A year of learning

Just in case you missed it my baby hit a huge milestone in her life. Her first milestone of this kind really. She had a birthday.

I have a one year old. It has been one year since I gave birth. One year of not being pregnant. One whole year of being a mommy.

That sounds pretty intimidating and scary to have it all written up there together like that.

What a year it's been! I have lots of highs and lots of lows. Lots of 'ah-hahs!' and lots of 'duh's'. Lots of tears (from both me and Caroline). Lots of being awake and little bits of sleep:)

A year of discovery. A year of learning. A year of giggles. A year of finding out.

Here's some of the more important things I've learned this year thanks to my baby girl.

I'm tougher than I ever thought I could be.
I have never been one to face confrontation head on. I'm a wuss when it comes to tense, awkward and tough situations. I can imagine myself freezing in my tracks if ever caught in such a situation. But I've imagined situations involving C and something happening to her. Something or someone hurting her. I've also thought about what I would do as her mother. Seriously, mess with my kid or my family, threaten our well being and happiness in anyway and I will personally kick your arse, scratch your eyes out, call you out, run you over in my car if I have to, there will be levels of noise you've never heard. I mean it, mess with me and immacutabitch as they might say. Pardon my language. I'm passionate about my kid.

I'm a comedian.
Just aks C, she'll tell you how I keep her in stitches all.the.time. All I have to do is look at her a certain way and she erupts. She loves the way I say mmmmack-uh-roan-eeeeeee. Try even getting her to eat any after I say that. You'll have to wait for her to stop laughing. Oh, and she has the BEST little laugh ever :)

I HATE POOP. Still.
I've talked about it before when she was really little. Everyone said 'with your own kid it will be different'. Nope. My kid has nasty poo and I hate it. It only gets worse as they start eating more solid food. And the stench is horrible too. I have literally gagged over my own sweet little girl. Don't matter who does it. A poopy diaper is nasty. Blech. I am trying to teach C what we taught my nieces. "poopies are for daddy's".

I will never again have privacy.
Yeah, I know I gave up some privacy when I married Brad. Boy, I thought THAT was hard to get used to! At least he lets me use the bathroom by myself. C thinks the bathroom with me no matter what I am doing is the most fun place to be. While I pee. While I shower. (she actually lifts the curtain to try to join me. And soaks herself in the meantime. Fun times.) While I dry my hair. Even with the door closed I can hear her little knuckles pounding on it while Brad tells her to come play and leave mommy alone for two minutes. I like that she wants to be with me so much but I hope in the future we do our bonding somewhere other than the bathroom :/

My kitchen floor will never be completely clean EVER again.
I used to use my swiffer vac every other day at the most. I would diligently clean off her highchair. Wipe down the counters and table. Then turn on my swiffer; I LOVE that thing. I hate stepping on crumbs and garbage walking through the room in my barefeet. Now, I give up. There are more important things to be doing each day as C gets older and older with each one and I don't want to waste them cleaning my floor. Instead I sigh as I wipe my feet off yet again and wonder: When did we have Ham???

Walt Disney is a Hero.
I love sharing a great part of my childhood with C. We listen to the classic hits from all the Disney Movies every day at breakfast. Brad and I sing them to her while we cook dinner. She loves it. I allow her to watch the Disney Channel and sometimes will put one of my DVD's in. I can't wait to share this magic with her as she can understand it better. And, I really can't wait to someday take her to the happiest place on earth. And, we can be kids together :)

Heaven smells like Dreft.
Nothing is better at the end of the day than holding that precious bundle of an angel in my lap while I inhale the scents of Baby Wash and Dreft combined. I love it so much I may always wash her clothes in that. It's one of my favorite smells now.

I miss being pregnant. I want to be pregnant again.
I love having her here though! It's amazing how giving birth and raising a child can make you forget all the low points of pregnancy. But, occasionally I have a twitch in my tummy and remember when that was her kicking me hello for the first time. She's going to be a great big sister....someday. *SIGH*

Time goes way too fast.
She's one. I have bags and bags of clothes on shelves in the basement that no longer fit. She's walking and talking and understands me. She puts herself to sleep without having to be in my arms...well every once in a while. I am not pushing for that one to be every night yet. I can't believe this little girl was my little baby this time last year.

