Under the Midwest Sun

Work Knows

2012-02-03T20:34:00.002-05:00

So, I finally told my boss that I'm pregnant yesterday. I was kind of worried about it, only because I'm due right before year end (aka the worst time an accountant can be out of the office) but I didn't need to worry because my boss was totally awesome. She was so genuinely excited and we were able to discuss a plan for my work to be covered while I'm out. It's been a big relief to get it off my chest, and now that everyone at work knows, it's kind of nice. I've gotten lots of congratulations and can get out of putting another stupid bottle in the water dispenser since I'm pregnant. Now that I don't have to worry about work, I've been able to truly relax and just be happy about the new baby.

Fetey has been a kicking machine. It's hard to remember how much Ramona moved, but it seems like this baby moves even more than she did. It definitely moves a lot more violently. Ramona never managed to wake me up with her fetal movements, and this baby has already done it twice and I'm only 21 weeks along.

Monday is the big ultrasound and I'm both excited and terrified. I can't wait to find out if Fetey is a girl or a boy, but I'm scared they will find something wrong with him/her. I don't know why. I think it's the media attention to Michelle Duggar's late-term miscarriage and the whole Santorum baby-loss thing that freaks me out, because both of things happened around this point of pregnancy. Plus I feel so lucky to have a sweet healthy toddler that I almost feel like I can't be lucky enough to have TWO healthy wonderful children.

Speaking of the child living outside the womb, she is so awesome these days. The more she can talk, the more hilarious things she says. Right now she likes to wear my shoes around the house and sing songs. Her big trick is to climb the cat tower and pretend to get stuck. Then, with a little encouragement from me (a la "You can do it! Keep trying!") she gets down and then when I cheer for her, she says, "Thank you, thank you." We also watch a lot of Sesame Street on youtube. OK Go's Primary Colors, Feist's 1,2,3,4, India Arie and Elmo sing the alphabet, are the favorite Sesame Street jams. She also is really loving Band of Horse's "Out in Nature" via Yo Gabba Gabba! So, she's a little hipster baby that is five years behind on the newest bands for the most part. That must be why she likes the jeggings my sister got her so much.

Snow Day!

2012-01-21T23:34:00.008-05:00

We finally got some snow in northwest Ohio (not until mid-January? Highly unusual!) But I enjoyed the mild winter so far, although I was pretty excited about getting snow. Joe and I got Ramona a sled for Christmas, so we were pretty excited to take her out on it. Last year, we pulled her around in a sled one time, but she had yet to do any real downhill sledding. So we got her all bundled up in her snowpants and the whole bit and took her to the hill on the golf course at Ottawa Park. There were quite a few people there, but not so many that it was annoying or overly crowded and kids were running into each other or anything.

At first Ramona had a hard time holding on and kept slipping off. I was cracking up as I took this picture. This is Joe taking her up the hill so they could sled down for the first time. As soon as the hill got to an certain angle she just sort of fell over and laid on the sled.She eventually got the idea and could sit up while getting pulled up the hill (which was much easier than carrying her up it, and she was having a hard time walking with her snowpants and boots and everything.) Joe talked me into going down with her once, so both Ramona and Fetey got to go sledding today.
But I was mostly on photographer duty. I don't think sledding down a not-particularly-steep hill is really too dangerous to while pregnant, but I was worried if we had a wipe out I wouldn't be able to protect both Ramona and my belly at the same time. Plus I almost hit some kid the one time I went down, so I was kind of worried about my inability to steer the sled while holding onto Ramona, which was a problem for both me and Joe.
Those pictures kind of give you an idea of the size of the hill and amount of people there. Like I said, there weren't too many people and it was definitely the "bunny hill" of the area, which was nice because it was mostly families with younger kids. Ramona was the smallest one there, but not by much. The oldest kids were probably eight to ten, and all the kids were young enough that they were there with their parents, which meant none of them were being jerks. And the parents were all helping each other out and asking each others' kids if they were okay if they fell off their sleds and their parents were still at the top of the hill or attending to their siblings or whatever. So, it was really nice. I had fun, and Joe has been talking about sledding since Labor Day, so he definitely had fun. I think Ramona might have had fun, too.

New Year Adventures

2012-01-05T20:37:00.010-05:00

So I'm going to play catch up out of chronological order and post about New Year's Day before Christmas. Sorry, but I started looking at these pictures first, so they win.

I started out reading to Ramona and I really like this picture, so I'm making you look at it.

Then we went to go see the Lights Before Christmas at the zoo. (Misleading name, as it was after Christmas.) Ramona was very excited about wearing mittens. "My gwuvs!"
We had an awesome time at the zoo. Last year, we had such a crappy time at the zoo lights, so pretty much anything would have been an improvement. But this year was AMAZING and totally beyond the magic I had imagined. Ramona was so excited about the lights and kept exclaiming, "Look! It's beautiful lights!" and things like, "Daddy! See octopus lights!?" We also rode the carousel and she thought that was great
And I loved the new colored lights they had this year. They looked like they were different sizes, but I think it was an optical illusion caused by the lights being round and black on one side. Here's a picture (on the right), but it doesn't really represent the awesomeness.
Then we went to the museum and got hot chocolate and gingerbread men, as tradition dictates we do.

Ramona was super into the bugs, which are kind of my least favorite part, but Muno from Yo Gabba Gabba has brainwashed her with the "I Like Bugs" song (which she sang as soon as we walked in and she saw a giant millipede.)
We also looked at the fish and did a lot of walking and looking at lights. Good times were had by all. After that, we headed over to Joe's parents house to drop off Ramona and visit for a little bit. Joe and I went back to the house where I insisted on dressing up a little. It's New Year's! I had to wear something sparkly, dammit! And I had some sparkly tights, so, there ya go. Then I made Joe take pictures because I don't dress up very often, and it's nice to have a picture of me not looking like crap every once in awhile.
Just because I don't look like crap, doesn't mean I can't look ridiculous! After that, we went to Nick & Jimmy's in Temperance and got a snack. Then, we picked up Tauno and headed to the Knotty Pine for midnight. They had free hats, horn blower things (what are those called?), and champagne at midnight. I drank water all night as both DD and a pregnant lady, but I did have a splash of champagne at midnight. After the big moment, we headed back to Joe's parents' house to pick up the Fish. I was expecting her to be passed out, but she was partying in her jammies still. Apparently, she stayed up and did the countdown at midnight and yelled "Happy New Year!" That kid, I tell ya.

Anyway, then we headed back to our house. I had been texting with Nina throughout the night and she said to stop by if we felt like it. Honestly, I expected Ramona to fall asleep before we got back to the house, but she was not only still awake, but kept yelling at Tauno to wake up. So, I figured we could swing by Nina's on the way home since she's only a few blocks away.

I was kind of hoping she would be happy to see me, since I was bringing an unexpected toddler and "getting pretty sloppy" Tauno. Luckily, it seems that I didn't ruin the night. Yay! We hung out for maybe an hour and then headed home. Ramona finally crashed at 2am with me. Tauno and Joe stayed up drinking and watching TV, and I have no idea when they finally passed out.

I have to say, it was a pretty kickass start to 2012. And as far as 2012 goes, we already have two awesome weddings to look forward to, not to mention the fact that we will have another baby. I have a great feeling about this year. I hope I'm right!

Lazy

2012-01-04T17:40:00.002-05:00

There is so much to write about with all the holidays having passed, but I've been being lazy. Tonight Ramona is actually taking a nap, so I have time to kill, so I figured I'd throw a quick update here. Today was another pregnancy appointment. The midwife says everything is looking good and I set up my anatomy scan ultrasound for February 6. With any luck, we'll find out if Fetey is male or female then. (I started calling the fetus Fetey. What do you think?) Anyway, I started feeling its movements in the last couple weeks, so that is always fun. I'm 17 weeks and still not really showing, although I certainly feel bigger and my pants are getting tighter.

Ramona doesn't really understand that she will have a little sibling soon, but it's a pretty theoretical for someone her age, so I'm not too surprised. Honestly, it's hard for me to believe that we'll have a new baby here soon. I've been so hung up on thinking about all the crappy parts of having a baby that I haven't really let myself focus on the fun parts at all. But today at the doctor's office, I was in the examination room across the hall from the UTMC Babies board, (you know, that bulletin board full of pictures of babies delivered by the practice that every OB office has) and I suddenly remembered how cute babies are and how fun and exciting they can be. So I have been kind of floating around in baby excitement most of today, which has been nice.

I want to post about Christmas and New Year's, but I want to post pictures, which means I have to get the cameras up and running. So, maybe tonight, maybe not. The quick version is they were fun and we were happy.

Meeting the Midwife

2011-12-07T20:39:00.003-05:00

So, my doctor's office has a midwife who does all the maternity care. My first appointment, I just met with the nurse practitioner who usually does my gyno type stuff (pap smears, check ups, prescriptions). Today was my first appointment meeting the midwife.

She was really nice, which was a relief. I was not a huge fan of the doctor I had with Ramona, but I didn't have much of a choice because he was pretty much the only doctor in a 90 mile radius of our little shack in the desert. But this time, it seems like I have someone nice who is on my side. We talked about a lot of stuff, but I didn't get too much into the detail of how the actual birth process will take place (mostly because I still have awhile before I have to worry about that.) My next appointment is early January, and my next ultrasound will be at 22 weeks. Hopefully we will find out if we are expecting another mini-Meggie or our first junior Joe at that time.

The idea of having two kids is pretty crazy. We were playing with Ramona tonight, and I mentioned that next Christmas we'll have two kids. Joe gave me a weird look. I guess it is pretty hard to imagine it at this time. It seems like a lot of people are worried about their capacity to love more than one child when they're pregnant with their second. I'm not worried about that at all. I mean, I love Ramona more than anyone else in the world, and I love Joe more than anyone else in the world, and I love my mom more than anyone else in the world. You know what I mean? I have a lot of love for a lot of people, so I'm not worried that my love is a finite source that is running low. I do have worries, though.

My biggest worry is being a good mom with two kids. Well, not even a good mom, just not a crappy mom. I know all around I won't be a crappy mom, but I'm pretty sure I will be for the first few months at least. See, for the most part, I'm a pretty patient and loving mom. I don't yell a lot; I remain calm for the most part. But the one time I am pretty much guaranteed to be crazy and angry is when I am sleep deprived. When Ramona wakes up in the middle of the night and starts whining, I have been known to yell, "JUST SLEEP! Go to sleep!" (*Note*- this is a very ineffective technique to get your child to sleep.) I just lose it. And when Ramona was a newborn, I'm pretty sure I was half crazy the entire time because I barely slept. I'm positive I will be half crazy with this baby as well, unless it sleeps through the night starting the day it is born. And that's ok, I knew I was signing up for that when I decided to have another kid. But I just don't know how I'm going to function as that half crazy lady while also being a decent parent to a toddler.

So far, that's my biggest concern about being a mom of two. I'm sure I'll come up with other worries as time goes on.

Oh, and cute side story that is totally unrelated to anything else- today Joe asked Ramona whether she wanted a baby brother or a baby sister. She said, "A baby stitster! And popcorn."

New Baby

2011-12-05T22:13:00.003-05:00

Kathleen said it looked looked like the dude in the wheelchair from Nightmare before Christmas, and I can't really argue with that. I do like that you can see the legs in this one, though. The baby chilled all stretched out like this most of the time, as if my uterus is a sweet hammock.
Here's a less creepy looking face, although it's still not quite right.
Ok, so this one shows the baby looking like a baby. The cool thing with this baby is that my placenta is visible during the ultrasound. (It's on the bottom front.) With Ramona, I never saw placenta on an ultrasound.
There's a little hand, from when the baby was trying to high five me. Then, it did sign language to indicate I should eat more ice cream. I must listen.
And here's a nice profile shot to prove that the baby is not a Tim Burton creature.

They said everything looks great and it was a lot of fun to finally see that there is something going on in there! Next week I will officially be in the second trimester.

Ramona's reaction to the pictures was to smear her peanut butter covered hands on them and announce "Peanut butter jelly jelly sandiwich!"

Christmas List

2011-12-04T17:24:00.004-05:00

And because people have been asking, here's our Christmas wish lists.

Me
Art- MetroDevious. I would like the 15X15 MC square ($80) of the Joe Louis Arena stairs. I already have the Tiger Stadium welcome one, and it would be nice to have two to display next to each other.

Massage- Massage Envy. One of these is up at Westgate, and it would be nice to get a massage because my back and neck have been killing me lately. It will probably get worse as pregnancy progresses

Food- I like those big tins full of popcorn they always have at Christmas. Cookies are good as well. Candy is a good one. I like fruit.

Dress socks- I could always use more of these for work

Hat, scarf, gloves- I like to have a variety of these

Bookbag- It would be nice to have one to keep all of my school stuff together. I keep meaning to buy one and then forget

Laptop bag- I like to bring my laptop home from work during the winter so that I can work from home if the weather is too bad. I don't have a bag for it now, so it would be nice.

Hoodies, sweaters, maternity clothes- I still need warm clothes, especially work stuff. And I only bought maternity skirts when I was pregnant with Ramona since I lived in Death Valley, so I don't have any maternity work pants. I need long ones!

Sleep- I don't know how you can gift this, but I'm really into sleep right now.

