July 2007

• Jul 28, 2007

  Toes

  Current mood:pissed off

  I'm not good at having toes.  Last year when I was preggo I hit my baby toe while getting out of the car and nearly lost my toe nail.  Then a couple weeks later I hit the same toe again on a coffee table leg.  It hurt like hell.  Today I was wrestling with a new bathroom rug and the bathroom door and managed to hit my middle toe with the door right under the toenail, and now it is bleeding and throbbing.  I am really clumsy with my feet and my poor toes always pay the price.  I wonder if others have such difficulties with their toes?  Maybe if I didn't have any toes I'd be in better shape.  I could hobble around on my stump feet and stop hurting myself.  Or maybe I'd just continue to stub my stumps.  Who knows.  Hopefully I won't lose my toenail, cause that grosses me out.  I just need to learn to have toes better.
• Jul 27, 2007

  Daddy time

  Current mood:grateful

  I haven't blogged in a long time and tonight I have some free time before bed......thus my blog-o-thon.  Bare with me.
  I really enjoy watching Dan interact with Maddie.  Life is starting to be less about Mama and Maddie is really loving her rough and tumble Daddy.  The two of them play together with toys, they wrestle on the floor, play hide and go seek (the crawling version with Dan on his knees as well) and there are hundreds of moments where I am in another room and I hear the roar of Dan's voice and peals of laughter coming from my darling daughter.  I always knew that Dan would make a good father, but he blows me away everyday.  He is kind and generous and thoughful and is always thinking about his family.  The way that he is with Maddie is the dad that I always wished that I had.  I look forward to watching their relationship grow, to see the bond between them deepen and to see our family thrive.
  
  
  
  
  
• Jul 27, 2007

  She has hair!!

  Current mood:cheerful

  Granted it's not very much....yet.  But my little baldy is getting some big girl hair.  I have no idea what it's going to look like, but as of now it is all growing in evenly, and I have a feeling that it is going to be light just like her daddy's hair when he was little.  It's actually a little strange for me to see her with hair cause I am so used to her being bald.  And it's really funny when I get her up in the morning or from a nap and she has bead head.....all it takes to tame it at this point is a little swip of my hand with some saliva on it.  I've tried to get it into a mohawk but it's still too short......but man, once it's long enough she is gonna be sporting a mowhawk!!  The only styling that I can do right now is getting it to stand straight up.....which is pretty darn cute!  My baby is growing up.
  
  
  
• Jul 27, 2007

  Raleigh Kids Exchange

  Current mood:happy

  Yes, boys and girls, last weekend was the semi anual Raleigh Kids Exchange.  For those of you who don't remember what that is: It's a HUGE consignment sale held at the Raleigh fair grounds where they have everything that you could ever imagine kid related for kiddos from utero through teenage years.  I have to say that it is my most favorite part of living near Raleigh.....at least twice a year!  lol. 
  Dan let me go hog wild and I wound up getting all of the clothes that Maddie will need for this fall and winter and a whole bunch of toys for her birthday and the next 6 months or so.....and they are developmentally appropriate.....hooray, she won't have to play with rattles anymore.  So, for those who care to see the tally here we go:
  

  10 Jammies

  15 long sleeve shirts
  11 pairs of pants
  3 dresses
  3 sweaters
  3 long sleeved shirts
  5 velour/ terry hooded track suits
  3 pairs of overall pants with tops
  5 pant outfits with tops
  1 poncho
  1 heavy winter jacket
  1 light weight windbreaker
  1 pooh halloween costume
  3 pairs of shoes
  2 winter hats
  1 pair of winter mittens
  25 pairs of socks

  
  

  And the numerous toys shown below.  My grand total for all of that loot was just under $280.00.  If I bought all of that brand new (Dan would kill me) it would have been WAY more expensive.  Woot woot to me and my bargain hunting.  I think next year I am going to be a volunteer for a one or more of the days and then I can shop a day earlier than I normally do with my friend's consigner pass. 

