March 2008

• Mar 27, 2008

  Bad day

  Current mood:stressed

  I’m having a bad day, and aparently so is my child. I’m sure that we are feeding off one another, but what started it......her bad mood or mine? There is so much going on around this house, and I feel like there is so much I need to get done, but never enough time. Dan has been working on building the deck since last Tuesday so all of his days off have been dedicated to deck work......which I totally understand needs to happen, but that leaves me without my right arm which I am used to having on his days off.
  After Maddie decided not to take a nap, I called a friend of mine and asked her if Maddie and I could come over this afternoon because we desperately needed to get out of the house and away from the construction zone and all the dust that has covered my house. On our way out to the car Maddie decided to brave the stair by herself (which she can normally do just fine) and fell down all 4 of them landing on her face on the concrete. Talk about a scraped up bloody face.....she was SO sad and looked so aweful, I know it’s gonna get worse looking as it scabs over. It was such an ordeal to clean it up because she was screaming her head off. This poor child can not seem to stay balanced on her feet. At her 18 month check up her Dr. said that she had grown 2 inches in the last 3 months and that was probably causing her to be so clumsy recently.....man am I ready for her to get used to her longer legs and stop hurting her poor little face.
  Dan is finishing up the railing for the stairs and then the deck will be complete. I will post pictures of the whole process later.....maybe tomorrow. I’m going to go out and pick us up dinner in about 30 minutes because we have no food in the house right now.....yet another task that needs to happen but we don’t seem to have the time.....and then we have bible study tonight. It will be nice to get away from the house and have a sitter for Maddie and be around our friends who always give us support. Then we will go to bed and this day will be over, FINALLY! I am not looking forward to this weekend because Dan has to work 3 days in a row and that’s never fun, but next week is our 5 days off week and if I just keep reminding myself of that, I can get through it. Okay, I need to get going, Maddie has gotten into the potato bin and is trying to eat a raw sweet potato......what am I gonna do with her? lol
  
  
  
  
• Mar 14, 2008

  wa-la we have a swingset!

  Current mood:happy

  After a couple days of working on it off and on, the swing set is officially put together and in working order.  All the reviews said that it would take about 8 hours to put it together but that was with the help of another adult.....Dan did it alone and it only took him a little more than 10 over the course of a couple days.....but man there were a LOT of parts!!!  We have had beautiful weather the last couple of days which has made it fantastic to go out and play in our very own backyard.  Maddie is in LOVE with the slide.  She needs help getting up the ladder because her legs are still too short to do it alone, but she can sit herself down and slide all on her own.  She also really enjoys the baby swing and the glider although she told me that she needs a friend to go on that with her :o).  So, here are some pictures of the building and enjoying of the swingset.
  P.S. Maddie’s face met with some cement driveway this past Tuesday so she looks a little battered, but she is fine and dandy....just didn’t want anyone to be alarmed.....we aren’t beating her!!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Mar 8, 2008

  Full moon sighting

  We haven't had a full moon sighting in quite some time, but I got a special glimpse the other day.  I didn't realize how much I missed it until I was staring right at it in all it's glory.  It seems to only happen when the little one is allowed to run around in just her diaper which doesn't happen all too often since it's still winter-ish.  Watch out world.....she is often without clothes in the summer!  lol  Here is a photo for your viewing pleasure, it's not an every day occurrence   that you get to sit, relax and really enjoy a nice full moon!
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Mar 7, 2008

  wanna play?

