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2010-03-07T15:41:00.001-06:00

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2010-03-07T13:36:00.002-06:00

Moving...please be aware this maybe offline for a day or two, or three, or maybe even not at all. What will change is that my new URL will be www.wazika.net I will include a redirect, but you know you might want to update your info when that happens.

In other news, the kids and dog are sick. Everyone is miserable.

2010-03-01T21:01:00.003-06:00

Sixteen days until this blog moves. I hope Tim can do it. I just reminded him of it now, even though I had given him a month and half of warning. I hope it's painless.

I have a headache. I have had it all day and pain killers have only made it background noise instead of eliminating it altogether. I feel like I might be coming down with something, or maybe fighting something off? Hm. This past weekend we went to Tim's parent's house. Morella was super excited to spend time with her grandparents and was looking forward to it all weekend. An extra bonus was that Tim's sister Sarah and her family was there so Morella got to play with her cousins all weekend. The drawback to that is that they were potential plague bearers...am I coming down with something? Time will tell I suppose.

Saturday morning I went downstairs to hear Tim and his Mom talking about me going to Appleton. I told them I had already looked into it and it was too long of a drive from Manitowoc and impratical. Tim told me that he would just borrow his Mom's car and I could take our car and go visit my friend Sarah. I borrowed MIL's GPS system and within two hours, Neeners and I were on our way for a Mommy and Baby adventure. I stopped in Stockbridge first for coffee, a snack, and a little post card writing while Athena played on a rug with some toys in front of a fireplace. Heaven!

After that I met up with Sarah, had a nice chat while Nick took his morning nap and Ruth flitted about doing typical toddler stuff (snack, dancing, TV, playing with the baby, crying) -- really it's amazing the range of emotions that young children go through in the span of an hour. Inwardly, I was glad to let someone else experience Morella's range for a morning, while I got to spend quality time with Neeners. Afterwards we headed to Neenah to have lunch at The Mom and Pop Place, which was completley not what I expected. It was better than expectations and made me wonder why Madison doesn't have such a place...in fact it made me wonder enough to see if it would be worth filling that niche.

Truth be told, I have often thought of opening a business, but I could never really figure out "what" to sell. Now I have a pretty good idea, but even entertaining the idea and researching it fills me a ton of emotions. I wish I could talk to someone who started their own business, and more importantly, talk to someone who did it with young children. Meanwhile, I guess I will keep working on letting the idea float around in my head. I kind of wish I knew someone who would be interested in exploring this option with me. Anyway. That is what I am currently consumed by.

After lunch, we went back to Sarah's for a leisurely afternoon of quiet time before I headed back to the in laws for dinner. Athena howled for a bit before bedtime (I blame the mexican hot chocolate -- and it's dairy content) but once down stayed that way all night. The sucky thing about that was that I ended up going to bed at 8:30. I didn't mean to, it just happened and when I woke up at 10:30 I found that everyone else had gone to bed too! I got a drink of water, took out my contacts, peeked into to see that Morella and Tim were sharing a bed for the moment (she switched back and forth from her toddler bed to the guest bed five times throughout the night) and then went back to bed myself.

Sunday we went to church, had a nice lunch with the gang and then went home. The girls for the most part slept the entire way and I had a brownie.

I am going to try and not eat any real sweets for two weeks. I probably ruined it today by having two sweet and salty granola bars and a small handful of chocolate covered raisins. I didn't even realize what I had done until the end of the day. I think I am addicted! We'll do better tomorrow.

Other tidbits from today.

---I thought of this one while nursing -- stone babies or lithopedion -- they are just so... tragic and weird and ... sad. As soon as I got Athena down I went online to read more about them.

--We were watching Max and Ruby. Max was playing with his shadow by the fence when his neighbor looked up and over and said "Hello Max, are you playing with your shadow?"

Tim added "Says the creepy perv"
Morella then points to the TV and says "Da Da!"
I then started laughing for a good ten minutes.

---Athena woke up from her afternoon nap first and sat next to me and played for about a 40 minutes before becoming bored. I think this is the first time I actively noticed her being bored and wanting a different change of scene. Luckily by then, Morella was up. My baby's brain is getting big!

--Athena said her first word today. "Da da!" Can they talk at 6 1/2 months? Can you have a first word then or is this a complete accident? Morella didn't say anything understandable for a long time. Athena has also had a language explosion and has been constant-ing all over the place.

--Speaking of language explosion, Morella is now onto three or four word sentences. This is just astounding considering that three months ago she barely talked at all. Okay fine, she probably talked but nothing like this. Now we have real communication. Now we have "This is Weh Weh's doll." and "This is mine." Though, sometimes she says it like "This is .... mine." You can just hear the thought process in action. My other favorite is, "What's that .... sound?"

-- We have to watch our mouth though. I realized today I missed the March 1st deadline for discounted CSA for the new place we want to try and said "Oh Shit" out loud. From the bedroom getting her a diaper change repeated Morella "Oh shit." Thankfully it didn't seem to keep and was changed to "Oh Toots!" which Tim and I have now been saying with gusto.

Oh these kids, I love them so. But if I start a business will I damage them? How will they feel about spending a lot of time in place other than home? Where will they nap? I guess I could put a bed in the office area (if there is one)? Is having them at work with me doable? What would I do if they were sick? See, all of these questions make me feel like there must be a partner or someone else involved.

Ugh I am tired. I think this cold is kicking it up a notch. I hope I don't get sick. Maybe if I go to bed at a decent hour, it will be gone by tomorrow. I did get a nap in today too, even it was only an hour.

oh yeah and AG ... uh... I'll work on it. Here are three more:

--I am grateful for eye sight technology and that I can see with my horrible vision with the aid of glasses and contacts.
--I am grateful that I can walk, dance, move, ride bike, carry my kids, etc thanks to the four inch steel plate in my back (though I wasn't so grateful for that when I was in labor with Athena and denied an epidural).
--I am grateful for my vaccinations.

2010-02-24T22:11:00.003-06:00

Wii Fit Quest Day 6 -- Success via the Sun Prairie Target. I had called right after story time and she said she had several, but that they have a no hold policy. I quickly got everyone ready and headed over. I haven't been to this one before so it was a pleasant surprise to enter a clean, large, everything in it's place Target (our current target is undergoing changes). While I was getting the kids into the car Morella kept saying "Eat? Store eat? Weh Weh eat?" And she would nod. Weh weh is the best way I can think of how to spell how she says her name. I said sure, because thankfully Target's have Starbucks and a cafe. :D

I got there and got me Wii Fit Plus! I noticed though that they had no Wii's, so it's a good thing I got mine yesterday at Best Buy. There were two after mine and as I checked out I mentioned that I had been calling every day. The check out clerk said he believed it and if people knew they had them now they would be out in minutes. Well, I am pretty sure they are out now because I know I was not the only one calling every day.