God is Good. All the time.

No explanation needed!

I love my little girl. Happy 1st Birthday, little Miss C. Can't wait to see where this year takes us.

Janurary 21, 2010

January 2011

Christmas 2010 in a nutshell

Caroline loved Christmas. She got LOTS of toys. Those toys make lots of noise. Mommy needs a break from the toys. The End.

Just kidding.

But we really did enjoy the holidays. I don't remember the last time I had this much fun on Christmas and I LOVE Christmas. We got to see Santa twices, I shared cookie making and decorating with C and opening gifts with her was so fun! We celebrated our traditional Christmas Eve with Wigilia at my parents house and C ate anything we gave her. We went to church and then came back to find Santa had stopped at Busia's house. I think he left EVERY toy in his sleigh but we have three very good little girls in the family :) Miss C celebrated Christmas enough times this year that by Christmas morning she finally got the hang of ripping the paper off the packages instead of just eating it off....She got many new things that she loves to play with and she will be one dapper dressed girl this year so far!

And of course, the previously mentioned milestone. While I was helping clean up after Christmas Eve dinner everyone who wasn't helping started screaming for me to come quick. I happened to have a cookie in my hand that I was trying to munch on and it was the key to the moment. As I stepped in the hallway and looked at my daughter and she looked at the cookie, I knelt down and held out the sweet treat in my hands and she WALKED right into my arms! About 5 steps in all but it was the most beautiful Christmas present ever! She of course got the cookie to eat and we didn't get any pictures of course. Good thing too, since I had my ugly cry face on most of the time. You know the one where your mouth isn't really closed or open and your eyese are so squinted you can barely see around the tears and eventually you cover your face with your hand?? Yeah, I had that times 10 I was so moved. She is getting better at walking now even though she does most of her moving about by crawling still but we are getting there.

New Year's was celebrated in a hotel in Ohio this year. Brad had to work of course. So, at midnight he was at the plant and I was at the hotel with my mom and dad and C. We all fell asleep waiting for the ball to drop. I'm pathetic. What a memorable event that will always be :)

Hoping your Christmas season was wonderful and 2011 is off to a great start!

Chew on this

Miss C was definitely born into the right family.

SHE. LOVES. TO. EAT.

Yes, she belongs with us. She eats all the time and any time she can. You aren't eating YOUR snack, you are eating something C has allowed you to eat. She usually comes right over and starts by staring at you and trying to grab the food right out of your hand and if that doesn't get her food she will just start screeching. If you are eating and she isn't, the world is not right. She has a love for food. Particularly carbs. Which my mom loves to brag about. Potatoes, bread, pasta, crackers. She goes 'hog wild'. I am trying my best to throw some dairy, veggies and fruit at her while she goes to town on the carbs . It would work for a while to just put all her meat and veggies or whatever I WANTED her to eat in a big pile mixed up with her bread or noodles or potatoes and she would just grab a handful of everything and eat it all. Alas, my child has figured me out. She either picks around what she doesn't want or simply eats around it. Yes, she knows how to put it in her mouth and swallow what she wants while spitting out the unwanted item unchewed. How can one little 11 month old be so smart? And, where the heck did she get these picky eating habits from?? Heaven only knows. :)

That was all precursor to the funny story I want to share. Miss C and I took my parents on a road trip this New Years Eve to go see Brad who was away on business for a week. Of course, any good road trip needs a stop at Cracker Barrel and that was our lunch on the road to daddy. When our food got to the table C grabbed food right off my mom's plate and began munching. She gets her table manners from her father-I swear. Alhthough, I did once witness my oldest niece as a infant grab a pickle from her mom's plate and proceed to turn and dip it in my Gyro sauce before we could stop her. I told you C belonged in this family. Anyways, when C grabbed my mom's lunch we went hysterical. She loves cucumbers and tomatos but did she grab those? Nope, the only thing she wanted off the salad was the croutons. Carbs of course!! My mom and I died in laughter.

Wait, you're not laughing as hard as I was?? Oh wait, in order for that story to be really funny I have to tell you this story.

