Happy Christmas!

It's not a great photo but it'll do. We've lost the charger for the battery for our nice camera, so we had to have a phone photo but it's okay. Needless to say, we only subjected E to this once and since we were in the photo with her, at least she's not crying like all 1 yr old babies do when subjected to a large, white-bearded man in red. We spared her having to do it alone.

It's been craziness lately, starting first with Thanksgiving, then a struggle with finding someone to put up drywall in the basement to my parents visiting for Christmas. They are gone now and a calm has finally descended upon our lives. M has finally stopped living in the basement 24/7 and although E has a lingering cough, she's not had to stay out of daycare for over a month (knocking on wood now).

Thanks to my mom, M and I had a lovely morning/afternoon together Christmas shopping and having lunch out on the Saturday before the day. We were able to finish it all and we both commented that daytime dates seemed like a good idea. We were actually awake, as opposed to our anniversary dinner when we went out for dinner and wanted to go be home at 8:30pm. We'd told the sitter 10 though and we stayed out til 10! But I think it might be daytime from now on.

I realize looking at this photo just how much I've let myself go. It's been a challenge that I haven't been willing to take on. I just haven't been interested in waking up early to go to the gym so I haven't. I haven't said no to ice cream or beer or wine or dinner. I've just gone with the flow. It's so much easier. I don't have the energy. But we all know how to get the energy. go.to.the gym. lol So I am starting next week, with the masses, at the gym. M gave me some personal training sessions which is great but I know myself and therefore will start working out on my own before I call upon the services of another. I have worked out enough to know that, upon starting after a time off, I will get sick after the first or second week and need to take a break to get well. I figure February is a good time to start with the trainer. The hardest part will be eating well. Living with a person who doesn't need to lose weight and does the majority of the cooking. Well, somehow, I'll have to make it work for me.

Anyhow, that's what's been happening to us lately. E is as cute as ever and walking like a mad thing. I'm so happy and blessed!

I'm too sexy for my clothes

God what a week last week was! Don't get me wrong, I love the munchkin to death but she was home a lot! The pink eye kept her out half of Wednesday and all day Thursday, then the daycare had Monday off for the holiday. That's a lot of time with the girl these days. I needed the break when she left for daycare today. I'm not ashamed to say it. Babies are a lot of work!

She's going through a really snuggly stage right now which is nice because she's never been really snuggly. But on the flip side of that coin, she's also very clingy - if i walk into the kitchen, the whining starts, even though i might be talking to her the whole time. This whole mom thing can be a challenge! I don't honestly know how people have more than one kid! lol

Sometimes I make myself feel better by watching Jon & Kate plus 8 (I think it's on TLC). They were the couple who had IVF and had twins. Then wanted another child (think ONE) and had sextuplets!!! OH.MY.GOD.NO. God obviously gave them to people who could handle them but I just could.not.do.it. They're amazing. Although I do feel a bit sorry for Jon because he can be quite hen pecked.

Ok, now that I'm talking about TV shows in my blog, I better go because it's only going downhill from here!

Too tired and worn out to blog

I don't know what it is about this time of the year but I started to get tired and "ho-hum"-ish.. I can't return calls, I can't get organized, I can barely stay awake until 9pm. i thought it would change with the time change but even now I can't rally. Poor E, after having a cold, then a yeast infection, then 1 yr shots and hearing test, now has pink eye. I hated pink eye, it was impossible to keep my eyes open when I had it and seemed to take forever to go away. Chances are, I will get it. Although, since I've had the eye surgery, I probably don't touch my eyes as much as I used to. So maybe we'll be okay. E will be home the next few days until she's no longer contagious. Sigh. Poor pet. It took two of us to give her the eye drops - one to hold her down, the other to open her eye and drop. Now I guess it's fortunate that I had contacts because I'm pretty good with the drops! :))

Anyhow, that's all. That's where I've been and what I've been doing. I haven't even been reading. I need a vacation already! And I just had one. More later..... Hope you all are well....

Halloweeny

Before: After:



I don't know... I think she liked it. The true test was when we went to our friends house and their dogs sniffed her butt!

I have more photos to post from vacation so I'll write more then.

BUH BYE

I will be out of the office from ....

yep, we are going on vacation. I wish I could say we were going somewhere exotic and tropical or even new and exciting, but we're not. We're going to see my folks, meet up with my brother and his family (who haven't seen E yet) and attend the wedding of a dear friend whose marrying her own irish lad. I'm thrilled for her!

