Happy Birthday Tyler

I really love Netflicks. Like, a lot. Abby was at my house today and we turned Oprah on, but it was the first time I had watched real live TV in a while. I love the instant play through our Wii. I think I've mentioned this in a previous post, but that's how much I dig it. Although I despise Denis Leary, I really love Rescue Me, which in turn sorta makes me love Denis Leary. He's got some crazy long legs.

I went out of town this weekend for my friend's bachelorette party in Madison. We all had a pretty great time. I was so glad that I got to meet Krista in Eau Claire and drive the rest of the way together. No distractions or kids to chase around, just some good old BFF time. All the ladies got dressed up and we took a very nice limo bus around the area barhopping, then ate all the leftovers and some pizza at Court's after the party.

Amelie and I also met Brenda, Linc and Sully at the beach in Maple Plain last week. I think the kids had tons of fun and Brenda and I got to have a nice chat while we were chasing the kids around. I wish I could've gotten some cute pics of her boys.



Yesterday was Tyler's birthday. He's 28, which means I am almost 2 years his elder. We had a really awesome day. He came home from work early and I had some surprises waiting for him. I baked a cake and we rode our bikes up to Pizza Biga on Chicago for dinner. We got home and watched Amelie run in circles in the backyard for a while and then put her to bed.

She is able to communicate with us more and more every day. When she is tired she will go into her room and put her hand on her chest and then point to her crib, telling us she wants to go to sleep. She also answers some yes or no questions. They way she runs, it makes me laugh every time. She never sits still, ever. Proof:


Saying bye to daddy on his way to work.


We have got so much stuff going on in August. We are going to 2 weddings (one of which I am in), I have more prenatal meetings for my doula stuff, we have a triathalon and a duathalon, my Grandpa is turning 80, my cousins baby shower, and then just regular 'ol life stuff. We'll be keeping busy in August!

Not so lazy Sunday.

I'm sitting in the dining room trying to type and listening to Aqueous Transmission by Incubus, but all I can hear is Tyler reading Amelie 10 in the Bed as he is getting her ready for bed.

I got to sleep in until 10am this morning which was pretty great. We went to the worst place on earth, Babies R Us, to get some diapers and wipes. I wish I could find a place closer and less lame that carried the 7th Generation wipes and diapers we use. Dumb Target only carries the diapers. Anyways, I hate Babies R Us.

We also stopped at Goodwill and I found a book I wanted for $2.99, and Tyler got a couple of shirts for work and an awesome new hat. Pretty productive trip.

Yesterday, after a pretty rough start to the day, we went downtown to the Dakota Jazz Fest. Since it was pretty ominous out and it had just finished raining a bit there weren't too many people there. We each had a beer, got some free Tuna Salad from Starkist and danced around in the street. Then we went and had dinner at Buster's.

Oooooh, our fruit and vegetables are starting to produce. There is something eating the leaves off of my pepper plants so we have to keep moving them around, but we got a couple of Jalapenos already. We also picked the 2 ripe Zucchini's and a hand full of tomatoes. The banana peppers will be ready any day and we are about to get bombarded with tomatoes. It's so satisfying.

Tyler made some hummus tonight with the jalapenos. He's pretty proud of himself. I haven't tried it yet but I'm sure it's great.

We finally made it down to the St. Paul Farmers Market today. It was less crowded than the MPLS one...although the weather was pretty leery this morning. We got some Swiss Chard and Collard Greens. I'm not quite sure what to do with them yet but I'll report back when I figure something out.

I also got another doula client. Yay! I bought my domain name for my website and ordered some business cards. I'm all booked up for September, so hopefully I will be able to find some clients for October and beyond.

Have I mentioned that I love the Hipstamatic App? Here is Ami and Sammy while I was watching Sam on Friday.


I'm super hungry so now I'm going to make dinner. Peace.

Yay for poo.

Today Amelie woke up from her nap laughing. It was so funny to hear that. I said to Tyler before I went in there, "She's probably laughing because she's playing with her own poop."

Turns out I was right.

She was pretty clean, but somehow she got her diaper off and pooped while it was off. It was pretty messy, although it could have been worse. She wasn't eating it and it was not on the walls so thats good.

She has not napped today either so she fell asleep eating a snack in her high chair. It's been a long day for her.

We went to visit the Skrtic's in Eau Claire last week. We toured the local farmers market and the kids played while we chased them around. Krista and I even got to go have a couple of drinks and when Ami and Carter went to bed...thanks Jason!

My friend Beth was in town last week also. Me and my lady friends took the light rail downtown for dinner and drinks, then had a nice bonfire. It's about time we were all back together!

This morning I went to the Minnehaha Watershed District Cleanup with DanMark. Like Mark said, it's funny because thats how Danish people pronounce Denmark and our names are Dan and Mark. I mostly rode my bike and pointed to garbage for them.

I broke down and got Amelie the fancy baby sunglasses. Old Navy has really great ones, different colors and sizes, plus aviators. She actually wore them on Thursday when we went to the Nicollet Mall Farmers Market. She's owning them.



This is what she is doing these days. She likes to jump at you and yell BOO! She is starting to communicate so much using baby sign language, grunting and words. She ate a whole cucumber today (a small cuke). She has been eating like a large man lately. She could eat a whole package of raspberries or strawberries in one sitting if I let her. She loves running and hiding under the kitchen table. She reaches for my hand when we cross the street and when she is going up and down the stairs. The best, is that she likes to give out kisses and grabs my face to plant a big one on me. And, as we learned today, she knows how to remove her own diaper.

Baby naps are sweet.

I'm not a big fan of kids watching TV. Sometimes you need a minute though. It can be a good distraction. Through some kind of magical sorcery, we can watch our Netflicks instant play movies through our Wii on our TV. (Thank you Netflicks). So we have access to all sorts of shows, including kids stuff. The point is, I played The Backyardigans yesterday and Amelie dropped what she was doing (climbing up the kitchen chairs) and started dancing to the theme song. It was pretty damn cute. So, she doesn't actually sit and watch the show, but it will keep her distracted long enough for me to finish a task.

Well I finished updating my iPhone and I dare say that it once again revolutionized my life. I sort of wish I never would have gotten an iPhone in the first place, because I just don't think I can ever have any other phone. I'm weak like that.

My first doula meeting went well. All things are a go. We have another meeting again in a few weeks and I can't wait to go to my first birth. I made myself a website. It is still under construction, but I'll share.

It's nice out and Amelie is napping so I'm going to read a book.