Baby kicks and toddler undies.

Guess what I am doing right now?  I'm watching my baby move around.  I can see the kicks and punches through my belly skin.  That's always pretty crazy to see.  I remember watching Amelie arms and legs drag across my belly skin when I was pregnant with her.  Not a surprise that she was very active in utero as well.  Even when she flipped from head down to breech, I felt it like a rubber band snapping.  

Anyways, I'm sick again.  She has a runny nose and was up for about 2 hours last night upset and crying.  I'm guessing her poor throat was as dry as mine and probably hurt.  

We took a trip to the co-op this morning to get some meds and a Neti Pot.  I irrigated my sinuses for the first time today and it was weird/great.  Amelie pushed around the mini kid card with the groceries and did pretty good.  She bashed it into the back of my legs a couple of times and almost knocked over a few displays, but she was helpful and had fun.  Sidenote: she was wearing undies at the store, went pee after we checked out, and got all the way home (even after a 2nd stop) before she peed her pants.  She got pretty upset about her accident, but made up for it by spreading out what should have been 1 poo into 3 different trips to the potty in about 10 minutes.  

Here she is finding a good spot to put the cheese.  

It was really hard to get a photo of her because she was moving so fast.

Here are a few mediocre picture of the painting that was done upstairs thus far.  Since I only take blog photos with my iPhone they don't always turn out fantastic.

I really really really really really hope we will be done with this project soon.  So bad.

Ok, let's see here...

I feel like I'm being pressured to blog but I don't want to disappoint anyone...

So we have been back to the cabin again. Much nicer weather. Even got a tan and rode around on the 4 wheelers. There was some pretty wicked weather and of course the best day was the day we left.

I had a pretty good little Saturday. I got my hair cut, got an amazing facial from my friend Amber, and then I didn't have to go to work and got to have a night on the town. It was pretty sweet how it all magically happened all in a row.

My tooth doesn't hurt anymore. I went to the dentist who told me to put clove oil on it and the pain magically disappeared after a few days.

We biked up to the pool, she really enjoyed herself. She ate almost an entire apple, plus half the core.


I found some teeny tiny rainboots for her little feet.



So far she only sits on this toy and makes a vroom vroom sound while jerking the handles around. Can you imagine when her legs are long enough to make it scoot. She's going to drag it up her little slide and ride it down, I just know it.


My phone was somehow misplaced last week when Abby and I were at the pool, but someone called to return it to me shortly after. I was soooo hoping that would happen. I feel like karma was paying me back for all the times I have called other peoples' lost phones. Anyhow, I'll keep closer track on my phone now. I'm updating it with the new iPhone software. It's got me all jazzed up.

And lastly, I have 2 meetings with pregnant couples who are interested in hiring me as their doula. Nice.

Kicking it into high gear.

I've been sick since Tuesday night. Energy draining, lose your voice, feel like death while chasing after a 1 year old, sick. It sucks, I haven't had a good night of sleep or have been able run since Tuesday. I feel better today, but my throat is still swollen from losing my voice over the weekend.

I'm going to photo blog today.

Happy Birthday Ami!


Rollin' in her new wagon. She thinks she owns the world.



Asking for "more." Her pediatrician was very impressed by her vocabulary and sign language ability. I'm proud! She weighed 18.6 lbs and is 28 inches tall. MINI!


Her new surfer girl suit from Auntie.


Going somewhere with her purse. Inside: her new baby cell phone.


No nap = falling asleep at dinner. Cute!





Visiting her dad at work.


Since she has been one, for almost one week now. I'm fairly certain that Ami has kicked it up a notch. No walking...just running. She's loud, bangs everything around, and is able to get into anything she really wants to. Example: She busted through the "baby proofing" gate that keeps her away from the fire place and TV. Yeah, she just picked the whole thing up and maneuvered around it. What a crazy.

Some wedding photos!

Dude, I changed my last name on Facebook today to my married name. It was a weird thing to do. I guess I never sat down and thought about what my new name would be. It's like a whole new identity, and it sounds very strange in my ears.

Anyways, here are some of my fav wedding pics.






and more...





