A Year in Review

January

We celebrated Granny's birthday and you started sitting in your big girl booster chair. We started cloth diapering this month, yeah!! No more red bum for little Celia!

February

We went to visit Emmett and Katie for their birthdays. We also cheered Mom Mom up after her knee replacement surgery.

March

We celebrated St. Patty's day with no heat! It was fixed fast enough but it was a chilly St. Patty's day. You started really loving our library storytime! Oh and guess who crawled and is crusing along the furniture??

April
You wore the sweetest pink velveteen dress and white knit stockings. Remember those stockings. You started getting very, very, silly this month and it was super cute. The baby monitor was your favorite thing.

May
Beautiful Mother's day pictures. We are having fun with our small playgroup and still enjoying our friends at the breastfeeding group.

June

We went on vacation and you saw the beach for the first time!! Oh.. and Mommy started a blog!! Your favorite thing in the world was your little green ball.

July

Brush, brush, brushes... We thought that we kept losing your brushes. However little Miss smarty pants pulled out three from a hiding space when Mommy was searching and searching for one of your brushes. Little Miss Celia has become very, very chatty. She has perfected apple, da da, and ma ma. She is signing away too. Guess who has two new teeth?? You and not a peep of complaining.

August

Guess whose walking??? That's right you are little girl. You would have been walking much earlier if you hadn't been a scaredy cat. Mommy and Daddy both caught you taking steps but you didn't want to show off until August. It only took you a few days and you were off. Mommy was so thankful for that as she returned to work at the end of this month, big sob. You got your first illness, from Mommy, on her second day of work- the stomach bug... Ugh, Mommy felt so sorry for you and all she wanted to do was cuddle all day long but she had to go to work. So Mom Mom took over. Oh 2 more teeth little one without a complaint again.

September

You started daycare and boy do you love it!! You were a Chatty Cathy prior to going daycare but your language just takes off. You have your own little friends- Olivia (Ahh!! is what you call her), Mae Mae, and Addy in your class. Mommy thinks that her students are going to kill her but she is happy that you enjoy school. The teeth keep coming and you are still an amazing teether.

October

Halloween. Boy did you like going house to house with your little trick or treat bag. Well daycare has been great for you but you have been sick. Not primarily from daycare, but from Mommy bringing germs home from work. No new teeth, you get a little break!

November

Mom Mom gave you a new (to you) coat and Mommy got you a new hat. You are so, so into shoes now. "Shoe shoes" is what you say when you see them and you insist upon wearing them all around the house. Your feet are still tiny (the size of a 9 month old) but growing slowly. You are 21 lbs and 29 inches- 15% for both.

December

Goodbye 2008. We had a great Christmas in Lancaster but we missed Granny. You especialy loved the stroller and cabbage patch doll that Grandpa and Grandma gave you. We then went down to Virginia to see Aunt Vickie, Uncle Jack, Katie, Emmett and your favorite- Mom Mom. There are not many people that you prefer over Mommy however the entire time it was not "Mommy" that you called, it was "Mom Mom" actualy you yelled "Ma Ma" for her. You were not too fond of her cat Thomas but when you saw him you said "Meow". Your language is so amazing, over 40 words. You dance and chant "Hey Celia" which cracks us up. You have said some sentences "I see Celia" and "I see a dog". Oh and also you are saying "Oh shit"... Really you are and we are not proud, perhaps that is another blog post. You know most animal sounds and are eager to show them off!! You love to give hugs and blow kisses. You love your books, especialy "No David". You are such a big girl that we gave up sippy cups this month, now we are moving on to straw cups. Oh and remember those stockings?? Remember them, the ones you wore when you were 4 and 6 months, they still fit... Your short little one! Oh well I love you tiny, I wish you would stay there forever. Mommy is back to thinking that her students might still do her in, but she thinks they are alot of fun too!!

So that is that, Celia's year in review.

Some Prayer/Thought requests

Sweet Granny

A Friend who lost her Mother

A family who is dealing with a 2nd child who has cancer- a 10% survival rate

Baby Stellan who is doing better but still needs some thoughts

My students' parents when I tell them that we have no school next week due to a massive water pipe bursting.

Pete who doesn't believe he is getting up tomorrow with Celia while I sleep in for the first time in months, changing her poopy diaper, and feeding her breakfast.

Christmas

As you can see from the picture, getting a Christmas photo from Celia was very interesting. It took awhile and she was very funny with the whole process. At one point I gave her a Christmas book to hold, I thought that would look nice in a photo. Well she really got into the book, so much so that I couldn't see her face! She had fun hanging upside down, climbing, lifting her dress... I had to edit the final photo because there was a spray of spit coming out because she was making some wild noise. My daughter is hilarious.

This is such a change from last year. Celia is able to help (okay slightly) with making ornaments and cookies. We had a great time with her friend Amber, making ornaments. Celia got a bit tired of it quickly but entertained us with her loud talking and feet propped up on the table.

So I follow alot of blogs, it is my entertainment. Well I came across a recent story that is heartbreaking and the family certainly needs some prayers.

Here is the link http://www.maxeyweb.com/

Basically this family lost their baby girl to cancer, she had two different types of tumors. They had another baby girl and were living their life, likely thinking that there is a slim chance that they will have to go through something like that again. Well sadly their 2 month old baby girl was just found to have a brain tumor and a spinal tumor. The chances of this occuring in two family members is unheard of. Luckily they were able to remove most of the brain tumor but their still remains the spinal tumor and a long road ahead.

I have added some new blog links, check them out. I will write more later. I have done some holiday baking and gift wrapping this weekend. I am wiped. Two days of work remain before Christmas break and I am so ready.

Thankful

My family has so many things to be thankful for, really. In this horrible economy, we both have jobs that pay the bills. We can afford a sweet daycare in which everyone genuinely loves our little girl. Our little girl loves that daycare so very much that she looks out the window and asks "school?". She doesn't want to go home on some days!! Not only that but I know that I can give some credit to daycare for her advanced vocabulary and social skills.

We are healthy, goodness I want to say knock on wood. But the truth is that besides catching little colds, stomach bugs, etc. we are healthy. We have a cozy home with heat and water. We are doing fine. As of next week we will also have someone who cleans our house once a month. I feel frivolous for this but it will give me a week (okay maybe 2 if I can stretch it) of relaxing about cleaning. Pete doesn't understand why we need one. Okay we don't need one, I want one. I want to have a week in which I can cuddle Celia and play with her in the afternoons and not have this nagging feeling that I really should be doing something around the house.

We have a wonderful extended family that we don't get to see enough but we at least get to spend the holidays with them. My Mom has been so amazing since Celia has been born, we literaly would not have survived without her. She has been helping with Thanksgiving prep this year and with Celia. Not only that but she is giving Celia her Christmas gifts now so that she can watch her play with them. That is so sweet. Celia loves the gifts but really she just wants "Mom Mom" and she is satisfied. Pete's family (sadly his sister has to work) will be joining us for the feast tomorrow.

Celia had her Thanksgiving holiday show today and my Mom was able to go and see it. Celia was a chef and had a little shirt on that said "Kiss the cook". She sat in one of the buggies but my Mom said that she really would have liked to have been able to dance and join the older kids.

Okay well Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Anyone up for Black Friday shopping? Mom and I are off for some shopping on Friday, Celia is staying with Pete this year. Last year she was comfy in my Moby wrap while we shopped. Last year I was getting up at least 3x a night to nurse her for an hour each time!! I watched so much Fresh Prince of Bel Air... It is on at any hour of the night.

MENSA

The MENSA logo is on because I know that my daughter could be a member, she really could. However I don't believe in those sort of things so we will not be testing her at this time. So why do I think Celia should be in MENSA.

Well the following things.

She has an expanding vocabulary that includes the words- school, daddy, mommy, car, snack, splash, good girl (the phrase), Milo (My oh is her lovey that she sleeps with), Shoes, Shit, baby, Mom Mom, awe, up, diaper (diappy).

