Here are some pictures of my cutie pie I found - I can't credit the photographer because I have no idea who it is, and where I got them from wasn't credited. Anyway. Behold the cute! Just think, two weeks later she would be walking like she always knew how. I can just imagine how adorable she would have been if she was walking at the reception. For one, she could have probably kept her dress on...but then we would have missed out on the "Littlest Goth Pose."



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PS: Crouton is SO active! I don't think Morella was this active this early in the game, then again the placenta is placed in the back this time so I guess that makes feeling kicks easier. I would have to agree!

Just because we aren't catholic doesn't mean we can't join in on the fun. Today I tried to make a King Cake. One half of it has cherry pie filling and the other half has the brown sugar/butter with pecan filling. I did two glazes -- one a butter cream and the other a plain water/vanilla mix. Behold!

I forgot to add the baby though. I mean, I didn't forget. We don't have a plastic teeny baby and putting a plastic zebra in it would just be too much work. :P

Morella's 15 month appointment was today. She weighed 18 pounds and 3 ounces and is 31 1/2 inches long. So she is off the charts for weight, but 68% for height. Her molars are seconds away from coming in. Apparently she has a small head because they checked the head measurements four times...She SEEMS okay to me. Anyway. It was emphasized to me over and over that she is growing on her own growth chart. She is healthy. However, no more juice. Only soymilk all day everyday day. Gah. You know when we do this stuff, Morella just regulates then how much she eats. She then had shots (shots I wasn't prepared for) followed immediately by a blood draw for her iron and lead levels. They took two attempts at it, and told me afterward to say that her left arm is the one go to one. After we left, I just felt...terrible. IT was a terrible experience. Poor Morella. I felt just so sick about it that I wanted to cheer her up (okay, me too) that we went to Cubs to get her equivalent of a tasty treat -- rotisserie chicken (full of protein).

While I was there I shamelessly stacked up on extra goody supply for myself because I am sick and tired of there not being anything at night when the "hunger" hits. So I got candied malted eggs (yuck too sugary), jolly rancher jelly beans (yum), mixed bag of candy, twix candy bars (2), hostess cupcakes, spiced sweet potato chips, toaster strudels, whip cream (for Morella), and a peach juice. Gah! I also got fruit, salad fixings and frozen chicken, along with cheese, yogurt and more vanilla soy milk. Anyway. I totally splurged. It should last me a while though! Oh yeah, I also had to buy another bottle of Tylenol. If my liver makes it through this pregnancy, I'll be shocked. No, I am not over doing it -- well within the recommended dosages, but still I would rather the headaches start to abate soon.

After dinner, I suggested we take Pluto and Morella for a walk because it was a mild night. I survived it, even though I had stabby jab pain in on my stomach after three houses. It eventually went away and just turned into exhaustion by the end of the walk. Then Morella had a warm bath to help with her shots, we gave her some motrin because she ALWAYS has a reaction to the big immunizations, Tim read her bed time books and put her to bed.

I worked on some pictures. I am so far behind on them. I'm sorry. It's because I used to do them when Morella was napping, but these days I am still napping during those precious times too! I did pick through a few though and convert them.

Morella and her cousin Zeland came over for a visit on Valentine's Day.

Scout, Henry and Morella look out the window onto a windy Chicago Street.

Kate and Eric, apparently borrowed the camera to take a picture. :D Thanks! It's makes it easier so I don't have to make you pose. Seriously, whenever you are in Chicago you should stay with them. Best bed and breakfast ever.

Henry, Morella, Kate and Eric

Cullen and Morella

Tim and Morella face the high winds.

Messy haired baby.

I know. It's been almost a week! Geez, I wonder what I have been up too. Hm. Let's think about it.

Today:

I woke up with a headache. I ate breakfast. I started to throw up and tossed cinnamon toast crunch into the garbage disposal, bathroom sink and finally the bathroom toliet. I then laid on the ground in the living room in headache, post barfing, super tired misery and let Morella crawl around me. Tim reminded me of Baby Book Time and I told him he should take her. I honestly couldn't see myself getting the motivation to get both of us dressed and to the library in an hour. Tim then decided to up his Spa day ante, and took the day off from work to help me! He then packed her up, and took her to Baby Book Time and made Morella and I the envy of the book group. You just *know* that that most of the other women there were like "My husband would never...."

