nap interupted

After a full day playing at daycare, Addie is ready for a nap when we get home. She sleeps better at home than at daycare where all the noise and lights wake her up often. I usually have to wake her up for dinner she's napping so hard. This evening she unexpectedly woke from her nap early with a fierce angry cry. When I picked her up and caught a wiff of pure evil, I understood the source of her anger. Who doesn't hate being woken from a deep juicy nap because you poop your pants. It totaly sucks. Addie was a bit angry for the rest of the evening. Darn BM!Addie multi tasking!

pre-crawling

Addie has been motating around on her tummy backwards and twirling in circles. She is rather resourceful getting where she wants to go without actually crawling. A few times I've watched her eyeing a toy and you can almost see the wheels turning in her head trying to figure out how to get to it. She rock back and forth when she's on all fours but so far she hasn' t figured out how to move her hands and knees in unison. On our hard wood floors she is all over the place capturing dust on her tummy! I can't wait to see how excited she gets when the crawling starts to click.

the weekend flu by

This weekend was a bust all told. The evil stomach virus attacked us all and left us begging for mercy. Justin and Addie got the worst of it. I guess I got the slightly less evil version of the nastiness. My baby is a illness sponge, her poor little immune system is getting a taste of all the bugs. On the bright side we might have lost a few pounds with the no appetite and saltine/ginger ale diet.

With all the pathetic moaning and groaning going on we were stuck in much of this weekend. Today we were all feeling good enough for a much needed trip out since the cottage fever was kicking in. It's one thing to choose to stay in for a weekend, but to be forced into it is another. We did a lap around the mall, grabbed a light bland lunch, and then drooled (Addie and I drooled, her for different reasons) at all the goodies at World Market. I love, love, love this store. Lately they have much nicer bed and bath goods, have you seen the selection of table linens? Everything is bright and colorful. I'd be happy if I could take home one of each of the whole store. That includes the extensive wine and beer selection. We've been in the market for a nice toy box to house the mountains of toys Addie has accumulated. World Market had the perfect thing. It's a dark wicker storage box with a folding lid, it goes perfect with our decor, fits all of Addie's toys with room to spare, and was only $40!!! Total steal. Did I say I love this place?

Even if the weekend was a bust I captured some great pictures of Addie playing. Some of her facial expressions are so serious. It's adorable.

if it's not one thing it's another

We saw the light at the end of the teething tunnel for all of about 2 days before the next issue came up in the form of a stomach virus. Poor Addie is battling a nasty virus that has had both Justin and I grossed out more than once. Right now we are chanting the mantra "more fluids, get rest" around the house. Justin has been a saint and stayed home with our sick baby. I'm off to relieve him of his duties. I guess it's a good thing the weekend is here again.

tid bits

So I made a few changes to the blog. What do you think? Too much? Should I go back to the original template? Anyway, I was getting tired of the brown. It was a bit dreary.

The cat is out of the bag about our move. I told my management that I will be leaving in April which induced the following reactions (from me)

• panic; how could I quit my job, therefore not contribute to our family income?
• joy; thank goodness I can leave all this mindless repetition behind me!
• second wave of panic; how will a gap in my resume look to future employers when I want to return to the working world?
• excitement; who cares about contributing? We are going on the adventure of a lifetime.
• third wave of panic; this means I will have to promise myself I WILL put on makeup and smart* clothes even if I don't have anywhere to be during the work day. I WILL NOT turn frumpy and eat my childs leftover crust-less PB&Js.
• happiness; I get to stay home with my daughter and explore the world of the stay-at-home motherhood.

Now I get to break the news to my client. More updates about our move later!

*smart (adjective)- dashingly or impressively neat or trim in appearance, as persons, dress, etc.
or
- socially elegant; sophisticated or fashionable: the smart crowd.

Moose: the rocking dog

This post goes out to Kiki! Addie loves her rocking dog; it was a Christmas gift from Kiki and Po. The other day we were sitting in the rocking chair and she suddenly sat upright and reached her arms out in the direction of the big fluffy rocking German Shepherd (strike that-Moose is a Bernese Mountain Dog. Thank you Terry). She would not relent until she was allowed to play with "Moose" (Justin and I named the dog Moose: it just fits). When I plop her down on Moose's back she digs her little fists into the fur and holds on tight while rubbing her face on the back of the dog's head in delight. She starts moving her hips back and forth swinging her legs trying to rock herself. The moment I start rocking the dog she just beams and babbles with excitement. She is so funny. Last night Addie had another enjoyable ride on Moose, it was so darn cute Justin had to run and get the camera. This girls is a dog lover.

best weekend

I guess I've been holding out on blogging because I'm in denial that this past weekend is over. It was the best I've had in a long time. We did so much that amounted to very little and it was glorious! We tried out z pizza which was awesome. I am in LOVE with pizza lately and this place was totally cool. I ordered the Gorgonzola, walnut, and pear salad along with my pizza-perfection! I highly recommend it.

