Is Molly not the absolute cutest little girl you've EVER seen??? Ok...I know I'm biased...but you gotta admit...it's true! LOL!!!
Richard was out mowing the yard and this little guy hopped out. He came to show Molly and she fell in love!
I didn't capture the part where they hopped down the driveway together. That was about the time that I realized this was WAY TOO CUTE to not be making a video of it. I just LOVE the part where she's waving and saying "HI! HI! HI!" I really can't believe she touched it. This little girlie girl is scared of ANYTHING that moves. Although now that I say that I'm remembering that she also loves to play with worms. So I guess not. But...they don't make noise...maybe that's the difference. And all of this is disproving how much of a girlie girl I think she tends to be. She's so cute though..and I'm sure if given the choice and if she could've caught this little guy she would have happily brushed his hair for him and tucked him into bed like a good little mommy. Which re-proves the girlie factor. LOL
Friday, June 12, 2009
Friday, June 5, 2009
Been a long time. Glad to see your face. I knew we'd meet again. Another time. Another place...
Ok...so I can't really see your face, and really this is the same place we met last time...but I always have to sing that line when I say "Been a long time."
So much has happened!!! I've had SEVERAL days that I've thought I should come blog...but I've been trying to keep a secret from blog-land, and I knew if I came here, I'd spill the beans. But now it's ok to spill!!! (LOL since most of you who I know read this already know!)
We're expecting another little bundle of joy and sleeplessness!!! Yay!!! I'm so dang excited!!!
It's really rough to determine when to make the announcement on your blog or anywhere online really. You don't want someone that you've been waiting to tell in person or otherwise to stumble across it so impersonally for the first time. But when do you give up on that if you haven't had a chance yet? So I chose now!
So we will be four months along on Saturday. It's going REALLY fast! - most days. We're due November 21 - the Saturday before Thanksgiving! So that will make for something INCREDIBLE to be Thankful for!!! No questions of what I'll be writing down and putting in the hat/boat/bread bag/whatever we use this year!
Everything is going fabulous! Minimal weight gain so far...baby looked great on the sonogram...Heartbeat is fabulous...and Molly has even decided that it makes an awesome dance beat! LOL I laughed so hard that day!
I won't lie...I was VERY sick for a long time. I vomitted way too much and had way too many days sitting in front of Uncle Ralph. But everything's clearing up nicely. I feel much better. I only slightly gag when changing a gross diaper or coming upon anything else that is especially disgusting now. I've got much more energy. Before, I was often falling asleep BEFORE MOLLY at like 7pm and sleeping all through the night until she woke up the next morning. But now, for the last WEEK I have stayed up until at least 11pm without having to try very hard. Yay for betterness!
We have our big sonogram where we will find out what we're having at the end of this month! I'm so excited! I hoping for an elephant! Then we could call it Ellie or Eli. haha! Ok just kidding! I'm just praying for a completely HEALTHY baby with NOOOO FOOD ALLERGIES!!!!!!!!! Please Lord!!! Or if it has to have allergies..at least be the same as Molly's so I don't have to have two separate types of diets. LOL... yeah...not kidding.
Some other really exciting news is we're taking a vacation!!!
The last vacation we took was to Kaua'i, HI. It was SO MUCH fun...but you know what? It was over 3 years ago for our honeymoon! We definitely deserve another very soon! All winter long we kept talking how as soon as tax season was over we were going to head out to Vegas for a nice vacation. Well...then we had to replace our furnace and A/C and that was a huge chunk of money...and then at least once a month after that we've had something that costed at least a couple hundred dollars happen to our house or our car. And then we became pregnant...which entails medical expenses and other things. And plus we'd imagine Vegas is pretty smokey and that wouldn't be so good for my pregnant self - not that I think spending just a couple days in a smokey environment would hurt the baby too much...but it would most likely make me SOOO sick, just the smell! So the vacation became a lost idea.
Well Richard, during college once, went to Denver to a water park called Water World. He talks about it anytime the thought of a water park is spoken about. And so about a month or two ago I told him that this summer as our last Hurrah! before having multiple children we should drive out to Denver and hang out at the water park...leaving Molly with his parents on the way out. We thought it'd be a lot of fun! But then we were like...hmmm..we don't know ANYTHING about Denver, besides it the home of those nasty Broncos...and we'd hate to get lost out in Bronco-land...We hear the diseases out there are pretty contagious. ;)
So we kind of started looking around elsewhere. Still in the mood for water parks...I checked into them everywhere. First I thought the Water Park of America would be fun, because we could do that for part of a day and for the rest hang out around Minneapolis...and then spend another day at the Mall of America. We started thinking that flying there would be more money than we were able to spend on this "little" vacation...so we considered driving. But that would likely mean we'd have to leave Molly for more than our planned on 3 nights...and we didn't really feel comfortable with that...since she's never been left ANYWHERE over night without one of us before. And I started reading LOTS of bad reviews about the Water Park. - Which by the way...it is SOOO hard to read reviews about places! People are so darn negative. Richard kept reminding me that most of the time people who go somewhere and have a good time don't go online to leave a review...they just have a great time and tell their friends and family when they get home. People who have a bad time go online to complain and "forewarn" anyone they can get their hands on.