When he got back he told me all about how the other women helped to make him feel at ease, offered advice on letting Morella roam around (great, I thought to myself later...I really am the one that *that* kid) because they "were used to it." Apparently Morella also fell at one point and Tim told her to just "Shake it off" which earned him a couple chuckles on that's such a Dad thing to say. He said someone else commented "And rub some dirt in it!"

Ha ha. It's funny. I asked him if they thought he was new, but he said that everyone seems to remember Morella. Well, that's good. Meanwhile, I took his advice and got off the floor and moved to the bedroom to lay down and take a nap. I woke up later feelig slightly better -- still headache though. In fact, it is pounding as I write this. It would be so easy to just stop now. But instead of stopping, I might just get sloppy. I hate going too long between entries because then it's so hard to tame the thoughts in my head. The rest of the day was uneventful. Morella took a three hour nap. I took a 2.5 hour one. Got up, and Tim took a nap while I made potato soup, udon noodles with red curry sauce (from a jar), and boiled/peeled eggs.

This weekend

We went to Chicago to visit our friends Eric and Kate, and then have a nice long play date with Mike/Rachel and their son Henry at their place. It had snowed over night and it was hard to get around...and want to get around in the cold and snow, so it was perfect. I stayed in Saturday night with Kate and played Mario Party while Tim and Eric went out to visit with an old friend. Sunday, we stopped at Ikea on the way home and I lasted about an hour before needing to stop and eat, and the Morella lasted an extra 10 minutes before melting down. We were there total about two hours. I suppose that isn't too bad.

Overall, it was a very nice, relaxing weekend to get away and break up February. Just think guys, next Monday we are in March territory!

I got lots of reading done, breakfast was made for us by the very capable and nice Kate, and their dog found a life long friend in Morella. Who, btw, now knows to brace for face licks when a dog approaches.

Other

I have been getting pooped very fast lately. I'm a little worried about how on earth Crouton is ever going to be born. I was in awesome shape with Morella and that took almost 24 hours with three of it being solid pushing! I can't even pack up our stuff for 10-15 minutes or shop for longer than 30 minutes without getting really winded, stomach jabby pain and needing to sit down. I am really hoping that come spring, just taking lots of little walks or something will help build up my endurance. BUT...I noticed with the walking that we did do this weekend that my leg pain has really returned. It's not gonna be long before I have to sit down to put my pants on.

Taking this into consideration, I may also have an opportunity to watch a young baby (2-3 mo), 1-3 times a week ... but for the whole day. We are talking from 7.30 or 8:00 in the morning until 5:00ish. I already told her I wouldn't do it past August, but she seems willing to give it a go. I just feel so conflicted. A part of me says "it's just a teeny baby..." but then the other part of me says "You'll be housebound, you don't have a seperate area set up for naps, you don't have a bouncy chair, etc to put them in...and you can barely keep up with Morella for one day how can you do it?"

I just don't know. The extra money would be nice for a downpayment on a minivan...but then again we don't desperately need the money. I would be doing this more as a favor for the woman than anything. Should I just try it for a week and see how it goes? Or just be honest about my worries? Or ... gah. I just don't know.

I really wish I had something good to eat right now. Like a cupcake, a twix or something. I'm gonna go lay down and read for awhile. I am totally addicted to this book Sarah lent me called Elantris. I can't stop thinking about it! It's one of those cases where I am going to really sad when it's done. Then maybe later I'll play a little Dynasty Warriors with Tim instead of cleaning up the house. :P

Morella has her 15 mo appointment tomorrow. I wonder if she gained weight...he thighs look a little more toddler like to me, and she is starting to enter that akward phase between babydom and toddlerhood.

Overall, this day couldn't have been done without Tim. He's my superhero right now.

So last night I ended up going out to a coffee place with Hilary. We stayed until we were kicked out at 11 and then headed home. I eventually went to sleep around 12.

Today, I awoke with a headache that has persisted all day. :( I blame it on the weather. Morella had a good day. Not cranky one bit, a delight. I need to remember to write about her good days more than complain about the crabby ones. We went shopping at the Mall to buy Tim some new work clothes. I got four pairs of pants (business casual), two nice shirts, a toddler sweater and shirt all for 52$. Amazing. Tim was quite happy with his new wardrobe.

