Like Joey from the TV show Blossom...

W H O A !

... only 6 more followers till 100!


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And with that, I leave you with this song which, upon first hearing it a couple weeks ago, annoyed the shit outta me:



But now?

Now I actually get weepy when I hear it!!

WHY?!

Because I hear it when I'm in the car and I'm always in the car with my Lovie and so now I think of her because she's so incredibly awesome like the girl in this song.

My girl, my love, my life, my everything.

Writer's Workshop: My Childhood Neighborhood

The first 12 years of my life was spent inside the same 3 bedroom, 1 bath brick bungalow home in a nearby suburb of Chicago. We lived on a one way street going North, just two blocks away from a very busy street (and two blocks west of another one). Every house on the block pretty much looked the same – most were all brick with big open front porches and the same amount of grass in the front outlined by the cement walkway up to the house, in front of the house, and going to the back of the house (otherwise known as “the gangway”).

sorta what it looked like-  only the houses were farther back

this was what the porch sorta looked like

We lived about five houses in from the corner house where six kids or so lived with a lot of freedom. They cussed loud and played harder. Our neighbors directly to the left of us, Mr. and Mrs. B (as we called them) were awesome. They had a boy, Scotty, who was younger than my sister (I’m the youngest, she’s 7 years older) yet older than my brother (he’s 3 years older). They always let us come over and Mrs. B always had regular sized candy bars she’d give us: $100,000 bar specifically comes to mind! The folks to the right of us were old. And their porches were covered in green felt and their lawn was always so perfectly manicured.

I guess it was a kid-friendly neighborhood for the most part.

I remember getting diarrhea (ah the things you remember eh) while playing with a friend of mine down the block and to the right of us. I’ll never forget it because my parents left my sister in charge of me and I was supposed to be home but was instead playing with this friend and eating a bunch of shit and then paying for it. I remember I was pooping my brains out in the bathroom and she came up to the door and was all, “Hey I got a funny thing to share: 'Diarrhea, ugh ugh. Diarrhea, ugh ugh. Some people say it’s funny but it’s really green and runny.'” I begged her to stop singing the song as I was sure it was making matters worse for me. I was sure I was dying and begged her to get my sister. By the time my sister came, I was finally done shitting and she, my sister, made fun of me all the way home and then some. God my sister hated me so.

Across the street and to the right a bit was another friend of mine. I think she was a year older than me and she had two younger brothers. I don’t recall exactly but I think her name may have been Jennifer. I do remember that she went to public school while I went to Catholic and I was always so envious of all the different clothes she got to wear while I was always stuck in the same ugly plaid uniform. Hers was actually the first sleepover birthday party I ever attended, and the first time I remember staying up all night long. She shared my love of junk food and we’d ride our bikes to the corner store and buy Tostitos (they had just come out and were a huge hit) and Pepsi and chow down.

Rex and Timmy were two brothers that lived in the house across the alley from us. Their names can never be forgotten because they were two brothers very close in age that were constantly getting into trouble and staying out later than they were supposed to, and their names being screamed out could be heard most summertime evenings. Rex’s name was always called first, followed by Timmy’s. I wasn’t really allowed to play with them much because they swore a lot and were pretty wild.

The block north of us contained homes of other friends, the Dotson’s (fake name just in case). They had a girl, Velvet, and two boys whose names I don’t recall. I would play with Velvet a lot and she was actually my brother’s first girlfriend. I believe they went out for ice cream or something. I’ll never forget the Dotson’s because their parents were very strict and would beat them… sometimes with us in the house!! I don’t recall any beatings done in front of us, but I can recall a time when Velvet was summoned to get her dad’s belt (!!!) and go into the other room. Awkward much?

The fondest thing I remember about the neighborhood was the summer we all (the kids) got together to have a neighborhood water balloon fight. There were kids of all ages running around screaming in hysterics while others were more Ninja-like. There were small water balloons and HUGE ones. It was a pretty crazy day and since I was a little badass tomboy, I taunted my neighbor Scotty to try getting me with one of HUGE water balloons (I’m talking huge – like a basketball… could only carry one at a time and had to hold it and toss it with two hands!). He waited until he was in our backyard and had enough of my antics. I started running through the gangway toward the front of the house to get away but wasn’t as badass or fast as I thought. The water balloon got me so hard that it knocked me down and onto my knees. I swear my little 10 year old body skidded on the cement. I still have the scar today. It’s about the size of a quarter.

Ah, memories. : )


The timing of this is pretty ironic as we move tomorrow and the husband was just commenting how it was kind of sad to be leaving the home we brought Lovie into when she was just days old. It’s not like she would remember it though so it’s all good. Someday my Lovie may reflect on her childhood neighborhood though, and I can’t help but wonder what she’ll remember… I pray they will be good memories and that some will include her old mom and pops.

