Alton

The Thermochemical Joy of Cooking

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I'm having the hardest time making up titles. Anywho. The week is over! Yay! I woke up at 5am this morning. Damn, that is early. Luckily, T wasn't all the way awake and we just laid her on the couch and she went back to sleep. So I went back and snuggled into bed next to my wonderful family. Erich woke up before me and took care of T while I slept a bit longer. (Taking care of her was basically giving her a couple of stickers and turning on cartoons, but hey beggars can't be choosers.) We had a late breakfast at 8:30 and then headed off to a meeting of The Milk League. It was a nice meeting and T was able to play with other kids which I think is important for her. Since her old babysitter had a ton of kids there, I don't want her to get lonely here without any other kids her age. One of the other Mommies brought a "Mommy's helper" (a teenager) and that girl was sent straight from the heavens! She kept all of the older kids entertained and it didn't get loud or anything like last time. We were able to talk continuously for about an hour and a half. Although it wasn't about the topic this time, Bringing Home Baby, it was super excellent and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I think I am starting to connect with another lady too and we are getting along nicely. Beautiful. :)

We came home and I made lunch and then struggled to get T to take a nap. I appreciate that this four year old takes a nap. Believe me. Except that her nap and Magdalena's "schedule" are colliding. I've never set a schedule for Magdalena, she has sorta created her own and I just follow her flow. T needs me to lay down with her to fall asleep since she is used to laying down with other kids. I could lay down and nurse Magdalena with her but I'm not comfortable nursing her laying in bed with T. I'm not quite sure why. T is having trouble with the concept of breastfeeding. The LLL library wasn't there today, so I wasn't able to get any books for her that I know are in there. Her mom is going to talk to her tonight.

When T did fall asleep (around 2:30) she actually slept until 5:30! I went upstairs to make sure she was alive. She must have been really tired, cause she usually only lays down for 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours. During that period of time I worked on dishes and picked up the living room. I also went through some totes and produced two full totes for Erich to sell in his Garage sale tomorrow. (We don't have a garage so does that make it more of a Rummage sale?) Anyways, I'm hoping that will make him a happy boy.

In other news, Magdalena has almost mastered that whole sitting thing. She only stays for about three minutes, but it is with her hands on her knees and looking up. I'm so proud of her! She loves to stand too. She isn't a fan of being on the floor and I wouldn't be surprised if she skipped the whole crawling phase and went straight for walking. :)

Okay I should go shine my sink. I also want to call Alicia since it is after 9 now. :)

Didn't I say no more pictures? 

Mother, must you bother me with that stinking camera again? 

Don't ya hate when you kick all the books out of your reach? 

Long Day

Yesterday was a good day, but very long. When T got here she chalked on the sidewalk and watched some cartoons while I made breakfast. After breakfast, she played with her tea set while Erich backed up the Commodore that he sold on eBay. We all left and went to the post office to have it weighed then went to the big park and the library. I checked out some books for her and the Lion King 1/2. When we got back, Alicia and her kids arrived and they all played. Alicia and I made a very kid lunch, hamburgers, baked beans, Mac n cheese, and some cookies. After lunch they went outside and played with sidewalk chalk some more. They were getting a bit restless to run, so we took them to the playground behind a school about two blocks away and let them run wild for about 45 minutes. This was a great idea and I imagine I'll be doing that almost daily. I need to remember a blanket or the sling though to nurse Magdalena. I took her in the stroller so she would have a place to sleep and I'd have a place to set her if I had to go rescue someone. There were other kids on the playground with some older ladies watching them and I felt uncomfortable without a blanket.

T instantly fell asleep when she layed down for her nap. After she left I watched "Under the Tuscan Sun" which I borrowed from the library. I cleaned up a bit and Magdalena and I were in bed at 9pm last night. I just got up about half an hour ago and Gracy has gone out to pee and is eating on the deck. Ella is asleep upstairs under the bed and Erich and Magdalena are still sleeping too. I've taken a shower (yay an accomplishment) and now just waiting for T to get her today. I'm starving.

All this playing has worn Magdalena out. I think it's time for a nap. 

Can you tell how busy I've been today? 