Morella had a microwaved salisbury steak boxed dinner and peas. I made a pot pie for Tim and I later, after she was fed. She'll have pot tomorrow for lunch. I also finally made the coffee cake tonight while watching Miss Pettigrew -- a movie I thoroughly enjoyed.

We voted late, at 7:40 and I was number 206. I think that is the lowest voter turnout I have participated in ever.

Well, Tim just went to bed. I heard him take his glasses off. He never beats me to bed and this cannot stand. Good night.

So last week I was sick. I just blamed it on bad pregnancy rhinitis and change of weather, and dust, and ... I don't know. Whatever else I could because I could not believe that it was possible for me to get sick just three days after a two week cold ended. I mean, it's just not credible, right? I finally conceded I was sick on Wednesday. I was okay on Thursday for the spa treatment and the massage person said that massages can help boost the immune system...but the next day - Friday was like the worst day yet! I felt terrible! Maybe all that blood circulating around kick started things. You know, cleansed the system? I don't know. I'm just thinking out loud.

Yesterday is when I felt I finally turned a corner and today I finally feel over it. Sick! For another week! That's just nuts. The one bright spot to it, is that it WASN'T that bad of pregnancy rhinitis, and also that it's over and of course now I feel so much better and ambitious and creative, and interesting again.

Yesterday for our weekend field trip, we headed to Hilldale Mall on the near West side to explore. We hadn't been there to look around and it sounded like they had interesting stores. I activated a 20$ gift visa card from our internet rewards program in case I wanted to splurge on something. I didn't. We did end up getting Tim a cinnamon orange soap, and I got a sampler pack of scents, lotions and soap that I am looking forward to using. I love samples. We ended our little window shopping spree with appetizers and beer (soda) at the Great Dane. Morella did wonderful and fell asleep on the way home. I love how fast she falls asleep in her car seat now.

Today, we got dressed and went to baby book time. It was okay -- the director is cramming less in, but I think we could still do without the chairs. To her credit she does say you don't have to sit in them....but it's kind of weird if you don't. You know? So you have to. At the socializing end of it, Hilary called and asked if I could watch Leta and Cullen while she took Mina to the doc. I said sure and came right now. It wasn't that bad at all having three kids around -- though we are going to stop at two. :P Leta commented on the dirty kitchen, and I asked her if she wanted to help me clean it. She said no. :( I also told her that Monday is cleaning day around here because I don't like to clean on the weekends, and I hadn't time to do it yet. Of course I pointed the finger at Morella for messing up the kictchen so much anyway and asked what I should do about it. Sadly, Leta had no suggestions. Ha ha. Kids. She did help me cook lunch though. I love how kids like to cook. Maybe if my Mom had done that with me when I was growing up then I wouldn't have had such a hard time with the whole cooking learning curve when we moved to Madison and I became a fulltime housewife on a budget. Whew. Tough times those were.

But I think I can finally say with conviction now -- that I can cook. I guess that is kind of cool.

The rest of the afternoon was spent taking a long nap, and then handling a cranky baby girl. She keeps tearing at her mouth in frusturation so I can only guess that she is teething. Gosh I wonder if she is teething the whole rest of her teeth! She still only has 5 1/2 at this point, and she's almost 15 months. What a slow teether. I fed her leftover pad thai noodles, baked beans and peas for dinner and then later made curry for Tim and I. Ahh, I love curry especially if we have naan to go with it (which we did).

Anyway. I had a couple of ideas for tonight but so far haven't settled on one. I was going to start watching a movie - Mrs Pettigrew Lives for a Day and put laundry away before moving onto some craft. I should also start a letter. I also wanted to make some coffee cake -- because I want some. And that brings me to the point of this post!

You know, I was thinking about cravings and how with Morella I didn't really have any. I guess if I did, it was potatos. I loved potatos, especially with biscuits. This time I am definitely experiencing more "things I would like to eat." So far they have been:

--cinnamon rolls
--crisp vegetables
--salad
--twix candy bars
--gummy candy
--rice krispy bars
--cold cereal
--tart pies

Uh...I'll think of more later. I want to start making the coffee cake.

Other than that, I have been spending my evenings playing the lego Indiana Jones game that I got for my birthday with Tim. It has kind of been drowning out the desire to do anything else. Oh well, it's not like we ALWAYS play video games. It comes in fits and spurts.

