Filling In The Blanks

I'm exhausted.  This weekend was pretty good.  Magdalena and I went up to see Grammy (my mom)  and Grampy with Nana and Pa and enjoyed a steak dinner out.  Yum.    Erich went to his brothers house to help him do a landscaping job.  Instead of coming back with cash, he came back with gravel.  Nice gravel though that I think he'll be incorporating into the ongoing driveway project. 

Saturday evening we joined our friends at the driven.  We watched "the Bourne Supremacy" and " Spiderman 2."  Fun fun, though very very late.  We got home around 2am.  Luckily I had given the diva a bath prior to leaving.  She had also had some motrin because I assumed her teeth were bothering her (and she was running a fever of about a 100 or so).  I hate giving her something when I don't really know what is bothering her, but I tried nursing, patting, bouncing, swinging (outside which she loves) and nothing helped.  She even cried a bit in the bathtub which is so not like her.  She slept from about 8 till midnight then woke to nurse. 

Sunday I went to get groceries.  I stopped in at Bed Bath and Beyond and bought a stockpot! yay! I've wanted a stockpot for a while.  It's a small one, 8 quarts, but with the mail in rebate and coupon I had, it only cost me $5.  It's big enough though that I'm having a hard time finding a proper home in the kitchen for it.  I also made a trip to the evil store and Sams Club for some laundry stuff.  Magdalena and I were both exhausted from the numerous in and out of the car routines we had to perform.  We came home and chilled and watched the end of a movie with Erich.  A bit later, Erich and I took the exersaucer out onto the porch and he weed eated the yard while I mowed (we were both watching M).  We then took a gigantic walk on a perfect evening.  The temperatures have cooled off considerably and haven't really gone above 70 since Saturday.  So it was actually cold on our walk.  It was very odd. 

As of Monday, T is back with us fulltime.  Well, 200 plus hours a month.  It's exhausting.  She threw a huge fit in the middle of the library (complete with screaming) and screamed even more when I dragged her out of the library and ended our visit early.  I can not stand a 4 year old child screaming in the middle of a library.  We had a long talk about how you listen when adults ask you to do things and that it isn't appropriate to throw tantrums.  We also talked about how four year old girls getting ready to go to preschool in a few weeks shouldn't throw tantrums and that is unacceptable behaviour at school.  We were supposed to go to swimming lessons after that (they were cancelled because it wasn't 70 degrees outside) and that during swim lessons I didn't want to even see her hesitate when she was asked to do something.  She was perfectly behaved the rest of the day and even asked for seconds at lunch and asked me what kind of macaroni and cheese she was eating because it was deelicious.  She cracks me up.

I also baked some bread over the weekend, cut a cantaloupe, and made PB cookies. I really really need to make some tortillas.  I finished up all the corn tortillas I made last time by making tortilla chips.  I should make the flour tortillas tonight so we can have cheese quesadillas tomorrow for lunch. 

Yesterday I cleaned the LR from top to bottom and dusted lots of stuff that miss the usual go round.  I even climbed on a chair and dusted my fan!  I ran the vacuum, and I swear that there is enough hair in it to make another dog.  I'm seriously going to shave Gracy bald.  It will grow back, I promise.  She looks like an over loved teddy bear.  She really isn't into people lately.  As Erich said, she acts as if she is bitter and hates the world. 

As if I'm not doing enough around my house and watching T, I have a new part time job starting next week.  I'll be doing some adult sitting (with Magdalena and T) about 3 times a week from 7am to noon.  It's going to add about 45 to 50 hours a month to my work schedule and about 400 plus dollars to our income.  We really need this, but I can't figure out how I'm working about 100 hours more a month than when I had an actual job and making half the money.  It's depressing.  Alicia said I need to get super organized which is the polite way of saying that I need to get my act together.  I'm really going to have to focus and not lose track of my time or my house is going to slip more than I feel like it already is.   I thought I was supposed to be a SAHM? 

And here is my other dilemma.  I quit my job to stay home with Magdalena.  I'm worried that all this other activity is taking away from her.  So I need to be super focused on her and make sure she gets 150% of the attention that I wanted her to have so I don't feel like I'm working myself to death and not giving her what she needs. 