There are probably somemore.

Oh wait you noticed the 4 letter word she says, that will be explained later.

Okay well the biggest clue to how smart she is came this evening while we were reading one of her books. Celia pointed to a frog and I said, "Oh you see the froggy". Then I said "I see the ducky" and Celia put her finger on the duck. I said "I see David" and Celia put her finger on David. I then said "I see the froggy" and she put her finger on the frog. My daughter is a genius. She has even stopped eating my hair (okay she has cut back, but my hair is tasty).

We also played again today with a small squirt bottle. She tried to stick it in my mouth like I was a baby. So I started to cry. Everytime I cried she put it in my mouth. Now she could have just wanted to shut me up but she followed it once with a hug and an "awe" so I am thinking she was playing along. Now granted after the hug she basically lost interest in feeding me and insisted upon "na" or nursing.

Okay back to the shit. Yes my daughter said shit today, it was clear and it was my fault. Celia smashed sweet potatoes and a quesadilla together then dropped multiple pieces on the floor. I said "shit" because it was quite the mess. She then dropped one more piece and said "shit", then smiled. Nice, real, nice. The word wasn't repeated the rest of the evening. Since my Mom has a habit of saying "oh shit", I am blaming the situation on her. I blame it on her simply because I heard it so much growing up because she primarily said it when we were lost and well if you know me, you can guess that we were always lost.. So "oh shit" is drilled in my head that shit comes out easily. And of course the mother is always blamed...

Celia did talk to Mom Mom on the phone today. She was quite a chatterbox today after school. She talked to daddy and said Da Da and she said "ma ma" for Mom Mom.

My classroom is still about the same. Things are likely getting better but between the dragging kids by their feet to the bathroom, learning puppetry to gain their attention, and being the entertainment of the cafeteria I am exhausted. But... I am having fun. I like the group despite their craziness. It is an adventure. I will survive the year, beyond that I am not sure. Celia loves daycare so I go through the day with a very good feeling because she would actualy prefer to be then anywhere else on somedays (honestly!!). If she would only nap longer for them situation would be perfect.

Another year

So that is what I was doing this time last year. I think if I remember correctly that I ate my birthday meal either with Celia nursing or somehow she was attached to me. I do remember that I was either camped out on my bed or on the couch because Celia really would only sleep on someone and when she wasn't sleeping she wanted to be held. So now, a year later... Okay, she is still nursing when she can and she still would rather be in my arms then anywhere else. I was told by many people, enjoy it now because when she is walking she won't want to be held. Hmm... still waiting for that... She has been walking for awhile now and there are times where I think Celia wants to permanently glue herself to me so I can't possibly put her down. Thank goodness for my Ergo Carrier and the Moby Wrap. I retired the Moby over the summer but now that it is getting Chilly I think it needs to come out again! As for sleeping.. It took her awhile, a long while, but she is taking naps and has been since she was 8 months old. Thank goodness. She has even been better about naps at daycare even though I think she is the only one that takes a morning nap.
Life does change so much in a year. Since I have been back to work, my year off seems like a complete blur. The lifestyle is so different. I can't say that staying at home was easier. My life now is more stressful and rushed but it is so different. I think that staying at home is more difficult because there are no breaks. I get to go to the bathroom now by myself (that is while I am at work and when I can sneak out to go to the bathroom) and I get to take my 20 min. lunch by myself. My students are exhausting, oh my goodness are they exhausting!! But at the same point I haven't had this much fun with students in awhile.
Celia continues to love school. In fact she cries when she has to leave. That makes Pete and I feel so loved!! But the situation has made it so that I don't really worry at all about Celia while I am at work. I know that she is having a great time and she is learning things.
So I had a plan at the beginning of the school year that if I wasn't happy by the end of October that I would give my 60 day notice. I think that I will stick it out for the school year. We need the money and once I sort through all of the paperwork and get my classroom fully organized, things should be a little easier. Oh and if I can turn Pete into a cleaning machine that would help. Anybody know the name of a good hypnotist for that???

Sick Sick Sick

Okay so we knew that daycare would cause Celia to become sick more often and we knew that I would start to get sick more often but who knew it would happen at the same time. Oh and who know that I would be the one to get Celia sick and not daycare!! A student of mine started with this horrible cold at the end of last week, then another started getting a runny nose, then... You get the picture. So I wasn't suprised when Wednesday I had a little tickle in my throat that turned into a knife in my throat by the evening. I am glad though that it explained why on Tuesday even though I got a great night's sleep that I felt like a complete zombie.
In anycase Wednesday when Celia came home from daycare she fell asleep while nursing and couldn't be woken up. She just didn't want to and wasn't going to be disturbed. So she slept for about 45 min. and I figured it was because she didn't sleep well at daycare. That night she woke up with a very stuffy nose and by morning she had a slight fever and a very stuffy nose but was in a playful mood. So we did what great parents do, we pumped her with tylenol and sent her to daycare. Okay, okay... she was fine- dancing, playing, eating just had a 100.8 temp which is low for a baby. I had a temp of 101 and I went to work. We weren't totally awful, as I was not feeling perky at all I volunteered to be the one to take a half day. So I picked her up at noon and she was playing. She took almost a 3 hr. nap and seemed fine when she woke up except was totally pissed off at her nose (because it was so stuffy). By evening she had a 102 temp and was dragging, as was I. This cold totally sucks... no actualy it doesn't suck anything it totally does the opposite, clogs you up. I felt like someone had beat me up so I can't imagine how Celia felt. We both went to bed and woke up feeling much better except that we still have colds. Celia's fever returned this evening but just low grade for her. Pete took a half day and stayed home with Celia. So Celia got a good nap in at least.
We did decide to infect the neighbors this evening. We just thought, what would make a good birthday present for their 7 year old?? Okay, we didn't touch anyone and we tried to stay away. It is Celia's buddy Amber's birthday party so we took her gift over, visited for about 20 min. and then left Pete there. Pete had fun. Celia absolutely loves Amber. Amber came over one afternoon to deliver a package and Celia went up to her, I think gave her a hug if I remember correctly, then waved goodbye to me and was going to take off with Amber. Celia does frequently give and accept hugs from her buddy.
So what is Celia doing new?
Well her 1 year old check up stats are : 18 lbs (almost 19), 28 1/2 inches
She is making the fire engine sounds for her fire truck car
Her book of wisdom still remains a favorite toy
She loves, loves, loves clothes. No not to put on, to hold, lay on top of things, babble to, etc. I think they were her favorite birthday gift.
She has made friends at daycare, including her teacher. In fact in the morning she gets very excited when she is told it is time to go to school!


Oh and a side note. I have a friend at work that just found out today that she is not pregnant. Okay, that is sad, but in her case it is so sad. She had talked to me about her own infertility journey and it was certainly longer then my own. They have been trying for 4 years, exhausted finances, exhausted her physically, and exhausted her completely emotionally. She tried IVF a few weeks ago and was hopeful that it worked. She and I talked, I shared my symptoms of hyperstimulation and my short infertility journey. I was so hopeful for her. In anycase when she told me I started to cry, I stopped myself, but it surprised me because I am not an emotional person. She of course said that she didn't have anymore tears left and I don't know how she has gone on for 4 years. But looking on the upside, they are going to adopt. They have already gone through the process, classes, home visit etc.. Now they are on a new journey. No matter if you struggle for a month or many years, infertility is the most frustrating and emotional draining experience. In anycase, I am keeping her in my thoughts. It also really confirms my desires that we don't have to go through that the second time around whenever we decide that time is.

The Parking Lot Baby Turns 1!

I can't believe that today my little tiny baby turned 1 today. This time last year she was just a few hours old. When I brought her home from daycare I told her that it was around that time that I called Daddy and said "Come home now!", he sure did and she was there about 90 min. later. I took a half day today to spend some time with Celia. It really didn't end up being that much time because she went down for her nap around 1:30 but I think it was a nice treat at least for me.

