Our little Scholar!

We spent lots of time "resting" and "doing" yesterday and I'm tired. I spent quite a bit of time pulling weeds from my garden and I only got two rows done. Almost everything I planted is up, so that is good. I did spent quite a bit of that time with Abigail "helping". I need to get her a little plastic gardening set. She kept trying to "pick" my marigolds. So, thank you to whoever it was that was teaching her to "pick" flowers! :)

I also spent time mowing the grass. That activity is growing very uncomfortable for me. My "baby" felt sore after I got done, so I need to slow it down next time, or see if busy-bee Andrew can do it.

Here is a cute picture of Abigail studying a map of the United States on the way home from Kansas. This photo is not staged. She looked through our new atlas for quite a while on the way home.


She also LOVED the book, "Go! Dogs, go!" She would wiggle her little body around and say "go!" in several appropriate places. I think I read that book 10+ times on the way home.

I had a frustrating time this morning trying to get my midwife and ultrasound appointment changed so Andrew could go with me. He is now going to be working from home on Wednesdays, so he wanted me to change the appointment to Wednesday. It's amazing how difficult it can be just to push things back a day. I guess the tricky part is that the midwives office doesn't do the ultrasound so that all has to be coordinated. Thankfully it is at the same location. I will be so thankful to get this done and can hopefully put aside some of my worries. I don't want to go into much detail here but let's just say I thought I'd feel more movement by this point. I think I have felt something but I just can't be sure.

There is definitely a baby in there. We've seen it!

I need to take a picture of our brand new sidewalk! I think our project for this next weekend will be to do some landscaping and mulching of the front bed!

I've been trying to keep busy so I don't think too much about "home". :(

We're Home!

Wow, what a whirlwind and fabulous trip. It is amazing to me how I feel after going on these trips. I love seeing my family but after a trip like this (especially one this long) I feel so homesick for a while. It is even more pronounced now that I have Abigail. I really wish that we lived closer! Anyway, I don't want to dwell on that since I don't want to keep crying so I'll write a post telling all the fun things we did!

Giving Grandpa (Pappy) a "goodbye" kiss! :( So sad.

We wanted Abigail to spend lots of time with her grandparents, great grandparents, aunt and uncle, and uncle. So, we did spend quite a bit of time on the farm, which I loved! Abigail enjoyed feeding the cats almost every morning with her Grandpa Kurt, we took tractor rides, she got lots of wagon rides, and she had lots of fun playing catch with all members of the family.

Abigail and Grandma before bed. Isn't my mom pretty? She doesn't look old enough to be a Grandma! :)

She learned lots of new words when we were in Kansas. We think she is starting to be able to say her numbers. My mom would say "one" and she'd continue on with "two". I think she is saying "kitty" and can definitely say the word "up". She can say that so clearly and does it over and over. Also on our trip she learned how to sign "drink" and now calls almost everything she eats "cheese".

Encouraging Abigail to "snuggle" with Uncle Brett.

Abigail was a bit of a momma's girl while we were out there. I'd like to think that she is always a momma's girl but it was even more pronounced while we were there. However, by the middle of the week she had warmed up to everyone. She even started to cry when my parents would leave the room or the house. That was nice (not the crying part but the warming up part).

Having supper with Great Grandma and Great Grandpa. They fed Abigail and she loved it!

My parents watched Abigail for us on Friday so that Andrew and I could have a "date lunch". Our anniversary was on Monday, May 25th (6 years!) and Andrew was gone that night to visit a friend. This friend was only in town for a few hours on Monday night, so I guess that was excusable. I suppose the honeymoon is over, folks! :)

We also spent most late mornings (after Abigail's nap) at my Grandparents house. One of Abigail's favorite things to do there was to ride in my dads old wagon (inside). My grandpa (Abigail's great grandpa) was a good enough sport to pull her around and around inside. Also my parents and grandparents have my old play house back again (after loaning it to a friend) and Abigail loved it. I can still stand up inside it so it is pretty substantial in size. She'll have fun playing with that when we visit Kansas (or we'll figure out a way to get it here).

A "slap happy" Abigail is wrestling and cuddling with her daddy.

Of course, one of my favorite things about traveling (which is why I don't care where we go) is that I get uninterrupted time with my own little family. I have to leave Abigail four days a week and feel like I see Andrew even less with his busy work schedule so this travel time is very very precious to me! Even the 14+ hours in the car are precious!

Great Grandpa Keith reading a book to Abigail.

Abigail also spent lots of time meeting new people! :) My dad, who is always the basketball coach, is coaching a summer team and wanted Abigail to come into practice to be shown off to people. She LOVED (and I do mean LOVED) running up and down those long hallways. She also, actually, loved watching the junior high boys practice. She was facinated by the basketball flying by. We stayed longer than I anticpated because she enjoyed it so much.

My mom visits a friend at the rest home in St. John and has been showing her pictures of Abigail from time to time so we visited her. It went very well. I thought Abigail would be a bit more clingy but she got right down from my lap and everyone enjoyed watching her play with her ball. We also saw a former church member there and that was neat as well.

She is starting to "fake" smile for pictures. It is so cute!

The family, minus Aunt Jenny and Uncle Luke. They had to leave on Wednesday.

Aunt Jean (my great aunt) and Uncle Joe brought us pizza for supper on Tuesday. It is my favorite pizza on this planet! Aunt Jean is giving Abigail a few tickles here! I have fond members of Aunt Jean "tickling" my neck in church. It always felt so good!

Well, I think that is about all for now. Abigail certainly is happy to be back and sleeping in her own crib. She "asked" to be put down for a nap twice today and so that is very nice.

We have quite a "to do" list now that we're back. Thankfully we did laundry in Kansas (thanks, Mom for spoiling us and folding our clothes!!!!!) so I don't have that to worry about. I still need to grocery shop, lots of cleaning to do, weeding the garden, the yard needs mowed, the front bed of our house needs to be landscaped before too long (I was planning on doing that today but now I don't think I'll get to it), finances done for May (I'm so behind), and there is always the pesky matter of having to work tomorrow!

Andrew is teaching his first class at Indiana Wesleyan next week so he is busy preparing for that. That means for 5 weeks I'll be doing supper and bedtime alone. Andrew is cutting back to 4 days at week at his current job because his side jobs have picked up so much. I'm very glad. He was working every spare moment so hopefully this will free up a little evening and weekend time.

Well, I'm off to do something else on that "to-do" list!

Sleep and Traveling with a Toddler don't mix!

My darling daughter simply cannot share a room. At least, I think that is what is wrong. She has been keeping us up so much at night. Last night we were up from 11 to 3:00 am. She screamed most of that time. We finally put her in bed with us (a big mistake, I know) and we all slept!

I don't think she's sick, teething, in pain, no dirty diapers, etc, yet she's awake quite a bit. I think she can't handle knowing she's sleeping in the same room with us.

I'm quite tired. I feel like falling asleep sitting here at the computer, so I may have to nap today. I am at my wits end trying to think of how to help her with this issue.

Anyway, we spent a lovely "day" (few hours) in Sterling. I checked out our rental house (hmm), spent some wonderful time visiting with college friends, and had some delicious BBQ! Thanks, Melanie, for driving out to see us! It was good to catch up, even if it was brief.

Abigail was having a melt-down at lunch (a 20 minute morning nap and our night last night certainly did her in) so we didn't get to stay as long as we hoped but it was still nice.

Andrew is still out visiting friends the rest of today. Abigail is enjoying all of the fun toys here at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Her favorites include the two homemade toys that my mom made (a yogurt container that she can put lids in and a juice bottle that she puts clothes pins in), a toy vacuum, and a toy stove. The last two are definitely flash backs to my childhood!

Ok, I'm so tired that I am rambling. Must go now.

We're Here!

My parents have been without internet access until today and now it's spotty. But, we made it to Kansas and we're having a great time! Time is flying by much too quickly!

Time Crunch!

We've entered the time crunch before vacation. See, the thing is Andrew has to be at a business meeting at 7:15 am tomorrow morning. It's about a 20 minute drive from here so Abigail and I are planning to go with him and hang out so we can leave from there instead of having him waste time by driving back up here. We'll need to leave by 6:30 am. So, we don't have much time left! I have also been looking into getting a rental van for our trip since our car gets so cramped with three people. No luck! They are either not available (nobody rents minivans?) or it's just too expensive to justify the cost. So, I guess we'll be cheap and cramped. Oh well.