So beginning next week I'll be taking care of 5 other people on an almost daily basis.  I'll be working 250 hours or so "outside" my home and have to keep my home together and keep my sanity.  I'm thinking blogging may be a bit crazy while I get into the swing of things. 

Tooth Fairy

You know how I've been telling you that Magdalena has some teeth and haven't really given you proof?  Well, it's been really hard to get her to let us stick a camera in her mouth, but I present for your viewing pleasure, a picture of her teeth.

Magdalena and Daddy play with the gloworm before Daddy leaves for work.  

Magdalena and Daddy 

Not a creature was stirring...

not even a mouse.

Naptime.  Never has such a word seemed so glorious to me.  Naptime.  T and Magdalena are asleep.  Amen!  We went to the grocery store this morning, dropped the groceries off at the house for Erich to put away, went to Nanas, then to eat lunch, then to the park, back to Nanas.  Then we took Nana with us to the library for a special presentation (Bobby T Bookworms Magical Library Adventure) then went to Nanas and helped her clean up for her company.  Now we are back home and everyone is asleep.  I'd like to join them, but diapers need to be washed along with a few dishes and I need to make pizza dough for dinner.  I also need to make some bread, corn tortillas, tortilla chips, and flour tortillas.  Oy.

Naptime. 

Hot and Moldy

It's been terribly hot around here.  And a storm ripped through last night that really actually scared me.  I was at Alicia's house at the time and her husband gets "excited" about storms since the tornados that went through there a few weeks back.  Her power went out 3 or 4 times in a matter of 10 minutes or so, so it was a bit scary.  Another storm is about to rip through here any minute.

We have the window air conditioners running, but it seems like they are constantly trying to keep up.  I'm sure I'll have mild heart attack when the electric bill comes.  And the bread I made at the end of last week went moldy early because of the humidity.  Oh well, I need to make corn tortilla chips for the salsa still left in the fridge, flour tortillas, and corn tortillas (since I'll use up the reserve making chips!), so I'll just add bread to the list.  I found a recipe for dog biscuits (I know you are laughing at me now!) and I'd like to try that and see how that goes over with Ella and Gracy.  It would be really nice to make them considering buying them is so expensive. 

Okay, I'm going to turn off the computer since the storm is almost here.  I'm going to try and get to Nana's while it's still dry with Magdalena.  I find I prefer these storms with others because of Magdalena.  :)  Adios!

My How They Grow...

Magdalena is moving.  Inch by inch, slowly, scooting across the Living Room floor.   I noticed this yesterday at Alicia's house.  I set a toy out of her reach and about five minutes later she got to it.  Yes, she moves slowly, but the point is that she's moving.  And she rolls completely over all the way across the living room floor, until she bumps into something.  At which point she whines for me to move that something (or her) or she starts in the other way.  And she sits unassisted, did I tell you that?  She has been for a few weeks now.  Oh, and this morning while at Nana's Erich and I watched as she got up on all fours and started rocking back and forth.  I have no doubt that once she gets going, it will only be a short time before she's up on two legs. 

She hasn't had any solid food yet.  I think that people are just plain sick of asking and me telling them no, cause they seemed to have stopped asking.  heh.  :) 

Who took my baby?

This morning I reached in Magdalena's mouth, it's become a morning ritual.  Her other bottom tooth poked through.  :(  Two bottom teeth.  I didn't cry this time, but it's still bittersweet.  She isn't a tiny baby anymore.   She's growing up way to fast! 

PS no crying, no screaming, nothing.  Just a new tooth and a big grin.  How did I get so lucky?

Can't We All Just Get Along?

Since when is breastfeeding like changing a diaper?

What weekend?