Anyway, so that is complete. It was much quicker than Tim though it would take. Since I was the one doing the calling I felt it was plenty long enough.

Attitude of Gratitude Day 6:

--Having lunch at Target with an adorable little girl dressed in red, charming the pants off the other Mom's son (Justin, age 3 almost four in one month and is going to have a Clone party, he informed me). Athena was of course adorable.

--Athena sitting in and actually enjoying be carried forward facing in the Ergo carrier. That thing cost enough! Also, it was more comfortable to wear her that way and she felt way more stable. I should practice with her in it more often to get her ready for the spring and summer.

--The two hours I had to cuddle and play with Athena in bed while Morella was sleeping, and fat flakes of snow fell outside.

Okay, gonna play a little more Wii -- it's new so it's fun.

2010-02-23T22:20:00.002-06:00

I think I am fighting something off. My eyes feel like I've pulled an all nighter -- all day. They felt a little better after my massive 2 1/2 hour nap that I took with the girls this afternoon, but it's back now. I am also really tired...a bummer because ....

WII Fit Plus Quest #5

Shopko - Sorry Sir, we don't, (You suck!)
Walmart Supercenter - We do not Ma'am. (thank you!)
Target East and Sunprairie - Unfortunately we do not. (almost verbatim)
Best Buy - We don't have the Wii fit, but we did get a bunch of Wii's in today and the fit follows pretty closely.

Hm.

I call Tim "Hey tim they have a bunch of Wii's and say that it might come soon.
Tim replies "Maybe we should get the Wii while they have it."
"What?" I ask "You mean the Wii Fit Plus doesn't come with a Wii?"
"Uh no," he answered. "It only comes with the game and board."
"I thought a $100 bucks was kind of cheap for that!" I said. "Well, I should go and get a Wii since everyone seems to be out of that too."
"Okay," he said.

So, my friends. We have a Wii now. I went over to Sigrid's to borrow Boomblocks this evening while Tim set it up.

AG#5

--Matt's Meatloaf brownies
--Kathleen's butterscotch oatmeal cookies
--Wii

2010-02-22T21:47:00.003-06:00

Wii Fit Plus Quest Day 4:

Okay, so in short everyone said no, but here is the interesting thing. Walmart Supercenter had gotten in four an hour and a half after I had called. Yes, FOUR -- and 20 Wii's. All of which were sold out in a matter of hours. When I called Target they assured me that their deliveries come over night and are restocked then instead of the middle of the day--- all willy nilly.

AG#5

--My friend Sigrid coming to visit for the afternoon and bringing Monty's Blue Plate food.

--Getting a hot shower in with the door closed this morning.

--No fuss bedtimes.

I got some crocheting to do tonight and I don't want to be up late. I went to bed at 1 last night, up at 6:30 ... and I'm tired. Today's bedtime is 11:00.

2010-02-21T22:07:00.002-06:00

Wii Fit Quest Day #3:

Costco (thanks for the suggestion!) - "Sold out."
Walmart Supercenter: "No, we didn't any in."
Best Buy: "We don't, I'm sorry."
Target Sunprairie: "No, unfortunately we don't have any of those in stock."
Shopko: I asked "Electronics please,"
"Is this for getting a wii?"
"Yes" I replied.
"Sorry, we don't have any."

AG Day 4:

--Tim running out to get dinner because the one I was making (hamburger hotdish) was going to be too late (he got Arby's. Morella didn't eat the roast beef because she said it smelled like "Bart" aka fart, but she did eat the broccoli I made her and Athena). Now we have dinner for tomorrow too, and lunch.

--I know how to read.
-I know how to write.

Those last two are two skills I consider to be two of my most valuable possessions.

Anyway. I bundled up the kids and hauled them up to the Capitol for Winterfest this morning. Tim stayed home to do some laundry, pick up and look through old receipts and reliving our pacific northwest vacation. I get there, park in the public ramp, haul out the double stroller, pack in Morella, scoop out Athena from the carseat and then realize I forgot her snowsuit. :(

I bundled her up in blankets and headed out anyway. At the same time was another couple with children almost the same age as Morella and Athena. In fact, their little boy was quite interested in getting into the double stroller with Athena because his mother said they had one very similar. I mentioned to them that I heard that this event sucked, but I had hoped it wasn't the case. We chatted a bit and then headed off...to a great big pile of suck.

There were five midget ice sculptures, three snow sculptures and the "fun kids snow sculpting area" made the snow banks alongside our driveway look like the Rocky Mountains. There were about five kids scrambling around that sorry little pile of slush that just made my heart cry. Here you can see the two little piles in the background.

I shouldered on. On the road around the square was a bunch of trucked in snow that was made into obstacles, and various ski type things. There was a Scion dealer giving out cheap sunglasses, hand warmers and some kind of head thing I have yet to check out, and a turbo tubing "hill". Judge for yourselves.

To be fair, Morella might have enjoyed going down this little bunny hop, but there was no way I could ditch Athena in her throne of blankets to haul Morella up there for a little ride down. Since it was the only thing that was worth doing for kids there was a line. I finished walking around the square and texted Tim about the lameness of it all and decided to just go home. I would say that the girls agreed...

I ran into the parking lot couple who decided to call it quits as well. We chatted up to the car, wished each other well and started to pack up the kids. I kept thinking "ask them if they want to playdate...do it...do it..." and so I did. We'll see how it goes. It would be great for Athena to have a kid her age to play with later on. Plus, you know it's nice to meet new people. I go through phases were I make a big effort to expand my base of friends every other year -- I guess I am in one of those phases right now.

2010-02-20T23:08:00.005-06:00

Wii Fit Plus Quest day 2

Target East - No.
Walmart Supercenter - No, but they get shipments on Sunday's it seems.
Best Buy - Sorry, nope.
Shopko - Nope.

AG Day 3:

--Athena's big chubby cheeks
--Good Health Insurance
--Candy Cane Lane Decaf Green Tea

-----------------

10 Things you Probably didn't know about me -- the Eating Edition

1. I can't eat mushrooms, broccoli, yellow squash, sunchokes, or burdock root without experiencing great intestinal discomfort.

2. I usually will eat food that has fallen on the floor after a quick visual inspection to make sure there is nothing obviously icky on it. And if it's my house, I just pick off the dog or cat hair and blow on it, before eating it.

3. I have a strong gag reflex and can't eat gristle, or fatty things. Ugh, just thinking about it has me looking for paper napkin.