SPA day - aka my day off

Today my husband blew me away. Out of the blue, he set up a spa day for me at Elevation Salon for a 60 min massage, 30 min reflexology session, a facial followed by a wash and hair cut from our friend Lowen. As some of you maybe had realized "Wait, but it's a Thursday! Who is watching Morella?" To answer that hypothetical question, Tim took the day off from work so that he could watch the little munchkin.

So this morning he got up, rescued Morella and gave her milk while I lounged in bed. I eventually got up to feed Morella her breakfast of oatmeal while Tim made buttermilk pancakes -- making the substitute buttermilk himself! He also fried up some sausage and made some great half-caf coffee and poured me some with cream and sugar just the way I like it. :) I played with her for a bit afterward while he did a few computer things and then he took her while I showered.

Soon we were off. I was nervous, I won't lie. I have never had a massage, though I have dreamed of it often. You know the whole thing just makes me blush through and through. A spontaneous spa day is the sort of things that happens to women in movies, on television or in magazines! It doesn't happen to little old me. Furthermore, it was orchestrated by my gruff, no nonsense husband? Incredible...ly...sweet. :D

The massage was great. I had to modify the laying positions to accommodate Crouton, but overall it was super relaxing. I thought I would hate the reflexology because I am terribly ticklish, however after an uncomfortable minute I was able to really relax and enjoy it. I do believe it was my first foot massage ever! After it was done, I sort of just laid on the bed "taking my time" just enjoying the quiet, candles, and good smelling stuff they had going on. Then I put on a deluxe fluffy robe and slippers, went to the bathroom, got some bottled water and moved onto the facial portion of it.

I have had a facial before, in Finland actually. I sort of knew what to expect that that it would be rough on my skin and it would probably look like crap for a day or two. But after that day or two passed, I would have awesome looking skin. The treatments for the most part did burn and were uncomfortable. She got some blackheads out, told me that the warts I thought I had my face were just whiteheads and I got a great shoulder, neck, head and face massage. Ahh. Afterward, my face pretty much was red and sunburned feeling for the rest of the day. It was only until about a half an ago after reading the literature that the woman gave me, did I realize that the products were made from a mushroom extract. I don't know how many of you know this, but I have a mushroom intolerance. I can't eat them without facing severe consequences, so I wonder if that was aggravating my skin. As soon as I washed my face with regular handmade soap and cold water the burning eased and my face stopped being so red.

Hm. Anyway. I can't wait to see how awesome it looks this weekend.

Then I had my hair cut and wash from Lowen, who gives neck massages. I was massaged up the ying yang and it was great! She then proceeded to cut my hair and we had a ver nice chat about what we have been doing the last couple of months. Me = boring, tired, sick person who didn't want to do anything. Her = same story except she blames it on winter. Though I am sure she was probably just empathizing with me and probably does go out, is creative and that. Though to my credit, I am getting that creative itch back.

I am not entirely sure how I feel about the hair cut yet. It's shorter...it got all that discolored stuff from the edges, so if I wanted to grow it out now it would look much better. I would post a photo, but I can't stop looking at how red my face is so I guess I'll just have to wait a few days before I get to that. Give the hair time to settle.

After that, Tim was able to pick me up right away because Morella wasn't napping. I stopped to see my friend Sigrid and show her the hair and then pop into Gotham Bagel for two bagels for lunch. Tim picked me up, Morella was crashed out in the backseat and we drove home. Once there, he successfully transferred her to the crib, I quickly checked my email and then started to feel really tired and went to nap myself. It was good nap. I got up, read a bit and then helped Tim feed Morella dinner while he cooked a frozen pizza -- that ended up mostly in the stove because it slipped off the spatula when he was taking it out! Oh that was funny. I was holding Morella and laughing so hard I started to cry. We went to go give Tim a hug and Morella started fake laughing and joining in on the hug.

It was one of those moments.

Tim then had to go off to his Thursday night game. I bathed Morella, read her some stories and put her to bed before jumping on the computer to document this momentous day. It was good one -- the only other thing that would have made it better was for it to be warm, sunny and summer. ;)

Now I should go and look for something to eat. I haven't been very hungry today. I only had three medium pancakes, a bagel, and two sausages...oh and a small piece of rhubarb pie. That doesn't seem like much, does it? Anyway.

