Hurry Home with the Candy!

High Point:

My new bloggy home. Thank you for all the emails and congratulations on moving my blog. Happy Halloween! I'm looking forward to seeing the little one dressed up as a cute leopard tonight. She will be the one to answer the door, greet the trick-or-treaters, and give out the candy. We'll see how well she shares. I have a feeling once she gets her grimey little hands on the candy, she's not going to want to let go of it.

Low Point:

Not having any candy in the house as of right now. My husband is picking up candy on his way home from work. I fear that the little candy seekers may have a nasty trick for me if I tell them I don't have any candy for them! I just hope my husband gets home at a fashionable hour.

Fall Reading

High Point:

Cooler weather finally settling in! That being said, hot coffee tastes that much better, fluffy socks feel softer, soft blankets to nestle up in are so welcoming, the house being chilly when you first bring your feet out of the toasty covers after a long, night's rest...I love it. And I've been doing a lot of interesting reading on the net. Learning new things and keeping the brain cells alive. Self growth is so important.

Low Point:

With all the reading I've been doing, I came across THIS. And what makes me geekier, I found it really interesting and contemplated printing it out, but I bookmarked it instead! Sad, little me, saaad.

Unconditional Love

Practicing Our Words

High Point:

Cheeseburgers before noon. Went driving to look at the land. It was a beautiful morning. On the drive home, the little one was practicing all the words she knows. My husband and I would say a word, and she'd repeat after us. It was so cute and she was doing an amazing job! Duck, Dog, Phone, Please (pweeeze), Four,
Five, Mom, Dad...simple words, you get the picture. And then we took a breather and she called "Mom? Mom?? Mooommmm???" and finally I turn around and reply, "Yes?" and she pauses and then says..."bitch. It hit us so completely unexpectedly. I'm certain she was trying to say a different word, as she's never heard the "B" word before. It's not a word that myself nor my husband use, and it's not exactly a word you hear on the Disney Channel or Food Network. But we laughed and laughed - that little stinker!

Low Point:

Having a hard time eating this Caramello Chocolate Bar all by myself and broke down and resorted to sharing. Shame on me!

Chocolate All For Me

High Point:

Went to the doctor today and everything is looking fantastic. The baby's heart rate was 152. My blood pressure was 90/62. I've gained a nice amount of weight this pregnancy so far, but for some reason only gained one pound in the last three weeks - which is a bit off but I was told not to worry about it, just make sure I'm eating three meals a day which I am!. And I'm measuring right on the mark of where I'm supposed to be belly size wise. I'm in much better physical condition now than my last pregnancy. With approximately just five weeks to go, I'm still 20 pounds off from where I was when I delivered my first child. I can't imagine gaining 20 pounds in the next month. I suppose it could happen - but I doubt it. So I bought a Caramello Chocolate Bar to enjoy - King Sized - and I don't plan on sharing it.

Low Point:

Having this incubated baby of mine think my womb is bigger than it really is. She loves to stretch. So much so that the nurse thought at first the baby was breech because my tummy was hard as a rock. But then with more feeling she felt the head of the baby right where it was supposed to be - head down. What she had originally thought was the skull, was just baby rump with legs pushing and stretching. It's amazing how different this baby acts in the womb from how my first munchkin did - albeit they are both busy bodies!

I Wonder

High Point:

The weather is still gorgeous even though its in the second half of October. I've been busy which keeps my mind off how large I feel. And even though my husband insists I'm a lot smaller this pregnancy than the last, I feel just as big. Little over a month to go!

Low Point:

Tired. Not sleeping well. Mind keeps thinking too much for me to sink into that deep sleep that I need, not to mention getting comfortable in bed is becoming a real challenge.

A few things I've been wondering about though:

Do you always start with the same foot to put socks on? and does the same go with shoes? I think I always start with my right foot.

Does anyone else besides me like pickles that still have the little stem on them over pickles that don't?

Where do you start your shopping in the grocery store? I always seem to feel most comfortable starting in the produce area.

If you only were offered half a bagel, but could choose top half or bottom half - which would you choose? For some reason, I really like the top half much beter. Same goes with a slice of bread.

