for another week just for safe-keeping and poor Molly can get off the couch!

Oh - Josh is working on a website for Elliette and we will start posting her Monthy Letters and new videos on that once we are up and running... So if you see Josh, make sure and remind him about it because sometimes he forgets to finish things... :)

Speaking of finishing things - Josh is SUPPOSED to put up new pictures of Little Missy, but he has been distracted by a sort of virus that has invaded our house called ROCK BAND. Thanks Brian Slater! I can't get rid of it no matter how badly I talk about or make fun of it. Someday I can't wait to tell our Daughter - Yes Honey, your Great Grandmother was unable to see your photos because your Dad played a fake drum set all the time.... SO if you see him - again remind him to do something other than fake drumming on tour with Gun's and Roses in our basement....

Elliette - Your First Month

2008-04-15T21:48:00.000-07:00

Dearest Elliette –

It’s hard to believe that you are already 4 weeks old. One whole month of life on the outside. You have changed so much already that I can hardly wait to see what the next month brings. Hopefully more sleep and less crying. Both of which it seems you do at the most inopportune times…

I am still getting used to the fact that I am a mother, but since your father and I have managed to keep you alive so far – I think it is becoming more real. We did have a slight scare last week when your Dad was walking down the stairs with you and he slipped and you two went down a few on Dad’s butt. You bumped your head a little on the last step and after hours upon hours of us freaking out, calls to the Doctor and many checks while you were asleep – everything was fine. Now, if anyone ever asks if you were dropped on your head or something – you can say – NO! I only bumped it a little on the stairs!

Somehow – your Dad and I have created the most beautiful baby on the planet – so much beauty that my eyes well up when I think of you. I can’t believe how much a little person can change your life. Our life revolves around you now. Your Dad and I sit and wait for you to do something new – something adorable like stick out your tongue or make a noise – even your poops are sweet. At some point I guess the cute things you do will actually equate to cuteness to others and not just to your Dad and me. I guess it’s only because we love you more than anything we have ever loved before and therefore – no matter what you do – it’s perfect.

Although sometimes when you cry – it’s reeeeeallllllly hard to remember those cute moments. You are quite a challenging baby. Which should not surprise me considering who your parents are… I swear from the first day you have been more aware of everything around you than the average baby. Your beautiful eyes wide open and taking everything in. I think you are able to take in more than your little mind can handle and you cry because you don’t know how else to deal. But every once in a while it seems that your mind opens up and allows us to interact with you. We get you to look into our eyes and you try so hard to communicate with us with something other than crying. Those are the moments that make this baby thing all worth it. Your small efforts smooth over all the bad nights and make our hearts melt. Your coos sound like nothing I have ever heard before – they are magical. I can’t wait for you to find your little voice and make me laugh!

When we brought you home from the hospital, you were so tiny. At 6lbs 15 ozs., we had a hard time finding cute clothes that fit you. Even still I have to recycle the same 5 outfits over and over – but everyone keeps telling me that I should cherish the time that you are so tiny because you will grow so fast! Your Dad and I weighed you the other day and you were already 8lb 2 ozs!! So at least I know you are thriving and getting enough food from me. I now can see the chubby fingers and legs growing and it’s the cutest most edible thing in the world…

The Highlights of Month One:
- You have smiled, cooed and followed objects with your eyes.
- You can hold your head up pretty well and really like tummy time on the couch.
- Your longest sleep was 6.5 hours in a row from 9:30pm to 5:30am….
- You poop more than anything I have ever seen in my life. Like 15 times a day I swear.
- You LOVE spending time on your changing stations. Especially the one in your bedroom. There are only rare occasions that you cry and it usually involves me changing your outfit for the 3rd time in a row because NOTHING FITS!
- Your most adorable time is usually at 5:30am – but since you are so adorable, we usually indulge you because it’s physically impossible to ignore your cuteness.
- You love it when your Daddy beat-boxes while he dances with you. Your eyes become huge and you are entranced.
- So far you hate the car and the car seat. We are doing everything we can to fix this as your Dad and I like to go out and do stuff and we want you to come with!
- You also hate having your head touched – but this KILLS your dad because he wants so badly to smother your head in kisses.
- You have met all of your Aunts and Uncles, Grandmas and Grandpas, 2 of your Great-Grandparents and TONS of our good friends. Once the weather warms up – we can’t wait to take you everywhere. We actually already purchased tickets to your very first rock concert on June 21st.
- You love eating no matter how you can get it. You will drink out of basically any bottle we give you and of course the good ol’ boob will always do too… and the sounds you make when you are nursing are absolutely the sweetest….
- You LOVE sucking on our pinkies. We try every time when you are REEEAALLLLY mad to give you a pacifier and you fight us. We throw a pinky in your mouth and it’s instant silence.

Current Names:
- Belly
- Belliette
- Munchkin
- Skeen Bean (still!)
- Missy
- Missy Elliette
- Chunky Monkey
- Cheeks
- Lady
- Child (when you are fighting the Boob)
- Baby Girl
- Whinny Cooper (when you are nursing and getting full – you sound like a horse)

Overall Elliette, you are the most amazing, wonderful thing that has ever happened to me. I can’t wait to grow as a family with your Dad and you and see where life takes us. You make everything worthwhile and meaningful. Someday when you are a mean 15 year old – I will look back at these letters and remind myself how it all started. How you were so fresh and new with an entire life ahead of you. I can’t wait to see how it turns out sweetie…

Love,
Momma

Birth Story

2008-04-15T21:44:00.000-07:00

Here it is people... The Birth Story! It started on March 7th and ended on March 13th with a beautiful baby girl... Forgive me if it sounds a little like I was explaining it to my Birth Class Teacher or something - because originally I was... But then I decided it was a little too personal and involved for her and thought - why not just post it directly on the internet instead for a bunch of random people to read!? Hope you enjoy!

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On March 7th - I started having my first "real" contractions - ones that actually hurt and I was totally sure that I was in labor.... They were not THAT bad - but since I had nothing to gauge them from - I had NO IDEA what I was in for... I had about 2 hours of contractions about 5 minutes apart - and then they just kind of stopped... I still had a crampy feeling, but no more contractions. So I just kinda went about my night and waited to see what would happen next. Then on Saturday - I went to breakfast and had a HUGE painful contraction and then many smaller ones. I kept track for about 7 hours and they were mostly 5 minutes apart - but I was still walking and talking through them. I called the babyline and they were sure I was in labor - so I called my Mom who lives 4 hours away and she started her trip up here. Once she got here I called the babyline again and asked them if I could take some Tylenol because I had a headache, and they were a little concerned that I may have had a blood pressure increase so she told me to come in.

So at this point - I was TOTALLY excited and freaked out because I thought I was having a baby! We packed up the car with everything and drove to the hospital. They put me in one of those triage rooms and started to monitor me. The contractions were super consistent - every 5 minutes - but not strong enough. They checked my cervix - and I was only 2 cm dilated. I was 2 cm at my last doc appointment on Wednesday too - so not too much was happening. They told me to go walk around a bit and they would check me again in an hour to see if my cervix changed. And then when they checked me again - NOTHING. So they sent me home with some visterol to sleep and see if anything happens overnight. Of course nothing happened overnight - aside from an AWESOME night of sleep - THANKS VISTEROL!

On Sunday - pretty much just lame contractions - like one every hour or so and nothing painful. My Mom was determined to get this baby out of me while she was here – so we walked around the Mall of America for a few hours. When that didn’t work – she insisted I try whatever we could so based on a few people’s experiences we tried some Raspberry Pie, Raspberry Tea and that night we went and ate spicy Mexican food. No Change…

Same thing on Monday and Tuesday. My Mom couldn't wait around anymore for this baby to come so she went home in the morning on Tuesday and then that night - RIGHT on time - I started to feel some "stuff". My poor Mom! I waited it out - had some painful contractions - more sharp than any of the others and went to bed. I was awakened at like 7 am with some HORRIBLE pains that I had never felt before. I went to the bathroom and I had some pink tinged discharge - and got a little excited! But with all my false labor stuff happening - I didn't want to get my hopes up. I waited a bit and they got pretty intense at times. I got in the bathtub and worked through about an hour and half of pretty painful contractions. I checked again and had more pink tinged discharge. It happened to be the day I had my weekly doc appointment - so I called the office and asked if I could come in a little earlier since I thought I might be in labor - but I didn't want to cancel in case I wasn't. So they had me come in a few hours early and my midwife checked me - I was ALMOST 3 cm dilated! So there was at least a little progress since Saturday but still I thought these were pretty intense contractions and I would have been further along.

My Midwife then stripped my membranes and said that initially my contractions would intensify a bit due to that - but I should go home, relax as much as possible and go in to the hospital when I couldn't take it anymore. She was sure that I was having a baby by the end of that day or the next day. When Josh and I left the doctor's office it was about 2 pm. Within like 15 minutes - my contractions were to a point where they hurt so bad that I was moaning and making some insane noises and movements just to get through them. Rituals! They started to come about every 3 minutes and then quickly turned into every 1 -2 minutes. We got home and within 15 minutes - I was DYING. I couldn't take it anymore without being in a safe place. I just wanted to be sure I was where I needed to be because I couldn't imagine waiting any longer and trying to drive to the hospital. So we packed up - and headed out. I called my mom - and she was out the door in minutes - AGAIN.