I may or may not get photos uploaded to journal our trip but I will definitely post when I am home. That gives you about 10 days to read one less blog! (Or maybe find one more interesting one...)

Ciao

Where in the heck has she been??

...you might be asking yerself if you are one of the 6 people who read my blog. I don't even know the last time I wrote but it's been awhile. We've had a trip to California, in which we became those people - you know the ones whose child is crying during the first 15 minutes of your flight.... We didn't book a seat - midday on a Sunday I thought we'd be safe to get a seat but NO! the flight was full. We had a squirmy, tired 11 mo old on our laps, literally on our laps as she finally fell asleep with her head on my leg and her feet splayed across her dad. It didn't look comfortable but it lasted for the remaining 1 3/4 hours of the flight. I had big wet patches on the leg of my jeans when it was over because we seemingly have the most drooly baby ever. Cute, but drooly. (Having said that, she DOES have 7 teeth where most of her peers have 4 or less) So yeah, that's what I was doing.

Since we returned, we (the girl and I) have had colds (mine's mostly gone but hers is lingering) that laid me out for a few days. Work has been exceptionally busy because my co-worker was on vacation, prompting me to learn what she does in the favored form of trial-by-fire or 'putting Anne in the hot seat'. Although she did *try* to teach me all she could before she went, there was inevitably some things that came up that were 'surprises'. Anyhow, I learned a lot that week and that's good.

The big news is that our little bundle of joy has started taking her first unaided steps (to be honest, she was never really "aided" with stepping because we weren't sure we wanted her to walk any time soon). She actually walked over to her dad to say hi in that photo above. It's absolutely precious because when she starts walking, she gets quite excited and the arms go into 'windmill' action (or wax on/wax off mode) and she sits down. She'd probably get a lot farther if she didn't flap. lol Interestingly, since she started walking, she also started crawling in turbo speed. I was out with a couple moms/babies from my childbirth ed class and E would start crawling away from us and out the door with a speed I hadn't seen previously. I actually think there was smoke behind her when she took off but maybe she farted and was trying to get away! Anyway, I spent a lot of that hour following her our to the sidewalk, or into the kitchen of the cafe, or over to strangers where she'd still down and charm them all. I'd eventually pick her up and bring her back, she would take off again. She had no interest in hanging out with us. So there you go, she's only 11 months old and already I am getting a glimpse of my future with a teenager.

Happy days

We just sent our friends from London on their way south. They arrived to us Saturday and the last few days have been an alcohol-induced fog. The Orbit gum must do a trick because no one asked me if I'd been swimming in a vat of red wine when I dropped E off to daycare. Whew! lol

The few days involved us hiring a babysitter (the girl at the daycare) and enjoying an adult-only drinks and appetizers fest at the Matador in our 'hood. It also involved us both calling in "well" on Monday and heading into downtown for a day of sightseeing (and more beer, for them. I chose to be DD since someone had to pick up the child) on the most beautiful day this week. They went Pike Place and picked up some of the biggest halibut steaks I've ever seen (if only I had a photo) and made us dinner that night. Needless to say, I did not finish mine!

Last night we met up for drinks with some other friends at a small park in our 'hood to watch the sunset. It was another decadent night of indulging and staying up too late and with the dreary cloudy weather today, it's a wonder if I will ever wake up. I think I better go to the gym because if I don't, E and I will be heading to bed at the same time tonight.

Camping this weekend! We are going to Deception Pass State Park and we can't wait.

A lesson

Can I tell you how hard it is to get a close up (and a smile) of this one? She's always grabbing at the camera and I have to use one hand and hold it away from myself, hence that her head is cut-off. Ah well. She's still a cutie. lol

Yesterday I picked her up at daycare which is maybe 3 miles from our shed (that would be our "wee" house) and I had to stop for gas and she was happy as a clam. As soon as we pulled back on the road, the wild crying baby started in and after a while, it was all I could do to get home. You know, you stop saying 'what is it, pet?' because frankly, she ain't able to tell you, she just cries harder. I could've stopped but I wanted to get home because I knew once out of her carseat, she'd be okay again. And she was.