When you're getting ready for the day, do you brush your teeth first or your hair first? I always brush my teeth first. It feels all wrong if I don't.

And lastly, when you clean the kitchen or the bathroom, do you wipe the sink dry? To me the kitchen sink especially, just doesn't seem clean unless I wipe the sink dry.

I'm just wondering...

Over Doing It

High Point:

Movie night last night! I made a nice dinner - chicken breasts that I flattened some and then sauteed in fresh garlic and butter (real low cal lemme tell ya), mashed potatoes from scratch, gravy, broccoli (to toss in healthy), and then baked a blackberry pie with french vanilla ice cream to go with. The movie was great as expected! And my husband got a beta invitation to a game we are both very excited about.

Low Point:

Forgetting just how far along I am with this pregnancy and still trying to do more than I should be. I had walked to the store yesterday to pick up some goodies for movie night and then did housework. The lady at the store said, "I can't believe you walked here and are lugging groceries around in the stroller! I mean, from looking at you, I would think it would be hard enough just to bend over!!" (Gee, thanks lady!) And as my husband says with a tone of irritation, "Why are you over doing it?? You need to be more responsible for the sake of teh baby at least. You know, it's OK to sit and relax and do nothing for awhile..." I know he's right, but sometimes my brain get into an argument with itself and the irresponsible side wins.

Thank You and Seconds Please!

High Point:

Even though my husband got home after 10 last night, he still stopped off at the store and bought Batman Begins. And even though he only slept an hour the night before and then worked nearly a 15 hour work day, he thanked me for making the house look nice and for cleaning up. And he helped put the little one to bed. Followed by letting us sleep in this morning and not complaining about having no lunch to take with him to work. I'm going to have to make up for this! AND TONIGHT IS MOVIE NIGHT! Yay!

Low Point:

Being far hungrier than I should be all.the.time. Not taking the time lately to get out and take new pictures. Missing my skinny-person clothes. Not being caught up on the laundry.

Doozy Dolor!

High Point:

Batman Begins came out on DVD today!! Totally stoked about having a movie date night!

Low Point:

Having my husband call and say he won't be home until after 10pm. Bleh. So no movie date night tonight. And I've got this headache the size of... size of... whatever the biggest thing you can imagine is! Hurry up Tylenol and kick in!

The Cooking Cabal Launched

Come take a look, and if you'd like to be invited to contribute, drop me an email. It should be a lot of fun!

Boy Crazy

High Point:

Going out to our favorite little Mexican restaurant for dinner last night and watching the little one flirt her head off with a sevenish year old boy sitting at the table next to us. She was trying so hard to show off and do everything she could to get his attention and he loved LOVED having a captive audience. My husband kept asking me what was wrong with her. "Well, it's called being boy crazy my dear...she's just starting early..." He looks at me, beer firmly grasped with one hand and flagging down another from the waiter with his other hand and says, "Wow - very early..."

Low Point:

Having a horrible, horrible dream last night that felt very real. I dreamt that I lost the baby - miscarried. I had gone into the doctor for my check-up and they, as they always do, asked for a urine sample. I went into the bathroom and that's when I lost the baby. I can't imagine what the horror of that must be like in the waking world, but I can tell you in the dream world when it feels real is terrifying. There was so much blood and body parts...shiver. I went out of the bathroom and ran to the desk and the entire office was desserted. The lights were dim and no one was to be found anywhere - it was so quiet. I stood there calling for help and ringing the bell on the desk and no one came - then I woke up. Yucky.

Tonight's Dinner

My husband grilled ribs and I was in charge of the salad. Despite the fact that you can only see food for the most part in the above picture, take note that I did put out cloth napkins and the good placemats so the ribs would feel like they were in adequate company of royalty. Originally I had paper napkins out as I was in a hurry and different (yet equally as nice I thought) placemats...but was soon asked for a change so not to tarnish the beautifulness of my husband's ribs. Tee hee hee - Sorry Darlin'!