We arrived at about 3:00pm at the Hospital. They put me up in the Triage room and checked my cervix - and I was only about 3+ cm.... I was totally disappointed because these were some SERIOUS contractions I was having and nothing had really changed since my doc appointment! They admitted me to the hospital anyway because I was having such painful contractions that were 1 - 2 minutes apart. I tried my best to make it as far as I could. I labored until 6:30pm standing, rocking, moaning, soaking in the bathtub and then I said I couldn't take it anymore. I was in the most pain I have ever been in and I needed a break. They checked my cervix and in those 3 1/2 hours of insane labor - I had only dilated to a 4. Everyone was shocked.

Since I had officially reached the "active" labor stage - they gave me an epidural. Wow. Epidurals are awesome! Within like 15 minutes I was able to see past the next contraction and was actually aware of what was going on. Once I could reflect - I was SHOCKED at how long I had been in the hospital. Anyone who is able to have a baby with NO PAIN medication is insanely tough - I am NOT one of those people!

They had me labor with NO PAIN for another 2 hours and then they checked me again. I had not dilated at all. So - the Midwife decided to break my waters since I had not progressed in the many hours that I had been having contractions to see if that would get dilation to kick in. After another 2 hours they checked me again and I was STILL at 4. No change. At that point - they decided to try a little pitocin and told me to rest. Josh and my Mom stepped out to give me some quiet time to try and sleep.

After about 20 minutes, the midwife stopped in and was a little concerned about the baby's heart rate and how she wasn't responding well to the pitocin. About 5 minutes later - a group of 5 or so doctor's came rushing in my room and flipped all the lights on. They told me that they wanted to do a C-Section. I was so scared at the whole turn of events and Josh and my Mom were out walking around and had no idea what was going on. Finally they came back in and we had to make the call to have the C-Section now - or wait and see if anything changed and do a C-Section later - only if we waited - we would be in a situation where we had no time and everything would be rushed. We decided to go ahead with the C-Section now in order to have everything go smoothly. No rushing, everything was calm and I was awake for the whole thing.

When they were wheeling me in the operating room - I was more scared than I have ever been in my whole life. Being awake while someone cuts you open is NOT something I would ever want to go through, but I could not miss the event about to take place. Josh was able to be right next to my head and he held my hand. We waited impatiently while they started the procedure and the next thing you know - they are telling us to get ready to meet our baby! We couldn't even imagine what it was going to sound like to hear our baby cry for the first time. And then at 1:35 am - ON HER DUE DATE - all of a sudden we heard it and couldn't believe it was real! She was here and actually crying! They then brought her around the curtain so we could see her and it was all so very surreal. One second I am laying on a table with a curtain shutting me off from the rest of my body and the next - my baby is out of my belly and CRYING!

Josh went to meet her and take photos. I could hear him laughing and crying from across the room and it made me feel so happy. Then he brought her over to me and couldn't even express the emotions I was having. I wanted to cry out but I couldn't because I was numb from the chest down... She was so beautiful and perfect. I wanted so badly to be transported to a place where I wasn't strapped to a table so I could hold her and smell her and just take all of her in.

Josh was able to introduce her to her Grandmas and spend some time with her. I had to stay and get put back together. It seemed like it took forever but it really only took 45 minutes. They brought me to the recovery room and brought in Elliette - they put her to my breast and she immediately began to suckle. It was crazy!

This was absolutely one of the most insane, awesome, life-changing events that I have ever experienced. One that I would not trade for anything. And although my actual birth experience was not at all like I had thought it would be, I think it all happened the way it did for a reason. When they were pulling her out - they found that she was face up - which could have lead to a very long intense pushing phase. Considering I would have been in labor for so many hours already - who knows what could have ended up happening. I also have a baby who is absolutely perfect with no health problems due to the labor. And let's be honest - NOT pushing a 7 lb baby out of my lady parts, makes for a pleasant recovery! I have been able to bounce back from the C-Section very well and had minimal pain. I kind of think that having a vaginal delivery would have been harder on my body in the end.

Being a Mom is completely amazing. I can't believe I waited this long. I love breastfeeding and bonding with her on such a primitive level. Being able to provide life to your child is an overwhelming responsibility that I cherish.

Until the Birth Story....

2008-04-02T11:46:00.001-07:00

I will give you a little something - Josh and I have made a couple of new videos that you should watch!

The first one was right before she was born when I didn't think she was ever coming out:

Still no baby - March 6, 2008 from josh thacker on Vimeo.

And this is one that we made recently - SO TINY!

Elliette's First Bath from josh thacker on Vimeo.

We are taking even more footage of her for new ones - so check back to Josh's Vimeo site often!
Vimeo Site

Also - Take a look at flickr to see any new photos - Josh's Flickr Page

Happy Wednesday!

A

Okay okay - I will update!

2008-03-29T11:33:00.000-07:00

Either I am a freakish 16 days overdue OR I am just really bad at updating.... And yes - I am just really that bad at updating. But I have good reason! I have a 2.5 week old baby at home now! Thats right - Miss Elliette Elizabeth Thacker was born on March 13th - Her ACTUAL due date - how cool is that? She wieghed in at 6lbs. 15ozs. and was 20 inches long. She is as cute as a button and I can't believe how much she has changed in the last 2 weeks. I can only imagine it goes faster after this.

I am breastfeeding away and therefore not sleeping AT ALL. I am considering breaking out the pump today and trying my hand at milking myself to see if I can get any worthwhile sleep during the night. I know they say you should wait until 4 weeks before you pump - but I fear if I wait until then I will have died from sleep deprivation. My Midwife says it's okay so I will take her word for it. Missy Mis-demenor is a pro nurser so I can't imagine she will have any issues with nipple confusion and whatnot.

So what is it like? It's awesome! I can't even put it into words what it feels like to have a part of you looking into your eyes and screaming! And when she is not screaming - she is so totally cute and perfect. She does scream a lot however. I think that she may be hitting a developmental milestone - "sas-ass" since rounding the 2 week mark. Boy oh boy do we ever have our work cut out for us! I can't imagine what 13 will look like.....

Josh is doing great as a Dad. He LOVES changing diapers and having her suck on his finger while waiting for the boob. He also has an uncanny ability to beatbox dance with her that immediately calms her down. It's quite amazing. He has been working on a job pretty much the whole time since she has arrived - but it is finally over and he is taking an extra week off of work so we can all hang out with NO work interruptions. It will be so nice for him to have some extra time with her before he has to head back into the office. It's pretty crazy to watch someone you for so long have loved as a boyfriend, lover, etc turn into the father of your child. It is totally emotional and overwhelming. I am so proud of him and can't wait to see how thier relationship grows. She is a lucky little girl!

So now - I am sure all of you are wondering - okay - so how did it all go down? Birth story! Well - you will have to wait. I have written it down very loosly and still need to refine a few details. BUT - I will have it posted on my blog by next week - I SWEAR! Just know that we both came out very healthy and I am recovering great. I am actually only 6 lbs away from my Pre-pregnancy weight. And judging by the size of my boobs - I may be down a few extra from that! I do have some sweet looking flabby flab on the belly area from the C-Section, but let's not talk about that right now...

For now - enjoy this adorable photo of my angel and check out Josh's flickr page for more - http://www.flickr.com/photos/muzzfuzz/ (you may have to paste that into your browser --- cause I am lazy!)

We have hit Full Term and then some....

2008-03-03T13:09:00.000-08:00

Wow - time has FLOWN by! Kidding. Actually it has not - I am just WAY to lazy these days! It's been almost 2 months since I have updated?!??! That is crazy.

SO yes - I am starting the 39th week nightmare that is pregnancy! It's been an official nightmare for only 2 weeks now. 39 weeks is WAY to long to have a baby in your belly. Seriously. Get out of my belly. NOW.

If you would have asked me 3 weeks ago - I would have had some funny cute remark about how I like her where she is! I can't imagine NOT being pregnant. And if she were to come out - I would have to be in LABOR and that would be torture - so she can just stay where she is!

Well torture? It had not reared it's ugly head quite yet in the form of 37 weeks pregnant. And here we are - 2 weeks AFTER torture began - and I am telling you - GET OUT OF MY BELLY! Seriously.

How do people manage to go over-due without going insane? I mean - cause I am still officially not even at my Due Date and life just seems to stand still and be painful. I have legs and feet all up in my rib cage. I have a HEAD in my pelvis. My lower back is screaming at me, sleeping is a joke, and walking in general is totally lame. I want to be able to sit upright again without feeling like I am going to pop my belly. I want to laugh and joke around without worrying that I MIGHT pee my pants! Most of all I just want to meet that little asshole who has been messin' with me these last few weeks...

2 weeks ago I was in the Doctor's office and she checked me and said "Wow! You are already 1 CM dilated and about 50% effaced! You are certainly NOT going to need to be induced! Your body is transsitoning into getting ready for this and I may even see you this weekend" So totally thinking that meant I was going to have a baby the next day - I packed every last thing I could imagine me needing for the labor process and 2 days in the hospital. 3 bags people. 3. 1 for me and Josh. 1 for Baby. And one specifically designated for Labor stuff. You all know that I am a producer - so believe me... I am prepared for ANYTHING.

I didn't go into labor that weekend - THANKS WHORE! But I figured that I would at LEAST by Wednesday. But still really nothing and then I had my next Doctor's appointment. I figured that even thought I was not in actual labor - that I would have at least progressed a CM or 2. She checked me again and says "Well, you are still at 1 CM and you have not effaced much more... Her head may have come down a few centimeters. I am sure you were hoping for more - but still it's looking good!"

