ouch

S has become pretty violent. She beat up our friend P today. Of course, it was a busy day as our friend VA also taught her to fly.

it's my party

Amazingly, we didn't get many pictures from S's little party this afternoon. Our friends D and A got a wicked awesome new camera, so I'm hoping to score a few of their photos. Here are a few, though...including one totally gross cake pic.

piece of cake

I'm actually impressed with the kiddo. No cake in her hair, which means I don't have to give her another bath before cake today. That makes me happy.

Thanks for all the lovely birthday wishes. Here are some pictures from last night.

"I will eat you," says the cake whisperer.
I like frosting. A lot.
"Tickle my neck."
Guess who didn't want her birthday to end.

happy birthday, little love

It's official. S is one. One. I can't believe that one year ago today, I was in the hospital, having her. In twelve months, she's done so much that I am completely amazed.

I promise pictures with cake later. She doesn't get cake until her Daddy gets home. Until then, you'll just have to be satisfied with a picture of one year ago.

two days and counting

My daughter is 363 days old today. In two days she's eligible for full-on dairy privileges. I actually gave her a couple of teaspoons of my milk this morning. So far, so good. I don't actually anticipate any problems as the kid has been scarfing yogurt and cheese for ages. Friday means milk, though, and I'm pretty excited about it. I've already (sort of) started the weaning process, and she's not really liking it. She had been nursing when she woke up in the morning and before bed, plus before and after naps...only it was sort of half-hearted for the nap time feedings. I started eliminating the "after the afternoon nap" feeding last week, and S is not happy about it. In hindsight, eliminating the before nap feeding would've been easier. Live and learn. Anyway, we'll keep plugging away at it, and I hope I'm able to cut one feeding a week until we're mama-milk free. So, I guess we're about a month and a half away from that goal.

Of course, I'm not sure if it's a good thing or not to go through this right before we move or to wait. Part of me thinks it would be better to have her used to not nursing before we move...you know, one less thing to change once we're moved. The other part of me thinks the transition of the move would be easier on her if she was still nursing. If every single aspect of her routine was the same and only the geography changed it might be less jarring...

I have no idea what to do here. I guess I could call the pediatrician and ask for his recommendation. Part of me is selfish and doesn't want to wait two more months to start the process. Besides, Scarlet Lily is having a party in late April, and I want S to be completely adjusted to non-nursing before I go. I don't want to be in the middle of weaning her and then "abandon" her for a weekend. That seems like it would be really bad for both of us. I can just imagine me being a real party animal while my milk is drying up. Sorry for the image burned into the brains of the men at M's office. You all know that you're reading a chick blog...you should be prepared for these things.

Happy Wednesday, peeps. I've got to go make some lunch.

abra cadabra

Um, what just happened? Where did the snow come from? And where did it go? I awoke this morning to NPR telling me that schools were closed.

Huh?

Then I looked outside and saw that everything was blanketed in white. I had no idea it was supposed to snow. Apparently no one did because M said none of the roads had been salted or cleared when he went to work and there were several accidents on major roads around town. It really shouldn't have come as a surprise, though, as the temperature hadn't been over twenty degrees for several days. Until today. It's a whopping 38 outside. Heat wave. I thought about wearing shorts, but that would've required shaving. That's a joke.

Anyway, the snow is gone and now everything is just wet and cold and gray. I hate winter. I think I've mentioned that before.

As there is nothing going on around here, I'll just placate you with pictures of S...who is still zero. At least until Friday.

a new obsession

Holy moly. The Ps are hooked. Hooked. On Heroes. You know....the show that rocketed Hayden Panettiere to stardom and spawned the newest and least appropriate version of HaLo. Anyway, I'd had a sneaking suspicion for ages that M and I would love the show if we ever sat down to watch it. The major problem was that we'd have to start at the beginning or we'd be completely lost. So, I added the first disk of the first season to our Netflix queue, and the rest is history. After we got the first disk, the rest of season one got bumped to the top of the list. Friday night, we finished disk three, and I decided I couldn't handle waiting until this week to get a few more episodes...then a few more days for a few more episodes...you get the idea. We went to the video store and rented the rest of the first season and finished it this weekend. Thirteen episodes of Heroes in two days. We were up until 2am Sunday morning, which anyone can tell you is not like us at all. We just couldn't stop. I'm telling you, I love this show. Love it. Love it. Love it. I can't wait to get into the second season, which I think we'll likely start watching online. My hope is that the writer's strike will end soon because once it starts interfering with my Heroes-watching agenda, there's going to be a problem.

So, if you've got the flu or just don't want to go out into the frigid, biting cold, go rent Heroes.

Happy Monday, peeps. I've got to go catch up on the laundry I wasn't doing while I was glued to the television for the past several days.

