Moment of Peace

Both babies are taking naps. Tim came down a ferocious cold this past Saturday and has had to stay home the past two days to recover. He's getting much better and has been working on sleeping as much as he can. I really do think that sleep is the best prevention and medicine for being sick. I fight for my own sleep that of Morella's as much as I can. I think that is one of the reasons why I am not ill as much. BUT...then again maybe it's because I was sick almost non-stop as a kid. Can you believe there was a time I thought it was normal for everyone to have stayed in the hospital a few times?

I had pretty severe asthma which landed me in the hospital for a few times, and a couple bouts of the flu that won me at least three more stays. Of course the other times were for a hernia operation, a broken back surgery and last of all for a baby. :)

A baby that I love to pieces, even when she screams bloody murder at my for trying to get her to eat more of her midday bottle. I mean really, she melted down and Tim had to come to her rescue. We decided on giving her some tylenol because it seemed like her mouth was in pain. I don't understand why she always seems to be in more pain after the teeth break through then before. I always read about everyone saying 'Finally a tooth popped through...now we can get back to normal." That never seems like that for Morella. Or maybe there are more teeth working their way in? I don't know. Babies are such mysteries sometimes.

I am making a crock pot dinner - chicken and dumplings. I think I have made this recipe before -- the dumplings are from a can of biscuits. It will be nice to have some leftovers for the next few days, though I do know what I am making next: home made pizza with veggies, basil, feta and leftover over pepperoni and then a tatertott casserole. I could also make texas hash...hm. It's Tuesday though and we don't need that much leftovery stuff....or do we? If I get sick then I am going to need easy food already there.

I hope I don't get sick.

I am doing some laundry right now. I wrote in my todo list. I already swept the kitchen floor and have only the living room left. It's weird that my floors are so clean now. Morella is such a good motivator for that.

I was thinking the other day of squalor. I think it kind of shocked me when I realized that is what I had grown up in. That is the state of some of the houses I visited of family or friends. I guess I always thought it was just really, really messy -- which in the case of my Mom is kind of true. It was never a really really bad squalor case. But I do know of some houses where the appliances don't work, there are narrow paths in and out, and just garbage litters everywhere. When I was young...eh. That is just how it is. Now that I am older ... well it can happen to anyone. It builds. What a disjointed paragraph. Sorry folks. I guess I am still processing it. Even the word squalor is one that no one wants to associate themselves with. It's disgusting. It's poor. But see, that is one question -- why does squalor often go hand in hand with being poor?

Oh I think my earl grey tea is finished brewing. I need to put the cozy on it and take out the bags so it doesn't get overly strong. This is my second...no fourth pot this week. I think with the turn of fall that we are back into tea season. I need to get myself a few more black tea options. Most of our stuff is decaf or herbal...which is fine but sometimes I would like a cup of regular straight up tea. But first, must use what we have before buying more! It's a mantra these days.

I also need to update our monthly budget report. Yeah I should do that now before I log off the computer and find something else to get distracted. Yesterday I bought two bras -- at Lane Bryant. They were nice enough to size me and help me pick some out. I ended up getting two because the woman was also awesome enough to use coupons so it ended up being buy one get one free. :D They have no underwire but they also look super heavy duty ... uh Mom bras. I don't care. It's not like I walk around wearing just a bra anyway. I have never cared about pretty underwear, I prefer functionality.

I went to JoAnn's to see if they had any micro fiber or micro terry to make Morella doubler or two for her diapers instead of spending $15 per doubler/insert at the local Hippy Momma store. The closest thing they had was terry cloth. I bought a yard of that and figured I would try to make a doubler or two out of it and see what happens. My splurge purchase was a stuffed halloween type bat for Morella. The material of the bat is very similar to her crib blanket that we think she is forming an attachment too. Instead of having her carrying a blanket around later on, a cute bat might be easier. Or maybe we should have just sucked it up and gotten one of those little blanket/stuffed combo things that seems to be all the rage. Like this:

Guess who has a new tooth! Morella does, it's the ... well it's not the top two teeth, it looks *like its the third one down. Like one of the sharp teeth...a canine? So it could be that or the one next to it ... but it's not either of the two typical front teeth. Hurray! Maybe that would explain why we were going through 5 or 6 poopy diapers a day last week. It's looks like it really broke through too. [Edit, Hilary said it's a cuspid].

This morning we went to baby book and Morella had fun. I learned that at the end of October, baby book is done until February because the lady running it is having a baby herself! Great for her..but nutz. I met one other woman there (can't remember her name) but she lives near the library, then Ann and of course Emily -- I'm think that we should do a play group meeting on Monday's when baby book is done. Yeah!

Weekend was pretty low key. Tim got sick and so we didn't do much. We went to the Goodman Community center grand opening too late and there were no refreshments left. Morella was crabby and Tim was snot explody so we left. Then we went to Netherworlds, a gaming store downtown and saw lots of nerds sitting there playing card. Tim didn't find the book he was looking for and we left. Next up was Sentry to get some cake, trip to walgreens for bandages, kleenex and bandage scissors, followed by Farm and Fleet for vet wrapping (where Morella was called a hillbilly because she wasn't wearing shoes or socks!), and a quick visit to Misty Mountain where I caught up a little bit with Steve (owner and former sparring buddy).