4. My preference of ordering food is: chicken, veggie, beef and the pork (because of said gag reflex).

[Edit...my computer shut down because of low battery and I panicked and restarted the whole thing and thank goodness this post is still here....whew! That is an AG #4, me thinks.]

5. The first time I ever took myself out to eat was to Taco Bell when I was 17.

6. I don't like really spicy food.

7. I hate the taste of hard alcohol (with a few rare exceptions in which I can't taste it, like Soco in apple cider) to the point of not liking desserts
like tiramisu.

8. I am lactose intolerant.

9. I have a very strong sweet tooth -- particularly for pastries.

10. I love bread. I could just eat a dinner of bread with a some butter or a little oil.

There, that wasn't so hard.

I watched Alien Versus Predator: Requeim tonight in continuing with my Alien themed weekend. Oy. It was kind of boring -- and I ended up spending most of it on the computer putzing around.

Oh my god, we went shoe shopping this evening for Tim. He needed some new all purpose black shoes and we ended up at Famous Footwear. Morella wandered about near me, climbing benches and looking around while I tried on clearance shoes one footed while balancing a baby. Suddenly, I noticed that Morella was holding up a boot to me with a big grin on her face. Soon she has a pile of boots and discarded shoe wrappings around. The boots in question? Princess boots.

She has perfectly awesome Oshkosh BGosh boots, but these garish boots are what ended up on her feet. I am just amazed at how she found these boots among so many other cool shoes. Okay, so obviously we aren't going to let her get these as winter is almost over (I hope). No, no, instead we let her get the next pair of shoes she glommed onto.

The sparkle, they light up when she walks, they are covered in shiny things and most importantly, they have princesses, which include her favorite - Belle. This is the first pair of shoes that Morella has ever picked out for herself. I think we were so enamored by the cuteness of it, that she got away with it. So much for classy shoes that we can pass onto Athena. These things will be so trashed by that time...at least we have plenty of other thoughtfully picked out nice shoes that are hand me downs waiting.

Morella was so proud that she walked out of the store wearing them. I should also note that she hasn't seen any of these movies (we tried Cinderella but it was too scary) and she has never seen Beauty and the Beast so we have no idea while Belle is her favorite. But you know, I am glad that is the case because she has brown hair. :P

Afterward we stopped at Old Navy to get Morella some more grip socks. I had put her in a pair of non skid ones tonight (all I could find) and she skidded on the hardwood floor and landed hard on her butt. Hard enough to complain about not wanting to walk and I'm certain there will be a big bruise ... but hopefully nothing is broken. I also got Athena three outfits on clearance. The total number of new clothes that I have bought for Athena is now 6 total. She is at a strange stage right now because she is 9-12 month, and Morella was in summer clothes at that point.

Ugh. Going through gobs of baby clothes is such a pain, but I guess a pain that I am grateful (AG#5 -- I'm on fire!) for considering most of them are from friends.

Athena cries and it's late (ended this post at 12:04A)

2010-02-19T23:15:00.002-06:00

I found the snippet in Elle's January issue:

Develop the Gratitude Attitude
Listing three things that you're grateful for or three events that have gone well over the past week can significantly increase your level of happiness for about a month, make you more optimistic, and improve your physical health.

There we have it.

AG Day 2:

--Getting tagged in Homemaker's "Musings from the Big Pink" (a very funny blog telling the story of child raising from a SAHD's perspective) for the "10 Things" meme. It's good to feel included. :)

--District 9 [I love a good science fiction tale, and this one will keep my noggin thinking for days]

--Dance parties with Morella and Athena

Today was a pretty good day. We all slept in until 7:00 (thanks Neener, we have a new early riser). Morella had gotten up at 4:00 with ridiculous demands which Tim almost feel for because he was tired. But when he went to use the bathroom, I went in there and laid down the law. She stayed in her bed. Tim went to his own bed, Neener's went into her cosleeper and all were happy.

I bundled up Athena and went to a financial meeting at our credit union with an adviser. I have been wondering if we should be doing something with a portion of our savings, or if there are any glaring financial opportunities that we aren't taking advantage of, so I agreed to a meeting. After all, it's free and Tim was around to wrangle Morella. Turns out there is nothing more to be done than what we are doing and to check in a few years when interest rates are different and we have more defined goals. Well that was good to know.

Afterward I picked up Tim and Morella at the local park (they were the only ones there playing in the snow), broke car by going to fast in a huge divot, made worse by ice, and went to go buy a Wii Fit Plus. Our scale is now broken thanks to a 22 1/2 pound toddler jumping on it to watch the numbers bounce. Either that, or I gained 20 pounds over the week. So yeah, a quick trip to the store and we would spend the evening playing around with it after the kids went to bed.

Ha ha ha ha ha!

Yeah. I don't know what we were thinking. You know, I guess I thought that the demand was greatly reduced and that stores would actually have them, especially since hey had reduced the price. However, Shopko, Target and Best Buy did not have any, and we were told there were none in the great state of Wisconsin. Not only that they but don't believe in wait lists (neither does online) and that the magic delivery truck tells no one it's schedule. We came home and looked online and found several places willing to sell you one with a $30-50 markup. It's a matter of principle -- we will not pay more than the orginal price.

So, I am going to be adding a new section to this every day blogging. It's called "Who will have the Wii Fit Plus first?" Every morning as a part of my morning routine, I will call each of these three establishments to inquire whether or not any were delivered overnight. Target had said that their last shipment was three weeks ago so I feel like one might be due. Then again, I was the 11th person by noon to ask about it - so even with great demand, apparently Nintendo and Target aren't in any actual hurry to sell any machines.

Okay, I'll think of 10 Things the average Joe probably doesn't know about me for tomorrow.

2010-02-18T08:24:00.002-06:00

Okay. I read in Elle Magazine that if you keep an attitude of gratitude journal for 30 days you will be significantly happier. I suspect it only works for a month. Or maybe it takes a month to feel it? I don't know. I thought it was worth a shot. So for 31 days I'll post .. well depending on how well the transfer of moving goes... *crosses fingers*.

I am grateful for:

1. The coffee that Tim makes every morning.
2. Athena's big smile first thing in the morning.
3. Sunny mornings in winter.

I guess that was a morning edition.

Morella took her pants off! Athena is complaining about being in her office. I guess that means I have to go.

2010-02-16T22:58:00.002-06:00

Athena can roll from back to front now. I saw this in action at the diaper changing station. She didn't roll off because I was there to catch her. She repeated it later in bed so it's official! Hurray!