I got two rows planted in the garden last night. I didn't start until 8:00 pm because Andrew was mowing before that and Abigail wasn't asleep yet. I don't like leaving the house empty while she's in bed. Andrew, on the other hand, talks (although I hope he wouldn't ever do this) about going grocery shopping while she is down for a nap. Yikes! Anyway, I'm getting off subject.

I planted tomatoes, peppers, corn, and cucumbers. I think I need to move the cucumbers. I planted them far apart but I don't think I gave them enough room to vine out so I will probably move them to the other end of the garden.

I still have onions, carrots, sugar snap peas, and bit more corn to plant. I think that's it.

I also bought some marigolds (thanks for the tip Susan) and am planting those on the ends. I think I may have bought too many, however. Oh well.

Abigail seems to be ok. I'm just not sure she's fully recovered yet. She still had a very low grade fever yesterday 99.1 or so then it dropped below normal after her nap. I was excited. I took it right before bed and it was 99.5. Argh! Normal this morning, so we'll see.

Here is a video of Abigail putting on my shoes.

Abigail Report

Well, here is what is going on with the girl.

I stayed home with her yesterday. She had a mild fever return after her morning nap and stayed with her until bedtime. I took her to have a chiropractic adjustment at 4:00 pm and the chiropractor confirmed that she had some sort of a virus. She could tell by her swollen lymph nodes, which I also felt (so sad).

Her temp was just at 100 when I put her to bed and that was the highest it had been all day. She had a hard time falling asleep (I was out getting my hair cut and grocery shopping) so I finally got her put down at 9:00 pm when I returned.

She did wake once in the night. It was at 2:15 am and I was very nervous that I would go in there to find her vomiting with a high fever but . . . she was fine. I couldn't find anything wrong with her, except she had lost her pacifier (it was on the ground). Her temp was normal, no dirty or wet diaper, and she was happy as could be to have me in there. She fell back asleep easily with her paci in her mouth. :)

Andrew stayed home with her today because she was running that low-grade one yesterday. He said the highest temperature reading of the day so far is 98.9, which is pretty good considering. I still think she's fighting something because she usually runs under normal. We'll see what the afternoon holds.

Andrew is making the most of his day. He finished the frame for our sidewalk this morning during Abigail's 2 1/2 hour nap (it's a one-nap day, I foresee) and he plans on pouring it this afternoon! I asked him if he plans to do that with the baby around and he said that he'd worry about that. So, I decided to keep my trap shut. I'll probably (finally) have a front sidewalk when I get home. Yeah!

We're also frantically trying to get a garden planted before we leave on our Kansas trip. So, I'm stopping to buy plants and seeds on my way home from work today. I'll have to get most of them in the ground tonight. I saw two lovely bunnies playing in our garden the other night (nothing is planted yet) so we're going to have to figure out how to keep them out.

That's all for now.

Sorry, this is very long! :)

I think I have figured out how to post video, so maybe I'll try to do that later.

Oh what a night!

By the way, this may be fairly boring, etc, for all of you. But lately I've been learning about how highly valuable it is to have all this written down and my blog seems to be the only place I can remember to do it! So, feel free to skip this! :)

This will be short because I've got the girl on my lap here this morning. Wow, what a night we had. I woke up at midnight to her crying. I went into her room and she was in the middle of throwing up. I got her cleaned up and took her temp and it was at 104.2! So I called for Andrew (also to help me clean up). I was ready to take her to the emergency room but Andrew thought we ought to try Tylenol first. We gave her some Motrin but she couldn't keep that down. So we tried Tylenol and nursing, which worked (meaning she kept it down). She really wanted to nurse at lot so we kept at it for a while. It took her a while to fall back asleep but she finally did around 2:30 am. Her temp was way down by that point. I didn't think it was all the Tylenol's doing!

She woke at 6:15 am and was starving. Her temp was 98.1!!!! I brought her back to our bed and nursed her for a while (again, I've said, thank goodness we're still doing that). She was very drowsy and so we both laid down, fell asleep, and slept until 8:15 am.

Her temp is still normal this morning! I hope this is the end of all this sickness!

Diagnosis!

We just got home from the doctor and the diagnosis is: that there is nothing wrong with her! Ugh! I am frustrated. I'm mainly frustrated because I am pretty sure she still has a temp yet the doctor took her temp with one of those ear things and it said 97.5. I hate ear thermometers. I have never gotten one to work right. My temporal lobe one just said 100 and 99.2. We'll see what happens the rest of the day.

Anyway, he said it was just a virus and it looks like her body has already taken care of it.

So much for a $20 co-pay and over an hour (round trip) of driving time to get there.

I'm thinking if she still has a fever in a day or so I'll get a second opinion.

He did say that her ears look great and the infection has cleared up completely. So that concern is gone, I guess.

Hopefully we'll get it figured out this time!

Doctor's appointment for Abigail at 12:30 pm today. She still had a 100 degree temp when she woke up from sleeping through the night. (yeah!). I had to cancel my hair appointment that was at 12:15 pm today. Oh well, a few more days isn't going to hurt since I haven't had it cut since January. I hope we can figure out what is ailing my sweet daughter.

Poor Girl!

Our girl is sick again. She was fine this morning but was very warm when I picked her up from the nursery this morning. 102.5 fever at the moment with no other symptoms. Could be the ear infection lingering. We'll be attempting to visit the doctor tomorrow.

My favorite things . . .

Besides "talking" (I'll get Andrew to help me put a video of this on here soon), Abigail's newest favorite thing is "Kefir" a cultured milk drink. She slurps it down like it's going out of style. Yesterday she drank two sippy cups full and wanted more.

Here's more information on it. I've been pouring it over my cereal in the morning. I feel so much better drinking it than milk. I'm also glad to know that Abigail is getting lots of good calcium with it, too.

http://www.kefir.net/kefiryogurt.htm

The sweetest sound!

Today I got to hear the sweetest sound in the world . . . my baby's heartbeat for the first time. I remember hearing Abigail's and it truly is the most beautiful sound ever. I can't help but smile when I hear it. Other than that, my midwife appointment was pretty straight forward. She told me that at my next appointment (June 9) we can do an ultrasound to tell the gender! Yeah! After that . . . either let the shopping or the laundry begin! If it's a girl - Abigail's old clothes have been sitting in a dusty storage area all this time and really aren't sorted well, so I would have my work cut out for me.

By the way, the baby's heartbeat was a litte slower than Abigail's at that appointment. The midwife said, "sounds like it's a boy". Ha! We'll see.

I just want to take this opportunity to thank some very special people. I'm glad no one is around (Abigail is napping) because thinking of this makes my pregnant self cry!

Andrew and I are so amazing blessed to have two sets of fabulous parents. I have no idea where we would be without them.

So . . .

Mom and Dad, thanks so much for all you are doing to help us out with our "renter" situation. From being our advocates with lawyers, meeting our renters, and just being there for advice and support has meant so much to us. I am so thankful for you! I would probably still be "unpaid" and feeling guilty for every demand I made if it weren't for you guys and your encouragement and support.

Wayne and Susan, thanks so much for your willingness to always lend a hand and keep Abigail for me! It was so nice to go to my appointment this morning without having to worry about dragging her along, missing naps, bringing food, keeping her quiet in the office, etc. Hopefully we can train her up to be a great tea room worker, so she can help you out soon! Ha! Thanks for all the food you make us. It is such a blessing for me right now not to have to cook every night and worry about all the dishes! These things are such a blessing to me. I'm so thankful for you too!

Seriously, what would I do without these parents and in-laws of mine?!

It's a Mystery

I have never been very good at solving mysteries. This time is no exception. There is something weird going on with my daughter and I just can't figure it out. It all started Tuesday night. She had a weird day at the sitters with short naps. She fell asleep in the car on the way home and then struggled to get to sleep that night.

She finally fell asleep with me holding her hand at 9:30 pm. That is very late for her. She slept through the night, however. Then, Wednesday morning she woke up with a puffy face. I thought it might be from all the crying.