Welcome Wordless Wednesday: Video

*I should probably note that the smokin' hot woman on the bed with my Lovie is NOT me. Pffft, I wish!!

now that she's crawling and standing and getting into everything at all times everywhere we turn...

I really think it might be a good idea to get her into some shoes.

Well, the order came in from last week and wouldn't you know it? Both pair are too big! Argh. And not just a little... though I guess they may work for a Halloween costume- if she were a clown! Boo. I'm so ticked off. I hate spending money and having to wait to use whatever it is I spent money on.

But whatever. They'll fit at some point. Better to be too big than small, right?

Well... I was looking around the interwebz and came across THESE.

How stinkin' cute. The color, the material, the everything!

I want a pair.

For me.

Ok and for Lovie. Espeically for my Lovie.

I'm still standing

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah

I'm still standing!

* imagine Elton John singing, if you will *

Bummed

So this is my third post for the day. How is this even possible? Or, more importantly, WHY?

Ugh. Well my first post is a rant of sorts and my second post was quick and easy and now this one is because I'm bummed. I miss my baby doll!!!

While this isn't a picture from today, right now, it's what she's doing. She napped for a whopping hour again at daycare. So she's been up since 5am with one tiny nap. If I can barely function on that little sleep, how is a 7.5 month supposed to?

So she's napping. Like she did yesterday when we got home. And most likely she'll sleep until closer to midnight whereupon she'll wake to eat something and then go back to sleep again.

I miss my baby so much!!

Ugh. Anyway. Since I started the youtube thing (see my last post), here's the very first video I have of my sweet darling- just a couple days after learning to crawl (the video below is from yesterday):



I know, it just doesn't get much cuter than that! Now do you see why I miss her so much?!??

1st Youtube experience

I really need to wash those floors, eh. Good thing we're moving in a week. ;)

Things that Get my Goat

I'm not sure what the dealio is but lately I've been very passionate about some baby-related things. Well duh, lady, you got a 7.5 month year old!  Uh huh, but I'm not one of those parents who've done all this reading and research during my pregnancy; I'm not someone that has an idea of the way things should be done and stick with it. I like to think that I'm pretty easy go lucky with all that stuff.


Cloth diapers: Ugh, I just don't have the time, energy, or care enough, frankly, to do it. Sorry. I'll take Pampers with that awful Dry Max, please.

Homemade baby food: Well sure, that'd be great, but we rarely eat anything homemade as it is so when the hell am I gonna pull out the food processor to grind up some shit that I can just get from a jar? Hell, I don't think we even have a food processor or a blender or the like!

Pacifier:  Well yes, please. She's a baby after all... but she only has it at nap/bedtime and in the car. That is it. You won't see my Lovie crawling after the cats... with a pacifier in her mouth. You won't see her jumping in the jumperoo... with a pacifier in her mouth. You won't see her playing with her toys... with a pacifier in her mouth. I'm not sure where my passion for this came from, but I cringe anytime I see a baby who can play on his own with a pacifier in his mouth.  It really bothers me for some reason.  And when I see a child who can walk and talk with a pacifier in his mouth, I want to scream.  I could care less what it does to his mouth or teeth, I'm just solely bothered by seeing an older child with one during playtime because to me, it SCREAMS that the parent or caretaker is pacifying the child and not wanting to hear from them. And that saddens me immensely.

Television?  NO. This is the baby-related thing I'm probably the most passionate about. Not so much that I go preaching to others about it (although is that what I'm doing with this blog post?), but I do have my opinions about it and while I really do like to think I'm open minded and try to see both sides of the coin, when it comes to babies watching TV, nothing I've heard or read can change my mind that babies who cannot talk and walk should NOT be watching TV.  I have no facts, no references to back up my thoughts, but I really feel strong about this one.

Oh but Babyboy loves watching his Baby Einstein videos! BULL.SHIT. Babyboy never knew something like that existed until you sat his happy ass in front of the tv to watch it. Why on earth would a parent do that to a baby?!? I cannot fathom this and I'm being dead serious. And I don't want to hear that it's educational either. Give me a fucking break. So then my parents and generations before them (remember I'm old) who grew up without TV are stupid- since they didn't have these "educational programming" available to them??  Sorry, but the only reason a baby is watching TV is because his parent or caretaker is lazy and doesn't want to interact with a baby.  That's the ONLY reasoning I can come up with.  That, or it quiets a fussy baby.

