It was a pretty good day. Morella had gone to bed yesterday at 6.30, and the day before it was 5:10 and she did sleep through the whole night both times. Maybe she is growing? All the sleep is doing her some good though because she seems to be coming out of her little funk.

Anyway. Today I decided that I was going to fool myself into thinking that I am not that pregnant and I can still do plenty of normal things like take Morella to the zoo. I stopped at McDonald's on the way to get me an iced coffee and her a sausage patty and we were on our way. Tim had asked about garage sales this morning and I told him "I honestly don't have it in my to do that right now. Carrying Morella in and out, watching her while shopping, and I can't run after her if she makes a run for it." It's true. Just the thought of it exhausts me. I can do the zoo. Put her in a stroller and push.

I didn't plan on the zoo being as nuts as it was. I guess a lot of people had today off because the fourth is on Saturday. We looked through the aviary, looked at a bear, almost petted some goats and then left to go wade in the beach. That lasted like two minutes. I swear, Morella was the most unadventurous kid. On our way back to the car, we passed the playground and she spied the swings. Five minutes later she ended up on the swings for a few minutes before her lack of a nap ....

man I am tired. This post is losing it. I should just hurry up and finish.

Came home. She slept a total of maybe 15 minutes. Got her up. She played really good around the house while I cleaned. We went outside to play and got eaten alive by mosquito's. I gave up after 15 minutes and 9 bites (not to mention the several Morella got on her face). It was 4:00 by then and she was totally ready for a nap. I changed her diaper and put her down. She chatted for about 5-10 minutes before going to sleep and I took a nap. She woke up at 5ish crying, but stopped after 3 minutes and then finally got up at 6:00 when I walked in to check on her. I had just opened the door to take a peek. A moment passed and then she sat up with a big smile on her face like she was waiting for me to open the door. Even though she hadn't said a word!

She got up, ran around a bit. I made her a cream cheese sandwich and poured a glass of milk because I felt lazy and like it was Friday and maybe she didn't have to eat at the table (and besides I didn't feel like sitting there). Sandwich eaten, and Tim still wasn't home from his after work beer, I decided to take her out to the Monona Community festival. There was supposed to be some kind of drum exhibition and if it sucked there was always the park.

We show up and the exhibition was teenage bands doing death/speed metal. It sucked. However the play ground was relatively empty for a change so we played there. Morella had fun swinging, crawling around and exploring. An ex-navy wife talked my ear off at the swings -- I felt kind of bad for her because it was obvious she was lonely and wanted to meet other other Mom's but at the same time she was like 25 and so young, and Crouton was kicking me and I had to pee and the teeny midway they had next to the park was really loud.

As we were leaving I decided to walk through the midway with Morella. She spied the carousel and was obsessed with it. I stood by it and we watched for awhile before moving on. As I passed the ticket counter I saw the price was a dollar a ticket and small rides were two tickets. I didn't have any money so I kept walking. We went around and were heading back to the car when we came up to the carousel again. This time Morella was insistent in making her wishes known to me. She pointed at the carousal, did the sign for want, and raised her arms for me to pick her up. She did this several times with a very serious expression on her face and could barely contain herself. I melted and counted my change -- I had just enough for two tickets.

I bought the tickets, counting out my coins. Walked to the carousel and waited patiently for the ride to end, and Morella watched the ride like a greyhound sitting next to a rabbit, and I noticed "This Ride is 3 Tickets". Oh no. Three? Crap. I had NO money. I looked through my bag to make sure. Looked around and saw no ATM's. And then decided to try and ask if the dude would let her ride for only two tickets. Turns out he couldn't do it. Pft. Whatever. I then asked if I could get a refund for those two tickets, and he said I could ask.

I walked back to the ticket booth with a heavy heart. I was about to disappoint my little girl who tried very hard to communicate with me the one thing she wanted to be adventurous on today. I get to the ticket booth and explain the situation to the lady. She takes the tickets and then hands me another type of ticket that says good for multiple people. Wha?!?! She basically gave me the extra ticket -- I was astounded and thanked her profusely.

Green ticket in hand we walked back to the carousel where no one else had gotten on in the time we were gone and waited for him to notice us. He did, and we were the only ones to ride it. Morella held on tight and with a very serious expression we rode around and around. As it ended, I told her it was done and for a moment I could she her want to protest before I added "And now we can go home and see Daddy." There was no more argument. She got into her stroller and drank some milk as we walked to the car and drove home.

She was quite happy to see Tim when we got home, and of course threw a huge fit about going to bed (as in she wasn't in bed fast enough).

Anyway. I don't think I will forget that experience with Morella and the carousel for as long as I live. It was one of those special Morella and me moments that are about to end with Crouton's arrival. Sigh. I should go to bed.