So, I plop her down on the floor like I usually do and I'm going to run back out to the car to get all my stuff from the day and she starts crying hysterically like 'don't leave me!' So, I sigh, and do not go out to the car but decide to try and clean up so I'm to and fro-ing and she's crying and I'm starting to get a little pissy because I need to get sh!t done. You know how you need to get sh!t done. So, although I was frustrated and grouchy by this point, I decide to lift up my little punkin and sit on the couch with her and she smiles and my blood pressure goes down considerably and what I realized is sometimes you just have to chill out. What sh!t needs to get done that badly?

Did I mention I think she's getting at least two more teeth? Yep, that's the fussy behavior. Poor thing. By the way, we got over our woe-is-me thing. Thanks to everyone's responses. Lori, we'd love to hang out with you guys anytime, we aren't age elitists (regardless of how my post may have seemed. :))! Hello insomnia, maybe we'll see you at the park again sometime.

Our new latest fun thing

I love this jumper thingy. It tires out a very active 10-month old baby even easier than she normally tires out herself. She can jump in this thing endlessly. And she's smilin' the whole time. It's awesome!

M and I are going through our woe-is-me, why-don't-we-have-friends stage again. I mean, we DO have friends. We have a few super nice people we see regularly, a few wonderful people we see less regularly and some we see because we invite them over and they never, ever, ever invite us over again. We both have smelled ourselves and think we smell fine. We have other friends so we know it's not "us" per se. We absolutely cannot for the life of us find other like minded parent types that just need a little adult conversation while their children poke each others eyes out and bonk each other over the head with toys (fortunately soft toys at this age!). Excuse me, let me re-phrase that, we can FIND those people but unless we invite them to do something, we would never see them again. Ever.

How hard can it be to meet 30 something people with babies who want to make the acquaintance with other 30 something people with babies? As much as I love M and he's my best friend and I his, we do spend 24/7 with each other and so sometimes finding new things to talk about can get difficult. Sometimes M might like to find someone to discuss his house remodeling stuff with who actually understands what he's talking about and I like to talk about what E's doing now and whether it's normal or whacky or just plain odd. I know people move in and out of Seattle and I'm sure that not all the people here already have friends and family that occupy their whole weekend but where ARE these people? Where are the people who have a couple hours to spare with friends - to make friends? How do I do this? I've done it a lot as a single and I know it's hard. I know meeting people you connect with is as hard as finding a pair of shorts to fit this post pregnancy body (is that a good one? I couldn't decide... maybe I'll think of something better as I type along) but I keep trying. I don't try TOO hard but I try..

I know these people are out there. I've seen them at Easy Street having breakfast too early like we are (although why we continue to eat there is beyond me as it is not.that.good), I've seen them walking at Alki and at Lincoln Park. I've seen them. Maybe some day, they'll see us too.

Good taste

So needless to say, the girl has started crawling around the place like it's the Indy 500. If you leave a green beer bottle on the floor, or heaven forbid, your morning coffee cup, her head goes down and she's got the bottle in her mouth or her hand in your cup before you can say Boo. You've got to be quick and worse yet, you've got to be AWARE. There is no relaxing with a baby on the prowl. Every scrap of paper (you know how you used to rip open the mail and maybe a stray bit falls to the floor every now and then?) will find it's way to her mouth. I have to physically go outside and dump the recycling (paper) every day. Can't just leave it on the couch until you FEEL like bringing it outside. Oh no. The problem is.. some of the stuff you spot as.she's.putting.it.in.her.mouth and it's too late then. You're like "uh, what was that?" as you try to pry open her mouth. It's hard to get past those 4 little razor teeth. I just let her eat it now. Eventually, it seems to come back out.

I don't know if I mentioned that the daycare was kind of nazi-ish in it's need to have E eating chunkier foods. They don't want anything mushy because I guess they have to feed her then. So, she's been getting chunkier foods. And to be honest, she's come a long way and can/will actually pick things up and eat them fairly dexterously. Especially if I walk away when I've fed her, she tends to clean the highchair like a little vacuum. She particular likes this breaded chicken from Costco (when you find something she likes, you go with it), sweet potatoes (I have noticed an orangish tint to her skin tone), green beans (finally), pears and apples. She doesn't so much like red meat (I haven't given it to her enough days in a row yet) and I've yet to try tofu and fish. That's next. I just can't believe how much she's changed (yes, I know they are supposed to change but I'm always surprised! :))...