Thanks Darling, I love you. :D

Dr. Appointment today went well. We discussed the dangers of listeria and that packaged lunchmeat and toasted subs are okay. :P She also talked about the possiblity of a belly bra...ha ha it's just funny to think of that. I said I would see what a month of getting more exercise would do for me before deciding that.

I dropped Morella off at Ann and Noah's where they watched him while I went to this appointment. I got some blood drawn and set up my anatomoical ultrasound appointment for March 17th, at 4:00PM. So there you have it. You can't ask me what the sex is before then. :P Ann and Noah agreed to watch Morella while we went. It kind of sucks that Morella can't be there...:(

uh oh meltdown city!

I'm gonna try and update all day. We'll see how that goes. These items done for the chunks of time are not in chronological order. So for example, I did NOT check my email right after getting up. In fact, I went to the living room and cleaned up Morella's play area so she would have something to mess up while we made her breakfast.

By 8:44 AM today I have:
-Got out of bed at 7:17AM
-checked my email
-Opened the curtains
-Washed mud off the sofa because of that dumbass dog
-reset Morella's play area
-ate an old donut and bowl of fruity cheerios for breakfast
-fed Morella breakfast
-washed my face and put in contacts
-checked my internet haunts
-put in a service ticket for my domain
-played with Morella
-made the bed
-finished updating my address database from xmas return labels
-hung up a few stray Morella items

Note: Morella is NOT forward facing yet. She is still rear facing and will remain so until she at least hits 20 pounds, which you know at this rate will take forever. ;)

Next Block of time until 11:37:

-changed poopy diaper
-drink big glass of water
-repack diaper bag (emptied by Morella)
-warm up some 1/2 caf
-set snacks out for Morella (fruity cheerios)
-transfer travel wipes to Ziplock baggie (morella destroyed the orginal package)
-chase Morella around with soy milk sippy cup - she didn't drink much this am
-Call Emily and leave message about taking afternoon walk
-Address, stamp, sticker and write 15 valentines
-write a quick 3 page letter to go with my Mom's card
-Wiggle time
--Wash high chair tray
-Take Morella with me to basement to get juice. Make sure she turns on and off all lights and helps shut the door
-make juice
-open front door and watch Morella play in front of it
-Talk to Emily and make sketchy plans for the afternoon
-Fish a pumpkin seed out of Morella's mouth (open door treasure)
-pee
-Feed Morella lunch of: 1/8 avacado (she actually ate some this time instead of spitting it out), raspberry jello, shaved deli turkey, wedge of Laughing Cow baby swiss, 1/2 cupcake.
-Make self a grilled provolone cheese sandwich with red onions, avacado, a sprinkle of salt and miracle whip. I accidentally burned on half and had to peel it off and redo it.
-drink large glass of water
-wash Morella up, change her very wet diaper
-laid Morella down for her afternoon nap. She settled without a fuss.
-upload a photo of Morella helping me. Every time I took the sticker off her nose, she put it back on. It stayed there all morning.





NOTE: One faithful reader - Winter Snow Gypsy writes:
"sometimes all the words are missing...But then if I click&drag to select them, they reappear (only temporarily)"



Can anybody else please verify and tell me if this happens to them too? Or is it that Laima just needs to change her reader or get her computer adjusted.



11:49AM - 2:54PM


-checked mail
-took a nap from 12:25-2:24. Had a really weird dream about a hospital/hotel room
-got dressed. OMG it's so nice to have my favorite maternity pants back!!
-pee
-text Tim, who is getting reimbursed in mileage for a trip he is taking this afternoon to Waukesha
-ate a cupcake
-chatted with Hilary and checked my email
-emailed Ann about watching Morella tomorrow morning

[Morella is STILL sleeping! That's like 3 1/2 hours! This totally makes up for yesterday's paltry one hour nap)