My, my sister and my friend Kristin had a baby play date today. It's so great to see 3 kids, with 3 different personalities interact. Turns out my daughter is the bully. I'm exhausted from keeping up with them. Amelie basically sprinkled Cheerios all over the house for me to clean up. I'm teaching her how to nap in her crib too. Yeah, she has napped in her swing for the past 11 months, but it's like her Kryptonite. Those 2 hour morning naps are key to my mental health. So far, she has slept for about 30 minutes each crib nap. It's only been 2 days though. NBD. She'll learn. Right?

Also, on a totally unrelated note, I think Parker Posey is hilarious. I love Best in Show. I just watched her and Jimmy Fallon have a dance off on his show. I wish I was friends with her, and him.

And...my friend is in labor right now. I'm UBER excited for her and wish her the best! I can't wait to meet her new little man!

If you want your child to sleep through the night...make sure they get good naps!

Well, after our 5 Christmas celebrations I promised Amelie we would stay home all day on Monday so she could get proper naps and play with all her new toys. Then Abby called and we were going to go over and visit with her, Sammy, and Tova. I got Ami all bundled up and in her car seat and we were walking out the door when I went to reach for my keys...that were no where to be found. After 40 minutes and 3 phone calls I realized that I had left them in the center console of Tyler's car. So, I ended up keeping my promise after all. And you know what...she slept through the night. She woke up 2 times and fell back asleep and didn't get up again until after 6am. Glorious sleep.


Here she is playing with her music table from Grammy Tracy.


Now, here she is climbing up her music table onto the table next to the couch. You turn your head for 1 second...



Playing with her sit and scoot from Tova. She goes crazy with that thing. Walk/running and shaking it around like she is Godzilla.


Sometimes she plays so hard that she falls over and just lays there for a few minutes flailing. PS: the sweet animal print outfit is courtesy of Grammy Tracy.


Today we went into Richfield to do a little shopping and returning of items and we were in the toy aisle at Target. I was testing out toys on her to see what she like best. It ended up being a mini Elmo that laughs and talks when you shake him around. She loved it. I also got a soft storage ottoman on sale that we will use for a coffee table. I've been looking at that ottoman every time I go to Target (which is very often) and I was really pumped that it was on sale. I slammed it into my shin when I was loading it into the cart and felt like an idiot, but it was worth it.

As I was loading everything into my car, there was another mom with a child about the same age as Amelie loading her loot into her car as well. It was weird, like watching myself in the mirror. Her child was also screaming and I felt compelled to talk to her, like I do all other moms with young kids. Like we are all in some type of club that we didn't have to sign up for.

Here is something interesting. When I was in 4th or 5th grade, my teacher had us write to soldiers who were in the Gulf War. I corresponded with a man who sent me a couple of letters, one with an Army can opener among other trinkets. For some reason I remembered that and as I was telling the story to Tyler, the soldiers name popped into my head. I thought I'd look him up on Facebook for the hell of it and what do you know. I found him. How strange. I wrote him a message and he wrote me back confirming that it was indeed him. Technology blows my mind.

Tonight we went to my parents house to have dinner with Great Grandma Mike, Tova, Abby and Sammy. She gave the kids some gifts and Sammy got to show off his walking skills. Yeah, he's walking already. Not even 10 months old yet and walking like a mini Frankenstein. It's so cute. Amelie took 1 step today all on her own. She sometimes will take a mini side step to get where she wants to go, but not walking yet. She also looks like she is thinking about walking, then slowly lowers herself into a crawling position and shoots across the floor. I know that when she starts walking it's all over...but I don't care. I love watching her learn all those new things. *Side note: I'll be purchasing a play yard tomorrow to keep that girl contained.

And now, a rare moment where she sits still in my lap.


This is that last few seconds of her throwdown with her penguin. She straight attacked that thing.

Friday list.

Have I mentioned that I like lists?

1. We went to Grandma Tracy's today. I did a little Christmas shopping while Grammy and Ami played.

2. I hate the parking lot at the HUB. A really big moron must have designed it. Complete chaos.

3. I secretly love KFC. Fried chicken really. I love heating the crispy fatty fried fatness.

4. I am loving Madmen right now. I think it is so interesting. Although, it's a good thing I'm not a housewife from the early 60's.

5. I'm starting to enjoy Christmas a little more each year. I actually left the radio on the station that plays all the Christmas music today. Only because the song was the Dr. Suess Grinch one. So FYI Maren...I still hate Christmas music.