Looking good? For WHO? GRRR.... So this whole time - I am thinking that I have got this one in the bag! This baby will be early - I can stop going to work! It's going to be PERFECT! Yeah... Not so much. I think I would be better able to handle this NOT knowing I am dilated at all. Now I just feel like a ticking time bomb just ready to go off at the most inopportune time. Like in Lunds. Or worse - at work. Which by the way - SUCKS having to go to.

I have my next appointment on Wednesday and some action better have happened down there or ELSE! I have nothing else to distract me! I have all my Thank You's written and sent out. I have all my announcements addressed and stamped just waiting for the picture. I have the room DONE. All the bags packed. Lists are checked off. Car seats are in the cars. Dogs have been groomed and the house is getting cleaned on Wednesday (by a cleaning lady - THANK GOD). I have NOTHING else I can do. Except maybe sleep. Yeah - maybe I should sleep more...

Josh has tried to "distract" me by buying a Playstation 3 but strangely enough - it hasn't really worked!? He went with me to buy a Breast Pump which I am sure was one of the highlights for him throughout this pregnancy. But I was able to justify my purchase of a Breast Pump with the promise of a trip to Best Buy. And since a Breast Pump is really one of those things that I have been wanting for personal party usage - it's only fair that Josh get the opportunity to buy a "big ticket item" as well. So we compromised and he got his Playstation 3 and I got my Breast Pump! I totally scored on that one - Don't tell Josh! Ahhhh boys....

Anyway - things are moving along. Except where they need to be at this point. Life keeps going. The anticipation grows more each day and I just try to smack it back down not trying to get my hopes up too high...

Send any good baby get out of my belly NOW thoughts my way!

2008-01-11T14:13:00.000-08:00

Well here we are FRIDAY! Oh how I love thee!! It seemed as though it would never be our time - but alas - we are here... I CANNOT tell you all how happy I am that this week is over. I have a feeling that this will only continue as I become larger and larger and more uncomfortable. I sure wish I could take it down to like 3 days a week. Or do like 5 hours days... Oh well - in a couple of months - I will have 3 WHOLE MONTHS OFF! Which will be awesome.

Not much to report here - we are heading to Lusten this weekend to surprise Josh's Dad for his 60th Birthday. His parent's have owned this beautiful cabin on Lake Superior for about 3 years now - and this will be the first time that everyone is able to make it at the same time! All 3 of the kids and their Sig-O's at once! It will be nice - but since we have to wait for his little sister and her boyfriend to fly in at 8:00pm we won't even get there until Midnight! Oh well - it's all in the name of family!

Last night Josh brought home the HD Camera from work so we made a little movie - go check it out!

Baby Room Video

It's going to be great to have access to such a nice camera and a good editor for when it's time for baby movies...

We also went through and cleaned up Josh's laptop last night so he can continue to remove new photos from his camera - where the majority of our new photos are hanging out right now. So hopefully we can get a bunch of new (old now) photos up on his flickr page and I can share some here with you all... It all takes so much time!

Thats all - hope you have a great weekend!

30 Weeks down....

2008-01-04T08:53:00.000-08:00

So I hope your Holiday was as relaxing as mine! Although I am sure it was not since I have the - "I am pregnant and can you get that for me" excuse. We had a lovely morning with the Thacker's and both Josh and I received a TON of great gifts. We now have a new - spare bed for guests. It is AWESOME! And much smaller than the one we had been using. We figured it would be great with the new baby and hopefully more visits from Grandma - or as she is asking us to call her - Nana Banana. Josh also has begun to collect a small booty of professional camera equipment which will come in handy if he ever looses his job as an editor/director as he will at least have something to fall back on. Also our baby will have nothing but quality photos complete with key lights and backfill. He also received this Bosch Screwdriver from my Mom that has not been put down since. But since it came complete with a holster - there really is no need to. He has started to actually call out to it when it was mistakenly left somewhere and not put back into it's holster - "Bosch? Booooosch - where are you". I don't have the heart to tell him that it can't hear him. They have become quite close those two... Not much more to report on the Holiday - ate a lot, watched Josh try to beat my Brother's Guitar Hero 3 game, saw a couple of lame ass movies, and just relaxed. It was very nice....

This week has been rough as far as getting back into the routine of work and sleeping during appropriate hours. I want to fall asleep at like 2 or so and sleep in to 11am - but since I have to work it's been rough. And to top it off - I somehow contracted another cold which for a pregnant lady is pure torture. No relief from Ny-Quill or other types of drugs. I just have to flush it out with lots of fluids and tons of cookies. Cookies? Yes. Cookies. For some reason - I have this need for cookies. And not just ANY cookie - these delicious homemade chocolate chip cookies from Lunds. They come in a pack of six and they are gone in as many days. I try to restrict it to 1 a day. 22 seconds in the mic with a glass of milk and I am suddenly transported to the bar - taking 4 shots and smoking out on the heated patio. It's awesome. It's my little slice of heaven - 1 cookie at a time...

I had another ultrasound on Monday to check and make sure the slight placenta previa I had went away - and good news - it has! They say there should be at least 2 inches from your placenta to your cervix and mine had actually moved 6 inches away which is totally great. There are no issues now - aside from Third Trimestery stuff. But nothing that will compromise the rest of this pregnancy. While getting the ultrasound - the technician also double checked the gender just to put me at ease about all the clothes I bought - and yes -it's still a girl! We also got a super cool 3-D scan of her little baby face... It's pretty unreal that you can get this kind of an image these days - check her out! Josh is happy that she has my chin - and I am pretty sure she has his hairline! It's totally crazy!

Here are a few photos of the Nursery that is coming together - so close! We had wanted to do a dark brown stripe all around the room - but I got antsy and wanted to get everything in there but we may do that still.... Other than that - all the pieces are there - we just need a little bean to show up!

Here is a shot of the new shelves that Josh put up - totally pro - totally Bosching his face off in the process -

And this is a shot of the cute baby bedding all put in with the new mobile...

And this is a shot of the tall bookshelf and all the fun toys that have been collected so far:

And finally - the shot of the closet that Josh put in. I got to customize it to be exactly what I wanted. I still have room for more clothes!!

Have a great weekend!

Okay - so NOW it's official...

2007-12-19T14:27:00.000-08:00

Apparently I had my info wrong and THIS week (tomorrow) is technically the first day of my last trimester... So 12 weeks to go. I can do this! After this last weekend we got a ton of work done around the house so I am feeling MUCH better about being ready for this kid to come!

We had a fun filled weekend of party party and more party - with a dash of party thrown in. Seriously so many parties. First - the Periscope Holiday party at the Metropolitan Ballroom. Very swanky - great food 3 free drink tickets each, which means Josh totally hit the alcoholic lottery and some super sweet people watching out on the dance floor. We didn't stay very long - since I am pregnant and I can't hate ALL my coworkers based on how lame they all are when drinking. And then we headed over to a friend's house for a KEG PARTY. It was nice to see all of our friends since we don't get out too much these days. We may have been overdressed - but that would not stop me from partyin' with the ferrets!

Here are a few photos my friend Nate took:

Me at 27 weeks!

And here is Josh and I with good friends Kolby and Jess

THEN we had the lovely? Fischer Edit holiday party... It was a little different this year as we didn't get the fancy gourmet meal and live music - instead we got a over-staffed volunteer experience and a bowling alley. We were asked to volunteer for an organization that provides gifts to families that cannot afford them. The only drawback was that of the 30 of us that showed up from Fischer - only 3 of us REALLY needed to be there. There was quite a bit of "downtime" and we kinda felt as if it was an experience that was not for those that were looking to make a difference. Oh well. THEN we went to the Park Tavern Bowling Alley where everyone was celebrating a 12th birthday! So it kinda felt like we were in a time warp except with beer and people you work with. Only I didn't even have the beer to comfort me. We didn't stay long - and by the time we left that party and were headed home - I was ready to not see people for a day. Sometimes being pregnant is REAAALLLY taxing - not only on your body - but on your nerves as well. After the Hollidazzle Party on Thursday, the Periscope Party on Friday and the Fischer party on Saturday - I honestly didn't think I would ever want to talk about being pregnant again. EVERYONE wants to know - "how are you feeling" "When are you due" "Can you feel it" "Are you excited"... and believe me - I LIKE that people want to know - but in the quantity that I dealt with - I was OVER it! I wish I could have taken off the belly for the night and just hung out. Now it's been a few days with no fussing and so I am back to being in love with my belly. But man! I hope I am not the only one that gets a little overwhelmed by the attention of being pregnant.

One good thing that came out of the weekend was the progress on the baby room! We finally removed all of Josh's office stuff and he was able to paint the whole room AND put together the crib and the dresser. I am so happy to finally have a place for the stuff. It's coming together - but there is still lots to do. Now is the fun part! Here are some photos - they are a little dark - but you get the idea... More to come!

Oh - AND - after fretting about baby shower stuff - wondering how to approach friends with it and whatnot - a dear friend from my past Catherine has stepped up and offered to throw one for me! I could not be more relieved! She is such a sweetheart and I know it will be incredible! She wants the theme to be Mock-tails and fun appetizers - like Buns in the oven - get it??? I love it! So that is now off of my worry plate - WHEW!

Holy Crap - only 13 weeks to go!