The last couple days she has started opening the cupboards. I don't know if you can see our TV stand in the back ground of the photo but she's started opening the glass doors (rather than looking at herself and/or smacking them with her hands) and the other day, she went through all the DVDs and decided on Monty Python's The Life of Brian. Of course. My baby rocks!

At the beach

I don't have much to say these days. No reason in particular, just not feeling it. Plus I broke the nail of my right pointer finger to the quick and it's painful to type (yep, I'm one of those geeks that types with two hands!).. But I wanted to post a photo of the girl during our recent trip to the Oregon coast.

I didn't think it was possible to love someone so much... I think you're meant to get sucked in when they are this age so you don't throw them out when they get to be two and beyond. Your brain goes mush and somehow you put up with all those awful years. :) Anyhow, right now, she amazes me every day.

Thinking on this

Oh, I've already noticed that this keyboard is typing what I have to say quite a bit later than I want. Needless to say, that means lots of typos. And going back, and re-typing, etc.

Yesterday was my birthday, the big three-nine. I don't feel 39. I can't believe I have a baby and I'm 39. I always thought I would've done things much earlier. I don't really mean anything by that - it's more of an observation of myself - but I just thought I would've. I also would've thought that I'd learned not to say hurtful things to people, even if they are truthful. Or maybe I would know how to say truthful things that might be hurtful more diplomatically, so they aren't hurtful. Either way, it seems I have not learned it and I said something stupid to a dear friend. I am debating with myself about writing it here - writing it, telling people, makes me take accountability again (I've told M and he was not happy with me) but it also gives people the opportunity to make me feel better and I don't necessarily think I should. My friend and I worked through it and hopefully, she will take what I said as constructive criticism and try to ignore the fact that I was so thoughtless. Sigh. It's weighed heavily on my mind since it happened Thursday and I don't know if I should bring it up again with an "I'm sorry I hurt you"-type card or let us move on? Any suggestions?

I don't have any photos to post today, even though we took some cute ones this weekend. I haven't done any downloading since then. I did get to the gym however, so that's a plus in my favor! And it's a short week, as I'm taking Friday off since my boss gives us a day off for our birthdays! Should be nice!

Summertime fun

I'm not thrilled about this photo of me looking so white in the middle of summer but I do like the two of us together. We were camping last weekend, it was hot and muggy and somehow we still had smiles on our faces.

Daycare is working out well. Some days are better than others for the girl. I think she just needs to get used to the fact that even though we leave her, we will be coming back for her. I can't say enough about what a good idea I think it is for her to be around other kids, even other people. We might have even left it a bit long, she'll have a harder time adjusting that she might have if we left her in earlier. But she will adjust! When she gets home, I make sure I give her lots of love and full attention if she wants it. But she's becoming independent and sometimes just wants to do her own thing. I took her to a local park, on the water, and we sat on the beach for a good half an hour getting sand in every crevice, as you do. I kept thinking of how a lot of times I find myself trying to keep her clean (more my issue than anything else) when being dirty is what it's about to be a kid. So the hand goes in the mouth, sand and all, and I try not to think of the dogs that might have peed on it! lol I know too many people who are trying to keep their kids clean all the time and then they get a little anal about it (the kids) and I certainly don't want that. She's going to get anal about enough things in her life, eventually!

Last night we took an infant CPR class. It was literally the first time we had left her with anyone other than relatives (aside from daycare). I think we did okay. We were only gone for an hour and a half but it was good. She was good (or so they said!) which is really the biggest relief. We might even be able to leave her with other people someday so we can go to dinner! lol

Well, I guess that's it for now. I uploaded that photo rather than use photobucket and I am typing WAY faster than it's showing on the screen. I don't think I'll try that again! For now, I'm going to sign off. I'll write more soon.....

Two posts for the price of one!