Ramona
Hat & gloves- Her head is almost too big for the hat she got last Christmas, and she is really into wearing hats right now

Clothes- She wears a 2T now. She's not in desperate need of anything in particular, but she could always use more clothes.

Shoes- She wears a 7. She needs snow boots.

Toys- She likes anything with wheels. She's not really into stuffed animals right now. Educational stuff is fun. She can count and knows colors and shapes, and we're working on letter recognition right now. She likes treasure and dinosaurs.

Books- She loves reading! We're mostly reading board books still, as she doesn't have the attention span to get into longer stories yet.

Art stuff- She likes to color and is starting to use play-doh.

Musical instruments- Ramona loves to make music.

Joe

Belkin - Tunecast Auto FM Transmitter for Apple® iPod® and Most MP3 Players

Authentic Mexican 20th Anniversary Ed: Regional Cooking from the Heart of Mexico

Any other cookbooks

Bouncing Souls - Ghosts on the Boardwalk - CD

Amazon.com or restaurant gift cards

Kids in the Hall DVDs

Decisions

2011-12-04T16:59:00.002-05:00

This weekend has been pretty eventful. Friday night I worked on thank you cards for the wedding. It's one of those tasks that seems impossible and takes forever. I really want to send them out soon, so I have to just keep plugging away on them.

We had to decide whether to stay at our duplex for another year or to move. We like where we live (both the location and the actual building) and I think a two bedroom is fine for us (even with the new baby, there is plenty of room.) We were just looking around to see if there was something better, and we have had issues with our landlord in the past, so we were thinking about leaving. But, we decided to stay. Mostly because we hate moving, but also because we do genuinely like it here. Our landlord doesn't come around too often, so it's not a huge deal.

Saturday we went up to IKEA to get a big girl bed for Ramona for Christmas. We got the bed, but haven't got a mattress yet. I also got a few accessories for the house and some presents for Ramona as well. Kathleen came with us and got stuff for her wedding. It was fun to hang out with her for a few hours. Ramona was with Joe's parents for the day, so I worked on cleaning the house and did weird things, like spot-cleaning the couch, that I would never attempt with her home.

The plan is to finish unpacking a few boxes in our bedroom that we never bothered to unpack for the last year, then rearrange our bedroom and put the crib in there. Then, we'll set up Ramona's new bed in her room. I'm not sure when we'll move the baby back in with Ramona (or if we will before our lease is up here next year). It's going to depend on how well it and Ramona are sleeping then.

Saturday night we went to see The Muppet Movie with our friends, Cory and Kellie. *spoiler alert* Mickey Rooney is still alive! He did a cameo, so that was interesting. It was cute. I don't think it's going to become my favorite Muppet movie or anything, but it was enjoyable. I was kind of annoyed that it seemed to "cheat" with CGI instead of cool puppeting techniques a couple times because I'm lame. But, the songs were catchy and they did Rainbow Connection, so it made me smile.

Tomorrow I have my ultrasound so we can see the new baby. I can't wait!

Cutes for the Cousins

2011-12-02T21:45:00.005-05:00

I thought Brook might appreciate seeing some of these pics from my bridal shower.

I'm Back!

2011-12-02T19:36:00.003-05:00

Next week is the last week of classes. I'll have some free time again, so I'm hoping to be able to blog a bit more. I've been avoiding the internet lately. (Every once in awhile I go through a period where I'm just sick of the whole deal and try to stay away for awhile and just read and and craft and what have you.) But, I'm getting better about it now.

A lot has changed since the last time I wrote. I turned 28; Ramona turned 2.

Joe and I decided to try for another baby asap after the wedding. We both assumed it would take a little while (I mean, when you're actually trying, it's hard, right?) But, no, I got pregnant right away, that first month. So, the new baby should be here by the end of June. I'm 12 weeks now. My first ultrasound is Monday, and I meet my midwife on Wednesday.

I've been really nervous about miscarriage this time for some reason. I think just because getting pregnant was so easy. With Ramona, I was sure everything would be fine. This time, I've been almost paranoid. So, I'm really looking forward to the ultrasound and am hoping they'll tell me that everything looks amazing. This pregnancy has been a lot harder than Ramona's. I wasn't sick with her at all, and I've thrown up more times than I can remember this time. But I'm almost in that second trimester, and I'm starting to feel better already. In my second trimester with Ramona, I almost forgot I was pregnant until she started kicking. Hopefully it will be similar this time. I really can't wait to feel the baby move. It was my favorite part of being pregnant last time.

A lot of people have asked if I want a girl or a boy, and I honestly don't care this time. With Ramona, I really wanted a girl. Now I have a girl, so it's not a big concern. We plan on having three kids, so this one can go either way and it's not a big deal to me. But if it's a girl, I'll probably hope for a boy for the last one. I'm actually going to be really excited either way. I mean, another girl would be awesome. And a son would be really cool. Ramona talks about "brudders" all the time, so I think she would like it to be a boy. (At the library a couple weeks ago, she walked up to an older kid and said, "Hi, big brudder!" like five times. The kid was a good sport about it, and thought it was pretty funny.)

Ramona is really into saying hi and bye to everyone right now. When we're out in public she wants to say hi to everyone she sees. She's also really good at inadvertently insulting people. We were at Target recently, and I was hardcore wanting a soft pretzel, so we went to the food counter and I got a pretzel for me and a popcorn for her. There was a little girl who was probably a year older than her in line as well. I put Ramona down to look around and she walked up to the girl and said, "Hi, baby!" The girl responded with, "I'm not a baby!" and looked at her Mom and said, "That baby said I'm a baby!"

This is also bleeding over into bedtime. Before she goes to sleep, she has to say goodnight to everyone person she can think of, including television characters. It takes forever.

There are a ton of other cute things she's been doing lately, but I'll save it for future posts.

Back to Life

2011-10-03T19:53:00.002-04:00

Boo! Today was the first day back to work. It was really hard to leave Ramona after spending so much time with her. She's talking so much these days and we have such hilarious conversations. Today-

Ramona: Snack time! (runs to the pantry and brings me two cans of soup)
Me: Um, lets try another snack. How about crackers and peanut butter and jelly?
Ramona: Yay! Woohoo! Snacks! YUMMY YUMMY!
Me: (makes snacks)
Ramona: Thanks for your help, Bishi. (She calls me Bishi now.)
Me: No problem.
Ramona: You a good helper.
Me: Thank you.
Ramona: Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

She has been extra affectionate and a super cuddle buddy since we got back from our trip. Joe said she was pretty upset when I left for work after my lunch break today. I was, too.

Cutie Kid

2011-08-03T21:11:00.003-04:00

Ramona is in love with Danzig. She has started talking to Danzig, petting her, and cuddling her. She also likes putting various objects and toys on Danzig's head and yelling, "HAT!" She thinks everything is a hat once you put it on your head. She also likes yelling "RAINBOW!"

Joe said he went to Arby's today and Ramona kept taking his cup and saying, "Want some? Yes, please!" It's funny because she's getting very good at talking but is still not very good at communicating.

Her other big trick now is singing "Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star".

Yesterday, she figured out that time-out is actually not that bad and played quietly instead of crying. Is my only form of discipline already eroding?

Vanity, thy name is Ramona

2011-07-07T21:56:00.003-04:00

Guess whose new quote is "I sooo cute!"?

It's true, but that doesn't mean she needs to announce it!

Ramona Update

2011-07-04T22:57:00.003-04:00

This week held many cute moments. Ramona is learning how to open doors and busted into the bathroom to catch me in the shower. "There you is! I find you!" she declared as she attempted to get in the shower with me.

Whenever I'm doing something and Joe is watching her, she always ends up coming to find me. Whenever she does this, I ask, "Where's Daddy?" then I yell for Joe to come get her. It's gotten to the point that when I say, "Where's Daddy?" Ramona yells, "Jooooooe!"

The other new things she's been saying this week are "I so happy!" and "Delicious!"

This is from when we were at my parents' house to go see fireworks. Mom picked up food at Drown's and Ramona found both her and my ice cream to be "deewishus." (Sorry the sound quality is so bad; I took it with my phone.) She liked the fireworks for the first couple of minutes (she said "ooooooo!" and "I so happy!") but then she got bored and ran around while Joe and I chased her. Oak Harbor fireworks were pretty good and I was glad that we hung out with my family a little bit since Joe is usually sleeping when Ramona and I go over there, so he hadn't been there for awhile.

Anyway, the fish is learning new words every day and often makes us laugh with how serious she gets all the sudden. Tonight, Ramona and I were in her bedroom reading stories when Joe came by to say bye as he got ready to leave for work. Ramona looked up at him and said, "Hello, Daddy" very calmly as if she does this all the time. It was the first time she ever said it (she's said hello and daddy, but never together as a greeting for Joe) and Joe and I cracked up. He responded, "Hello, Ramona" with same formal tone she used.

She cracks me up as much as she drives me crazy these days. She's really into running around naked, eating cat food, and drawing on the walls and windows whenever she manages to get her hands on a writing utensil. She's a handful, but we're having fun.

Oh yeah

2011-06-26T21:14:00.001-04:00

A few more fun fish details- she is learning how to take her clothes off, which leads to her running around naked WAAAY to frequently. I wouldn't care half as much if she didn't take the opportunity to pee on the floor every time. She has also started saying "thank you". While I'm thrilled we're raising a polite young lady, her thank you sounds an awful lot like f--k you, and I laugh every time.

Cute weekend

2011-06-26T20:48:00.005-04:00

I got a lot of homework done this week, and am feeling much less frazzled now that my Global Business class is over. I had two exams this week so I was on edge trying to get things done, but now that it's all over I feel better. I still have my accounting class until the end of July, but it's online so I at least feel less pressure about time.

Friday night Joe's parents church had a group outing to the Toledo Mud Hens game, so we took Ramona to her first baseball game. She had a blast! She was so excited to be around so many other kids and ran around everywhere. I think baseball is incredibly boring, but I usually have fun at actual games, and this was no exception. We also got Ramona a Mud Hens shirt and found out Wow Wow Wubzy is going to be at the game the day before Joe's birthday, so we might go to that game since Ramona loves Wow Wow Wubzy and apparently loves going to minor league baseball games. I will go anywhere there is beer and funnel cakes, so it's fine with me. We also stayed at the end for the fireworks because I wanted to see how Ramona liked them so we could come up with a plan for the fourth. She was kind of nervous about the noise. She was with Uncle Ben (Joe's brother, not the rice enthusiast) when they started and was upset, but once she got in my arms she was less scared and more excited. So, I think we'll take her to see fireworks. I just have to figure out where.

Sometimes she seriously looks just like a little Joe clone
She loved that everyone kept clapping and clapped right along
Joe said, "Let's get her some ice cream!" She decided she needed two spoons. And ate the whole thing of ice cream by herself!
We had a lot of fun cheering together

Saturday we walked up to UT so I could pick up a project I need for my accounting class and we got lunch. I showed Joe around campus and took him through a few places he'd never been before. Ramona enjoyed running around and playing on campus. After that, we got home and Joe used the new grill he got for Father's Day for the first time and made a bunch of ribs and had some of his friends over. I was mostly on Mony duty and had a bunch of homework, so I didn't get to have as much fun, but I did get to talk for a little bit. Ramona had fun playing outside all day. She wore her new swimsuit (which is almost too small already- stop growing, little fish!) and played in the sprinkler. I was actually a champion mom for once and remembered to not only put on sunscreen to begin with, but also to reapply a few times. So, no sunburn for Mony, which is always good.

Today we just hung around the house. I had an online exam and we slept and played and watched TV. I worked on weddingbee crap for a little bit, but I need re-size my engagement pics for that, and I'm being super lazy about it. I did want to get some around the house type stuff done that I didn't even start, but it's ok. I will make valances for the living room some day.

Engagement Pictures!

2011-06-21T22:15:00.002-04:00

http://marywyar.com/blog/2011/06/megan-joe.html

Hey everybody! Just wanted to give you a heads up that our engagement pictures are on our photographer's blog. Please go and comment on it! I would greatly appreciate it. I love the pictures, and even though my hair looks kinda crappy in some of the shots, and I look as awkward as ever, I think they are totally awesome to the max.

Jeez

2011-06-19T20:18:00.002-04:00

14 weeks until the wedding. Holy crap, I have a lot to do still.

School is kicking my butt right now- my new class has me doing at least 15 hours of homework a week- just for that class. And I still have my other class. And a full-time job. So, yeah, I am dying.

This weekend was pretty awesome, though. I did lots of homework, but we got to spend a lot of time with family, so it was nice. Friday, Joe, Mony and I went to the Strawberry Festival. It was fun. I mean, it's typical small town Ohio festival, but I enjoy that, so I'm glad we went. Ramona had her first funnel cake, first carny game, and first time hearing a live band. She like the funnel cake, won a ball, and drummed along the entire time.

Saturday we had a cookout with Joe's parents and then they watched Mony so Joe and I could go see the new X-men movie. I liked it a lot. We also went to a bar together in the first time in forever and had two beers. So, it was a nice little date. Then we brought Mony home, where she didn't go to sleep until midnight.