Sunday, I walked with Morella to Woodman's to get a pot roast (great way to use up a bunch of weird CSA vegetables), more medicine for Tim and some cough drops, and potatoes. I popped over to see if my neighbor Colleen was home (she wasn't) and dropped of some pear bread. Then Tim's parents dropped in for a visit because they were in town and stayed for dinner. While they were here we made some apple crisp with apples I got from a neighbor's tree. Oh that reminds me to bring some over to him later today. I'll use a dairy container. Yeah....anyway. It was pretty great crisp I think that recipe is a keeper! Morella's Grandmother did the bedtime ritual of bath, book, bottle, song, prayers and bed and Morella did really well! Though of course I was a teeny sad later because I could have used one more Morella cuddle. Not that I would have gotten it considering how sassy she was all day. Good thing I have her all week! :D

Tim is home sick today. Wait I said that. It's a big deal folks.

I need to take a shower, go wash dishes, make some more xanthan gum thickener....and then write my to do list before we meet up with Sigrid this afternoon to window shop. I should really work on shoes for Morella too. We have some hand me downs that she can wear until I am done with her real ones... but sigh. I spent the last two nights working on cross stitch instead of moccasins because...well I wanted too. Sometimes you gotta take a break from what you should do with what you want to do.

Can you believe this is the end of September? Wow.

Friday Photos: 4th Week of September

Denim Moccasin Mockup. Experiment a FAILURE. The opening isn't wide enough and it just doesn't fit right. I looked at what I did wrong and I had forgotten to take into consideration the circumference of the food. A problem I will correct next time. However, these one piece moccasins look a bit weird until they are worn for awhile and the leather eventually lies flat. Plus, I am not sure they fit the same for a babies foot as they do for an adults foot. I also need to find a way to exchange the leather strings for elastic so that they stay on without having me tie them, or having her untie them all the time. A part of me just wants to toss in the towel on traditional (no matter HOW cute) and go for the plain soft food wear pattern (aka ro.beez). But that would be lame. These are her first pair of shoes! They should be special, right? Complete with beadwork and the such. I could also make her another pair...for the house. Those can be plainer.

The pattern. I'll update you on further progress.

Willie Street Festival. They have a parade on Sunday, in which pretty much anyone can go and join in. I saw lots of families just dress up and parade around. It was a really cute idea and I would LOVE for Morella to do that when she is older. That would be so cool. The stilt walkers though, she was afraid of. She took one look at them, started crying and turned her head. I had to walk away from the parade onto the sidewalk until she calmed down. She liked the drummers that came up next though.

Monroe Cheese Days! We went down on Sunday afternoon with Sigrid, Matt, Christian and Cecci. We waited in a line a LONG time for these golden nuggets of cheese. They were good, and though at the time I swore I was done with cheese after eating them, I would very much like one more to remind me of why I swore them off. No, make that two...
Morella playing with Matt's beard. She's really into investigating other people's facial hair since she doesn't have any of her own....and uh...neither does her Daddy. *oh snap!*

More photos of the past week can be found here in September 2008 Gallery

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In other news. I thought I might have sinus issues which would explain why I have a low grade headache for the last week, and why I get dizzy when I shake my head. So I busted out the old Netti Pot and did a sinus drain this morning. Ugh....gotta recover from that now! I hope when I do I'll feel a ton better.

I am field testing my own simply thick concoction....I guess we are in it for the weekend because I only have a four day supply of real stuff left. So far she has had two bottles with no ill effects. I hope it keeps up. She has however been pooping ALOT the last couple of days. Like 5-6 times a day, and a lot of the time it's really runny. I almost suspected the probiotics I started giving her in noon bottle, but this was happening before that. But then again it could also be the food that she does actually get down into her gullet. Tim pointed out that her diet consists mostly of liquid, and since she is bigger now and gets more liquid that is reflected in her poop.

[Eww! I just bent down to pick up Morella and water started running out of my nose...no wonder I still don't feel right. How much of that netti pot water is still left in there?!! How big are my sinuses anyway?]

Anyway, so I have had to hand wash her covers daily now because she is going through one of them every time she poops. Speaking of my darling girl, I gotta go. She's wreaking havoc in her room....

I made weak coffee this morning. See, I left the rest of Tim's decaf in the decanter and then replaced the filter with full caf and then added water. My problem is that I am not sure how much coffee to add. I guess I am being a little stingy because I don't want to blow through my little stash too fast. If I was just honest with myself and said "Hadjare -- you NEED coffee! If you don't drink it you won't be able to stay awake in the morning, and honey, you really need a shower."

So yeah. Oh well, it's still working.

Last night we were up late talking about the possible collapse of the economy. Tim came in and asked me where I would go if we were separated and something terrible had happened. I prodded to get him to try and tell what terrible things might happen...like are we talking zombies? Plague? War? Invasion? But had to eventually settle for a mundane reason like riots. In any case, with the exception of a total climate disaster via The Day after the Tomorrow (in which hyper sub temperatures freeze the city of New York and a good portion of the Eastern coast) in which case I would stay put and huddle in the basement with a homemade chimney jutting out of the side of the house made from hvac pipes. But we are being realistic. Social unrest, anarchy that sort of thing. I would have to say I would make my way to my Dad's. He lives out in the woods on 40 acres and have some ties with the native community, has some guns, a couple dogs and a pretty good store of food. Tim said he just wanted to know so that he could find me. Whew, glad we can scratch that off our to-do list. Next up, wills and that sort of thing. Ha ha. No really...we should but...uh...tooo haarrrrddddd!

After that we talked about readiness. How ready are we to hunker down and be frugal like the old depression days? He asked me if we have a good store of food and I kind of chuckled. Our pantry is full. We have more food that most of my friends combined in our house, and quite honestly I could do more food hoarding. In this regard, those Mormon's are onto something by being ready in the event of a disaster. Hm. You know, I wonder if they are worried about the economy at all...in fact I also wonder how many Mormons really do have a stash of food saved up.