  Current mood:excited

  We got a new addition to the family today.  No, not another animal.......a swing set!!!  We've been talking about getting one for a while now, but before I was looking to buy a Little Tikes, or Step 2 type plastic structure.  It has been really hard to find them on Craigslist and even when I do, they are still pretty expensive for what you are getting, and Maddie is a very big girl and would outgrown one of those pretty quickly.  We bit the bullet and bought a nice cedar set with an 8 foot slide and a couple swings and a sand box underneath.  All we need to do now is buy an infant/toddler swing to put up until Maddie is big enough to use a normal swing AND Dan needs to assemble the whole thing! lol  Bummer it's been raining all day today and it's supposed to rain all day tomorrow!  Sunday is scheduled to be nice and sunny, so unless our yard still resembles a small lake, we'll have a swing set.  I'm really excited about this because the park we go to has a HUGE play structure and I don't trust Maddie on it alone yet, and the more pregnant I get the harder it is for me to climb up there with her and go down the huge twisty slide and once the new baby arrives it is going to be hard to hold an infant and run after a toddler at the same time.....having something on a smaller scale in our back yard that I trust Maddie on and not having strangers all around in case I need to tend to the baby will make it easier for her to get some of her energy out and enjoy our yard!  I can't wait until it's all set up, I think she is going to love having a swing set!!!!
  
  
  
  
• Mar 6, 2008

  girls night out

  Current mood:excited

  Tonight is girls night out.  I talked with Dan yesterday about not going because it's a Thursday and he would have to get off work early to get home and stay with Maddie so I could go......and we have a few projects coming up soon that are keeping us a little cash poor.  You know what my darling husband told me??  He insisted that I go out!!  He recognized that I don't get to do many things outside the house without Maddie and he really wanted me to go.  Extra husband points for him!!!!  So, after a mellow day of Maddie wrangling and baking (2 loaves of amish bread and 2 loaves of raisin bread) I am now showered and relaxed and waiting for Dan to come home early & I'm drinking a soda with lemon in it anticipating my night out.  No dinner to cook, no baby to bathe or put to bed, just relaxing time with some girlfriends.  I'll let ya know how it goes! 
  
  
  
  
• Mar 5, 2008

  hoping for yeast

  Current mood:content

  I've become a little obsessed with bread making recently.  It all started with a starter for Amish Friendship Bread that Dan brought home from work.  For those who don't know what that is, it's basically a sweet bread that starts the old fashioned way by growing yeast for 10 days and then making new starters for friends and making loaves of bread.  I thought it was a lot of fun, so I began researching bread making and it seemed like a great idea for a new hobby......I'm always big on a hobby that you can eat in the end! lol  So, since my inaugural friendship bread, I've made a fantastic French bread kneaded by hand and I've got 2 sourdough starters in the process of feeding and growing.  I've been told by many people that sourdough is a difficult process, but it is by far my most favorite bread, so it's a no brainer that I have to attempt it.  And for those who don't know me.....I will succeed.....I will continue making sourdough bread and starters until I get something that I can be happy with, even if it takes forever to get there.  I'm also thinking about getting some Carl Griffith's 1847 Oregon Trail Sourdough Starter because it might help me to make my own starter better just by seeing something that has succeeded for over 150 years.  We'll see.  I'll let y'all know how things are progressing.....until then, feast your eyes on my very first hand made French loaf:

  
  
  
  
  
• Mar 4, 2008

  dinner with a kick

  Current mood:sleepy

  The other night I tried a new recipe for dinner.  It was spicy sweet potato and mango chicken over jasmine rice.  I must admit that it was delicious!  It was truly spicy and I thought maybe even a little too spicy for my liking, but the rice cut down the spice a little and made it pleasant.  I highly reccomend this dish to anyone that likes a little bit of that mouth on fire feeling.  Here's the 411 for those interested:
  
  INGREDIENTS
  2 cups cubed peeled sweet potatoes
  2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed
  1 clove garlic, minced
  6 tablespoons soy sauce
  3/4 cup water
  3 tablespoons honey
  3 tablespoons hot sauce, or to taste (I used Franks Red Hot)
  1 ripe mango, peeled and cubed
  1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  1 teaspoon cornstarch
  1 tablespoon warm water
  DIRECTIONS
  Place the sweet potatoes into a saucepan and fill with enough water to cover.
  Simmer over medium-high heat until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.
  Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.
  Stir in chicken, and cook until no longer pink in the center, about 5 minutes; set aside.
  Stir garlic into the skillet, and cook for a few minutes, until fragrant.
  Pour in thesoy sauce, 3/4 cup of water, honey, and hot sauce. Bring to a simmer, then stir in the sweet potato, chicken, mango, and red pepper flakes.
  Cook and stir until hot.
  Dissolve the cornstarch in 1 tablespoon of water, and stir into the simmering mixture; stir until thickened. (but not too thick if you are going to have over rice.....a nice sauce is good with rice)
  

Wild weekend

This weekend was fun but very whirlwind! Dan's parents came for the weekend, we went to Dan's formal company party on Saturday night and we had a dinner party on Sunday night for Dan's sister who just finished getting her doctorate. It's always fun to have things to do during the weekend but it always makes me wish that we had an extra day off to just veg and hang out as a family.