Picture of her puffy face - eye. :(

I took her to the sitters and when I visited at noon, the sitter told me that Abigail had a puffy eye and a fever (99.8 or so). So I took her home. She took a normal afternoon nap (1 hr and 20 minutes) but then was extra fussy until Andrew got home.

We went to Andrew's grandparents for dinner. She did ok but was cranky for part of the time. We got home at 8:00 pm and she was asleep by 8:30 pm.

Then at 12:30 am, I woke up to her screaming. I went to her room and she stopped as soon as she saw me. No dirty diaper, no fever (98.5), no throw-up, no snot, etc. I just changed her mildly wet diaper, gave her motrin and laid her back down. Again at 1:30 am, I woke up to her screaming. I went in and she immediately stopped when she saw me. I checked everything (temp, diaper, etc) and all was fine.

I was so exhausted by this point that I broke one of my cardinal rules of baby sleep and laid down with her in the twin bed in her room. It didn't last long. I quickly realized that neither of us would be able to sleep that way. She was snuggly but restless. She was "asking" to nurse at that point, so I obliged and she went right to sleep after that. (I went back to my own bed).

I heard her cry out a few more times in the night but I waited to see if she'd go back to sleep and she did without much fuss. Again, this morning her temp is normal and there is no sign of any other illness, no runny nose, no tummy trouble. Weird!

I mean, the child just doesn't wake up at night unless there is a problem. She has been like this since she was 9-months old. I suppose it could be a phase but I'm just not sure.

Ok, to sum this all up (this post got long on me).

1) It could be her ears. She could still have a lingering infection. Hmm. Doctor? Seems weird to call the doctor when there are virtually no symptoms to report.
2) Pretty sure it's not her teeth. She has sixteen teeth. The next ones to come in are the 2-year molars and I don't think she's ready for those yet.
3) The only other possible thing that I can think of is that she just going through some sort of separation anxiety, since she seems to instantly calm down and not be in pain if I am around.
4) I suppose she could have had a tummy ache. However, I was in there with her for a while the second time she woke up and she didn't have gas, or a rumbly tummy.

It's all very puzzling and . . . I'm so tired. It doesn't help that I stayed up "late" (for me) painting the downstairs bathroom trim. If I knew then what I know now, I would have just gone to bed.

The Dreams have Started

The night before last I had a very vivid dream. This also happened while I was pregnant with Abigail, so these pregnancy dreams have started.

I was giving birth in the same room that I had Abigail in (which may very well happen, actually). It was in real-time, meaning that I was having the baby that night, at 13 weeks pregnant. The baby came out and was fine (a girl by-the-way). The labor was easy and I only pushed a handful of times (versus over 2 1/2 hours with Abigail). Abigail came and visited our room and we snuggled. It was a very nice dream. I hope this is a sign of things to come, except I'd like the baby to stay in until at least 39 weeks.

Fun and Not-So-Fun

It's amazing how life can bring such joy one minute and such annoyance another minute later.

Here is the joy:

Abigail enjoying "Hemmie's Korean Chicken" made by her Grandma Susan last night.

She loved it! Her belly was so full and stuck out so much when she was taking a bath that I thought her belly button might pop out! :) Ha!

And the annoyance is some not-very-fun things going on with our rental home in Kansas. We've been trying to sell it for six + months now but there haven't been any bites. Now we're having renter trouble. Andrew doesn't like it when I inject ANY emotion into our business dealings but I just have to say that it is frustrating. It's mainly frustrating because we live so far away. I am SO thankful that my family is close by and has been so gracious and helpful to us throughout this whole process. Hopefully it will be over soon and we can get renters that actually pay and communicate with us.

It's weird. We've never had any trouble like this before.

Allergies: I mowed last night and when I was finished, I couldn't breathe through my nose. Yuck! I've been doing my usual treatment - a shower before bed to wash the allergens out of my hair, a fresh pillow case, and nasal cleansing but it's not cutting it!

It is mainly the sinus headaches, which can be quite intense, that get to me. I have written out a plan to completely (in my opinion) clean my house before we leave for Kansas and I don't want anything (headaches) to get in my way! Ha!

That's all for now!

My Weekend!

I had a fabulous weekend. On Saturday morning, I woke up, nursed Abigail, and went back to sleep until 8:30 am! I can't remember the last time that I slept in that late. Oh wait, yes I can. It was probably 15 1/2 months ago. Anyway, I had a lovely breakfast in bed and then got up and got ready to go shopping! I went shopping by myself! That is my favorite. I don't have to go into any other stores that were not necessary. I can get in and out which is my favorite way to shop. I like getting the clothes from shopping but I pretty much detest the act of shopping in itself. It's tiring and I have to try on about 10 things before I find something that fits me.

Anyway, I headed home and spent some lovely time outside with my family. We played on the slide, with the wagon, and Andrew and I worked around the yard some. I then promptly went inside and fell asleep on the couch. I actually slept through Abigail playing right by me, and having supper. That's what happens when I try to combine pregnancy and shopping!

I took Abigail upstairs and gave her a bath and put her to bed. When I came back downstairs, Andrew had set up a romantic and yummy dinner. He had bought me roses and had made a ravioli with a lobster cream sauce that was delicious. It was amazing that we just sat around and talked for a while.

We proceeded to watch a movie together and had a wonderful date-night in. Boy, my husband sure can cook (when he puts his mind to it).

My mother's day was lovely but generally uneventful. "Abigail" gave me a lovely card and she spent a lot of time snuggling with me so that was great. Andrew and I got out together (with many others) to see Star Trek and it was a good movie. Makes me want to watch the other stuff too! :)

Now, if only I can stop myself from thinking of 1) how messy my house is, dirty, cluttered, and packed with unwashed clothes; 2) what I should make for dinner tonight; 3) of everything I still have to get done with the garden and yard before we leave for our Kansas trip; and 4) how tired I am, I'd be good!

Finally time to share about our #2!!

I have been so antsy, waiting to share on my blog and on Facebook that I am pregnant again but I've had to wait!! I just got up the nerve to tell my boss and other co-workers and they are the last to know. I just couldn't do it. Since I passed the "magic" 12-week mark last Saturday, I decided it was about time to spill the beans!

So, here's the scoop:

1). Yes, this is very much a surprise! I was not anticipating another kiddo for a FEW more years.

2). I am due November 14.

3). At this time, I am still expecting to return to work after a maternity break. I carry the very valuable insurance and unless other numbers match up by my return to work in January, I'll be back.

4). I have had a bit of queasiness with this pregnancy but thankfully no vomiting. I have no idea how I would have handled a 15-month-old in the morning and throwing up and trying to get to work! My queasiness centers around food, and frozen food. I really can't make much food that has already been frozen. I really have to eat only what sounds good to me or I feel pretty bad. It is finally starting to let up! Andrew has, mercifully, done a lot more cooking the past few months.

5). Yes, we are absolutely sure this is true! We saw an ultrasound picture at our first appointment. It was phenomenal to see such a miracle in progress!

I am sort of sad that I didn't blog from the beginning because I enjoyed looking back and reading through my pregnancy with Abigail. This post will have to suffice!

Time flies when you're having fun!

I cannot believe it has been a whole year since Andrew and I started on the Dave Ramsey plan. My in-law's introduced us to it and I am so thankful! It is amazing the progress that we have made in just one year. We have cheated the plan just a bit because of job uncertainty and the economy, so we still have about 1/4 of Andrew's student loan left to pay off (which is NOT much considering the beginning balance!) and now we have a decent savings account. We need to double that before reaching step #4 but we're on our way.

(For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, you're supposed to pay off all debt before building your Fully Funded Emergency Fund and we went ahead and worked on the fund for a while.)

Andrew has started his own business, on the side, and it is rolling along. He worked for several hours last night and is getting ready to sent a rather large bill to one of his "clients". At times it feels like a black hole since the money goes into our business account but that business account will, one day, give our personal account a "pay check".

It is exciting to have this one-year anniversary.

It is amazing that we have had a written budget, on paper, every month, for one whole year.

It is amazing that at the end of each month, I have charted to see how close or far we have gotten from the budget and have a roll-over system set up that works amazingly well!

Here's to another good year!

Weekend and Yearly Recap

We had a great time in Romeoville. It was fun to hang out with Jenny, Luke, and Alex. My sister treated me to a glorious facial on Saturday and then Luke treated us to a dinner out at Mongolian Barbeque that night. We had never been there before. It was a fun experience!