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
• Jul 10, 2007

  Home Sweet Home

  Current mood:tired

  I may have another blog with the same title as this one, but it's true and necessary so there will just have to be more than one.  We are finally home from the big Maui adventure.  I don't think I have time to delve into the entire trip right now, but all the gory details will come as will pictures eventually.
  I have never been happier to be in my house in Smithfield, North Carolina.  Whatever my prior opinions of this town may have been, or what they will more than likely return to, I LOVE Smithfield.....I LOVE my house!  I am physically and emotionally drained and me and the little one are sick to boot....there's no place like home.  Our flight from California to NC on Saturday got canceled due to mechanical problems (thank God they didn't board us on a plane with issues) which meant we had to stay in Cali for an extra day which was not a pleasant surprise.  We barely made our flight on Sunday because the security check was so outrageous.....we got held up because my small bottles of baby shampoo and lotion which were in a zip lock bag and less than 2 oz. were not taken out of the diaper bag prior to going through the security check.  We waited an waited while the chick behind the viewer hollered over and over again for a manager to come over and look through our bag and no one responded to her.....so we waited an waited, and finally I opened my big mouth and yelled to the guy that the viewer chick was trying to get to come over and that guy reprimanded me but sent over a manager type person who unzipped the diaper bag, pulled out the zip lock bag with the mini baby toiletries and told us that next time they needed to be put through security seperately.  Thanks.  All that for a simple reminder from TSA.  We high tailed it to our gate and they were making an announcement calling our names telling us we had 4 minutes until the plane left the gate.  Yoikes.  After all that, they gave us seats that weren't next to each other since we were on a different flight than the one we had originally booked and for those of you who have flown with infants, it is necessary to sit next to your spouse in this type of situation.  We found a nice guy to trade with us and we gave him a drink voucher that Delta gave us for his trouble.....but jeez.
  Anyway, we arrived in Charlotte at 6:30 pm.  Got picked up by Dan's dad and went back to my in-laws house.....Maddie cried nearly the entire way home.  We weren't sure if we were going to spend the night there or not, but Dan had to work the next day because we were supposed to be back in town on Saturday and not Sunday, and Monday he was scheduled to go back to work.  The baby was a mess having taken only a 1 hour nap the entire day and having gotten up at 6:30 in the morning to catch our flight, I was exhausted and feeling horrible (sick) so my mother in law put the baby to bed, and I crawled into bed with my clothes on around 9:00.  At 10:00, I was woken up by Dan who said the baby only slept 30 minutes and he had loaded the van and we were going home.  Which is a 3 hour drive from my in-laws house.....if you do the math, that would put us at home around 1:00 in the morning.  Yeah.  Fun.  Maddie slept almost the entire way home which was such a blessing because I don't know if I would have been able to deal with another crying car ride, we got home around 1:30, got the baby to bed, got some necessary luggage inside, I watered my wilting plants, and we crawled into bed at 2:45 am.  Oh, and I forgot to mention that we had turned the air conditioner to off while we were gone and when we arrived home the house was 90 degrees inside.  Holy Cow......it was so hot!  It took a few hours to get it cooled down and we too cold showers before bed and went to bed in a hot house!
  Again, thank God, Maddie slept beautifully and didn't wake up until almost 8:00, and then was back down at 8:40, and we all slept in until 11:30 and then Dan got up and went to work.  Poor guy!  Although it hasn't been all sunshine and rainbows for me.  I am still sick, and Maddie has not fully adjusted to the time change, and is SUPER clingy and has been crying more than normal and pretty much refuses to eat any solids.  She is still sick as well, and I called her pedi today and they said that a cold and all of the travel/time change stuff could be why she isn't eating well and to give it a day or two and if it doens't get better to bring her in.  Uhhhh......deep breath.  She did okay with dinner tonight and hopefully by tomorrow she will be mostly back to her old schedule and her appetite will reappear.
  Our trip was fun but stressful, and we have decided two things.  1. We are not traveling again for a very very long time.  We have to go back to Cali for Christmas because it's been 2 years and it's my fami;y's turn to have us, but after that I don't think I wanna fly again for at least a year.  2. If we ever go on a big vacation again that involves tropical or touristy locations we are not going to bring our children with us.  They ( as of right now we only have the one, but someday there will be more) will be shipped off to whichever grandparents want them, and Dan and I will vacation without them......at least until they are a lot older.  It is REALLY hard to vacation with an infant or toddler and it was not as much of a vacation as we had hoped it would be because you can't take an infant snorkeling, parasailing, swimming in the ocean for hours at a time.....or pretty much anywhere for hours at a time when they needs naps, and feeding etc.  Or maybe next time we will just bring a nanny/friend whose sole purpose is to tend to the baby while Dan and I frolick around in paradise.
  But I must say that Maddie was overall a very good girl and sprouted 2 new teeth, (she now has 6) learned how to stand up on her own without holding onto anything, can squat and bend over to pick things up without holding on to anything, can walk around furniture holding on, and she says the words "NO" and "Oh No".  At first we thought she didn't actually know the word no, and was just saying it, but more and more she has been using it in the appropriate context like when I put her in her high chair and she says "no", and when my mom asked her if she wanted up and she said "no", and when I take something away from her and she says.....yeah, you guessed it, "no."  Silly baby.   Okay, time for bed for this sickie.  Here are a few pictures to hold you over until I get another minute free from the baby who seems to be attached to my leg.  Enjoy!
  The view from our lanai
  