We went to the birth center after her nap to take pictures of her in the parking lot where she was born. We got some pictures of her in the birth center garden too. We had a couple curious stares and one pregnant woman stopped to find out what we were doing. So every year we are going to try to get her picture in that parking lot!

We have had quite a struggle in the past 2 weeks. I went back to work last week. Well work was complicated by the fact that our family got hit by the stomach bug. I was first, Pete was next, and Celia followed. I had to go into work late when Celia got it and come home to nurse her. I didn't mind that but I would have rather spent the day cuddling with her and letting her sleep beside me. Luckily my Mom was there to help us out. Honestly we would not have gotten through the past two weeks without my Mom. She came to watch Celia the first week I went back to work and then to help to transition Celia into daycare. She cooked and cleaned for us too!! Celia is going to miss her terribly when she goes.

Celia seems to like daycare and she is only 1 of 3, 2x a week and 1 of 4 babies the rest of the time. So it is a very good situation. I was told today that she had a great time in there splash room. She was riding a little car around and honking the horn.

How do I like my school?? Well I sobbed the first day when the kids arrived (okay, didn't do it outloud). But my students are insane. I have an amazing assistant, thank goodness. But these little ones are very bright (for being in a special ed. program outside of their regular school) but very active and stubborn. They are cute, they have that going for them. Oh boy are they cute. I have a short tubby little guy with alot of speech issues and a squeaky little voice. There is my newest student who I think saved my sanity when she came. I was dreading getting another one and she was questionable if she really fit in my room. I was picturing a low functioning student who according to the paperwork "would rather play then work" and "sits for very short periods of time". Well perhaps I got the wrong little girl. But the tiny little sweet girl that arrived is just 6 and knows her alphabet, can count, knows her numbers and colors, and sits as long as we ask her. She doesn't question doing anything. So now she is my model student, the one that I am hoping the trouble makers will follow!!

In anycase Celia has opened some gifts. Mom got her this cool shape sorter car that she loves, a doll that had to be put up because she is picking out the hair, books, babylegs, her first walking shoes, and probably other things as Mom Mom is very good to her!! She got a build a bear turtle from Aunt Vickie, Katie, Emmett, and Uncle Jack- oh and "Alice the Fairy". From Mommy and Daddy a card that plays "itsy bitsy spider", a new ball, and some clothes. We are going to get her a special toy after we find out what she gets for her b-day.

Okay enough of the rambling on...

Breastfeeding Group and Apologies for the sposie

I think this picture is very funny because it is something new that Celia has decided to do while nursing. I have nearly broken her of the habit, but it was funny so my Mom took a picture. Only those that have nursed will understand that I am a bit bummed that I never got a newborn nursing picture of Celia. In this picture you can't even really tell what she is doing. I didn't bother to watermark this because you really can't see her face. I did notice and not many will understand, but I am upset that there is a disposable (sposie) peaking out from underneath her nighttime onsie. We still put her in a sposie at night, I am actualy thinking about stopping that though as she is waking up too often with a red bum. I know it sounds bizarre but those who have joined the cloth diaper cult would understand. By the way, I just recently was able to sell 3 of her "pretty but didn't work with Celia" diapers and made back just about what I paid for them. Very economical, don't you think.

Okay, this won't be the most exciting post. But yesterday marked a day of goodbyes, there will be alot of those to come. Since Celia was 2 weeks old we have attended a breastfeeding group as part of my birthcenter 2x a month. We only missed one group meeting. No, I didn't need that much breastfeeding support (in the beginning absolutely) but after awhile it was more for husband venting, hanging out with friends, socialization, adult conversation, etc.

The group of girls are amazing that go to this group. They were instrumental to my "natural" parenting philosophy. I imagine that I would have been a totally different Mom if I had given birth in a hospital setting and not been provided the support that my birth center has given me. I think that Celia would be formula fed (not a bad thing if you have to do it, but breastmilk does provide some extras), I wouldn't have known about babywearing, and I likely would have been a bit more overprotective. This group of women lead me to my first miracle find of being a mother- the Moby Wrap. Celia loves that thing, it was the only thing that got her to sleep some days and it is still my favorite carrier. I would have never thought that having her sleep in my room for 3 + months was not only okay but better for her. I would not have known that Pete's response to the 6lb bundle was normal (he is amazing now, just a little scared in the beginning). I would never have felt that anything I decided to do for my baby was fine.

There is no judging done in the group. Celia has enjoyed hanging out with some playmates and yesterday when we pulled up to the building, she became so excited. She couldn't get out of her carseat fast enough. She also showed off her walking to the group leader, Patty a few times. I can't even express how much support Patty has provided. She was there for the infamous parking lot birth, there to great my crazy (but oh so sweet) husband who waited for the elevator instead of taking the stairs. She gave Pete a look that made me yell at him to get off his stupid cell phone for 5 seconds. Okay, only I probably understand that, but it was important to me.

So we will visit and hopefully see some of the same people again. I am sure that when there is a 2nd we will go to the group again, we must. But I can't express how much this group has meant to me. I not only have a wealth of knowledge about breastfeeding however I now have a group of women that I can still get support from even if it is through the web.

Thank you, Thank you!! Who knows where my nursing story will go from here. One of the things that this group has stressed from the beginning is to let the child lead you (not take over, just lead). So I will let Celia show me where it is going.

She's Almost Racewalking

I am hoping this will work. Celia started taking more steps and is now walking with 6 to 10 steps at a time. I think that she might start doing it more quickly but she isn't really impressed with herself. She likes my reaction to her walking but still very much prefers to crawl. Today she was very busy in her crib. I have sort of been going "old school" with her diapers these past 2 days and she has mainly been wearing flats or prefolds (think the old fashioned diapers) with a velcro cover. Well I put her down for her nap in a prefold, a velcro cover, and a microfiber towel folded in between the cover and prefold for extra absorbency. Well she slept for 45 min, which was not a long nap. So I let her babble and chat in her crib for about 30 min. while I finished with some housework. She seemed to be enjoying herself so I was comfortable doing that. She fell back asleep and around 10:40 and I had to get her because we had to go to her daycare to train her teacher about her cloth diapers (don't worry I am sending velcro pocket diapers there). So I found Celia asleep and I thought something looked odd but I couldn't put my finger on it. I then noticed the microfiber towel hanging on the side of her crib. Her velcro cover was beside her and she was sleeping sounding in her prefold. Luckily, the prefold did not leak onto her sheets. So evidently she took her cover off and felt the need to hang the microfiber towel up (it was dry). So Miss Celia will now be taking naps with pants on or in her sleep sack!!

One Side Note and Poor Petey

Okay they seriously sell these, they are $35 each!! Luckily they only fit 0 to 6 months. I would hate to see Celia walking along in some Betsy Johnsons or who ever. Flat soles for quite awhile for her. The same site sells Tatoos for babies too- no birthday thoughts there people.

Okay onto Poor Petey

Pete came to me the other day to ask a favor. He started with "can I ask an itty, bitty favor?" I said "sure". He continued with "Can you please not pummel me, slap me, kick me in the butt, or hit me while I am asleep?". A Normal person could say, of course. However I could make no such promises, luckily since then it hasn't happened. I warned him fairly early in our relationship that I was a dangerous sleeper. I think it came up in a funny story about the fact that my parents would argue while on trips who was going to sleep with me. The person who ended up with the prize of sleeping with me likely woke up not rested and/or bruised. While in my sleep I tend to move quite a lot and sometimes a limb comes out in full force- if you happen to be in my way, not my fault.

So there have been some interesting moments however honestly they have been comical. There was the one night when Pete and I were sound asleep and then in my dream I suppose I was kicking or doing something. Well I ended up kneeing Pete in the ass so hard that he sat up straight in bed and just sort of looked at me. The thing is, I knew I was doing it at the time but I was in between awakeness and sleep and couldn't stop myself. I couldn't help myself but I started giggling and luckily Pete started laughing too- it could have gone either way there. There have been other incidents in the past few years. But in the past week, I have hit him several times. One time I kneed him again and the other time I believe I slapped him. Is it bad that I find this slightly humorous?? I don't do it on purpose at all and I can't imagine how ticked off I would be if I were the victim.