So we kept looking. Just being crazy I started looking at bigger vacations. I liked the idea of Aquatica in Orlando and Rich really wants to go to Universal Studios again...so we started rethinking our budget. Maybe it would be worth spending a little more to have a really good time. But the Orlando idea was pretty much out because there is just SO MUCH to do there, I wouldn't have been able to control myself and we would have stayed much too long and spent way too much.
Then I kept looking and Rich began asking me multiple times daily if I had found anything to do. I couldn't make any decisions. The decision pool was growing every time I did research and that wasn't helping.
Finally I HAD to narrow it down. So we decided if we were going "higher-to-us" end, our options were San Antonio (a flight down, SeaWorld, a fun water park, and a few other free things,) and yeah Vegas had come up again (a show or two, sightseeing, and maybe a little casino time.) If we were going "lower-to-us" end, our options were just driving to either Omaha, Kansas City, or Oklahoma City and just hanging out doing whatever the cities offer..some shopping..and just doing whatever, we really have no idea what's available in Omaha or OKC, but we would figure something out and have a good time regardless.
I think we were both leaning toward the higher end ideas. They just seemed more exciting. lol. Although we weren't quite in agreeance on which one. I've ALWAYS wanted to do something like SeaWorld...and the water park was sounding really fun. Richard has ALWAYS wanted to go to Vegas. Period. lol. Both of us really wanted what we wanted, but both of us fought harder for the other person's wants than our own. Don't ya hate that? I really wanted him to get complete enjoyment out of it. He really wanted that for me. And so we were at another stand still. Until one day he said...actually...you're going to be almost 5 months pregnant and San Antonio is going to be VERY hot...which means a day of walking around SeaWorld is going to WEAR YOU OUT! He was completely right! And I added to it that in Vegas, we'd be sleeping in more and be out more at night, so that should be cooler - even though it will be HOT in Vegas too, and more things are indoors there. And he started asking some people what they thought about the smokiness of Vegas and they seemed to think that it would be ok - that the casinos and such are well-ventilated. I figure as long as I don't get stuck sitting NEXT to someone smoking I should be ok. And almost ALL of the poker rooms are smoke-free now (not that I'll be playing poker.) And there are "smoke-free zones" in several of the casinos.
Then we went back to the "Can we really afford this with all of our upcoming expenses???" Of course we're praying really hard trying to figure out what to do. And finally the night before last at supper I said, "To heck with it! We're going to Vegas!!! Life has a way of working itself out and then we die and none of this will have mattered anyway! So let's do it!" So we made a huge spreadsheet with all of the travel websites and all of the hotels on the Strip and tallied up the best bang for our buck. Then yesterday morning I booked it all! At that point, the excitement FINALLY kicked in completely for me. And now I'm SOOO EXCITED!!!
Richard is off work the week before July 4, and my job is letting me take the time off to go. We're leaving the Sunday morning before. Leaving Molly with my parents most likely. (They may end up sharing her with Richard's sister.) We're going to stay at the Monte Carlo - which got us free tickets either the Cirque du Soleil show of our choice or The Lion King. The only thing is, you just put in your top three choices and within three days they email you back with the one you got. Of course, our top three choices are all Dark the nights we're available, but we put in some other choices anyway...a free show is a free show, I'm sure we'll enjoy it anyway. And then to end on a bang - We fell in LOVE with Terry Fator on America's Got Talent two years ago and every time Vegas talk comes up we know that's who we want to see. And he happens to have a show on our last night and there's an online deal right now for 25% off tickets and so I booked tickets for that and we are as centered as you can be in the theatre and 4th row from the stage! I'm so excited!!! Then we'll fly back Wednesday and get here just in time to spend a little time with our much-excited-to-see-us daughter before putting her to bed and relaxing some more for the evening! I can't wait!!! This is definitely MUCH needed!!!
So much has happened!!! I've had SEVERAL days that I've thought I should come blog...but I've been trying to keep a secret from blog-land, and I knew if I came here, I'd spill the beans. But now it's ok to spill!!! (LOL since most of you who I know read this already know!)
We're expecting another little bundle of joy and sleeplessness!!! Yay!!! I'm so dang excited!!!
It's really rough to determine when to make the announcement on your blog or anywhere online really. You don't want someone that you've been waiting to tell in person or otherwise to stumble across it so impersonally for the first time. But when do you give up on that if you haven't had a chance yet? So I chose now!
So we will be four months along on Saturday. It's going REALLY fast! - most days. We're due November 21 - the Saturday before Thanksgiving! So that will make for something INCREDIBLE to be Thankful for!!! No questions of what I'll be writing down and putting in the hat/boat/bread bag/whatever we use this year!
Everything is going fabulous! Minimal weight gain so far...baby looked great on the sonogram...Heartbeat is fabulous...and Molly has even decided that it makes an awesome dance beat! LOL I laughed so hard that day!
I won't lie...I was VERY sick for a long time. I vomitted way too much and had way too many days sitting in front of Uncle Ralph. But everything's clearing up nicely. I feel much better. I only slightly gag when changing a gross diaper or coming upon anything else that is especially disgusting now. I've got much more energy. Before, I was often falling asleep BEFORE MOLLY at like 7pm and sleeping all through the night until she woke up the next morning. But now, for the last WEEK I have stayed up until at least 11pm without having to try very hard. Yay for betterness!