Now before everyone gets their panties all bunched up, I'm not going to pretend that my child doesn't watch TV- because the fact of the matter is that I, myself, LOVE Television!! Therefore the TV is usually on when we're home... but I promise you that Lovie has NO interest in it and watches nothing more than 30 seconds here and there.  Maybe my Lovie really is the most brilliant child to exist, but I really think she's like most babies who just want to explore and play and touch and put things in their mouth.  So on the extremely rare occasions she might get sucked into the sights on the TV, it gets shut off and she happily moves onto her next fixation.

Oh but Babygirl loves watching Dora in the morning while I get ready for work.  Uh huh, RIGHT.  Again, how the hell does she know she loves watching it unless you put her there in the first place?! Sure she's gonna get sucked in to it and be quiet for 20 minutes so you can get ready, but why can't she just play in her crib or pack N play instead?  Again, maybe my Lovie is just that awesome and brilliant that she has the ability to do this - to entertain herself in the crib in the mornings with a couple stuffed animals, some links, a book, and her mobile moving and the music softly playing. 

I don't know.  It just really gets my goat when I hear parents of babies say how much their little one loves Elmo or Dora when the only way that's possible is if they're being sat in front of the TV nearly every day to watch it.  And that, like the three year old with the pacifier, saddens me greatly when every day brings something new to be discovered for these young, growing minds yet they're moved in front of the TV for part of it!!


And now I'm off to go buy my Lovie a BOOK. ; ) : D

Intervention

I need help.

I can't seem to say No to a good bargain when it comes to getting something I need to get.  I try not to buy frivolously or without purpose as we just don't have the kind of funds to allow for that kind of shopping; generally I shop with a mission, a purpose, a specific item(s) in mind.

But this week... this week, I've really pushed it.

On MONDAY I bought Lovie this piano from Leap Frog:

I couldn't NOT buy it. It was on clearance through Leap Frog, and I had a 25% off coupon on top of that! My reasoning for buying without a purpose: I've been noticing the past couple weeks how Lovie seems to really gravitate and enjoy playing with toys she can manipulate into making noise so when I saw this deal, I couldn't resist.

Then on TUESDAY, I bought this toaster from Crate and Barrel:

But it's not for our household. It's for the daughter of a friend (how the fuck old am I that I can say that... that I was invited to the wedding of a friend's daughter?!? DEAR GOD!) whose wedding we can't attend next weekend because we'll be in the midst of moving.  This, too, was on sale (and on their registry) so Yay.

Yesterday/WEDENSDAY I finally made a purchase I've been wanting to do for some time now, but just couldn't justify it- until now. I got these for Lovie from shoes.com:

And I can't wait to get them and slap them onto her itty bitty feet!  They were on sale, plus I had a coupon for 30% off, plus free S&H. How could I resist?!? I also ordered a pair of orange CROC-like shoes for next summer for a whopping $5.

And today/THURSDAY... today I've spent more than I have all week when I purchased a ton of clothes from OldNavy.com:

But again, I couldn't pass up the deal... and to help justify the purchase, I only bought Lovie items that were already on sale (the stuff for myself wasn't on sale- boo!).

I need help. If I continue to buy like this, I'm going to be in DEEP trouble.

But hey, at least Lovie'll look cute as ever! ; )

Welcome Wordless Wednesday

the new place

When you first walk into the place from the front, you enter this little foyer type of area and can't help but notice the hugest living room known to man to the right. Like, it's so big I'm not sure how we'll see the 46 inch (or however big it is) TV when we're sitting on the couch. Oh but not to worry because there's no more sitting on the couch allowed since she is ev.ery.where these days. : )

Off of the Living room are french doors leading to a small sun room which was made to be a dining room. The prior tenants were using it as an office and we'll be using it as a play room. Weeee. How badass is it that Lovie will be playing and giggling and crawling and standing and jabbering away in her own play room with a huge ass (fancy? tacky?) chandelier up above? Ha.

So that's to the right of when you first walk in and to the left is what really made me want the place... behold the longest hallway known to man:

this view is actually from the back of the house, standing just outside of the master bedroom (left doorway) in the hallway in front of the kitchen

Tell me you can't envision a little one crawling (and soon, I'm sure, walking/toddling/running) up and down the hallway. What fun, no? Who needs the outdoors when the indoors can be your playground? (That's what us city folk use as an excuse to living somewhere with no yard.)

And because I don't think the above picture really displays the vastness of this hallway, I've Painted it up a bit below.

So now, who's gonna help us pack??? Two weeks from today, we should be in the new place.

Funky Friday

Not sure if it’s this horrendously, horrifically hot summer we’re having…

Not sure if it’s the fact that I’ve had cold symptoms now for two weeks…

Not sure if it’s the fact that I feel so tired all the time…

Not sure if it’s the fact that we have to pack up and move in two weeks…

Not sure what it is exactly, but I feel like I’m in a poopy funk of sorts.

