well rested baby is a happy one, right?

Phew. Check out those tabs below that adorable header. Notice anything new? I added two new tabs- one on bedtime, one on napping. Maybe it will help you out, maybe not; nevertheless I’ve been meaning to write about our routines and how I believe it’s because of those routines, that we have such an awesomely happy baby kid pretty much 24/7. Well, something happened yesterday that sparked this mad rush of writing… apparently, daycare is trying to transition my Lovie to one nap a day!


Now, she generally only naps once a day there anyway, but now they’re trying to make it so that that one nap is after lunch. Sigh. And when I asked if they thought I should do the same (they’re doing this because she will be moving to the Toddler Room {TR} in a month, if not sooner and in the TR they all nap at the same time- after lunch), they said it would probably help her adjust better at daycare if we dropped a nap on the weekend.

I thought about all that we’ve done to get Lovie to be the awesome sleeper that she is (and yes, I do realize that much of our success is a result of Lovie being a generally easy baby- we’re not super human or anything!) and this nap situation all the way home after leaving daycare. And then, when I was on the phone with my husband for the two minutes he could spare, I was about to tell him we were going to try to drop a nap when I changed my mind and decided that I’d rather be with a happy baby on the weekends than a miserable one.

Here’s the thing. Lovie naps just fine at home. I’ve long accepted her napping like utter shit at daycare. It’s been happening since day 1 practically! But on the weekends, I have no problem getting her to nap twice a day: once in the morning, around 10 and once in the afternoon, around 3. I’m not a bitch about it either and there have been times when she refused the second nap but she always has that first morning nap without any problems and generally the second nap is without any problems either. She comes to me when she’s tired and starts laying on me and will literally walk to her room after I say, “Come on and get your baby doll so you can take a nap.” Why on earth would I take that second nap away from her? She’s happy. She’s happy and content and fabulous and I’m not sure I want that to stop just so that things can be easier on the folk at daycare.

Besides all that, Lovie adores the TR. She’s been there a handful of times already and loves it and they love her. So I’m sure once she’s in there, she’ll do fine transitioning to one nap a day. It’s not like she’ll just fall asleep while they’re playing. That’s not her. She’s got to be up in the action and the action is with the “big kids” in the TR.

So… I’m keeping things as is at home. It works. And if it aint broke, I aint touching it!

I caved

So I did it last night. I turned on the TV to Sprout specifically so that it could babysit Lovie.

not my pic, not my Lovie, not my TV. i mean, whose tv is that small?

Sigh.

Lovie and I got home and the first thing out of her mouth as we stood outside of the house was, “Pop Pop”. But I had to pee. Badly (again... ever since having her, I can’t hold my pee for nothin’. Really need to get to doing those damn kegals again!). She wasn’t happy with my immediate stop to the bathroom and decided to hand me all the tampons and pads in the drawer before she tried grabbing the Bitch Cat’s tail (we have two cats- one is a Bitch, one is Dumb). When I was done peeing, I realized I had to start on making something for dinner for her as heating up chicken nuggets or meatballs (both premade/packaged freezer items) wasn’t an option for a third night in a row. Plus her high chair was filthy as was her tray and I just knew I needed to get cracking before she started getting hungry in three minutes.

I gave Lovie a couple plastic containers to play with and a straw sippy cup of water. No. She wanted goldfish. Fine. It’s not like I still don’t have to vacuum the other Nemo’s so what’s a couple dozen more? I finally started to clean and she immediately started whining. I ignored and continued cleaning and she started reaching for the damn stove knobs and I said No three million times before I picked her up and, with her legs kicking wildly, moved her away from the stove.

The tears. Oh the tears.

None of this behavior surprised me. It’s not that she behaves this way every day because she doesn’t… unless she’s needing to sleep. And since yesterday was Wednesday and I was at work, she napped for a whopping one hour all day long whilst at daycare. Yippee Skippee to a one hour nap for an almost 14 month old that has to be up at 530 in the morning.

I knew putting her down for a nap was pointless as she was overtired and ready for actual bedtime and not just a nap. So she’d fight me on that and really, why make an already unhappy camper unhappier just to get her out of the kitchen. My poor lovebug!