Alilcias kids and T busily working. 

Magdalena and Alicia model the new hat.  

What time is it?

My dear dear friends I sit here writing this entry at 7am! I've been up for over an hour now. Today is the first day T is over here to stay the day. I'll be in bed tonight at 8pm. :) I had weird dreams all night last night. I dreamed I was in a tornado last night. I think with all of this tornado craziness that has been going on in Indiana has sunk deep into my brain. I also dreamed that during the tornado I accidentally tore some dudes earring out and then my ear hurt as a consequence. This is most likely because my dear dear daughter found my earring the other day with her tiny fists. My friends, having my earring ripped out of my ear is my very. greatest. fear. Next to things like death and car accidents and Mother Natures little mishaps. Needless to say it was an intense 30 seconds trying to unpry her little fist.

I'm now waiting for Erich to wake up with the baby and come down so we can have breakfast. I'm a hungry girl. I never eat breakfast, but I think if I got up this early everyday (which I have to now) then I'll be having some breakfast. I predict my milk supply increasing with three balanced meals a day. The really ironic part of being up so early is that I called Alicia and she wasn't awake! That is simply crazy I tell you. I feel like my sentences this early are coming out in a very weird way. Oh well. I must go root around in the kitchen.

Magdalena enjoys her first solo swing ride at the park. 

This picture was from our visit with Erichs grandparents and parents on Memorial Day. Notice that Erich, his dad, and grandpa all look alike. I know what I have to look forward to! :) 

Magdalena enjoys a spring day with her Daddy. (she is saying "whee!") :) 

Sunday

Wow, what a week. Erich has been home the entire week so it has really thrown off my perception of time. Lets see, what did I do this week?

Well, one day this week I went out to see Alicia and my cousin Teresa. I picked up the pictures that we had done with the triplets (which are pretty darn awesome!). We all spent some lovely time together at which point Alicia and I headed off to our favorite destination-- Walmart. (We don't really enjoy Walmart, it just seems that we always go there! It is easier ((sometimes)) because we can divide and conquer.) Anyways, after we went to Walmart we went back to her house where she waxed my manbrows eyebrows. Ouch! But as Alicia said, I look more like a girl now. Gee thanks. :)

Erich spent a ton of time with Magdalena this week. She is responding much better to him too. He has also been working on his online classes a lot and has discovered the joys of a four and half month old at the keyboard. This child wants. to. type. I came in here one time to find him watching a lecture while notepad was open and she was typing up a storm! (and loving it! She has a giant smile on her face!) Another time I heard a lecture going with this odd lullaby type music going on. I came in to find him showing her snippets of Baby Einstein videos while watching his lecture. Too cute!

Another really great thing happened this week. Erich and I have been skimming by the seat of our pants financially since the loss of a second income. My other cousin called to tell me she was sick of her babysitter who does nothing and was wondering if I'd watch her daughter, T. So I jumped on the opportunity and it is going to be great. That extra few hundred dollars a month will be a tremendous help! She'll be going to preschool in the fall, but I have plans for us to work on writing her name. We're also going to take walks to the park and library and hopefully join the summer reading program at the library. I need to check on the storytimes for both girls too. They offer a Lorax storytime and a Tiny Tots (ages 6mo to 24mo). We also have a tiny pool (actually it's pretty freaking big) on the deck so both girls can play in that. If I'm even luckier we might do some lessons in dusting, sweeping, and washing diapers. Ha! Just kidding. I expect we'll keep busy and hopefully provide more entertaining blog entries!

Erichs parents went to Missouri Friday and brought back his paternal grandparents. They have yet to meet Magdalena, so they are coming tomorrow for lunch. We're having butterfly cut porkchops, peas, mac n cheese, homeade dinner rolls, and baked potatoes. Cinnamon steusel and coffee for desert. I've been busy trying to put our house back together because flylady flew right out of my window when I was about 8 1/2 months pregnant and she hasn't shown back up again. Maybe with the new babysitting and having to get up earlier and take less naps **sniff** I'll achieve more around the house. :)

Okay, more diapers call my name and we're going to walk to the video store to get a video and procrastinate from cleaning take a break from cleaning.