Morella slept in another spot other than her bed for the first time this morning (not including wee baby days). Early this morning Tim heard strange thumping emitting from Morella's room. He went to investigate and found a sleep walking Morella crying because she ran into her gymboree like green chair. She was upset afterward and wanted him to stay in her room and hold her hand while she slept. In a desperate move to get more sleep, he took her to the office and laid down on the futon. If you can believe, she fell asleep until morning. The key was to let her lay down (on her tummy) with no covers AND hold her hand.

She doesn't want covers and hasn't wanted them since the great fever of '10. Personally, I think she is nuts because it's cold in this house! Well, not as cold as BIL Mark's which was kept at a frosty 65. Dude, those four degrees make a huge difference in the comfort level of a home. I was glad to get home to my extra four degrees (which I get because of the kids and especially since Athena is a baby still).

I hosted a play group this morning. Morella helped me make brownies for it after I cleaned up the kitchen, bathroom and living room all in record time. It was a good play date and afterward I was happy for the peace and quiet and tuckered out kids that took long afternoon naps that afforded me an hour and half of peace to write and chat with a friend online.

After the naps were done I took and ill fated trip to the grocery store where Morella howled no less than 4 separate times about various injustices such as: not watching Yo Gabba Gabba, I lost her soda drink somewhere between the house and the store, the the mini shopping cart, people being in the store, wanting to eat right away, and wanting to eat an apple she picked out (after we already had taken a break to sit down and eat something). Normally I would just give it to her, but since it was produced it needed to be weighed first. I also ran into an old roommate during one of the fits, thankfully Athena strapped to my chest was in good spirits and was probably cute. It kind of sucked, but we really needed to get her more milk and bread.

Lastly, it's Pluto's birthday today. He is 10. He got a McDonald's plain hamburger. We lit a candle and sang happy birthday and when it came to blowing out the candle, Morella ran away in fear shouting "Hot hot!"

2010-02-14T23:06:00.002-06:00

I had a pretty awesome day. We went to the Milwaukee Public Museum with the girls followed by a pleasant visit with extended family. Came home to no doggie accident, as it was a long time to go for him not going potty, and the girls went to bed fast and easy. I took lots of pictures but that is for another time. Right now I will present you with a few mobile photos from today and story time last Wednesday. Since this is what I spent the evening doing (organizing photos and getting them off my phone, out of my email and into a file) I thought that I would share.

Here are a bunch of photos from the past year you can check out: Mobile Photos 2009 - Present Actually, I am not entirely sure that you can. Will someone who is not friended with me on FB tell me if they can actually see these photos via the link provided? Thanks. :)

2010-02-11T16:18:00.003-06:00

Athena had her six month well baby today (dang it and is now crying as I started this post). She weighed 17 lbs and 14 oz and was 27 inches long -- so my prediction of her being 18 was close...very close. OH hold on.

Morella is up now too...I love dual three hour nap days. I mean, sure I had resettle Athena who got FIVE shots today (two of which were flu shots) but it was okay. Just this quiet time for me does so much for my energy level. Anyway. Morella weighed in at 22 lbs and 8 oz and is 35 inches tall or 2 feet and 11 inches as it says on printout. I also got some information regarding night terrors versus nightmares which I haven't read yet.

Poor Neeners. At least she has really chubby thighs for these shots compared to Morella's little chicken noodle legs at the time.

Well, we are switching our internet provider tomorrow to ATT Uverse. Currently with TDS we are getting less than 2mb on a good day -- more like 1 - 1.5. Pathetic. We have our fingers crossed that we'll have faster internet by tomorrow, plus 230 digital channels, a free DVR and $300 gift card all for switching. You know it's actually only 10 bucks more than we are playing for internet and phone right now and we we are going to be getting TV back? Also, we are dropping our land line. The only calls we ever get from it are telemarketers and bill collectors looking from Tim's siblings, with the occasional reminder about a doctors appointment (which I can change online).

Oh and an update on Morella. This is now day three of "No Nonsense" and it's working great. The first day for nap she raged a total of 8 minutes for nap, then 12 minutes for bedtime and then 18 minutes for the 2:30AM waking. The second day it was 2 minutes for nap, 15 minutes for bed time and 2 minutes for the 3:30AM waking. I have my fingers crossed for tonight but it's also my single parenting night and I always feel at a disadvantage then because I can't concentrate solely on Morella (especially tonight since I am sure to have a cranky Neeners). This is SO much better and Morella is better rested and not as crabby...everyone is winning.

2010-02-09T10:42:00.001-06:00

I had four hours of sleep last night. Not from the baby --- she�s a dream now. Goes to sleep for realz somewhere between 8-9 and stays that way except for wanting to eat a few times a night. That I can deal with. What I cannot deal with is the new Morella.

The one that all of a sudden now wakes up screaming at night for the door to be open, the lights to be on, to take off her damn blanket, no wait she wants it back but only touching her foot, puppies!, no kitty, Daddy!, no daddy, Mommy!, she wants us to sit by her, sleep on the floor, in the trundle bed, she wants several drinks perched on the side of her bed in case she gets thirsty...wtf.

THEN ... she will repeat this 2-4 times a night. I don�t get it. What happened? How long is this going to last? Last night I was so angry with her that I vowed we were going to ferberize her tonight. Enough coddling. No more fulfilling stupid requests. Every night it becomes more elaborate. The door is going to be closed. The lights are going to be off (except the nightlight) and she can scream it out, bang on the door, etc. I would rather her do this between 7-12 then from 12 to 2:30 in the morning. I have had enough!

Is this happening to you guys? How long did it last? What did you? I still feel angry with her today because she is crabby and sleep deprived and doesn�t want to take an effin nap.

Also. One more thing. She now screams "NO MOMMY!" when she is pooping and goes to hide in our room or tells me to leave the living room. Yet, she doesn�t want to potty train anymore and throws a fit unless she is wearing a diaper.

HELP! Words of advice, or compassion, or anecdotes appreciated.

2010-02-08T20:51:00.002-06:00

Okay so in preparation for the big blog move I need a banner. I could sit down and make a really lame one with my geriatric, graphic skills or I could ask you guys to make one for me. I would probably display it, give credit and what else could I do get someone to do this for me? A could have a contest! Yeah! If I got three submissions, I could put it forth to a vote and then give the winner (or maybe even all three contenders) a prize! It would be something really cool too ... like .... uh.... I could make you something native american-y. Yeah! Like maybe a pair of hand made moccasins for your kid, an awesome beaded keychain, a necklace, or beaded earrings...all hand made by the real deal.

Mission: Make a banner(s) for Wazika

Those are the 4 most common sizes for wordpress.
125x125 is generally in the side bar
300x300 is a side bar
250x250 is generally in the post toward the top
468x60 fits across the bottom or across the top of a post.