The company party was a lot of fun this year, more so than other years simply because we are friends with a few couples who also work at Dan's company and it's always a blast to dress up and drink, dance and eat with friends......although I didn't do any drinking myself, the bar made me a few yummy virgin daiquiris. Dancing was so much fun, we haven't really had the opportunity to go out dancing together in forever.....I did have to leave the dance floor when I started to have some cramping, we didn't want me to go into premature labor on the dance floor! lol I must have been a sight though.....preggo lady getting down to some Jackson Five!

Maddie had a lot of fun playing with her grandma and we got the lovely benefit of Dan's dad fixing a few things around the house that we never have the time to get to. We love when grandma and papa come to visit!

All in all it was a very lovely weekend but a very fast weekend. Good thing we get another weekend in just 2 days.....gotta love Dan's work schedule!!

Here's a "prom-esque" picture of Dan and I before we left for the party. Maddie knew that something was about to go down and was attached to me until we left, so she got to be in our picture as well even though she stayed home. I HATE that my face gets so fat when I'm pregnant, but it will all be over soon!

I give up!

I have spent the entire day being domestic. This morning I cleaned up all of Maddie's toys, started laundry, swept all the floors, vacuumed the living room and hallway rugs and put the dishes in the dishwasher. This afternoon I cleaned up all Maddie's toys again (she dumped them ALL out) baked cookies, finished the laundry and prepared dinner....a yummy chicken and broccoli casserole that I just have to bake when Dan gets home.

Maddie has spent the entire day making additional messes for me to clean up. This morning she spread every toy she owns all over the living room, emptied the dirty laundry out of the hampers, took most of the DVDs off their shelves, and somehow managed to get juice from her sippy cup all over the kitchen floor. This afternoon she dumped an entire basket of small toys down an air conditioner vent, spread her toys all around the living room yet again, emptied dirt from a potted plant all over the sofa table and figured out how to get the cabinets under our entertainment center (which she has never done before) open and took out all of the cable wires and extension cords which are currently in different locations around the house.

I give up. I tried really hard to get the house tidy today and to do some cooking for my family, but at this moment the house doesn't look any better than when I started and I've worked my pregnant butt off today. I can't seem to get anything done around the house because if I take my eye off Maddie she is in to something else making a huge mess. I've tried to get her involved in my tasks and even tried to get her to use her little vacuum while I used the real one today and she was not interested. When I try and get her to help fold clothes I end up having to fold everything twice because her favorite part of laundry is throwing things. lol I don't know how other people do it!!! How do you maintain a clean and orderly house with a toddler? It makes me even more exhausted when I think I'm going to have another one in a few months! yoikes. I'm gonna go now and sit on the couch and put my feet up and wait until my husband comes home and wonders what I did around the house all day....cause it looks like I didn't do squat, although I'm sure he will enjoy dinner.

Update: I just walked into the laundry room and she has dumped out all of Tyson's dog food on the floor and was spreading it around. I don't think my day can get any better *sarcasm*

Something to talk about

As a parent I think that it's hard not to compare your child to other kids when it comes to development. I know many a Mama who is worried because their child doesn't have a lot of speech, has poor fine motor skills, or isn't potty training at the same age as other kids. The list can go on and on, and honestly I imagine it can be maddening. For the first year I never gave a thought to how Maddie was developing in comparison to other children because in almost every area she was ahead of the game.....way ahead in some. (weight and height) However around Christmas time when she was 15 months old I started to get just a tad bit concerned because she wasn't really talking. I knew that she comprehended pretty much everything because she would respond to what I asked or told her to do, but she just wasn't using words. I had been told by a lot of people that toddlers really start to get talking between 15 and 17 months and even though she was right at the start of that age range I still wondered if there was a problem. We taught Maddie sign language and she would use that as a way to communicate with us and let us know important things like her need for juice, milk, to eat, play etc. and that was great but we also wondered if teaching her a way to communicate without words was causing her to not be interested in speaking.