Of course he has his payback as he snores on a nightly basis, no fail. I have learned to ignore it for the most part but there are times where it get so loud that no one can ignore it. I will often try anything to get him to wake up, turn over, or do whatever it is to stop. At one point I thought that slightly poking him would work. I tapped him on the back, turned over quickly and pretended to be asleep. I saw him look around for a minute and unfortunately fell asleep in the same position and continued to snore. I did it again, same reaction. The third time I did it he caught me and was very angry. He moves into the guest room often, unfortunately sometimes that means Celia has to listen to his snoring and is not too happy about it- that is rare though!

What if she is a girl??

So I like the fact that my little girl loves to play with these little cars that my Mom got her at Target. She pushes them around the floor and blows on her lips to make a sound. It is so cute. She also loves balls, she has from the very beginning. She loves ones that fit in her hand so she can carry them around and she also likes a small Penn State football that Pete gave her. So she hasn't really shown true Gender identity signs as of yet. Well, I shouldn't say that exactly. She will hug any stuffed animal and say "awe". She loves to hug stuffed animals now. She also loves my purse. She knows that she isn't supposed to empty it but takes every chance she gets when my back is turned to empty my purse of every shred of scrap paper and item inside it. Friends of ours gave her this sweet little purse in which she now keeps her "credit cards" in and plastic keys. I caught her one morning with it slung over her shoulder. Where did she learn that from??

So I thought about it. What if she wants to wear make up and paint her nails? What if she wants to wear her hair in pretty bows? I can't help with those things. Pete always teases me about my lack of feminity. I don't mind it at all. However thinking back to my childhood I was a doll caring dress wearing little girl. You might think that means "girly girl". However the dolls were thrown around, dragged through dirt, pounced on, etc. The dresses, well they had a purpose. I could not stand anything close to my body. So the "non clingy" dresses felt so good. I think my niece Katie can relate to that. Even now clothes that cling drive me nuts. As for nail painting, never did that, can't stand nail polish. I got my first manicure without nail polish on my wedding day.

So the picture at the beginning of this, what is that for? Well this is the debate I have been having for some reason. Do I want to get her this girly purse? It is odd I should even debate it. It really is not important whether I get his toy. Celia was excited by the noises that it made so that is why I put it on the possible list. We have no clue what to get her. But that is what really prompted my thoughts as to what I want to foster in her- purse wearing or a tool belt?? Hmm.. I am thinking let her make her decision. However I am also thinking that the fact that she likes my purse doesn't mean she would like that pink purse (although the fact that it talks is pretty cool). I think the weight of my wallet and the crinkly paper is what intrigues her. It is crazy though that Celia might get a Blueberry Minky or a patterned Happy Heiney. Only those from the cloth diapering world will understand that. As I have been extremly practical with her diaper stash until now, for her birthday she might get a special item. She doesn't care. She would rather go naked honestly.

Oh and for those of you who are interested- the CF Husband is bald and the LLS is $4000 richer.

Trying out the video again

Okay, Gotta it to work!! You can visit this collage video on scrapblog if you want too. You can adjust the speed at scrapblog when you are in full view

LLS and Signing

So most of you know that I have been a long time volunteer for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society through team in training. I have been an assistant coach for their charity distance training program for I think over 4 years, maybe more. In anycase one of the blogs that I follow, the CF Husband is doing an awesome fundraiser. His wife has been diagnosed with post lung transplant lymphoma. Her first treatments failed and now she must undergo more aggressive treatments. She will likely go bald in the next few weeks. So he is going to shave his head live on the internet if he can raise $3000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society in one week. I have a link to his website on my favorite blogs link.

So the Signing part. Well Celia has totally taken off with her sign language. I started signing to her when she was 4 or 5 months old. She basically has just done the sign for "more" when she is eating. I have had intermittent signing for "Dad", "thank you", and some other random ones. Well now she is signing drink, eat, more, stand, all done (says that too), and please consistently!! The stand sign amazes me because I only did it 1 time and she picked it up. Honestly it isn't that important of a sign. When she finishes eating I ask her if she wants to stand up, and so she signs stand. The signing is not perfect because, well she is not even 1 and has the fine motor skills of a baby. I suppose it amazes me even more because I have worked for years with students who never learn to sign or take months to learn one.

In anycase, it confirms that I do have a little genius on my hands. I really do. Okay so she does try to eat my hair at any chance she gets. But you know, maybe she has discovered that it is a health food. If it is, boy will I make millions. My hair is everywhere.

The many uses of the Deck and etc

You wouldn't think that tomatoes and diapers go together, would you?? Well I have used the deck more this year then I ever have. I have been trying to conserve some energy by drying my diapers out on our deck. I think that I am going to give that up though. Since I can not string a clothesline out there I must lay them flat, they do not dry very fast that way. The one I have laying on Pete's grill is a dream eze fitted that is super heavy, it has 2 hemp soakers I believe. Hemp is heavy. Her bamboo diaper is another stubborn drying one. But I don't think my homeowners association would be too pleased to see a clothesline full of diapers...

In anycase the other pictures, Pete's pride and joy. He has been very carefully and faithfully taking care of his "orange" tree and his tomato plants. Yesterday we both savored his first harvest. It was a very sweet tomato, it tasted so good!! I have started watering them during the day and when Pete comes home he checks my work. Right before dinner he walks out to check his crops, I often wonder if he is talking to them as he spends quite some time with each plant. His "orange" tree is in quotes because we are fairly positive it is actualy not an orange tree, it has thorns and has not fruit. I think it is over 4 years old and really should be producing fruit at this point. So perhaps he got scammed, but it has grown well.

So speaking of scams, I discovered today that I was scammed. You will never guess what I was scammed on, a cloth diaper!!! In February I bought a fuzzi bunz from a Mom that I thought was a true fuzzi bunz. It has a similar tag and appeared to be the real thing. I haven't been able to get the fit right on Celia so I decided that it just wasn't the right diaper for her and I was going to try to sell it. Well I posted it this morning on the Thursday diaper swap on Baby Center. Thank goodness a Mom emailed me to let me know that I might have a fake one. So I researched it and sure thing, it is a fake!! The diaper works but it just isn't a very good quality. I could sell it very cheap, and at some point I might, but how ridiculous. Someone is out there creating knock offs. I will say, you never want to buy work at home mom diapers on ebay either. Many, many, many Moms have been scammed on ebay that way. Some get diapers that are actualy made with shower curtains or vinyl tablecloth material (they don't hold up in the wash of course). It is like the on the street vendors who sell you fake designer purses. So keep your eye out if you see a guy flip is jacket open and instead of watches, it is lined with cloth diapers.... Oh I did email the person who i bought it from and am waiting to hear back.

The School Year

So as much as the coming school is causing my insomnia to become worse, and worse I did find out my assignment today and I am a little excited. I don't want to leave Celia at all and it is going to break my heart. However as everyone knows the economy stinks and it would be irresponsible if I didn't try to go back to work so that we don't keep dipping into our savings. The plan as it stands right now is to return to work for one year and then stay home with Celia and perhaps a future bean. Plans change though as we all know!!

So my assignment is Developmental Kindergarten. It is a diagnostic classroom in which children ages 5 to 7 are placed when they really don't know where they are going to fit. They range in ability but will very likely all be higher functioning then my previous students. My classroom- brace yourselves for those of you who are familiar with issues at my school- will have a bathroom and running water, no portable sinks. At least that is what my Supervisor thought the room was equipped with, and I think she is right as I have been in that wing of the building. Currently there are only 4 kids in the classroom, I can have up to 12, I will likely only have 6. This is an age range that I know I will enjoy and the fact that the classroom might have lower numbers for awhile will likely make the work load less to start.