My mom has a group of friends she has known for like 30 years or something. They are the FBI ladies since they all used to work together. Yep, mom worked at the FBI. Impressed? You should be. Intimidated? Prolly not. She was a private secretary but she can hold her own at the shooting range if you were asking. And, there are a group of us that we used to refer to as the FBI kids. When our moms did stuff together we usually did too. One thing they used to do was a bowling league in the summer. They would bowl on Tuesday morning and there was a 'nursery' in the alley that would watch us while they had all the fun. Afterwards though we all went out to lunch. One Tuesday afternoon we were at Burger King. The moms sat us down and told us to wait while they went to get our food. My sister and I were told to keep an eye on my brother. Yeah, he was two, I was 5 and my sister was 6. There's the first mistake! Anyways when the moms return with our food my mom couldn't find our brother. Then, we found him. I will forever remember the image of him that we all were viewing. This also happens to be one of the only times my mother wishes the 'floor would open up and swallow her' she was so embarrassed. There stood my brother in his little shorts and t shirt with his beaten up tennis shoes standing at a table of what looked like construction men. All about middle aged and in work clothes. Big and tough looking. And, my brother was picking the croutons right off of the salads of one of the men.

I am laughing as I type this, it is still that funny. We love to talk about it to this day. And, my brother was so proud when I told him what his niece was doing.

Merry Christmas!

And, Happy New Year?? Gah, I swear I am not lazy but I haven't posted in almost a month. It's not my fault. My laptop has been out since three days before Christmas. It had a boatload of things wrong with it. Biggest one being that it had someone kind of virus on it. Not going to mention any names on who did that one but it wasn't me :) Then, I went to download some pictures and discovered my usb ports were broken. Great. The final straw that finally got my butt in gear and sent me into Best Buy for the second time in three months was my built in webcam wouldn't work. Joy. Not helpful when you are trying to Skype someone. You may wonder how I am writing this right now. If anyone were to walk into my living room they may laugh their arses off. I have a desktop set up on my end table. Big ol' flat screen on top and the chunky tower underneath. Thank God, for wireless keyboards and such. Not such pretty decor in my opinion. Plus, we had to slide a piece of wood between the legs of the table so Miss C can't touch the pretty little light up thing and push it or as I like to call it, the POWER button. We have a rocking setup my friends! So, until my friends over at the Geek Squad are done, Christmas posts will have to wait. And, we had a BIG milestone on Christmas Eve this year. Now I have your attention huh? Betcha you keep checking back to find out what she's done now!

Christmas Home Tour

The baby is still sleeping so I have more time! I told you I wouldn't bore you in the last post with my excuses but now I will :) No one may care about this but I do and this will help me when decorating next year too! Instead of blogging I have been doing a little of this:

It's my dining room. I'm very proud of it. The chandelier is a mix of Salvation Army and dollar tree buys. That cake plate on the table is something I made for the holidays. Maybe I will do another post soon on all of my craft secrets :)

I've also been doing a bit of this:


It's my curio cabinet. Again, the garland and the candy canes hanging from it came for Dollar tree and the ribbon I had from long ago. Throw in the Santa pictures and the window clings and for less than $5 I have a masterpiece!

Don't forget to add one of these:

Isn't it purdy?? We moved it out of the window and put it by the stairs this year and I don't think it will ever go back. And of course the train is once again underneath. Caroline LOVES playing with it as long as we don't make it whistle...she hates that sound. And if you notice, there is no baby gate or anything surrounding it. I have done great at teaching her about looking and not touching:)

I've also done this:These are on the wall in the living room. Again, you can find some of the best stuff at Dollar tree if you have a bit of imagination :)

This is my bookcase. The little wooden box is actually an Advent calendar with numbered drawers if you open it up. I am looking forward to using it next year with Caroline. I got it years ago the day after Christmas at Target. Which is why the reindeer has no head....That candy jar on the left is something I made. Yes. I. MADE. that. Very proud and will just change out the candy and the ornament throughout the year now for the seasons and celebrations.

And, much like most of the women in the world, I am doing a bit of this this time of year....

I usually make three different kinds of cookies and three kinds of candy. Not counting the stuff I make with my family....crazy lady.

