Disappointment

I am still about 15 lb away from pre-pregnancy weight (and I wasn't where I wanted to be then). I have really been trying to be good by watching what I eat and exercising. I really don't want to diet b/c when I get where I want to be I don't want to have to worry too much about gaining weight again by not dieting but it is so disappointing b/c I just can't seem to get off this weight. I guess I'm just going to have to do more exercise or actually diet b/c I can't keep going like this. Addie is almost 10 mo old so I should be where I was before. Oh well....hopefully I'll get going in the right direction soon!

Monkey Hat

Turned out pretty well, I think. Unfortunately it's a little small (even though I made it longer than the pattern suggested) so I'll have to make another one for Collin and give this one. Will have to sneak it in b/c he will flip out if he knows but in the end I think it will be worth it. Easy pattern and lost of fun to do (well, except for the sewing part).

http://thatssimplyfineandfancy.blogspot.com/2010/03/sock-monkey-hat.html

9 mo check up

Addie had her 9 mo check up Wed. It was an easy and relatively short appointment with, thankfully, no shots. Seems like she is pretty on pace for everything. a little slow on gross motor stuff but ahead verbally. The doctor said that's pretty common for girls so I'm not going to try to not to worry too much. I will just have to put on blinders to keep from comparing her to other babies and just let her develop in her own time and way. We talked about the sippy cup problem and he suggested giving her a regular cup and just a cup w/a straw b/c that's what she sees Collin use. I'm a little iffy w/the regular cup b/c I am not wanting to clean up a huge mess and think she will absolutely flip if she pours water all over herself but I will definitely try the cup and straw. Hopefully that will work better. Sucks that we have probably at least $50 in various sippy cups but I really, really want her off the bottle by a year. We'll see....

She was 16 lb 6 oz (11%) and 28" (67%). Checked Collin's baby book when we got home and at 9 mo he was 21 lb 4 oz and 27". Crazy that my tiny little preemie boy was almost 5 lb heavier than her. Maybe she is just going to be a small person. I was a little concerned and surprised that she had gone down on the curve for length but the dr said it was nothing to worry about.

Now we have 3 mo until her next appointment...totally dreading that one b/c there are apparently tons of shots. :(

Addie's No Skull, Skull Jumper (and matching headband)

I've been meaning to put this on here for a while but am a total slacker. Found a pattern for a skull jumper I thought was adorable. Addie's not a skull kind of girl (at least not yet) so i omitted the skulls and knit the dress in a VERY bright ombre yarn. When finished I added a flower to the bodice and made a matching headband. While there were a few boo boo's, overall I thought it turned out well. She wore it to a birthday party a few weeks ago and got quite a lot of compliments.

Dress: http://www.penelopecraft.nl/

Headband: http://knitwity.blogspot.com/

The Little Dictator

Sat was supposed to be Collin and mommy day b/c Mima was going to watch Addie (which she's only done 1x before when she was about 6 wks old). At any rate, while I really didn't think it would bother me, I had a lot of anxiety about not having Addie with me. Add to that a VERY whiny 4 yr old and you have a very volatile mixture. Despite all of that, I really hoped to have a nice afternoon w/Collin b/c we don't get much one-on-one time. While out, we ran into some some crazy traffic and that was almost thing that almost broke the proverbial straw. I told Collin that my nerves were shot. He asked what that meant and I told him that I was sad and that I wanted to cry. He was so sweet b/c he said that he could fix all of that and that we could make it better "with teamwork, of course" (emphasis on "of course"). He went on to tell me that our teamwork would be him telling me what to do and me doing it. I laughed and told him it sounded more like a dictatorship. He thought that was hilarious and kept chanting dictatorship.

What a silly boy!

crib time

Addie is 9 mo old today. Unbelievable!! For a while Jared has said that we need to put her into her crib instead of in the co-sleeper but I have been very resistant b/c I like having her close by so I can just reach over and check on her when I wake up in the middle of the night (which is a lot). She is really too old, but is now getting too big to be in the co-sleeper. We're trying to phase out the swing (her favorite place to sleep) and have been putting her into the pack and play at night until we are ready for bed. Soooo...now that she is 9 mo old I think it might be time to make the transition to her actual crib. I think Collin was about 9 mo when we put him into a room by himself. I'm not too sure that I'm ready but I guess we have to do it sometime.....just not tonight. :)

And, as an aside, I think tooth #3 is finally on it's way.

Photo book

A couple of weeks ago I got an email for a free photo book. I meant to do it b/c how can you pass up free but I got busy and forgot. Oops. Over the weekend I got an email saying that the offer had been extended. I was absolutely determined not to let the coupon expire but didn't feel well and wasn't up for working on it. I started trying to work on the book in earnest last night. It is amazing how difficult and time consuming it is to put one of those books together. A day a couple of hours later I finished...(well, almost...just have to take the cover pic and add it). Yay!

Muno

Before I wrote that I'd started my first amigarumi project...I planned to make a Yoshi for Collin. I worked and worked on this and finally just decided to frog it b/c it was way too much to do for a first project and for something I feel pretty sure Collin would play w/for a few days and forget. I kind of had it in my head that I wanted to make a stuffy so back to the drawing board.

I found a pattern for a Muno toy from Yo Gabba Gabba that didn't look too difficult. Since Collin has a renewed interest I thought I'd try to make that. It was pretty easy and turned out fairly well. I am not super happy with the eye but he loves it so that's what's most important. We have a bday party in a few weeks and I think I am going to make another as a gift b/c the little girl loves YGG.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/muno-from-yo-gabba-gabba

Mission Sippy Cup

Last Thurs I decided that I was going to work very hard to get Addie to take a sippy cup b/c I am SOOOO over bottles. I can't remember now what happened Thurs but it just didn't work out that I was able to focus on using on trying the sippy cup. Day 1 - wash.