I'm tired.  I'm currently the only one awake right now because I'm stripping diapers.  You see, we've been battling a diaper rash for.ever. I couldn't figure out what the hell it was and I tried everything including standing on my head while changing her diapers.  It was driving me mad.  I took her to the doctor at the end of June (actually we saw the NP who I don't care for)  and she gave me Nystatin cream, which didn't work.  I bought OTC clotrimazole and it worked better than the Nystatin, but didn't make it go away completely.  Anyways, she had her 6month checkup this week and he gave me a Nystatin cream with some other miracle drug mixed in and it cleared up completely in 12 hours.  Praise God.  Anyways, I threw a scoop of Oxyclean in one of the loads of diapers, on accident mind you, and now Magdalena has a flaming rash in her crack.  (sorry for the description!)  It's not the same spots as the other places mind you , a completely new place.  And the only thing I can think of is that damn Oxyclean reacted with her pee or poo.  The girl poops more now then she ever did as a newborn which makes me feel good that her body is flourishing, but, well you know the other side.  My mom laughed in my face because I asked her if everyones poop holes were red!  I mean, if you poop a lot wouldn't it get irritated? I should shut up.  Anyways, so I think it may be the oxyclean.  This would be a easily fixed problem since it was only one load, but I've been lazy about bringing up the diapers everyday from the washer, so I threw them all in one big hamper to be brought upstairs, so their all mixed and I don't know which ones had oxyclean.  So they're all going through again.  Feh. 
 
My in laws came over today.  It was nice that FIL could help Erich in the yard.  (Erich is currently working on a driveway project.)  I believe that MIL secretly despises me because Magdalena screams if left alone with her.  heh.  Of course, they arrived exactly in the middle of Magdalenas naptime.  Then they look at me as if I put her to sleep on purpose because they were coming.  Um, no, she sets a schedule for herself and I merely follow it while in the home.  I believe that children need to learn to be flexible, and Magdalena does really well when "off schedule" (she really doesn't have a strict schedule) while out, but at home, I think she deserves the right to have naptime when she wants.  Is it my fault they have such awful timing?
 
Anyways, MIL brought stuff to make dinner.  Corn from the farmers market and pork cutlets to be fried.  I don't care for pork much, unless it's a butterfly chop.  I love those, so tender and juicy.  This pork was dry and tough.  Anyways, I hate when other people cook in my kitchen.  Aside from the 25 million questions they have to ask me about where everything is, I'm picky about the way my pans are treated and the way things are done.  The only people that I ever feel comfy with is my mother and Alicia.  Don't ask me why, they don't bother me really.  Anyways, the sink is full of dishes and the kitchen smells like burnt flour.  Another feh.  I did tell her not to do the dishes though.  I hate not being able to find things after people guess where they go and I'm picky and I couldn't help her because Magdalena wasn't cooperating with that plan.  She had another plan.  :)  So I told her to leave them.   Now my sink is full of dishes, as it has been off and on all week.  It seems as soon as I finish washing dishes, within an hour it's full again.  **sigh**
 
I did steam clean the batheroom carpet upstairs.  Yippee!  :)  (aren't you proud of me Alicia?)  I've only been saying I need to do it for about 2 weeks.  I'm on the last half of the diapers and I'm about to fall over from exhaustion.  The first load that came out stripped felt nice and soft so I'm a bit excited about the whole ordeal.  (not the rash, just the softness) 
 
Maybe it's in the air, but I haven't been sleeping well lately.  I'm having crazy crazy dreams.  Magdalena is nursing a lot at night but I don't think it's because of her.  I don't think I'm cycling through sleep the way I'm supposed to.  I have so much on my mind, yet nothing at all.   Is that odd?
 
I've been dreaming about Magdalena crawling, probably because it is in the very near future.  She's been demanding a ton of my time because she is so stinking frustrated that she isn't moving.  She can roll her way from one end of the living room to the other.  She'll get on her belly then move her knees up under her and start to move her arms then.... flop, she's back face to face with the floor and it pisses. her. off. 
 
Her second tooth is bulging too.  Her bottom left is through (her left) and it's very pretty (and small) except that she wants to chomp on our hands to get the other one through like she did the first, and that little damn tooth is sharp! 
 
I really lucked out.  I've seen fussy babys and babys with colic and babys that are just pissed off at the world and she is not one of them.  She sleeps so well at night and is so happy and healthy.  I sometimes sit and think to myself, how did I end up with such a great baby?  I don't ever think of myself as doing anything right to end up so well off, ya know?  I was told I was going to get paid back for my youth, where is the payback?  Or is it that I just love her so incredibly much that her cries don't seem awful?  They are more like little knives in my heart because I can't figure out what she needs fast enough.  Or someone squeezing my heart when she cries during  a diaper change when all she really wants is to curl up and nurse, though I know that she needs her diaper changed.  I'm so damn lucky.  And sometimes I don't realize it until I walk upstairs and see my husband asleep with his little girl curled up next to him.  And I just want to sit on the bed and cry and thank whoever sent me this wonderful life. 