Sunday was my birthday. It was strange. I almost forgot that it was my birthday as I lay in bed at 6:30 am. It was a mean ploy, I guess, to wait and see how long it took my husband to say "Happy Birthday" to me after he woke up. For the record, it took him a while. And, he was logged into Facebook at the time, and ended up telling me who had written on my wall, so I'm not completely sure that he hadn't forgotten and was just reminded by Facebook. Interesting. Apparently he has something up his sleeve for this weekend because he told me to keep Saturday free from obligation.

Of course, he has plenty of time to redeem himself. If you didn't know, May is celebrate Jaime month. Ha ha! :) Just kidding. It just feels like it with my birthday, mother's day, and our anniversary.

Speaking of mother's day, I'm feeling the pressure. What to do, what to do?! I have a father's day gift already for Andrew (for June) but nothing planned for this weekend. I must think fast!

------------------------------------

In other updates: It has been a whole year since I began my "clothing fast". The rules included not buying any new clothes for myself (used were acceptable), except if the clothes were purchased by someone else or using someone else's money (gift). Here's what happened:

• Early on I bought a few things from consignment stores. Shopping there is difficult however, because you can find something you like but if it isn't in your size you can't just go back to the rack and get a different size. I don't think I got anything from there after July.
• In July, I was in desperate need of a few shirts. My other ones were old, ratty, and stained. My husband came to the rescue and gave me a "gift" of two new shirts from Kohls. I don't think the price totaled over $20 for both shirts. This was sort-of cheating but he came with me to pick it all out, so that made it legitimate! I tried to find them in rush this morning and couldn't. Hmm, where could they be?
  
• In January, I spent about $150 on clothes using my gift money from Christmas. This $150 included children's clothing as well.
• In April I became very frustrated that I didn't have anything to wear for Easter. So, I completely, 100% cheated and bought myself an Easter dress. No gift or anything. It was 1/2 price but I still paid about $30 for this. Oops.

And now my year of clothes-fasting is over. I will still probably adopt a similar lifestyle, although having very little clothing to choose from is getting tough. My husband has done a very similar thing, although not on purpose and his wardrobe needs refreshing as well. We have about $30 a month in the budget for clothes but RARELY spend that, so it has accumlately to the point where I could buy a few things for him.

I plan to purchase some clothes (for me and Abigail) with my birthday money, but they will only last me for the next seven months or so (more on this later). :)

That's all for now. Sorry that this got long on me! I'll try to post some videos from our trip later!

In the land of Romeo

We've arrived in Romeoville, the home of my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew. We had a great car ride up, a great time visiting last night, and a pretty good night's sleep. I'm still amazed at how just one hour of time change can affect kids. See, it gets light here at 6:15 am, so that is when Abigail got up for the day. Alex was already up so Jenny and Andrew took them both to play at McDonalds and it's only 7:30 am! Therefore, I am free to blog and read for a while before they return.

We made great time on the way up here. My sister said, "You would be the only person I know who would actually arrive early instead of late!" Ha! It is so true. I don't like running behind or being late. I packed and worked hard on Thursday night so we could leave at a decent time on Friday. Of course it helps that Abigail is usually up by 7 am anyway. No incentive to sleep in!

I'm off to enjoy my good book for a while longer!

My name

Our sweet girl is finally calling me by name. She has said the sounds "mama" for a long time now but not in direct reference to me. Now she says "mama" when I leave her and when I arrive. Oh, and also when she wants me to pick her up.

We're on our way to Chicago this weekend for a visit with Aunt Jenny, Uncle Luke , and Cousin Alex (to Abigail - it's my sister). I'm not sure if I'll be posting or not. We'll try to take lots of pictures. I certainly hope Abigail doesn't cry/whine/fuss in the car the whole way. I'm planning to bring my iPod.

Quick Picture Fix

I love reading blogs with lots of pictures but I know I fail miserably at putting pictures on mine, so here are a few.

Abigail in her Easter dress!

Abigail's summery outfit from yesterday. Isn't she cute?!

Ok, that's all. I'm about to attend a health webinar on the benefits of Vitamin C, Vitamin D, and Probiotics.

I cannot believe I'm actually posting about this but . . .

Here are my thoughts/questions about the "Piglet Flew":

This year there have been 8 confirmed (yes! look it up) deaths from the swine flu. In 2008 over 800,000 people died from malaria and over 400,000 people in the U.S. alone died from smoking. 34,000 Americans died from the actual influenza last year. Hmm, where is the public panic about that?

They say 64 people have been infected (as I am writing this). Why is this causing such a panic? 64 people (although it would be tight) could probably fit into my house. Is 64 a lot?

The question has been asked, why are the cases not as severe in the U.S.? How about a better health system, access to doctors medicine, hospitals. Or perhaps it could be better sanitation? Just some thoughts.

I truly believe a lot of the problem from this flu comes from the overuse of antibiotics and antiviral medications. There is a time and place to use them (life-threatening or life-altering illnesses) but overuse causes viruses like this to mutate and for humans to not have the ability to build up immunity.

I'm not trying to diminish the fact that people are dying. That's horrible and I hope they can all get medical care but does this seems like it is a bit overblown to anyone else? Perhaps I just don't understand.

www.homefirst.com is a great resource of information.

Dinner

Our dinner out went fine. Abigail was entertained by eating for most of the time. She was quite a ham. Scrunching her nose and laughing out-loud to show off. She's such her father's daughter! :) We had a nice dinner and it was fun to catch up. They are such generous people and gave us our Christmas gift! :) It was grocery gift cards. Yeah, I can't wait to use them. Maybe we can stay under our grocery budget now. Abigail did get a little squirmy at the end but for not having an afternoon nap (she had a 2 1/2 hour morning nap) she did pretty well! She was out about 30 seconds after I put her in the crib last night.

I did take a picture of Abigail's outfit but I didn't take it off the camera yet. So it will be coming.

Abigail's still holding on to her health. She just seems touchy to me but maybe it is just my imagination and worry taking over. Her temp was 99 when we got to the sitters this morning but we all agreed that she'd stay and see if it came down. I just called there and it was down to 98.1 before her nap. Yeah!

Still going...

Well, we're still going strong. When I got to the babsitters at lunch today (we still nurse at lunch) Abigail was still down for her morning nap. I was worried that this meant a return of the fever but when I took it when she woke up it was 97.9! Her cough and nose seemed better too. I am really hoping for her to get better and stay better throughout this week and weekend because we are going to visit my sister and brother-in-law in Chicago.

I don't think I have mentioned this before but I think Abigail is allergic to peanuts. We tried giving her some peanut butter a few weeks ago and she got terrible hives on her face and chest. They cleared up within hours of the eating but still. I can't think of what else it would be. Also, I think there was some peanut butter that got smeared in her high chair. Whenever she would sit in there without pants on, the back of her legs would get welts. After I saw that happening, I washed the seat of the high chair and it hasn't happened since. I certainly hope she doesn't have this allergy and if she does, that it isn't very bad!

That's all for now. Abigail is wearing the cutest outfit today. A green onesie with short overalls on top. I am planning to get a picture when we get home for the evening, and hopefully get it posted on here. All three of us are going out to supper tonight with a former boss of Andrew's, so that will be an adventure with me and my allergies, Andrew's cold, and Abigail's 15-month-old-ness.

*Updated: Warm weather has suddenly hit us! Abigail was wearing warm fleece PJ's last week and now she needs summer ones! I'm SO not prepared! She's been sleeping in onesies until I find some summer PJ's. Can anyone help me out? I'm having a hard time finding some. Where should I look? We had one pair last year that we used from Walmart. It was light-weight but it was still footed. I want to find a 5-pack (like onesies) so I don't have to shop all over or spend too much! *

We're Back!

We had a normal day today! I spent the whole day at work and Abigail was at her grandparents and the sitters today. I just hope that now she can stay healthy and not pick up any more bugs!

In other news: I'm sick of the news. I'm sick of hearing all the doom and gloom so I'm taking a break. As much as I like to watch the early morning news, I'm going to turn it off for a week. I think I'll live.

We have an AC repair guy coming out to the house this evening. Let's hope he can fix it. Leaving the windows open at night and all this wind is KILLING my allergies.

I don't want to speak too soon!