2007-12-13T08:16:00.000-08:00

SO it's official. I am in the THIRD TRIMESTER! It's hard to believe it has gone by so fast... And I now only have the FINAL TRIMESTER to finish this whole thing. I am not ready! I still have SO MUCH to get done. I still don't have a baby room, I still don't have a basement, and I still don't have a pediatrician! Okay - so maybe I can still get it all done - but it's so hard to think about ANYTHING ELSE!

I think about all the stuff I need to do and all I can do is write up a list! I have a list for EVERYTHING. A list for stuff that needs to be done in every room of our house - including a "sub" list of paint touch ups needed, a list for what I will want to make for dinner next week, a list of addresses that I will need to send out announcements and such, a list for what needs to be purchased for baby, a baby room needs to be done list, a CHRISTMAS shopping list, and a list of stuff I need to remember like brushing my teeth because my baby brain has rendered me USELESS! WHEW! But I write lists cause I can't do. It's my way of doing stuff. I guess I think if I put it in a list form - it will somehow get done. But really the only way anything is going to get done in this house is if I stand next to Josh and say - "Hey - you need to put this here - NO HERE - and this needs to go over there - and can you grab this thing and put it over here and paint this and build this.." It's exhausting really. But he has been a tremendous sport about all of it. He has worked super hard every weekend and at nights trying to get rooms painted and stuff built. We make a good team - I motivate and he does the stuff. It's much easier when I can help however so I am looking forward to being able to do that again soon...

SO I had a Doctor's appointment yesterday where they checked me for Gestational Diabetes and made me drink a syrup orange drink and then checked my blood an hour later. I was negative! No Diabetty for me! SO that was good news. I also measured right at 27 weeks so that is also good. I gained 5 lbs since my last appointment for a grand total of 11 lbs gained. I better get used to that - apparently I will be gaining like tons every week from here out. I already feel whalish - I can't wait to see me attempt to get off of the couch in a month! Still feeling good aside from heartburn and overall largish body mass. I have officially started waddling - Josh even confirmed this. It's okay though - a least I don't have stretch marks yet. But once they come - everything will be waaaaayyy less sweet. I need to get a photo shoot in before I get too big and hate the way I look. Maybe this weekend!

SO - yay for me - 3 months to go!

My Kid Better Have SWEET Hair...

2007-12-10T09:24:00.000-08:00

Is it just me - or is being pregnant like tasting the food you ate for dinner all the next day? I can't even believe the amount of Acid reflux/ Heart Burn I have had with this baby. It's like everyday. And it's NOT cool. They say - if you have lot's of reflux/ heartburn - that means your baby will have lot's of hair! All I am saying - is it better be worth it - I want like TONS of hair on that head preferably wavy luxurious locks that are already tied back with a bow... If I have one complaint - it's the reflux. But since I am pregnant - I can have as any complaints as I want....

SO -- like WOW - the lower back pain! I can't even believe they let you have a baby and drive! I am kidding of course - But I am amazed at what back pain is now - versus when I was not pregnant. See - I am a "doer" by nature and right now at the Thacker-Stavig Household - there is PLENTY to do. We are STILL finishing the basement remodel. We still need to move all of the office stuff to the basement along with all the basement stuff.... We still have to paint the baby room AND assemble all the furniture. (We did pick up the crib and dresser this weekend so CHECK!) And once everything is assembled - I have to put all the cute little baby things in their baby spots... But this weekend while Josh was busy painting away in his office - I thought I could just run a few of the items that need to be moved downstairs from his old office to their new home. BIG MISTAKE. There are no "little" jobs anymore. They are all too hard. In the process I am thinking - Sweet! Looks at how much I have brought down here! Oh - this box is a LITTLE heavy - but I am totally rocking! I can't stop now! This G4 processor? I GOT it! This BOX OF RECORDS - no problem! No problem of course until I stop. For more than 10 minutes. And then all of a sudden I can't move a leg. Like I am standing there - wanting to move it - But I can't. Because I am afraid if I do - I will fall over. I kinda feel like a baby learning to walk. And then the rest of the night feeling like an 80 year old needing a "warm up" to make it down the stairs. NO GOOD. I guess I am done being a "doer" for a few more months. Honestly - If I could just take off the belly for a couple of hours a day - I could be so much more productive! Oh well - I should enjoy it while I can as I am sure I will have plenty to do once the baby is here and NO excuses!

On a side note - I am ALMOST done with the Christmas shopping.... I was WAY ahead of schedule this year thanks to Amazon.com. I love that site. It's a beautiful thing NOT to have to face the crowds. I think Christmas this year is going to be interesting... We are doing a "dry run" in preparation for next year with a baby - and trying to split our time up with 2 families is tough. We have a pretty tight schedule - The Eve of Christmas Eve is spent with Josh's family and another family - they pick a theme and cook and decorate to match. Last year it was New Orleans.... Then we will be spending Christmas Eve Morning with Josh's family - opening gifts and having brunch. THEN we pack everything up - go home - drop off gifts - Pick up dogs and gifts and head out for good ol' South Dakota where we have Christmas Eve dinner with my Dad's side of the family. This may be the last Christmas with his family as everyone's kids are having kids and the Grandparents may move out of the big house and into a town-home with less room. So it could be kinda sad... THEN! We will wake up at my Mom's and have Christmas morning stockings and Christmas dinner with her side of the family. I am sure we will be WAY over Christmas by then, but it's the only way to make everyone happy... I can't imagine what all of this will be like with a 9 month old baby in tow!

I have a doctor's appointment on Wednesday and then she will schedule my THIRD TRIMESTER ultrasound. Crazy to hear that - THIRD TRIMESTER. So hopefully next week I will have an updated picture of the Skeen Bean. But until then - here is one from 18 weeks... Doesn't she have the cutest nose EVER??

A serious gap in time?

2007-11-20T13:38:00.000-08:00

WOW - I just realized that I read like 75 bogs (okay NOT 75) daily and I have not even bothered to update my own in years. LAME. Also - since I have real official news that I should have told you about like 6 months ago I figured I should update already... So for everyone or anyone who actually reads this - and then of those 3 people - the ones that don't already know this - I am totally 6 months PREGNANT! Yes. I work. Down there. And so does Josh. It's a very relieving feeling since I have gone 28 years without so much as one "whoops" and you start to wonder if it's more than just me being REALLY good at being careful.

So that is the big news in the Thacker-Stavig household right now. And now on the the questions that I have found EVERYONE wants answered since it's totally all of their business anyway....

1. This was not an "accident" - we actually had a conversation that started at the Modest Mouse show with Josh saying "I think I am ready to have babies..." and then of me saying "SERIOUSLY? OKAY!" Cause we all know that I LOVE babies and have been patiently waiting to someday have my own... And playing with dolls at my age is a bit much... We are one of the lucky couples who say - "let's stop trying NOT to get pregnant and see what happens" - and then the next month I am pregnant.. I guess trying NOT to get pregnant works! So much for the fun "trying" part. :)

2. We are NOT getting married at this time. We have always in the back of our minds - well at least mine -known that we would someday - but neither of us have ever been in a big hurry to do so... Josh has a previous bad experience with marriage and since I was in love with this boy - I respected his position and never pushed it. I didn't want to wait forever to have a family cause as you get older - things get more complicated and the next thing you know - you are 35 and can't have babies anymore. I also wanted my Mom to have plenty of Grandma time since I cherish the relationship I have with my Grandma I really wanted that for my babies... My Grandma Judy is still way awesome and totally excited to be a part of this babies life as well and that makes me so happy....

3. The baby's last name will be Thacker - But that is with the assumption that Josh will someday make an honest woman out of me and that will be my last name at some point too... That way there is no confusion later. Although it does make me sad to think that I will leave the hospital with a bundle of joy that has a different last name than me - in the end - it makes the most sense....

4. It's a GIRL! I know I know. I already have a closet full of the most adorable outfits EVER. She will be spoiled.

5. I am due March 13th...

6. We think we are going to name her Elliot. Of course this will all depend on if her faces matched that name... And if she comes out with something going on down there - the name will still work!

We are working hard on getting ready for her arrival by redoing the basement so we have another bedroom. Josh's current office will be her room once it's cleared out. I am officially in nesting mode and am absolutely insane. I think once I have a room I will calm down - but until then, I am a nervous wreak completely sure that this baby will be coming 2 months too soon and there is NO WAY I will have it all done. I am about 1 - 2 weeks out from having a room finally - but it's not soon enough if you ask me. Or if you ask Josh. Or anyone who knows me.

I am totally belly bumping right now - which is exciting because it makes it real. I can feel her kick all the time - and though at first it was a little weird - now I love knowing she is alive and kicking. This pregnancy has been a breeze as far as the side effects go. I had no morning sickness and only the major fatigue. I am loving the second trimester energy and aside from the gross acid reflux - I am having fun being pregnant. I hope that doesn't mean that my delivery will make up for all the "easy" months of growing her... God - let's not go there quite yet. I am totally freaked at the prospect of birthing something as simple as a giant shit - let alone a HUMAN BEING...

Check out the belly photo from 21 weeks - I am 24 now so much more gigantic....

All in all - Josh and I could not be more excited about this new adventure. We have lot's of preparing to do but once she's here - it will all be worth it. I still can't believe I am going to be responsible for another human! Especially considering I learned how to beer bong JUST THIS YEAR! I can't wait to teach her!

For photos on the home improvement go to Josh's Flickr Page - Or mine

2007-04-13T09:44:00.000-07:00

Wow - I kinda forgot that I have a blog! Whoops! Josh has just decided that he wants to be a blogger now too - so I figure at least he will be reading this so it may be worth up dating now!