Flying Off with Fries

High Point:

Watching my little munchkin run off with her Daddy's french fries thinking she's really getting away with something BIG and IMPORTANT. She ran right into her room, plopped her toosh down on top of her pegasus, and giggled to no end probably thinking that soon her magical flying horse would lift off the ground and fly away to Munchkin Land where all stolen french fries can be eaten in peace.

Low Point:

The munchkin absolutely refusing to nap. I don't even really want her napping so much for her own sake, but moreso for MY sake. I'm super tired and want to sleep! C'mon little one - Sleep...sleeeeeeeppppp ....... sleeeeeeeeepppppppp .....Your eyes are getting heavy, very very heavy....

Berry Smoothies For All

High Point:

Watching my daughter really care about hygiene. She adores brushing her teeth. Loves being able to get her grabby hands on a hairbrush and try to make her hair smooth. She'll steal the deodorant and try to put it on not really understanding anything more than the fact it goes somewhere under your arms. Pulls out yards and yards of floss if we don't catch her early enough. Lip gloss. Cheek blush. Nail polish. She always tries to help me clean house whether it's with dusting, vaccuuming, wiping the tables, emptying the dishwasher, making the beds - you name it. She's my little helper girl hooked on cleanliness. That's for sure.

Low Point:

Realizing that my daughter somehow stole both bottles of her Blueberry Smoothie Shampoo out of the bathroom even though they, I thought, were out of reach. She took them into her room and put her hygiene habits to work in giving her dollies and stuffed doggies a bath. Lathered them up nice and sudsy just like Mommy washes her hair when it's bath time. Shampoo was all over. One dollie {{{Shhhh!!}}} had a proper (and yet private, secret, and well hidden) burial into the garbage can as she just had so much shampoo in her there was no saving her. I scrubbed for what felt like forever on the carpet to get some of the soap out - now I'm letting it dry and will tackle the job again in a couple days after it dries. I don't want to put too much water into the carpet. Rotting carpet would be icky. I'm nauseous off the scent of Blueberry Smoothie Shampoo.

Arsty Tartsy

I was in an artsy mood and fiddle faddled with these yesterday:

Me in blue...





Me in natural coloring...

Happy Buckets

High Point:

The little one had her appointment today with her new pediatrician and he is WONDERFUL! The entire clinic is amazing. Beautiful fish tanks, life-size stuffed animals, lots of toys, friendly friendly friendly... Then coming home and sharing some McDonalds and then having my daughter's mood be fun spirited and lively - Currently she's insisting that we each wear a bucket on our head. I get the lime green one - she, of course, is wearing the pink one. Thank gawd I don't have a webcam set up - I look ridiculous.

Low Point:

Not having the energy needed to clean up my messy house. I feel like such a bum right now.

Having Health is a Beautiful Thing

High Point:

No more throw up!! Hooray! The little one is feeling better. She's not entirely back to her old self, but she's not puking and that's DEFINATELY a good thing!

Low Point:

Realizing how fortunate I am that my worries are so trivial in the grand scheme of life. The woman giving out samples of Danish pastry today at Costco began talking to me about children and how they change our lives etc. And boy do they! But she asked if I knew the gender of our coming baby, to which I told her it's a girl. I went on further to say that my husband would soon be drowning in the sea of Disney Princess before he knew it. The woman smiled and reminded me that having a healthy baby is what is most important. This I do know and count my blessings every day for. She explained to me that her son, who is now 21, is about to go in for his third open heart surgery - heart valve replacement. I felt about as small as the tiny sampler of pastry she was handing out. I couldn't imagine the stress and worry of having to have your child go through one open heart surgery, let alone multiple open heart surgeries. And there I was, albeit jokingly, worried about the onslaught of Disney Princess balogna that my future held.

~*~*~*~Wishing the best for that family and that the open heart surgery goes over without a hitch.~*~*~*~

Wanted: Single Dose of Fix-My-Munchkin

High Point:

Hmm, if I had to find a high point right now, I guess I'd say that it would be knowing in my heart that this sick little girl of mine is just that - sick - and nothing more serious.