It's kind of coincidental that he brought this up (well maybe not so coincidental considering the government panic going on in the news right now) - but I had told him yesterday that we needed to do better on our budget. As in stay within it and track our spending more. Okay, I need to do that. I am the family accountant after all. We had to borrow from savings three months in a row to pay bills. Admittedly the summer is always expensive, and a lot of that is vacation, but it's time to save. After all Christmas will be here before you know it, as well as a first birthday party, a fall party, and the traveling that ensues.

Just for the record, I read frugal living tips like a junkie, and it's especially easy to find them when almost media has tips on how to stretch a budget, or find bargains, or whatever.

Okay, time to buckle down and work on my list for the day.

I got a cup of real coffee, a bowl of hot oatmeal on my lap and a baby who is sweetly napping. I already started a load of laundry -- diapers. She went through all her covers before the inserts. Tim thinks she might need new diapers soon, I am not so convinced however it does bring up the point of how the heck do I get more diapers? Do I branch out from prefolds? Try something more all in one? Is that harder? More expensive? Sigh.

My other burning question is when do I make her barium swallow appointment. I am running out of Simply Thick. Do I buy another case and have it last for two months and be stuck with it when she passes? (please let her pass!) or ... go ahead with the appointment and have her fail and blah blah blah. At this point in time we are clearly procrastinating her test because neither of us want her to fail. I wonder if I could sell the unused jugs of Simply Thick afterward. Maybe I should make my own again...it's not that hard. It's just xantham gum...

We gave Tim a ride to work this morning because it was raining. I offered the car to him but said that we had planned on the grocery store and I guess he thought it was important to have stuff like milk and eggs in the house again. I *almost* stopped at McDonald's on the way home but Morella was fading fast and i wanted to make sure she was in her crib before conking out. It's better this way anyway. I save money. Eat better, and have more coffee. I wonder if I lived out in the middle of no where if I would be skinny because of no temptations. Or would I bake and eat entire batches of cookies, pies and cakes without spreading them out amongst my friends?

It's kind of nice to have some time to eat breakfast, drink some coffee and get stuff done before she gets up. I could have actually done it on Monday and Tuesday but I needed to catch up on sleep. I wonder if I am taking advantage of the whole "Sleep when the baby sleeps" thing too much. I sometimes think I actually got less sleep before she came along...on the other hand I didn't use as much of my brain and endurance before that either. Oh I need to pay the mortgage and internet today.

The other day it occurred to me that I missed the season opening of Heroes. I was kind of bummed about it because I enjoy watching TV and I liked that series. However, having a baby around that goes to bed at 8 makes those shows kind of hard to see. I really wish I had a dvr or something so I could record the tv shows I want to see and watch them after she goes to bed. Then again, we barely watch TV -- I have half a mind to cancel our cable. But then what about the few times we DO watch it? The times we need to see the local news? Then it would cost a bundle to have it hooked up again with their fees and what not.

I really like the Parent's magazine. It's full of such good ideas. It's my favorite magazine right now. My other subscriptions are Good Housekeeping and Redbook. There, was does that say about me? I bet it says a lot. I would be interested to hear other peoples magazine subscriptions. Tim's is PCWorld and SQL Server...and that's it. We tried ReadyMade but I got sick of all the emo's culture it perpetuated. We did Time forever, but it got expensive and repetitive. I liked Quick Cooking for two years but then it got repetitive too. Back in the day I used to read Reader's Digest like it was going out of fashion until one day I realized it WAS full of scare tactics, elementary reading and was super conservative. I think I was just mostly addicted to the funny quips and stories though. That is STILL my favorite part of any magazine.

I turned down the water heater heat level because Morella is so mobile and grabby. I am sure the previous water heat level would have scalded her because it was almost too hot for me! But I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss the instant heat for dishes and diaper washing. I think I am going to have to start soaking the diapers for 15 minutes before washing them to make up for it. I am trying to take comfort in the fact that lowering your water heater level saves the environment and you money.

See? I should stay up every morning, you would get so much more out of me. :D

10 Months

My baby girl is 10 months old today. Amazing how fast it went, and quick summer just flew by. I'm a little sad about it and really I can't be in denial because the trees are changing and yesterday was offically the first day of fall. However, the weather has been magnificent and so we have been outside as much as we can to enjoy it and soak it in before the rotten weather comes. I know I have been a bit of MIA these past few weeks but that's how the end of summer usually is, right?

Morell and her favorite cat - Migo. These two are best buds. One of my favorite things to do is watch her chase Migo around the living room. It's adorable when Migo let's her "catch" her, but I have to be careful and make sure Migo doesn't play back using claws...which is usually waht she does. Another of Morella's current past times is climbing up to the laptop and banging on the keys while I am using it. I am fairly certain that this is a common baby lap top technique. It's amazing what Morella can pull up on now -- she is becoming quite adept at even pulling up using my pants or skirt.

The Music Stand of Doom. This is the cause of so many accidents the past week. She gets excited and loses her grip and smacks her face into it, or she pulls the whole thing over with her when she gets down (aka falls back on her butt). In fact, I put it up when I am pumping because it's the kind of thing that requires some touch supervision. She loves it though. It's on loan from her cousin's Moslee and Zeland. It is one of her current faves. Though she had red eye in this photo I included it because she is standing on her tippy toes and screaming -- a common Morella posture.