We watched movies and some DVR'd TV, cleaned out our closets and started the daunting process of getting packed for our move. We took an amazing 6 bags to Goodwill just from our bedroom. I love getting rid of stuff, it's so freeing. I had a gazillion sweaters from 2003 that Justin insisted I junk. I admit he's right sometimes. Addie played while we cleaned, she seemed happy to be with her parents for three whole days. We had so much fun together. We also took a bunch of baby stuff to storage. We packed up her swing, the play gym, and two Boppies. Amazing that she's out grown those things! It definitely made space in our living room for all Addie's new toys.

We read a lot this weekend; to Addie and for our own enjoyment. We are devouring all our Powell's finds. I love the Marian Keyes I picked up. Laugh out loud funny. Megan- you are going to want to borrow these. I took a delicious nap on Monday morning; 1.5 hours of dream filled bliss while my baby napped, my dog snuggled at my feet and my husband read in bed beside me. Pure bliss. Justin and I indulged in some cozy evenings with movies and hot cocoa after Addie went to bed, then read late into the night before we turned the lights out. The whole weekend was fabulous.

Therefore, Tuesday was harder than usual! Justin had a hard time dropping Addie at daycare this morning and all day I missed my little sugar pie. We really had a sweet weekend just the three of us. Addie was teething again so it wasn't until Sunday night that she started to sleep more soundly, hence I slept more soundly as well. She definitely wants her Mom when she's not feeling quite well. The third tooth hasn't shown itself yet. I can't believe we have to go through this for every tooth!

I experienced a wonderful moment as a Mommy on Monday night. Addie was fussing in bed having a tough time getting herself to sleep so I went up to rock her a bit. She finally found a spot in my arms that allowed her to gaze up at me while I sang to her. She just stared into my eyes and then put her little hand on my cheek while I sang, her eyelids fluttering as she tried to keep them open. She twirled her fingers in my hair and smiled as she watched me. It is a wonderful moment when you feel loved by your child.

Alas, the work week came even though I wished it away last night.

snow/sick/mental health day

Today was a much needed day at home. Addie had a fever last night which we have a hunch it is associated with another tooth coming. The entire family didn't get much sleep last night. Addie and I stayed home today. She wasn't feeling well but my arterial motive was to get some extra time with my daughter since this week has been rushed. The snow started falling mid morning and then turned into freezing rain and then back into snow. Our day at home turned into a cold wet snowy day. It made our time in our cozy warm house even more conducive for snuggling. We played and read stories. I rocked and sang to her extra long before her naps peering at her sweet sleeping face in my arms and breathing in her warm clean baby smell. Being Mommy all day was just what the doctor ordered. I haven't felt this rested or fulfilled in a few weeks.

You can tell by the mess we made that we had fun!

when you're 16, please say you'll still love me?

Everyone knows that Mothers and their daughters have times in their lives when they don't see eye to eye. Usually because they are more similar than they realize and just butt heads. Now that I have my own daughter I would love to avoid having Addie's teen years be full of tension and loathing. So my goal is to create a strong foundation of a relationship with my daughter that will keep us close through all life's good and bad times. I hope to hold on to my memories as a child and adolescent so when the time comes she and I can still have common ground to work with. When she's 16, I may not get so many adoring looks but I hope Addie always knows that her Mother loves her and would do anything for her happiness in life.

It's hard to put words to the feelings that radiate so strongly when I hold her in my arms. What a treasure Motherhood is. I just never knew life had something this amazing in store for me. Lucky me.

Saturday in review

We had a lovely day visiting our friends Joe and Elyse and their two sons Ben and Eli today as well as Grandpa, Kathy and Tyler. Addie slept in a bit later than usual which started the day off right for Justin and I. We played a bit at home then headed to Maryland where we enjoyed an amazing meal of takeout Chinese with our favorite family of four! The boys are so adorable. Eli is getting so big and strong. His cheeks begged for kisses, I had to resist. Addie hammed it up in her diaper for everyone. We all talked a little about our move to Manila and I admit I felt the first pang of sadness thinking about how hard it will be to say goodbye to our friends and family for two years. Sigh. Probably the first of many pangs I'll get in the next few months. We traipsed over to Grandpa's house and had so much fun playing over there. Addie loves seeing everyone. She is such a sweetheart. I love our weekends together so much. Why oh why are they so brief?