As with almost everything that I have spent time worrying about since having Maddie; this issue has turned out to be a non issue. Maddie is now 17 months old and is talking up a storm. She is both speaking and using signs and when we identify what something is ie. sock, hat, cup she will repeat what we say and generally remembers what the word is for each item later on. Some of her words are clear as day, and some need to be translated by Dan or I, but she is a chatty cathy. She blabbers on and on and it actually sounds like she is talking instead of just making sounds like she used to, and in the middle of her blabbing she will throw in an actual word. It really has me wondering what it is that she thinks she is saying.....I wish I could understand all of the non language words.

With time I'm learning that I shouldn't worry about things as much as I do, but I'm also realizing that I don't think that I will ever stop worrying about my kids. I really don't think that it ever ends.....not even when they are adults and married with their own kids.....the reasons for my worry will change, but it will still be there simply because I love them so much. So, without furher ado here is a list of the words Maddie knows and uses on her own:

daddy, mama, dog, uh-oh, oh-no, up, hot, help, all done, juice, shoe, car, good, no, paci, go, bye, hug, hi, bubbles, book, cup, duck and poo (like poop in her pants)

And here is a picture of Maddie with a pony tail.....betcha didn't know she had that much hair huh? I don't really do her hair this way, I just thought it was funny.

We're Baaaack!

Whew! What a whirlwind trip we had.....but we are finally back home from Pennsylvania. The best part of the trip was playing in the snow with Maddie; the worst part of the trip was our insane drive all night to get there and home. I don't really know of a better way to travel with little ones than doing what we did which was leave at around 9:00 pm and drive all night so they can sleep in the car, but man it was hairy for us adults.....we're just not cut out to stay up all night anymore. By the end of each trip having only gotten about 15 minutes of sleep total, I thought I was going to die. I don't know if we'll make this trip again while we have little monkeys, but we for sure won't make the trip again until we have amnesia from this drive! lol

It was fun getting to spend some time with Dan's grandma. There have been very few occasions that I have seen her thus far since we've been married and each time there has always been something big going on and not a lot of time to just get to know one another and spend some time together. She is a very kind woman although she likes her house to be VERY warm which is hard for a pregnant chick that usually sleeps with the window open even when it's in the teens outside. Grandma had lot's of toys left over from when her kids and grandkids were little and Maddie had a good time playing with them and generally making a mess all over the house.....Grandma was a good sport and didn't care a bit that toys were all over the place although I'm pretty sure that for the next few weeks she is going to find random toys placed all throughout the house.....Maddie's good at strategically placing items so you don't find them for a while! I had been told many times by family members that Grandma has a quasi museum in her house but gosh I was not prepared for the magnitude of stuff that was EVERYWHERE!! I would describe the scene as organized hording, or very severe pack rat-ness. I seriously don't think that Grandma even knows what she has because there is so much stuff jammed in the house, basement and attic in boxes and bags and stacked up that you can't tell what’s under, or behind something else. It would be a lot of fun to really go through all her stuff and purge the junk (like the used wrapping paper that she saves) and really organize the good stuff. She should have someone from Antiques Road Show come to her house and do a special episode just of all her stuff.....I bet she has some valuable stuff. I'm very excited because I got to pick out two aprons to take home and I've been wanting a half apron for a long time! She also told Dan that we could have a set of Encyclopedias that were printed before World War II. We are really stoked on those, but didn't have the time to take them with us....maybe on our next trip. Grandma's house was a good time.