Submissions due by Feb. 23rd.
Email to hadjare at gmail.com

And of course, if I don't get anyone willing to help a sister out, then I'll just use the randomizer flicker plugin. Which, you know, is a total cop out.

2010-02-07T14:01:00.003-06:00

Athena at 6 Months

--Wow that sure went fast. I have a 1/2 year old now. Yowza!

EDITED TO ADD: Here is the link to see the month by month progression: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=167734&id=627848828&l=011737b781

2010-02-04T08:47:00.002-06:00

I was up at 6:30 morning to relieve a very grumpy Tim from Daddy duty because Morella was up complaining about being hungry. This after she went to bed at 9 or something. On the bright side, I got Neeners down for an early nap and Morella is distracted with Sesame Street...so here are some pictures from the last week.

Here we have a class BEFORE picture. I tried to look as infomercial as possible.

And this is pretty much the best I can offer for an after shot. I am having issues with how a hair cut doesn't always fix the rest of you. Wait, can I still claim "I just had a baby" factor? I also, I like Athena's expression in this photo. We match.

Pretty much how it is to be Athena with Morella as her big sister.

My friend Lowen who helped me organize all of Morella and Athena's toys. She really is good at that!

I found a baby bonnet I had gotten for Morella because babies in bonnets are incredibly cute. I put it on Athena for the afternoon. I think she'll be too big for it by the time summer/spring is here.

Athena and her grandmother. She was not a happy baby when we were gone watching a movie. Neeners knows how to drag a party down.

Once again, Morella in action....

Tim and the girls

Morella insisted "Morella's Turn" (a very fancy way of saying MINE! -- which incidentally she learned because at play group and what not, when someone would take a toy she was playing with the parent always says "Let Morella have a turn...." or "It's Morella's turn with that toy." ) She fit both of her chicken legs in one side. I think she looks like she really is in her office (which is what we used to call the exersaucer ... as I am sure a billion of other people do as well).

Morella and Athena at my friend's house.

My friend Rebekah just has a baby 12 days prior to this photo. Both baby and Mom look amazing and I wish I had a smattering of those genes.

Rebekah and Nova

Morella played with Rebekahs' daughters toys while we were there. Here at home she only has one barbie -- but I am almost positive that tide will change in the upcoming years.

2010-02-03T21:21:00.003-06:00

I got an email from blogger telling me that they will be discontinuing their ftp publishing tool. Apparently I am one of the .5% of bloggers that use this tool, thereby hogging most of bloggers IT resources. I have until March 26 to move my crap over to a Blogger managed URL or kiss it all good bye.

For a long time I have thought about moving my website. I started with blogger back in 2000 when it was still new and shiny. Before that I had run a blog the old fashioned way by updating a website every couple of days with html. Being able to use a dashboard and have just type text and have it automatically update a website was a great idea. It still is. However, there are somethings I just don't feel like blogger can do for me -- one of them is comment management. I'll admit. I didn't even attach the comment feature to my blog for years and years after it became available for the sole reason that I didn't want people telling me how much they loved me on a posty basis. To be far, it was in the infancy of bloggdom when lots of people responded with "I love you!" and "Lol" and "so funny!" or even just " :) ". All of which I hated and was a total waste of time and resources. I mean, I didn't need to be validated by this.

Along the way I got a livejournal account. I needed one for the all the private angsty stuff I was going through regarding infertility that I could lock and no one would be able to see it except personally approved friends. I also started it so that I could join IF, TTC and likeminded communities. Over the years I gained a great collection of smart, interesting women from all over the world. All women and most with children. It was through this that I realized the value of comments had evolved over the years and grown up. Now they really do contribute to a more community feel.

The problem I have had with bloggers comments features is that they do not email the person back or in any way reflect that I have responded to a comment. The only way the commenter can tell if I responded is to check that very blog post, click on comments and scroll down. It has always sorted of bothered me that there was no continuity. I read all comments, however I dont' always respond because it's kind of buried. In general I end up responding in a post, but then again that isn't very professional.

Comments aside, I need something a little more stable. Part of the problem I have had with Blogger, especially over the past two or three years is that they have problems with their FTP program every time they make an update. I realize that this is exactly the kind of thing that they are talking about, and every time it happened I vowed that I would switch. Except, you know, switching is hard. It's a lot of stuff move over and start anew.

I also want to change www.wazika.net to be the page that my blog starts on instead of right now where it's just a link. I also want to eliminate the whole 'quatschen' part. I had originally started this journal with a friend and she had given it's name. I have long since parted ways with this friend but kept the name because that it what it was named and I had already had followers. Then the name of this journal is actually wo-wunk but that just doesn't make any sense now does it. What is it -- quatschen, wazika or wo wunk? Make up your mind!

Here is my chance to resolve all of these issues. Oh, and one more, I want to be able to easily add on to the list of blogs that I read because there are so many other great blogs I have found by merely following the blog roll.

I have a deadline now. I dared my husband to help me with this transition. I wrote him an email that pretty much said something to the effect of "you know how important blogging is to me...help me obe wan keno0b tim ... you are my only hope!" He is now researching the how and why of moving my blog to word press and started over as I have already mentioned. We expect some glitches along the way, there will be a redirect URL but eventually you will and probably should update your links to just www.wazika.net or whatever.

I thought I would be sadder about the end of this website -- but you know I built it all, did my own graphics and blah blah blah. My knowledge is outdated now and I just don't have the hours to devote to relearning it all and doing it myself when it be done much easier. I may have that time in the future ... but yeah. You know how it is with two kids under three.

2010-02-01T22:49:00.002-06:00

So I got a hair cut. It's pretty short and I'm getting used to it faster than I though. I expect though that it will take a while longer for the DH to get used to it. :P

My big brainchild of an idea today was to put all of the toys in the house into a big pile in the living room floor. Then with Karen and my friend Lowen's help I was able to sort through and organize them all. I moved the target toy bin thing that everyone seems to have into Morella's closet and then put the organized toys in there. I rehung a wall frog type thing that has three ...well suffice to say I moved a bin, a frog and a chair a about six inches away from Morella's bed. Probably less, more like like three inches. Throw in the floor being clean and vacuumed and it all probably seems very different to Morella, even though it isn't that different.

Tonight we were treated to what is sure to be a common occurrence, a sleeping walking toddler. I was in the bedroom putting Athena to sleep for the second or third time when I heard a sigh from Morella. I thought it was kind of strange hear it so clearly. Then I heard Tim say "Morella? Morella?" and start walking down the hall. I asked him what was going on and he said "She is sleep walking." I quickly unlatched Athena and went to see. She was laying down in the middle of the living room floor on her tummy - completely asleep. Tim was about to gently wake her up, but I told him to just pick her up and put her back to bed, which he did. She was quiet again for another hour or so. After awhile we heard some movement in her room and mumbly whining. He looked into see her walking around her room confused. He helped her back to bed, but she has woken up enough by then to want the lamp on (low light) and keep the door open.