She figured out to crawl while wearing a dress, and so I busted out the dresses while she can still wear them. I always liked this one because it's a dress/jumper combo. We got this from our Aussie friend currently living in TX. It's rated 9 mo, and our little shrimp still fits in it with plenty of room. It is Carter brand though, and those tend to be bigger (which is nice!). With tweaking (long sleeved turtle neck onsie and tights or leg warmers) I plan on using this outfit until it's outgrown. ;) Hm. She looks kind of like a weeble wobble in this one. Heh.

Investigating the camera. She still has the same old two teeth, but they are really growing in. Other Morella updates:

• Pointing. She points to everything.
• Babbling is sounding more like ... sentences. Almost like another language.
  
• Will still clap if you clap, or put her hands on her head in a attempt to play peek a boo, and is starting to immitate really well. Right now the most immitating is with her daddy in which they take turns blowing.
  
• LOVES books. Sit's quietly and looks at the pictures and is now catching on to helping me turn the pages.
  
• Swim Class is going well - she doesn't like to lay back though. She kind of freaks out, clamps her eyes shut and flails. She does this in the bath too.
• Eating is still a challenge. I still offer her food several times a day for snacks and at least two meals. She eats about 4 bites and stops.
  
• Choke meter had been reset and we are now on day 4. I also bought some baby probiotics and am now adding them to her bottle to see if that will help with the reflux.
  
• Changing diapers is usually a baby wrestling match. I miss the old days where she would just lay there and be good. Now she has to flip over, stand up, look out the window, get into everything else....
• She has been caught standing her herself unassisted for one or two seconds before she realizes it and lands on her butt. I also saw her "cruise" between two pieces of furniture. But really she just turned around...though she has taken a few steps in either direction.
  
• Bedtime is still 8:00 an she sleeps through until 6 - 7 in the morning. Oh sure she will wake up and cry sometimes before midnight and rarely after that...but never getting up for two or three hours with her (knocking on wood). I'm really grateful for that.
  
• Loves dancing. When she hears music with a beat she yell a happy yell and start bobbing her head. If you are holding her and start dancing she really gets happy. It's awesome that she loves music and dancing so much. Maybe she'll be that kid that knows how to breakdance and make all the other little girls totally jealous.
  

Friday Photos: 3rd Week of September

Morella and her friend Noah at Olbrich Gardens.

Morella is channeling her energy into a powerful 'ki'

As if Pluto doesn't have enough problems. Now he is being devoured by babies. This is Leo who popped over to visit with his Mom and tried out some mediocre raspberry coffee cake. I know it sounds good, how could it go wrong? No worries, I found a way to make it happen.

Kandace came to pick up the rat. He was off to a new home surrounded by loving children in a 5th grade classroom. By Jenner/Justin/rat/buddy. Our basement won't be the same without you!

(More photos in the September 2008 Gallery)

Post #1,244

--talked to pharmacist about Morella's prescriptions. I guess we decided they could stay where they are but if were going to eliminate one, it should be the randitine. I am almost tempted to do a trial run to see if she would miss it. She definitely would miss the prevacid. She said Morella could take a whole tablet of prevacid when she was 22 pounds. Uh...at that rate it will be years into the future. Hopefully she won't need it then.

--Morella ate some pizza tonight. Awesome.

--Power went out today for 4 seconds. I still have some clocks to reset.

--Walked to Olbrich to meet with Ann and her son Noah. We walked around a little and then spent most of the time in the round about section letting the kids crawl to their hearts content. It was a beautiful day to lounge.

--Third day in a row of almost exclusive single parenting. It's hard work.

--I got to take another shower this morning and have time to get dressed and do stuff around the house. It was nice.

--Watched the Bucket List. It was meh.

--I wore make up today. First time this month, quite possibly the first time in two months.

--Making my hair curly in any way makes me look like and old lady.

I am having one of those weeks where I can't seem to get started talking because I have so much to say. Even my daily journal has been a little neglected and I just haven't found a lot of time to write in it and catch up. I will try to do that after I post here, or while I am posting here. You know, do the numbered list and even if I don't talk about something at least note it.

[20 minutes later -- I updated today and yesterday. Gotta strike while the fire is hot!]

I am drinking a sleepy time and chamomile mix of tea while thinking of what I want to write.

I am working on rearranging the pictures/decor in our living room. One of the things I did was move a big mirror to the opposite wall of the entrance. I heard that mirrors should be placed here in feng shui to ward off bad luck and blah blah blah, it opens the place up, etc etc etc.... At first I didn't know what to think of it. I wasn't quite sure I liked it, but then I took Morella for a walk, went about my day and by evening time I realized I quite liked the new placement. If I were to believe in any magic hoodoo I would say that since this placement of the mirror we have had a LOT of visitors to our house. In the past week we have had: Cecci, Hilary, Emily and Leo, Kandance, Colleen and her dog Shelby (a neighbor I met at my garage sale), and Tim's parents.

Of course it could all be coincidence. I am going through one of those times where I am meeting a lot of people and making new friends. I don't recall the last time I went through a social surge like this. I think it was two years ago. Last year while I was expecting, I think I kept to myself more. There is something about being a Mom that has just opened up a whole new social realm. I love it. It's interesting, exciting, and ... well different.