I can't help but post cute photos of E whenever I get a chance. Finding daycare for an infant, I've discovered, is like buying a house in the Bay Area. If you see it and you like it, you better make an offer that second or you'll lose out. At least, that's what it used to be like. I don't know where I'd left it with our nanny whose been watching E for a couple weeks. She got a job at Alaska Airlines and her last day was going to be the 6th. In our scramble to get something else setup, we did something odd. We consulted the P-H-O-N-E-B-O-O-K. You've heard of these things. They came around before the days of computers. Before you could just go on c-----list and click the link that says Childcar3. I don't know why we didn't go to the Yellow Pages before. I've been doing a gazillon searches on the web and came up with little. We found a place about 3 miles away, they just happened to have an infant opening, we went to see it and agreed it would do and she starts next week! Our little girl, heading out in the world. We're going to lose it on Monday, I'm sure. Maybe we'll just register, go for coffee, and then go back and pick her up. We may have to ease into it. For our own sakes, not hers! lol

Finally making a house a home

Our new garden:


A different angle:



Thanks to a lot of hard work on M's part and a bit on his dad and our neighbor, our garden finally has something to it. There's still a lot of work to be done but we have a little space to sit back and enjoy on a daily basis. Now, as long as none of the plants die, we'll be happy. :)

Dirt is good food

So..uh yeah...I was out helping dad with the garden today..Can you tell?

Learning something new everyday

We took our first ride on the swing last week. We also experienced the top of a slide but that photo is on my phone and I don't know how to get it here. I think she kind of liked it. M's convinced she's going to be a daredevil like her mom and I hope that's true. I hope she's adventurous (in the legal way, anyhow) because it makes life more interesting.

We've had a pretty busy few weeks. After M's parents left (did I mention they were here?), we went camping for the first time with the girl. Actually, it was the first time he and I went too - I don't know why we've never camped together because we both like it. We drove west until we found dry weather. (We found it.) We tested out our new tent, our new air mattress, etc, etc. We found out that our lovely car, advertised as a sports utility type vehicle and one of the most popular vehicles in the northwest, barely fit all our camping gear. So what happens if we get a dog or if we want to take someone with us?! They have to sit on the roof, I'm afraid!

We experienced E's first cold too, right after the camping trip. We got to see firsthand what it was like to have a baby that woke up in the middle of the night. It's hard and I'm glad it's over.
She's still a little snotty, we call it, but thankfully, she's sleeping during the night. Naps are harder, she definitely doesn't want to be asleep. Too much fun stuff to learn about, I guess. At least at night, we go to sleep too, so it's not such a big deal. lol

Last weekend, we went out with a couple from our Peps group. It's a parenting group that we had joined when E was born. We did it for 12 weeks and then everyone fell off the face of the planet. Except the ones who are our neighbors, who we've seen once a week, whether they are just passing by on a walk or what. These people we actually made plans with and we all went on a hike! It was a really good time and M and I talked afterward about how much we like them and hope they liked us. It's like interviewing for friends or something. We wonder if they liked us as much and whether we'll get together again! lol Sounds like junior high, doesn't it?

One thing we've experienced since living in Seattle is that the majority of people are friendly on the surface but when you want to get to know them better, they definitely disappear. We've decided to make more of an effort to "put ourselves out there" because without family around, friends become really important. I would say 90 percent of the people we meet have family around or were from here, and they just don't have time to fit you in. That's just our observation. Believe me, I know we have a lot to do with it which is why we are going to work harder. But you can only ask so many times when people don't reciprocate. Eventually you give up.

Every day gets better..... well, interesting anyhow

This last few weeks has been busy. E has been sprouting up a couple teeth (two at the same time! oy!) so needless to say, she hasn't been a happy camper. One minute she's smiling like a crazy thing and then suddenly it's crying and fussy and ugh, here M, she's yours, you hold her for awhile. lol (seriously folks, M's a brilliant dad and she's a daddy's girl. i'm definitely hovering on the outside of this trio.)

Besides that, M's parents came over from the Emerald Isle. They arrived last Wed and are here for a couple more weeks. It's been going well. M's mam takes E for walks and M's dad is frustrating..er.. helping M finish a major project. Another project, you may ask? Yes, there is a big hole downstairs where a window used to be and some concrete wall. They are installing the french doors that used to be in our kitchen. That room is going to someday be our master bedroom, provided we don't move out of the city and get a huge house for nothing.

I was hoping to get started on Weight Watchers but haven't had the time or energy to get to a meeting. With all that's going on, I guess I'm going to wait (and have to pay $20 extra bucks because there's a special going on right now) until the folks leave. I was hoping to get to the gym while they've been here but my pillow-top has me pinned to it most mornings. I can't move. It's frustrating. I desperately want to and need to see my belly size decrease and I can.not.get.motivated. This is not like me. I actually LIKE working out. I miss the gym. I just can.not.get.going. Sigh.