So.

I did it. I caved.

I placed her on my hip (she immediately stopped crying of course) and walked down the hall and into the living room. I turned on the TV, turned it to 127, ensured that 127 was indeed Sprout, set her down and told her I’d be in the kitchen for a bit if she needed me.

I expected to hear whining and her little paws running after me but halfway down the hallway (it’s a long hallway- an office, two bathroom, and a bedroom are off of it!), I turned around and saw nothing.

I felt bad because I HATE HATE HATE when I see her get sucked into the TV. I hate it. I’ve kept it off all this time and she knows no shows or characters other than the Wiggles (from some videos we’ve watched on youtube). I hate the way the world around her ceases to exist once the TV has got ahold of her- and that’s why it’s very rarely on (notice I didn’t say never? that would just be rude and frankly, I’d have a breakdown without TV!). But, I really needed to get the kitchen in order and dinner made before she had a complete meltdown.

After several minutes without her and with dinner on the stove cooking, I quietly snuck into the living room and peeked around the corner and saw her just standing there watching the TV. I was glad she was OK, but I was sad she was sucked in as much as she was.

After a couple more minutes (during a boring adult commercial I suspect), she came in to the kitchen whining. I asked if she was hungry and she responded with an enthusiastic “mmmm” so I placed her in the high char, loaded up a plate with cheddar broccoli noodles (prepackaged- just add water, milk… though I also steamed some mixed veggies, blended those for a second and mixed it all in together), and girl went to town on dinner.

Afterward, we went to play. The TV was still on and it can be seen from her playroom which is off the living room (the couch separates the two). We played for all of five minutes before she noticed the TV and, like a friggin zombie, walked over to the TV and just stood there watching. I let her for a few minutes, hoping she’d come back to me to play but she didn’t. So I joined her and sat her in my lap for a few minutes before the next commercial.

Then I told her it was bath time and off we went to the bathroom to get that ready.

After bath, it was bedtime (6pm- cuz of that lousy nap), and she slept till 530 this morning.

All in all, she probably watched a total of half an hour’s worth of TV. And in the grand scheme of things, it’s not that much… except that she’s only awake and home for two hours.

Wordless Wednesday

 

I'm kinda tired of Finding Nemo

yeah, nice job trapping the snacks, snack trapper

collection of some found on the floor that i was tired of stepping on and too lazy to bring to the garbage *all the way* in the kitchen

no clue how long those were there- they blend too well with the floor and i swear i just vacuumed saturday!

Bedtime

Heh. I put her down at 630 and started recording at 7ish. You might need to turn the volume up a bit. Ignore the creepy cats.



Finally, after about 40 minutes of partying in her crib... silence. She's so silly.

Yo! Check out my new ride!

no no no no

every day

I may have to put her into daycare for 9 hours every day, Monday thru Friday.
I may feed her food that’s heated up from the freezer and that, more than not, is just regular food and NOT organic.
I may have given her chicken nuggets (a couple times) and a cheeseburger (once) from McDonald’s.
I may have allowed her to have French fries and cookies.
But.

Every day I love her more and more.
Every day I sit with her and play- on her level.
Every day I read to her.
Every day I kiss her, and tickle her, and hug her, and squeeze her, and smother her with affection.
Every day.

And today's every day couldn't come soon enough! (even though i feel like i could sleep for 90 hours straight and i'm coughing up a lung, again, i still cannot wait for today's every day to start)

Firstly, thanks for the kind comments on my last post. I feel hypocritical posting today- from work- after posting what I did last night but the main reason I, myself, blog is to get thoughts out of my head (and sometimes heart) and something happened this morning that I need to express (and posting on my blog isn’t as time consuming and doesn’t seem to slow down the damn network like visiting other blogs, sadly).


It’s my Lovie. She makes me so proud, she really, really does. Sometimes I find myself not liking that I’m proud, though… like, I feel that I should be more sad at times. Sad that she’s doing so awesomely well.

I know that doesn’t make much sense. I mean, who in their right mind is SAD when their child is doing well?!?

crappy cellphone pic from the other day at school...clearly
she wanted me to GTFO as she scoped out what she could
get into that didn't involve her old fart of a mother.