So yeah, Kandace came to pick up the rat we had living in our basement for two months. He is off to live in a children's 5th grade classroom. He was a good rat, I think it's good ending for him after living in our basement, friendless for two months. Maybe we should have named Ben. ;)

I have been still tossing around the idea of writing again in my head. I can't figure out if it's the idea of writing that I like and the lifestlye that I imagine that goes with it that I like or if I really do have something to say. Or is it, that it's something I have always wanted to do. Like some people really want dogs, to go sky diving or own a boat, live in a island or retire in Florda. For some of those things, it's once they do it -- live the dream that they realize it was the goal that they really wanted and not the end result. So. Do I really want to write? I think right now the answer is yes.

I even bought myself some new coffee to help me out on this goal. I should have had some this morning but instead I put a fussy Morella down for a nap -- and then fell asleep for an hour and half. I woke up here and there and sometimes she was awake and sometimes she was quiet. In either case she wasn't screaming or wanted to be out. She seemed to be enjoying her time in the crib.

Oh I think she has a new favorite toy - or her favorite toy of the week. It's this little baby doll that she got as a gift when she was first born from her grandma. It's small, like a large softball and it's holding a puppy dog. I have seen her often stop what she is doing when she sees it to pick it up and study it.

Have I mentioned how much I love it when she follows me? Or when she gives attacks my face with her mouth and gives me wet kisses? Or when she offers me something to eat, to play with or whatever. Or when she ges quiet and sits cuddled next to me to listen to me read her a book (current faves are: baby animals, who says quack, and guess the animal). Or when she she makes eye contact with me and smiles.

I can't believe how fast she can crawl now too! I went to Borders today to get that Twilight book that everyone is yapping about, and to let her sort of crawl and roam about the store, you know like an open playing field except with carpet. She was going so fast it was like she was gliding!

Okay this has devolved into a mommy blogger post. I guess it's bound to happen. I have just been overwhelmed with how great she is this week -- maybe because she is also super super fussy and I have been studying her closer. I have no idea what's going on with her. Teeth? Growing? Mental development? *shrug* Whatever it is, she is a lot more engrossing and it's taken up quite a bit of my time keeping up with her. Plus, Tim has had to work late and so tomorrow will be three days in a row of single parenting.

Other tidbits:

-- my stepdad had part of his middle toe amputated because he got a skin/bone eating bacteria infection after slicing the end off from a nail trim. He is currently doing okay.

--The communists have finally returned this past weekend, and I am glad to say that the battle wasn't that bad for the first time in 18 months. I hope that trend continues, but there are always bound to be doubled over in pain episodes. I just hope that they hold off until I can indulge in Midol. Maybe that is also why I have been MIA -- a hormonal shift has definitely occurred and I find that's it's harder to adjust to old me then I thought it would. Old me. I don't know if that is accurate. It almost feels like a foggy drug was taken away and a new layer is revealed that has been covered up for a long time.

-- Is this crazy talk wacky enough for you yet? Can you tell I am super tired and should go to bed? I should. I am tired. Besides, I accomplished my goal. The ice has been broken. I can get back to my regularly scheduled blogging now guilt free.

For more pictures of this weekend, please look at the gallery.

I'll post more later. I gotta get some stuff done before my little darling wakes up from her afternoon nap.

I am thinking of postponing my garage sale. But then again, I don't know when else I would do it. The problem is that it is supposed to rain on Saturday, but the weather people have been wrong so many times that banking on a weather prediction is as good as banking on russian roulette. I should just forge ahead. Besides we have a tent type thing and a garage so it should be okay. I was at a sale last week where one of women said that even though it rained all day on Thursday they had a lot of business. I guess people are looking to find a deal! Must be the tight economy.

I am baking a batch of cookies. Morella is sleeping peacefully in her room. She went down at 12:30, so I am hoping for another hour. It already feels like a million hours compared to the time I didn't get yesterday. I think she might be going through a growth spurt.

The Swiffer Vacuum is great. The vacuum part really does pick up stuff off the floor and sucks up the cat and dog hair that accumulates in the corners. I am designating a special place for it in the office behind the door where it can recharge and hang in peace. It came charged btw, usually that never happens!

Last night it occurred to me that Morella hasn't pushed away a bottle in a couple of days. I don't know why it took so long for me to realize this, I guess maybe because I was so happy she was finishing bottles, but I think she needs more to eat. She isn't rocking the solids department yet, and to keep growing she needs to get her calories from somewhere. Yes, I continue to offer her food up the ying yang, but she just doesn't eat enough to call it a real meal. I got the brainchild of finally confronting my fears of buying a bigger bottle. My real fear of course being that the nipples we use wouldn't fit the bottles at the store, which are all prepackaged so if I bought it, I am really buying it. You know what I mean? Anyway. I went to Walmart because it was closer and I haven't been there to really look around in years.

I looked at all the clothes, and even tried on a few bras. I was dismayed to discover that the reason the bras were 7 bucks was because they were the crappiest things I have ever put on! It was then I realized that the close relationship that Walmart and I had many years ago really was over. When I was in early college I loved Walmart. I guess that was because it had first moved to Menomonie about then and I just marveled at the variety and great prices. All I had ever known before that was Kmart and Pamida, with the occasional trip to Fleet Farm to mix it up. I guess you could blame my infatuation with inexperience. In the decade since then, I have learned to appreciate quality over quantity/price. I went to the baby section and pondered over bottles for a good twenty minutes before asking an employee if she could help me. She was able to allay my concern about getting the right bottle and even showed me where the fleeced footed pajamas were. I didn't like them though. They were gerber brand and two gaudy things stuffed into a package. I decided to wait on getting Morella fleece footed jammies until later. Who knows, she might get a pair for her birthday!