We have our big sonogram where we will find out what we're having at the end of this month! I'm so excited! I hoping for an elephant! Then we could call it Ellie or Eli. haha! Ok just kidding! I'm just praying for a completely HEALTHY baby with NOOOO FOOD ALLERGIES!!!!!!!!! Please Lord!!! Or if it has to have allergies..at least be the same as Molly's so I don't have to have two separate types of diets. LOL... yeah...not kidding.
Some other really exciting news is we're taking a vacation!!!
The last vacation we took was to Kaua'i, HI. It was SO MUCH fun...but you know what? It was over 3 years ago for our honeymoon! We definitely deserve another very soon! All winter long we kept talking how as soon as tax season was over we were going to head out to Vegas for a nice vacation. Well...then we had to replace our furnace and A/C and that was a huge chunk of money...and then at least once a month after that we've had something that costed at least a couple hundred dollars happen to our house or our car. And then we became pregnant...which entails medical expenses and other things. And plus we'd imagine Vegas is pretty smokey and that wouldn't be so good for my pregnant self - not that I think spending just a couple days in a smokey environment would hurt the baby too much...but it would most likely make me SOOO sick, just the smell! So the vacation became a lost idea.
Well Richard, during college once, went to Denver to a water park called Water World. He talks about it anytime the thought of a water park is spoken about. And so about a month or two ago I told him that this summer as our last Hurrah! before having multiple children we should drive out to Denver and hang out at the water park...leaving Molly with his parents on the way out. We thought it'd be a lot of fun! But then we were like...hmmm..we don't know ANYTHING about Denver, besides it the home of those nasty Broncos...and we'd hate to get lost out in Bronco-land...We hear the diseases out there are pretty contagious. ;)
So we kind of started looking around elsewhere. Still in the mood for water parks...I checked into them everywhere. First I thought the Water Park of America would be fun, because we could do that for part of a day and for the rest hang out around Minneapolis...and then spend another day at the Mall of America. We started thinking that flying there would be more money than we were able to spend on this "little" vacation...so we considered driving. But that would likely mean we'd have to leave Molly for more than our planned on 3 nights...and we didn't really feel comfortable with that...since she's never been left ANYWHERE over night without one of us before. And I started reading LOTS of bad reviews about the Water Park. - Which by the way...it is SOOO hard to read reviews about places! People are so darn negative. Richard kept reminding me that most of the time people who go somewhere and have a good time don't go online to leave a review...they just have a great time and tell their friends and family when they get home. People who have a bad time go online to complain and "forewarn" anyone they can get their hands on.
So we kept looking. Just being crazy I started looking at bigger vacations. I liked the idea of Aquatica in Orlando and Rich really wants to go to Universal Studios again...so we started rethinking our budget. Maybe it would be worth spending a little more to have a really good time. But the Orlando idea was pretty much out because there is just SO MUCH to do there, I wouldn't have been able to control myself and we would have stayed much too long and spent way too much.
Then I kept looking and Rich began asking me multiple times daily if I had found anything to do. I couldn't make any decisions. The decision pool was growing every time I did research and that wasn't helping.
Finally I HAD to narrow it down. So we decided if we were going "higher-to-us" end, our options were San Antonio (a flight down, SeaWorld, a fun water park, and a few other free things,) and yeah Vegas had come up again (a show or two, sightseeing, and maybe a little casino time.) If we were going "lower-to-us" end, our options were just driving to either Omaha, Kansas City, or Oklahoma City and just hanging out doing whatever the cities offer..some shopping..and just doing whatever, we really have no idea what's available in Omaha or OKC, but we would figure something out and have a good time regardless.
I think we were both leaning toward the higher end ideas. They just seemed more exciting. lol. Although we weren't quite in agreeance on which one. I've ALWAYS wanted to do something like SeaWorld...and the water park was sounding really fun. Richard has ALWAYS wanted to go to Vegas. Period. lol. Both of us really wanted what we wanted, but both of us fought harder for the other person's wants than our own. Don't ya hate that? I really wanted him to get complete enjoyment out of it. He really wanted that for me. And so we were at another stand still. Until one day he said...actually...you're going to be almost 5 months pregnant and San Antonio is going to be VERY hot...which means a day of walking around SeaWorld is going to WEAR YOU OUT! He was completely right! And I added to it that in Vegas, we'd be sleeping in more and be out more at night, so that should be cooler - even though it will be HOT in Vegas too, and more things are indoors there. And he started asking some people what they thought about the smokiness of Vegas and they seemed to think that it would be ok - that the casinos and such are well-ventilated. I figure as long as I don't get stuck sitting NEXT to someone smoking I should be ok. And almost ALL of the poker rooms are smoke-free now (not that I'll be playing poker.) And there are "smoke-free zones" in several of the casinos.
Then we went back to the "Can we really afford this with all of our upcoming expenses???" Of course we're praying really hard trying to figure out what to do. And finally the night before last at supper I said, "To heck with it! We're going to Vegas!!! Life has a way of working itself out and then we die and none of this will have mattered anyway! So let's do it!" So we made a huge spreadsheet with all of the travel websites and all of the hotels on the Strip and tallied up the best bang for our buck. Then yesterday morning I booked it all! At that point, the excitement FINALLY kicked in completely for me. And now I'm SOOO EXCITED!!!