Sigh. The clinic called to say the forms hadn't been filled out yet because my Dr was out yesterday. A fact we all knew, and any doctor would have sufficed. But instead, whoever has their grubby hands on them decided my doctor should be the one to fill them out and will hopefully get to it today and will give me a call when that happens. Um. Okay?

We have not gone anywhere this morning. Morella is STILL out of sorts. I gave her some tylenol about 15 minutes ago and she gave me huge meltdown over a diaper change. I put her to bed after that. Aside from a little seasame Street time this morning and breakfast with Daddy, she has spent most of the morning in her crib. I went in there and read her poetry and books for about an hour before putting clothes and toys away.

I wish I knew why she was feeling so out of sorts. Is it the grey, cold overcast day? Is it that I can't run around and play with her? I can't just pick her up and fly by the seats of our pants wherever adventure wants to take us? I feel like it's going to be one of those days were you just keep slogging through and hope the forecasters are right about the sun coming out later.

My nose is still full of snot -- maybe the cold is not out yet. I guess I'll go and get dressed and make the bed.

Ugh, I think this cold might be finally on it's way out. I woke up this morning being able to breath and sleeping not propped up, so that is a good thing. It's another cool and overcast day. I was trying to think of something to do with Morella that she might enjoy. The things she likes most in the world right now are:

stroller rides
swinging
looking/playing with other kids
her crib

So... maybe the zoo? It's cool, we could walk around in the stroller and I would have bathrooms close by should I need them. Ha ha, should? Oh it's a definite know.

Yesterday I dropped off Tim's FMLA forms to the clinic. I asked that they call when they are filled out and I would pick them up today, but I wonder if that is going to happen. I feel like I might have to be making a call later on to see. Yesterday Morella and I did a bunch of errands in the morning (dropping those forms off, going to Happy Bambino to find diaper liners, and then Cubs to get her more milk). The rest of the afternoon was filled up by a massive three hour nap and a trip to the park where she swung, played and generally had some fun until she wanted to go home and find something for dinner ... or ... hang out in her crib which is what I think she really wanted.

I got a package in the mail for some fairy books that I had ordered for my Mom's belated birthday present. I looked through them while watching TV and then got bored. I then took a super long, hot shower and then looked at everything I look at on the internet before everything had been read and went to bed. These days don't often happen. I had entertained working on Morella's baby book..oh wait! I framed a postcard and hung it up...so that is kind of crafty. Sigh. It's just that the house is a mess, and things require bending over and picking up crap or blah blah blah and I just don't have the stamina for that at night. So when a night does pop up where I have a little extra energy I don't know what to do with it. At least if that happened on a Wednesday I could watch So You Think You Can Dance (which I have been doing while doing other things).

What a long post about nothing.

It was another busy weekend. Two more of them coming up and then we are done for awhile for the summer? Maybe?

Tim got his mojo back last week. He totally killed the final two tests on his 2005 SQL certification tests, without even studying or worrying about it. I remember the first test he took (1 of 4), we had spent months studying and getting ready for it, and he was so worried and now look. He rolls out of bed, staggers to the test site and is home earlier than expected having passed. Sheesh.

Then, he competed in the Badger State Games inline 1/2 marathon on Sunday near Appleton. We drove up to his parents on Saturday night after finding a dog sitter for Pluto and ... I don't know what else we did on Saturday. Uh. Oh I got up early with Morella on Saturday so he could sleep in, did breakfast and then took her to storytime at Barnes and Nobles to see Spot the dog followed by a trip to Borders so I could get snack and buy a baby book for Crouton. Morella's mood turned foul at some point in Borders and we left. Came home and she took a nap while Tim and I napped, putzed and got ready. I picked up vegetables, went online to talk to my little brother about my Mom (she is in the hospital currently) and then cooked a bunch of food. Tim mowed the lawn, weeded and did some laundry.

We got to Tim's parents late, but it was a super easy transition for Morella because they got a crib! She is so at home in cribs. I hope that doesn't say anything for a future behind bars...

Anyway. Tim went out to buy soymilk and look at the course with his Dad after she went down and I stayed up making some cookies for my friend Sarah who just had a baby. After that Tim and I screwed around on the Wii fit, which declared me to be obese. Tim is looking forward to the result after Crouton. Ha ha. I am too.

Sunday Tim did his race and got 7th - middle of the pack, along with a score of 1 hour and 1 min or something. Pretty good considering he didn't train obsessively for that like he had with previous races. Again, just him knocking out goals one after the other! While waiting Morella mysteriously melted down and threw one of the biggest tantrums to date ... my goodness. Where are they coming from? Why are they happening? She's on so many eating strikes lately that we can only assume it's from teeth. I cannot wait until those blasted teeth are in. Sigh.