I can try to explain it but I think I need to cut to the chase before you think I’m completely off my rocker: Lovie likes her school. She likes her teachers, she likes her friends. And while this makes me so incredibly happy and proud of my sweet angel for being such a good girl, it makes me sad, too. A sick part of me almost wishes she would miss me more. Why isn’t she crying for me when I leave her? Why does she so easily go to her teachers when they call to her?

The other day when I was picking her up, I was trying to get her coat on and she was more interested in still playing. One of the teachers started talking to her from a couple feet away and spread her arms out and told Lovie to go to her for a hug. And, with me standing right there, Lovie went and hugged this teacher.

Again, I’m really happy that this kind of trust has been built this past year and that Lovie likes it there so much. And I know very well that the reason she’s the way she is is because she knows very well how loved she is and that no matter what we’ll (her dad and I) always be there. I know we’ve spent all of her life (all 13.5 months of it) loving and doting and caring for her in a manner that has enabled her to be ok in certain situations without freaking out. I get that almost a full year of daycare has really helped her socialize and interact with other kids and some adults. That’s why it’s all OK. Those are things I think of when I get this weird feeling that she should be more upset when I leave her like some of the other kids are… because the fact is that she shouldn’t be more upset when I leave her. Not if she’s happy and healthy, not if we’ve been consistent with everything concerning her, not if she’s fully loved on, not if she gets all the attention from us at home... And all of this is, after all, what Lovie knows- and that’s why it’s so easy for her.

She started daycare at 2 months old. Barely. She was so insanely small. She still slept so much. She wasn’t able to sit and play. She just mainly laid there and slept or cried to be fed or to be changed. And the teachers she has today are the same ones that were there nearly a year ago (thankfully). This life of getting up insanely early Monday thru Friday and going to school while her parents are at work is normal to Lovie. That’s all she knows… but she also knows that I pick her up every single day. It’s always me. Always has been and, as far as I can see, always will be. And she knows that I will feed her dinner when we get home and that I will put her to bed. Sometimes dad makes it home in time, but usually not, sadly. She knows this though. It’s normal to her. She knows that when she gets her PJs on and I sing the song I made up over a year ago to the likes of a Christmas song to her that it’s bedtime. She knows that she shuts the light switch off and that when we lay her down and turn on her Seahorse, we’ll be walking out of the room and she is to go to sleep. This is normal to her. There’s not screaming or crying at bedtime in our house. That’s abnormal. She knows that weekends are spent with mommy and daddy playing and laughing and watching Wiggles videos and eating and napping and playing and laughing. This is normal for her. And I know this.

I know that our determination to be consistent with absolutely everything regarding Lovie has enabled her to be such an easy go lucky, adaptable, awesome kid. I really do believe this. Yes, some kids are “easier” than others from early on… but that’s not to say that the parents actions/reactions and attitudes don’t also have a role in this “easy” baby’s life! Lovie wasn’t always “easy”. She wasn’t one of those babies that slept 20 hours a day when she was born. In fact, I wondered where the hell that baby was when I was utterly exhausted day in and day out because of the hours when we couldn’t figure out why she was crying instead of sleeping like everyone elses kid was doing. (Oh and up until two short months ago, Miss Lovie did not sleep thru the night but for a handful of times.) But, we worked with our baby, worked with who she was and what she needed, and made decisions based on her and what she needed from us, and pretty much never swayed from those decisions- just adding to them.

So I totally get it all and I’m so appreciative that she’s turned out, so far, to be so awesome and adaptable and “easy”. I know it would break my heart to hear her scream like some of the other kids. She’s whined a couple times the past couple of months or so and it was really hard to hear and hard to shake once I left and came to work. So I totally get that I should be counting my lucky stars that she likes everyone so much and doesn’t cry because then what?!?

It’s just … hard sometimes.

It’s hard to watch your this little person you've created- this person whom you waited your whole life for, who is your whole life- walk up to someone else and let them scoop her up into their arms. And it’s hard to see that little lady not really react when I leave. Like she did earlier today when I dropped her off: She was all like OK ma, I’m here with my big friends and we’re gonna get down on some cheerios and then play so you can leave anytime you want and I’m all like Wah!