Richard is off work the week before July 4, and my job is letting me take the time off to go. We're leaving the Sunday morning before. Leaving Molly with my parents most likely. (They may end up sharing her with Richard's sister.) We're going to stay at the Monte Carlo - which got us free tickets either the Cirque du Soleil show of our choice or The Lion King. The only thing is, you just put in your top three choices and within three days they email you back with the one you got. Of course, our top three choices are all Dark the nights we're available, but we put in some other choices anyway...a free show is a free show, I'm sure we'll enjoy it anyway. And then to end on a bang - We fell in LOVE with Terry Fator on America's Got Talent two years ago and every time Vegas talk comes up we know that's who we want to see. And he happens to have a show on our last night and there's an online deal right now for 25% off tickets and so I booked tickets for that and we are as centered as you can be in the theatre and 4th row from the stage! I'm so excited!!! Then we'll fly back Wednesday and get here just in time to spend a little time with our much-excited-to-see-us daughter before putting her to bed and relaxing some more for the evening! I can't wait!!! This is definitely MUCH needed!!!
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
20 Questions
1. When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I remember wanting to be so many things. A veteranarian, a nurse, but mostly a pediatrician. It wasn't until I was much older that I realized that being a pediatrician meant way more schooling than I would like to take on.
2. What have you done in the past week to help someone else?
I took my mom to her dentist appointment and ran her on an errand or two.
3. Who is the best-dressed person you know?
My friend Audra has a very unique style and I LoVE it!
4. What is on your nightstand?
A coaster under a glass of water, my alarm clock, and a box of tissues. We recently changed sides of the bed though. Had we not traded sides I would have a coaster under a glass of water, my alarm clock, and the cute little butterfly lamp from Molly's room.
5. If you were a cat, what kind of a cat would you be?
A fun little kitten that everybody loves. :D But it would be pretty rough being allergic to myself.
6. If you lived in a house surrounded by acres of trees, what particular type of tree would you want flourishing on your land?
Haha! If there's one thing I know next to nothing about it's beautiful trees. But I do really like Maples in the fall. They're so pretty when they're red and orange.
7. What do you find to be very overrated?
Money...seriously...could we just go back to trading goods and livestock? At least then you could grow your own "money."
8. How many email addresses do you have?
There are a few out there now (school, pre-married, and current.) But I have them forward to my current one now which is the only one I check.
9. Have you ever felt replaced?
Well sure. Who hasn't? Whether it be a romantic relationship, a work relationship, or a friendship. We've all been there.
10. Would you rather watch football or baseball?
Football, no questions asked - because I don't really have any answers. It's just more exciting to me.
11. What is the wallpaper on your phone?
A picture of Molly wearing a sombrero at World Market.
12. Name a lyric from the song you're listening to.
Baseball Baseball - It's Baseball the explorer star! -- You can't catch me! -- Catch him! Catch him! (Yeah, Dora's on this morning.)
13. Do you use a feed reader?
Yes. Just the one on blogger...whatever it's called.
14. What chocolate do you always leave in the box?
The fruit-filled ones. Blech! And I don't like dark chocolate much...but I tend to eat them in a box of chocolates anyway.
15. What would you do if you found out your ex is engaged?
I would be shocked considering he just got married about six months ago.
16. Do words hurt you?
Yes. I definitely do not believe in the saying "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me." So untrue...people should really think about what they say before they speak.
17. Are you a talker or a listener? Is it ever possible to really be both?
I do think you can be both. But it depends on the situation. If I'm in a big group of people I tend to listen and take everything in. If I'm one on one, I try VERY hard to make it equal so that nobody feels awkward.
18. Have you ever walked on the beach at night?
Yes, in Kaua'i on our honeymoon. We walked the beach almost every night. I would LOVE to go back.
19. Who is your favorite professional athlete?
I went to a Chief's game one time. Christian Okoye ran an awesome return and I remember thinking how awesome he was. I was SO excited. And that memory has stuck with me some 20 years later...so for no other reason than I remember being SO excited about him at that moment I'll say the Nigerian Nightmare.
20. Which TV show have you seen pretty much every episode of?
There are several. Rules of Engagement. How I Met Your Mother. Big Bang Theory. Dora the Explorer. Yo Gabba Gabba. Of the adult choices my favorite would be BBT. But few things are more fun than breakin' out the dancey dance with Molly through an episode of Yo Gabba Gabba.
I remember wanting to be so many things. A veteranarian, a nurse, but mostly a pediatrician. It wasn't until I was much older that I realized that being a pediatrician meant way more schooling than I would like to take on.
2. What have you done in the past week to help someone else?
I took my mom to her dentist appointment and ran her on an errand or two.
3. Who is the best-dressed person you know?
My friend Audra has a very unique style and I LoVE it!
4. What is on your nightstand?
A coaster under a glass of water, my alarm clock, and a box of tissues. We recently changed sides of the bed though. Had we not traded sides I would have a coaster under a glass of water, my alarm clock, and the cute little butterfly lamp from Molly's room.