After that late night, she decided to get up at six in the morning (totally bizarre for her) and then she cried in the nursery the entire time I was in church because she was so tired. She finally fell asleep when we were walking around Fort Meigs. We met up with my parents for their Muster on the Maumee weekend and watched some demonstrations and walked around. It was nice, and it seemed like my dad enjoyed the Father's Day excursion. I did realize that being a little kid must be like being black out drunk. I mean, Ramona fell asleep in the car, and then she woke up to three adults dressed in period clothing playing music in a field she'd never seen before. I personally would have been like, "Oh my gosh- what is going on?" but Ramona was pretty cool about it. I guess you kind of expect that sort of thing when you're little.

After we got home, I made Joe lobster rolls for his Father's Day dinner. I had given him money towards his dream grill as his Father's Day present. It is now sitting in our basement waiting for assembly tomorrow. All in all, a pretty great weekend.

Cutest Kid EVER

2011-06-09T20:47:00.003-04:00

Ramona really killed me today. Before Joe went to bed, I gave him a hug and a kiss and said good night. She ran over and started pulling on our legs and yelling "A hug!" So we picked her up and did a group hug that she loved. Then I took her for a walk around Ottawa Park in her stroller and when we were done, I let her play on the playground. She picked a bunch of clover and brought it over to me and put it in my hand. "A flower!" I smelled them and said "mmmm, those smell good!" Ramona held them by her face and said "fffff fffff- mmmmm good! Yummy yummy yummy!" Then I pushed her on the swings and she laughed hysterically and said "Wheeeeee!" We came home, played, read stories, and danced to music. I kissed her forehead and gave her a hug. I said, "I love you." And then she said "I love you" for the first time and I was so overcome with emotion that I just started crying. And I'm crying right now thinking of it as I type! I don't know why. I mean, I know she's pretty much just repeating what I say and that it doesn't really mean anything to her. And she's shown how much she loves me a million times. But for some reason, hearing her say it for the first time just tugged my heart so hard. That is what being a mom is about. It's 98% thankless work that you do out of love, but those 2% of thank yous and I love yous are so worthwhile. She's just so amazing.

Sorry I'm being a bit dramatic. To lighten the mood, here's a picture of Ramona eating bacon with both hands at Uncle John's last weekend.
Also, I haven't been writing here as much the last few weeks because I've been doing a bunch of school stuff and have been wedding blogging. I'm writing as "Miss Cannon" on weddingbee.com. They just started posting my stuff today. I will be posting about friends and family in the context of wedding planning, so if anyone has any issues with that, let me know and I will not include your pictures or whatever.

Anyway, life is good. I start my second summer class next week, but it's online so it shouldn't be too bad. Wedding planning is coming along, and I don't have any complaints at this moment. Yay for summer!

Cutest

2011-05-30T19:53:00.003-04:00

Fish likes to pretend to talk on the phone. Her pretend conversations always go, "Hello? Okay! What? Really? Bye!" which makes me wonder if my conversations all sound that way to her.

She also started saying, "Bless you!" whenever she sneezes. So she kind of gets it.

I took her down to Columbus today when I went to get my dress started at Grandma's. She had fun running around and I was glad I got to spend some time with her. I've been feeling like I haven't had enough time with her since I've been back at school. I'm glad there's only a few weeks left of it. Then I just have my online class for summer semester.

No Comment

2011-05-19T21:37:00.000-04:00

Mother's Day

2011-05-08T18:12:00.007-04:00

Mother's Day was pretty laid back. We got up and went to church (where I got a prize for being the youngest mom there, which certainly surprised me) and then came home and hung out for a bit. After that I made Joe take my annual Mother's Day pictures:

Me & Mony Mother's Day 2011

Me & Mony 2010

There were quite a few outtakes, but the hug outtake was by far the cutest.

Then we stopped at Handel's to get ice cream. We got Ramona her own cone for the first time. They had little tiny baby cones- it was so cute! Ramona ate some and made a mess with the rest. (Also, my boobs were out of control all day with insane cleavage. I blame this new bra and apologize for the ridiculousness.)
After that we stopped up at Joe's parents house to wish his mom a happy Mother's Day and hung out for a bit.
Now Joe is sleeping and Mony and I are playing. Pretty much what I expected and wanted for the day, so it was a Happy Mother's Day for me!

Good Week

2011-05-07T21:06:00.005-04:00

It was a pretty good week. Work seemed to drag on the whole time, but outside of work I got to hang out with my friend Nina a couple times since school is out, and that was very nice. Joe and Tauno painted the living room ceiling for me as a Mother's Day present, so I can finally finish up my decorating in here! I'm excited.

And I got to see sweet little Marielle. She's a super cutie. Here's some crappy phone pictures since I forgot to bring my camera.

Blurry- let's pretend it's on purpose- Angelic Effect
Look at all that hair!
My sister thinks giving a baby bunny ears is hilarious
Best friends! My sister and Marielle

She was a very sweet baby. She slept any time she wasn't eating for the most part. She was very cuddly and had that newborn smell that everyone loves. Ramona was a little jealous of me holding her, but she got over it pretty quickly. She poked the baby in curiosity a few times and said "baby" but that was the extent of her interest. I think she was jealous that Marielle already has more hair than her. But I had a lot of fun and it was good to see everyone and welcome the new little one into the family.

My grandma was also back up from Florida and is ready to get on dress making so we're going to get going on that. I'm sending in the deposit for catering tomorrow, so the wedding is trudging along. It feels like we have forever and no time simultaneously.

I'll throw in another pic that was on my phone. They gave Ramona a hospital gown to wear at her last pediatrician appointment. I thought it was pretty funny, so I wanted to get a picture of it. Unfortunately, this was the best picture I got.

Baby Goo and What Not

2011-05-04T21:05:00.003-04:00

So, Mony learned two tricks yesterday- spin around and jump. Both are super cute (obviously). Nothing exciting is going on lately, except we got catering figured out. So all the big stuff is booked for the wedding and it's mostly down to the details. I'm feeling good about stuff. Sorry, I have nothing of value to say tonight.

Decisions I Never Had to Make Before I Had a Kid

2011-04-27T18:58:00.005-04:00

Alternate title: Both Choices Suck

Do I go to the bathroom alone and listen to her scream outside the door the entire time or let her be in the bathroom with me which is just awkward?

The answer was always the first one, but lately the second one has been winning. I'm trying to interest her in the potty so we can start potty training in a few months *fingers crossed*. Instead she plays with her bath toys and leafs through Reader's Digest while I go to the bathroom. The worst part is that in thirteen years she will be whining about how she needs more privacy. And I will bite my tongue and not remind her of the years of my life when I couldn't even go to the bathroom by myself because of her.

Fun Times

2011-04-26T19:45:00.002-04:00

Well, my cousin's new baby is named Marielle and if the pictures can be believed, she is absolutely adorable. I have to admit I've been having a bit of baby fever lately, with many new babies in real life and blog land. There was a woman with a tiny little baby sitting in front of us at church on Easter and I was having a hard time listening to the homily because my brain was just going "aaaaawww" the entire time. So I'm very excited for Brook, Brett, Corinne and Marielle to get settled in and to the point that they can contemplate visitors so I can get my little baby cuddles in. I'm not trying to have another baby in the near future, but that doesn't mean I don't want to coo over one!

Of course, seeing newborns also reminds me of how hard having a newborn is. Ramona's first few months were really tough. I felt alone, exhausted, sore and disconnected. The idea of going through all that again is daunting, but I like to think that it will be easier next time since we'll have family around to support us. People always say things like, "Women forget how bad childbirth is and that's why they have more babies" which I think is one of the dumbest things a person could say. It's not like women are stupid. Obviously, pain is something that you can't relate to unless it's immediate, but you can certainly recall your experience. The reason women have more children after the not so pleasant experience of childbirth and caring for a newborn is because 1) they know they can make it through, even though it's tough and 2) they know how rewarding having children is- it's worth it!

But before Joe and I have any more kids, we have to get through this wedding. Only 151 days left, according to weather.com (which tells me how many days are left for some reason?). It's hard to believe. It's dying down a lot. I'm not as worried about it as I was. I feel like everything is coming together and will work out. We have a catering tasting on Sunday. The weekend after that my BFF Lindsey will be out visiting and will finally meet Ramona. Later that month, bridesmaid dresses will be done, and my wedding dress will be started. I've got an idea for shoes and jewelry. We've picked out wedding rings. I'm working on decorations. I've ordered samples of the paper I'm thinking of for invitations. We've been working on the reception playlist. I made an eating plan to help me slim down a bit. Overall, I'm feeling good with all things wedding.

And on top of that, the weather is finally cooperating and Ramona and I were able to play outside tonight. She is learning so much so fast now. I'm constantly surprised by something new she's figured out. Tonight she walked up and down the outside steps without having to scoot on her hands and knees. Out of nowhere, she has a new skill. And every day seems to have a new word or two. Yesterday it was "pleeeease?" My heart melted. It kills me how big she is getting. I'm so proud of her. She is totally amazing and awesome.

Yay!

2011-04-25T22:58:00.001-04:00

The new baby is here! I can't wait to see her. :)

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T20:23:00.010-04:00

Well, I've been spending a lot of time glancing at my phone and logging into facebook hoping to hear that my cousin has had or is in the process of having her new baby, but we're all still waiting. New babies are so exciting and I honestly can't wait to hold this new little addition to our family, but she is making us all wait! She was due on the 20th and has yet to make an appearance. Of course, she is still in the realm of reasonable gestation and there is no rush (we all know the things we're supposed to say) but I think I speak for everyone when I say, "We can't wait to see you, new baby!"

In old baby news, Ramona is now 18 months old! She had her 18 month appointment Friday and everything looks great. I love her pediatric nurse practitioner sooo much. She is so awesome with Ramona and it makes me really happy. Ramona got three shots, but she handled them pretty well and doesn't have to get anymore until kindergarten. She was pretty feverish and cuddly for about 24 hours after the shots, but she's back to normal and all over the place as usual. She learned some new words this weekend to allay any worries about her toddlerhood becoming official- "mine" and "no".

"Mine" occurred when we got home from church this morning. I think she learned it there today. It was her first time in the toddler room as opposed to the baby room, and she was one of the youngest ones there. When we got home, I gave Ramona her Easter basket. She focused on the chocolate bunny. She picked it up.

"Mine! Mine!"

She was excited. She went for a direct face bite.

She pretended she was going to be nice.

"Hey, friend, let's go for a walk!"

But ultimately, Bunny ended up looking like this:
Later, his eyes were removed, he was decapitated and finally consumed wholly. Ramona was so covered in chocolate by that point that she required a costume change before we went to Joe's parents' for Easter dinner.

Beyond "mine," "no" is absolutely hilarious. Joe and I crack up every time she does it. It started yesterday. Whenever she is not allowed to do something she wants to do or she has to do something she doesn't want to, she cries and screams, "NOOOOOOOOO!" in an over the top tortured manner. Last night we were dying eggs. Ramona was playing happily with some eggs.

But then, Mommy wouldn't let Ramona throw her crayon in the dye!Can you believe that?

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

I have also received "NOOOOOO!!!!" for washing her face and not letting her mash Peeps into the carpet.

Easter was pretty awesome, though. Ramona got four Easter baskets. Wednesday we went to my parents' house and Ramona, Alex, and Reagan had an Easter egg hunt and got Easter baskets. Friday, Joe went out to the bar with a friend from out of town who was visiting (whose first book is being released next week!) along with Tauno and Rob, and Tauno's mom had sent an Easter basket for Ramona when they dropped by the house. Then today she got her Easter basket from us and from Joe's parents. So, she was spoiled as usual. One of her favorite gifts produced one of my favorite pictures:
I love that she loves books. And, because I haven't loaded you guys up with enough pictures, here's a random cute one from a couple weeks ago:

Rehearsal Dinner

2011-04-19T21:04:00.003-04:00

Honestly, I hadn't thought about the rehearsal dinner much. My original plan was just to find a place we could have a bonfire, a pony keg, and order some pizzas. But my plan for that wasn't coming through, so I started googling around for rehearsal dinner spots in Toledo. I ended up at some wedding message board where two possibilities that interested me were mentioned: El Camino Real and Pizza Papalis. I really wanted pizza and not to get too drunk the day before the wedding (and El Camino margaritas would definitely throw that out the window) so I asked Joe what he thought about Pizza Papalis for the rehearsal dinner. It didn't take much to talk him into it. So, we're going to contact them this week and see if they are available that night for a banquet. It looks pretty reasonably priced for what we're expecting to do, but I don't know if there is some sort of hidden rental fee that I don't know about yet, so we'll see if it's worthwhile or not. As of now, it seems like our best bet.

I'm also really excited to get the catering set up. It's the only really big thing left and I want to get it out of the way so I can start focusing on the smaller details like invitations and clothes and stuff like that. I have a pretty good idea of what I want my dress to look like and my grandma has agreed to help me make it! I'm pretty excited but also pretty nervous because I haven't sewed anything in a long time. But I know my grandma will make sure it looks good, so I'm not too worried. My bridesmaids have agreed on a date to meet up for dresses and already have a pretty good idea of what they want, so I'm hoping that goes pretty smoothly. I'm finally starting to feel like this is really going to happen. The planning just never seems to end. I'm guessing that although people are happy to be getting married, the real reason people smile so much at their wedding is because all the planning is FINALLY over.