Which is the one thing that is helping me from buying her toys or much of anything. Well, you know she has plenty of clothes that I have accumulated from garage sales and plenty of toys that she doesn't play with -- and I am sure that she will get lots of toys at her 1st birthday party.

Where was I? *shakes head* Right. So I brought these bottles home and they fit the nipple AND the medela pumping horns! Gah! I wish I had known this MONTHS sooner. I can't tell you how much milk I have spilled on myself switching between bottles when one would get too full. Here was the answer all along! I also got a new bottle brush that swivels...it's so nice! I never thought there would be a day where I appreciated the innovations in bottle brush technology. Though it's something I never expected, I love it. Have I mentioned how much I love being a Mom? Because to live up to the cliche Mommy Blogger that my husband believes I am -- I do.

This morning I had a friend date with another woman who just moved here last month. She has a skinny 9 month old son who is so much like Morella it just warms my heart. We met at Escape and talked for about two hours. I still don't know her age, her interests and hobbies and yet we managed to fill the two hours. It's great because it was so easy to talk with her and there is plenty more to discover. I was delighted when she said we repeat it next week. :D Plus, I'll see her on Monday for Baby book time at the library. Morella enjoys it so much that I will try to go more than once a season. ;)

I got home at the end of the rainfall, feeling alive and creative from the coffee jolt and almost started my novel. What novel? I don't know. I just know that I have always wanted to write a novel. Just start writing one ala NoWriMo. That desire has since faded a bit since pumping, eating lunch, baking cookies, writing this and chatting with Hilary -- but it's still there. Should I type it? or hand write? I always debate myself into procrastination. Type it. I should type it. There I made an executive decision.

Alright I am going to sew some buttons on a cute jumper that Morella's gaga sent her. I measured Morella for where to put them before laying her down. It's good that she has these because she needs more roomy pants. The best pants are really those soft cotton jersey type ones that are stretchy. Jeans, and cargo pants, corduroy and other stiff materials don't accommodate a cloth butt that well. Well overalls work great with cloth diapers...which is what we got. I should keep an eye out for another pair for her.

• Gave Tim a ride to work this morning. Got a bagel and coffee afterward at Gotham Bagel
• Met Emily at the library for baby book time. Morella had a blast! As soon as she was there she headed out to explore. She went up to the leader of the story time and pulled up on her leg (she was sitting) to get a closer look at the book she was reading. SO CUTE! She met a few friends, borrowed some toys and I noticed that she has started to give things back. That's interesting. I should work on that more. If she continues her trend of not taking a morning nap then we might go again next week. What a difference it was to take her this time compared to last time when she could only sit.
  
• Morella also had baby swim class tonight for the first time. Tim took her and I watched from the sidelines. She looked shellshocked most of the time and did her little girl hand waving thing (think eww!) ...eh I can't explain it. Anyway. When she got out she was so cold! Tim said she shivered most of the time. Her feet were blue by the end!
  
• We have to bring our own towels. So next week I am going to fill up a water bottle, wrap the towels around it so that when she gets out she will be toasty warm.
• I cut up a fleece shirt today for more liners for diapers. Thank goodness for garage sale finds.
  
• I cleaned out and organized two drawers in the kitchen and sorted through stuff looking for garage sale crap. I know have a large drawer I am wondering what I should fill it with. Tupper ware? Pans? Pots? Hm. Gotta think on this some more.
• Worked on my letter to my mom but still haven't finished it. I am up to page 20. Gah!
• Morella got the cutest, hand made overalls in the mail today from her Gaga. I have to sew the buttons on for the straps so they fit her right.
• We put her in her jammies and then a sleep sack over that (lighter weight) so that she'll have an instant blanket since she kicks off her regular blanket right away. Will that be enough in the winter though? I just don't believe that a pair of fleece jammies is enough to keep someone warm in this house. I would be freezing if I just slept in fleece jammies. I need like five blankets.
• Pretty productive day. We were out and about a lot. Tomorrow, I think I will stay in the house more and focus on getting ready for this sale. I hope it doesn't rain this weekend.
• I think I'll make chili tomorrow.
• We have cornish hens that need to be used to. Maybe a crock pot idea for that? Hm..

The time between 8-11 is precious to me. So prescious in fact, that often times I want to just sit down and hold it because I don't know what to do first. Do I watch a movie? Do I catch up on the internet? Do write a post about my weekend? Do I work on my decoupage project (aka cutting out pictures WHILE watching a movie and surfing the internet?) Do I read? Gah, I havent' read in ages. I do have a recommendation by two friends now to read Twilight by...uh I forget the authors name, but apparently there is a movie coming out this winter based on it. Do I clean? Reorganize? Work on my garage sale for this weekend? Chat? Finish the letter to my Mom? Call someone? Respond to emails?

Hey the neice has a name! It's Mosely June. Yeah...Mosely. Uh. It's unique, I'll give it that.

So yeah I am kind of unsure what to do right now. I want to do it all. But I have to fit in pumping somewhere in there, so that's a 1/2 an hour gone. Then there is the getting ready for bed, making bottles and getting to bed which is another 1/2 an hour so really I only have two hours. Tonight Morella got a late start to bed because we went over and visited Christian and Cecci to check out there apartment and visit. We got there after 7 -- so it was a late start. Sigh. It was just a really busy day.

Tim did some volunteer work for Obama and I went along to inspire courage and even walked a bit around with him. I visited my friend Amy and her family. I went to Target to get supplies and totally splurged on a swiffer vac. It looks ... so helpful. I mean, it's light and it will get the dust and cat hair that using the normal vacuum ... well it's heavy and cumbersome and we have much more hardwood surfaces in ths house than carpeted and sometimes the broom only chases the cat hairs a way. I don't know. I guess I'll let you know what I think of it when I have had a good chance to use it.