Saturday in Pictures

More puppy love

Look at those cheeks!!! Precious!

Ben the broccoli lover. Such a cool little boy!

Addie clowning around with her Dad. Love those rolls!

Addie with her Grandpa. What a sweet moment.

love for lucy

As Addie has grown so has her fascination and love for our dog Lucy. Every time she sees Lucy a giant smile spreads across her face. Lucy likes to play with us on the floor (check out that gorgeous quilt Addie's Great Aunt Mary made for her). Addie loves to grab Lucy's fur and tries to get her ball. Lucy is such a sweet gentle dog. She isn't bothered by the tugs and little fists pounding her, she just rolls over and accepts it. When Addie is old enought to throw the ball Lucy will have a new favorite person! For now Lucy sneaks in a few licks of Addie's face after mealtime and seems satisfied with the arrangement. There are a few negative side effects to Addie loving the dog so much. Tonight Justin caught Addie on the floor, having positioned herself just right to reach, Lucy's bone. Right as he caught her the bone went in her mouth, along with a huge smile. I guess she sees Lucy chewing on it so you can't blame her for being curious. I have to chuckle at those things. In a few years Addie is going to have her first best friend in Lucy. Such a sweet relationship is budding before our eyes.

3.7 gallons

I was feeling really good about donating all my frozen breastmilk to a milk bank where milk is collected for premature infants or infants with medical problems. I love the idea of giving the milk to someone who can use it and at the same time I was getting the second half of my freezer back. My plan busted during the screening questions when the kind lady over the phone said "I'm so sorry, we can't accept your milk." What?! If you're husband's traveled to Africa since 1977 you can't donate. My eyes welled up. I felt so rejected! The sad part is that I know my family and I are healthy and it's the tiny newborns who could have received the milk are the ones loosing out.

What a bummer...

So all the milk...all 475 ounces of it, that's 3.7 gallons, was thrown out tonight. I regretted it almost immediately. I guess all that milk I painstakingly pumped was my back-up plan in case I wasn't here for Addie. I know she won't drink the milk much longer. It's silly to be regretful. All those late night pumping and Medela freezer bags, I put a lot of love in all that milk. If I feel this sad about throwing out the freezer stock, I can't imagine how I'm going to feel when I wean her and stop pumping completely. One step at a time Sara...one step at a time.

Randomness

Lots of random thoughts have been floating around my brain lately that I am going to share in a typical consultant's method of conveying information: A bulleted list!

• I am so glad that college football is done and can't wait for NFL football to be done as well.


• I finally got that scent, Sugar Lychee I've been drooling over from fresh and it is way more complex than I thought. I feel gorgeous wearing it.


• My New Years resolution is to keep the house cleaner. Yesterday I "mopped" the kitchen floor on my hands and knees with a roll of paper towels and household cleaner-don't tell my Mother!


• I drink at least 70 ounces of water every day. (Hey-I said it was random)


• Yesterday, at an office Baby Shower I ate 5 Rice Krispie treats and didn't feel guilty.


• My daughter, by far, is the cutest kid at her day care.
  
• I have not slept for more than 6 uninterupted hours since May 28th 2007.
  
• During a recent meeting with my colleagues we argued the "realness" of the word projectize. In the words of my dear friend Kathleen "I wanted to cut my arm off and beat myself with it".
  
• I blow dry my hair on the way to work in my car by blasting the heater and directing the vents at my head.


• I plan on voting D in the election whomever gets nominated.

Something less random is my desire for a project. I decided that once we move to the Philippines I am going to start a sewing project. I sewed minimally when I was younger with my Mom but I will need to re-teach myself and get a sewing machine. I think it will be a fun way to keep myself busy since I don't plan on working when we are in Manila. I haven't completely decided what the project will be. I want to do something simple that I can perfect and give as gifts. I have some inspiration and a vision in my head. One thing I have decided is a brand! So when my product becomes mildly famous or popular you will see my label all over. Those of you who know me will understand the cleverness of it.