I asked Tim if he thinks this string of events is because of the mild rearrangement in her room and he said yes. Maybe. I could believe it though. Kids don't like change, so have something like this be changed must be confusing? I don't know. What I find compelling is that Tim confessed to me that he was a frequent sleepwalker, but mostly sleep talker when he was little. Myself, I was a notorious sleeperwalker -- the kind that walks outside, goes into other rooms and does strange things, the kind that rips needles out of their arm to walk into a neighboring hospital room. Thankfully I outgrew it. I'll be frank - Morella having two sleepwalkers as parents doesn't bode well for the future.

And you know what? Sleepwalking is kind of creepy.

In other news, yesterday was a super awesome day. Oh heck the whole weekend was great. Tim took Friday off and helped me talk Morella and Neeners to McDonald's to try out the playland. Desperate times folks....anyway. She got stuck in a lower part of the structure and needed the help of a little boy to pull her back up so she could get out. It's a loud, get your energy out by screaming and climbing sort of place.

Saturday, we went to one of the more affluent libraries that has a fish take, a train table with 20 trains, a dollhouse, a barn, tons of puzzles, stuffies that you can dress/undress, bean bags, duplo blocks table and of course tons of books. They even have a little volunteer run cafe in the front that serves diner style coffee for .75 cents or .50 if you have your own cup (good to know!). After the library we came home and had a family nap that lasted about three and half hours.

Sunday, we went out for my delayed birthday brunch to a Brazilian restaurant with some friends who have a five month old too. You go in and they have an exotic salad bar, and dudes walking around with sticks of freshly roasted meat on sticks ... it was pretty successful. Morella was a darling, Athena was a crabpot who should have taken a nap but overall managed okay and I had the best waffle ever. It had a hot berry and chocolate sauce combo on top. Since I had to stop midway through to nurse a fussy Athena, I ate slowly and didn't overdo it, though I short of wished I had. I guess that is for the hungry in me talking now.

Tim's parent's offered to watch the girls while we did something. I suggested to Tim that we really try to do something since it seemed like Athena was getting better about me leaving her for stretches at a time without needing food. We went to see Avatar - a movie I never thought I would get to see in the theater despite it selling out seven weeks after it's release. We splurged and got the ultra combo - huge popcorn and big drinks for each of us, and sat back to watch the movie. My only comment regarding the movie is that each time the Na'vi plugged their biological USB cords into the plants, I would instantly think of Athena. I realized after awhile that nursing and weird braid USB's were very similar. I guess, it's both a method of bonding and exchange of energy. Happy hormones for me and sustenance for Athena and of course, that bond.

We got back to a howling, tear faced Athena sitting in her grandma's lap and Morella waking up from a nap. Apparently Athena thought it would be more fun to cry through her afternoon nap and make everyone miserable the entire time. Big credit to Tim's parents though for not calling us and letting us see a movie uninterrupted -- it was on the best birthday presents ever. :D

Oh that Neeners...she's such a Momma's girl and I can't be mad at her because she is so stinking cute and cuddle and mine...all mine.

There are some other things I wanted to say but it's late and Tim just told me that I am where English words go to die. [In reference to full boar -- dude, I thought it was a wild big in full rampaging mode....and just now when I asked him how to spell substenence because stupid spell check wasn't bring it up. He said "You mean sustenance?" ]

2010-01-28T21:24:00.002-06:00

I felt brave today, and on top of things. I was a super mom. I woke up well rested because Athena slept from 12-7. I took a shower with Morella and got clean while Athena took a quick nap. I dressed everyone, myself included. I made a batch of my awesome chocolate chip cookies before Toddler Time at the library. I attended Toddler Time and Morella had a blast while I managed to keep a non napping Neeners quiet. I let Morella play with the library stuff afterward before giving up the battle with Athena and went home. Athena feel asleep on the way home so I was able to have a peaceful lunch with Morella while baking two trays of awesome chocolate chip cookies, with walnuts for those "nut lovers." I then packed everyone in the car and ... this is where I really outdid myself ... I drove all the to Cross Plains (like 20 miles) to visit an old college friend who just had a baby two weeks ago. I brought a tater tot casserole I had made the night before -- I made a double batch so we would have dinner when I got home, an upside down orange cake (kind of bitter), and the cookies because the cake was bitter.

Anyway. It was a great drive. I did it! That was the farthest I have ever driven by myself with just the girls and I rocked it! Had a great visit. Drove home and missed all the rush hour traffic. I put the casserole in the oven, and watched "Ahh Aahh" (Curious George) with Morella while nursing Athena and then Karen came over and played with Morella while I ... oh I am getting bored writing this.

All I needed was to hear "It's the eye of the tiger, it's the thrill of the fight..." Ha ha. I also imagined that I was in a cut scene in a Lifetime movie about a courageous woman who turns her life around and makes it more fantastic than it already is.

So you know how I talked about not wanting to tackle Athena and the cosleeper? Sometimes all I need to do is publicly say something to give myself the motivation to do something. You know, it's the classic "Why wait for the perfect time that may never exist when I can just do it now?" Plus, Tim came back to bed after spending a week or two on the futon because of a terrible cold he had. I found the diminished space to be less than restful. My baby is huge and likes to spread out.

Today is day three of having her to go to sleep in her cosleeper. So far the trick is to leave my arm in there next to her for awhile. Sure there is usually one misfire or so where I have to take her out to re-nurse her into submission, but in the end she is asleep in her cosleeper like a good little baby. Just gotta take it one day at at time.

During one of the misfires last night, I looked down at her and she as nestled in the crook of my arm, sleeping peacefully and radiating contentment. She was just beautiful. I wanted to capture it forever and hold her all night long but then thought "No, this is just a ruse to trick me." No, I didn't really think that. But it does show you how easy it is to justify not sticking to something. "She'll only be little for short time. I should be enjoying this -- everyone tells me I should be."

Nursing a baby instead of spending two - 4 hours a day pumping for a baby is so much nicer. A thousand times nicer. How the heck did I do that for a year? No wonder I felt like I had no free time. I didn't.