We bought her two open footed jammies at Old Navy because they were having a 40% off sale. Tim also got a pair of swim trunks in clearance for his Shrimp swim class with Morella starting tomorrow. Hey does this mean one less bath? Ha ha.

I got some great advice to help with the pain during pumping -- evening primrose and calcium. I took some yesterday and saw improvement today -- as well as with my supply! But I also had made a batch of lactation cookies so maybe that contributed a bit to the supply increase.

So yeah. I have to get a garage sale ready. I have to cook extra this week so I can bring Sarah and Luke (parents of said Mosely) food when we visit this weekend. Gah. I said we would visit on Sunday but that is the neighbhorhood Packer Party...so I am thinking Saturday after the garage sale. I don't know. I guess if I am prepared all week then it will be no big deal. Right? Right!

We watched Dr. Strange last night. It was okay. We also saw the Pick of Destiny and that was not okay.

We went to Fighting Bob festival yesterday in Baraboo. It was ... well we were late and we didn't have to pay, but spent most of our time eating and waiting for the band to start. It was a beautiful late summer day.

I have to reorder my netflix queue. I have Snakes on a Plane right now. Ugh! I need some quickie TV type shows to watch so that I can still fit in some TV time in the magic hours AND get other stuff done.

Speaking of which I have only a good hour left to do stuff. I should finish my Mom's letter next. Though that probably won't happen because I am kind of tired of writing right now.

I made a gourmet breakfast this morning. Smoked salmon, eggs with greens, green onions, yellow summer squash and grated romano cheese, with half a pumpernickel bagel and half-caf (the caf part being Highlander Grog), and fresh cantaloupe. It was really good! Yesterday I made french toast and that was pretty good too. I had some maple syrup that I got for a steal at a garage sale. Ahh garage sales. I did go to two this weekend but didn't find anything worth getting.

Oh I got a new wallet too. I actually got another one at a garage sale on Friday but it's one of those longer flat ones. After trying it out for two days I decided this old dog wants it's old routine. So I bought a new replacement. I also decided to ditch the purse I tried out (another garage sale find for a dollar) and dug up the hand made leather purse that my Dad made me. It's SOOOOoo much better. These two garage sales finds will be recycled into the sale this weekend.

Okay. Now I am for real going to do something else. Perhaps I will slip into something more comfortable. I think it's jammie time!

Morella woke up crying inconsolable an hour ago. She cried off and on for half an hour, and part of it was just sitting out here with us looking a little shell shocked. I had tried just patting her back, making sure she was okay, then changing her diaper, then holding her some more, to closing her window that was accidentally left open, to .... eventually she came out watched a little bit of a movie (rare treat indeed), and then I danced to some enya and cirque with her before she was calm enough to go back to bed. I wonder what was wrong. Poor baby.

I am feeling really melancholy tonight. I don't know why. I was in a great mood up until she went to bed and then it just tanked. I have a theory that the communists might be coming in for a visit. Pumping hurts (like very uncomfortable), my supply has dropped, off and on cramps, bloating, back ache yesterday, and now I guess I could officially call this a mood swing. I just really wanted to sit down and be by myself tonight but instead I had to help with Pluto's wrap change, comfort a baby...I couldn't even watch a stupid movie in it's entirety! I guess when Morella goes to bed, I usually go around and do a whole bunch of things. Tonight I decided it could wait and I was going to just try and enjoy myself and do something I like. Right now that is cutting pictures out of catalogs for that whole decoupage idea. I have been rather intimated by doing my coffee/tea tray but today got the idea to decoupage an oatmeal container. You know, for practice. See if I like it. I have no idea where to begin. I thought about looking up how to do it, but I don't feel like it. I feel like reinventing the wheel on this one. Stumbling through it and figuring it out myself.

Hey I felt like that all day! I did everything half assed and had to go back and redo things. I didn't mind though. It felt like a slow ploddy sort of thing.

I have a new niece this morning! She is yet unnamed. How can you do that twice? I mean, you would think the first time when you picked a name because you were under the gun to get released from the hospital that you would have a name for the second one...right? Or maybe they are the sort of people that feel like they need to be with the baby for a couple days to get a feel for a name. I used to think I would do that...except you know I had my heart set on Morella for a girl for a very long time. Plus, babies are so sleepy! I don't know how you can tell if they have any personality in the first 24 hours. Apparently, she was born with a head of black hair! Perhaps the zeland/morella template has been destroyed!

On other thing before I drink a large glass of water and put myself to bed. Today at a garage sale, I was .... oh crap. I don't have the energy to say the entire story. Let's just say that a woman stole? No that's not the word. Scooped? Yeah, that's better. This woman scooped two rugs from me! I was checking out as it were, and told the rummage folks that I also wanted two of the handmade, beautifully made rag rugs for on a dollar each!!!. Well this other woman must have heard me because she quickly ran back (after she had already checked out) and told me that she already picked out two rugs. I pointed out that I was there before her and I didn't actually pick up the rug because I was carrying a baby. Whatever. The woman reached around me and shoved two bucks to the Rummage Folks, walked quickly to pick up her two rugs (one of which I had wanted) and then practically ran out of there!

Gah. The Rummage Folks apologized for her. I told her that was okay and that apparently that woman really needed rugs. I did manage to find on in good shape. They had gotten some water on them and were musty. I brought it home, doused it in vinegar and now it's air drying. Vinegar fixes everything! It'll be great for the kitchen.