5. If you were a cat, what kind of a cat would you be?
A fun little kitten that everybody loves. :D But it would be pretty rough being allergic to myself.
6. If you lived in a house surrounded by acres of trees, what particular type of tree would you want flourishing on your land?
Haha! If there's one thing I know next to nothing about it's beautiful trees. But I do really like Maples in the fall. They're so pretty when they're red and orange.
7. What do you find to be very overrated?
Money...seriously...could we just go back to trading goods and livestock? At least then you could grow your own "money."
8. How many email addresses do you have?
There are a few out there now (school, pre-married, and current.) But I have them forward to my current one now which is the only one I check.
9. Have you ever felt replaced?
Well sure. Who hasn't? Whether it be a romantic relationship, a work relationship, or a friendship. We've all been there.
10. Would you rather watch football or baseball?
Football, no questions asked - because I don't really have any answers. It's just more exciting to me.
11. What is the wallpaper on your phone?
A picture of Molly wearing a sombrero at World Market.
12. Name a lyric from the song you're listening to.
Baseball Baseball - It's Baseball the explorer star! -- You can't catch me! -- Catch him! Catch him! (Yeah, Dora's on this morning.)
13. Do you use a feed reader?
Yes. Just the one on blogger...whatever it's called.
14. What chocolate do you always leave in the box?
The fruit-filled ones. Blech! And I don't like dark chocolate much...but I tend to eat them in a box of chocolates anyway.
15. What would you do if you found out your ex is engaged?
I would be shocked considering he just got married about six months ago.
16. Do words hurt you?
Yes. I definitely do not believe in the saying "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me." So untrue...people should really think about what they say before they speak.
17. Are you a talker or a listener? Is it ever possible to really be both?
I do think you can be both. But it depends on the situation. If I'm in a big group of people I tend to listen and take everything in. If I'm one on one, I try VERY hard to make it equal so that nobody feels awkward.
18. Have you ever walked on the beach at night?
Yes, in Kaua'i on our honeymoon. We walked the beach almost every night. I would LOVE to go back.
19. Who is your favorite professional athlete?
I went to a Chief's game one time. Christian Okoye ran an awesome return and I remember thinking how awesome he was. I was SO excited. And that memory has stuck with me some 20 years later...so for no other reason than I remember being SO excited about him at that moment I'll say the Nigerian Nightmare.
20. Which TV show have you seen pretty much every episode of?
There are several. Rules of Engagement. How I Met Your Mother. Big Bang Theory. Dora the Explorer. Yo Gabba Gabba. Of the adult choices my favorite would be BBT. But few things are more fun than breakin' out the dancey dance with Molly through an episode of Yo Gabba Gabba.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
The Essence of Childhood
Last Friday, Wichita was granted an ice storm. It was crazy to watch the trees slowly droop closer and closer to the ground. It was even crazier to walk out in the storm and feel all the tiny little pellets of ice hitting you all over the head.
Saturday brought a blizzard to cover up the ice. I don't know what the technical amount was...but it seemed like a lot of snow. Especially for one morning at the end of March. But don't worry...by 6pm the sun was shining, it was warming up, and a lot of the snow was already disappearing.
While it was snowing out Molly and I ventured out to play a little and to make snow angels. We each made one. But it wasn't very fun for either of us because the snow was coming down pretty quickly and getting in our faces. But I even helped Molly find and eat her first icicle. How fun! I remember eating snow and icicles as a kid. Ahh..the innocence...and then at some point some big kid comes along and tells you that some dog peed in that snow or something awful like that. And suddenly, it's like your innocence is stolen, you grow up and quit eating and/or drinking water outdoors unless it comes from a bottle, a cup, or a drinking fountain.
When we went out, at first, it was pretty windy, and Molly didn't really like the snow pelleting her in the face. Here was one extra breezy moment.
But after a while she got the hang of walking through snow that came all the way up to her sweet little knees and really started enjoying it.
THEN...as I said, the sun came out and melted all the snow. It is now Tuesday and the yard is still drenched. My flower beds that I had began getting ready to plant into are oozy gooey mud.
Yesterday we got home from running some errands and I took Molly out of the car and let her down to do as she pleased while I unloaded the groceries. I left her out in the yard while I put away the milk. Then went back out to gather her because we had about five more errands to run. Here is how I found her.
I think she must have stepped into the mud, got stuck, and fell down. Because she didn't seem too happy about it at first. She was even more upset when she noticed I was taking pictures.
Eventually, she began to enjoy squishing the mud in between her fingers though. And painting her clothes with it.
And yes, she even had to see how some mudpies tasted. She didn't stop with just one taste, so it must not have been too awful.
Mostly, I was so proud of myself. For encouraging her to explore the environments around her in the snow and the mud. See it, smell it, listen to it, touch it, and if you must - taste it. My first thought when seeing her sitting in the mud crying was to get her out as quick as possible. But as she cried a little harder, I started laughing as I realized there would be nothing quick about this. She was covered in mud, and it was going to take a long while to clean it all up. So I decided at that moment that the errands could be put off another day. (It's not like I hadn't already put them off several days to get to this point.) And decided to show her how to enjoy the mud. I ran back inside quickly, changed out of my work clothes into some sweats and ran back out with my camera ready to show her how to squish. And she did! And she loved it! And I think most exciting of all for her was that she ended up getting to be naked outside!!! - Every one year old's greatest desire!