Celia is also starting daycare of course at the same time so we both will have adjustments to make. If either one of us can not adjust then we will revisit the situation.

Now my always follow the routine husband... He has some adjustments to make too. As I will need him at home to help some mornings. I have faith in him. But getting all of us out of the house by only a few minutes after 7 is going to be hard. Perhaps not that hard if Celia continues to want her wake up time between 4:30 and 5!!

19 years

So I had to add something about tomorrow. 19 years, next will be 20 and to me that is amazing but 19 years ago I am sure that we never imagined that 20 years would fly by without him. I can't say that they easily flew by because even now there are at least 3 people who I believe think of him daily and have those little thoughts. I wonder what it would be like if he were around... Would he make his funny faces and hilarious voices until Katie had a fits of laughter? Would he make Emmett some really cool wooden cars or push toys? Would he sing to Celia? I have to only think that this would be true and he would grin ear to ear at his grandchildren, because he loved kids.
So it has been hard and if we all had to do it over, goodness, it would include you.

Love you always..

Blessings and blogs

So today was a really rough day and I got so frustrated at Celia. She is such a good baby and typically plays very well by herself- I often join her too!! So I thought that when I walked into the kitchen to make lunch and discovered that ants were enjoying our entire kitchen for their lunch that she would allow me some time to deal with that. I blocked off the kitchen, set her up with her favorite toys and went into the kitchen to deal with my new "friends". However Celia had other ideas, she crawled to the chairs blocking the door way, pushed them aside and was on her way into the kitchen. So I picked her up, gave her some different toys and went back to the kitchen. I propped the chairs so she couldn't move them and she crawled over to watch. When she discovered she couldn't actualy enter the kitchen, she was hysterical. There wasn't much that I could do to help her. The kitchen that I do clean very often and that was ant free in the morning was now crawling with them. I had to spray, I couldn't avoid it, and she couldn't enter. So the poor girl screamed, big tears fell, and her nose ran (her nose never runs). It was very pitiful. Her eyes were so red.
In anycase I was very frustrated with her, but of course felt very bad for her!! So some other highlights of my bad day were finding out that the paint color for my room wasn't exactly what I had in mind. I painted part of the room and don't know what to do now. Oh and a position I was looking at- 3 1/2 days a week at Great Valley School District is officialy not an option as the personnel person made it very clear that they do not hire teachers with "just a special education degree".
That all said I sat down after painting my room to have some down time and read some blogs, a favorite past time of mine. My favorites are Confessions of a CF Husband and The Meanist Mom, both of which I have had links to on my blog for awhile. Well on the CF Husband one today it was asking that if anyone had mentioned their journey in their blog, to leave the link in the comments on their blog. So I thought, I have had a link but I have never mentioned it. I titled this post blessings because I thought about all the petty annoyances of the day and honestly they don't compare to what they have been through so I will give a little synopsis.

CF is for Cystic Fibrosis and the CF Husband's Wife has CF (okay so most people could figure that out). In anycase she was about to go through physical therapy to prepare her for a lung transplant when they found out that she (Tricia) was pregnant. Despite encouragement to end the pregnancy, they decided they couldn't do that. So Tricia went through with her pregnancy at 24 weeks her little baby had to be delivered to save both of their lives. Gwyneth is now 6 months old and I believe weighs just over 7 lbs, maybe more. She is a fighter and so cute. Her Mom is doing well, she had a lung transplant shortly after Gwyneth was born. Unfortunately she missed alot of time with Gwyneth which is very unfair. In anycase Tricia does have a form of cancer that is a complication from the lung transplant. She is expected to fully recover from it but has to undergo treatments. They are both home and live in the OBX. In anycase, please check out the website as it really is a neat blog. The pictures are so wonderful and their journey is amazing.

As for the Meanist Mom, well she makes me laugh almost everyday. You have got to check out her favorite posts, they are hilarious.

Okay enough for now

Celia's Birthday Bash

I will try to add to this as Celia shares items with me.

Baby Legs- She wants some neutral colors and some funky ones. Some places to find them- mom4life.com (free shipping), target.com, and amazon.com all have them. Knock offs are very welcome.

Bath toys- she currently is playing with 5 rubber duckies, as I think Pete believes that you only play with rubber duckies in the tub

Knob Puzzles- the big kind

Blocks/ Mega Blocs

Shape Sorter

Musical Instruments- reccommended by a friend, but Celia loves Maracas. The Parents Bee Bop Band Set was suggested but it is pricey so again, knock offs welcome!!

Cars that she can push, but big enough not to be put in her mouth. She loves pushing some of her friend's cars at the breastfeeding group I go to.

Bumkins Superbib- you can get them at a variety of places, nickisdiapers.com does have them.

Books- she likes the touch and feel books right now and the David Shannon Books (we have Oops, Good Boy Fergus, and Alice the Fairy). She does not want the plush "David" doll as it is creepy looking- her words, not mine.

Okay I will add as she tells me. She did tell me that we are being overrun by stuffties and so she requests that the stuffed animal population be kept to a minimum, otherwise, well we may have to do something to control the breeding..

Celia also reminds everyone that we are a non materialistic family for the most part with a small house and so small gifts are welcome, hand made gifts are awesome, and eco friendly gifts (good quality reused gifts) are also wonderful. Celia is already a bargain baby hunter (again her words, not mine)

Wii fit- Carrie Rocks

Pete celebrated his birthday last week and he received some Best Buy Gift Certificates. We intended these Gift Cards for the purchase of Wii fit. However Pete wanted Guitar Hero. I was unable to find Wii fit anywhere and that is why he received Gift Cards. I was bummed when he announced an hour after receiving the Cards that he was off to Best Buy to buy Guitar hero. Luck was on my side- a shipment of Wii fits had just come into Best Buy!! So Pete was able to buy Guitar Hero and Wii fit. I never thought that I would enjoy Wii fit that much. I like the Wii but my attention span for it is short so I usualy get tired of it fairly quickly.

So we set up Wii fit and Guitar Hero. Guitar Hero makes me yawn but Pete likes it and is evidently getting very good at it. He beat the devil, don't know what that means, but he was excited about it. Well, I am awesome at some parts of Wii fit. I can hula hoop like crazy- 778 spins currently!! Pete just recently was able to compete with me in the sport slightly. Actualy, I am thinking about getting myself a real hula hoop as I actualy feel my abs getting stronger from the game. But I suppose it would look a little odd for a 31 year old to be hula hooping. I could do it in the front lawn and totally embarass Pete, hmm... Pete loves to watch me try the soccer game. The goal is to move your body in the direction of soccer balls being thrown at you so that you can hit them with your head. However they also throw shoes and panda heads at you, which you don't want to hit. I am very good at hitting the shoes and panda heads and Pete finds this hilarious. He is sick. My poor Me (character on Wii) has an awful headache, possibly a concussion after playing this game. He should not find that funny...

I am actualy very proud of Pete this weekend. I admit I have neglected cleaning for the past week or so due to various reasons (I picked up and took care of things but didn't do the all out cleaning that I usualy do). So I warned Pete that on Saturday i needed alot of help. He didn't argue and he cleaned 3 bathrooms, swept and mopped the kitchen, and helped with laundry. It was so much help. Don't worry, I wasn't sitting back while he did it! I vacummed, cleaned kitchen, etc. On Sunday I was able to paint our powder room in probably less then 90 min. of work.

Celia is very much into imitating us lately- both with her actions and verbally. She is now saying "uh oh". It is so cute. She has been making is a bit sleep deprived until the past few nights. We think she is finally getting back on track. We were getting her everytime she made a peep while Katie was here. She really liked that idea. Well last night she slept from 7:30 to 6, perfect!! Evidently she was still sleepy because at 10 of 8, she started to drain!

Okay I will post something more exciting later in the week.