Sooo Much Going On- Part 2

2011-04-16T08:20:00.002-04:00

The past week has been pretty eventful in other ways. Wedding-wise, we met with our potential photographer on Saturday, and we went ahead and made them our for sure photographer. I'm very excited. We made our first payment this week, and even though I'm going way over budget, I'm very happy with them, and Joe is, too. I was pretty gung-ho on them just from the website, but I wasn't sure about Joe. He was noncommital and didn't have much to say either way. I was worried that he thought it was "too hipster." So I was hoping the meeting with the photographers would be convincing.

Luckily, the meeting went really well and Joe seemed as excited as I was on the drive home. Meeting them confirmed that they seemed fun and we looked through a few albums and I think the quality really impressed Joe. So we talked about it during the week and finally picked a package and booked everything. Here's the place we went with. Abby is doing our wedding. I feel really good about it. I think our next step is catering, but we're going to wait until after Easter to work on that since we gave up meat for lent and we want to be able to taste what we order.

Giving up meat has been a lot easier than I thought. I think it really made us think more creatively about food. Joe and I have decided to continue to eat vegetarian two nights a week from now on. It makes us try a lot of new things, helps Joe be more inventive in his cooking, and is generally pretty healthy. I'll admit there was a meal of nothing but deep fried vegetables in there that probably wasn't very healthy, but it's really fried pickles fault for being so delicious.

After our photography meeting last Saturday, we finally got to paint the living room. It's white and it looks so much better. I really love it. But, we only painted the walls and later agreed that we should paint the ceiling, so I STILL can't want to hang my pictures. I think we'll paint the ceiling soon so I can finally finish decorating in here. I really want to cross it off my list. After that, we need to do the dining room and that one is going to take some work. It's not much wall space, but it's a lot of trim so there's going to be a lot of taping things off. I did pick a pretty blue for it, though.

I'm also in the process of getting things together for starting back to school. I paid my balance for Summer semester yesterday and need to go pick up my books. I'm still waffling between being excited to go back and being in no way excited to go back. Yes, I want to get my Master's, but the thought of homework and writing papers again is really dampening my enthusiasm.

Other than that, Joe's grandma passed away this week, so we went to Indiana Wednesday night for the showing (which we barely made it in time to catch) and the funeral on Thursday. I had only recently met her, so I wasn't too personally affected, but I was glad I could go to support Joe and his family. I was also glad Ramona was able to meet her before she passed, and I think having Ramona running around and being silly really helped raise a lot of people's spirits. The ceremony was really nice, and it was my first Catholic funeral, so it was interesting to note the subtle differences, which were mainly that they do communion and stress that the body will rise again. Also, everyone stood at the entrance of the church until the ceremony started and followed the body in. Basically, my usual experience with a mass- similar enough that I feel at home but just different enough that I screw something up and feel stupid.

Joe seemed to do pretty well. Funerals always bring up so many feelings. Not only about missing and mourning the person who died, but stirring up thoughts of your own mortality, and how you would cope with the loss of others. So, there were definitely some dark moments, but there was also a lot of familial bonding and I got to meet some of Joe's relatives from farther away that I didn't know. And Joe's mom seemed to be doing pretty well. It's been a hard week for her, but she has a lot of faith and I think it's helping her a lot.

So, it's been a pretty busy week full of tons of varying emotions. But it usually is.

Sooo Much Going On- Part 1

2011-04-16T07:41:00.003-04:00

Man, I have wanted to update this for days now but have been too busy doing stuff. So I might break this into a couple different posts so I can cover all the awesome. Or not. We'll see.

First of all, this was one of those "someone dialed up Mony's IQ" weeks. She's figured out so many new things and it's hilarious and adorable. I mean, all the sudden she says all kinds of stuff. And she said her first sentence- "I got it!" (Thanks, Kai Lan.) Remember how much she likes to sing EIEIO during old McDonald? Now she actually sings it during the right part of the song instead of at the end. And yesterday when I got home from work, we had our usual giant hug of reunification and then I set her down and walked over to the bathroom and she said, "potty." This was a big deal because usually if I set her down when I have to go to the bathroom she cries and I tell her, "Mommy has to go potty." This time, she knew I had to go to the potty and she didn't cry because she understood what was happening! Amazing! She is constantly singing, which I absolutely love. We are singing buddies. And she is getting really good at imitating things Joe and I say. Or that DJ Lance says.

And- this was so cute my heart melted all over my lungs and created a huge mess- one of the songs that I've sang to Ramona since she was born is "I Love My Ramona!" There is an Andrew WK song called "I Love NYC" which I have adjusted the lyrics to:

I love my Ramona!
Oooooooh yeah! My Ramona!
I love my Ramona!
OH! YEAH! My Ramona!

So the other day Ramona wandered into the dining room (out of my sight as I was on the couch.) If I'm being too lazy to follow her as she wanders the house, I usually sing one of our songs so she'll come back in the living room. So I sang "I love my Ramona!" And a cute little toddler voice came back with, "Ooooooh yeah!" Joe and I both just looked at each other with huge grins because it was so adorable.

But even more than the new words, it's apparent that she is thinking in a more advanced way. She seems to be developing the ability to think about things that aren't immediately happening and to even have an imagination. It's very exciting to see her do something out of nowhere. I just love watching her learn and grow. The other day she was picking up Joe's cell phone and holding it up to her ear. "Hai-d'oh." So I went in the other room and called her from my cell phone. She babbled on the phone with me for a few minutes. Then I said bye and hung up and Joe said she looked pretty crestfallen when I stopped talking.

The biggest thing about it is just realizing what a giant brain sponge she is right now. And that she has been for awhile. I'm finally seeing that she really does understand much more than she can communicate. The way she knows and loves all the little songs and rhymes I've made up for her really blows my mind. And the amount of things she's figured out from just observing us with no effort whatsoever on our part to teach it to her is staggering. I'm really enjoying all these new skills.

Sleepy Fish

2011-04-06T19:51:00.000-04:00

Anniversary

2011-04-05T21:09:00.006-04:00

So Friday was my and Joe's official five years of togetherness- very exciting! I took the day off work, not so much for the anniversary as much as I had a lot of errand type things I needed to get done. Mostly, getting my Ohio license and getting Ramona's 18 month doctor appointment set up. (Can you believe it? 18 months!) The license getting was a success and (bonus!) I have the best driver's license picture EVER. Unfortunately I didn't get the car registration done since I had to go to another location and the day is only so long, so I have to do that later this month (probably the same day I take Mony for her appointment.) Other than that, Joe and I didn't do much except say things like, "wow, five years! I love you!" every once in awhile. He got Chinese take out for dinner and we watched a Devito movie. Ramona fell asleep early and it was adorable- she fell asleep eating her dinner. I'll upload the video later, but it was super cute.

Saturday and Sunday I didn't feel that well. I slept a lot. We went to Joe's parents on Saturday and coincidentally got a second dose of Devito because they watched Mars Attacks! So two movies in one weekend. Wow, now I just have to write about them.

Sunday I finally got a hold of the last person for my wedding party crew to see if she was willing to do it, and I got another yes, so the wedding party on my side will be Kathleen, Erin, Lindsey, Kelly, and Nina. Joe has yet to talk to anyone I think. But that's his business. Anyway, I also started working on paper flowers for the wedding. I really like how they're turning out, but they are SO time consuming. Luckily I have plenty of time until the wedding, so I guess I'll just keep busting out a few a day. Lastly, I decided to suck it up and spend the cash on the wedding photography. We have a meeting this weekend with the photographer so I'm really excited. I'm hoping it goes well, because internet gallery-wise, I really love the work, so I'm hoping I like them in person and their real life examples. I do have a couple other photogs I'm interested in if it doesn't work out this weekend, but I have a feeling it will.

And in "Lord only knows what will amuse this child" news, Ramona has had the time of her life playing with a pillow case the last couple of days. What is that about?

Also, over the last couple of weeks Ramona started trying to constantly eat cat food again. She did this when she was around 9 months old, but she hadn't thought about it much recently. Then all the sudden she became obsessed with it. If you take your eyes off her for a minute she will run to the kitchen and start eating the cat's food. Anyway, when I was at work, Joe found Ramona predictably eating cat food. However, she classed it up a little by using chopsticks.
Joe thought it was hilarious and was kind enough to snap a picture for me to enjoy when I got home.

Why Must I be so Obsessive?

2011-03-30T19:46:00.004-04:00

Seriously, I am always obsessed with something. When we first moved it was decorating. I spent forever looking at design blogs and online catalogs. I thought and planned. Now I'm waiting for the weather to cooperate so I can finish the living room and dining room. My obsession has waned as I wait for warm clear skies.

In the mean time, I've become consumed with wedding crap. I don't even know why. I just need something else to think about. We're getting to the point that we're actually spending real money on things and it's terrifying. I'm trying to use as little of our savings as possible. I'm thinking I might be able to get away with only using savings on catering and paying everything else out of "other" funds. I have a pretty good idea of what we're doing for most stuff. Not final decisions, but sort of round about thoughts on most things and pretty decent estimates on costs. The only thing that I'm still undecided about is photography. I want good photography. I want to have nice pictures of the day. But photography is sooooo expensive. It's the thing that is bothering me the most. I want the cool and pretty pics but I get all outraged every time I think of paying someone THAT much money for freaking PICTURES. But then I'm like, but they're so nice! And then I'm like, "do you really want to spend like half of your budget on pictures?" And so on and so forth. So, we'll see what happens there. I'm still researching.

In Ramona news, not much is going on, so I figured I'd throw together a few clips to show Ramona being a technologically advanced baby. Our friends Andy and Holly were down a few weeks ago and Andy brought his iPad. Ramona really enjoyed it. The girl loves making music any way possible!

This is Getting REAL, son!

2011-03-26T09:06:00.003-04:00

So Thursday was our meeting with Pastor Bob. We talked about ourselves and our families. He said he thought we were ready for marriage. (Unsurprising, since we've been together for almost five years, have moved across the country together a couple times, and have a child we've been raising together.) So our conversation was less about how to deal with marriage and more about the actual ceremony. He gave us a general idea of how the ceremony will go, told us how the ceremony can be customized and gave us some sample ceremonies. We meet with him again in May to talk about our decisions up to that point.

I am most likely going to cry at the wedding. I was getting teary eyed reading sample ceremonies in the parking lot of Pizza Hut. I think that was when the whole idea of the wedding really hit me. A lot of people say things like, "Don't get too caught up in the wedding, it's all about the marriage!" By which I believe they mean that the wedding planning and the party and whatnot are one day of the rest of your lives, so don't put too much stock into it. That hasn't been a problem for me because the marriage is really the important part to me. But within all of that, I hadn't really considered the enormity of the actual ceremony. Obviously, throughout our relationship we have had many promises and obligations to one another, but they have been mostly unsaid and merely implied. But the wedding ceremony is my chance to vocalize those promises, and vow to uphold them for the rest of my life in front of God and everyone. It's a powerful moment. It's being decisive and making a choice and having the confidence to say how you feel and what you want. Honestly, as patriarchal as the history of marriage is, the ceremony feels like it will be a very feminist moment. It's saying, "I have the choice to marry any man or no man, but I choose you." And it's not an inconsequential choice, it's a lifelong commitment. It's saying, "I've changed my mind about everything from my favorite color to my faith in God dozens of times over my short life, but I know I won't change my mind about having you in it ever." In every way, it really is a huge, powerful, important, emotional decision.

There is some quote about motherhood that a lot of people use that is something along the lines of, "having a child is wearing your heart outside of your body" and it's very true. Empathy takes on new, unforeseen heights when you have a child. Just the thought of bad things happening to Ramona makes me tear up. I love her in a way that I don't love anyone else, and that I probably won't love anyone else except her potential future siblings. But getting married feels like another form of my heart living outside me. Only instead of my heart just growing into someone else without my control or permission as it does with children, I am purposefully putting my heart into someone else's hands and saying, "Please, PLEASE take good care of this because I really need it. I'm giving it to you because I think you can make it grow bigger than it's ever been and bring me more joy than I've ever had, but I'm quite aware that you could just throw it on the ground and stomp on it at any time." And this wedding ceremony is his chance to say, "Your heart is a precious gift I value and want to protect and nurture. I am deliberately accepting this gift with the understanding that you are trusting me to help you grow and become a better, happier person through my words and actions. I would never throw it on the ground and stomp on it. You must be thinking of someone else; I'm too awesome for that."

And then? We make the same promises again! He gives me his heart (which is very thoughtful of him) and then I have to accept the HUGE responsibility to take care of that sucker FOR-EV-ER. And as I stated earlier, I don't think marriage is about occasionally tending to his heart, but actively helping it grow over time to a huge, joyful, heart that keeps getting bigger even when you think it can't. (We're gonna need a bigger boat. Or flower pot. Or chest. Wherever this metaphor is taking you.) And so the wedding is about vulnerability and responsibility all at the same time. You make a commitment and trust someone else to honor the commitment they've made. It's kind of a big deal.

And I really didn't think too much about it until Thursday night. I knew these things are what marriage is about, but I forgot that it's what the ceremony is about. Now I think I'm more excited for the ceremony than the reception. But I'm still most excited for the marriage.

My Baby is Learning Stuff!

2011-03-23T21:51:00.002-04:00

Wow, Ramona is really starting to know things. This video is her latest trick. We've been working on it for a week or so, and she totally gets it now. So cute!