Let's see here - what's new... Hmmm...

Well for starters - Andrea and Amanda moved home to Iowa. It was terribly heartbreaking to see them go - especially cause they took that baby of Amanda's too... I miss them all SO MUCH! It's not the same - although I do see them often enough. I am going down there tonight after work to visit and 2 weeks ago they were up here. It's nice when they are here because we make sure and see as many people as we can - so it's a good excuse for me to get out and party like a going away party all weekend.

Here are some photos of how big Cella is and ADORABLE this little muffin is!

We are also getting ready to start some home renovations! We have a line of credit through the bank and we plan to give our crazy little house a nice makeover. I can't wait! My friend Cameron is a carpenter and is going to help us with the majority of it - but there are a few things that we will need to hire specialized dudes for. Like the roof - that is at a 90 degree angle - ALMOST. Scary. I could not be responsible for killing Cameron. I know his wife and she is expecting thier first child - so no.

Here is our wish list:

- A new tile shower in the main bathroom
- New railings inside the house
- Tear out wierd 2nd kitchen in basement and make into an office nook
- Tear out cabinets and make laundry room bigger
- new carpeting in basement and stairs to basement
- Paint the exterior of house and garage (thank GOD my Dad's a painter!)
- New Roof
- New gutters on house and garage
- Fix 2nd story deck that is falling off and add a new one off of back door that will connect to the top deck
- Landscape front and back yard
- New fence (I am thinking this may not be an option, but I would LOVE one)

I think thats all... hahaha. But after all is said and done, the improvements will hopefully add enough value to our house that when we refinance in 6-8 months - our payments won't really change. Thats the coolest part about owning a house. You can use the equity to make it better and then it's paid for! Most of the things we want to do are things that we will be helping with too - like the landscaping. I made a "plan" out of construction paper that I will have to post later... I want to help with that a lot.

I will be taking before and after photos and hopefully it's impressive!

Have a great weekend!

And Now November?

2006-12-05T12:16:00.000-08:00

So another month - come and gone. I can't keep up! Although I am totally excited about tonight - we are getting our Christmas Tree! I can't wait....

Let's re-cap cause once again - lots of things have happened, but let's just go over it one item at a time...

I was on another work trip/vacation:) outside of Jackson Hole Wyoming shooting Arctic Cat snowmobiles. It was the most unbelievable scenery ever. I would LOVE to go back either with friends or in the Spring/ Summer. They have Dog Sled Packages, Snowmobiling, Ski/snowboarding on Mountains and of course drinking at the Red Fox Saloon - and that is only in the Winter! We stayed at the Togwotee Moutain Lodge - which is about 45 minutes from Jackson Hole and equally as far from any type of civilization. We were basically in the middle of nowhere in some moutains. There was a bar, a restaurant, and a Gift Shop/ Gas Station. And so if you wanted to eat - you needed to eat off the menu of 10 choices, 8 of which were meat items, so for me - I only had like 2 options and so for the 13 meals I was forced to eat there - chicken fingers and pasta were it. Needless to say - I was so excited to eat other food when I got back!

When we arrived I was given my very own snowmobile to use for the extent of my trip - I was so fucken scared. I tried and pleaded and begged them NOT to give me my own sled. I have been known to be "removed" from go-kart tracks based on my crazy driving skills and anyone who has ever driven in a car with me knows that I like to take risks... BUT this machine runs on a track! There is no need to take risks on this thing cause the minute you get on - you are taking a risk.... Anyway - Quan insisted I get my own and I that I would be just fine. So I did ---- and I LOVED IT!!! Snowmobiling was an absolute blast. I was very careful around the corners in the trails that had the 100 feet drop offs and I pushed it a little when the trails were more open. I never got stuck OR fell off! I was sure that I would be one of "those" stories - you know the ones that end in - well I had no choice but to jump off and let it go! So I was very proud of myself...

And of course the Red Fox Saloon - full of employees and Arctic Cat people.... I ended up in a conversation with one of the Pro drivers - that I shouldn't have been in on and somehow I was talked into making a crotched penis cover with a tassel for shaking.... Of course I made it!

The rest was great; the view even better; and the work we did - short of amazing!

BUT the trip home was enough to ruin the whole experience. We left to go to the Jackson Hole Airport at 2:00pm on a Friday and I FINALLY got home at 2:30 pm on SATURDAY. I could have driven home. But I didn't. I flew. Only - my flight from Jackson Hole to Denver was a little late - and so when we arrived in Denver we had 5 minutes before our flight to Minneapolis took off. I should have known to not even try and get there - but of course I was sure they would wait! So I ran - ran up stairs, down escalators, into trams, and through the airport... Only to see my plane - sitting there at the terminal not leaving for another 10 minutes and I was NOT allowed to get on. I waited and stomped my feet and got angry and even cried a little, but nothing worked. I had to go over the the Customer Service desk where they tell me I am confirmed for the 10 am flight the NEXT DAY! I was pissed, tired, and over stimulated - what with the running and all. They paid for us to sleep in a gross Hotel. They gave me a handicap room that smelled like whatever was in here before me had died here. I had no Bag, no clothes, no makeup, no toothbrush. I was so mad. BUT - I got home finally and hung out on my couch until I fell asleep.

NOTE TO ANYONE TRAVELING TO JACKSON HOLE - Be prepared for anything.

Now that I finished writing all of that - I can't remember anything else that I have done.... I guess none of it was that important.... Oh well!

Have a lovey Day!

WOW. October is gone?

2006-11-03T13:20:00.000-08:00

I am having a hard time believing we are really into November. So many things have happened in the last month that it seems like it was forever ago - but then again I think about it and it feels like I missed September for some reason.
RECAP!
SO in the last month I have become an "Auntie" and by Auntie I mean a friend of a person who had a baby, but have no actual family relations with said child. I however love that little girl like she was family and therefore I will be called Auntie.

This was later in the day after she was born....

These are a from a couple of weeks ago....

She is just an angel. I can't even begin to talk about how amazing it is being a part of her life and just watching Amanda turn into such a wonderful person in the process. Motherhood suits her perfectly and she has just been an inspiration. Marcella Grace was finally born on Oct. 1st at 5:00 in the morning. I got to be in the room to take photos and push on Amanda's back when she started to push. It was insane! I have seen the photos, watched the videos, but JESUS CHRIST. She pushed a freakin' kid out of that! WOW. I get bladder infections and bitch about have to push a stream of pee outta that!! And Heavy flow tampons? FORGET IT! She was amazing. I have been spending tons of time with them - the Boyer girls and the baby and just kinda laying low.

A few other things that I feel the need to discuss:

* I have become obsessed with Pizza Hoagies from Davanis. I swear to god - I have eaten at least 20 of them in the last 2 months. GOTTA stop that.
--- Which brings me to the next thing....

* I ordered Yoga Booty Ballet. Yes. I bought into the idea that a DVD with Yoga and dance moves can make me a more powerful woman. I wish it came with an inspiration boost so that I would actually put it in the DVD player and use it. For some reason I think that if I buy a workout video it will automatically make me skinny. Or at the very least be so exciting that I can't wait to try it out. The commercial made me think I would, but of course - I have not. It is on the resolution list for next year FOR SURE!

* I went to Toronto -nothing much to report there - got drunk with dudes I work with and worked. I did go see Adam Porterfield's band Small Sails. It was the most wonderful coincidence ever! Their band was on tour and I just happened to be in Toronto the same night they were in town! It was great to see some friendly faces....I also got to go to a Leafs Game courtesy of the Production Company - ie.- GREAT SEATS!

* I got to decorate my house for the first time for Halloween. I know it sounds lame - but I was looking forward to having pumpkins out on my very own stoop since like May. And with Christmas right around the corner - WATCH OUT! I smell a fire.... Meaning, there is a good chance I will start one with the amount of lights I put up...

* Josh and I rocked out the Halloween party scene by going to 3 Parties in one night! We went as The Extreme Home Makeover team Paige Hennis and Ty Pennington. We rocked the costumes.

--- Party #1 - Todd and Andi - Friends from Central Services and other fun people in the Production world.

Here are Scott and Todd

Party #2 - Teresa and Krista - the entire apartment building where they live had a combined party with open doors to every apartment and like 5 kegs. Seriously crazy.

Here are Nick and Jason

Party #3 - Jon's house - A friend of Josh's. No pictures of that one, but I did eat a cupcake that was baked inside an ice cream cone and made to look real - totally cute!

Not much else going on - I did buy a dartboard so I intend on getting way better at that... Oh yeah and doing Yoga Booty Ballet. I swear.

2006-09-26T14:44:00.000-07:00

So Fall has offically hit. I love it! The trees are turning and the air is crisp! It is truly a great time to live in a 4 Season climate. UNTIL WINTER. But we won't talk about that now will we?

So a few things on the homefront - No baby from Amanda yet, although she claims it may be today. I have heard this claim like 3 days in a row now so I am not getting my hopes up just yet. Check out her blog here - http://www.momandassweetpea.blogspot.com/

We also had to "let go" of the other dog I had aquired. It was becoming VERY apparent that 3 dogs cannot be in the Thacker-Stavig household. When there is only 2 of us - they can start to overthrow the house and we had to try and avoid that. She was so sweet and cute, but the negatives out-wieghed the positives. Here's the list....