We got to see a few family members that I had either never met, or seen once before and it was nice being able to put a face to a name. Dan's brother Chris cam up for a night and it was great getting to see him since we probably won't see him till this summer. We drove around Erie and I was shown the sights and 2 different houses that Dan grew up in. We tried going for a walk but it was seriously COLD and the wind was blowing so it was very short lived. I was really hoping that it would snow even though it seemed as though we arrived right at the February thaw, but we did get snow on Wednesday night and it was enough to cover everything and look beautiful but it was not overwhelming....so it was perfect. We took Maddie out to play in the snow and she really liked it. Dan was worried that she was too cold and made us go in after like 10 minutes and when we got inside Maddie cried because she didn't want to leave the snow. Poor baby. We also got a trip in to Erie County Farms which is the grocery store that Dan's family always visits while up in Erie that has unbelievably low prices. We got 40 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts, 10 pounds of hot Italian sausage, 9 pounds of ground sirloin, 5 pounds of provolone cheese, 10 pounds of chicken parts, 5 pounds salami, Amish jams, whole wheat bread loaves and some other odds and ends......all for under $150. I think we're going to buy a chest freezer so that we can have more room to store frozen meats and cheeses and buy more next time.

After seeing Pennsylvania for myself I don't think that I would ever want to live there. Pittsburgh looked like an interesting city but not my speed, and Erie was very run down. The entire time we were there I think the sun came out once and not for very long......it was kinda depressing. On our drive back home we got to watch the sun rise over Greensboro and walked into our home bathed with sunlight and I was actually very thankful that North Carolina gets as much sun as it does. I didn't really appreciate it until I left it and experienced a lot of gray. There is nothing like coming home and sleeping in your own bed and having the comforts that you are used to. Traveling is fun, but home is definitely where the heart is. Even Maddie thinks so…..she has slept like an angel since we got home. All in all a nice trip and some wonderful memories!



 
Grandma's house

 
Typical street in downtown Erie

 
Maddie bundled up to go outside

 
Ready for our walk, it was FREEZING!

 
Maddie & Daddy walkin'

 
Baby it's cold outside

 
Cousins

 
Snowy

 
The "crick" by Grandma's house

 
Icicles

 
Ready for some snow

 
She loved it!

 
Happy girl

February 2008

• Feb 25, 2008

  Wild weekend

  This weekend was fun but very whirlwind!  Dan's parents came for the weekend, we went to Dan's formal company party on Saturday night and we had a dinner party on Sunday night for Dan's sister who just finished getting her doctorate.  It's always fun to have things to do during the weekend but it always makes me wish that we had an extra day off to just veg and hang out as a family.

  The company party was a lot of fun this year, more so than other years simply because we are friends with a few couples who also work at Dan's company and it's always a blast to dress up and drink, dance and eat with friends......although I didn't do any drinking myself, the bar made me a few yummy virgin daiquiris.  Dancing was so much fun, we haven't really had the opportunity to go out dancing together in forever.....I did have to leave the dance floor when I started to have some cramping, we didn't want me to go into premature labor on the dance floor! lol  I must have been a sight though.....preggo lady getting down to some Jackson Five! 

  Maddie had a lot of fun playing with her grandma and we got the lovely benefit of Dan's dad fixing a few things around the house that we never have the time to get to.  We love when grandma and papa come to visit!   

  All in all it was a very lovely weekend but a very fast weekend.  Good thing we get another weekend in just 2 days.....gotta love Dan's work schedule!! 

  Here's a "prom-esque" picture of Dan and I before we left for the party.  Maddie knew that something was about to go down and was attached to me until we left, so she got to be in our picture as well even though she stayed home.  I HATE that my face gets so fat when I'm pregnant, but it will all be over soon!
  