Netflix

If this is true, Netflix might be more worth it for us.  The turnaround time from here to Indianapolis is usually only about a day or so (depending on when mailed.)  That would rock my socks!

Since when is eating in a restaurant make someone else uncomfortable?

W. Branch restaurant faces new criticism
 
 
Taking the "nurse" out of nursery: Why I think the folks at LAC are a bunch of boobs
 
Edited to add:  If I'm in a restaurant with a nice sitting area in the batheroom that doesn't stink like a landfill, I'm more likely to go in there to nurse for Magdalenas comfort.  She doesn't like covering up with sling and generally likes to look around.  If there are lots of people in the restaurant, it's hard for her to concentrate on eating.  If the restaurant has a batheroom with no sitting room and/or it stinks like a landfill, I'm not going to go in there.  *I* don't even like using public batherooms, so why would I make my daughter eat in there? 

Baby Pics

So the question has been asked over and over and over again, "Who does she look like?"  These people are obviously talking about Magdalena.  I always report something along the lines of, "I think she looks a bit like me with Erich mixed in of course.  And she definitely has her fathers facial expressions." 
 
Well, my mother brought over some pictures of me yesterday, so the verdict is in.  Who do you think she looks like?
 
 

Me at 5.5 months old. 

Magdalena at 5 months 3 weeks old. 

Busy Bee

Sorry, I've been super busy lately.  I had T yesterday and we went to the library for storytime.  I was actually running late, but not to worried about it since I always get there early and everyone else is late.  Well, when I got there, she was waiting on us and some other "regulars" to show since it was a small group.  Heck it's the middle of no where in Indiana, they always have a small crowd.  hahaha.  Anyways, I was able to pick up some books for the girls for the summer reading program and browse some magazines and cookbooks for myself.  Erich has been desperately wanting to see "the Bourne Identity" which he asked the library to order.  They did order it, last year, and it went into circulation.  The problem is that I can NEVER get the damn thing.  It's always checked out!  And you can't reserve DVD's or VHS so that sucks bigtime.  I've also been trying to catch "Cheaper By the Dozen" and "Win A Date with Tad Hamiltion."  (As you can see, I'm not looking for a real movie to make me think!)  We've talked about Netflix, but we can't see spending $22 a month at this moment, but we may try it out in the winter when we can get our money worth.  So where was I?  Oh the library.  Magadalena does really well at the library and everybody drools over my sling and says how gorgeous Magdalena is and how cool the sling is.  Yada yada yada. 
 
She's at this cool age where she can roll around, yet she can't crawl away just yet.  (I say just yet because she is terribly close to crawling and when she rolls on to her belly, you can see her surveying the area.  I can almost hear her little brain saying, " now that would be cool to peak into...")  So I've been taking a blanket and I lay Magdalena down with a quiet toy and get on the computer to search the catalog for my selections of the day.   I try to find a computer that is out of the flow of traffic but where you can see people going about.  Magdalena LOVES this.  She rolls onto her belly and just watches as people check out books and walk in and out of the door.  It's fun.
 
I have both T and Magdalena enrolled in the summer reading program.  They said I could enroll to, but hell, if I'm reading them books when am I going to fit in books?  The books I like to read are longer books and since I read, oh, five or six pages at a time, I'd never get that many books done in eight weeks.  (Don't get me wrong, I LOVE to read, it just seems that I can only read in the potty these days since Magdalena demands so much time.  And I generally only go to the potty for an extended period of time once a day! TMI?)  Anyways, with the program they get prizes for every 2 books they read.  They always have these junk toys and books.  You get one prize each time, unless you are a bit behind like us.   I generally get a book for Magdalena and T gets some assorted piece of junk. 
 