But she's good. She's happy and healthy and ... fucking awesome! And that's what is important and now I feel better. Because now, after writing all that out, I realize how silly it is of me to be sad that she’s HAPPY at school. My big girl. She doesn’t need me so much anymore… too bad for her, I’ll always be here (and/or there)! Even when she’s 13 and 16- and when she finally starts dating at 36. I’ll always be around in some way, shape, or form. So there, Lovie!! :D Take that, my little Chiquita banana!

Soooooo

I'm having trouble viewing blogs at work. My computer there at work (I'm currently home- it's 643pm and Lovie's sleeping, after all) sucks ass. It's gotten out of hand, really. How insanely sloooooooooow everything is there. God I'm so sick of it. But. I need the job so I stick around and do my job.

Well, today I tried staying off the internet to see if things would move faster. They did. Shit. That means no blogging. I knew it was the blogs. Some of y'all have a shitton of crap going on on your blogs. Sometimes (for example) I get blogs that, when I go to close out of it, reopens in tab after tab after tab! It's crazy.

So it's for the best, folks.  Well, my best at least.

All that said, I understand if you want to unfollow me or whatever. I'll try my darndest to visit in the evenings but, well, I sit my ass in front a computer all friggin day long and the last thing I want to do is the same thing when I'm home.

And then there's my Lovie, of course. The absolute light of my life. If she's awake, I'm pretty much by her side playing, feeding, bathing, changing, wiping, tickling... you get the idea.

So yeah. I'll try to post when I can, and I'll try to visit when I can.  Sucks, too, cuz I just joined Twitter and was hoping to find new blogs that way (which I have) but I just can't do it when I'm at work.

Wordless Wednesday

Apparently, I'm human. And shit happens to humans- quite often, really.

Yesterday after dinner, Lovie and I were playing a bit before her bedtime. As I sat on the couch, I snatched her up and into my arms and started giving her a million kisses and nomming on her cheeks and neck as she squealed in delight. She wiggled herself free of my lock and started doing her little sing and dance routine as she jumped up and down and held onto the back of the couch. "You're so silly," I said watching on and laughing. Then she moved ever so quickly and stood by the edge of the couch that would normally meet with the other part of the couch/sectional, but we had a Superbowl Poker party a couple weeks back and in order to turn the tv in a manner so the folk playing cards could see, we had to push the one part of the section back, thereby leaving a part of the couch without a backing...

I'm sure you can see where this is going. Le Sigh.

She stood at the part where the backing disappears and smiled at me and laughed as she continued with her sing and dance. I laughed along with her and stood up to grab her because she was being goofy and moving so fast.

It all happened so quickly, yet I saw everything as if it was in slow motion.

As I got up, she started to fall. The smile from her face instantly disappeared. I wanted to pick the couch up that I was sitting on and whip it over my head and dive down onto the floor to catch her... but I couldn't. There was no time and I'm not superhuman enough to do such a thing.

back of the back of the couch

I ran around the couch to the back and saw that her arms hit first, sort of blocking her head. I waited for the big THUMP as her head hit the hardwood floor (you know, because the fucking carpet is in front of the couch, not behind- argh) but it wasn't as loud as I had anticipated.

Without thinking much about it, I scooped her up as she started screaming (and in hindsight am wondering if I should've let her be and let her get up on her own... isn't that what happens in the movies when someone falls? don't they make them lay still??!) and clutched onto her for dear life. I just held her to me and told her it was OK over and over again as she screamed.

I paced the floor holding her and she never felt so light. She was stuck on me and clutching onto me just as much as I was her. I wanted to scream and cry but instead I told her it would be OK and inside I literally begged that she be OK.

"I'm so sorry, honey," I whispered.

I walked to her bedroom to find her baby doll and once she saw it she clutched onto it and then buried herself back into me... I knew she wasn't bleeding or anything of the sort; I knew the fall wasn't horrifically bad or damaging; but it would've been super duper awesome to make sure... but she wasn't ready and I just held her until she was as I took a seat in my chair next to her crib.