Also, she was smart enough to eat my Thin Mints, hence her chocolate covered face.

Her other cool trick right now is "reading" her Colors book and pointing to the picture of the ball and yelling "Ball!" I just keep telling Joe, "My baby can read! Just like the commercial says!"

Cool cool cool triiiiiiiicks! Yeah! (She also yells Yeah! during that song on Yo Gabba Gabba. It's awesome.)

More Baptism Pics

2011-03-22T21:37:00.004-04:00

Joe's mom sent me some more pictures awhile ago, but I finally got around to downloading them today. This picture has most of the people who were at the baptism. (And pretty much everyone looks terrible, which makes it extra hilarious.)
I just like the evil look I'm giving Ramona in that one.
A cute one of Joe and Ramona
Most of Joe's family

Ramona at the church

There were a lot more, but these were my favorites. I felt like garbage today and ended up leaving work early. I'm feeling a lot better now, but I'm hoping bedtime goes well tonight because I'm still pretty exhausted. I really need to get a lot done at work tomorrow, so I'm hoping I feel awesome when I wake up.

17 Months

2011-03-21T19:54:00.002-04:00

The Fish is 17 months today. It's hard to believe. After work she and I played in the backyard and then went over to the park to play. She had so much fun on the swings and kept yelling "whee!" and "wow!" After that we went to run some errands at Target and the Fresh Market. I realized that Ramona's mimicking is getting pretty hilarious. She says things that I say all the time and I don't even realize it. Like, whenever I see something I like I go, "Oooooh!" and she kept pointing at things and going "Ooooh!" at Fresh Market.

She's become quite the climber and finally figured out how to get up on the coffee table yesterday. I knew it would happen soon since she figured out how to get on the ottoman recently and they're about the same height. I'm ok with the ottoman, but I've been trying to quash the coffee table because 1) no one is allowed to stand on the coffee table and 2) it's slippery and dangerous, especially when she's wearing her footsie pajamas. She's already had a close call with falling on it.

I have really been enjoying this weather and am bummed that it's going to cool down again. I want spring for real! None of this fake out crap. I mean seriously, didn't the groundhog say spring is a go ahead? Let's stay with this weather. It's so nice to spend the evening outside with Ramona instead of dying of boredom in the house.

Spring is Here

2011-03-20T19:21:00.005-04:00

Ramona is loving spring- especially the little burst of nice weather we had last week. She played outside for the first time in a long time and had a great time running around and investigating all the pine cones and sticks in the backyard.

We've been seeing my family a lot lately which has been nice. We went to hang out for my mom's birthday, then the next weekend Erin had the high school musical which she was managing the backstage for, and then this past weekend was some play Kathleen was involved with due to her affiliation with Mitch. Both the plays were enjoyable and I had a lot fun getting to see everyone. Ramona seems to be having fun playing with Mom.

Today we went over to see Joe's parents since we hadn't been over there in awhile. It's weird to deal with how often we should visit our families. Now that we've moved home and especially since we have a kid, it's a balance of trying to not be a burden or a bother and show up too often, and making sure we visit regularly so we can see everyone. I think we're doing ok, but who knows? It's hard to know what people are thinking.

Ramona has added some to her vocabulary- now she says mommy, daddy, up, ball, wow, hi, and bye. She says other things by just repeating things I say, but those are the ones she actually uses independently of my prompting. She also enjoys saying "Arf! Arf!" when I talk about what noise dogs make, and thinks high fives are totally awesome. Her favorite song right now (other than ANYTHING on Yo Gabba Gabba!) is Old MacDonald, which I change to Old MacMony, and she loves to sing the EIEIO part. She has been extra lovable this week due to her enthusiasm for the new things we've been doing.
She's my favorite little lady!

Wedding update- we went to look at Ward Pavilion today and I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. I was worried about the wood paneling and drop ceilings, but it's actually really cute! The wood paneling is more lodge than 80s basement rec room, and the drop ceiling panels are faux wood (or real wood, I didn't look that closely) so they looked nicer. My only concern is that it's a little small. But, we're planning on a small reception, so I think we should be fine. We also have the option of tenting the patio area, so that's something to consider. But I think I'll book it when I get paid Friday. I like that it's
1) directly across from the church
2) in a park, since Joe and I have such a history with the parks
3) not "fancy". Pretty much every reception hall in Toledo is fake fancy in a really cheesy way, and our reception is about being fun and silly not fancy. I mean I want to wear a pretty dress, but that's the extent of the fancy. I want to be happy, not classy. I mean, I'm not going out of my way to make it tacky, but I want it to be casual and fun.
4) adjacent to a little playground, since we're inviting quite a few kids.
5) not too expensive, and finally
6) not requiring a specific caterer so I can pick what I want within my budget.

In other news, I asked my sister Kathleen to be my maid of honor and she said yes! We haven't nailed down the rest of the bridal party yet (except my other sister Erin, obviously, who I need to invite over for an official type bridesmaid request since she was out prom shopping on Saturday.) It kind of depends on how many attendants we want to have, which we haven't determined, and getting Joe to discuss wedding details is like pulling teeth. He wants to be involved and get asked about things, but he takes forever to make decisions which would be fine if we had more than six months to get this crap together but we don't. I'm a little more worried about pulling it off than I thought I'd be (both financially and pure planning-wise), but I'm sure it will be fine. We meet with Pastor Bob this week to get that whole ball rolling, so we are slowly making progress.

The Sickness

2011-03-10T21:19:00.002-05:00

Once again, Joe got sick and made Mony sick, too. Joe was sick Mon-Wed and Ramona started up last night and today was-lay-around-with-a-fever-sleep-all-day sick. It was like having a newborn again. She just laid on me and slept while I did whatever I wanted. It's a nice change of pace, but I feel sorry for my little fish. Hopefully she'll be better tomorrow. I'm fine so far, which probably means I'll get sick over the weekend, because that's how my life is.

We gave up meat for lent, and so far it has been pretty easy. I just eat fruit for breakfast, pb&j for lunch, and something veggie for dinner (so far grilled cheese and soup and vegetarian sushi.) It's kind of fun because it makes me look up recipes and get excited about cooking. It also has taught me that zucchini is called courgette in New Zealand, since they have some good recipes that I found confusing at first because I didn't' know what they were talking about. I feel that I should buy a kitchen scale because all the recipes from overseas call for grams of food.

Wedding-wise we have a meeting with our pastor on the 24th. Tomorrow I'm leaving Joe with the task of calling the venue we're thinking of and seeing if we can look around and get that set up. So things are kind of getting rolling with that. Spring was starting to spring this week with rain instead of snow, and almost everything was melted, but I think it was starting to snow when I came home from work, so it looks like this never ending winter will continue to never end.

Hmmm

2011-03-03T20:08:00.002-05:00

Well, September 24th is going to be the day, it seems. Everyone so far has been open to that date, so I got penciled in at the church today. We just have to meet with the pastor and it will be official. Then I have to plan everything else- which I don't even want to think about right now. But I will have to start thinking about it pretty quickly. We've been putting together a guest list, but that's pretty much it so far. Blaaaaaah- it's a lot to think about.

In other news, we went up to the winter beer festival up in Grand Rapids over the weekend, which was pretty fun. We got to try quite a few beers, and there were some really awesome ones. I had a lot of fun and Joe got pretty goofy. I hadn't seen him so obnoxious since my sister's 21st birthday. We went to Hopcat and got another shirt for the brew blanket and went to Founder's but didn't get a shirt because they were too busy. I had a really great time all around, even though I felt like garbage the next day. I got a nap once we got home and felt much better. It was definitely nice to see friends we hadn't seen in awhile and drink some new beers.

Ramona stayed with Joe's parents while we were gone and even though she cried when we left (and it was the cutest crying ever- she is really into waving right now, so she was screaming but still waving bye bye) she had a lot of fun eating way too much food and even got to take a trip to Toys R Us. So obviously, she didn't miss us too much. She did seem really happy to see us when we picked her up, though, and I was certainly happy to see her.

I'm almost done decorating the living room. I'm pretty much waiting until it's warm enough to paint before I put up the finishing touches (the paint, valances, a plant, a desk lamp, and pictures) so it's just a matter of time. The dining room is pretty much the same story. I need paint, and I ordered a table cloth that hasn't come in yet. I'll probably get some napkins and place mats and a few more pictures and I'll be done in there. The big challenge left there is figuring out what I want to put in the built in cabinets. I'm undecided.

So, I'm excited for spring and painting, warmth and bike rides, sunlight and picnics, but am wondering how I'm going to survive a summer filled of rushed wedding planning, running after a toddler, and going back to school. My mom said that she's interested in baby-sitting Ramona once school lets out for the summer, which will help a lot. But it will still be a crazy busy summer- but I'm always happiest when I have a lot to do, so I'll be fine.

Getting Married for Real

2011-02-28T19:49:00.004-05:00

So we are actually serious about getting married now that Joe is working, and we have three dates picked out. Since I know some people couldn't make Mony's baptism due to prior engagements, I wanted to give everyone a chance to weigh in on this- here's the three days; if any of them is super terrible or super awesome for you, let me know. I'm going to reserve the church by the end of the week, so let me know ASAP!

August 27
September 24
October 8

I'm leaning toward the August or September date because I think it will be a lot of pressure on Joe to have my birthday and our anniversary in the same week if we end up doing October 8.

Someone Tell James...

2011-02-24T19:32:00.002-05:00

My brother totally needs to send these pics of him and Alexander to Like Mom Like Dad.

Jesus Loves Mony

2011-02-21T20:38:00.011-05:00

The baptism went so well. I really couldn't ask for Ramona to be much better. She let Pastor Bob hold her and she didn't cry. She smiled and "talked" and was a total ham when he walked her down the aisle. She didn't object to her gown too strongly, and I was so touched at how many people showed up for her. Seriously, it really means so much to me that every single person who came was there- and there were more people who wanted to, but couldn't due to timing. We're really lucky to have so many people who love our little fish.

After the baptism, we all went out to breakfast/lunch at Bob Evans. We didn't all get to sit together, but we were near each other and were able to walk around and visit without annoying the waitstaff too badly. Ramona and Corinne had fun. How crazy is it that Corinne is a little under a year older than Ramona? She looks like a little girl here, and Ramona still looks like a chubby little baby. The difference a year makes...
After lunch, we went back to our place and Ramona opened gifts and the kids played. My nephews were in good moods and were being really fun. Reagan and Ramona were pretty cute together. At Thanksgiving Reagan said he "hates that baby" about Ramona, but yesterday he kept smiling at her and insisting that she said his name. I also found him in Ramona's room pretending to clean with her toy broom, and he took the baby doll stroller for a spin.

I don't know what was happening in that last picture. Kathleen's all, "Oh no she didn't!" and Alexander and Ramona are plotting something.
I loooooooove this pic of my mom and my sister Erin. This one is getting printed out and hung up somewhere in my house. Too cute.
Mitch was sleepy and cuddled up with the "Evil Monkey" that Jesus loves.
Me, Mony my mom, and Joe's mom. I like how it appears that I have no legs and am somehow levitating in the back.
I just wanted everyone to see how cute Corinne's outfit was.
Joe, Mony, Mony's full belly and the grandpas.

It was a lot of fun! So far I've only gotten pics from my cousin Brook (who looked so cute, but I don't have pictures of since she took all these. Seriously, she looked better at like 30 weeks pregnant than I look on a good day NOT pregnant!) But I'll post more when I get copies of the pics Joe's mom took.

We also went down to Columbus on Saturday to go to Elevator Brewing with Brook, Brett, Scott, and Corinne, but it was closed during lunch so we went to Barley's instead. We had a lot of fun spending the day with them, and I hope we'll get to see our Columbus relatives more now that we're back in Ohio. We also got another shirt for the brew blanket while we were down there, and considering that we'll probably get one or two more next weekend up in Grand Rapids, and we got two last weekend up in Royal Oak, it's been quite a month for the brew blanket. I also got to see a friend I hadn't seen in forever which was really nice. I wish we could have had more time and maybe a more relaxing venue (it's hard to shop when Ramona is involved) but I'm sure I'll see her again soon.

It was a really fun weekend and exactly the kind of thing I was dreaming of back when I was hoping to move back to Ohio- a weekend spent with family and friends and loving surroundings.

Pretty Awesome Valentine's Weekend

2011-02-14T19:48:00.004-05:00

What a weekend and Valentine's Day! Saturday Mony spent the day with Joe's parents while Joe and I went up to Royal Oak to do some shopping and so I could take him for a romantic lunch at Lily's Seafood brewpub. We also hit up Royal Oak Brewing and got two new shirts for the brew blanket. We got some art for the living room, and a book for Ramona.

Sunday involved a three hour family nap, and it was much needed and lovely. Actual Valentine's Day I had to work and Joe made me fancy dinner (an appetizer of crackers with smoked salmon foam, an entree of steak and pancetta wrapped shrimp, and a dessert of creme brulee with a Bell's brewery stout to drink.) We also got our Michigan brewer's guild cards in the mail, and Valentine's cards from both sets of grandparents for Mony. But the big news was that our couch is finally being delivered today! At least it was- until Joe got a call about a job! He's at orientation this morning, which is why I'm home with Ramona instead of at work. The job is from 11pm to 7am Sunday-Thursday, so we'll still have weekends and evening together (even if Joe sleeps through most of the evenings) but it's perfect and we're excited.