Low Point:

More throw up. Just when I thought we were out of Sickie-Ville, she puked again. This time she had crawled up into our bed and bundled up in our covers holding the remote control. Then BLURRRRGGGGG. I'm so very sick of throw up. I'm doing more laundry now - sheets, clothes, pajamas, and the like. I'm tired and want to run away from home.

I don't really want to run away from home, but all this throw up business is really starting to STINK! and literally too!

Princess Pukey

High Point:

Having a husband that somehow knows when I need his help no matter what time it is.

Low Point:

3:30am and finding out that the little one definately is NOT better yet. Luckily my spidey-senses kicked in and made me randomly sit up in bed at that early hour in the morning...to which the munchkin puked all over her bed just seconds later.

I truly hope she's all better soon. I just feel horrible for her when she throws up. It's so traumatic for her. And smelly and icky for the rest of us. I took the sheets off her bed and got out some clean pajamas for her. Gathered up a dry diaper and a soft washcloth to clean her up. Felt like it took forever for the hot water to arrive. And while we were quiet and my husband was tucked away sleeping soundly, somehow he showed up with a pleasant smile and asked what he could do to help. He picked up our daughter and held her while the water finished heating up - neverminding that she still had some icky throw up on her. He offered to bring clothes to the washing machine...sheets, washclothes, the likes. And as I was trying to get myself into clean, dry pajamas he took the onslaught of the next bout of vomit-ville. He's so darn smart though and held her horizontally over the sink - saved me from having to change her into another set of pjs. He tucked us both into the guest bed, after helping with getting a bottle and towels laid out just in case she got sick again.

It took us a long time to fall asleep, and our morning still started early...

But so far so good. Cross your fingers that Princess Pukey is done with her business.

The Sickies and Sweet Salvation

High Point:

My husband and I making an amazing dinner together. Grilled shrimp, salad, and grilled sweet onions - with dinner rolls that we didn't have room to even take a second look at. I took twice as long to eat tonight just to savour each bite. A margarita would have been such a lovely addition - but not while I'm pregnant.

Low Point:

The little one was sick today. For those of you with children, you know what a day like this entails. For those without children, let me fill you in briefly: lots of throw up, lots of diaper changing, lots of fussiness, lots of crying, fevers, melt downs, and the like. I felt so bad for her. Poor thing. She seems to be feeling a bit better now though - at least she's holding down her milk and she ate some peach/oatmeal/banana mush for dinner that is staying put. Maybe in the morning she'll be back to 100%.

Ninja Chomper

High Point:

A loaded cheeseburger, homemade, for lunch.

Low Point:

Washing my hands and having my little one sneak up to me in absolute silence and take a bite out of my leg.

I honestly didn't hear her sneak up on me at all! And she got me good too - bandaid worthy! Only problem was was that my hands were entirely involved in the washing process and my immediate reaction to the pain on my leg was to grab whatever was causing it. This being my daughter's head, I grabbed her and ended up soaking her. Poor thing was sopping wet. My leg hurt for a few good hours to come. I still don't know how she managed to get a mouthful and bite down without me seeing it coming...

Sing Me a Choo-Choo Lullaby

High Point:

Laying in bed at 4:30am. Awake. With the sounds of a train choo-chooing by in the distance. It brought back a lot of good memories.

Low Point:

Rolling over after the train had passed to nestle in for some sleep only to hear the tick tick ticking of my heart beat beat beating in my pillow pillow pillow when all I wanted to do do do was get some sleep sleep sleep. It was annoying annoying annoying.

I realized that in nearly every house/apartment that I've lived in since moving out on my own has always been within the listening pleasure of a train. I've always really loved listening to the passing trains as I'm snuggled into bed in the dark, quiet house.