  
  
  
• Feb 16, 2008

  I give up

  I have spent the entire day being domestic.  This morning I cleaned up all of Maddie's toys, started laundry, swept all the floors, vacuumed the living room and hallway rugs and put the dishes in the dishwasher.  This afternoon I cleaned up all Maddie's toys again (she dumped them ALL out) baked cookies, finished the laundry and prepared dinner....a yummy chicken and broccoli casserole that I just have to bake when Dan gets home.
  Maddie has spent the entire day making additional messes for me to clean up.  This morning she spread every toy she owns all over the living room, emptied the dirty laundry out of the hampers, took most of the DVDs off their shelves, and somehow managed to get juice from her sippy cup all over the kitchen floor.  This afternoon she dumped an entire basket of small toys down an air conditioner vent, spread her toys all around the living room yet again, emptied dirt from a potted plant all over the sofa table and figured out how to get the cabinets under our entertainment center (which she has never done before) open and took out all of the cable wires and extension cords which are currently in different locations around the house. 
  I give up.  I tried really hard to get the house tidy today and to do some cooking for my family, but at this moment the house doesn't look any better than when I started and I've worked my pregnant butt off today.  I can't seem to get anything done around the house because if I take my eye off Maddie she is in to something else making a huge mess.  I've tried to get her involved in my tasks and even tried to get her to use her little vacuum while I used the real one today and she was not interested.  When I try and get her to help fold clothes I end up having to fold everything twice because her favorite part of laundry is throwing things. lol  I don't know how other people do it!!!  How do you maintain a clean and orderly house with a toddler?  It makes me even more exhausted when I think I'm going to have another one in a few months!  yoikes.  I'm gonna go now and sit on the couch and put my feet up and wait until my husband comes home and wonders what I did around the house all day....cause it looks like I didn't do squat, although I'm sure he will enjoy dinner. 
  Update: I just walked into the laundry room and she has dumped out all of Tyson's dog food on the floor and was spreading it around.  I don't think my day can get any better *sarcasm*
  
• Feb 16, 2008

  Something to talk about

  Current mood:blessed

  As a parent I think that it's hard not to compare your child to other kids when it comes to development.  I know many a Mama who is worried because their child doesn't have a lot of speech, has poor fine motor skills, or isn't potty training at the same age as other kids.  The list can go on and on, and honestly I imagine it can be maddening.  For the first year I never gave a thought to how Maddie was developing in comparison to other children because in almost every area she was ahead of the game.....way ahead in some. (weight and height)  However around Christmas time when she was 15 months old I started to get just a tad bit concerned because she wasn't really talking.  I knew that she comprehended pretty much everything because she would respond to what I asked or told her to do, but she just wasn't using words.  I had been told by a lot of people that toddlers really start to get talking between 15 and 17 months and even though she was right at the start of that age range I still wondered if there was a problem.  We taught Maddie sign language and she would use that as a way to communicate with us and let us know important things like her need for juice, milk, to eat, play etc. and that was great but we also wondered if teaching her a way to communicate without words was causing her to not be interested in speaking. 
  As with almost everything that I have spent time worrying about since having Maddie; this issue has turned out to be a non issue.  Maddie is now 17 months old and is talking up a storm.  She is both speaking and using signs and when we identify what something is ie. sock, hat, cup she will repeat what we say and generally remembers what the word is for each item later on.  Some of her words are clear as day, and some need to be translated by Dan or I, but she is a chatty cathy.  She blabbers on and on and it actually sounds like she is talking instead of just making sounds like she used to, and in the middle of her blabbing she will throw in an actual word.  It really has me wondering what it is that she thinks she is saying.....I wish I could understand all of the non language words. 
  With time I'm learning that I shouldn't worry about things as much as I do, but I'm also realizing that I don't think that I will ever stop worrying about my kids.  I really don't think that it ever ends.....not even when they are adults and married with their own kids.....the reasons for my worry will change, but it will still be there simply because I love them so much.  So, without furher ado here is a list of the words Maddie knows and uses on her own:
  daddy, mama, dog, uh-oh, oh-no, up, hot, help, all done, juice, shoe, car, good, no, paci, go, bye, hug, hi, bubbles, book, cup, duck and poo (like poop in her pants) 
  And here is a picture of Maddie with a pony tail.....betcha didn't know she had that much hair huh?  I don't really do her hair this way, I just thought it was funny.
  