I also met with my adviser last week and have everything set up to start class this summer. I'm taking two classes- one online and one in the classroom. The classroom one is only six weeks long, and Joe's mom said she would watch Ramona if we need her to, so we should be pretty set. So, it's been a pretty awesome Valentine's week for all of us.

Mony has a boyfriend!

2011-02-10T19:29:00.003-05:00

Not really, but the little boy that is in her play group at church and she had fun playing at the chili cook off today. She said hi and waved and said bye to him which she has never done to anyone before! It was pretty crazy. I am overly proud of her for it. I guess now she waves to the TV and to other babies.

Joe didn't win the chili cookoff, but we had a lot of fun. They had musical performers from University Church (which is who we were raising money for at the cookoff) and they were awesome. Great voices and instrumentals and you could tell they were seriously having fun performing. Mony was quite a dancer and she ran around with her buddy and laughed pretty much the whole time. It was heartwarming and I'm glad we went. I wish I would have taken pictures. Oh, well.

You make my heart feel super happy!

2011-02-09T19:42:00.004-05:00

Oh the world of children's television. It really permeates my life. I've had a Yo Gabba Gabba song stuck in my head for two days- "For me? For you! Thank you! I love you too!" And when some of the Chinese women who work in my office were telling our boss about Chinese New Year the other day, all I could think about what Kai Lan and Yeye.

The fish is also very into books right now. She has a counting book of Easter Eggs she got for Easter last year, and she really enjoys it. It's mostly because I point to the eggs and count them and she thinks pointing is the greatest thing. If I don't point she gets pretty angry about it. Also, when I'm done reading it to her she usually sits on the floor looking at it by herself and mumbles her baby jibberesh while pointing at the pages.

She and Danzig use pretty much the same tactics to get my attention these days. Yesterday morning before work I was checking my email and drinking a coffee and Danzig jumped on my lap and kept getting in my face and making it impossible to drink my coffee and see the computer screen until I pet her. This evening, Ramona walked up and stood on the magazine I was reading until I played with her. Danzig has been pretty needy lately, though. I feel bad because I don't pay enough attention to her (although it could be argued I paid too much attention to her prior to Ramona's birth. Not everyone has a fake career and love interest picked out for their cat.) So I've been making an extra effort to cuddle with her lately.

Oh, and if anyone is trying to pick out a name for their pet, I recommend not naming it after Glenn Danzig, because trying to explain your cat's name to your pastor in the future might be really awkward. When we met with the pastor about Mony's baptism we were small talking for a bit and he asked if we had any pets, and when we said we had a cat he asked her name. "Danzig? What's that mean?" I explained it was the singer of a band that had a song called Halloween and we got her around Halloween and she's Halloween colors. Luckily he didn't ask anything further. Joe thought it was hilarious and kept joking that I should have told him to check out the Misfits. Somehow, I don't think our pastor would be interested in a band with a song called "Angelf**k." Call me crazy.

Anyway, tomorrow there's a chili cookoff at church, so we're taking the fish up there and I'm bringing some brownies and Joe's bringing some of his chili. He's toning it down a bit since he usually makes it crazy spicy for me. It should be fun.

Bad Meggie

2011-02-07T19:10:00.006-05:00

Yeah, I didn't post for a week again. Laziness- I embody it. I finally got the ol' W2s and filed my taxes. Work was canceled on Wednesday due to the snowstorm, so I got to stay home and hang out with Joe and Ramona. My doctor's appointment was also canceled since it was on Wednesday, but I got rescheduled for today and it went really well. I had a nurse practitioner and she was awesome. So far, I can highly recommend UTMC's nurse practitioner staff. I also asked about the OB side of their practice and found out that they have a midwife team that's backed by an OB for complicated pregnancies or c-sections, and they deliver at Toledo Hospital. So, if we decide to have another one at some point I know what to expect.

There was nothing too exciting this week. Saturday was a super snow day, so we took Mony out to play in the snow while I shoveled. She enjoyed eating the snow, but not falling down in it. The snow up here is working on getting as high as she is tall, so she was just playing in an area I had shoveled. But it was slippery and she was in a snowsuit, so she was having a hard time walking. We were supposed to go out that night, but the snow kind of killed that plan and we stayed in and watched movies.

My mom came over Sunday and brought the gown- it fit! So it looks like Ramona will be baptized in the same gown I was baptized in. (You have to admit that's pretty cool.) We should really get some pictures of my baptism so we can compare pictures (hint hint, Mom.) After that we watched the Super Bowl at Joe's parents' house. Ramona wore her Browns outfit since it's the only NFL thing she has. (And really, isn't saying "Yay, Browns!" pretty much the same thing as saying "Boo, Steelers!"?) Obviously, that house full of Browns fans was happy the Steelers lost (although Joe was hoping for some magical way for them to both lose.) I was just glad there was nacho dip and beer. I'd post a picture of Ramona running around, but I left the camera there. Oh, well. Maybe next time.

Yay, me!

2011-02-01T17:41:00.002-05:00

I got my acceptance letter for school today! I will be able to start classes this summer. I think I'm going to take two on-line ones, but I have to meet with my adviser first. I am more excited about getting the acceptance letter than I thought I would be. I am also glad that it looks like I'll be able to take at least the core body of knowledge stuff online.

Doing Stuff

2011-01-29T20:02:00.005-05:00

I've been meaning to post forever, but I'm never in the mood to write about things. Today I'm on the caffeine/sugar high that can only be achieved through Diet Coke and too much birthday cake. So here we go...

We took the fish to her pediatrician appointment this week and everything looks good. She's getting taller and heavier and developing on schedule. She didn't get her shots because my old pediatrician hadn't sent the shot records yet, but we have to go back and do that soon. I really liked the pediatrician; she was super nice. First we had a resident look her over (it is a teaching hospital) and then the pediatric nurse practitioner who had been recommended. I was very pleased with the visit, but the whole resident thing made me wonder if I'm going to have to have two pelvic exams next week when I have a gyno appointment at the University. It's not a big deal (I mean I had Mony at a teaching hospital and had an entire student NICU team along with the actual NICU team in the room when I pushed her out) but it just makes it take longer. I don't know. We'll see how that goes. It's this coming Wednesday.

I actually read a book this week, so I feel kind of smart again. I'm glad to be back in the land of libraries. The branch we live closest to is the only one that is open on Sundays, so that's convenient. I want to take Mony to the downtown library soon, though, since it has a pretty awesome children's section if I remember correctly. I really do think reading helps keep me sharper because I did way better at my crossword puzzle this week than I usually do. When I start back to school soon, I'll probably feel like a total genius, even if I'm just taking stupid accounting theory classes.

Today we took Ramona to her first party. It was her friend Olivia's first birthday party and it was cute. She had fun eating cake, running around, and even interacting somewhat with other children. Fun times.
Tomorrow I officially join Epworth United Methodist. We met with Pastor Bob on Thursday about Mony's baptism. Everything is set for that on February 20.

I still don't have my W2s for either job. I'm looking forward to my tax return so I can finish getting the living and dining room together. What I have left: curtains & hardware for the living room, pictures/art for the living room and dining room, table cloth/linens for the dining room, and paint for both rooms. So, I'm actually almost done, I'm just wanting to actually be done so I don't think about it anymore and can think about the other rooms. (The bathroom needs some serious organization help.) Also, I can't wait for my couch to come in. I think that will make it feel a lot more done and less flophouse.

Library Baby

2011-01-23T20:23:00.003-05:00

The fish went to the library for the first time- she thinks it's a place where you run down the aisles and yell, but that's ok. She's a baby and she had fun. I'm trying to make Joe take her to Baby time at the library since it's when I'm at work. (Stupid day time jobs!)

MLK Yay!

2011-01-17T10:00:00.004-05:00

Ramona with her sippy mug

Man, do I love a three day weekend. Mostly because I love spending time with my little family, but also, I enjoy not working. However, I think this is the way everyone feels, so I'm not going to go on about it for long.

Friday we went to Joe's parents' house and had a dinner for Joe's brother Chris. I had a lot of fun talking to Chris's girlfriend and the food was excellent as always. Mony was well behaved and running all over. She has been playing with Joe's brother Ben a lot when we go over there. Ben chases her around and she's at that age where she's just starting to love getting chased. (Run run. Look over shoulder to make sure he's still chasing. Run run more. Laugh hysterically. Repeat.) Fun times.

The next day we actually made it to church on time for the first time. I was incredibly proud of us. Ramona has been doing really well in the nursery. She likes to play and run around. They have different ages in different nurseries and she's usually the oldest one in the 0-18 months nursery, so she amuses the nursery ladies with her abilities to run around and grab other children's things. I had my membership class after church, and after that we went home.

Ramona has been biting a lot the past two weeks and Joe's mom noticed it when we were over there on Saturday. I had been checking to see if she was teething pretty much every day, but nothing was popping through yet (although her gums were starting to look swollen.) Sunday, she was drooling like crazy- WAAAAY more than usual. So I stuck my hand in her mouth, and sure enough, her top cuspids are starting to peek through. She's slept pretty well through this round of teething. I'm guessing the bottoms will bust through pretty soon.

I also got my hair cut on Sunday. I got the length chopped off, which is good, and I think the cut looks nice even though it's totally 90s looking. We'll see what happens when I style it myself.

2011: Off to a great start

2011-01-15T12:30:00.002-05:00

This year is already going pretty well. Resolution-wise I've already lost 6 pounds through a lazy "diet" (not constantly eating total crap) and Just Dance 2, and am looking at joining the YMCA this weekend. I've been able to relax and spend a lot of time with people I care about. In a word, I have been HAPPY.

Ramona has been weaned for a week now. On one hand I kind of miss it, and on the other it's awesome to have my body back to myself. Mostly, it makes me feel like she's such a big girl. We were able to wean gradually enough that I haven't had any pain or super engorgement. We were down to just bed time nursings for over a month and she just finally seemed ready to be done altogether. It was a combination of two things- 1) She saw me topless on New Years eve and instead of going "OMGboobiess! Ineedtonursenow!" which was her old mindset, she just poked and played with them (which I can't blame her for. Playing with boobs is fun.) and 2) At bedtime nursing last week she bit me really hard and drew blood, leaving a nasty scab and getting blood all over the white shirt I was wearing. Luckily I was able to get it rinsed in time that the stain didn't set. I think she only bit me because she was super thirsty and there wasn't enough milk coming out fast enough for her. (I base this on the fact that she drank two sippies of milk after the incident.) But I was like "You are done forever, kid!" The scab is still on my nipple. It was quite a bite. All around, I don't regret being done, and she doesn't seem to really notice/care. We're still super cuddle buddies and we're still co-sleeping since I don't want her to associate weaning with me kicking her out of bed. Plus I like having my little cuddle buddy around. But sleeping in her own bed is the next big hurdle we have to jump. I don't think I'm going to start pushing on it until she's 18 months.

No Kissing!

2011-01-13T20:50:00.003-05:00

I have really been enjoying Ramona a lot lately. It seems like she became much happier when we moved here, and she really rarely cries anymore. She also sleeps through the night, which makes us all a lot happier. But mostly she's at an age where her personality is more apparent every day. She cracks up at the goofiest stuff. She gets excited about giving fives. She lets us know if we are not doing what she wants up to her standards. (I tried to give her five with only one hand earlier today and she grabbed my other hand and pulled it up to indicate that I was supposed to be giving fives with both hands.) She wants to share her food with us- kind of. She'll put a cheerio near my mouth and if I don't eat it fast enough she just puts it in her mouth and gives me a look like, "You're supposed to eat it like this, idiot." She acts insulted if we won't drink out of her sippy when she offers it. She runs all over the house pushing her baby doll stroller and will sometimes load it up with snacks and her sippy and push them all over the house. She's just so fun. It's pretty much impossible to be in a bad mood around her. When I get home from work, I get a biiiig hug and kisses which makes me smile so hard. She is very affectionate.

However, she does not like it when Joe and I are affectionate towards each other. Whenever Joe and I kiss, hug, or just cuddle Ramona starts squealing and runs over to break it up. I don't know why it upsets her so much but she gets really mad about it. Tonight she was sitting on my lap and Joe walked over and Ramona realized he was going to give me a kiss, so she jumped up and started pretty much making out with me so Joe couldn't get close enough to give me a kiss.

One of my favorite things is how devoted she will get to an idea when she comes up with something. Last night Joe drank a beer out of one of our beer mugs. When it was empty, Ramona grabbed the mug and put her sippy in it and then tried to drink the sippy out of the mug, which she couldn't quite pull off because the mug was too heavy. But she still carried about the sippy in the mug and put it back in every time it fell out the rest of the night. That's dedication.

Memories

2011-01-11T20:08:00.004-05:00

I've been looking through old pictures of Mony because I'm thinking about getting a couple blown up to decorate around the house. Here's some cute ones I forgot all about- look how chubby she was!

I loooooove the stuck out tongue. I really like this a lot except the lighting is bad and you can see my bra. But it makes me smile just looking at it.
Yum, tasty toes! I forgot how much easier it was to get cute pictures of her when she didn't move that much. Now it seems like she's running around too much to get any pictures of her that aren't blurry.
I love the stuck out tongue and the Danzig photo bomb.
A Mommy and Mony moment. This one always makes me smile as well. My silly baby. I'm still deciding which ones are blow up worthy (which is dependent on my terrible photography skills as much as the actual content of the photos) but these ones made me happy tonight.