Oh, and S got her first pair of Crocs today. They're so stinkin' cute on her feet...and in her mouth, which is where they were for the entire car ride home since she was chewing on them.

a little politick'n

I'm not entirely sure I'm going to be able to create a coherent post with all the ramblings in my brain today, but I'll give it a shot. It all started with Newsweek. I was reading last week's edition, and they were following Barack Obama around after the Iowa win. I remember when he got a secret service detail because he was getting race-based threats early in the campaign, but I'd honestly forgotten about it because I can't imagine it being an actual issue (anymore than I see Hillary Clinton's gender as an issue). So, when the article mentioned his wife being unable to talk about personal safety concerns for fear that she'll basically lose it, I was floored. I just can't wrap my brain around that kind of intense hatred. What's the point? Who benefits from that? No one. It makes me sick and sad all at the same time. That was where the politics started for me yesterday.

Then, I actually stayed awake to watch the democratic candidates debate last night. I really like watching debates, and it was nice to watch this one with the three front runners. Not that I wanted to write off early candidates, but no one asked them questions in the debates anyway, and it was almost painful to watch them standing there...waiting. I will admit, however, that I missed Joe Biden's ability to answer a question in a sentence. I think that you could ask Obama, Clinton, and Edwards their favorite ice cream flavors and they'd spout off very PC answers cataloging the virtues of every flavor they could think of. (These days...mine's Chocolate Raspberry Truffle from Brewster's if anyone cares.) Anyway...

I'm a big fan of John Edwards. It's hard not to like a guy with such a great southern accent. But great southern accents don't necessarily make you the best presidential candidate out there. Or do they?? Anyway, I'm a big believer in his message. Big. Huge. However, in Tuesday night's debate (as 24 hours have elapsed since I started this post...damned stomach bug) the whole "son of a mill worker" routine had gotten a little old. He almost seemed desperate. I didn't like it. I thought Hillary came off well, though, and Barack Obama was Barack Obama: cool as a cucumber and sharp as a tack. Either way, it's going to be an interesting couple of months...

I'm out, peeps. I have no real train of thought anymore as these thoughts are too old now. Have a great Thursday.

baby got back

S is not a petite child. Never has been. Of course, her cloth diapers have always made her look rounder than she really is. But now they make her look even bigger. Her size medium cloth diaper covers are a thing of the past. We started realizing several weeks ago that she was constantly getting mild diaper rash every time we used her cloth diapers, but it was never happening when she was in disposables. Then we put two and two together and realized that the diaper covers had become so snug that they were holding wet diapers directly against her buns. As she's never been one to complain about having a wet diaper, it was a problem. So, I headed out to pick up bigger covers. There's a smidge of a problem, though. The large covers are supposed to fit babies from 25-40 pounds. For those of you who aren't parents, that covers kids from about age one to age four. Needless to say, they are enormous on her. Silly enormous. Between her knees and halfway up her back enormous. It's not pretty, and it's barely creating a functional situation. Poopers in these suckers are an issue I really don't want to talk about.

There has to be a better way, right? I have been seriously concerned for about a week now that there wasn't going to be a better way that didn't involve several hundred dollars. I had assumed that the sizing of cloth diaper covers was standard...like the sizing of disposable diapers...meaning that there would be no diaper covers to properly fit the child and we'd be forced to go the disposable route indefinitely or pony up the cash for all-in-ones. Neither of those options sounded at all appealing to me.

So, last night I hit the trusty internet in hopes of finding something great. Know what I found out? That assuming makes an ass out of me. (Not necessarily "u", but definitely me.) Diaper cover sizes aren't standard at all. Not even close. It's completely different between different brands. I found that Bumkins covers (which we've used before) have a size large that fit 22-28 pound kiddos and Bummis (which we've never used, but have heard great things about) makes a size medium that fits up to a 30 pound baby. I realize now that I really should've done this research before I ran to the local store in hopes of saving the energy related to shipping diaper covers. Anyway, I decided to give the Bummis a shot as they've come out with a new style with leg gussets, which we find critical and none of their old styles had. They have been ordered, and my fingers are crossed that they are as wonderful as I've heard. I'll keep you all posted as I know you're going to lose sleep over it...

In other product news- the Ecover dishwasher detergent I posted about before was pretty awful. We've used the whole box at this point...about a month's worth of dishes. We've been drinking out of crusty, dirty glasses for the entire month. I have, however, decided to give the brand another shot, and I picked up some of their dish cubes today. I'll let you know if they're any better. If they're not, I'm not entirely sure what we'll do. I can't wrap my brain around paying ten bucks for dishwasher detergent, and that's the next step.

so much to say

I'm on one of my green kicks today. I think it's mostly because we got the latest Organic Gardening in the mail yesterday, and I've been poring over its pages. We just started getting it last month, and I'm so happy that M noticed it in the "what magazines are available from this school fundraiser" brochure as I was just about to sign up for Cottage Living, which I love but don't need. Besides, my Aunt Mel gets it, and she's about to live about ten doors down. No need for both if us to subscribe to it, right? Of course, I do harbor a little guilt over subscribing to another magazine at all, but I really love the magazines that we get right now (the too long list includes Southern Living, Cooking Light, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, Parents, Parenting, National Geographic, and now Organic Gardening). That's a lot of paper. In our defense, we ordered all of them for school fundraisers, except the two that are gifts every year. At least we recycle all of them, right? Please tell me that makes it okay. Anyway...