After the race, we went back to his parents and had lunch with amazing jello (Morella scarfed that down) and took long naps. It was so nice. Upon waking Morella was beastly, so we gave her some Motrin and took her outside to play with a plastic car that you can ride in for an hour or so before packing up and heading out to visit Sarah. It took us a while to find her place -- lots of driving around sleuthing it out, but we eventually found it.

Of course Sarah doesn't look like she just had a baby, and what's even more amazing is that BOTH of her kids were sleeping! Yeah, she said that happens a lot. Man, everyone has assured me that Crouton and Morella will not sleep at the same time. Wouldn't it be a nice surprise if that wasn't the case? In any case, it was nice to visit with Sarah, Dave and her Mom with just Morella playing with Ruth's toys. We only lasted about 50 minute before Morella started melting down again. Sarah brought out her new son and he looked just like a little Harrison Ford! Adorable!

They suggested Mary's family restaurant for dinner and we hit it before heading out of town. Morella didn't eat a thing, spilled her apple juice and started chatting wiht the patrons on either side of us. Ugh, this girl was barely containable. She didn't sleep most of the ride home, we picked up Pluto and then made it home before the fireworks started. I was able to put Morella to bed without a problem and then after a little internet time went to bed myself.

Gah. Another night of sleeping propped up because of this cold and Crouton. It just feels so creepy to me to sleep sitting up. When I got up this morning I actually thought to myself "It's okay, we are in the final countdown to having to do this..." Really? Am I starting to think of Crouton as in the final countdown? It seems a little early still to do that. It's only a little over 35 weeks...there are still plenty more ... I mean if you went by how Morella did then it could be another 7 weeks. That's like TWO MORE MONTHS! Lots of people have said that super active babies tend to be born earlier, but this kid is super active (kicking as I type this now) and I don't know. I just don't believe it. I guess we'll just have to see.

This morning we did playgroup at the park and Morella opted to swing for most of it. Crabby once again. Came home in time to vacuum before Lowen and Sigrid showed up to look through oodles of jewelery and help themselves. Ate lunch and then put Morella down for a nap around 12. She has been sleeping since then...I hope it's a solid three hour nap. That girl needs it!

Speaking of needs, I need some more tylenol. It feels like a headache day to me. :( But I love the cooler, windy weather. It's a nice break from the heat.

Okay back to the grind.

Friday Photo: The Fashion Diva



My old college friend Karen sent us a box of her daughter's outgrown clothes which we received this afternoon. Morella helped me open the package and then take out each item of clothing exclaiming over every piece. When we had finished looking at all the wonderful items of clothing she picked out the pink tutu and teal tank top to wear...as in she tried to put them on. I helped her a bit, and here we have the end result.

Those who have known me the longest know that Michael Jackson was once a big part of my life. Not because I had a huge crush on him or thought he was the bees knees, but because my Mother did. She had posters everywhere, listened to his tapes constantly over and over, watched Moonwalker a thousand times, quoted facts about his life to us on a daily basis, and make scuplutres of him out of any median she could get her hands on. One the most memorable sculptures was made out of newspaper, tape, paint, porceline finish (found at a craft store) and ... well anything else she thought would help. I wonder what ever happpened to that bust. Hm. Anyway. So to have my Mom lose her BFF and now first iconic crush must really be depressing her. I can just imagine that this is one of those things that she would have called Carla and talked hours about. Instead who is left but me? I can't talk tonight. I need to go to bed. I had Tim take the day off from work and call in sick to help me. He ended up with a compromise of working from home.

Sigh. Okay. To bed with me. I have to feel better. I just have too!

This night's "sleep" really sucks, but the kicker is that tomorrow (today?) is going to suck even more.

This has to be about the worst day of this entire pregnancy, right next to the norovirus birthday party. But no, I had help that day. Today was just ... awful. This cold is just wrecking me. I have had a pounding headache all day, my nose won't stop dripping, my throat was so unbelieavably sore. Last night was super sucky because I couldn't breath both because of the cold and Crouton's moving is so uncomfortable.

I really wanted to call in sick. To take a break. Except I couldn't do that. I could barely take a stupid nap this afternoon because of the breathing and nose running issue. Thank god So you Think You Can Dance was on to help keep my mind off the my next tylenol dosage.

Now watch. Morella, who barely at 400 calories today is going to get it. For a moment, I almost wished I had my Mom help...except you know not the Mom I have now. The Mom from when I was 10.

I feel very lonely today.