6. I hate the way that the News is geared towards entertainment these days. I don't care about Tiger's sexcapades, I don't want to hear about the latest Twitter war...I want to hear about news, actual news. Not celebrity news. I don't want to know a newscasters personal opinion on anything.

7. On that note, I'm tired of people being famous for no reason. Heidi and Spencer, all of the Kardashians, Paris and Nicky Hilton... I really hope that fad goes away before Amelie gets old enough to start wanting to wear the teeniest of skirts, super high heeled shoes, and get a nose job.

8. I love snow and the sound it makes when it crunches under my feel.

9. I also love drinking cold filtered water from my Brita Water Pitcher. So delicious.

10. Beer is delicious. Doubly delicious out of a frosty pint.

11. Lastly, I do not want to plan my wedding. I have been putting it off month after month. I really really really wish someone would say to me, "Hey...I'll plan your wedding for you." That'd be awesome.

Brrrrrrr...!

Today, Amelie took 2 naps for 5 hours total. Amazing. I didn't even get much done besides a load of laundry and a little cleaning. I just rested. She is so incredibly mobile. She doesn't just sit or lay...she's always trying to get loose, crawl around, pull herself up on everything with such an intensity.

Tonight we went downtown to watch the Hollidazzle Parade. To be honest, it was boring. They have to let the traffic through on the Mall, so the parade pretty much obeys the traffic lights. We were in a skyway full of families and saw one float every 5 minutes or so. Amelie got bored and we took off early and stopped in at Gluek's.

Ami and Ty at the parade.

She made a mess of herself twice today. The first time I was able to clean her up without incident and I reminded myself to give her a bath before bed. The second time, when I finished cleaning her up...she peed all over herself. I just went into the bathroom with her and gave her a bath. She had a blast playing in the water. She had 4 outfit changes today. Here are 2 of them:

She had an outfit like the photo above on too, pink tights a pink top and the same white sweater...I didn't even get a chance to take a photo of her before she needed to be changed again. Oh well, it gives me a chance to dress her up in all the cute clothes she has.

I tried to weigh her today, it was dumb. I sat her on the Wii fit when I was done playing with it and it totally didn't work. It just kept telling me that she was fidgeting too much to weigh her.

I wish I knew how much she weighed. She really likes to be held lately and it's killing my arm.

Well, we still don't have a dishwasher. I just did yet another mound of dishes. Somehow there is already another sink of dirty dishes again. Argh. We tried buying a dishwasher off Craigslist last week but out schedules clashed so it didn't happen. I can hardly wait for one...and a garbage disposal.

I finally got some curtains for the cupboards in the kitchen. Here are some not so good photos of them, although, you can see all the dishes I did and the dirty ones that magically appeared after I finished. Also, Tyler is making eggs for dinner so the back of his head is in one photo.

We also got a new fan installed in the dining room and one in Amelie's room. Grandma D came over to help out so Tyler was able to get that stuff finished.

It was my good friend Cassie's bachelorette party last night. Julia, Beth and Amber were all there. We stayed downtown and cruised around on a Limo Bus. We bar hopped, saw a drag show at Gay 90's, had some fancy drinks at Prohibition, and ended the evening at Gluek's with some dancing. For some reason we walked back to the hotel. We ordered Pizza Luce and ate all the leftovers from the shower. It was really fat of us, but totally worth it. I felt surprisingly ok this morning.

Tyler sent me this photo of him and Amelie at the park while I was gone. She looks like she is having a pretty good time.

She initiates games of peek-a-boo with me all the time. The video is dark but it's so cute. She is pulling a blanket up to cover her face and then pulling it down.

She's at a great age. She is sleeping better most of the time. The other night she woke up at midnight while I was at work, and she didn't go back to sleep until I got home at 3:30 and put her back to bed. She's been eating more solids lately too. She loves cottage cheese. So do I.

The learningist baby ever.

I got scolded today by my cousin Maren for not blogging enough. So, I guess I will try and be better about it. To make up for it, here are some videos.

Playing in the fall leaves.

That girl of mine is learning at an astonishing rate. She pulls herself up on anything and everything. She will also balance on one arm to lean down and pick up a toy. She gets herself up and she can get herself back down again. She will sit on the floor and entertain herself for an hour laughing and screeching.