One memory that came to me was when I had first started college. My boyfriend (now husband) and I were living in a seven floor dorm building off campus. We both lived on the top floor just down the hall from each other. As luck would have it, his room happened to be the only room on the floor that had a water pipe burst in the ceiling. That meant him and his roommate would be reassigned rooms with new roommates and no longer would the room they were in be called 'home'. So on the last night of residence in that "lucky" room - the roommate had already been reassigned rooms - I was invited over to take advantage of an evening without pestersome company. He had moved the bed in front of the big window that took up the entire wall and over looked the city in which our college was in. He had picked up food and music. Definately went out of his way to make the last night in that room special. The view from his room of city lights sparkling in the dark night's sky was really beautiful. And as we drifted off to sleep that night, we could hear the trains in the distance lulling us to dreamland.

Grilling Insomnia

High Point:

A successful trip to Costco. A grilled dinner at home of steak, golden potatoes (on the grill), Spring Mix of assorted lettuce with homemade garlic vinaigrette tossed with yellow, orange, and red tomatoes, and avacados - chips and salsa to snack on while the bar-b heated up. Followed by an easy kitchen clean up with help and a movie on TV. With fresh cookies that I baked just before dinner for dessert - chocolate chip with coconut. Then getting to talk with my Aunt on the phone that I haven't talked to in a very long time.

Low Point:

Waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to get back to sleep due to a racing mind about being prepared for the coming addition to my family.

And yes, Manababies and John, I know I ruined a perfectly good cookie in your eyes by adding coconut.

Healthy Heartbeats and Quiet Punishments

High Point:

Going to the doctor and having him tell me that I'm very healthy and that the baby is very healthy -and- being told that I'll probably be induced the first week in December. Time is ~flying~ by!

Low Point:

Forgetting to turn the TV off while the little one was in a time-out. No wonder she was so quiet and took her punishment so well. Dummy me! Live and learn.

I can't say it enough - It sure is nice to be feeling better. I've been pushing my limits a bit much the last couple days though and am feeling it, so today I've been trying to rest. Although all this rest has me dreaming up a loaded Costco run and all the other fun places I could galavant off to tomorrow.

I just adore Costco - sigh

Teppanyaki-A-No-No, Pizza-A-Go-Go!

High Point:

Watching my daughter have so much fun playing and eating at Chuck E. cheese.

Low Point:

Originally going to a Japanese teppanyaki restaurant, and having the little one scream her brains out so badly that we paid for our drinks and salads and left.

In truth, the munchkin probably saved us all from some nasty food poisoning. The Japanese restaurant was really yucky and I know in the back of all our heads we were screaming right along there with my daughter. I don't know if it was the vibes of the place or if it smelled really bad to her or what, but she just definately was NOT going to stay there. She's only acted that crazy in a restaurant once before in her life and that was when she was four months old.

She had a FANTASTIC time at Chuck E. Cheese though. She ran my mother-in-law ragged. Unlike the first time we went, she hated the little cars this time and she also ventured into the big kid play area without a care in the world. I thought for sure she would have been run over by the bigger kids, but she held her own pretty darn well. She also beat on one of the ticket games so badly (without a token even) that it gave her eight tickets probably out of mercy just so she'd stop banging! But the prize lady was very nice and let her buy a prize with her eight tickets. We bought her a balloon and when a birthday party left they forgot to take a couple of their balloons with them and the woman cleaning up the mess gave them to my daughter too. Let me tell you, she was in heaven.

Hippo in Denim

High Point:

We closed on the piece of property that we really wanted awhile ago and drove out to look at it this evening. It's so beautiful. I'll update Planning Paradise soon with some pictures.

Low Point:

Feeling like the size of a house and having my denim, prego capris barely fit.

Also, really looking forward to Iron Chef America tonight!! I wonder what the secret ingredient is!

Update: The secret ingredient was asparagus.

No Time For Cookies

High Point:

Getting a haircut and having my husband grill chicken for dinner. It turned out awesome.

Low Point:

Not having the energy to make chocolate chip cookies tonight to eat while we watched television.

I've been trying my best to drink my extra liquids, but gosh that's hard to do. And I really really really wanted fresh chocolate chip cookies, but I just didn't have the energy to stand up any more to make them. In truth, I really just wanted to eat the raw cookie dough.

It feels great to have newly cut hair that's shaped and manageable.

I'm still trying to catch up on lost sleep and my body is trying to recover from all the stress it's been under - slowly but surely.