3:00 - 7:35

-Change Morella's diaper
-Get Morella dressed and ready for outside
-Call Emily and agree to meet her in 20 min
-Gear up stroller, diaper bag, purse and self
-Meet Emily on her street and walk to Walgreens
-Buy facial tissue, a foot scrubber, pocket tissue and a Twix candy bar
-Leave walgreens and scarf twix
-Walk to Java Cat
-Eat an early dinner (for morella mostly, I did't eat) beef stew, applesauce, bread
-Walk home, and on the way let Morella do some walking on the dry sidewalk parts
-Undress Morella down to onsie and dress
-Clean off high chair tray
-Return to living room two minutes later to see Morella pooped AND peed by the door
-Take her to the bathroom for a bath
-Start bath
-Pee
-Laima comes and knocks
-Take Morella out of bath to answer the door
-Return Morella to bath
-Laima comes in and visits in the bathroom
-Morella declares it a short bath, and runs around naked for about 15 minutes
-I pajama her
-Visit ends with Laima, she takes her crockpots home with her
-Play with Morella
-Seat Morella in high chair for additional snack of ham and swiss cheese, I eat a cookie
-More playing with Morella - lots of "I'm gonna get you!"
-Change diaper into disposable for the night
-Sleep sack her
-Read four books: Tingalayo, Quick as a Cricket, 10 Little Ladybugs and Hush Little Baby while she drinks soy milk
-Carry her to bed while saying prayers
-Kiss her and promise to see her in the morning
-Come in here to report



Now I am going to take a shower I think. My nose has been sniffly all day! It's like allergies ... but I don't have allergies. I refuse to believe it. It's just that one nostril is being tickled by .. somthing which is just making the snot come faster and feel sneezy. I have a doctor appointment tomorrow and ...gah. I don't feel like taking a shower right now. Maybe I should in the morning. I just feel tired like I want to lay down for awhile and just read. Maybe I'll do that. I'll let you know how it goes.

8:00 - 9:20

-Compromised and took a bath. The first in forever.
-I think I "popped" -- I am definitely looking pregnant now.
-Got dressed
-Chatted with Tim about his meeting
-Got a bowl of Reese's peanut cereal
-Uploaded photo of Walgreens
-Finished up this post

I think I am now going to end this day by doing one last check of the internet, finishing my cereal and going to bed.

Thanks for watching!

Morella is teething an eye tooth on her right side. Her little tongue is hanging out...it's cute. So, you may imagine that she has been a total crank monster, and if you did indeed imagine that you would be correct!

Regardless, I had plans for today. It started off with Tim making french toast (surprise and delicious!) and coffee, followed by a leisurely morning of putzing. Then we got dressed and headed downtown to enjoy the nice weather and do a little State Street shopping. Something must have been going on at the Overture Center because State Street was deluged with parents and babies in strollers. Yes, we looked like a cliche, but who cares? We had a nice time we:

--got coffee from the Fair Trade Coffee Place
--got more deodorant for me (I vowed I would never go another Dr. appt without putting some on!)
--two new hand made soaps (orange and a cinnamon/clove one)
--a wonderful acrylic stamp set that has my imagination firing overtime (splurge)
--valentine's
--lunch at Chatayra (where the picture is taken)

We installed Morella's new car seat today and I am pleased to report that she fell asleep in it within moments of heading home. I guess you could also say it was because she was an hour over her nap time. Anyway. IT fits and looks so comfortable. Hurray!

Once we got home I changed her diaper, put comfortable pants on her and slipped her into her crib where she took a 3 hour nap! Woo! I took a long nap on the couch, and when Tim got done riding his bike home from work (we had dropped him off) he took a nap as well. For her dinner she had leftover Korma chicken and I made a homemade spaghetti pizza that was a disaster because the crust didn't rise at all, and the texture of the ground turkey made me gaggy. :P Tim ate a bunch though so it wasn't all a total loss.

Morella then proceeded to meltdown every five minutes and we decided to take a walk around the neighborhood, with Tim carrying her and me walking the dog. It was a nice walk, though slippery. I am a little worried about how my legs started to ache near the end of the walk and how tired I was -- I'm really out of shape! Now I know why they say to wait a year between kids because I don't think I've fully recovered from Morella and everything hurts so much more -- like the the uterus pain, the leg pain, no stamina...sigh.

Last night we finished watching True Blood and it was okay. I guess I would watch more. Libby, are those books you mentioned the books that the series was based on? If so, I have a friend who is reading them who say that it's sort of trashy -- but in a fun way. I don't know. I think I am a little vampired out for the moment. But I'll keep it in mind for when I am out of books to read. Thankfully I have Sarah's recommendation of Archangel next to my bed and am pleased to say that last night dreamed about it. :D

Laura - you got the "Ashley" britax marathon? Mostly yellow with red flowers?