NEGATIVES
1. one extra dog mouth barking when they start the "barking thing" - when they bark at nothing, neighbors, leaves, cats, wind, mailmen, people walking, other dogs, squirrels, grass, air, plants, birds, garbage, etc.

2. 12 Paws to wipe everytime the go outside

3. 3 bowls of food to fill and then the coaxing of said dog to eat any of it EVERY DAY. "Come on Cali. Eat your food. Come on - Eat your food. PLEEEEEEEASE Eat your food. Please. Now. Cali. Eat."

4. MORE dog hair. And for those of you that know me. Whoa.

5. 3 vet visits each year

6. 3 Groomer appointments

7. Trying to find someone to watch 3 dogs when we have somewhere to go. IMPOSSIBLE.

8. Have you ever tired to walk 3 dogs? Bad idea. Bad. Horrible.

9. She had a "crazy" gene. Serious.

POSITVES
1. She and Lena played SO DAMN CUTE together!

2. Her cute face

3. Her cute butt - no seriosuly she had and 80's Prom Hair butt - totally cute!!

4. Giving her a home that she can finally count on since she had been shipped around so much

5. The look on people's faces when I told them I got another dog

6. Her little growl

SO as you can see - the Negatives won and we had to give her back to Quan - who I am sure gave her to the Humane Society, but I won't ask because I really don't need to know... It was kinda sad, but I know it was the right thing to do. Had it been a ferret - I would have kept it, but being that it was a dog and I couldn't hide that from Josh we had to move on...

I am planning another Work trip up to Canada only this time to Toronto. We are shooting a couple of commercials for One Goal Hockey. Sweet. Sports! It should be cool to visit, but I am not really a Hockey lady. But hey - it's a free trip and I could use one right now!

Tomorrow night is a big ol' poker game at the Birdhouse! I am excited to see if my winning streak will continue. I think I have won like 4 in the last 6 or so. I get the luck when we play at my house I am tellin' yah! So if anyone's around and wants in - we are playing at 7:30pm and the buy-in is $10!

So thats that! I hope Amanda has her baby tonight so I can not come into work tomorrow! We have Tuna Tuesday tonight and Andrea is making tacos. Maybe the hot sauce will be just what she needs to jump start the process!!

Engaged....

2006-08-29T09:08:00.000-07:00

No it's not the engaged you are thinking. Actually my friend who is about 4 weeks from delivering her baby just found out the baby's head is "engaged".... That to me is the FREAKIEST THING EVER. That means the head is now in her pelvis - just waiting for the right time to start the journey out. And out means you have to push it through your vagina. YIKES! I am in awe of her right now as a woman just thinking about that. Cause - if it were me, I would have to be popping zantax until I couldn't remember what was going to happen until it was out. So that is the big news on my front. Babies and babies - Oh and I have "acquired" another dog. Josh is not so hot on this idea, but I am still hoping he will come around - I just adore this lil' thing! I do suppose that 3 dogs may be a little much, but if you look at the sizes of the dogs, it's really more like 1 1/2 dogs. I will have to put up a picture once I take one....

Also the things I have done since my last post.....

First things - I have spent ALOT of time outside this summer which is a great feeling. For some reason once Winter hits, I always have regrets and say I wish I would have taken advantage of the weather while we have it.... So - for once, I think this display of photos will do my summer justice....

The Pool Party we had at Jason's Sisters house....

Me and the Beans just hangin' on a floaty

And this guy after spending maybe a little too much time in the sun

Also on our travels this summer we did the 3rd Annual Hok-Si-La camping trip down in Lake City MN! We played the usual game of "If I roll ____, I will do _____" that has now been re-named "Donkey" (since you make an ass of yourself), of course 'Jug' and the usual drinking and screaming. It was CAMP 2006 and we will always look forward to the next year so we can make more memories! Here are some in the form of a photo....

Here is Andrea, Nate and Kolby just hanging out!

Oh and here's Jason after a dare in the game of Donkey were he had to wear a Coleman rain-suit for 30 minutes WITHOUT any clothes on underneath. Notice the translucent style... If you look closely, you may catch a glimpse of sac!

Our very own Nate also had a Birthday! So we celebrated at the Volleyball courts with volleyball on a Sunday and slip and slide wars! Notice the beer in hand.....

And of course the occasional Poker game in the Birdhouse! I have been on a little bit of a streak lately - 2 games in a row!

Also - there have been many other winners....Like Nate and Michael

And our SECOND Royal Flush that Dave Schnack got!!

We also went to see the Flaming Lips at the State Fair - We saw a Coleman Banner there ----- god we love that Company. They make amazing Flashlights and pretty good Rain-suits....

ALL the girls at the Show...

And last week I worked on ANOTHER Twin's commercial. I got to meet Santana and Nathan along with Leriano - forgive me I know NOTHING about baseball.... But I did learn a thing or two about being a fireman!!

And I also learned that I CANNOT be sexy next to a Viper no matter how hard I try.....

So there you have it. A recap of my summer in pictures.... I hope you all had as much fun this summer as I did. And if you didn't you should give me a call and I will include you on the next one....

Vancouver = Hard Drugs

2006-05-10T15:12:00.000-07:00

So I was in Vacouver for like 12 days for work and I am still getting used to the Minnesota way of life again....

The trip was mostly work and drinking. I know this may sound confusing, but I basically mean that during the day - we worked so that left no time for shopping, site-seeing, etc, but then in the evening there was PLENTY of time for drinking. So we did. A Lot. But we still managed to shoot a nice commercail for Papa Murphy's without too much hungoverness. I say "too much" quite loosely due to one night of drinking and challanging my boss to a drinking contest - which I lost - and the next day I didn't do so well. I went to bed - got up and puked. I woke up - puked. I got on set and just as I drank a cup of fresh squeezed orange juice, I puked - behind the craft service trailer - and the Papa Muprhy's cleint found me bent over hurling... I was awesome.

But I pulled myself up by my bootstraps and hung in there... It took me a good 6 hours to feel normal again, but I made it. And I even drank again! The last night we were there however, is when things started to feel outta hand. and the "drugs" of Vancouver took over....

Now, Vancouver for those who have never been is a beautiful city with many things to see, but the one thing that kept on showing up were the homeless people addicted to hard drugs. They had the "heroin shuffle" and the "crack walk" as my boss noted. There are parts of the downtown area that the locals actually call Crack Town. Seriously scary shit! But none of it hit home until we were on our last night out - the "Wrap Party" if you will...

We are having a couple of beers and laughing and just enjoying the fact it's all over, when someone gets the great idea to find some pot! And why not! It's practically legal there! So we try and we try and all the one guy could find was Cocaine. And it was in his pocket. But me, as most of you know are not about to go there, so I just drink and tell those boys - NO! But of course boys will be boys and apparently (when I say apparently, I mean I didn't pick up on this until 5 am when none of them were tired... hmmmm... DUH!) they went ahead and did this stuff. One of the guys is trying to rub up on one of the girl's legs and her back. She kindly ignores it, but then it turns into full on molesting! He tells her that he's into Golden Showers and would love it if she would go in the bathroom and give him her panties... And so the night ended a little wierd. I still don't know if it was the drugs or just this guys alter personality, but it was crazy. Maybe Vancouver makes you crazy. I don't know. All I know is I haven't drank that much in that many nights since college and I feel like I need a good long night in a sweat lodge to feel normal.

So there you have it. Drinking = Vancouver and Vancouver = Hard Drugs and Hard Drugs = Molesting and Molesting = Golden Showers and Golden Showers = that guy will never work on anything I ever shoot in Vancouver again.....

Cheers!

I have to admidt some stuff.....

2006-03-17T10:52:00.000-08:00

So - I have been myspacing like a mo-fo and I need to check myself. I learned how to post pictures so I have been spamming people with embarassing photos of themselves that more often than not - they do not remember taking.... But that was not enough. I have now searched my high school and found too many people that I know. I never cared about these people before this, why now? Why would I care what Liza Gasper is doing with her life 7 years later? She has never even ONCE popped into my head since we graduated. Weird how a picture of something you remember makes you want to see more. So now I have officially myspaced my own face off and I am one of "those" addicted folks...

I am reaching out to you for help. Make the weather nice again so I can do more constructive things with my life. Call me and ask me to hang out. Just GET ME OUTTA HERE!

On a side note - I found this website about gay stuff and I totally recommend watching BOTH videos. Seriously. Someboday did that....

GAY PIMPS AND STUFF

Happy St. Patricks day to all you Irish and non-Irish alike! Go on with you bad self and toast one of those green-colored beers to a great summer that is right around the corner ----- right?

Drinking and Pirating

2006-02-27T13:01:00.000-08:00

So we went to a couple of Film premier's this week - both were very lovely indeed. But then afterwards, there is always a party. The "After" party if you will. As far as I am concerned, there really is no need to call it an "after" party when the party doesn't start until then to begin with, but whatever. Unless I am drinking - it's not a party.

So whilst drinking at one of these "after" parties - oh and PS - both were run by the same "promotion company" - please don't get me started on THAT guy - ANYWAY - so that means they were at the SAME place with the SAME food and the SAME valet charge. It was funny though - almost like dejavu. Trocaderos - or as we like to call it - "Trucker Daryls"... It's in the warehouse area of downtown. It's okay, but after 2 nights, it's seriously not my style. Normal people do not hang out at this place. Hoochy Mommas do. And on Tuesday nights - Olympic Salsa Dancers hang out here too. Not people like me - and certainly not people like this guy.....