  
  
  
• Feb 15, 2008

  Happy Valentine’s Day

  Current mood:awake

  I hope that everyone had a wonderful Valentine's day yesterday!  We had planned not to do anything because we haven't ever really done anything in the 4+ years that we have been together, but Dan had to go behind my back and schedule a prenatal massage.  Darn him.......totally kidding!  It was a very nice surprise and very thoughtful of him.  Being preggo my back has been sore and it was so nice to get a theraputic massage with dim lights and listen to the trickle of water in a fountain and be away from my cling-on for over an hour.  I felt so fantastic leaving my appointment yesterday and then I came home to a non-napping child.  Little monster, she refused to take a nap yesterday......not even a little nap was had.  Needless to say our Valentine's day afternoon and evening were not as enjoyable as the morning with Maddie on her sleep deprived rampage.  I am generally not a big fan of Valentine's day, but I am a big fan of my husband sneakily making plans for me to get a massage.  He has been informed that he is more than welcome to do this again if the mood strikes him.  I love my husband, he is and always will be the best man I know.
• Feb 11, 2008

  We’re baaaack!

  Current mood:happy

  Whew! What a whirlwind trip we had.....but we are finally back home from Pennsylvania. The best part of the trip was playing in the snow with Maddie; the worst part of the trip was our insane drive all night to get there and home. I don't really know of a better way to travel with little ones than doing what we did which was leave at around 9:00 pm and drive all night so they can sleep in the car, but man it was hairy for us adults.....we're just not cut out to stay up all night anymore. By the end of each trip having only gotten about 15 minutes of sleep total, I thought I was going to die. I don't know if we'll make this trip again while we have little monkeys, but we for sure won't make the trip again until we have amnesia from this drive! lol
  It was fun getting to spend some time with Dan's grandma. There have been very few occasions that I have seen her thus far since we've been married and each time there has always been something big going on and not a lot of time to just get to know one another and spend some time together. She is a very kind woman although she likes her house to be VERY warm which is hard for a pregnant chick that usually sleeps with the window open even when it's in the teens outside. Grandma had lot's of toys left over from when her kids and grandkids were little and Maddie had a good time playing with them and generally making a mess all over the house.....Grandma was a good sport and didn't care a bit that toys were all over the place although I'm pretty sure that for the next few weeks she is going to find random toys placed all throughout the house.....Maddie's good at strategically placing items so you don't find them for a while! I had been told many times by family members that Grandma has a quasi museum in her house but gosh I was not prepared for the magnitude of stuff that was EVERYWHERE!! I would describe the scene as organized hording, or very severe pack rat-ness. I seriously don't think that Grandma even knows what she has because there is so much stuff jammed in the house, basement and attic in boxes and bags and stacked up that you can't tell what's under, or behind something else. It would be a lot of fun to really go through all her stuff and purge the junk (like the used wrapping paper that she saves) and really organize the good stuff. She should have someone from Antiques Road Show come to her house and do a special episode just of all her stuff.....I bet she has some valuable stuff. I'm very excited because I got to pick out two aprons to take home and I've been wanting a half apron for a long time! She also told Dan that we could have a set of Encyclopedias that were printed before World War II. We are really stoked on those, but didn't have the time to take them with us....maybe on our next trip. Grandma's house was a good time.
  We got to see a few family members that I had either never met, or seen once before and it was nice being able to put a face to a name. Dan's brother Chris cam up for a night and it was great getting to see him since we probably won't see him till this summer. We drove around Erie and I was shown the sights and 2 different houses that Dan grew up in. We tried going for a walk but it was seriously COLD and the wind was blowing so it was very short lived. I was really hoping that it would snow even though it seemed as though we arrived right at the February thaw, but we did get snow on Wednesday night and it was enough to cover everything and look beautiful but it was not overwhelming....so it was perfect. We took Maddie out to play in the snow and she really liked it. Dan was worried that she was too cold and made us go in after like 10 minutes and when we got inside Maddie cried because she didn't want to leave the snow. Poor baby. We also got a trip in to Erie County Farms which is the grocery store that Dan's family always visits while up in Erie that has unbelievably low prices. We got 40 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts, 10 pounds of hot Italian sausage, 9 pounds of ground sirloin, 5 pounds of provolone cheese, 10 pounds of chicken parts, 5 pounds salami, Amish jams, whole wheat bread loaves and some other odds and ends......all for under $150. I think we're going to buy a chest freezer so that we can have more room to store frozen meats and cheeses and buy more next time.
  After seeing Pennsylvania for myself I don't think that I would ever want to live there. Pittsburgh looked like an interesting city but not my speed, and Erie was very run down. The entire time we were there I think the sun came out once and not for very long......it was kinda depressing. On our drive back home we got to watch the sun rise over Greensboro and walked into our home bathed with sunlight and I was actually very thankful that North Carolina gets as much sun as it does. I didn't really appreciate it until I left it and experienced a lot of gray. There is nothing like coming home and sleeping in your own bed and having the comforts that you are used to. Traveling is fun, but home is definitely where the heart is. Even Maddie thinks so…..she has slept like an angel since we got home. All in all a nice trip and some wonderful memories!
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Feb 1, 2008