OH! and last but not least, I had LASIK surgery last week!!! WOOOOO HOOOO. The best thing ever and so much less painful than having a baby with no meds. lol I went in early in the morning, had the procedure which took all of 30 minutes, rested in a dark room for about 4 hours and could see by mid day with no glasses or contacts. When I went in for my follow up on Friday, my eyes measured 20/15 (20/20 being the best, 20/15 being smaller "better")! I was saying things like "is that a hiker over there on the Olympics (mountains approx. 200 miles away)?" and silly things like that. I cannot believe I didn't do this sooner. It's a dream.

we've been really busy...

...working on our sitting up. Hi all, today is E's 6 month birthday. I can't believe it's been six months! I can't believe that it's been a month since I've been able to get on here and write. Holy cow!

I was lucky enough to get to see Anonymous G and Ang for lunch, when G was in town. I picked a place that would be easy to find and that I *thought* would be good and it wasn't. It really bugs me when I know a lot of good places in this area. Ah well. Let's just say I won't be sending anyone to the Pyramid Alehouse down by the Mariner's stadium. Although the waiter was mildly entertaining. Poor E's first meeting with G and Ang and she melted down midway through lunch. I had to make a run for it and interestingly enough, she chilled once we got out of the restaurant... I think E didn't like the place either! :))

On top of everything else, we've had a nice few weeks as a family. Weekends where we take long walks and enjoy the great weather we've been having. Even a trip to Home Despot or Lowe's is nicer when you are there as a family! lol Although the kitchen needs a few finishing touches, we've moved out to the front yard for demolition. I may have mentioned that we have families of boys on both sides of us, ages ranging from 6-13. Because the guy who owned our house before us didn't care, they like to use our yard as a thoroughfare. They have been known to play in our front yard because it's flat and I assume so both sets of parents can see them. Since we work at home, we've asked them to leave but they still tromp through the backyard. So we are putting up a fence and we are landscaping the yard a bit so it isn't so conveniently flat. It gets annoying. So that's our current project. Getting easier to do when E is getting closer to staying upright as the photo shows!

So that's it, a quick note to tell you what's going on. We are taking a quick trip to San Diego to visit my folks and shortly after that M's folks are coming over for their first trip to America! Looking forward to it as I know they are looking forward to seeing E. Woo HOO.

the start of a new page

Let's just say it this way...

Hello:






Goodbye :


I sold one baby to make way for another. I'm just a few steps away from a minivan. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Ah, where do the days go?

Gone are the days when I could while away the hours reading or online or working in the garden... well, in fairness, they aren't completely gone. I really try to have some "full on" time with Emer during the weekends because when I work during the week, she gets a video while her dad finishes painting or putting on skirting board or handles for the new cabinets, etc. The weekends are our quality time and I try to take that seriously. Sure, sometimes we have to run errands. Sometimes we have to laundry. Sometimes, often, it's pissing rain and we are stuck indoors. But sometimes, every now and then, I get lucky and there is a window of good weather where we get to go for a walk together, or sit out on the back deck and hang out in the sun. Or at least, the non-rain. :) When Emer takes her naps, I run around trying to get the kitchen cleaned up or a bit of laundry finished or bottles made. It seems like there's always something to do. And we're the lucky ones.... our precious bundle sleeps. She goes down about 7-8pm and sleeps until morning. We get two hours together in the evenings where we're both too tired to anything other than watch tv and share a bottle of wine. Some of our friends aren't so lucky. We are truly blessed.

So, since I wrote last I have turned down the job that would've allowed me to move to san diego. i just didn't like the girl i would've been working for and i would've been away from emer and martin too much.

On a happier note, our kitchen is mostly finished. We need new light fixtures and new countertops. Honestly, I don't know when we're going to fit that in. M's finding it alot harder to do work on the house when he's supposed to be watching Emer. Go figure. I'm thinking of lining up a daycare and saying 'hey, why don't we drop her off here today?' lol



It's all good. Just busy. As I guess it should be when you have a baby.

wondering where I'd gotten to?

Yep, I went for the huge photo. It really captures her look the best. :))

So much has changed since I last wrote. I'll have to fill you in on it. Soon. I'll be back in the next few days to tell you where I've been and what's been going on. In the meantime, here's my smiley girl.

Miss you all!