Honestly, the crying lasted all of three or four minutes from the time she fell until she stopped. And when she stopped she looked at me without a tear in her eye, and I told her again how sorry I was...

obv not taken last night (from this past weekend)

...and those eyes just looked at me for a second as if she were assessing if I was telling the truth or something!


Then she slid down off of me with her baby doll, looked at the shelf and grabbed her/our favorite book and gave it to me to read. As far as I could tell there was no blood and no bruises so I scooped her back up and she laid on me while I read and she turned the pages. Then she wanted to play with her shape sorter so we did that for a few minutes before she slid her way back into my lap. She was so tired and I wondered- Do I let her go to sleep? Aren't you supposed to keep them up after they hit their head? But I knew she was tired already before the fall since she had only had one short nap all day.

We never really watch TV with her since we only have a couple of hours a night with her during the week and we're too busy playing, eating, etc with her, but I thought I might see if she would watch some TV and just relax. She did... for about 5 minutes. Then she came back to me wanting to lay on me and that's her way of telling me she's ready for bed.

About 1/2 an hour after the fall, she went to bed very easily- but that's not abnormal for her. As soon as she laid down and I had the chance, I called the husband to let him know what happened and asked his opinion on the sleeping thing. He asked if she had vomited or anything and I told him No. He said that if I called the doctor they would tell me to bring her to the hospital and I asked if he wanted me to do that... but that I really didn't think it was necessary.

I felt awful that this happened, but, when it comes to parenting my child, I do NOT let guilt interfere with my judgement... As a (have to be) working mom, I discarded the Guilt card long ago. It was do that or be sick with guilt over working, putting her into daycare, not giving her homemade baby food, giving her frozen meatballs for dinner, etc etc etc! and I tend to listen to my gut a lot and my gut was telling me she was just fine. I reassured my husband of this and he said he trusted me and that he was sure she was fine, too.

I checked in on her a couple times before bed and made sure to turn the monitor on extra loud but she just slept on through the night like the big girl she is.  And this morning when she woke, she was all, "Hey I'm awake now" that sounds like, "Heeeeey." She's fine. We're fine. I just miss her terribly already.. and it's only been an hour since I left her at school.

And yeah, we're putting the damn sectional back together asap!


P.S. I'm not telling you this because I want pity or I want to be reassured that I'm a good mom. I know I'm a good mom. Hell, I'm not just a good mom; I'm a damn good mom. I don't need this reassurance from anyone- though it's nice to hear, I admit. But really, not the point to this post... Just wanted to share that while I know I'm a damn good mom, it doesn't mean that I don't know that I'm still human and that shit does indeed happen to all of us.

My Valentine

That top one is my submission for My Valentine... absolutely everything about that face makes my heart flutter and skip a beat. My Valentine... my heart... my love... my everything... my life... my Lovie!

It's like she was made to be the poster child of love and Valentine's Day- and it's the lips. Look below for proof... Heart Shaped Lips! : )

Cutest Couple: Love at first sight

Title: Love at First Sight

Saturday. Saturday. Saturday, Saturday.

all before 915am

Dear Lovie

My dear sweet baby doll,

Only half an hour left and I get to come get you. I get to watch your face light up once you’ve discovered I’m standing there, and I get to watch as you run to me. And then I get the honor of being able to scoop you up and into my arms and smother with you kisses!!

Oh how I can’t wait, my love. It’s been a long day and I’ve thought of you throughout it. I wondered if you would be in the Infant Room today or in the Toddler Room (TR) like yesterday.

You’re doing so well in the TR- all the teachers say so and it’s so obvious you love it; hopefully they won’t make you wait the 2 ½ months till your 15 months old to make the move permanent! This morning when the main entrance was frozen and we had to enter through the TR door and you ran to play with the balls, then got upset when I tried giving you a hug and kiss good-bye… that was more than enough proof that you’re ready to be in the TR full time. And I get it, I do… You’re a toddler. You’re a big girl. Your independence is growing by leaps and bounds. But do you really have to snub me that way?