(And even more excitement - Richard ended up taking care of my errands after he got home - and even brought me home a bag a Reese's eggs to "thank me for everything I do." Awwww!!!)
Saturday brought a blizzard to cover up the ice. I don't know what the technical amount was...but it seemed like a lot of snow. Especially for one morning at the end of March. But don't worry...by 6pm the sun was shining, it was warming up, and a lot of the snow was already disappearing.
While it was snowing out Molly and I ventured out to play a little and to make snow angels. We each made one. But it wasn't very fun for either of us because the snow was coming down pretty quickly and getting in our faces. But I even helped Molly find and eat her first icicle. How fun! I remember eating snow and icicles as a kid. Ahh..the innocence...and then at some point some big kid comes along and tells you that some dog peed in that snow or something awful like that. And suddenly, it's like your innocence is stolen, you grow up and quit eating and/or drinking water outdoors unless it comes from a bottle, a cup, or a drinking fountain.
When we went out, at first, it was pretty windy, and Molly didn't really like the snow pelleting her in the face. Here was one extra breezy moment.
But after a while she got the hang of walking through snow that came all the way up to her sweet little knees and really started enjoying it.
THEN...as I said, the sun came out and melted all the snow. It is now Tuesday and the yard is still drenched. My flower beds that I had began getting ready to plant into are oozy gooey mud.
Yesterday we got home from running some errands and I took Molly out of the car and let her down to do as she pleased while I unloaded the groceries. I left her out in the yard while I put away the milk. Then went back out to gather her because we had about five more errands to run. Here is how I found her.
I think she must have stepped into the mud, got stuck, and fell down. Because she didn't seem too happy about it at first. She was even more upset when she noticed I was taking pictures.
Eventually, she began to enjoy squishing the mud in between her fingers though. And painting her clothes with it.
And yes, she even had to see how some mudpies tasted. She didn't stop with just one taste, so it must not have been too awful.
Mostly, I was so proud of myself. For encouraging her to explore the environments around her in the snow and the mud. See it, smell it, listen to it, touch it, and if you must - taste it. My first thought when seeing her sitting in the mud crying was to get her out as quick as possible. But as she cried a little harder, I started laughing as I realized there would be nothing quick about this. She was covered in mud, and it was going to take a long while to clean it all up. So I decided at that moment that the errands could be put off another day. (It's not like I hadn't already put them off several days to get to this point.) And decided to show her how to enjoy the mud. I ran back inside quickly, changed out of my work clothes into some sweats and ran back out with my camera ready to show her how to squish. And she did! And she loved it! And I think most exciting of all for her was that she ended up getting to be naked outside!!! - Every one year old's greatest desire!
(And even more excitement - Richard ended up taking care of my errands after he got home - and even brought me home a bag a Reese's eggs to "thank me for everything I do." Awwww!!!)
Thursday, February 19, 2009
A Beautiful Day For the Zoo
Tuesday was SUCH a gorgeous day! When we left for the zoo at around 1pm it was 65 degrees. BEAUTIFUL! And my car said 75 degrees on the way home, so apparently, it only got better while we were there. :)
I decided we should go to the zoo since we have a year-round pass. I called to invite my parents along too, and of course they wanted to spend the day with their sweet sweet granddaughter!
Going over naptime was OK - considering that's when the weather was the best...but probably not the BEST decision - based on how tired children get when they aren't getting their nap. She did fairly well, although she was scared of EVERYTHING. And I'm sure that had the most to do with being tired. She tends to be a little afraid of animals, but she was freaking out pretty badly. Yeah, she was tired.
It all started in the Children's Zoo where animals run free and you can feed them. Well I know Molly doesn't enjoy that. But whenever my parents are along that's where we go first. And of course a big ugly shaggy sheep came right up to Molly begging for a snack and she panicked. That was the beginning of her scares. Then on to the amphibian house. LOL She was scared of everything there too. We would push her up to the glass of an aquarium and if the turtles or fish came too close, she'd start crying and trying to get away. Some good did come of it though! She learned the word TURTLE!!! Yay! And by the end, she didn't seem so afraid of the turtles. Haha!
The day ended when we were in with the apes and one particularly liked Molly and followed us all along the window and was even signing to Molly a little bit. Molly - unimpressed. She wanted to GO!!!
I did capture some pictures of things she was not afraid of though to share.
She was NOT afraid of this turtle. I don't believe she saw it..but she wasn't afraid of it! Woohoo! (Did I mention that EVERYTHING in and after the amphibian house suddenly became a turtle???)
Also not afraid of whatever turtle she was looking at here. :) Isn't she lovely though?
This is a bison turtle. I'm sure it looked much like a rock to her the way it didn't move at all.
She also didn't see this turtle. But hey...not scared of it!
She may have been scared of this zebra turtle. I'm not sure. I was trying to get it to turn its head for a better picture. But I heard my dad call it a "horsey" several times while she argued "turtle." The poor girl is bound to be REALLY confused one day.
Here are a few of her enjoying getting to be her independent self.