I don't want to speak too soon but we may have avoided the use of antibiotics, at least this time around. I decided to go ahead and fill the prescription that the doctor called in yesterday but wait until today to see if Abigail needed it. Her temp was 100 yesterday morning but it fell throughout the day. This morning it was 99 when she woke up and I just took it and it said 98.1! I think she may have conquered this thing on her own.

In any case, I feel better having the antibiotics on hand. If she starts to run a fever again, I will start her on them but I certainly would like to save the use of antibiotics for something more serious, such as strep throat. Antibiotics aren't bad in and of themselves but the overuse of them causes serious health problems, including a weakened immune system (it kills good and bad bacteria) and the fact that the antibiotic may not be effective again when really needed.

We'll see what the day holds!

I'm still here!

After dealing with a week of sick kid, and now a sick husband, I guess I have taken an unplanned blogging break. Our efforts to get Abigail healthy without using antibiotics are failing. She still woke up with a 100 degree temp. It's her 11th day in a row of running a fever. She hasn't had a fever all day on those days but at some point it has registered above a 98.6. Now my husband has a cold. It is weird that he got it so late in the game, since Abigail's been sick a week, so I don't think he caught it from her. I'm doing my best to preach hand-washing, and sanitation between the two of them. We'll see if they listen.

I have a call into our doctor and I fully expect to be picking up Abigail's first antibiotic today. My heart is heavy and sad. I wanted to not give her one unless absolutely necessary but with our lifestyle (as two working parents) it's just not feasible to keep this up. My sick-time off is almost gone, and it's only April!

:(

It's in the Ear

We went to the doctor today after Abigail's morning temp was 100.

Well, Abigail has her first (I think) ear infection. The first diagnosed one anyway. The doctor said it was very mild, so that's good. Perhaps she's even recovering from it already (without help). Due to the fact that the doctor thinks this cold and ear infection is viral in nature and not bacterial, we are going to try treating it with pulsitilla.

Here is an article that explains more, if you are interested:

http://www.drjaygordon.com/development/faqs/faq010.asp

*Update: I just reread this and see how it can be confusing. Yes, Abigail DOES have an infection. I think it is her first one ever. At least the first one to be diagnosed.*

A bit of laughter for your day

This video left me laughing until I cried. So funny!



Enjoy!

*Abigail's temp was normal this morning (after she slept from 7 pm til 7:10 am) but it returned during the day yesterday, so we'll just have to wait and see. *

Abigail Update

**Update**

It's 4:05 pm right now and she's been asleep since 1:15! I guess she was tired, poor girl. I'm sure all this rest is helping her fight her bug.

****************



Well, her fever is back this afternoon. She acts like she doesn't feel good at all, poor baby. On our way home, she threw up in her carseat. It was actually a bit funny, since she had some cheerios in her hand. Right when she finished throwing up, she stuck the cheerio in her mouth and continued to eat. She munched on them all the way home but proceeded to lose them all over the kitchen floor when we got into the house. I wasn't sure about feeding her anything else, so she just got some milk (from me). My main thought during this is that I am SO thankful we are still breastfeeding. Not only is it a comfort to her, it is healthy and is sometimes all she can keep down. I think she just has an upset stomach from too much drainage. I certainly hope that is the case.

I took her right upstairs and put her down for nap. She was out in 2 minutes.

For the love of Ice Cream

I have to post this video on here. My husband spent a lot of time this weekend working on it. We had a lovely family dinner on Saturday night (at Aunt Carol's house) and then walked to a local ice cream place. Andrew made this video for his cousin who loves ice cream and was missing out on being there! :)

You'll see Abigail having her first bite (or 20) of ice cream. That was probably a big mistake on my part since she woke up pretty sick the next day. I've read so much about dairy being the cause of 80 to 90% of all ear infections in children. Sugar can also really depress the immune system. She was already struggling to get over something so I should have been more careful. Poor girl! I've been slacking lately on having her eat really really healthy foods and so I'm going to have to get back to that. More fruits, veggies, and meats!!!

Enjoy!

I'm ready for summer!!

Our little girl is sick, again! That is twice for this month. She was hardly sick all winter long and now April brings two rounds of colds with fever. She has had a runny nose all weekend but only a low-grade or no fever. Today she woke up very warm to the touch so we took her temp and it was 101.5. I had to teach Sunday school (my last Sunday! - for a while anyway) and so Andrew stayed home with her. She slept the whole time I was gone. We put her down for the afternoon nap at 2:45 and she's still asleep and it is almost 5. Her little body is just fighting whatever she has. Poor girl. I hate it when my baby doesn't feel good.

I am ready for summer to get here. I'm ready for corn on the cob, watermelon, swimming, being outside a lot, flipflops, and cute little summer dresses for Abigail!

Mommyhood!

I love being a mommy! There are just some days that I don't realize it! :) Abigail has come down with something again, a cold, or whatever, I'm not sure. She is also getting her eye teeth. I've heard those are the worst, as far as pain goes. She is acting miserable at times. One has come through, one is close, and two more to go. Then we'll have a teething break for a while, until the two-year molars decide to come in.

It is supposed to be so nice and warm tomorrow. I hope she is well enough (she probably will be) for us to do something fun. I was thinking about taking her to the zoo or aquarium but I may try something a little less expensive (and far away) and just take her a park. I think she'd like that. Her sitter has been recommending a climbing structure for her, since she climbs on everything!!

One of the things that Abigail has been doing lately that is pretty cute is trying to "talk" loud enough to get our attention. She is not really screaming (although she does that sometimes) but she just says "da, da, da, da, da" over and over again, VERY loudly, until you look at what she wants you to look at. I told her last night that she related to the Harps, since she is so loud (family joke - for those of you reading that are NOT in my family - which probably aren't very many)! I seriously can't talk over her little voice.

Here is our Easter picture:


Another lesson I learned on Easter Sunday is that mommy's of active little girls have to wear sensible shoes. I have these fabulous shoes that I don't wear often. They are pretty tall and have a tight strap but are as comfortable as 3-inch heels can be. Well Sunday they just didn't work. I was chasing my kid all over creation in those things and I simply could not keep up. She loves chasing and petting the cats now!

Break!

Wow, I didn't mean to take a blogging break. I guess that's what happens when I'm home with the husband. He is always on the computer! :) It's okay, though, since he is usually working. We had a fabulous Easter weekend. Andrew was off work on Friday so we got to do some things together as a family and as a couple, including a nice lunch out (just the two of us).

Easter Sunday was great. The weather was beautiful. Abigail took a wonderful nap in perfect time to be refreshed for church. The service at our church was beautiful, wonderful, powerful, and just a great way to celebrate our risen Savior. We had lunch with Andrew's family and had a beautiful day for an Easter egg hunt, some golf, swinging for Abigail, and pictures outside.

Today, we both had the day off, so Abigail and I tagged along with Andrew. He needed to visit a computer store to buy some things for a job he is doing in the area. While we were there, we shopped for a video camera. We've been looking for one for a long time (since ours quit) and we found a GREAT deal. We got a little tiny handheld one, that will fit in my purse, that records in HD for only $90. So we bought that! I've been enjoying it already today. After a quick stop at the Library, we came home to have lunch. Abigail has been a little off on her naps today and I'm trying to get her to sleep right now. She's playing nicely in her crib, so I won't disturb her for a while. Andrew has been off working at this job we bought the equipment for.

No plans for tonight but it is back to work for all of us tomorrow.

Hopefully there will be more opportunities for video and pictures on here, since my new camera does both! :)

This makes me happy and sad all at the same time.

Ok, I was listening to music for work today and I can across this video. Not the best quality but still, wow, what harmony!!!!!!!!!

I'm happy because this is so beautiful. I have felt, lately, like I really miss singing in a good choir or singing anywhere really. Abigail now cries when I sing to her so my only audience is gone! :)

I'm sad because Point of Grace no longer has all 4 members. How in the world can it ever sound this good again? Don't they need someone else to sing with them!? Please?!

Not good at this!

Ok, so I am slowly but surely becoming addicted to twitter. I am finding more friends, and reading some interesting stuff. I want to add a side bar thingy to my blog that has the "follow me on twitter" link. Lots of people have them but I can't figure it out! This is crazy since web design and computers are what my husband does for a living. He is so busy doing it, though, that he usually doesn't have time to help me with something so insignificant as my blog! :) Any tips, suggestions? Is anyone else who reads this on twitter? If so, let me know your screen name and I'll follow you.