I'm really excited about things for the new house. I really wish that we'd gotten into the whole thing before the house was done so we could've gotten a solar-powered water heater, but the one in the house will give out someday, and when that day comes, we'll see what we can do. For now, we'll do what we can. I've been looking into how to landscape around your home to maximize your home's energy efficiency and minimize the need for watering the lawn. I'm really, really, really excited about getting to do some of these things. First and foremost, I'll finally get rain barrels, and I am super, super excited about that. I'd also like to take all the grass out of the tiny front lawn and plant it in a groundcover plant that doesn't have to be mowed. Less energy wasted there. I know that M has been looking at electric lawnmowers, too, as we will still have a lawn that requires mowing out back. Then there's the clothesline that I'll put up, and I'd like to add some solar-powered lights to the exterior of the house. There's just so much to be done, and I can't wait to get started. If anyone has any great ideas, pass them along. Oh, and I'm starting to think about seeds for the garden, if anyone has a no-fail supplier, let me know. (Morton Monkey Mama and MoWask, I'm pretty much talking to you guys.)

Oh, how I wish it was spring. I'm ready to play outside and grow some stuff.

And, since I missed it yesterday:
FIVE SENSES FRIDAY
Sight: a dust-free living room, an empty laundry hamper, the compost pile
Sound: S laughing when Otis licks her tummy
Smell: walking into the house when it smells like food
Touch: S hugs
Taste: fresh blueberry muffins, homemade polenta (it was so good and surprisingly easy)

And...(how many ands are there??)...here are some pictures from last week, as promised.

art vomit

My friend P's blog has a great title. This mosaic. I was just thinking about it and how brilliant it is and how life is a big mosaic of all of your loves and experiences and whatnot. Life is art. What a lovely thought. My life, however, would be quite a disastrous work of art right now. It would look like Picasso and Dali upchucked on canvas and then let Jackson Pollack do his thing with the results. Not a pretty picture.

Things just seem so insane right now, but nothing is actually happening. It's a "hurry up and wait" situation. There is so much on the horizon but instead of moving toward the horizon, I feel like we're stuck on a hamster wheel. Cruel, cruel hamster wheel. I think several of you picked up on the fact that the P family is getting ready to make a move. We've bought a house in my hometown, and our house here is on the market. So, we have this fabulously remodeled old bungalow down in Tennessee, waiting for us to fill it up. We have a house here that we need to sell, and M and I are nervous wrecks about it. I'm not sure we could've picked a worse time to try to sell a house...stupid housing bust. M will transfer to Nashville with his current company, so while things will be the same, they'll be really different for him, which adds to the great unknown. (Speaking of unknowns, we have no move date.) Those are the big things.

The devil is in the details, though. Anyone out there have a house on the market recently? Wouldn't be a problem if it were just me and M, but throw Otis and S into the mix, and it's suddenly way harder to keep the house in pristine shape. Plus, I'm constantly on edge about the realtor calling and having to get out of the house with the baby and the pooch at a moment's notice. Of course, that hasn't happened, and that, in and of itself, is worrisome. Where are all the people who should be beating down my door to buy my adorable house in the perfect little neighborhood? Plus, there was a leak in the new house that is being fixed, and we're working on having a garage and storage built, and at some point I have to shop for appliances, and I'm dizzy just thinking about it. Oh, and we're buying a condo for Mr. P, too. I swear I'm about to run out of steam.

I'll quit belly-aching now. I have to go find the second elephant from S's Noah's Ark. I think she left it in the car, and I am way too anal retentive to have something like that missing in action. I'm off to hunt me some elephant. Have a nice Thursday, peeps. Enjoy the new 30 Rock tonight.

what's that?

"What's that?" Over and over and over. That's the question. Posing the question is my daughter. She wanders around pointing at things, asking,"what's that?" It's getting old already. God help me.

Had to get that little bit of info out of the way. Now, my apologies for being out of commission for the past week. I won't bore you with excuses. I'm sorry. That's that.

We spent four days last week in Tennessee with Feathernester and family. It was great. We got to meet L and hang out, which was wonderful. On the way home, I realized that it's the longest stretch of time that I've gotten to spend with them in years. Now that we're grown ups, it seems like there's never more than a day or two to spare. Plus, at least one of us was pregnant for the majority of the past two years. Not anymore. Besides, we're about to be able to forgo plane flights to visit...we'll (hopefully) be able to just pop the kiddos into their strollers and walk to each other's houses. Fingers crossed, people.

Beyond the visit, there isn't much to report. S is walking all over the place now, and she sprouted a new tooth this morning. She's had a cold for a week, and I have been covered in snot because of it. She had a little birthday party while we were in TN, even though her birthday isn't for a couple more weeks. Here's a shot of my little cupcake with a cupcake. I promise to post more pics later, I just don't know where the camera is right now...