And while she WAS at first VERY afraid of the gorilla turtle statues, she warmed up to them after I stuck my finger in the nose of one and told her I was getting his boogers. Oh the things we do to help our children get more out of life.
Then she fell asleep within two minutes of being in the car, and the rest of the beautiful day was blissful.
I decided we should go to the zoo since we have a year-round pass. I called to invite my parents along too, and of course they wanted to spend the day with their sweet sweet granddaughter!
Going over naptime was OK - considering that's when the weather was the best...but probably not the BEST decision - based on how tired children get when they aren't getting their nap. She did fairly well, although she was scared of EVERYTHING. And I'm sure that had the most to do with being tired. She tends to be a little afraid of animals, but she was freaking out pretty badly. Yeah, she was tired.
It all started in the Children's Zoo where animals run free and you can feed them. Well I know Molly doesn't enjoy that. But whenever my parents are along that's where we go first. And of course a big ugly shaggy sheep came right up to Molly begging for a snack and she panicked. That was the beginning of her scares. Then on to the amphibian house. LOL She was scared of everything there too. We would push her up to the glass of an aquarium and if the turtles or fish came too close, she'd start crying and trying to get away. Some good did come of it though! She learned the word TURTLE!!! Yay! And by the end, she didn't seem so afraid of the turtles. Haha!
The day ended when we were in with the apes and one particularly liked Molly and followed us all along the window and was even signing to Molly a little bit. Molly - unimpressed. She wanted to GO!!!
I did capture some pictures of things she was not afraid of though to share.
She was NOT afraid of this turtle. I don't believe she saw it..but she wasn't afraid of it! Woohoo! (Did I mention that EVERYTHING in and after the amphibian house suddenly became a turtle???)
Also not afraid of whatever turtle she was looking at here. :) Isn't she lovely though?
This is a bison turtle. I'm sure it looked much like a rock to her the way it didn't move at all.
She also didn't see this turtle. But hey...not scared of it!
She may have been scared of this zebra turtle. I'm not sure. I was trying to get it to turn its head for a better picture. But I heard my dad call it a "horsey" several times while she argued "turtle." The poor girl is bound to be REALLY confused one day.
Here are a few of her enjoying getting to be her independent self.
And while she WAS at first VERY afraid of the gorilla turtle statues, she warmed up to them after I stuck my finger in the nose of one and told her I was getting his boogers. Oh the things we do to help our children get more out of life.
Then she fell asleep within two minutes of being in the car, and the rest of the beautiful day was blissful.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Adventures in Potty Learning
As you may or may not know Molly is completely in LOVE with Dora.
Ok there may not be total truth to that. She WAS completely in LOVE with Dora until she received, I'm sure, pretty close to EVERYTHING that was ever made Dora. Including this Potty Chair
Now she has fallen in LOVE Blue from Blues Clues. Of course.
This potty chair happened to be on clearance one day in November for 15 bucks. It's a 3-in-1. So you start out using it as pictured, and then when she gets big enough to get on the big potty, but still small enough to fall in the big hole in the big potty, you take the top off and the green cup out and use the top on your big potty and then the bottom flips upside down as a step stool to get on the potty and to reach the sink to wash up. Way cool. So I snagged it that day. I thought we'd just toss it in with her Christmas gifts. But we then decided it's not really Christmas gift material, plus she had 17 other Christmas gifts already just from us. So we just put it the bathroom to let her start getting used to it being in there.
Richard and I take turns bathing her. And one night on his turn he started sitting her on it for a few minutes naked before he put her in the bath. He fixed her up with a little book and she was great for a couple minutes while her bath ran. Then gets up and gets in the tub.
He told me he was doing this, so I decided to try it on my bath-giving nights. It didn't go over as well for me. She just stood up right away or got mad each time.
Mind you, we don't think it's necessary to push potty learning at this point, so when she would stand up or get mad, I happily let her.
Well in the last week or two she finally started letting both of us put her on the potty chair before bath. And a couple times she has even gone to the bathroom asking to sit on the potty chair. (Of course, she sits down and points to her bath toy bag because I let her play with her Pooh and Piglet bath toys that she can only play with in the bath or on the potty. LOL. She's in it for the Pooh, not the Poo.)
Last night, I was running her bath water, and asked her if she wanted to sit on the potty. She said "No." But she meant Yes. LOL She's answering No to everything right now...you have to listen to her tone or just know what she really means. haha. I sat her on the potty and gave her the toy she wanted and then I kept putting my hand in the bath water and dribbling a little onto her legs. She sat on the potty for a few minutes and then was finished. She really enjoyed the water dribbling though and wanted to do it to herself.
As she stood up, I noticed there was PEE in the potty chair!!! Yay!!!!!!!!
I squealed and told Richard to come look! I probably freaked her out a bit, but I gave her tons of huge hugs and just kept carrying on how big a girl she is. I was so excited! I showed it to her, and showed her how we dump it in the big potty and flush and wash our hands.
Oh I am so excited! Of course, I think it was a fluke. The timing happened to just be right...but I have hope now because I can see a light at the end of the tunnel! And I still don't really plan on pushing too hard, because I still don't feel like she knows the sensation means it's coming. This morning she was running nude and twice within 15 minutes she peed on the carpet and didn't seem to notice until she heard the noise. Then I put a diaper on her and it was wet within an hour. So she's definitely not holding her urine for the two hours or whatever they're supposed to be able to go pee-less. I'll just keep an eye on her and let her cue me in when she's ready for us to really start potty teaching. But these are the first steps!!! Yay!!!