Notice the Sword in the Beard?

Also - take a look at the matching shirts in this one..... Certainly NOT Trocaderos material, but we had fun....

If you have to head over to "Trucker Daryls" we suggest Tuesdays so you can see the crazy salsa dancing that takes place.... It's kinda like watching a porno - only not with big cocks, but with feet.... Get it?

On the note of Swords and Pirating - I thought I would throw these lovelies into this blog - as they are quite pirate-like. I have been trying to find a great way to transition these into a post. If you remember a post a while back - BLOG POST , you will remember the eye problems I had for a few days... Well I went to the doctor and apparently he prescribed FUN WITH PATCHES to make my eye feel better... And yes - it worked....

Music Video History....

2006-02-27T11:26:00.000-08:00

So Josh and I are working on a Motion City Soundtrack Video - they are a local band that has kind of sprung up from the Roots here in Mpls and is actually making it! They are on tour with one of my favorite bands EVER - Ok Go, so you know they are huge!

Anyway - last week we pulled together a full on Production with 3 locations in 2 days. I wasn't sure it would all work out, but after a 13 hour day and only one item of the band's being stolen - we had all the shots we set out to get. The stealing part kinda sucked - no one knows who did it. I am reluctant to believe is was someone on my crew, but in order to be realistic, I may need to think twice about who I have on my sets. There were a few people I didn't know so that makes me worried.... It was also like a million below zero last Sunday and we spent quite a few hours outdoors, so that sucked. But all in all, after seeing some of the footage - it looks amazing.... Here are a few stills from the set with the band.

Check out their website and buy the re-released record once it's out - this video will be on it!
Motion City Soundtrack

Let's check this out.....

2006-02-24T10:05:00.000-08:00

http://media.ebaumsworld.com/wmv/kittycatdance.wmv

A Guy I Once Knew.....

2006-02-24T08:33:00.000-08:00

I was reminded last night of a very "Interesting" guy I used to work for. He is definitely NOT an MVP and in no way do I look up to him. But he did provide endless hours of entertainment whilst goofing on his actions, behaviors and hairstyles. So one specific instance has been playing over and over in my head and after sharing it last night with a friend, they encouraged me to post it up for everyone to see...

So - I know you know the pants I am talking about - the ones that "Zip-Away" or as they have come to be known as "Shants"? Here's how they work - you can start out the day with pants on and as the temperature increases, you can remove the bottom half to stay cool. Anyway - I have a feeling most normal dudes would not just wear these pants on a normal basis. Maybe when hiking up a mountain. Or maybe while fishing or camping. Not probably while running a business. That's just my thought though. SO when my boss showed up to work with these pants on, I giggled a little inside - asking myself who this guy thought he was. Well apparently he thinks he is pretty fucking sweet and these pants would clearly prove it as he non-scholantely sits down and just asks about normal work related business. As I fill him in on the days happenings, he starts to remove a leg of his "short-pants". I kind of pretend not to notice so I don't give him any reason to continue, cause - I am not sure how far he is going to go with this! So he slowly takes one off - making sure to drag it out - wanting me to say something - ANYTHING so that he can feel cool about his choice of pants. I chose to ignore it. He ends up walking out of my office with one leg exposed and one leg still in pants. I almost peed my pants. Then I watch as he slowly works his way to the front of the office and pops into another person's room. As I walk by I see he has removed the other leg now adorning a lovely pair of shorts. At first the experience seemed funny and almost sad in a way. But then I thought about what he had actually done and I was disgusted. That man - my boss - took a "shant" in my office. It was rude, unprofessional and gross. Then he gets up and "shants" in another office. I swear, the next time guy has to take a "shant" he should do it in the privacy of his own bathroom. Gross me out and forever I will never look at these pants the same....

Things to watch for.....

2006-02-23T08:39:00.000-08:00

First thing.....

Ricky Bobby

Second Thing.....

Nacho Libre

Also -

Close Talkers

So there you have it....

A

Two Things.....

2006-02-16T14:19:00.000-08:00

First.... I can't beleive that this exists. It seems there is a larger market for this sort of thing than I had previously thought.... And for some reason my ass kinda hurts....

Also - My friend Danielle has the cutest baby EVER and I just wanted you all to see her....

Over the Water Line

2006-02-13T14:30:00.000-08:00

So - home improvement is in full swing at the Thacker/ Stavig household. It seems however that every time we make a stride forward - there is something that sets us back a bit. Not always a BIG bit, but enough to make it annoying.
To begin our story....
We ripped out all the old tile and just when we thought it was so great that we did that - we find out that it was asbestos. Okay - I am sure Josh is fine, but still! Not something you want to find out AFTER you have already been breathing it in for three days.
Then - painting. It took THREE coats to make it seem solid. That was a pain in the ass.
Then the toilet removal and then subsequent replacing of. Josh tells me there is a wax ring around the bottom to keep the "gaseous fumes" out. Gross me out. I am sooooo glad I missed that one. No weird story there, except that Josh ended up having to get another one after he misplaced the first one. Trial by error!

THEN - the motherload of nights. So - we are putting in the LAST piece of baseboard around the perimeter with a nail gun. No problems - when all of a sudden I hear what sounds like a gas leak and Josh comes running out of the bathroom with fury in his eyes. I wasn't sure if I should follow because I though he was running from a potential explosion! But it turns out - he hit the water line. HA! Well isn't that just sweet! So there is all this water running out of the wall and we were 1 piece of trim away from being done. We end up cutting the wall open and finding the hole. Thankfully it was behind the sink so no need to re-do anything. We go to Home Depot with our digital camera to show the guy what happened and he pointed us in the right direction. Of course, Home Depot didn't have the right part - so it's off to Menards. We get the stuff and Josh totally plumbs the shit out of the pipes. All is well - I start working on the bathtub. We bought replacement fixtures and a new drain. As I am removing the old drain, by prying it off with a screwdriver, a piece of it flys up into my eye! It hurt so bad I actually went to an eye doctor. I have gel drops and it's getting better thank you very much for asking....

But that's not the end! I try and try to get the bathtub spout on, but after the eye thing and just plain bitch-ass pieces not working right, I quit with the new stuff and just threw the old one back on. But I forgot to "fasten" it tight. So the next day I wake up to take a shower - I turn the water on and the spout literally flies across the bathtub and water is shooting out sideways. SO needless to say. I washed my hair in the sink that morning.

I am so ready to be done "fixing" stuff. It seems I am better at making more things harder than they need to be and I definitely hurt myself more than any normal person should... I am working on it, but I think it's just a safer idea to hire someone else to do it. It's hard.

So - the bathroom looks great - I am very proud of Josh and I of the hard work we put into it. But I am done now. I will post pictures soon and you can all see for yourself that the whole "do it yourself" thing can be rewarding... But also dangerous...

Arctic Cat's and Beer

2006-02-08T13:44:00.000-08:00

So this last weekend was - semisweet. I was expecting awesomeness, adventurousness and total memorableness, but it was just.... eh.

We went to Lutsen this last weekend for the Annual Post Production/Advertising Agency/Drunkeness/Ski/Snowboarding weekend that I go to every year - 4 total now. And usually it proves to be a photo-opportunity-around-every-corner kinda weekend, but I swear every year either I get older and more crotchety or the people who come are less and less cool. I am going with the latter because - f that! I am NOT getting to an age where partyin' is lame. I love partyin'! I carry party around in my pocket for christ's sake! But the people who end up going want to go to the stupid bar that is on the resort to hang out with all the yuppie-types who are styaing at the resort too. It's like camp for adults or something. If everyone was into going to the local watering hole to hang out with toothless Mary working the pulltabs booth - THATS another story. I would SO be down for that. VFW! These people were NOT locals. They were just like people in Minneapolis that go to Williams and throw peanuts on the floor. Lamos. Not my kinda party you know? So instead Josh and I rallied a sweet game of "If I roll a _____ I will do _____ ". Roll a pair of dice and fill in the blank. Let's just say the folowing things HAD to be done...

1. I had to wear a plastic grocery bag like a diaper for 1 hour.
2. Josh had to eat a huge pad of butter on a banana
3. Josh also had to brush his teeth with a banana
----- (FYI - Josh is really not into bananas anymore.... )
4. Kelley had to wear her bathing suit on the OUTSIDE of her clothes
5. Nick had to take a sip out of everyone's drink at the table. There were lots of dead soilders that he had to taste.... Ewww..
6. I had to edure 2 bananas being thrown at me ---- we had limited props
7. Nick had to drink tequilla like a dog....

So as you can see - we at least tried to make the weekend fun.... by making ourselves look like idiots. But hey! I got some sweet pictures.....

Anyway - I get back on Sunday night and return to work on Monday - to find out that I am shooting a commercial in Lutsen on TUESDAY NIGHT. Like hell I am driving back up there to stand in the butt-fucking freezing to shoot snowmobiles. So I opted to stay back for "containment" issues. Just trying to save the company money! But we did shoot Tuesday during the day in a studio in town and that was AWESOME! On the 1st shot however, the snowmobile was figuring out where it would end up when it slid onto the set and it slid too far too fast and knocked over a 10K light! It shattered into a million little pieces and scared everyone to death. For those of you that don't know Production - those babies run about $7,000! It was one of those nightmares on set that you never can be ready for - especially since it was the 1st shot. We thought we were f'd for the rest of the day. Thankfully everything went smoothly and our 84 year old actor didn't die. I would say it was a success!