Sarah - thanks for the icon! It's great -- maybe I'll use it for the website. I really need to update my Bio. Sigh. I just haven't been into website design for a while. I wish I had some young intrepid student worker who wanted to impress me and redesign my website...instead of me doing it. Also, I think I will leave a suggestion with the library based on my next Baby Book time experience. Though shouldn't one give it at least three tries before criticizing?

Marnie - Where is the Donuts with Dad? Is that on the west side too?

Hmmm the only photo I took this week is the one I posted yesterday. Oh wait I think there are some on the camera from last weekend. Hm. I'll try to take one today. But I just had to jump online and share the great news -- that is for the moment, at this very instant, I feel like a million bucks.

Remember getting sick in the spring or summer? It sucked. Well the part I am thinking in particular is about when you started to feel better, as in the morning you woke up feeling great! You could just feel spring in the air, the world waiting for you to jump in and you knew you could do it because you felt better. You had a good night's sleep, and sure there might be residual snot and phlegm to remove from your lungs, but it didn't dampen your spirit --by gum you were better!

Well folks that is how I feel today. I have no headache, I am not tired, I don't feel nauseous or sick to my stomach, my nose isn't exploding ... I feel ... like I could do anything.

Morella on the other hand woke up on the wrong side of the crib AGAIN and was sentenced to more quiet time (which she wanted but is now getting sick of). I used that time to take a shower -- and I STILL feel like a million bucks ... no wait, make that two million because now I am clean and my hair is washed and I'm even dressed and perfumed for the day.

Today didn't start out well. I awoke with the same headache I went to bed. It really sucks to wake up and the first thing you think is "ouch". Tim got me some tylenol and I got an ice pack and laid in bed for another 40 minutes. It took the edge off -- enough to get through the morning with an extremely crabby little girl. She was so short fused I put her down for quiet time for a 1/2 an hour. She actually did just sort of play in there by herself, being quiet and talking. After that, she "helped" me sort laundry and socks, then we watched the Wiggles, had lunch and then she went down for her afternoon nap.

I took more tyelnol at 11ish because my head was pounding again and the tylenol and worn off....then something magical happened. Sometime around noon, it vanished. Like someone snapped their fingers and said "poof" -- it was gone. My head felt fine, no better than fine it felt wonderful! I could shake my head, cough and even stand up fast without suffering. I did what any sane person would do, I went and took a nap.

It was a glorious nap. It was so painfree I can't even begin to describe it. I awoke when Morella did around 2:00. I went in and .... guess what? She was 100% better too. Her nose has stopped running, she stopped looking so miserable, she was back to her wonderful little self. I couldn't believe it. We both had this miracle occur today.

So I uncanceled my afternoon plans and took her to the Sun Prairie library where she charmed the pants off anyone who would smile at her. She wore an adorable outfit, I looked pretty good, we had treats, we played, we socialized it was great. On the way home I washed the car (free car wash with oil change) and Morella stayed awake the entire time. Oh she ate a whole breakfast bar as a snack before we left so I didn't feel *too* guilty about her dinner being late. Once home I made her some stinky noodles, and peaches while Tim ordered us a pan pizza. Then we watched two episodes of True Blood and I was vindicated by my prediction ... and now here I am about to go to bed.

For the record I want to say that a couple of days ago I had woken up around 3:00 in the morning with a revelation about who the killer was in True Blood. I turned to Tim and wanted to wake him up to tell him -- but at the very last moment realized how stupid that was, so I left it until the next day. It was so nice to find out I was right!

Oh and Morella's new carseat arrived in the mail -- we splurged and got her last years model of a Britax Marathon. It's floral but it was only $179 and should last until she is SIX. :P I really hope it fits in the car. She tried it out before bed and looked like a little queen on her throne. So cute.

Thank goodness the moby is still an option for Morella. This is her in the hip holding wrap and me having two arms free...well at least one arm and a thankful back. She was feeling pretty needy this afternoon and I was feeling like I needed to make some dinner. Morella likes to help me with dinner -- who knows maybe she'll grow up learning how to cook! She was there for a good two hours. Oh, you can see two of the necklaces my Mom made me in the photo.