Oh and I found an awesome Doug and Mellisa toy. Hilary was there was with me at the time and said if I didn't want it she did. I realize it's a little older for Morella...but maybe it can be a bribe for Leta or Mina if they ever come over here again. Rather, a toy for them to play with - even Tim wanted to play with it when we came home from having a drink the Come Back Inn. I got it for $2.20! What a find!

Friday Photos: First full week of September 2008


Here my walking buddy, that I met at a garage sale - Emily and her son Leo stop for a moment with the Ham formerly known as Morella for a picture.
A close up of the babies...well Morella not so much. But wait, check out the next picture!

Can you get any more close than this? Here we showcase Morella's "toofer's" -- I think you can see them. Or maybe it's better looking at the original photo.

There, is that better? She was telling me something of the utmost importance.

Here she is just looking cute.

We gave her a bath in the kitchen sink at my Dad's. The sucky thing about baths these days is that she keeps wanting to pull up and stand. Here she won out and decided to look like a little republican. Check out that belly!

Everyone's Aunt Kay. Morella and I finally got meet Barb (Morella's gaga and my step mother's Aunt). She is a wonderful seamstress and in fact, made a snow suit for Morella! In this photo she is showing us one of her projects -- a snowman Christmas panel she was working on. She lives in this HUGE rambling house by herself and a cat she didn't particularly want to begin with, but is quite obvious she is very attached to know...if grudgingly.

Here I am with her. For real, why haven't I thrown that shirt out yet? I think the thing is, it's one of those shirts that look better in real life than in photographs. But isn't Aunt Kay as sweet as can be? I wish she lived closer. I could see visiting her weekly.

I feel like there is a hole in me. I accidentally deleted this weekends pictures from camera before realizing that I did not, in fact transfer them to the computer yesterday. So stupid! Stupid stupid stupid. It's because I deviated from my regular method when I hurriedly put up the caption pictures.

I did at least keep a few web pictures -- but they aren't good enough for print. :( And I feel worst about the photo of my dad and his friend who visited him as a surprise this past weekend -- he hasn't' seen that dude in 40 years! I'm SUCH an idiot. I had also taken pictures of my Dad's place, like his walls, a willow tree, my step mom's garden -- stuff I wanted to remember in the years to come. Gone.

I know I will get over it, but right now I still feel pretty darn disappointed and angry with myself.

---

I did have a good time with Hilary though. She brought over a deluxe McDonald's breakfast and we had coffee. Cullen played by himself until Morella woke up from her morning nap and then they played together. It was so cute! Though I think Cullen taught Morella how to open the entertainment cupboard. I guess it's time to devise a baby proofing thing for that.

Sigh. Okay. I gotta get to my walking date with Emily and her son Leo (neighbor I met at a garage sale). Morella is wearing a Give Peas a Chance outfit (Thanks Sarah!) she looks adorable! I should take a picture --- if I don't delete it again like a complete and utter loser.

It was a great weekend! So relaxing and just what we needed to start the fall season. I am holding onto that it is still summer, but that dream is fast fading, though the hot weather sure helps. Not that I would really notice it because the AC is on in the house, but I will notice it tonight when I walk. And it's noticable in the kitchen.

So we decided to just stay and visit Dad at his house the entire time. Cousin Allen was in working on the house that my loser brother was given and then has neglected for several years. I didn't get to talk to him much because I was taking care of Morella whenever he stopped by. I walked over later to see if he was around but he wasn't, so I just visited my gaga grave instead. There isn't a marker there and honestly, if a several more years go by then who is going to remember it? Hmm. Anyway.

We spent a lot of time outside on the grass or on a sheet, or just walking around and enjoying nature. Barb made the most awesome Indian tacos with fry bread and ground buffalo, as well as a ... one of those cakes with cherries on top and is chocolate? Something forest. It was great! We bbq'd the next day (Sunday) and then Tim and I left with Morella at 8:00 (coincided with her bedtime). Though we felt like we could have stayed an extra day, we really appreciated having Monday to ourselves to catch up on sleep and just be home. Monday was also the 5th anniversary or Pluto's Gotcha day -- so we celebrated sans Pluto (dude he has a broken toe!) at Micheal's getting some lame custard (the choice was almond candy bar and it wasn't that good -- I should have just gotten the chocolate). Then I had a massive headache last night that left me practically paralyzed. Tim was good enough to take care of Morella when she woke up for a third time screaming and hitting her face. We decided then to give her some tylenol and he danced with her (Summertime rolls, by Jane's Addiction) and calmed her down while the medicine took effect.

Today I had lunch with Hilary, Leta and Cullen at Cool Beans to celebrate Hilary's first kid going off to public school. Aww! Cullen and Morella played super well together in the play area and we saw Stephanie as a bonus (she was on her lunch break with a coworker).

Morella is taking an awesome nap, so I have had time to do lots of things like laundry, dishes, writing and some photo uploading and editing. When I was doing my last pump before leaving, I had packed up my reading materials. I looked around at Dad's work station and saw a book that I have -- it's an old boyscout kid's book about indians. Totally cheesy and from the 1950's, it's from a white person's perspective ... well teaching non-indian folks about indians. I started to browse through it and then noticed that my Dad had written captions to some of the illustrations. Oh my, was it funny. I quick took photos of the pictures before we left, so I apologize for the blurriness of some of them. We were rushing to leave because Morella was melting down.

The funniest one is without a doubt probably the most politically incorrect one of them all. That said, check the rest of them out here.



(click image to see larger picture)