Holy crap

2011-01-11T19:58:00.001-05:00

Christening gowns are expensive. Apparently they are like wedding dresses- you specify they are for a special occasion and then charge four times as much.

Baby Baptism

2011-01-11T18:56:00.002-05:00

Just an FYI, Ramona is scheduled to get baptized on February 20 at the 9:45am service at Epworth United Methodist 3077 Valley View Drive Ottawa Hills, Ohio 43615. Obviously, it's at church so anyone and everyone is invited. We'll probably go out to eat or have food at our house afterwords, so let me know if you're coming and interested in getting lunch together so we can plan.

The fish has had a nasty cold for a couple of days. She has been pretty resilient through it, but has had a hard time sleeping. Colds are no fun in general, but they are especially crappy for people who don't understand the concept of blowing their noses. Poor baby.

We went to see Joe's extended family in Richmond, Indiana over the weekend and it was a pretty good time. Ramona loved all the attention and did really well, even with the long car ride. She's getting big. I set up her 15 month doctor's appointment today, so we'll see how the new pediatrician is. She was recommended by a family friend, so I'm sure she'll be awesome.

More to report, but I'm not really in the mood to write at this moment. Maybe tomorrow...

Mony Christmas and a Happy New Year!

2011-01-05T20:38:00.006-05:00

Well I haven't put up pictures lately, so here's some updates to Baby Fish's life as of late. Here she is looking cute and Christmasy. See that hair I've been talking about?
She enjoyed Christmas and actually opened some of her own presents (as well as some other people's presents.)
All bundled up for zoo lights... you can see how much she enjoyed this.
Hanging out with her new friend Olivia. Mony is going to Olivia's first birthday party at the end of this month. They both like shoes. Besties!
Thanksgiving. I love bad pictures of me and Ramona.

A New Year

2011-01-01T10:29:00.001-05:00

Wow, well NYE wasn't too exciting. We took Ramona to see Tauno's mom and brother and then went to Joe's parents' house and rang in the new year with his parents, their friends, and his brother. It was nice, but I didn't take any pictures. I've gotten really bad about taking pictures lately and it makes me sad. I love going back and looking at old ones, so not having them really bums me out. So this brings me to my goals for 2011, which I'm pretty sure will be an awesome year.

1. Take at least one picture every day. It doesn't have to be a good picture or anything time consuming, but just a quick snapshot of Ramona doing something (even just eating lunch or watching TV or playing with her toys.)

2. Get married. We've been talking about it forever. We should probably get around to it at some point. But weddings are annoying. If you have a cheap one, everyone is like, "what a trashy wedding!" but if you have an expensive one it's like, "Oh, what a waste of money!" So, I don't know. I don't really intend to spend much money. I think it will be very Joe and Megan style- fun and happy, with people we love and care about. Basically, if you're going to rain on our parade, you're not invited. We were talking about September, but a friend of ours is planning their wedding for that same weekend, so we'll have to figure something else out. We'll see. No real planning has gone into this at this point.

3. Watch every movie Danny DeVito has ever been in. This one is for fun. It's pretty self explanatory. It's one of those goals that you make just so you can feel good about accomplishing something that wasn't that hard to accomplish in the first place.

4. Work out more. Now that I live somewhere that exercise is more feasible and Ramona is at an age where I can actually be away from her without feeling horrible about it, I should be able to work out more. I definitely will be able to go running in my neighborhood, and am planning on doing the 5k during the Toledo marathon this spring (possibly with Mony in a stroller.) I'd like to do another half at some point this year, but we'll see what happens with Joe finding a job and having money and whatnot. I guess I can always do something close to home, but traveling is part of the fun of running them.

5. Read more. I'm back in the land of libraries! Yay! Also, this is another thing where Ramona is now able to entertain herself enough that I can sit and read while she plays with her toys and not feel guilty about it. I believe in engaging your kids, and spending time with them and playing with them, but I also think kids need time to play by themselves and learn things on their own. I was pretty awesome at entertaining myself as a child and I think it's served me well in life. I also am excited to take Mony to the library and let her pick out books and have story time.

6. Appreciate more and judge less. I constantly remind myself how fortunate I am in life, but I don't always take the time to appreciate all those little things that make my life so awesome. I need to enjoy life more and really soak in the moments of happiness I have. I'm don't really seem that judgmental because my attitude is just eh, that's not my problem, but even though I don't make a big deal out of stuff, it doesn't mean I don't think it. I'd like to train my internal thoughts to be less bitchy.

7. Spend time with friends and family. I love these people, and they make me happy, but I don't always make them a priority. Life is short, I like having fun, why don't I make it my goal to spend as much time as possible with those who make me the happiest? Life will be better.

That's all I've got for now. I'll be the first to admit that I'm a little overflowing with childish optimism this year, but the move I've been waiting so long for has me believing that life can be great and a big part of that isn't just happy coincidences. It's effort. It can be done if you want it to be done. Insert other positive affirmations here. Happy new year!

Annual Review

2010-12-29T18:48:00.000-05:00

I do this every year. Here's the 2010 version-

1. What did you do in 2010 that you'd never done before? Moved with a baby, lived at Joe's parents' house, worked for the government, visited San Diego, supported the family solo.

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I didn't make any. My goals for next year so far are to watch every movie Danny DeVito has ever been in, and to appreciate one of Joe's friends more.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Beckey and Dan had Olivia, Rob and Lauren had Nolan

4. Did anyone close to you die? My grandpa just passed away.

5. What countries did you visit? stuck to the good ol' USA

6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010? More time with family and friends, a comfortable happy life, confidence in general, and satisfaction with life as it is.

7. What dates from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? I don't have any days that I remember in particular. Maybe November 22 since it was my first day at my new job.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Getting my new job and moving home!

9. What was your biggest failure? It taking so long to find a new job.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Not really. I got a quick stomach bug a couple weeks ago, but that was about it. I can't complain.

11. What was the best thing you bought? New furniture.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Ramona! She is always impressing me with as she learns new things and becomes a person with her own thoughts and feelings.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? No one really. I guess it makes me upset to see people who are completely ungrateful for what they have and live with a sense of entitlement. But no one in particular comes to mind.

14. Where did most of your money go? Moving expenses. Between the actual cost of moving stuff and buying new things for our new place, we dropped quite a bit of cash on it.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? My new job and moving home! It's nice to start a new job and learn new things, and I'm so glad I get to see my loved ones all the time.

16. What song will always remind you of 2010? Tobe's Got a Drinking Problem by the Street Dogs and Mony Mony by Billy Idol because those are Ramona's jams.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? much happier
b) thinner or fatter? thinner
c) richer or poorer? richer

18. What do you wish you'd done more of? Appreciating what I have and learning new things.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Complaining

20. How will you be spending New Years? No big plans. I think we're going to hang out with Joe's parents.

22. Did you fall in love in 2010? Stayed in love with my sweet little family

23. How many one-night stands? none

24. What was your favorite tv program? Top Chef, Louie, Mad Men, Yo Gabba Gabba.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? Nope

26. What was the best book you read? The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (not that it was that great, but I didn't read much since there wasn't a library in Death Valley.)

27.What was your greatest musical discovery? Yo Gabba Gabba's awesome songs

28. What did you want and get? A new job and a move to Ohio

29. What did you want and not get? Joe to have a job in Ohio

30. What was your favorite film of this year? Harry Potter

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I am 27. I ate breakfast, went to work and played with Ramona after work.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Moving home sooner, but I can't complain. Better late than never.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010? Lazy.

34. What/who kept you sane? My sister and Joe.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? DJ Lance Rock and Tim Gunn

36. What political issue stirred you the most? Health care.

37. Who did you miss? My BFF from the Grand Canyon, Ann

38. Who was the best new person you met? Nobody that exciting.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010: Know what you want and go for it!

Zoo Lights and More

2010-12-26T22:05:00.001-05:00

So Tuesday was an eventful day. It was the day Ramona turned 14 months old, the day we decided to go to the zoo lights with my parents, and the day Joe went to staffing agencies to do some hard core job searching. It was also the day I got my first postpartum period. It wasn't that big of a deal except that I wasn't expecting it at all. I mean, I knew it had to happen at some point and that my weaning of Ramona meant it would happen soon, but I didn't expect it that day, when Joe had the car so I couldn't run to the store to buy tampons on my lunch break. And then when I finally used a tampon for the first time in two years and had the worst cramps ever and spent several hours schlepping around the zoo with a cranky baby who refused to ride in her stroller and insisted in being carried ONLY by Mommy. No, it was not an ideal timing for that event. But we did have fun at the zoo and Ramona eventually cheered up (after eating a gingerbread cookie, of course) so it wasn't too bad. And it's certainly a sign that the weaning is almost complete, which I'm happy about.

Of course, the big excitement is Christmas. We had a really great time and Ramona was in an awesome mood pretty much the entire time. Christmas Eve we ran around finishing everything and wrapping presents and all that. We finally got everything together and went to my parents' house for dinner, church, and presents. We got some good stuff and I saw some people I hadn't seen in ages at church, so that was nice. Of course, it's always nice to spend time with my family, and Erin was a good sport about Ramona opening Erin's present a million times. After that we went home and crashed and got up early on Christmas to get more wrapping done before we headed down to my aunt's house near Columbus. It was the first time I'd seen her house and it was really cute. We had a great time there and got all kinds of great presents and good food and I saw a lot of family members (a few I hadn't seen in years, which was really cool.) We had to leave a little earlier than I would like, but we had to get back up north to eat Christmas dinner with Joe's family. More good food, presents and fun were had there.

So far it looks like Ramona's favorite presents are the activity walker thing she got from my Aunt Chris, and the toy broom she got from Joe's brother Chris and his girlfriend Stephanie. I think the thing I was happiest that she got was a hat and mittens, and I've got her trained to wear the hat already, but the gloves are not going over very well. Everyone was so generous, not only with the gifts, but with the time spent and the conversations had. It was one of the best Christmases I've had in a long time, and I was so happy to see Ramona spend time with her extended family on both sides.

Something New

2010-12-19T20:34:00.000-05:00

As promised, here is a bit more of what has been going on-

I really am enjoying my new job. It is challenging and interesting and I really feel good about what I did every day when I go home. I feel it made a difference that I was there. And that is something that makes me happy.

Joe is still job hunting, but he's only been here a few weeks, so I'm not worried about it. My family is off of work and school this week, so we're taking Ramona over there Tuesday so Joe can work on his job stuff uninterrupted and meet up with some employment agencies. Then we're going to Zoo Lights! I'm excited about that.

We're getting the apartment together. Slooooowly but surely. We still need to buy a lot of stuff, but I'm kind of waiting to see what we get for Xmas first. (Although I did blow quite a bit of money at Ikea yesterday.) I had a lot of fun going up to Ikea with Joe and my sister and her fiance. Joe's parents watched Ramona while we went, and it was extra fun because Kathleen and Mitch had never been to an Ikea before. I got a computer chair, an easy chair, a coffee table, a mirror, and four dining room chairs. I have more stuff I liked and will get later, but like I said, I want to see what happens at Christmas.

I feel weird. I have been blowing a lot of money on material stuff (new clothes, Christmas presents, housewares, and furniture) since we moved back. I haven't really spent much money on things over the last few years. I feel kind of bad about it, even though I know it's not a big deal. I mean, I need all the stuff I'm buying. It's not like I'm just throwing money away on stupid crap. But I still feel guilty. Not so much that I don't deserve nice things as much as I don't like spending money on myself. I think I get nervous or worried about spending money in general. I don't know. I didn't use to have this problem. I guess I feel like I'm not any more deserving of nice things than other people who don't have them are, so I feel bad about having them because other people who are just as deserving don't. Does that make any sense? Oh well, after I get the house the way I want it I'll stop spending money on it, and I've been buying mostly quality stuff that I really like that will last a long time.

Ramona is happy and enjoying things. She is such a sweet, happy kid now, and it makes my heart melt to see her big toothy grin all the time. Her hair has gotten much darker and thicker all the sudden, just over the last week or so. It's still not anything to write home about and you could easily find hairier newborns, but for our little baldy it's pretty impressive.

I took her to JC Penney to get pictures done. They are pretty terrible. She was in a great mood, but had absolutely no desire to sit still and get her picture taken. We'd sit her down, the photographer would ring some bells and make noises to get her to smile, she'd give the lady a look of attitude, and she'd stand up, walk over and grab the bells out of the lady's hand. Then she'd start knocking down the set and pulling on the lighting. Then she'd walk out of the studio into the showroom and start taking down picture frames. So we got a few pretty terrible pictures of Ramona where she looks either really stoned or really confused. Then the photographer wanted to do family pictures since we would be able to hold Ramona still. I was kind of annoyed because I was not dressed to do pictures (and we weren't in any way color coordinated) and I was wearing a sort of low cut shirt, which meant Ramona was pulling it down in half the pictures and covering me up in the other half. But we did buy some, and I pick them up the day before Christmas Eve, so I'll bring them to family Christmas if anyone wants some.

Well, that's most of the recent goings on. Bring on the short work weeks and holiday parties!