Sorta getting it back together

I settled for a big photo. The other was too small. I have a big surprise for M's birthday, a new digital SLR camera. I think it will help us get photos of E smiling - we seem to miss it because our stupid little Olympus just isn't quick enough. Or the batteries are dead. You know, you've heard it from me before. So anyhow, I researched the camera and I found one I hope he likes. Really, it's the only thing he ever talks about wanting but he hasn't had time to buy. It's a surprise and it's all I can do not to tell him what it is! Especially because this morning we took a photo of himself and E, in their "work clothes" (M's remodeling the kitchen) and she was only smiliing for a split second and I missed it.

The kitchen is moving along. M has the upper cabinets installed, the floor tiled, the outlets ready for wiring (he just needs to put the box in the wall) and the plumbing plumbed. I am constantly amazed at how much he can do. He's such a perfectionist though, I can only imagine how long it would take if he was satisfied with his work. Sometimes I have to say, honestly, who's going to notice that if it's a teeny-tiny bit off. Otherwise he'd never finish! lol But really, he's incredible with this stuff, really incredible. I can't wait to use the kitchen. I'll post photos when it is closer to being done.

E is doing well, tomorrow she has an appt with the dermatologist to look into her rashes. I think it's just non natural fibers that are getting to her.. based on where I see the rash. I can't really tell but maybe this doctor can shed some light into it for us. Unfortunately I have to fly down to CA for the day, so I won't make it to the appt but that's okay. I don't need to be at all of them!
Besides that, she's finally entertaining herself a bit. We can put her down with a Baby Einstein DVD and she happily watches that, drooling and laughing with it. Yep, I've already succumbed to letting her watch TV at 3 months! lol

I went to yoga yesterday for the first time since I had E. Oh my god, did I feel it today! I mean, it felt great at the time but this morning I was so stiff! I can't wait to get back to the gym, I just have to figure out how to fit it all in. I feel a little guilty since M has to work on the kitchen all the time, I try to watch E so he can do the work, I don't feel like I can take any time for myself until he's done. We're a team and I need to help him (by watching E) so he can get stuff done. He's not out doing anything for himself.... Well, you can see where I'm going with this. But the yoga class was a pre/post natal class so I was able to bring E. She slept most of the time, then the rest I laid her out on a mat with her blanket and she laid on her back and looked up at me and smiled. It was lovely. I'm hoping to set her up in the daycare at the gym when I get back so I can get an hour workout in.. I can't believe how hard it seems to get motivated to do it! :)) And I actually WANT to go back to working out. Does that make ANY sense? lol

Anyhow, that's all from here. Just hanging in one day at a time. I'll post again when I get a chance. Thinking of you all, even though I'm not able to comment much. I do read your blogs though.... hugs

Multi tasking at its finest

I thought the last photo was too big.. This one is too small. What happened to Photobucket? They changed... Gosh, you go away for a few months and blogger changes, photobucket changes, I've changed! Everything is different.

I'm sitting here typing, as my foot is tapping on the bouncy chair that has no bounce. The batteries may have died, or, because we got this second hand from some friends, the vibrator part occasionally goes on the fritz. Whatever it is, I have to bounce the girl sometimes when she's getting tired.. then she'll fall asleep.. It's like rubbing your head and patting your belly (or is it the other way around?) - it's tough! But she's napping and that's all that matters.

I was supposed to start working today. We have no kitchen though so I eked another day out so that M could get some work done. Only we had to go to the pediatrician because it seems our little pet has eczema and this rash seems to be making her rather fussy. Or maybe she's just getting fussy. I don't know. Just when you think you've got it figured out, it changes. Like blogger. Like photobucket!

Unfortunately, I have to go back to work tomorrow so M is stuck. He'll have to start working when she is asleep or after I finish work or maybe while I am working... sometimes it's not too busy. He's only getting the backerboard down so that he can lay tile. We are wondering why we decided to get rid of the hardwood floor there instead of just refinishing. Ah well, lesson learned.
Anyhow, it's a noisy bit of work since it requires a bit of hammering...