SO - who is coming over to clean my house? It's full of boxes and shit - yes Scott - actual shit. I need it GONE!

A

Cause I am....

2006-02-02T10:13:00.000-08:00

So I am sups bored at work today and I am not sure how to deal with it. Since starting this job 3 weeks ago, I have barely had time to eat lunch during the day - let alone waste company time on the internets checking other people's Blogs. SO today I have decided to check in with the Online world and post some happenings as of late.
First happening: We moved into our NEW house! WELL - not NEW as in brand new, but new as in I nor Josh has ever lived in it...
Second happening: I tiled a bathroom floor. It sucked, but now it looks sooooooo cool. Sometimes hard work pays off, but I would rather pay someone else for thier hard work next time.
Third Happening: I almost bought a new car! But I didn't.
Fourth Happening: There are robberies in the new hood that have made me very skittish outside. People are being robbed blocks away from the our new house at gunpoint in front of thier homes or in their driveways. Sweet. I love guns - wait - this reminds me of a Hiaku:

I wear a holster
I think I am a cowboy
Guns guns guns guns guns

So anyway - I am considering getting a BB Gun or some other intimidating-looking weapon that I can't kill myself with - any ideas? Maybe I just hire one of my "bigger" friends to hang out a lot?

Fifth Happening: I got to meet Torii Hunter! Not really that cool to me - but lots of people really love that guy. Apparently he plays for the Minnesota Twins - I don't mean like "apparently" as in - it may not be true, but you get it. I am producing a few commercials for the Twins campaign and we had our shoots last week. This is how much I watch baseball - Two very well dressed dudes walk in and I knew ONE of them was Torii Hunter. One was black and the other was white. I didn't know which one he was and I had to consult my Production book to be sure... I am lame.

So thats kinda what I have been up to... working on the new house and moving out of the old one. Sweet huh? BUT - once the house is up and running - Poker in the Anus? Yes. Yes, Indeed.

I can think of a few things to put on MY cat!

2005-11-28T16:26:00.000-08:00

This website comsumed about 3 hours of my day today. A normal person will enjoy this, but not for 3 hours - maybe like 15 minutes, but I like cat photos. Check it out. And then seriously put some stuff on your cat and post it.

Stuff on My Cat

I still have a bat on my window.....

2005-11-28T16:06:00.000-08:00

I can't believe Christmas is like 4 weeks away! I am sooooo not ready and am kinda dreading it. I have yet to put away my Halloween Decorations, and with the new house and the whole living at two places thing I don't see the need to break out the Christmas boxes or get a tree. Thats so sad to me! That is usually one of my most favorite things to do at Christmas is get a giant tree to big for the room and make it be-au-tiful! Oh well. I guess I will always have next year. And the year after that. And then two years from now. And so on and so fourth.

Thankgiving was some great Sioux Falls times let me tell you! I made a bisque that tasted a little like baby food so that was gross. And then after eating dinner - eating ANOTHER dinner about 3 hours later. I think there may have been another additional dinnner-snack around 2 hours later, but I was a little overstuffed and my judgement may have been impared. Josh came with this year which was nice for me. We also got in a little "partyin' " at the local stripmall watering hole - The Uppercut! I ran into many friends from high school that have not changed much. Josh got to meet them all as well and that was funny to watch. One in particular - this one guy became quite infatuated with Josh and thought the more he "rapped" like Eminem in Josh's ear, the more likely Josh would be to put him in a movie. I think it took him about 40 minutes to find something better to do. Poor Josh. I got wasted of course soon after taking a couple of Jag-bombs and that pretty much ruined me the next day as well. We did get out to the local appliance store and took advantage of my "blue-collar-famliy-discount"! It's great having relatives that work in those kinds of jobs - you can always get a deal on everything! So we got an entire kitchen appliance set - A fridge, a stove, a micro-hood and a dishwasher for $1650! All of them in Stainless Steel! I can't wait to see them in our kitchen! It's gonna be great.....

Thats all I know - I am defintely not ready for the "work" thing to happen again. I will have to bite the bullet tomorrow and put on my "I wear-a badge-and-that-makes-me-important-when-really-we-all-know-I'm-not" face and deal. I will manage!

I think it's time for a poker game again. Who's in?

Daytime TV

2005-11-18T13:56:00.000-08:00

I hate when I look at the clock and it's 4:00 - cause Trading Spaces just finished - and I have wasted on my couch almost 3 hours???? It happens sometimes. The daytime TV suck-in. First it starts with Days of Our Lives - very innocent. Usually I am getting ready and it's just on. It doesn't ALWAYS suck me in. But if I am moving slow and get downstairs without showering... I end up watching TLC - Bringing Home Baby at 1:00. Then of course right after that Starting Over is on at 2:00 and then Trading Spaces at 3:00. All of these shows make no impact on my life. They all kind of leave me feeling like I need something I don't or just stupider after seeing them. So why do I allow myself this sort of tourture? I can't explain why I would rather sit in pajamas, with dirty hair and bad breath and find out what happens to Lisa on Starting Over! She teteering on be booted out! I mean - HELLO! And what if Marlana gets her memory back and smacks that stupid amnesia doc in the teeth and finally sees John for what he is? And if Shawn and Mimi get it on - and I was not there to see it ---- oh god - I don't want to think about it.

So sometimes not having a regular job is a challange. I struggle every day to make myself useful. Sometimes, there is not a lot you can do about it but watch this dreadedfully wonderful daytime TV. I do other stuff at the same time though. Today I looked up Squash and Pumkin Bisque recipies all day and found a couple I would like to try for Thanksgiving. I also went though craigslist.com to see if there is anything good for the new house and cleaned up a bit. So I was multitasking! I guess I need to find a real job - or get a real hobby... :)

Seasons Change.... People Change....

2005-11-14T15:52:00.000-08:00

So, I talked to a girl who a few years back I would have called my best friend - until of course she wrote me off her list of friends after a ridiculous mis-understanding. I am not even going to go into it, but it was stupid enough for her to approch me after two years of hating me at a wedding - when she was wasted - to apoligize and take shots. I was sure she was crazy, but I thought it better to humor her than to fight back so I took shots and tried to get over it for the night. I never call her really and I have no interest in a friendship - especially after the way she would turn on someone the way she did me for the stupdiest thing. She was a lot different from me and I just couldn't see us getting close ever again. See, she has develped a love for 4 wheeling, Nascar, Busch Light and Jerry Springer. All things that I can't get into to - even for a friend. There are reasons that people are friends - you have things in COMMON.

Anyway - when we were friends, she always had a way of getting what she wanted, or manipulating her husband into being exactly the way she thought he should be. It was hard to watch her take that Man and turn him into a lifeless, submissive, helpless human, but she did. They met in college and it wasn't long after that - she decided that they needed to be engaged - so they were. Then not long after that, she decided they needed to be married. I am assuming that it would make it easier for her to say - " no - you can't go to band practice tonight because I am your wife and I say no" So she made him go to the courthouse and get married just because. No family - no friends. Just because. I am not assuming any of this either. Sometimes when he would get drunk he would give me a little insight into how they became so "entangled". I always felt so bad for him. I always told him that he deserved so much better. But he was made to think he could do nothing. He never touched his own money. He never did the laundry. He never was allowed to decorate the house or decide what he would do from one night to the next. She wanted him to feel helpless so he would never leave. She even moved them to Buffalo MN 2 years ago so that he would have no connections to his old friends and she could be out in the country with 4-wheelers and B-B Guns all the time. He went along with it all - which I realize was his own fault. Be a man! Stand up for yourself!! It was hard to watch.

SO --- after all that back story! I get a call from her yesterday. She left me this extemely urgent - "Call me right away" kinda message so when I couldn't get a hold of her - I call her husband. He sounded terrible and he told me that she asked him for a divorce last week and he was a mess. I couldn't believe she would ever leave him. I always thought that she needed him there so that she had something to control and without him, she would be lost. But apparently not. After I got off the phone with him - she called me back. Not only was she talking about this whole thing as if it was no big deal and how much of a baby her husband was being about this whole thing - she tells me that she has be f'ing her neighbor for the last week! How seriously white trash is that? Of course her husband has no idea and she has no intentions of telling him. But she has the balls to tell him to get out of the house they bought together out in the middle of no-where after 7 years of marrige? I am in disbelief that this shit happens. I am so sad for that poor guy. He has no idea how to make food, do laundry, manage a checkbook or any of those things that we all learn in college. I know it's mostly his own fault, but if you had met this woman - you would understand a little more.

So officially - I am going to say she is crazy. And unofficially, I am going say I am glad. This gives me a great reason to not talk to her much any more. I can't be around that kinda WT. It's totally contagious.

It was raining slush today - you know what that means.... 5 more degrees colder and it would'a been snow. Scary.

A little more insight - VISUAL

2005-11-14T10:52:00.000-08:00

Halloween Retards
Originally uploaded by Guildgirlabby.

Here I am with Josh - my baby - and Nate our roomate.

It was Halloween.

I just popped my cherry!

2005-11-14T10:15:00.000-08:00

My blog cherry that is!

I have been reading so many other people's blogs and learning things about these people. I know more about a couple of them than I do my best friend - so I thought it was time for me to share. If not for anything else but to give others out there a deep personal look into me without actually having to know me.

So is that what you do here? Just say what you mean? And talk about stuff that you would normally not discuss? Well let me think about some more stuff to say and then I will divulge.

Lates