Katie

I haven't been able to blong in a bit because of our special visitor. This is the third summer that we have had a visit from my niece Katie. It was a bit different this year because she had to share attention with her cousin Celia. I don't think she has enjoyed sharing the attention. She is used to Pete and I playing with her constantly and taking her various places. Katie and I have had some alone time together and Pete has stayed home with Celia. Unfortunately for Pete he had some time off from work and I think he expected that it would be a "vacation", not time spent lifeguarding at an active 10 month old!! I do feel bad for him (okay just only a little) because I know that he does work very hard and days off don't happen that often. But he survived and he even managed to get in at least 2 naps daily (so did Celia).
Pete was not used to Katie. My niece is very sweet however she is slightly high maintenance (some would disagree with the slightly). Honestly I think this makes for a more interesting kid and I think her spunk has gotten her through alot of things. Pete was a bit disturbed by the fact that I acted similar to Katie as a child. My Mom brought Katie here on Monday and for some reason, once Mom left on Wednesday Katie was a much better behaved child. I think that Mom and Katie had just spent too much time together. I also think that Katie wanted the time "all by herself".
We took Katie to the crayola factory on Wednesday and that was not a big hit- with any of us!! If you don't want to sit and do craft, after craft, after craft- I don't reccommend it!! There are some great freebies there though. Admission to the factory gets you into the Canal museum which was a big hit with us all (okay Celia wasn't that impressed). Katie was able to float a boat across an entire room and open and close aquaducts. Normally, Katie struggles some with following directions. But she paid attention to the museum worker's instructions and knew exactly what to do. I was very impressed.
Katie and I went to Moonbounce on Thursday and that is a great place. It is this warehouse with about 5 air filled moon bounce slides and obstacle courses. You pay a fee just for kids ages 2 and older, there are no fees for adults. Basically the kids run around, get tired and have a blast. I love that place.. When we came home Katie ate lunch and said she wanted to go to her room for a nap. She took an hour nap.
So some of the funny things this weekend.
Katie saying "This blows" when she literally meant that she could blow into a toy. Katie putting her shoes on backwards, arguing with Pete that they are fine, then fixing them when I made one comment.
This morning Katie got really ticked at me. She came down the stairs, frowning. I was told that I was supposed to invite her out of her room in the morning. I did not know that. I didn't even hear her. So she spent a few minutes sulking. Next time I guess I will slip an invitation under her door.
Oh and one conversation. Katie insisted that "Mom Mom" has lots of sleep overs at her house. I don't know where this came from but I was told that she has lots of sleep overs with boys, and sometimes girls. Hmmm, something you want to tell us Mom. Okay so she also told me that Emmett does too.

We saw Wall-E yesterday with our neighbors. Katie has become very good friends with our neighbor's 6 year old daughter. I think that Katie is border line obsessed with the child though. It is probably typical 5 year old behavior behavior but each day I heard. Are we going to see Harper?? (Name changed and I am not kidding but this is the name that Katie called the little girl, even though her name is not even close to Harper or Campbell, the other name Katie chose). Are we? Are we? If I said yes. It was when? Can we go now? Is it time yet? I am going now. Can't we go now? Why not? Now? Now? Now? Now?
This week was made worse by Celia's sudden refusal to sleep through the night as she has been for nearly 2 months and my return of insomnia. Last night- 4hrs of sleep. Katie is an amazing sleeper at least!!

The package

So some of you might know that I am a bit paranoid about my sweet but small house. I want to stay in this house for many years as we have gotten to know some of our neighbors and it is just a nice place. That means no clutter, hoarding of things, or big objects. Pete called me earlier this week and said, "Did the mail come?" I said yes. "Anything special come?". No sweety, why? "Oh, well Jude is sending Celia something. He is excited about it and it was custom made". Okay.. So not even 5 min. later a Fed Ex guy pulls up with a box almost the size of a refrigerator. At this point I am cursing Jude. Doesn't he know we have a tiny house, what on earth is this. So I open the box and in it, thank goodness, is mainly padding. But the object did take up some space, it was a rocking horse. It is a pretty rocking horse and I suppose that if Celia is going to get any kind of big object, this would be a good choice. It will eventualy make a very good addition to her room. When she is old enough she will love to play on it.

Celia's reaction was not that great. Her immediate impression was one of terror. She started her semi growling/grunting in fear, as if this thing was alive. Finally when I let her pet the yarn hair and sit on it, she decided he was okay. She does like to sit and rock on it now. But mainly she likes to stand near him. So thank you Jude for the very sweet and pretty gift. I love the hand painted flowers on the runner.

As for Celia, Pete and I have discovered that she really can stand completely on her own- she is just scared. Both of us have witnessed her standing without anything when she doesn't realize it. When she realizes it, she drops to the ground. We can put our pinky finger up to her and she will stand for a long time, as long as she sees that little finger "holding her up". She has even started walking at times with only holding one of my hands, or just a couple fingers. So where does my daughter get her fear from?? I don't know. But she is cute. Speaking of her, she is waking up from her nap, so I better end this.

Eating in the Bathroom

Eating in the bathroom certainly must be a luxury, don't you think so?? I mean I often like to take my sandwich and drink, park myself on the commode and just relax for a nice meal. I enjoy the smells, sounds, and sights. Eating a public bathroom is by far the best place because there is often many things to read on the walls. Sometimes, if I really want to have that "extra" special atmosphere I put a blanket over my head to provide a sauna like environment and nibble at my yummy sandwich. Ahh, the luxuries in life.

So what, your grossed out?? Why on earth?? Okay I don't do that but evidently it must be a preferred thing because alot of people suggest it to nursing Mom's. I know many people in my family don't understand public breastfeeding, my husband included, but it is important to me. In most states, PA included, women are legally allowed to breastfeed in public. Most nursing Moms are discrete and try to get the baby to latch on without exposing anything. We prefer not to go into a bathroom because it is gross!! Who wants to eat in a bathroom??? If you saw a women feeding a baby formula would you suggest that they go into the bathroom??

What prompted this rant?? Well a woman in my breastfeeding group was at a Phillies game and needed to nurse her son. She went off into an area that was what she thought a good nursing place and a few minutes later a security guard was harrasing her. The guard told her that she couldn't do "that" here and people were complaining. The woman who in my opinion is typically somewhat soft spoken and wouldn't be one to make a scene, told the guard that it was her legal right to breastfeed. The guard told her that she could put a chair in the restroom. Thankfully, the woman said no thankyou to that. The guard persisted and told the woman that she was going to get the police. The woman told her that was fine. She knew that she had the legal right to breastfeed there. So she finished nursing as the guard was trying to find a policeman and returned to her seat. No police came. So the woman emailed the Phillies with no response from them. My view on this- the security guard was bothered by it and I doubt that anyone complained. First, I am thinking that most people were watching the game, and 2nd I don't that it was very noticeable.

So we discussed it in our breastfeeding group and we are going to try to contact the Phillies. I believe that there should be an apology and that a policy should be put in place. If they prefer women to not breastfeed in certain areas then they need to create a space (not in the bathroom) for women to feed their babies.

I just feel for this woman because I know that feeding in public is a hard thing to get used to. I have struggled with this and it isn't really that i am uncomfortable with it, it is the fear that others are uncomfortable with it. So for her to get up the courage to nurse in public is something that she should be very proud of. Shame on that security guard. I think that she ought to go stick a chair in the restroom, inhale deeply, and chow down on a burger.

So Pete of course sighed so heavily on the phone when I told him this that I could feel his breath. I heard the deep sigh again when I told him that if we don't get the right response that there could possibly be a nurse in. Unfortunately what he doesn't realize is that his sighs, motivate me more... So to all of you, email the Phillies and encourage them to not discriminate against babies who want to drink the very best.