This is the piece de reistance of my collection this year. I am going to HAVE to do a post about the original blogs where I get my ideas from so maybe someone else can try them.It took me much longer to finish than I had planned and a bit more than I planned to spend (always buy a bit more than you think you will need when things are in the dollar bins at Target!) but I LOVE IT!!

I also love our mantel. I made those stockings too. I seem to have a brand new love affair going on with my sewing machine lately. I am so grateful to have one of my own! Here is a close up. Brad and I chose each of our fabrics...one for the inside and one for the outside. Yes, I am that talented! And, then we chose Caroline's together. Brad's inside fabric isn't Christmas themed. It's hunting themed :) I plan to make any more we may need in the distant future.And, of course the holidays wouldn't be complete without being dressed perfectly. And, you need the best accessories if you are a cute little girl. I have been trying to keep up on this hobby since I am now selling them (and still giving them away to friends and family) but, alas my child still does not have enough hair to sport them. I can't wait until next year....then she's all mine!

Whew!!! That's not even all of the pictures of my holiday items I planned to post. But, I will have to show you how our bathroom is decked out at another time. Plus, it gives me a bit more time to finish a few more craft projects. But, if you don't see me for a while you know what I am doing. In between the laundry, cooking, wrapping, christmas cards, and cleaning I throw in there too. How do you manage to keep yourself sane these days??? Any tips?? After I rouse myself from my sheer exhaustion I may have the energy to think about the advice. :) Merry Christmas!

I have excuses....

Tons of them on why I have been so blog lazy lately! But I will spare you with those-at least until another post :) Miss C is fast approaching her first Christmas and her first Birthday and we are having such fun!!! My parents decided to give her her big present early since she is trying to walk. She now wanders up and down the hallway pushing her musical walker in front of her. Why do children's toys have to have such annoying sounds?? She has a ball with it and belly laughs the whole time...well until she stops walking to bust out the dance moves. I have been trying to get a video of her but she now knows what the camera is for and usually stops what she is doing so she can investigate it. She really enjoyed her first Thanksgiving and pigged out big time-just like her daddy! We've been to a parade already, watched some old time Christmas movies and even been to see Santa twice!! She did pretty good too. We also celebrated Christmas with Brad's parents already as well. Again, why do toys have to make noise :)I have been saying for a few weeks now that all I want for Christmas is Caroline's two front teeth and it looks like I have gotten that wish early! It seems like we were teeting with her (and still are) for months! Those poor gums were always so red and swollen but one has fully popped through and is slowly growing out more and the other just broke the gums the other day. She has the funniest expressions now. She is such a cute and a "cheeseface" as we like to call her trademark move these days. While I may not be blogging much I am taking lots of pictures and videos lately to make up for our absense from our blog world.

There's the 'cheeseface'!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I love my new toy Auntie Nicole!

It's Thursday...tell me a story

Lets make up stories about a picture. Not just any picture but this picture:

Ready? And, GO! Troubles? Here, let me give you the story I have to go with this picture. Maybe it will help you with yours.

One day a man and his beautiful, young wife loaded their adorable little girl (hey, it's MY story) in the car to drive to celebrate a family birthday. Upon arriving at the celebrant's home-who also happens to be the wife's sister they proceed to 'unload' themselves and their equipment from the vehicle. The wife steps down from the massive SUV and stands on the curb listening to a sound almost like a hissing snake. Shrugging it off because she doesn't know much about cars and maybe it is something the car is just doing but isn't a sign of trouble. She moves to the back of the car to grab the bags. Meanwhile the husband hears this sound as well and as his near perfect wife takes their beautiful baby in the house he investigates. Minutes later, after a brother in law went to help, both men enter the house with the above object in tow. That is what was stuck in the wheel of the car. They must have ran over it while parking outside the birthday house. It was trash day and they thought maybe it had been in a pile of leaves or fallen out of a trash can. The vehicle was promptly taken to the shop and the tire resealed. After this short setback, the birthday celebration got underway and all was well. The tire is doing fine. They still don't know what that thing is or how it got in the tire.

Based on actual events. (written EXACTLY as they happened)
Any excitement going on it your life?