Oh my. I think I am sick!! Like a cold or something. It started with a few sneezes and now I have a runny nose and that extra fluid is making my throat hurt a bit, plus I am tired. It could also be coincidental to turning on the AC. I really hope that is it. I don't want to be sick! More importantly, I don't want Morella to get sick. :(

I bought a kiddie pool today and bottoms to a maternity swim top lent to my by my friend Rachel. I thought I would never wear it...now look I went out and got brown bottoms to go with it. Sheesh. It's because Thursday we are planning on the Monona Community pool. I also got Morella a new swimsuit from Old Navy. It's a full on shirt and bottom...I like that it's good sun coverage to my pale little flower. Though to be honest, I don't think she burns easily. She maybe fair but she can handle the sun pretty well.

Tim and I watched Bedtime Stories tonight while I sorted through more jewelry. It was an okay movie. I mean, better than anything else on TV right now that is for sure.

Okay. Going to bed early for a change and hoping that by tomorrow I will be as right as rain. My friend Sigrid is going to baby sit Morella for an hour or so tomorrow morning while I go to my doctor's appointment. I think she might be nervous. I am hoping that Morella's reunion with Zilla the deaf bulldog will ease her seperation anxiety.

Tim was a dearheart and made brownies for me tonight. It's awesome because I am going to give some to Sigrid for watching Morella. Plus I had a brownie sundae tonight just awhile ago and it was delicious! For dinner I made a spin on spaghetti carbonera -- I sauteed broccoli, some kind of green, garlic scrapes, and shrimp with oven cooked bacon (I just drained the fat straight into the sauce pan), then mixed it with a jar of alfredo and the spaghetti and voila! Fantastic dinner! I was even able to eat the sea bugs --- probably because they were sauteed with bacon. Bacon makes everything good.

I turned on the air conditioner today, except I didn't. You see Morella was up howling at 6:00AM this morning. We gave her Motrin and after that she seemed a bit better. Around 9:30 she took a lie down, in which I just left her door open and went and laid down in my bed to rest. I was really tired because yesterday my cousin had come into town and we had a big day on State Street (Memorial Union Terrace, State Street walk, dinner at the Old Fashioned and mocha's from Michaelangelo's) and the coffee had made it so that Tim and I were up until 12:30. I also think the heat has something to do with it...a little summer insomnia and daylight infusion.

Anyway. So I laid down for about 1/2 an hour before she wanted out. She didn't really sleep, she rested, as I had done. I figured there was still plenty of time to head to the play group meeting at Walter so I asked her if she wanted to go to the park and of course she said yes. We headed out. It wasn't too bad. I took it slow. We got there and chatted with others ... turns out the boy with the possible swine flu did NOT have it. Whew!!! Still Morella is not coming with me on Wednesday to my doctor appointment. I pushed Morella in the swing for a long time and then eventually she moved to the slide where standing 4 minutes in the sun made me feel desperately sick and I wanted to go home.

We went home. It was a long, long walk. I closed the windows. Turned on the AC and after a while the house got nice and cool. The day wore on and around 10:30 I get up to get a drink of water and notice "hey it's kind of warm in here!" I check the thermostat and it says 81. Huh?! Tim then asked me if I turned it on outside and I said no.

So you see, I turned only the air on. The house was kept cool from the basement. That was nice, but now that the cool air is shooting through the vents I appreciate that much more. ;)

When we put Morella to bed, she cried that painful cry and we got her out to give her motrin and time for it to kick in. Let's just say that 1/2 hour of past bedtime she had, was the most fun she had all day. Geez! I felt mean putting her back to bed when clearly could have gone on for a lot longer. But toddlers need sleep, whether they know it not! She went to sleep after 5 minutes and we haven't heard a peep since. I hope she gets a good night's sleep and that those stupid teeth come in soon.

So Byron dropped off a bunch of jewelry, some of his old baby clothes and toys. Morella has been playing with those toys all day. One of them I suspect might have led painting on it, so she hasn't played with that one. The rest are plastic or unpainted wood. One of them is this little grasshopper that you pull around on a string. I put a string on it and pulled it to show Morella how it worked and I swear when the leg broke (a nail fell out, I hammered it back into a new place) she fought me tooth and nail over it! She loves it! It's so cute that she likes it. Awww.

My aunt had a ridiculous collection of watches. What should I do with them? Buy batteries and regift them? Find a friend who is interested in clock art? Hm. I was really pleased to find some old Ho Chunk regalia things liked a beaded belt, a three tier necklace and a hair ribbon. So cool. There was also a really, really old handmade indian doll there. I really wish I knew the story to it. Who made it, etc. Alas that information is forever gone. I'll take some photos of them later this week.

Here are some pictures from yesterday, I gotta get to bed before midnight tonight.