Our Walk into Town and Other things

When I was pregnant with Celia I tried to do everything to save money. We borrowed baby equipment, bought stuff used, got things free, etc. We didn't have to do this, I just chose to. But the one thing I really wanted I could not find on craigslist or anywhere used. I searched and searched and then finally Pete just said to me "just order it". I sucked it up and ordered one from REI, got free shipping by having it sent to the store and it was on supersale. Nonetheless I was upset over the indulgence, or at least I thought it was an indulgence. Now I know that the Bob Revolution Jogging Stroller was not a luxury it was a necessity. I love Bob and so does Celia. We have probably logged close to 200 miles in that stroller by now, actualy that is probably a low estimate. Since Celia is now a bit to heavy to lug around in her infant carrier we don't use the Snap and Go stroller. So the Bob has become our one and only. Yes, it is that good of a stroller. I have tested other strollers and nothing compares.

So on Friday I left my swimsuit at the YMCA after my masters swim team practice. I was a little annoyed, especialy with the price of gas. I kept thinking, now I am going to have to pack Celia up and head over to the Y just to get my swimsuit. So I decided to walk with Celia in the BOB. It was such an amazing treat. We walked into town, Celia babbling some on the way there. Our first step was my mission to get my suit where I bumped into my old swim coach. He is an interesting guy. He always calls me buy my first name and maiden name even though I have known him since I was 11. He was quite surprised to see the little peanut in the stroller though.

Celia and I then walked over to the Philly soft pretzel factory, they make the absolute best pretzels. They bake on location. The only bad thing, it is a chain. For some reason I would like to think that it wasn't. But you can't beat their prices- 3 pretzels for $1.50!! So we got fresh, I mean just came out of the oven pretzels and window shopped a little. Celia enjoyed her tiny piece of pretzel. After her pretzel she enjoyed about 5 min. of top of the lung screaches, just had to let me know she was there. Then she chilled back in the Bob and enjoyed the ride. We then stopped by Carlinos Market to get some bananas and fresh raviolis for the evening dinner. Prior to going into Carlinos some Man stopped us and said "hello, you have such a handsome little boy". "Thank you, we think she is very pretty" I replied. His response- "Oh he is a cutey". "Thanks" I said and went into the store. So I get this alot and it annoys me. No I would not dress my little boy in pink crocs, and a shirt with cute little girl cheeries all over it. The pink crocs are the key though..

So we headed home and Celia was having a great time, babbling away, looking around and then I heard silence. She fell asleep. I debated on waking her up when we got home, but I just wheeled Bob in and had my lunch in peace. Usualy Celia and I eat together. But for once, I was able to eat, watch the news (okay a rerun of What Not To Wear but the news sounds better), and just relax. She woke up as I was finishing and enjoyed some yogurt for lunch. She actualy took an afternoon nap too!!

After lunch she enjoyed some time in her hoppy pool and practiced walking with her push too outside. She has developed a passion for screeching at the top of her lungs. I don't know what the neighbors think about that. Overall it was a great day!!

Today she finally agreed to feed herself. She has known how to do it, she would feed me, but now she is okay with feeding herself. It was so nice. She munched on bananas while I made her lunch. It was too warm to walk today, but maybe tomorrow.

Things that make Carrie go hmm...

Things that make me go hmm.. or what the?? I apologize ahead, this is not my sweet and innocent posting. So some of you might want to ignore it.

Okay my biggest thing lately and I apologize to my FIL who reads this but I am going to talk about boobs, knockers, what ever you want to call them. Please, please if you are going to run ladies wear a good sports bra, or at least wear something. I was coaching at Valley Green a few weeks ago and we counted 4, 4 mind you, women who were wearing nothing underneath tank tops. I am not talking flat chested women, I am talking Dolly Partons that have gone south. My husband just told me to seek help Sweety when I read this to him. Perhaps I will. But in the meantime, Champion is a great brand.

Carseats, carseats, carseats. I have researched them alot. Okay yes your 5 year old needs to sit in the back seat. No you should not have your 4 and 6 year old share the front passenger seat, that isn't safe. Children ages 8 and younger in most states must be in a carseat. If a child is 45 lbs or heavier then they can go in a booster type carseat, however a regular convertable carseat is still safer. Children ages 1 and 22 lbs or less, which ever comes last must be rearfacing. However rearfacing to 30 lbs is safest. Carseats do expire. Yes they do, most have a 6 year lifespan. Sorry but I am tired of seating expired carseats in consignment shops and 2 yearolds sitting in blackless booster seats.

Teeny tiny butt shorts, that is what I am calling them. Pete and I went to breakfast on Father's day and were a bit disturbed when we were a little unsure if the waitress was wearing underwear or really short, shorts. They were shorts, but Pete even said it wasn't appropriate. So then I was watching the Today show and this teenager came on with her Mom and their "ugliest dog ever winner" and she had some on. So I think to solve this issue, every teen should wear granny undies. If the granny undies hang down under your shorts, they are too short.

Okay, have y'all heard of the lady who was injured by a thong. What the?? A victoria's secret thong injured her and yes, you guessed it she is suing. She cut her cornea with a heart shaped pendant attached to the thong. Okay, she I suppose is justified (I didn't say right) to sue for product defect. But I guess the lesson in this is don't buy a thong with jewelry attached to it, even thought makes me say ouch.

I know it has been said so many times but... I really hate the pants down to the knees with the boxers sticking out. It just looks tacky. But to each his own I suppose.

Rebates, coupons, store bonus cards- okay I know that is boring. But Why if the manufacturer or the store will give it to for less do you have to spend the time to cut something, swipe a card, or fill out a form?? I am especialy annoyed by the store bonus cards. Some stores are good and no matter what they will swipe their own store card to give you a discount but some won't. It just bugs me.

Okay that is enough for now...

I will post a more pleasant and sweet Carrie posting tomorrow. I took a walk into Town with Celia on Sunday that is certainly blog worthy.

Why We Tease and Pick

It seems that Pete and I have heard many times that we tease, pick, bicker, etc with each other too much. The truth is we do this out of extreme love and we wouldn't really feel as close if we didn't do this. Perhaps it is a thing of age because growing up I remember doing this with my friends, the loving little sarcastic comments made us feel like we were part of a group. So Pete and I enjoy each other tremendously and it makes us feel special, honestly when we use our daily sarcasm or teases. I suppose we need to start limiting it when we aren't just alone together. But I will have to say that if a day went by when my husband didn't tease me about my height, cloth diapering (okay I could go with out that), racewalking, or whether or not I have showered I would think something was wrong.

So the point is I suppose that we do this out of love. We don't argue alot, in fact I can probably count on my hand how many times Pete and I have had a big argument. We frustrate each other frequently and annoy each other quite often. So perhaps our teasing or picking is our little way of venting to each other. I don't know, but it works and we have fun.

Trying some watermarked photos

Okay I am trying to post some watermarked photos. The first photo is what Celia does when she sees Pete come home or leave.

Costsaving Tips and Going Green, Part 1

Okay I know this isn't the most exciting post but I wanted to share. I really should be doing other things at the moment too but I am procrastinating those things.

Cleaning:
Clean with vinegar, buy it by the gallon!! I use it for a general cleaner and as a laundry booster/ fabric softener. It is super cheap, offers no harsh fumes or chemicals, and really works. Add a little salt to it and you have a good abrasive cleaner for those tough stains.
Paper products- don't use unless necessary. I have tried to cut down on using them. It is actualy easier to clean the bathroom with an old hand towel then a paper towel. I still reach for them, but I am trying to stop. Paperplates- stop using them. I have totally eliminated them and it is just as easier to use a plate and pop it in the dishwasher.
Microfiber towels- I don't need endust or other dust cleaners. Automotive microfiber towels are awesome. Actualy they are absorbant to so they are great for picking up spills.

Here is a link for some more budget friendly/ ecofriendly cleansers
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Prairie/8088/clngrn.html

Laundry: Fabric softener is actualy bad for your clothes. If you buy some dryer balls (about $5-7) they will fluff your clothes and not leave a residue. You save money on fabric sheets and you make your clothes last longer. Celia is currently playing with our dryer balls because I couldn't take the noise. I am looking for some soft ones. So we have cut our dryer sheets in half, they work the same. In general you do not have to use as much laundry detergent as you think. Decrease the amount of deteregent you are using by just an 1/8th or a 1/4 and see if you get the same results. Reuse fabric sheets if you use them, they are great electronics cleaners, just swipe across the surface and they pick up lint!