It's my very favorite time of the year . . . Easter! I love Easter!

Have a good Holy Week!

The man has issues!

I just want to get a good night's sleep without getting woken up . . . by my husband! Seriously, the man has some sleeping issues. He usually tosses and turns a lot but last night I was woken up at 11:30 pm by him getting out of bed (again). I asked what was wrong and he told me he couldn't sleep. I was so tired I could hardly lift my arm but he wanted his back scratched, so I obliged.

I'm beginning to think that separate beds (or maybe rooms) are in order to get a proper night's sleep!

My theory is that he does not get enough opportunity to express his emotions (or know how to express them). Therefore he lays there and thinks things over instead of being able to relax and fall asleep. He isn't an uptight person, but maybe he is inside. Maybe I'm reading WAY too much into this in my tired frame of mind.

Abigail's Phobias

Abigail has had several new phobias lately. I have mentioned a few before. One is the black flippers we have laying around here. She will cry if she gets near them. The newest one, however, is her bath. I'm not sure why. She did slip the other day but I was sitting right by her and just sat her right back up. She didn't even get water in her eyes or mouth. I don't think that's it. She has been screaming when I give her a bath, so tonight I got in with her. She clung to me for dear life. I finally got her to sit down in the bath water. I know this will eventually pass but I don't want my daughter to be so frightened of something she used to love so much. We'll get it figured out, I guess. Anyway, my daughter is NOT, and I do mean NOT afraid of heights!

She is such a little monkey, climbing on anything and everything she can get up on! Most of it shouldn't be climbed on!

Rocking Chair

Diaper boxes!

She's just like her daddy, this one!

Senior Moments

I thought this news article was funny and wanted to share. Enjoy! (You might have to click on it to be able to read the print).

No, it's not snowing outside!

Actually, it is snowing outside but I'm in denial. I want summer weather, walking weather. At least it is supposed to be 61 on Easter.

I don't have much to post about today. Just random stuff.

Random point #1: I need my hair cut . . . again. I'm trying to figure out when to do that and what to do. I'm generally unhappy with the cut. Too long. I want something that makes it look like I spent time on it (which we all know doesn't happen with a 14 month old) but that allows me to do my hair in 5-minutes. Hmm, maybe that isn't possible.

Random point #2: I painted my toenails for the first time in probably six months last night. It felt good!

Random point #3: The baby girl has a severe phobia of some black flippers (scuba flippers) in our house. I put them in the spare bedroom but I need to move them out to the garage where they are invisible to her. I'm not sure why she is scared.

Ok, that's it. My brain isn't totally functioning today.

Grateful Friday

Today I am grateful for:

• a healthy girl. These are pictures from last Friday. Yes, she has her mouth full of food and a runny nose!

• this rainy weather. I don't like it for too long, but spring rains are so refreshing.
• my loving, hardworking, level-headed husband. He puts up with so much from me and I appreciate it.
• our lovely small group from church. Thursdays are a big highlight in my week.

Thermometer Saga

While Abigail was sick (she's back at daycare today), I decided it was time to buy one of those ear thermometers to take her temperature. I have been taking it rectally since she was born and let's just say she's starting to protest a little bit. So, I stopped off and bought one on Sunday. I took her temp and it was under normal. I took my own and it said 101! What?! I had just gotten home from church and felt fine. I went to find my adult thermometer and took it by mouth: normal. Anyway, this ear thermometer is crazy! It never gave me a very accurate reading for Abigail, Andrew's was always normal, and mine was always over 100. Maybe I just have hot ears, I don't know.

So, we're back to the old way for now. We also have a thermometer that is a pacifier but I'm just not sure how accurate that is. I'm sure that something would show up if she had a significant fever. Anyone else have trouble with those ear ones? I just wasted $20!

Warmth

It is just not getting warm enough, fast enough, for me. It is supposed to be 60 today (which I will take) but I long for 70s. I especially want to get out and use our mower but I'm just not in the mood to do that unless I can wear shorts and sweat a little. This year I can enjoy a nice cool glass of water while mowing because our new mower as a cup holder! Seriously! I'll have to take some pictures later.

Andrew is at home with the babe this morning and I'll be there this afternoon. I think she's really on the mend but with the fever coming and going, I don't want to put her recovery or other kids health in jeopardy by sending her to daycare. Better to be at home and "resting" which really means playing like normal. I did call the doctors office this morning, only to find out he is away on a trip. He is scheduled to be in the office this afternoon and I could have gotten an appointment but I told the receptionist that we've waited this long, so let's just wait and see what she's like tomorrow. If she's still running a fever, then I'll take her in, just to make sure her ears are ok.

That's all for now.

Sunday Happenings

Well, Abigail's fever came back this evening. She is still pretty happy-go-lucky but someone won't be going to work tomorrow, since we can't send her (and don't want to) with a fever. We just put her to bed, so I'm hoping for another good nights sleep! We haven't decided yet who is going to stay home.

In other news: we bought a mower! We have been needing one for several years but we've made due with used and broken down ones (around 20 years old). We've been needing to mow but haven't been able to since both of our mowers are out of service! We decided to break down and use some tax return money for one that will actually allow me to go out and start it and begin to mow. The old one required jumping, tire inflation, deck and blade maintenance, and starting it with a screwdriver to mow each time. Needless to say, I needed Andrew around to be able to mow! It's a nice 46inch (deck) Craftsman. It was last year's model so we got a great deal on it.

Ok, that's it for now. I'm looking forward to warmer weather tomorrow, and hopefully some healthiness!

Morning Update

Abigail slept for 13 1/2 hours last night (from 6 pm to 7:30 am) and seems to be a bit better. Her temp this morning was at 97.3 which is much better from the 102 it was when we put her to bed. She's still snotty and congested in the chest but hopefully she is on the mend.

Snot City

Well, Abigail's allergies/cold/whatever has taken a turn for the worse. She was up so much last night, just snotty and uncomfortable. I woke Andrew up to take a turn at 2 am, and he got the turn where she had puked all over herself and the crib. He changed her, the sheets, etc, and got her back to sleep. She also threw up her breakfast (on me). She just has an upset tummy from all the snot. She has kept down a banana, breast milk, and a little apple sauce this afternoon.

She also has a 101 fever. She's still happily playing as I write this but has been a bit extra cranky, which is understandable. We're trying several things to make her more comfortable until her body can get rid of this virus. This is the first time she's really been sick, so we can't complain. I just feel sorry for the poor girl. :(

Abigail Update

Thankfully she slept through the night last night. I am feeling much better. Hardly a trace of the drainage. She still has snot pouring out of her nose. That means I get to wipe it every 30 seconds or so. That translates into lots of crying, since Abigail doesn't like to have her nose wiped. I've tried making it into a game, but she's not buying it! :) She has a little chest congestion as well but still doesn't seem to be running a fever so I think it's a little cold that she can probably fight off quickly.

In other developments, we think that she can now say the word "yes". We've tried it several times this morning and something very close to "yes" comes out every time. She now can nod "yes" and shake her head "no".

Ok, I'd better go finish our breakfast (oatmeal and blueberries for Abigail - oatmeal and honey for me) and her nose needs wiped again. I think we're going to have to make a trip to the store for Kleenex and bread.

Spring?

Is spring here yet? It's not quite warm enough for me. I like 70s - being outside with no jacket - weather. It's been raining and colder here the past few days and we're acting like it! I started with a scratchy throat on Tuesday night and to be honest, it hasn't progressed to much more than that. Just slight soreness and drainage. Last night, Abigail was up at a lot and my suspicions were confirmed that she probably has what I do. I gave her something to help with pain since I figured she had a sore throat, like me, and she slept the rest of the night.

No fever and clear snot, so she's at daycare today. Good mom, I am. Right?! Ha! Nothing like leaving your screaming half-sick child with someone else to make you feel wonderful.

Anyway, thankfully it's not bad. Hopefully it will clear up very quickly because I like to sleep at night.

I was about to write a post about how healthy she has been. Actually, it still remains true. She is rarely sick and if she does catch something it has been minor and brief. I don't want to jinx anything, though, and have her catch something that is a whammy!