I made two loaves of bread yesterday and conquered a mountain of laundry.  Today I made a batch of flour tortillas and a batch of corn tortillas.  I also made spaghetti sauce with pasta and potato soup.  The potato soup left something to be desired.  I had planned to make a batch of PB cookies, but didn't get to it.  I also had planned to mop the floors downstairs and didn't get to that.  So I really MUST do that tomorrow along with the cleaning the carpets upstairs. 
 
We had a Dr. Appt on Tuesday.  Magdalena weighs 14lbs 12ounces and is 24 3/4 inches long.  She is doing wonderfully and is way ahead of the developmental milestone chart according to the Doc.  He gave me a hard time about co-sleeping, but didn't have an answer for me when I asked him how many high schoolers he saw sleeping with their parents still!  :)  He almost jumped out of his chair for joy to hear that she had had no solid food whatsoever.  I'm not sure if we're ready to start just yet either.  Her tongue ejection reflex is getting better, but she still doesn't "mooch."  We'll see.  Of course, my mother is dying to feed her table food. 
 
I have T tomorrow.  Hopefully it won't rain.  She's so funny.  Yesterday I told her that we were going to clean the house and she said "Really!?? Can I help too???"  And if I say, I'm going to wash some diapers she'll say, "yay!  I want to help!" 
 
I gotta go.  The princess is awake.

Baby!

Lauren FINALLY had that baby! :) Welcome Grace Caroline! ( And good luck little girl, you may need it with all those boys!)

Growing Pains

I just took a peek into Magdalenas mouth and her left bottom tooth is poking through. Just a corner, and the rest of the gum is very clear. Her right bottom tooth is bulging through the gum so I'm sure it will be following soon. I'm excited for her, but sad. I'll miss those gummy grins, though I'm sure she'll look just as cute with teeth. Now do I make a not that it broke the gum in the baby book now? Or wait a day or two so I can see the entire tooth. She was really "working" on her butterfly teether yesterday, so I guess she did some good work!

She's also rolling both directions without problems now. I bought the stuff yesterday to do some baby proofing. I'm not a huge babyproofer, because I think if I babyproofed everything she wouldn't learn that it is forbidden. Don't worry, I am babyproofing dangerous stuff. She'll be crawling soon. She sits unassisted for lengthy times now and she leans forward and reaches like she is just going to crawl off. And on her tummy she can pull her knees under her and lift her head up, though when she gets her belly off the ground she collapes. But it's just a matter of time. I'm so sad and happy for her!

Maybe it is time for another baby? Hehe.

You Know You're From Indiana When...

You've never met any celebrities.

Your idea of a traffic jam is ten cars waiting to pass a tractor on the highway.

"Vacation" means driving through Brown Countyor going Kings Island.

You've seen all the biggest bands ten years after they were popular.

You measure distance in minutes.

You know several people who have hit a deer.

You have no problem spelling or pronouncing "Terre Haute."

Your school classes were cancelled because of cold.

Your school classes were cancelled because of heat.

You know where all the Yoders live.

You've ridden the school bus for an hour each way.

You've ever had to switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day.

You think ethanol makes your truck "run a lot better."

You know what's knee-high by the Fourth of July.

Stores don't have bags, they have sacks.

You see people wear bib overalls at funerals.

You see a car running in the parking lot at the store with no one in it no matter what time of the year.

You end your sentences with an unnecessary preposition. Example: "Where's my coat at?" or "Who are you gonna go with?"

All the festivals across the state are named after a fruit, vegetable, or grain.

De-tassling was your first job (that's de-tassling corn for you city folk).

Your idea of a really great tenderloin is when the meat is twice as big as the bun and accompanied only by ketchup and a dill pickle slice.

You say catty-wumpus and kitty-corner.

You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked.

You think of the major four food groups as beef, pork, beer, and Jell-O salad with marshmallows.

When asked how your trip was to any foreign, exotic place, you say, "It was different."

You consider being called a "Pork Queen" an honor.

You carry jumper cables in your car.

You know what "cow tipping" is.

Okay, this is really sad. I was actually in the "Miss Pork Cuisine" pageant in the local fair. And I can remember when there was a "Mr. Pork Loin" contest, but it was cancelled one year when a 300lb guy came out in a g-string and offended the "elders."