Boo.

Welp, Happy Friday the 13th anyway! ; )

Welcome Wordless Wednesday: My Life

runny nose, drool, and all!

Ketchup!!

"One day there were three tomatoes walking down the street, a mama tomato, a daddy tomato and a baby tomato. Baby tomato is walking too slowly, so the daddy tomato goes back, steps on him and says 'ketchup!'"   (Muahahaha I love Pulp Fiction!)

Anywho, seems like I’ve got quite a bit of catching up to do as I've fallen quite behind.

Hahahaha get it?? I've fallen "behind" and it's a picture of my baby doll's butt?! Hahaha..Oy.

But since this is my blog, I’ll catch you up first: Lovie was diagnosed with pneumonia on Friday. Scary, huh? Fortunately it was the end of it and she’s fine now. Last week was pretty rough to say the least. My heart hurt so much for my sweet Lovie. But she’s back – and with a vengeance.

By Wednesday she was sitting up all on her own. We’d put her in the crib to nap, peek in on her, and see her sitting there in the middle of the crib. Little stinker. Then she started latching herself onto the side of the crib rails and peering through the rails (and yelling and/or crying and/or throwing out her paci), as well as trying to peer over the top rail. Needless to say, the crib got lowered Wednesday before bedtime.

Then yesterday, a little after noon, little Miss Thang officially started crawling! My little baby doll is growing so fast, so quickly. I can hardly keep up with it all. By the end of the day, she was crawling over to the jumperoo and trying to lift herself up by grabbing onto one of its legs for support. Oy. And, on the rare occasions she’d allow me to hold her, she’d wiggle her way out of my arms (as I sat my happy fat ass on the couch) so that she ended up with her feet on the floor to stand. All be herself- with the help of my legs and the couch.

We’re in trouble now, eh.

The timing actually couldn’t be better. We finally found an apartment and signed the lease Saturday: a three bedroom, two bath place on the 2nd floor of a two flat. There’s a sunroom which will be Lovie’s play room off the huge-ass living room and a long-ass hallway (with the bed and bathrooms jutting out from it leading to the kitchen) that will, I’m sure, be Lovie’s racetrack where she can cruise to her knees, legs, and heart’s content! We move at the end of the month so these next couple weeks will be quite interesting to try to pack everything up with a crawler on our hands.

Life couldn’t be any sweeter (just please no repeats of last week!)!

Parenting is tough work

taken Saturday before her temperature started rising

I'm currently looking up children songs and lyrics to sing to my baby doll as I've come to truly understand and appreciate that she loves it when I sing to her... almost as much as she loves when we read.  More than that, however, I'm learning what it means (at least what I think it means) when people say Parenting is tough work.

Lovie's been rather sick the past couple of days. She's had a fever since Saturday, and Sunday night it reached its highest at 104 (which is when Momma lost it and started crying- doesn't help that 1/2 hour later I needed a tampon). We took her to the doctor this morning and again she had a 101 fever. My poor, sick Lovie. Doc says one ear looks a little red but doesn't think it's infected yet. His main concerns are the wheezing (she started this yesterday) which may turn into asthma and that this may all turn into pneumonia.

I hate that my child is sick and I can do nothing more than try to ease the tears and screaming.

let me outta here!!

Up until about two hours ago, she hadn't even smiled at us since Sunday's 104 temperature. 

And that's what's hard.  Sure it's difficult to get up every couple of hours, sure it sucks having to give her a bottle of either formula or water to keep her hydrated every couple of hours, sure it's no cake walk to listen to the screams when they're 1/2 an inch from your ear since your baby wants nothing more than to be held most of the time.  But the hardest part is that you can't do much other than be there in an instant, remain calm, and hope that your baby feels better soon.  That's what's hard about being a parent- when they are so uncomfortable that they can't smile at you and all you can do is watch it all.

one of the last smiles we'd see for a couple days :(

Obviously I'm home with her today- like I was yesterday. The hubs finally went in to work today after the doctor's appointment. Tomorrow I'll probably go in to work while he stays with my Lovie. And then I think I'll stay home Thursday and Friday with her.  I love being with her all day long.  She's the absolute light of my life and, like I said, I'm discovering that she loves listening to fun songs that end in YAAAAAAAY with clapping (which I think she's trying to do- so stinkin cute).  And we've read all the books we have several times over as that's been the only things other than singing that keep her scream-free for a while.

Outside from seeing her sooo uncomfortable most of the time, I've thoroughly enjoyed this time with her and it's just a reiteration to me that This is what it's all about. Oh, and yes, Parenting is tough work... when your child is sick at least.