Anyway, here is a list of things that I really think lend to her good health.

1) Plenty of sleep. She usually sleeps 11 hours at night and 2 to 3 during the day. Most people think her night schedule is crazy (since she goes to bed at 7 pm) but I'd like to compare her sleeping ability and health to other kids! The sleep does wonders.

2) Breastfeeding. We're still doing it. We're headed towards weaning. She's been getting one less bottle a day and is getting less interested all the time. She still likes her morning nursing session, however.

3) Food. She eats healthy. Seriously, she doesn't eat foods that are highly processed (rarely). Instead she eats, in great quantity, foods like kale, blueberries, strawberries, bananas, organic meats, a wide array of veggies, and the occasional "green" smoothie.

That's it for now. It's funny that I'm including this list on a post where I tell you that she's sort of sick. Ha! Anyway, I'm hoping tonight is better!

Getting my affairs in order!

I just want to let you in on something. My life is in danger! My place of employment plays host every year to a nesting goose and her eggs. Along with the momma goose comes daddy goose and he is mean! Most years we usually see him hanging around and watching out for momma and the eggs. This year, however, daddy goose has decided that an extra aggressive manner towards the humans in the building is needed.

This is the craziest goose I have ever encountered in my life. Most of us (staff) have started parking elsewhere so we do not have to walk past this crazy goose on our way in and out of the building. A few days ago I was arriving at work, along with another co-worker, when I witnessed, from the safety of my car, this particular goose charging my co-worker. Thankfully the mean ole' goose stopped before connecting with my co-worker but it was still scary to watch. Later that day, my co-worker was returning to the building from his car when the goose flew at him, knocking him backwards onto the pavement. The fall tore his shirt and the goose ruffled his hair.

On Monday, I was leaving for lunch when I opened the door of the building to walk to my car, and witnessed the fluttering of giant wings, a large open-snapping-beak, and vicious sounds coming from this bird flying at me! I hastily retreated inside and went out another door.

I have a slight fear of birds with long pointy beaks anyway. This guy is vicious.

I have been working on my will, living will, and power of attorney but they are not done yet. If I do happen to die because of this silly goose, please note the files can be found on our home computer. Hopefully they will be of use, even though they are not yet signed!

Thanks!

Thanks for the advice (comments and verbal) about Abigail's whining. We actually had a good weekend and enjoyed lots of outdoor time. She had her whiny moments but they were directly linked to hunger or tiredness, so I can understand that. We spent a lot of time working in our front yard yesterday. I am excited to have a sidewalk finally and get a little landscaping in. I'll try to take some pictures!

I don't speak whiny!

You all know that I love and adore my daughter.


I need your advice! She is in a stage right now that I do not understand. I probably don't understand it because I don't speak whiny! I speak English. Whenever I hear a whiny noise, it makes my head want to explode! :)

Anyway, Abigail is at the stage where she whines for everything. She has yet to say her first real word, although she makes noises that occasionally sound like words. I think she's just plain frustrated that she can't get her point across and I'm trying to help her as much as I can but . . .

where do I draw the line?

What I mean by this is that I want her to understand at an early age that life is not about always getting what you want or doing what you want to do. I'm trying to find a balance between figuring out what she wants (she gets what she needs: she is a well taken-care-of girl) and teaching her that whining is not the way to get what she wants.

I've been asking her to sign if she wants more food at supper or if she is all-done. She will do it most of the time but there is still a very good amount of whining, temper, and crying going on.

Is it just my kid? Is it her teeth? Do all 1-year-olds who don't speak yet whine this much?

I know a lot of this comes with being a kid, temper tantrums, growing up pains, etc, but how much of it is normal? I DO NOT want to reinforce her whining behavior but at the same time I want to be understanding and really help her to express what she wants because that is important too. Just trying to find that balance.

Is anyone else's kid like this (or was)?

Hawaii's Superferry

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090317/ap_on_bi_ge/hawaii_superferry

I was sad to read this article today. Of course, my point of view is simply that we had so much fun on the Superferry and got to see wonderful sights of Maui and Molokini, that we wouldn't have otherwise gotten to see if we hadn't been able to ride the Superferry. Perhaps I ought to think out of my little world and think about the environment. However, as far as a tourist point of view goes, this is a sad thing.

Controlling my Obsession!

Abigail is starting to wear shoes almost every day now. She LOVES and I really mean LOVES to walk around outside. Since the days are slowly getting warmer, we've been enjoying a lot of outdoor time. We got most of the yard picked up (junk) yesterday in preparation for some major work this summer - sidewalk, landscaping, vegetable garden, etc. Ok, back to the subject. Abigail has two pair of shoes that "fit" right now. They are slightly big but should work all through the summer. However, I have found a new brand of baby shoes that are so cute I have to share:

http://shooshoosusa.com/

Oh my goodness. How am I going to resist buying her these shoes? I guess I'll have to wait until she outgrows the ones she has!

Let's talk about American Idol

I spent the evening watching the past 3 (yes!) weeks of American Idol that we had recorded. Andrew is at a "guys night" and the baby is asleep. Yes, the kitchen is a mess but I feel like I've been cleaning it all day (ran the dishwasher twice) so I'm giving myself a break! Ok, I'm watching the top 13 and haven't watched the results show yet.

My opinions (not that they really matter):

My favorites: Lil (wow she can really sing) and Danny. A close second: Allison & Anoop.

Adam & Alexis were great too, they're just not really my style.

There are lots of good choices!

Grateful Friday

This is going to be short and sweet. Abigail is waking up from her nap and we're getting ready to have lunch and run errands!

I'm grateful for:

• our good health.
• a lovely and warm home to live in.
• our bright future.
• fun weekend plans.
• our small group from church (friends).
• our jobs.
• our families!
• the study we're going through at church. Seriously, it's wonderful.

Abigail loves getting cards! Seriously, if you ever wondered if people really read the cards that you sent to them . . . be assured . . . she reads them - Over and over again! She carries them around the house, brings them to us to read to her, and looks at them over and over. So, thanks for all the birthday cards - she is still reading them!!

Abigail is getting ready to read a card sent by Great Aunt Linda.

How did I not know this?

How did I not know that Dancing with the Stars is on again? I mean seriously! I know I don't watch much TV. We watch 24 together every week, about 5 minutes of news in the morning, and occasionally we'll watch King of Queens after work/during playtime.

So, can someone tell me how I missed this? How many weeks have I missed?

I'm going to set my "recorder" (not a VCR, DVR, or TIVO - we do weird technology at my house) to record them from here on out!

When am I going to have the time to get caught up on all these shows? I still haven't watched American Idol for three weeks. I'm busy folks and if I'm not busy, the computer IS (which is where the TV shoes are "recorded")!

Since recently purchasing the Dancing with the Stars workout DVD (one of them) - and loving it - I feel I must continue my loyalty to the show. :)

Joy

Many of you know that Abigail's name means, "a father's joy". Well let me tell you, she is a joy to her mother as well. Oh, not every moment is perfect or joyful. We have our share of whining, tantrums, and general crankiness but in the midst of that, this little girl brings us so much joy! Here are a few of the "new" joyful things she has been doing.

The last two mornings when I have gotten her out of bed, she has laid her head down on my shoulder and really snuggled! She has never been much of a snuggler. Then, when I laid her down on the changing table for a diaper change, she reached up and hugged my neck and didn't want to let go! Oh, so sweet!

She loves any kind of animal and gets so excited to see Dewey laying down. I think she takes this as a sign that he wants to be petted. Sometimes he lets her pet him and sometimes he doesn't.

We just moved her into a big bathtub and she LOVES it. She splashes and plays like it is the greatest thing. I'm looking forward to swimming with her this summer.

She loves being outside (which is great)!

She is learning to feed herself. We have let her try with applesauce (and nakedness) because it can get a bit messy. That is what the picture is of below.

You are so precious!

Monday Confessions

Mondays are difficult. I'm thankful that I enjoy my job and love the people that I work with. It's not that. It is just that I'm in mommy mode, flying high and enjoying my beautiful daughter all weekend and then bam. . . Monday strikes. I'm not used to being away from her and I miss her, terribly. By the end of the week I'm "used to" being away from her, as much as anyone can be, I'm sure.

I get to see her for a brief visit at lunch in 1 1/2 hours.