  Hula baby
  
  Sunset
  
  Beauty
  
  Family
  
  
• Jun 30, 2007

  Aloooooha

  Current mood:relaxed

  Maui is beautiful.....wish you were here!! We arrived on Thursday safe and sound and have been enjoying the beautiful weather and and gorgeous scenery. It was a little windy the last 2 days, but today is wind free and fantastic. There is nothing quite as beautiful as the Hawaiian sea.....the deep water is a sapphire and the shallow water is different shades of aqua. The water is warm, clear and gentle. Dan and I took Maddie in the ocean for the first time yesterday in a baby raft and she LOVED it!! She was laughing and flapping her arms around and kicking like crazy. She also loved the salt water.....she would put her fingers in the water and then lick them to taste the salt. Silly baby! The time change has been a little killer, but I think that she is finally adjusting, and she has been taking wonderful naps because she is getting really worn out from all of activities. Today we are going to Kihei to walk around the open market and visit our favorite spots from our honeymoon, and this afternoon we are gonna go to Lahaina to see the banyan tree and walk around there, and tonight is my parents anniversary dinner at Kimo's. I am excited to eat there because it's tradition for my family and I love the food. I am also excited to give my parents their anniversary book. I really hope they like it......depending on how much they have to drink there very well may be tears! lol. I don't know what we are doing the next few days, but that's kind of the island style....relax, and go with the flow. We've done Maui before and experienced all of the tourist type things, so this trip is just about relaxing and enjoying time together in this beautiful locale. I don't have my USB cable to upload pictures but you can anticipate pictures when we get back to North Carolina.....and just to tease everyone a little bit, there are pictures of Maddie wearing a bikini top and grass skirt! Yeah, it will be worth checking back! Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend, cause we sure are! Aloha!
• Jun 24, 2007

  My love, hate relationship

  Current mood:tired

  I don't think that it is normal for a person who is tired to lie awake in bed for 2 and a half hours trying to fall asleep.  Maybe I'm worng, but it doesn't feel normal to me.  I seriously don't understand what is up with me and sleep.  I LOVE sleeping.  I could sleep all day.  But get me tired at the end of a long day with my teeth brushed in bed and I can't fall asleep.  There is a small chance that it's because I am crazy stressed out about our trip.....we leave tomorrow for Charlotte and our flight to California leaves on Monday and our flight to Hawaii is on Thursday.  I'm a wee bit anxious about it all, but I seem to always have problems sleeping, so I don't really know if I can blame it on our vacation.  Dan has suggest I go to a sleep clinic many times but I've always thought it was silly.  Maybe he's right?  I'm gonna try and read for a little bit and see if that helps any.  Wish me luck!
• Jun 21, 2007

  Mama's little helper

  Current mood:drained

  We've been cleaning the house a lot this past week because we are going on vacation for 2 weeks and it always sucks to come to a messy/dirty house.  Everything looks really good except for the clutter that we never seem to be able to get rid of, but oh well.  We are clutter people......I guess we need to learn to live with that.  Maddie wanted me to tell everyone that she has been helping with the cleaning too.  She unloaded the dishwasher (stood next to it while I unloaded the dishwasher) and she swept the floor (played with the broom)  Make sure to leave comments for her.....otherwise her feelings will be hurt. : )
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Jun 20, 2007

  The first of many

  Current mood:amused

  I got an itch yesterday to move furniture around in the livingroom.  I've moved 7 times in the last 6 years and haven't really stayed anywhere as long as I've stayed in our current house.  So, I'm used to changing scenery often and just started getting the itch to change things.  Dan had the last 2 days off and yesterday I convinced him to move all our furniture.  Let me just say he was less than thrilled at my idea!! 
  We got to work rearranging things and the baby kinda played around on the floor near us.  She snuck off into the kitchen which isn't a big deal cause usually she goes over and plays with her refrigerator magnets and there isn't much that she can get into trouble with in the kitchen.  Well, after about 15 minutes I realized that it was way too quiet so I went to check on her.  She wasn't at the fridge.  She wasn't under the kitchen table......and then I heard noise coming from the laundry room.  I got closer to the door and saw Maddie sitting in a pool of water completely soaked, splashing around in the dog's water bowl!!  I immediately started laughing which caused Dan to come find us and we all had a good chuckle.  I then grabbed a towel, carted Maddie off to her room to dry and change her, and Dan set about mopping up the floor.  I know that this is the first of many situations where our now mobile child is going to get into something she shouldn't and a mess is going to need to be cleaned up!  It was so freaking cute, how can you get upset in situations like this?
  Moral of the story.....don't take your eyes off of them, even for a second!  lol