  the best thing

  Current mood:ecstatic

  It is unbelievably amazing to watch my daughter learn.  She is in the stage right now where she is like a sponge.....she mimicks and repeats (or tries to) things that you say to her.  Watching her bring her sippy cup to me and both sign and say juice, or her approximation of the word juice makes me giddy inside.  She looks so proud of herself, so accomplished.  I feel like jumping for joy every time she points out a body part to me when I ask....."Maddie, where are your ears?"  I LOVE that I can ask her to do something and 75% of the time she does it......like, "bring Mama your shoes," she still gets distracted 25% of the time, but it still amazes me!!!  It knocks my socks off that when she starts to get tired she can sign sleep to us so we know she wants to go to bed.  I know these are normal things for kids to do and to learn, but it just blows me away that I have known her from day one when she couldn't do any of these things and I get to see her transform......I am the lucky one who gets to see her become the little person that she is. (Dan too!)  I've never experienced anything like this before.  I often wonder if other people feel the same way that I do.....I mean I know not everyone does otherwise child neglect wouldn't exist, but do other mama's who love thier babies as much as I love Maddie just stare at their kids in wonder?  Is it more of a stay at home Mama thing since we get to see them every minute of every day?  I just can't get over how much she is growing and changing and learning.  I gotta tell ya....being a mom is the best thing I've ever done in my life.  I'm surprised that more people don't try it.  Parenting is as hard and exhausting and mentally taxing as everyone says, but it's also THE most rewarding thing ever.
  End of public service announcement. 
  

The best thing

It is unbelievably amazing to watch my daughter learn. She is in the stage right now where she is like a sponge.....she mimicks and repeats (or tries to) things that you say to her. Watching her bring her sippy cup to me and both sign and say juice, or her approximation of the word juice makes me giddy inside. She looks so proud of herself, so accomplished. I feel like jumping for joy every time she points out a body part to me when I ask....."Maddie, where are your ears?" I LOVE that I can ask her to do something and 75% of the time she does it......like, "bring Mama your shoes," she still gets distracted 25% of the time, but it still amazes me!!! It knocks my socks off that when she starts to get tired she can sign sleep to us so we know she wants to go to bed. I know these are normal things for kids to do and to learn, but it just blows me away that I have known her from day one when she couldn't do any of these things and I get to see her transform......I am the lucky one who gets to see her become the little person that she is. (Dan too!) I've never experienced anything like this before. I often wonder if other people feel the same way that I do.....I mean I know not everyone does otherwise child neglect wouldn't exist, but do other mama's who love thier babies as much as I love Maddie just stare at their kids in wonder? Is it more of a stay at home Mama thing since we get to see them every minute of every day? I just can't get over how much she is growing and changing and learning. I gotta tell ya....being a mom is the best thing I've ever done in my life. I'm surprised that more people don't try it. Parenting is as hard and exhausting and mentally taxing as everyone says, but it's also THE most rewarding thing ever.

End of public service announcement.  hehe