It’s okay, lovebug. You made up for it within minutes when your eyes met mine as I stood by the door ready to leave. I smiled and waved bye bye and your face lit up like it does when I pick you up, and you ran to me the same way you do when I pick you up for the day… and I didn’t hesitate to scoop you up and smother you with kisses either.

Oh the love I have for you, child! I really do wish I could put it into words… but I can’t. I just can’t.

Just know that my love is there for you and with you, always. And every single day, it grows by leaps and bounds.

Xoxo,
Mama

Save or Toss?

As we approach a full year of daycare, I've got quite a bit of stuff to show for it- aside from the huge depletion of money (if we were able to afford daycare this past year, how were we not living in a mansion or something before? i mean WTF were we doing with all the money going to daycare before it went to daycare?!??!?), of course. Mainly, I've got a ton of papers.

First it was her Daily Reports that let me know what time her diaper was changed and if it was W (wet) or BM (poopy aka Bowl Movement) and if BM the was it BML (loose poop); what time she ate and what or how much; if anything such as diapers, wipes, clothing was needed. I started saving them (why?!? i dunno!) and finally tossed them when I came to terms with the fact that not even a grown up Lovie would want to see this stuff. Duh!

Then there's the Accident Reports that told me that she was playing with a toy when one of her "friends" came over and "accidentally" bopped her in the head with a toy and that Ms. gave her lots of "TLC" and held an ice pack on it.  Thankfully, we've only collected a couple over the year.

Next there's the Book Order Forms they give every other month or so rather than every week or whenever they come in. You know, the little pamphlet made on the thinnest paper known to mankind? I think I've opened up one in the past year and ordered none. Oops. Those pretty much got tossed right away. I just don't have the time to look through them, to be honest!

Finally, and most importantly, is Lovie's Artwork. Now this stuff... I love. I do. I know very well that she's not really creating anything; I get that the teacher simply holds her in her lap, grabs her hand, sticks it in paint and then slaps it onto a piece of paper. I get it, I do. I get that Lovie didn't think to make me something personally- like the mug holder I made in Shop Class back in 8th grade for my single dad who never dated or remarried and therefore only had and needed one mug in life.  There really isn't anything personal about this artwork and I really don't think Lovie would be damaged in any way if I just tossed it... but I can't.

I can't get rid of the pieces of paper with random scribbles on it. I can't. And I won't.

I'm not sure if it's because I have absolutely nothing (tangible or memories as my mom's answer is always "I don't remember") from when I was a child or what, but I really want Lovie to know about her young life. These are the absolute best, most amazing days of my life... and, while it's because of Lovie, she won't remember any of it!! How sad is that??!

I guess by holding on to this infant artwork, I'm hoping that it may spark some memory in me to share with Lovie when she's older... Or maybe she'll ask questions about when she was a kid and I'll be able to actually have something to show her from when she was little.

I know I was loved and wanted. I know this... but... I dunno. For some reason, it's extremely important to me that Lovie know just how much she was loved and wanted. The truth of the matter is that it's pretty impossible to convey this into words ... the love I have for her. So maybe by hanging on to some of the "little" things, it will help.

Anyway, rather than just toss all her artwork in a box and pray it will hold up for years to come, I decided to use it as ... well... art (some individual pieces also hang in her room, the bathroom, the living room, etc):

These hang in the hallway between the kitchen and her bedroom- the french doors on the left of this photo is her room.

I actually got this idea from a blog I saw one day a while back. And, sadly, I'm not sure whose blog, which sucks and I'm really and truly sorry to you if it was yours (just let me know so I can acknowledge it here!) I thought it was brilliant when I saw it- she used wire, I believe, to hang the pictures on... and she screwed them in to those eye hook things (the ones you hook through and then screw into the wall).  I remember the line was more straight than my sagging one. Mine is just a ribbon cord I found on clearance at Hobby Lobby tied onto push pins.

Wordless Wednesday: Who's this happy at 630am?

linking up withe LeeAnn, Rylie, and Bryce

self portrait: glasses and the stink eye



I'm wearing glasses...Lovie's wearing a stink eye. Heh.
And we're all going to pretend that the white hair on my head is blonde. Yeah... blonde.



My Big Girl

Guess who was playing Big Girl yesterday?

so cute to see a bunch of toddlers sitting at a table and eating!