I'm looking forward to going back to work (did I say that last week? am i repeating myself?)
because some days I just can't get a thing done. It's funny how having more to do makes me more organized.. does anyone else feel like that? Laying around the house just makes me lazier sometimes. Anyhow, I am looking forward to challenging my mind a bit. And I'm certainly looking forward to having something to talk about other than E - it's hilarious really. M and I talk about two things and he talks about one and I talk about the other. He talks about the kitchen. He can't stop thinking about the kitchen even in the evening when we are having dinner, I can see him looking over my shoulder and contemplating all the work he has left to do. I only talk about E - the rash that looks so uncomfortable, why she's being cranky suddenly, how cute she is, etc. I am boring. I've become my own nightmare. And therefore, going back to work is a NECESSITY. Getting back to the gym, also a necessity. Having a life, you guessed it, necessity.

I've started to see this homeopathic doctor, if you call him that. He works with acupunture and chinese herbal medicine. This is to take care of an ongoing problem but one that flared up after giving birth. I've only been once but I like the practice. He gave me some chinese herbs to take but god, they are nasty! If you've ever taken echinacea with golden seal as a tincture, under the tongue, it's akin to that. Bleccch! All I can say is that it better be working because I'm choking it down twice a day. I think it's meant to get my chi in order or something. Let's hope it works. Unlike the last acupuncturist I went to, I don't have to go back for two weeks. So it would seem he's not out to dry out my checking account anyway. I'm more committed this time, I'm going the distance. I've had this problem too long and surgery cannot be the only option. Treating the symptom and not the problem is the problem with western medicine sometimes. I'll keep you posted.

Ok, that's all. It was nice having a 20 minute space of time to write. What will I do now? She's still asleep so I might actually write a few emails! Or read a magazine. The mind reels.

I'm in love....

I don't know where to start. After over a month away, I'm finally home. I left for San Diego back in December and spent a week there, enjoying the sunshine, getting myself back. I took Emer out and about, by myself, got more comfortable with her and my ability to take care of her. We had a great time and I know my parents enjoyed spending time with her. Before we left Seattle, she was sleeping in our bed and would absolutely not go to sleep in the pack and play beside us. By the time we left for Ireland, she was sleeping on her own in the pack and play. Not only that, but sleeping through the night. We are blessed.

Without making this a blog strictly about my little girl, well.. it's kind of hard, since that's all my life has been for the past two and a half months. The amazing thing is how much she's grown. How much she's changed. She's smiling at us now. It's truly a miracle. I can't say enough.

Ireland was great. The flight over on Aer Lingus was brilliant, the stewardesses were so sweet to us with the baby. We had a bassinet, which meant we had a place for Emer to sleep which was nice. We sat next to a nice couple with another baby a week older than Emer. It was the first time we spent any time with anyone with a baby and it was fun to talk about our youngsters without feeling like we had to stop! We arrived with no problems and spent the 3 weeks visiting Martin's friends and family. It was a lot of craziness but we even managed to get a couple nights out on our own - drinking pints of Guinness - YUM - and catching up with everyone. Martin's sister had had a baby in July, her second, and he is adorable and really mellow. Her older son David, at 4 1/2, was in love with "Baby Emer" and would give her the sweetest gentlest kisses on her head and hugs. Then he'd run around like the Tasmanian devil the rest of the time! But he was always gentle with her. He wanted us to leave her in Ireland!!

I managed to catch up with one of my best friends, Julie. She had spent the last 5 months in Ireland and had met a lovely guy. They had just moved to Edinburgh in Scotland, to try and make things work as she couldn't stay in Ireland any longer due to visa restrictions. She had flown home over Christmas to LA and her flight went back through Dublin. She had a 6 hour layover so we picked her up at the airport and went into town for a couple pints and a catch up. It was absolutely brilliant - it had been over a year since I've seen her - and she is so happy. It's great to see and I hope everything works out for her and her irishman!

We spent the last 3 days in San Diego again and enjoyed a few days of 80 degrees before heading back to Seattle. The night we arrived to six inches of snow! It was such a bad storm that my friend who was going to pick us up from the airport couldn't get there. The taxi rank was 2 hours long so we ended up renting a car and driving home at 25 miles an hour. We made it. It's been crazy cold and icy for the past two days! What a welcome home.

Anyhow, there is so much that went on.. too much to post about, almost. I'll write things as I think of them. And hopefully I'll be posting photos each time.... Maybe one of these days I'll be able to get to read your posts as well!! I hope you are all doing well.

I'm back

I don't know if any of you are checking on this site anymore but we're back. Keep checking in for updates and photos. I just got home last night, have a pile of laundry to do and mail/bills to sort through but I'll get back here soon.

I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Years. May this be a wonderful year for you all.