Oh how I love my girl.

(P.S. We spent lots of time outside this weekend. We took advantage of the warm weather. I'll post the pictures of Abigail enjoying hours of wagon riding when the camera gets unloaded. She loved running around on the porch, as well.)

Smoothie Adventure

My family didn't make a lot of smoothies growing up. My mom would occasionally make Orange Julius as a treat but we didn't have them on a regular basis. So, when it comes to smoothies, I don't know what I'm doing. In the past few weeks, I have read on several different blogs and health websites about the enormous benefits of "green" smoothies. So, I decided to give it a try this morning. I mixed up a handful of fresh baby spinach with a cup of water and pureed it until it was like soup. Then I threw in a handful of blueberries, which were half frozen, and about 5 large strawberries, also half frozen, and blended.

It was surprisingly. . . .

Good!

I thought it might be something Abigail would also like so I gave her a few sips of mine and she liked it! Yeah! The "frozenness" of the berries made it sort of like a slush and it was delicious. I downed mine before I got to work.

I'm doing a bit of Weight Watchers at the moment. It is incredibly motivating to "stay under" my allotted points for the day. Also, I'm paying for the subscription and money is a huge motivator for me. So, I'm making the most of it. Anyway, for those of you who know the points system, I just wanted to share that my berry "green" smoothie was 0 points! Seriously! I also had a bowl of old fashioned oatmeal with 1 tsp of raw honey. That brought my breakfast total up to 2 points. That is seriously low! I'm so excited - mainly because . . . I'm full!!!

And . . . here is a picture for you all. Abigail with her first set of pig tails! The babysitter put them in because I didn't have any hair ties that were small enough. Isn't she sooooo cute????!!! And grown up????!!! Too bad she screamed when I took them out. I guess I need to learn the art of not pulling her hair! :)

Fitting Song

We are supposed to memorize the "greatest commandment" verse in Mark (12:30-31) for the study we are doing in church. Thankfully, I have the ability to pick up on a song with just a few "listenings"! Enjoy!

Day #2 - The Attraction to Lesser Things

I read Day 2 of our study this morning and again . . . it was good. I wrote quite a bit about it yesterday, how we're attracted to "doing" and getting "things" instead of actually focusing on the relationship at hand. I think that I can especially get caught up in "doing things" for someone instead of actually spending uninterrupted and focused time with them. Anyway, I think I'll post some quotes later on because they really hit home with me.

In the mean time, I have been thinking a lot about patience lately. I know this is an area where I struggle. I'm just a person who likes to take action. If something needs doing or something is wrong, my first reaction is to fix it. Abigail has been extra whiny lately, as I have mentioned before, due probably to her teeth and just her age. Needless to say, it has been trying my patience! Ha!

I truly believe that I have come a long way in this area. I believe that it is a step in the right direction to first admit that you need to work on something (patience). However, today I also read something that hit home with me.

"You can't teach your children something that you do not have."

Hmm, hello!

When we are feeding Abigail and she's "begging" for more, by pointing and whining, our current phrase is "please have some patience". I need to step up my game on this and be an example. I am so thankful that I have the opportunity to raise this beautiful and lovely girl. I certainly cannot even begin to do things right as a parent. I must rely solely on the strength, power, and wisdom of Jesus Christ!

In the light of this, I am also pondering the fine line between patience and laziness. Any thoughts?

I will remind myself again of the actual definition of this, since I tend to forget things easily!

Patience is bearing complaints or trials calmly or without complaint. Patience is not being hasty. Patience is being steadfast despite opposition, difficulty, or adversity.

This is going to be good!

Our church is going through a "40 days of love" series. We are having sermons given on this topic, discussing it in our small group, and reading a book together called "The Relationship Principles of Jesus" by Tom Holladay. It has one chapter to read (short chapter) each day. I have read my chapter for the day and Andrew is planning to.

This whole series is (obviously) about relationship building. This is not just about marriages but about all relationships in our lives. I am going to chronicle my thoughts and what I read here because I think it is valuable information to understand. And I would like to remember it in the future! :)

Today's topic was titled "Nothing is More Important Than Relationships". How very true this is and how very easily I forget it. God created us FOR relationships. It is so easy for me to get caught up in "getting things done" such as work, cleaning, laundry, cooking, getting "stuff" I want, etc. While it is important for me to do these things for my family, it is MORE important for me to give the most important thing to my family and that is TIME. (See, I was listening in the sermon yesterday!). I also need to not be concerned with what others are doing or giving, as far as time is concerned, and only focus on overcoming my selfishness.

This chapter was great to read because of its honest. Relationships are both wonderful and horrible at the same time. We are all human. We're capable of a wonderful, deep, enriching love but at the same time we're capable of hurting someone else deeply. Sometimes these things happen within the same day or even hour!

Here is a great quote from the book:

"Your relationships with God and others will last all the way into eternity. Jesus knows full well that the swirling wonder and pain of our relationships tempt us to move them down our priority list. "Who needs this?" we say, and so reduce our lives to simple hobbies, tasks, and entertainments. That is not the answer! When I try to make less important that which is truly most important, it only causes more confusion."

"The path to the greatest life possible and the greatest joy possible is found in the priority that Jesus taught us to keep at the top of the list: Place the highest value on relationships."

I'm still boggled in the brain by how easy this is for me to forget. I need this study now more than ever as I balance lots of relationships (old and new) in my life. How will I relate to my daughter? What will my daughter learn from watching our marriage?

Anyway, good thoughts for me today.

Weekend Recap

Well, I guess I'm not getting around to doing the Grateful Friday posts after all. I think they're important so I might move it to another day. We'll see. I'll give you a brief recap of what we did this weekend. By the way, I know these are probably incredibly boring for everyone (except probably my mom) but more and more I realize that this blog is about the only place that I keep track of stuff! It is as much for my benefit as it for anyone! :)

On Friday, my co-worker/substitute/help (I don't know what to call her) called me at about 8:10 am to say that she had a sick kid and couldn't work. It happens. We worked out a solution where I would do 1/2 of the work on Friday and she'd do 1/2 of the work on Saturday. I was originally going to check to see if my in-laws could watch Abigail but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the WHOLE purpose of me having Fridays off is to spend more time with my daughter. It is not enough as it is so I didn't want to give that up, if possible. Plus, there are lots of people from work who were wanting to see her, so I brought her with me.

For the most part, it went well. She played with some boxes and paper. She had fun running around. We headed home right during nap time, so she fell asleep. I drove to the house, got my shopping list, and drove to Walmart so she could have a longer nap. When she woke up, we went grocery shopping. We've been going WAY over on our grocery budget each month so this month we're really going to try and tighten up!

The rest of the day was uneventful. I headed to my girls night out around 6:30 pm. This was, again, so much fun! We had a delicious meal together (I brought corn pudding) and then we scrapbooked and, of course, talked! :)

On Saturday, I went to a place called Dream Dinners to assemble some "pre-made" dinners for our family. There is still some cooking involved in some of the recipes but I hope that by doing this, I'll be able to spend slightly more time with my daughter each evening instead of spending the whole time cooking supper. We haven't eaten any yet (it's dethawing for tonight) but it seems like a pretty healthy and quick alternative to prepackaged meals (not that we ate a lot of those before). It is like a prepackaged meal without all the bad stuff (MSG, transfats, soy products, etc). I know what spices went into each seasoning packet, etc, since I assembled it myself.

We'll see how well we like it and if it helps us hold to our food budget or not.

On Saturday night we went over to my in-laws for an absolutely delicious meal. I think I've been completely initiated into the family because I'm going to write about the food we ate! :) Ha! We had white chicken chili and quesadillas made with this yummy tortilla that is not pre-cooked. I don't even know how to describe them. Anyway, yum!

Sunday: I taught Sunday school, we had lunch, Abigail had a nap, we ate supper, etc, etc.

Abigail has been EXTRA cranky this weekend and is in a state of constant whinyness. I do believe she is suffering from three big molars cutting through her poor gums and . . . the inability to communicate. She suddenly has opinions about things, from what she eats to what she does, yet she isn't talking yet so I think she's is frustrated that she can't communicate these things.

I'm going to try baby signing with her. I hope it works.

Whoa, this "got big on me". I took some pictures this weekend but they're still on the camera. I'll post them another time!