Lovie spent the day in the Toddler Room yesterday. She went in at 930 and stayed till I picked her up. She had lunch, napped (for 2.5 hours!), and ate her snack in there (just after I arrived). Like a big girl. With the other 15 month+ olds.

My big girl.

The three teachers in there seem to really love her (one of them even got the 6 dreadlocks out of her hair! and no, the dreadlocks weren't purposely made- the girl just has some crazy hair that i'm still learning how to deal with)- and her them. All of them had such great things to say about her... mainly that she seems to really like it in there, which really doesn't surprise me. Even when she was itty bitty and I'd drop her off in her infant carrier, she always seemed interested in what the "big kids" were doing. You know, the kids that could run around and play and communicate.  And now she's one of them! CRAZY!

My big girl!!

monday

1. Notice anything new around here? Look up. See the new header? I did it all by myself!! Whatcha think? It's OK if you don't care, but I'm pretty gosh darn proud of myself.

2. I love me some Superbowl Sunday. Not because of the game itself because I generally couldn't care less about it, but because it's the one day a year it's acceptable to eat shit food and gamble. Weeee. I love playing poker. But really, I love winning when playing poker. Add chips, dip, and sugary pop (I'm not a booze drinker) and I'm in heaven. This year we hosted (so we could get Lovie in to bed at a decent time) so that also means we had a super clean house!

3. I'm tired.

4. Lovie. Ack, this child is just so insanely awesome. I look at her and wonder how on earth I ever existed before she was a part of my life. My world. She's become quite the snugglebunny lately and I'm really enjoying it. After naps, sometimes, all she wants to do is snuggle on me- and I can't get enough of it!! When she woke from her second nap yesterday, it was shortly before the guests were to arrive. I had just about everything ready and I was dressed so we snuggled. For 20 minutes she layed on me as I sat in the chair beside her crib. I sang to her, I rocked her, we played keep away with her binky, I gave her a gazillion and three kisses... ack!! This child is just SO insanely awesome.

Snowcation

The Blizzaster of 2011 left me with a bit of a Snowcation. And it was glorious. Two full days with my Lovie. I was in absolute heaven. The playing, the laughing, the eating, the baking, the cooking, the bathing, the dressing, the living. Heaven.

Outside it snowed from Tuesday afternoon until Wednesday afternoon. I believe the official snowfall was like 20 inches. Hot diggity that's a lot of snow. I was hoping for double that, but 20 inches is pretty much a shitton to deal with... especially when you live in a city with 3 million other folk. I mean, where do you put all the snow??

Mine is the covered car in the center- 1230pm, 2/2/11. Looks like fun, no??


Inside, we played. And laughed. And played some more. Lovie took two naps both days during our snowcation. And she slept past 7am both mornings, too. It really was a fabulous time.


Yes that's plastic on our windows. This is inside Lovie's playroom which is really a Sunroom- a room with windows facing east, north, and south and the entrance to the room is on the west side. It gets COLD in there- particularly when the wind chills are -20, eh. It also gets HOT in there in the summer but it's a great space (with a now leaking ceiling- ugh).



I'm entering this one above into and then, she snapped's Show your Photo Friday challenge.
I just really like the way this came out- the reflection of the window and
the outside in the french door behind her, the wonderment in her eyes, the
sun falling onto her face and shoulder... ack, I just love this child, let's be real, here! :)

Here's my little lady uncovered at 330pm. All I can say is that looking down onto snow doesn't really give you the right idea of really how MUCH snow there is. It was after an hour of digging her out that I decided, my Snowcation would be extended into two days. IF I was able to make my way out to the main streets, I was uncertain of how I would get back into my parking spot- if it was even available.





I don't think I took any (or many) pictures from day 2 of our Snowcation. That's when we discovered the playroom has a leak from the ceiling. While it's a tiny leak, there's no way I was gonna let Lovie play in there so we closed it off and spent the day in the living room. We still had tons of fun. Ack, this girl. She makes me smile SO much.

And today? Today I miss her more than words can even say. Today I feel like it's my first day back from maternity leave and that, my friends, sucks big hair balls.