Morella's newest thing is to take the squirt/spray bottle we use for getting the flannel wipes wet and going after the cats. I told her she could because Tim and I were sick of getting sprayed. I don't think I will ever forget how she learned it though. I was laying on the floor of her room while she puttered in the corner. I picked up the bottle she had knocked to the floor and was playing with and said "Morella..." She looked at me and I sprayed her right in the face. Her look was priceless. Shock. Bewilderment. Tears. I called her over and gave her a hug, apologized and wiped her face all while trying not to laugh. Exactly one hour later I got sprayed in the face and started laughing manically.

2010-01-26T08:38:00.002-06:00

I am so tired. It's not very often I am afflicted by the tired side effect of having kids, so this is not a welcome feeling. One other other has been waking up all hours of the night or getting up at ungodly hours in the morning. Yesterday it was Neeners who wanted to play at 4:30. Today it was Morella at 5:45 because the milk that was left by her bedside was "no nilk!" You see, two of our local grocery stores were out of her particular brand of milk. 8th Continent Vanilla Soy. Anything else is no acceptable. I admit we dug ourselves into this hole by indulging her. It was just easier to buy that than to get her to drink anything else, especially since we were so thrilled she was drinking something. In our defense we have done some whole milk trials recently and she can tolerate dairy now. So we have been starting to mix whole milk with her soy -- right now we are at about 1 part milk (maybe a little less) to 3 parts soy. We only started last week, so we aren't ready to go full boar milk. But we might have too -- because how can two stores be out of the same milk that they always sell out off?

I know two of the other stores do not have it. The Hippy coop does not. Copps pick and save does not. Savers does not. Hy-vee does ... so that is where we are headed this morning. OH and you know, we did buy another brand of vanilla soy that we hadn't tried yet (and we have tried them all). Same result. A big part of that reason is that they claim it's vanilla, but it's only lightly flavored whereas 8th Continent means business whey they say vanilla. I even tried sweetening it with honey - nope. Trust me folks, we have tried every other option. I did get her to be quiet this morning by giving her some strawberry milk, but she only sips it. Treats it like a cup of coffee or tea, or a milkshake. Not life sustaining milk.

I am just to tired to face this battle right now after the week we have. Morella's high fever, thinking she might have had a UTI (she didn't, she was just afraid to pee), and then Athena getting sick, and me going out on my birthday (I don't regret that, but it did make for a late night), and that wretched headache I had all weekend that drained the life out of me all contribute to me wanting to put this battle and others off for another week. The other battle -- Athena needs to really start sleeping in her cosleeper. She is getting mobile in bed, and big. I want my space back. It's just so much easier to have her sleep right away though than to constantly put her down in it and go there five minutes later to take her out, recalm her and blah blah blah. I know. Think of the end game. The whole bed 1/2 bed to myself is reward enough...or is it? I hate this not having sleep thing.

2010-01-22T21:27:00.003-06:00

Morella has been battling a fever all day. So far the highest has been 104.7 taken this evening at 8:00. Of course we called the doctor -- twice. First I did this afternoon when the two hours after a dose of tylenol her temperature went up almost two degrees and made an appointment for tomorrow morning at 10. Plenty of time to see if anything changes between then and now. The second time was tonight when Tim called. We got all the same information - give motrin and make sure it goes down. Weather through it. Kids get high fevers and it's normal. They also consider a fever of 104.7 to be only moderately high.

It's going to be a long night. Instead of foolishly going to bed at 12 like I did last night and waking at 2, 4, and then 5 for the day, I am going to go bed by 10. I am finally starting to feel the tiredness now. There is something about having a sick kid that gives you energy.

I think having a sick kid is one of the hottest fires imaginable in the tempering of parenthood. Sure there are the sleepless nights and exhaustion and uncontrollable and sometimes embarrassing tantrums, vomiting, spit up, poop and pee accidents. However, the most frustrating aspect to parenthood for me so far is when they get sick. Then you have all of the above plus a distinct feeling of helplessness. You just want to make it better but can't.

I got Morella some dvd's from the library to help cheer her up when she is feeling like watching some TV -- two Melmo (Elmo) dvd's and a story book type thing with Goodnight Moon. We just watched it a little while ago and it made me sleepy. One of the stories was How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight. I gotta say, this kid is pretty good natures because both Tim and I thought it was a creepy, scary story!

I also got her some subway cold cut trio meat, a snickerdoodle and ginger ale. She has a full cup of crushed ice with enough soda to fill in the spaces in her extra special Boppa (grandma) sippy cup with a straw. Now if only we can keep the Doctor (she renamed Arkham the cat) and Meyo (Migo) out of her room and off her bed. Especially that darn Meyo.

I hope she feels better tomorrow. What a rotten start to a birthday weekend.

PS. The fever did go down after the last Motrin dose at 8:10. It was down to 101.6 at 8:50. we are mostly worried about how high it will be before the next motrin dose.

2010-01-21T23:45:00.002-06:00

Tim took a 1/2 day today so that he could come home and hold down the fort while I went to the DMV to renew my driver's license. This wasn't just any old renewing though -- this was me getting my permanent DL's! Yeah! I'm a real adult now! I get a few more fuck up points added to my card! Hurray! The picture is awful. However I am comforted by the fact that by the time I need to renew it again at the age of 42 -- I am 100% positive I will think I looked awesome. Hows that for a convoluted sentence. I would try to fix it, but it's super late and I gotta get to bed. I celebrated by going to a grocery store some chocolate cake and coffee and got pizza for dinner. When I returned home Athena was howling a desperately, Morella had red rimmed eyes and Tim look relieved. It took me about 1/2 an hour to calm Athena down. I told her I wasn't sorry for the 1 1/2 hours of freedom I had though and it was her fault for always waking up 5 minutes after I leave.

While Tim was at his Thursday night gaming thing, I went through photos and deleted most of the ones that were bad, relooked through them to try and narrow it down more and eventually uploaded 4 months worth of photos to Walgreens (total 370 photos) and ordered them. Then I shared the album with family so that they could order whatever pictures they wanted ... and then remembered I had four nursing photos on there. I went and deleted them but I am not sure if the family will see them or not. The Walgreens FAQ was hazy on the issue. It's not like they are distasteful. No nipple is showing -- they are very nice in fact. However, I don't need them all seeing that as the photos were for me. Sigh. Anyway. Let it go.

So here are four pictures from this month.

Sarah, Nicol, Me and Athena. I am fairy certain that Athena weighs more than her son who is seven weeks older than she is. It's so strange to have a big baby now considering how flimsy nature of Morella. Though Nicol is much sturdier -- Neener is still pretty soft and squishy.

Morella didn't want to get out of the bath. This is the most wrinkled, and pruny feet I have ever seen.
Athena the sitter upper.
Noah and Morella on their first drive in date.