Ok there may not be total truth to that. She WAS completely in LOVE with Dora until she received, I'm sure, pretty close to EVERYTHING that was ever made Dora. Including this Potty Chair
Now she has fallen in LOVE Blue from Blues Clues. Of course.
This potty chair happened to be on clearance one day in November for 15 bucks. It's a 3-in-1. So you start out using it as pictured, and then when she gets big enough to get on the big potty, but still small enough to fall in the big hole in the big potty, you take the top off and the green cup out and use the top on your big potty and then the bottom flips upside down as a step stool to get on the potty and to reach the sink to wash up. Way cool. So I snagged it that day. I thought we'd just toss it in with her Christmas gifts. But we then decided it's not really Christmas gift material, plus she had 17 other Christmas gifts already just from us. So we just put it the bathroom to let her start getting used to it being in there.
Richard and I take turns bathing her. And one night on his turn he started sitting her on it for a few minutes naked before he put her in the bath. He fixed her up with a little book and she was great for a couple minutes while her bath ran. Then gets up and gets in the tub.
He told me he was doing this, so I decided to try it on my bath-giving nights. It didn't go over as well for me. She just stood up right away or got mad each time.
Mind you, we don't think it's necessary to push potty learning at this point, so when she would stand up or get mad, I happily let her.
Well in the last week or two she finally started letting both of us put her on the potty chair before bath. And a couple times she has even gone to the bathroom asking to sit on the potty chair. (Of course, she sits down and points to her bath toy bag because I let her play with her Pooh and Piglet bath toys that she can only play with in the bath or on the potty. LOL. She's in it for the Pooh, not the Poo.)
Last night, I was running her bath water, and asked her if she wanted to sit on the potty. She said "No." But she meant Yes. LOL She's answering No to everything right now...you have to listen to her tone or just know what she really means. haha. I sat her on the potty and gave her the toy she wanted and then I kept putting my hand in the bath water and dribbling a little onto her legs. She sat on the potty for a few minutes and then was finished. She really enjoyed the water dribbling though and wanted to do it to herself.
As she stood up, I noticed there was PEE in the potty chair!!! Yay!!!!!!!!
I squealed and told Richard to come look! I probably freaked her out a bit, but I gave her tons of huge hugs and just kept carrying on how big a girl she is. I was so excited! I showed it to her, and showed her how we dump it in the big potty and flush and wash our hands.
Oh I am so excited! Of course, I think it was a fluke. The timing happened to just be right...but I have hope now because I can see a light at the end of the tunnel! And I still don't really plan on pushing too hard, because I still don't feel like she knows the sensation means it's coming. This morning she was running nude and twice within 15 minutes she peed on the carpet and didn't seem to notice until she heard the noise. Then I put a diaper on her and it was wet within an hour. So she's definitely not holding her urine for the two hours or whatever they're supposed to be able to go pee-less. I'll just keep an eye on her and let her cue me in when she's ready for us to really start potty teaching. But these are the first steps!!! Yay!!!
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Good Car Troubles?
Yesterday after work I went by my parents' house to pick up Molly, but I needed to run to a store down the street before I came home. My mom graciously offered to keep Molly while I did that. I got in my car, started it right up, and drove to the store. I was in the store for no longer than 5 minutes. When I went back out the car wouldn't start, it did nothing. So I went back in and asked a guy if he could jump my battery. He did and it started right up. I went back to get Molly and left the car running so we didn't have to deal with that again. I got home nicely.
Last night we were loaded up to go play at the mall and once again it was dead. So we jumped it and took it to Walmart to get a new battery. When we were telling the guy our problems, he said it would be about an hour and a half wait. We debated, but then he added that our car should be too new to be having battery issues, so we might just want to talk to the dealership and maybe it would be under warranty still.
We went back to our car and it was dead again. But thankfully, they could jump us with a battery they had there.
This morning I called the dealership and he said that this WOULD be covered under our warranty! WOOHOO!!! So I'm supposed to take it in today. I think I'll have to find a neighbor who will jump me so I can get there. But I'm just so excited to have a car problem that isn't going to cost me half of my savings!!! Yay!!! (Hopefully I don't get back on here later tonight to tell you that they found it was something else that isn't covered! LOL)
Last night we were loaded up to go play at the mall and once again it was dead. So we jumped it and took it to Walmart to get a new battery. When we were telling the guy our problems, he said it would be about an hour and a half wait. We debated, but then he added that our car should be too new to be having battery issues, so we might just want to talk to the dealership and maybe it would be under warranty still.
We went back to our car and it was dead again. But thankfully, they could jump us with a battery they had there.
This morning I called the dealership and he said that this WOULD be covered under our warranty! WOOHOO!!! So I'm supposed to take it in today. I think I'll have to find a neighbor who will jump me so I can get there. But I'm just so excited to have a car problem that isn't going to cost me half of my savings!!! Yay!!! (Hopefully I don't get back on here later tonight to tell you that they found it was something else that isn't covered! LOL)
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