Dinner tonight was steamed cauliflower with cheese, and a skillet of chicken apple sausage, potatoes, black beans, onions and a red pepper. I made a sauce using apple juice, apple vinegar cider, brown sugar, mustard, and a sprinkling of sea salt. Tim said "What kind of sauce did you use? This is good" when he got home and Morella gobbled it up with both hands. She didn't care a whole lot for the cauliflower - but at least ate a few bites. OH and we had cantaloupe too (Morella or Tim didn't' want any but I made them). I thought it was really good.

Anyway. So there was Morella holding a slice of cantaloupe and she dropped it in the office. I made a mental note to come and get it later...and now that it is later there is not slice to be seen! I know what happened here -- anyone with cats would know what happened. I hope they enjoyed it. Sheesh.

I got a wonderful literary package in the mail yesterday from my friend Sarah. Two books, two magazines, a great letter and a sheet of Edgar Allen Poe stamps. How cool is that? I totally needed something new to read as I had just finished that Twilight series and this week will have finished watching True Blood. It's been a vampire centric month I tell you. Then today I got a package from my Mom with four handmade necklaces, a musical jewelry box, an decorated little pink box which I actually put in Morella's room because it seems to fit it more. What a nice surprise! I like getting packages. I need to send some more out. I have a bunch of stuff just waiting for me to feel better and put them together.

Speaking of feeling better, despite having my two week cold that got worse last night, I think I am starting to feel better! I have a little more energy and have even started writing letters and post cards again. Well post cards mostly, and a letter to my Mom (easiest to start with). Last night, despite feeling totally rotten I felt compelled to go to Michael's craft store and buy the largest crochet hook they had so that I could make a crocheted rag rug. You see, the braided one that I am working on isn't coming along as well since it started to bowl up. I try and try and try to leave it flat and make sure that it isn't too tight and yet this always happens. Who knows. Maybe if I finish it, it will actually lay down flat, or maybe if I wash it, then "block" it (I am still kind of unsure what that means ....) then maybe it will lay flat.

The point I am trying to make here, is that I am feeling crafty and somewhat creative again. Oh and I also have been doing more cleaning. The house got vacuumed twice this week so far, and this morning I even vacuumed the couch! I swept the filthy kitchen this evening and completely wiped down and washed Morella high chair. I think I'll ask Tim to mop it tonight...or heck maybe just wait until tomorrow. A headache kicked in so until the tylenol kicks in, I am going to try and take it easy.

Geez, I can't wait for these headaches to pass. Hm. I'm still hungry. Morella ate 1/2 of my dinner since hers wasn't enough. I should go see and if there is more cauliflower -- that is never as good warmed up a second time where as the skillet dinner will be.

PS. Laima - Tim is doing a thumbs up. I told him to do it and wouldn't let him ride away until he had. I'm mean like that.

Just got back from the doctor. I didn't seem like Morella was perking up enough after a week of antibiotics, so we wanted to make sure that it was working. She still has red in her ears -- one more than the other so she got a more concentrated dosage schedule for the next five days. She also weighed....*drumroll please* .... 18 pounds! It's her grandmother's ham that did it. I am convinced of it. The doctor also said the reason Morella may not be completely herself is because she probably has a virus, and they can last 10-14 days! Crap. ON the bright side that would mean she is nearing the end of it.

I have to admit that for the first time in over a week my throat doesn't hurt, though I do have a cough now and my nose isn't as explody. What a weird cold that was...huh.

We also went to baby book this morning. Morella's nose wasn't running, she wants to get out of the house and well....we are registered. A new lady is running it. She makes everyone sit in chairs and wants you to hold your baby the entire time. It's too structured and ...well I don't know. I just don't think it's that great for babies. IT's good for toddlers and older kids though...sigh. Chatting with the ladies afterward we all agreed that it was ... too structured. But we are still going to go, at least until we can't take it anymore.

I set up an impromptu playday for the Sun Pairie library at 3:00 on Thursday. Hey you are welcome to come! ;)

Well. I just wanted to brag about Morella breaking the 18 barrier. Her walking is fabulous -- I swear she is almost running at points. She just went down for her nap after eating another huge lunch (ham, cheese, potato soup, 1/2 banana, raspberries). Maybe it's the walking that is making her hungrier? In any case, I think I'm tired today so I am going to lay down. Just think, in two weeks -- and any time in between I am going to start feeling better! I can't wait.