I got her some baby crackers and the baby equivalent to Cheetos. It may have been a mistake to introduce her to those things but she loves 'em. The best part is when you can hear her crunch them on her gums. She grips them in her fingers (which turn orange) and gets them all slimy and then they stick to her arm/hand/face/hair. Usually half of them end up on the floor.

She loves Peek A Boo also and figured out how to play even when she is standing in the crib. Amazing.

If I may talk about myself for a moment, my current obsession is Shazam, which for those of you who don't know, is an application on my phone. It recognizes songs by listening to them. Then it tags the song with the artist and song name and you can go right to iTunes to buy it. Some songs that I LOVE lately are Singapore by Tom Waits, Love Long Distance and Dimestore Diamond by Gossip, Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Last Dance by the Raveonettes, and Sexy Bitch by David Guetta.

I dressed Amelie in this cute dress this morning and it lasted about 10 seconds. She got Cheetos all over it. Cheetos and pureed baby food.

I love when she chills on my lap and is still, it doesn't happen very often.

This is a hat that my mom got Ami, it is a crocheted owl and damn cute.

Lastly, I would like to wish my friend Krista a happy 29th birthday.

Fall Weather

I've been in a real crafty mood lately. Today I made a banner out of old newpaper, thread and some feathers. Yesterday I spray painted some picture frames and ordered some new photos to go in them. I have ants in my pants to hang them and some shelves that I got. I also want to get back to sewing, or rather, get back to learning to sew. I want to do some needlepoint (but not grandma needlepoint, cool needlepoint)

Spray painting is harder than I thought it would be. What I want to do is just spray it on real thick...that's not how it's done though. Leaves big drip marks. I'm figuring it out.

It has recently been super nice out. 50's 60's, fall in November. It made for a nice evening to get all those leaves out of our yard. We only have 1 tree, and it's barely even in our yard. We had 4 massive piles of leaves in the front yard. We haven't even raked the back yard yet... Anyways, Ami loved the leaves.

My cousin Maren came over to play with Amelie, Abby and Sam while I got a massage the other day. It was pretty much awesome. I needed that.

I've been making dinners again. Thanks to Rachel Ray, Martha Stewart, and their magazines that have pull out recipe planners for the week I have managed to purchase, cook and eat some good food. Perfect for me. You do all the work, I reap the benefits.

Love life

I am convinced that I bore the cutest, most beautiful little girl in the world. Seriously, I'm not even kidding. You want proof...here she is in her Halloween Fairy costume.

When we are at the store or anywhere in public, people always stop and comment on her cuteness. It is crazy. The other day, some woman stopped and took a photo of Amelie with her cell phone. Are you kidding me?! Really though, it's great and I love it. I cannot believe that I GREW her. Incredible.

We were at the cabin for Halloween. We measured her in the basement where my parents measured us when we were kids. She was 24 inches tall.

There has been so much happening lately and I have had so little time to blog about it. Clint, Brenda and their kids came for a visit. We had a lot of fun and I'm really glad I finally got to meet their super cute sons.

Amelie is a pro-crawler, "talks" a lot, pulls herself up on EVERYTHING, claps, eats all sorts of solid foods, LOVES meeting new people (and babies), love Toby the dog and Lucy the cat, and says Mama. I'm so proud.

Also, check out the new chair that my dad loves. He fell asleep in it this weekend and we thought about ejecting him from it.

Yeah, it's an old man chair, but he's not really that old yet so it's mostly funny.

Besides constantly staring at my pretty baby, her and I have done some thrifting/antiquing. I have gotten some really great picture frames and shelves for super cheap. I'm going to paint them and hang them in our house.

We had some time to hang some artsy items in Ami's room and laid out a plan to hang some more stuff in the rest of the house. It's incredible how time slips away from you. Last week, while pretty baby was napping I had time to rake the front yard into 4 HUGE piles of leaves. Piles that we still haven't had the opportunity to bag. We also need to mow.

I just gotta say, I'm so glad that I did a lot of life living while I was young. Really enjoyed my youth. Throughly too. I had TONS of fun. For me, 28 was the perfect age to have a baby. I'm 29 now (which is weird because I feel way younger), and super happy...regardless that I never get a full nights sleep or any time to myself without sacrificing my own sleep. I had fun, did some crazy shit, lived it up with my girls, and had some incredible experiences with Tyler. I really appreciate the fact that I was able to have my own fun early in life, so that I could really enjoy my life now.