71 degrees

Today was unusually warm for this time of year! I have to admit that it was so refreshing. After I picked Addie up from day care we put a beach towel on the grass outside and played for a while. Over the summer Addie was too young to be fully aware of her surroundings so this afternoon was the first time she felt grass on her toes and leaves in her hands. She went crazy for the feeling of grass. She rubbed her feet in the soft dirt and grabbed at the leaves and blades of grass. Of course everything went in her mouth so I had to snap a few pictures quickly and then grab nature out of her hands before she ate it. I got to try out my new Nikon D40 camera. Wow, it takes clear photos.

winter sunshine

It's funny how in September I wish away all the last hot summer days and pray for the cold weather to roll in quickly. Then during the winter I long for just one warm sunny day to come relieve us from the dry windy bitter cold. Today was warm and sunny just in time to pick my spirits up. Addie, Lucy, and I took a walk in the neighborhood to soak up the vitamin D. It was wonderful.

before our eyes

Addie has grown before our eyes these past two weeks. While we were in Washington her second front bottom tooth surfaced. It's taken no time to sprout as tall as the first and they are visible when she opens her mouth. It's so adorable. She likes to push her tongue down on her teeth to test out how they feel. She has also started to scoot herself on the floor a little bit and moves from a sitting position to a tummy position easily. Her foot gets caught often but she's trying so hard to crawl and move. Tonight she got on her knees and was bouncing up and down a bit while pulling herself up on her Dad. She's reaching her arms out for who she wants between her Mom or Dad, it's so sweet that she's able to express that she wants me. Addie has also started to say dadadada. She said it once as Justin walked by so I think she might grasp dada is Daddy. No luck with Mama yet. Just within the last three days Addie has started scrunching up her nose and sniffing loudly. It's hilarious. Her personality is definitely coming through. It's so fun watching my baby grow!

Adorable

Addie still thinks bath time is the best time of the day. Every night she splashes in the water and sucks on the bath toys. Grandma and Grandpa have a really cool blow up ducky bath that we used while visiting. When you squeeze the bill of the duck it quacks. Addie thought this was hilarious. Megan caught these two adorable pictures of my baby girl having a ball in the bath.

so many books, so little time

Powell's Books is my Mecca. Every year I make my pilgrimage to this wonderful city of books. New and used books line shelves that go on forever. The store is just messy enough and just confusing enough to feel personal like your grandmother's basement. Each book is given its rightful place on the shelf in it's rightful room (color coded: gold for fiction, orange for children's, etc.). Each book is respected; the used right along with the new. It's a book lovers paradise. I could literally wander around all day stroaking the spines of the books, seeking out my favorite authors, and breathing in the musty paper smell of the books. I'm not exagerating...we actually had to go back for a second trip after feeling a bit rushed through the first time since Addie was with us.

The result of this pilgrimage was a huge stack of books we had to get back to the east coast. We couldn't wait to start reading all our purchases.

I was so pleased with my finds for Addie. I found a reproduction of A Child's Garden of Verses, the full collection with the original vintage illustrations. I also got an old edition of Mother Goose Rhymes, and a used Runaway Bunny board book.

I brought home Sushi for Beginners, Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married, and The Other Side of the Story, all by Marian Keyes- easy British chick lit. I also picked up a used copy of Songs of an Ordinary Time by Mary McGarry Morris and Mansfield Park by Jane Austin.

Justin brought home No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy (he's almost finished it already!), A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle, The Blind Side by Michael Lewis, Enders Game by Orson Scott Card, and Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman.

Plus I got a Powell's Nalgene bottle! It was bliss! My friend Heather drove down from Olympia to hang out and go to Powell's she brought Addie a peacock for Christmas. Addie was in love with it.

A Day to Remember

Dad worked on Christmas Day so my parents, sisters, Justin, Addie and I had our family Christmas on December 26th. We savored the whole day to relax, open gifts, eat, and just enjoy the company. Most years we are rushing around to finish everything before jolting off to the next celebration. We all preferred the slow paced setting and decided to make it a tradition. Grandpa helped Addie open her stocking. She probably would have been happy with the little popping turtle as her only gift. Grandpa and Grandma went all out. There were so many gifts for Addie! She was surrounded by toys. My parents picked out wonderful toys and clothes. Dad said he tested them all out to make sure they met his standards for his Granddaughter. Addie is such a lucky girl. Everyone got their traditional new PJs for Christmas as well as lots of other goodies, and treasures. The family room looked like a bomb went off once we were done. It was a blast. Since we had all day we decided to go to the best Microbrewery in all of Washington that just happens to be in our backyard. Salmon Creek Brew Pub is Justin and my Father’s favorite for the laid back atmosphere, fiery old Russian woman who co-owns the family pub, Ruben sandwiches, and of course the top notch micro-brew. It was my first visit and I admit the beer battered onion rings were a winner. Mom and Dad are sporting their new Syracuse sweatshirts from Megan. It was a great ending to a great Christmas!