2010-01-19T21:04:00.002-06:00

This week has been strange. First I hosted playgroup on Monday and a bajillion people and kids showed up, enough for the neighbors to notice. It was cool though because for the first time ever having that many people over did not stress me out one bit. I guess I figured the house was clean enough from over the past week and what wasn't clean I can pawn off on having kids. Maybe it was being prepared ahead of time that allotted me that easy, stress free feeling.

I had a new friend over on Friday morning with her two sons, one of which is about two weeks younger than Athena. Since she had never been to my house I was on high alert and spent the week before that using her visit as a catalyst to get things done like put curtains up and redo elements of organization in the bathroom. Once those things were done it was easy to keep the house clean over the weekend. The visit went well and is worth repeating, especially since after March most playdates will have to be at her house because of her older son's schedule.

The day before that one of the playdate ladies came over with her son and we had a nice visit. Morella and her son had a blast until it ended very abruptly near Morella's bedtime because she was bitten. She had two round little bite marks on her pipecleaner arm, one with red and blue near the skin. No skin was broken but Morella was very upset. She ended up regaling the entire story of what happened to us several times over the course of the night (she stayed up until 10) and the next day. She made sure to reenact the entire experience by walking us to the kitchen and taking us to her room where the crime of passion occurred (near her bed). She was so serious -- it was much like the Owl incident. Tim had taken her outside to listen to an Owl and for the next week we heard all about the Owl. In sum, I am glad that she was bitten by a friend rather than some bully at the park. It was bound to happen sooner or later, and this way we were able to talk about it and deal with it as an accident rather than the world being a cold, cruel place.

Let's see, then Sunday we had our out of town friends, Sarah and family stop in for a visit in the evening. Morella and their daughter Ruth played beautifully together. Morella was very excited and happy to take Ruth's hand and lead her off to her room to show her around. In truth, Ruth is just old enough that Morella was enthralled by her older girl status. For the record, Ruth is 7 months older that Morella -- practically a cool, older teenager in toddler speak. Tim took the girls downstairs to play in the playroom while we stayed upstairs and had Athena and Nicol play with each other for awhile. Okay, we layed them on the floor next to each other. What else are you going to do with little babies? Ha ha. After they left I felt awful that we didn't offer to have them stay for dinner. God, sometimes I wish I could be more prepared. All the dishes were dirty and in the dishwasher, I didn't know when the heck dinner would be done and it would have been too late for them to drive back. Still, I like to imagine that I am capable of gracious hosting -- I guess that is a skill I will have to perfect. I apologize for not having thought ahead!

That brings us to Monday with the playdate. Well the all the kids must have tuckered Morella out because she took a nap. For the record, she has largely given up naps. It sucks because I have had to adjust for the extra 15 hours a week in my work schedule entertaining and keeping track of a toddler. I'm getting there, but I still am really tired by the end of the day. I was enjoying the unexpected free time catching up on the internet (which has sadly suffered since the Death of the Nap) and ... I am so embarrassed to admit this. *deep breath*

I almost got suckered into an online phishing scam. This one was via Facebook -- the good old "I got Mugged in London by Gunpoint" scam. It was only because Western Union has bulletins on their website that warn of fraud, scams and ruses that I thought to ask a personal question. A question the "friend" couldn't answer. In the the end, no harm was done. No money was lost, no personal information revealed and the world didn't blow up. No the only real lasting damage was to my pride. I emailed the friend and told her of the hacking and then tried to get on with the rest of the day. But you know, I just feel like such a rube. A maroon if you will.

You know, since then, I have been trying to think of other times I have done really stupid things and only two really come to mind. First and foremost was the stupid cruise I bought into over the phone. Thank goodness Wisconsin has a refund law that ensures you get 48 hours to change your mind. Secondly, was the time I left my camera at the outlook tower while camping. By the time we went back it was gone. Hey that reminds me of another one -- the time I forgot my camera in my bag by the car last October when I went to get pumpkins. Thankfully I was able to get that one back unscathed. I blame Morella for that. You know, that whole leaving things in a rush and you forget things. I can't tell you how many times I have locked us out of the house because I forgot to bring my keys with me.

Okay. It's Fringe time -- no more wallowing. I just wonder what my horoscope would have to say about this weird week. Probably something very cryptic. Yesterday aside, this month has gotten much better. I guess I need to start the New Year off with a major case of the blues so that I have something to shake off. The darkness before dawn. It's nice. This is going to be the year of unfinished business, I think. Finish things. Return things. Fulfill obligations. Fulfill promises -- at least those that I can remember. Have the whole year in which to wipe the slate clean. Maybe this should be my new years resolution.

Yeah. That it's. Brilliant.

2010-01-15T23:35:00.002-06:00

I was tagged to do a meme of "10 Things that Make me Happy" by Lapnoodle. Of course in the blogger realm they do this in form of awards -- but I don't think I'll pass that on. For one, I am only aware of maybe 20 of my readers, they don't all have journals and many of them are over in livejournal land. Thanks for tagging me!

That said, here are 10 things that made me happy *today*.

1. Successful play date this morning with Emily and her two sons. Athena slept the entire time, Morella was great and the house was fairly okay.

2. Letter from Sarah and a lovely family New Year's card.

3. Grocery shopping with no meltdowns and exited with food.

4. Grocery pickup (uh where you drive to the store and they load your groceries for you -- for free! In fact, I use this service a lot with two kids because I feel like I am keeping these guys in a job by utilizing the service).

5. Newly assembled last night bathroom space saver looked good this morning. I was afraid I might have buyers regret. A space saver is one of those cabinets that go over the toilet and is on legs.

6. Morella got into my package of gum. Took the plastic off, opened it and took out a piece of gum. After going through all that work I let her keep the piece she took. At first she played with it for about 5 minutes and then walked away. I followed her a minute later to see that she had finally gotten around to putting it in her mouth (like everything these days) and was chewing a little bit of it. She held it up to me and said "Yum." She was telling me that it was good, like it was something I didn't know. She later spit out the gum and handed me a tiny remnant. Yum.

7. Watching how active and happy Athena gets when she's diaperless and on the floor. She really came close to rolling over! She's such a lovely little baby. Sometimes I wish I could see more of her during the day rather than the back of her head.

8. News that one of my old IF (IF-infertility) friends is pregnant *naturally* with her second. I am so excited for her.

9. That box of chocolates that Tim got me the other day.

10. Neighbor brought by a beautiful hand made Christmas basket centerpiece/decoration type thing that she crafted and two books for Morella/Athena. A Disney princess book and a Cars Book. Morella really likes the picture of Belle and was quick to memorize her name.

There you have it! I have to get to bed now. It's almost my new bedtime of 12. Oy vey.