Water: Okay can't help you there a whole lot because we use a ton of it. So the only solution I could think of is, shower together. Celia and I did it yesterday.

Groceries: Buy frozen veggies. They are actual supposed to be better for you because they are picked at the height of freshness and then frozen shortly after that. They are a great deal cheaper right now. Not to mention the fact that they take alot longer to go bad in the freezer!!

Food- Plan meals for a week or two. Pasta, beans, and rice are cheap alternatives to meat. Chicken prices are going to go up so stock up now. One cheap recipe:

Bean Burritos

Black Beans
1 TB Minced Garlic
Light Mayo
Salsa
Chili Powder
Tortillas
Cheddar Cheese

Heat black beans in some olive oil with 1 Tb minced Garlic. Mix together about 1 cup salsa, 2 Tb Mayo, and a dash (or more) of chili powder. Put the beans on the tortilla, add salsa mix, and some cheddar cheese. Fold over tortilla and then cook in a skillit. Cook until the cheese melts, flipping once.

We had them last night and they were great.

Okay enough for now. Ms. Celia is doing wonderful. She helped me get some things from my classroom and had a great time. Of course she was trying to unpack when I was packing!

Okay, budget costing post comes later- this one is about Gator Wrestling

I have learned how to Gator wrestle, or I am learning. I can't say that I am very good at it yet. The Gator is a small wirey thing, only in the 20th percentile for weight but strong. It can wiggle like no other being out there and when you try to wrestle it, it often ends up standing on it's head. So the wrestle itself often involves too people- one to handle the head area and one to handle the bottom area. It is especialy difficult if the Gator is wet, which Pete and I had to do last night after we gave it a bath.

Okay, okay, our Gator is really Celia. Diaper changes and getting dressed has become interesting at some points. She has no issues what so ever with undressing. She loves to go around naked and it is funny to see her naked tushie crawling around. But when it comes to put her diaper on or a shirt on, forget it. She turns into this screaming, wiggly, thrashing Gator. I have started trying to stand her up while she holds onto something and put the diaper on. But that certainly doesn't solve the getting dressed problem. At some points she wiggles and arches her back so much that she is standing on her head. We need to videotape it, we really do. A couple days ago Celia would not let me put her diaper on so I gave up and let her go naked for a short time. What does she do? She crawls over to the changing pad, stands up with my help and pees. She got very excited too, she liked seeing the water come out. Then she laid down for me and had no issue getting her diaper on. I told her that she was more then welcome to potty learn now if she had an issue with diapers. So far she hasn't headed for the bathroom yet.

So that is my little snippit on Gator wrestling.

Celia Happenings and diapering

Celia is showing us more and more of her little personality lately. Right now she is babbling away, almost humming in her toy corner playing with her whoozit, a green ball, and a toy that my Mom got her that has things to open and close and push. Yesterday she played for 30 min. with a dryer ball and a clothes pin. She crawled around with them, put them up high and low, and help them up in the air. Celia likes to hold things up in the air and make some sort of proud babbly sound as if to say "Look what I have" or "Can you believe what I have!" Yesterday when we arrived back from visiting a friend a package of some of her diapers had arrived. When I opened them she quickly grabbed one and held it up as if to say "I got new diapers!!" It was funny at the time.

What diapers did I get her? Snugglebottoms. They are fitted diapers that require a cover. It irritates me that even though I spent a great deal of time before I started cloth diapering researching the easiest way to diaper and the most economical, that I am finding that I missed alot! Well I thought Pete would change more diapers so I ordered alot of pockets. Pocket diapers require you to stuff an insert into them to make them absorbant then they basically function the same as a disposable diaper. I stuff them when they come out of the dryer. My favorite pocket diaper is Bumgenius 3.0 (yes there was a 1.0 and a 2.0 and I am sure there will be a 4.0). That diaper can really hold it all, 3 hrs plus. It is onesize too, so it lasts until she potty learns. That is right folks evidently it is not called potty training anymore it is "potty learning".

Okay boring cloth diaper infomorcerial here:

In anycase in the beginning I listened to my Mom (no offense Mom) and some other people as they said that the diapers they used when they had kids were awful. So I avoided flat diapers and prefold diapers (think old school diapers that were pinned). However I discovered that they don't use pins anymore they use something called a snappi (looks like a T and grabs the fabric with plastic teeth). The covers now are wonderful and hold alot in. So prefolds and flats are actualy the easiest when it comes to wash and drying. For the next one, I will be doing prefolds. They are cheap- 12 for $25. Oh but back to the Snugglebottoms. They are plain white fitted diapers but at less then $5 a piece are a great deal. We will see if they fit, they are looking a little big. The covers that you use with fitted diapers, prefolds, or flats are reusable. So you only need 1 or 2.

The cloth diapering industry is growing fast and I think even faster with the economy the way that it is. Kimberly Clark announced (Pampers, etc) that they will raise prices 8-20% in the next few months. You spend alot initialy on cloth and I even have a hard time with the initial cost, however if you look at the longterm costs you can save more then $2000 using cloth. More if you can save your diapers for the next child. Isn't it alot of work you ask? 2-3 extra loads of laundry a week and a few minutes stuffing pockets while watching tv- that is it! The poop factor. Well before Celia ate solids it just all was thrown in the washing machine. Now I use liners and if they are too bad, they just get tossed. No big deal. The big factor, diapering is not boring. There are so many cute ones you can get, even customized ones!

Showers are so yesterday

So this morning Pete decides that he is not going to workout and sleeps in an extra hour. Okay, that is fine with me. However when he wakes up he of course announces that he is going to do what he always does for about 20 min each morning in his "office" then take a shower. I comment that I might take my shower while he is in his "office". Well, Pete didn't like that idea. You see our hot water sucks, we never know when we will have an unlimited amount or about 10 min. worth of it. I secretly think our neighbor mooches off of our hot water. So we negotiated, he took a quick shower and I took one afterward and luckily it was one of those unlimited hot shower days. However Pete was very disturbed when I told him the reason I couldn't take his initial suggestion of showering tonight because I hadn't been able to shower yesterday. This occurs on many occasions and each time Pete is shocked, "That is gross, your female".. Okay I can't say I am excited that there are days in which I don't get a shower. But with a very active Celia it limits the times that I can shower. If I shower during her nap time I risk waking her up and if I do it while she is awake that leads to all sorts of questionable trouble. Last time I did that she crawled into the bathroom, parked herself on my bath mat and proceeded to scream at the top of her lungs.

So yes I am gross but the truth is, who cares. I take care of things and have had no complaints on smell. I think my husband is not one to comment on the subject because at one point he was showering 2x in the morning, with in a few hours. He would wake up, take a shower, go work out and take another shower. It took awhile to convince him that it seemed a bit ridiculous.

But I often think that Pete wouldn't be so terribly disturbed over the showering issue if I was more feminine female. So I don't like shopping, wearing jewelry, never wear make up, and enjoy doing home repairs. He saves money and doesn't have to do a lot around the house..

So Pete is also distraught over my latest big project- my annual clean out the house project. I did it last year this time and he called it nesting. Now what is he going to call it? He probably has some choice words. I have discovered that at current count he has over 25 books that he has bought and never read. So we now have a "library" shelf for Pete to pick books from. Maybe it is a guy thing, I don't know. But I have been able to get him to thin his collection of books, finally!! But in general, this is stressing him out. I haven't told him yet that I am moving my cleaning out project to the upstairs in the next few days...

In any case, a bit of a boring post I suppose. Ms. Celia is still a riot. We picked up her hoppy frog canopy blow up pool from Target yesterday. We don't know when we will get to use it as the temperature now seems to be actually too hot for swimming- 99 on Monday.