Day 2 - Friday I tried one of her sippy cups. I put her formula into it thinking if she had milk she might be more likely to take it. She absolutely refused to take it out of the cup so I caved and put it into her bottle. I thought maybe it was an issue of her not liking that particular cup. Day 2 - disaster.

Sat we went to Dan Nicholas Park. I packed a sippy cup but she wasn't that interested. To be fair, she wasn't interested in food or bottles so I didn't push it. Day 3 - boo.

Sun was super busy and I never even tried to give her a cup. Oops.

Yesterday I tried a cup that I found that had a spout that looked similar to a bottle nipple. I thought that it would be a good one to try b/c she might think it was a new bottle and would just take to it w/o problem. She actually tried to drink from it but after a few sips she spit it out over and over so I switched her milk to the bottle.

ARGH. Today I have a cup out for her w/juice but she has ZERO interest in this. I just don't know what to do. I've tried milk. I've tried just leaving a cup out for her to play w/ and to just get used to it. I am pretty stubborn but she takes stubborn to a whole new level. I realize she's just 8 mo now but I want her completely weaned from the bottle by 1 yr and I just feel like I'm running out of time.

Guess I just have to keep at it. Mission Sippy Cup continues....

Pics from the Transportation Museum

Transportation Museum

Sat we went to the transportation museum so that Collin could see the trains. Since he's been sick (croup) we really wanted to do something special for him...not to mention the fact that I feel like we really neglect him sometimes b/c Addie's needs are more immediate (logically I know we don't neglect him but....). It was a short drive. It was a little hot but he had a blast. We rode a real train then Collin and daddy rode the turntable at the roundhouse. It was nice to see his face just light up as the train blew the whistle and started moving.

After the museum we stopped back through Lexington to have BBQ. I read an article in Our State magazine about a BBQ restaurant there that had this stuff called Q soup. Apparently a number of years ago it was an ice cream shop and they still have some kind of HUGE banana split. When Collin saw it he, of course, wanted one. We knew we couldn't put a dent into it but we got it anyway. Everyone, including Addie, had a little ice cream.

It was really nice to have a family day when we didn't have to run errands. We'll have to make more of an effort to do that at least 1x/mo.

i somehow ended up crying myself to sleep last night. crazy thing is that nothing happened to upset me. every time i try to go to sleep my mind starts racing. i typically try counting backwards po-russki but sometimes i just can't focus enough on that. last night i started thinking that we needed to discuss and decide if we want to send collin to pre-k this fall. i have mixed feelings about it but it's not something we need to put off until the last minute. at any rate, the more i thought about that the more i started thinking that it is just a little over a year until he starts school. when i think about that i literally feel nauseous. i know it's a wonderful thing to have a healthy, super smart little boy and that he will continue to grow up. i also know that i can't hold onto him forever but i'm just not ready to let go. that's my issue, of course, and i'll just have to figure out a way to deal w/it w/o letting him sense that i have any concerns/negative emotions about it. guess i just need to enjoy him every day...even when he drives me INSANE. :) how did my boy grow up so fast??

Collin's joke

Collin has longed like to try to tell jokes but can't quite get the hang of it b/c he doesn't space it correctly or gets the punchline wrong or something. Saturday he told my mom a joke and got it 100% correct. I had no idea where he heard it when he told me but I later found out it was from Max and Ruby. No matter, it was pretty cute and we were very proud of him.

Here's the joke: "why do hummingbirds hum? b/c they forgot the words."

too cute.

tired

i'm so tired w/no prospect of a nap. i so wish addie might sleep. a 7, almost 8 mo old baby really should sleep more than she does. i am so grateful that she sleeps through the night but a short nap, even 45 min, during the day seems appropriate. oh well. i was never a big napper (or sleeper, for that matter) until after i had kids.

maybe i'll be able to sleep better tonight.

New Experiences

Doing my 1st knit along. It's just a washcloth so nothing too big but so far so good. not sure how long it lasts but i'm on day 3. hope it turns out well.

what is wrong w/me?

when did i get to be so lazy? i sit and think about all of the stuff i need to do and then i get busy or have to hold the baby or something and end up doing nothing. i need to start making lists...that's it. i'll see how well that works and how long that lasts.....

Monday Sucks!

So my birthday was Sat and Mother's Day was yesterday so I got to just veg out and relax for most of the weekend. (Sooooo nice!) After plenty of time watching tv, knitting and reading while someone else took care of kids for 2 days, the reality of Monday and work and kids and housework, etc.... has been like a slap in the face. Would be nice if both kids could sleep at the same time but I guess that's a bit too much to ask. Just 3 1/2 more hrs until reinforcements arrive. :)

Despite having a tough transition back to Monday, I just have to reflect back and say how much I love my little family. This is the first year, and first event/holiday Collin has ever selected a gift himself so it's a pretty big thing. For 2+ weeks Collin has said that for Mother's Day he wanted to get white toothbrushes and to make choc chip cookies for me. I have no idea where he came up w/either idea but he told both me and Jared repeatedly that this is what he wanted to do. (Clearly, he doesn't understand the concept of surprise gifts) He picked out 2 white toothbrushes and wanted to make cookies w/daddy b/c it was a present for me. He also picked out my bday and Mother's Day cards. They were both very sweet and pretty and pink b/c he knows that's my fav color. I do so love my little man. I just wish I'd taken pics of him and Jared making cookies. :)

So, remembering that made me feel a little better. Wonder how long that will last after nap time is over...?