Another quickie

2010-12-17T22:33:00.000-05:00

Tonight we're spending the night in the new place for the first time. Nothing is really unpacked and we're sitting on the floor because I'm not buying new furniture until after the holidays in hopes that people will get me gift cards. But we have our new mattress, which is heavenly and our new desk, which is awesome. I LOVE the new place. I keep smiling just looking around and thinking "It's ours for the next year!"

All is well and I promise to do a longer, more detailed post at some point this weekend. Just know that we are all super happy right now.

Many Apologies

2010-12-10T22:39:00.000-05:00

Sorry I haven't been posting much the past couple of weeks, but we are signing a lease and moving into a duplex this weekend. Once we have our own place I will start posting more often again. Probably not as often as before, since I am in a city with actual things to do, and my baby likes to stay up until I go to bed since we encountered the change to east coast time, but more frequently then I've been doing.

Recent excitement: Sick family (especially me, Mony, and Grandpa Lindsey), new job fun, new living arrangements fun, and Christmas shopping

Another Shorty

2010-11-28T20:18:00.000-05:00

Not much time to post lately since we've been busy trying to get our lives together since getting here (and then the holidays and other assorted craziness) but I will say we had great holiday get togethers with both my family and Joe's and that Ramona did awesome at both. She has been so insanely happy the last few days that it's like she's a competely new baby. Not like she was the fussiest baby ever before, but she was never this crazy happy. She is contantly smiling. I don't know if it's having more room to run and play, or meeting new people or what, but seeing her running around the kitchen banging measuring cups with the biggest grin ever on her face makes me feel like moving back here was without a doubt the right decision. Joe and I are both happier and she is over the moon.

Joe and I got cell phones today. (Well, Joe already had one, but got a new one, and I got one for the first time since college.) We were undecided about whether to get smart phones or not. We decided to get one, and I ended up being the one to get it since there was some special deal for new customers getting smart phones. Joe got a phone of average intelligence with a slider and qwerty keyboard (which he will almost never use since he's not much of a texter.) Anyway, I got some LG thing with a touch screen. I am still getting used to it, but I like it alright so far. Anyway, if you want my phone number, send me an email or whatever. (I'm annoyed because they were "out of" 419 numbers so I have a 734 number. Lame! How am I supposed to represent Toledo?) Now that I have a cell phone, I almost feel like a real person.

We Are Here (well, some of us)

2010-11-21T11:28:00.000-05:00

I'm going to make this short and sweet since Ramona is remarkably sleeping in and will probably wake up as soon as I start typing. We are in Ohio! It is weird and still feels like we're visiting, but I imagine things will seem a lot more real when I go to work tomorrow. The flight here was... well, not as bad as I'd feared but still not that fun. Danzig freaked out about being in her cat cage. Foaming at the mouth drooling everywhere freaked out. She also pooped like five minutes after we started driving, so we got that lovely smell. Ramona found Danzig's behavior hilarious and was laughing the whole first part of the trip.

We got to the airport and got Danzig checked in. (I would also like to note that it cost $200.00 to fly Danzig here in checked baggage, and my plane ticket was only $157.70. I believe that says something about the quality of air travel in coach.) I had to take her out of her carrier so the TSA agent could inspect her kennel, and she had been sitting in her own poo, so I got to have cat poo/pee foot prints on my shirt for the rest of the day.

On the plane, Ramona did pretty well. She was in a good mood when we got on and was giggling a lot. I was in the window seat, the seat next to me was empty and there was a woman around my mom's age in the aisle seat. Ramona was interested in looking out the window this time, which was cute. The woman was nice and didn't mind Ramona going up to her and grabbing her arm, which she did several times. She started getting cranky after awhile so I pulled out the portable DVD player and we watched an episode of Yo Gabba Gabba and then we read some books. After that she took an hour nap (which I was grateful for since I was running out of Ramona amusing tatics that one can do in an airplane.) We touched down on time and Joe's parents were waiting for us at the baggage claim. We picked up Danzig and got back to their house. Everyone is adjusting well. The first day or so Ramona and Danzig followed me around the entire time and freaked out whenever they saw Joe's parents. But last night they started getting used to everything. Ramona stayed with Joe's mom while I went shopping with my mom and sister yesterday, and that seemed to have helped Ramona get used to her faster.

Our movers, who were originally supposed to come Wedesday finally showed up last night. Joe and Andy started driving, and when I talked to him this morning they were outside of Albequerque, so they've got a good start. I can't wait for him to get here! I miss him so much, and worry about him driving (especially after hearing about my little sister's car totaling accident earlier this week from her falling asleep at the wheel.) I'm just glad Andy was able to drive in with him so he doesn't have to do it alone and has someone around so they can help keep each other awake.

I started the search for housing by checking out a rental house near Ottawa Park yesterday. It wasn't perfect, but it's a good price in a neighborhood I like and it's much better than what we're used to. I'm not concerned about getting a dream house since we're just renting, so I think it would work well. I have the application and I'm going to call and see about a showing for Joe when he is here. I'll keep looking at other spots, too.

Time is Flying

2010-11-14T20:01:00.000-05:00

Holy cow, only three more days of work and then we're out of here. Today I've been a packing machine. I still feel like we're not even close to ready to go, but Joe will finish packing the kitchen and will pack his closet tomorrow. Then it's pretty much cleaning. We ended up hiring movers since it will probably be cheaper in the long run. They are coming either Tuesday or Wednesday and then Thursday Ramona, Danzig and I fly home and Joe drives home with Burghardt. I hope they have an Excellent Adventure, but I also hope they hurry up and get here because I start work on Monday. I'm kind of freaked out over how quickly things happen, but it also seems like it's taking forever.

We also have so much to do when we get there. First order is finding a place to live, then I have to get a cell phone again like a real person since I'll live in the real world. Joe has to find a job and then of course, I have to start getting Christmas figured out. I have bought nothing so far. Oh yeah, I need to buy new furniture. Our couches are so crappy we decided it wasn't worth it to bring them. So I've been hanging out on Ikea's website a lot. But as overwhelming as it feels, I'm crazy excited about it, too.

Ramona has no idea what's going on (of course) but I'm so excited to get home so she can spend time with her relatives and hang out with our friends' babies and have little baby friends. I'm going to sign us up for some toddler/mom classes at the YMCA. And we can get a place with a little more room for her to play.

She has been walking really well lately. And there are a couple things she's been doing that are super cute. Number one- she has started interacting with her baby doll. She picks it up and gives it a kiss and then promptly throws it on the floor and steps on it. (This makes Joe very jealous because she has yet to give him a kiss. I think it's his beard.) The other thing is a Daddy/Mony moment that is so adorable. I would video tape it, but I know it wouldn't be as awesome as it is in person (although I'll probably tape it anyway at some point.) I'm assuming Joe listens to non-baby music with Ramona during the day or something, but it's gotten to the point that she really loves the song "Tobe's Got a Drinking Problem" by the Street Dogs. She recognizes it as soon as it comes on and she gets a huge smile on her face. Joe always dances with her and throws her in the air. She cracks up! It is so unbelievably cute that I can't adequately describe the cuteness. It must be seen to be believed. I would like it more if it was a more baby oriented song, but at least there aren't any bad words. I need to get her Brats on the Beat so she and Joe can listen to that together. Hmm, maybe this Christmas shopping will be easier than I thought.

Ramonesa

2010-11-12T01:48:00.000-05:00

Also, just for fun, I must show off this sweet blanket that Joe's friend Cory made for Ramona's birthday. The other side of it is the same thing with the colors inverted. (For those who don't know, it's the Ramones logo with Ramona's name and birthday instead of the band members' names that usually surround the emblem. When we were deciding names for a baby, I picked the girl name and Joe picked the boy name. I had always liked the name Ramona, especially because of the books, and I knew Joe would go along with it because his favorite band is the Ramones. After the ultrasound where we found out I was carrying a girl, Joe played the song Ramona by the Ramones in the car on our drive home to celebrate our sweet, sweet little Ramona. All of which makes this blanket extra cool!)

Instilling a Love of Life that Defies All Odds

2010-11-12T01:04:00.000-05:00

Wow, this article really summed up a lot of feelings I have about my own experiences growing up. I feel like I've finally reached a point of comfort with myself that I can reflect on a my past and admit that there are things I regret and things that I wish I wouldn't have done and times I was not living for my own happiness. And I've only really reached that point in the past year. I don't know if I'm at an age where that just happens or if it has to do with being a parent, but I'm confident in myself and really concentrating on my life and its value and my happiness for what feels like the first time. That post is something I've felt but never really expressed (and wouldn't have expressed as elegantly nor completely.)

Usually when I write in here it's just a word vomit of whatever has been banging around in my head lately, mostly revolving around my daughter. I write poorly and rarely take the time to edit or even re-read what I've written before I post it, because I'm just trying to convey whatever is happening as quickly and easily as possible. That's fine, this blog's purpose is to keep everyone up to date on my life, not to woo people with my prose.

This post isn't any different as far as writing, but it is more thoughtful. I can't remember if I've written about this before or merely intended to, but Ramona's birth really surprised me because I didn't expect the reaction I had. One of the big surprises was that the week after I had her, I felt bad for her. I kind of felt like a jerk for bringing her into the world. I had been thinking of her in a theoretical sense for so long that the idea that she was going to be a real person who would have to deal with all the horrible stuff in the world hadn't really occurred to me until she was born. When we were driving home from the hospital we passed a million sexy lady billboards (she was born in Vegas after all) and all I could think of was how it was only a matter of time before she'd have to deal with the pressure to be sexy- and of course the right kind of sexy. And then I got home with her and Joe went and picked up my mail for me and there was a Victoria's Secret catalog and it made me sad for the same reason. I have impossibly sexy ladies mailed to me that make me feel like crap about myself. How will Ramona handle this stupid fabricated pressure to be what you're supposed to be to make others like you?

Most importantly, how can I help her handle this pressure, and realize that it's not important in the long run? That the road to satisfaction is paved with your own happiness? That, while there is beauty in the selfless acts of the world, you get one life, and it's not worth it to spend it miserable to make other people happy? How do I make sure she has great self esteem without being conceited, that she's self interested but not self possessed, and that she's giving but still true to herself? It's a fine line and there are so many factors.

I want more than anything for her to be happy. It's heart breaking to think that some day in the not so distant future someone will say something mean to her solely to intentionally hurt her feelings. I know it will happen, it happens to everyone. And that's life. I think the happiness, beauty, and fun are worth all the heart wrenching bad moments, but it's so hard to see that little innocent, worry-free face and know that it's only a matter of time before she gets the sad knowledge that not everyone in the world will love her and think that she's as beautiful and amazing as we do. And she'll wonder how to make them feel that way about her and finally at some point, figure out they won't- not everyone. I need to figure out how to make her realize that as long as she's doing the best she can to be a person that she's proud to be, that she's doing just fine. And I have nooooo idea how I'm supposed to accomplish it.

Craigslist and Shopping

2010-11-06T23:47:00.000-04:00

I have been scrounging around Craigslist quite a bit looking for somewhere to live when we move, and I have to say it's pretty annoying. I really don't understand people's thought process when they post housing listings. First, I hate it when anyone posts anything in all caps for no reason, which happens all the time. All caps generally makes me think someone is an idiot, and I don't want an idiot landlord. There are also a disturbing number of ads that don't even list the location of the place they are posting. Why would I waste my time answering an ad that doesn't tell me where the housing in located? Either you forgot to put it on there (which takes us back to the idiot landlord scenario) or it's so crappy you know people won't answer your ad if they know what terrible neighborhood it's in. Either way, no good. Also, people don't seem to understand what the term "luxury amenity" means. There are tons of ads that say things like, "This apartment includes such luxury amenities as clean carpet, heat, and parking." I think when you're in Ohio, heat is considered basic. And I would assume that there is somewhere to park. I guess clean carpet is nice, but I don't really think it is luxurious.

Then there are the people that post an ad for the sole purpose of getting your attention. These ads usually don't even make sense. There was one a couple weeks ago that said, "IF APARTMENTS WORE CLOTHES, THIS APT WOULD WEAR APPLEBOTTOM JEANS AND FUR BOOTS" I don't even know what that's supposed to mean. That the apartment would date Russell Simmons? So the housing hunt continues, and I'm hoping it's more successful when we live in the area and can actually stalk the neighborhoods we like looking for nice places.

Saturday Ramona and I went to Vegas to do some shopping. Joe had to work, and back in the day I wouldn't attempt going shopping in Vegas with Ramona solo, but ever since our cross country trip, I feel like the fish and I can do anything. (Cue Just the Two of Us- Will Smith version, for extra cheese factor.) Anyway, Mony took an awesome nap in the car so she was in a pretty good mood. We got a portable DVD player and some Yo Gabba Gabba DVDs for the flight home, and I got some new heels for my new job. Ramona and I ate at Chipotle for the first time and shared a delicious bowl of Mexican type ingredients. Then we went to the Cupcakery and got a dozen cupcakes since it will probably be the last time we get to eat them. Once we got home Ramona was in the best mood ever and walked around smiling and being cute. It made for a very awesome day!

Toledo

2010-11-03T22:40:00.000-04:00

I've been doing some Craigslist browsing. We're going to stay with Joe's parents until we get a place to stay, but I'm hoping to keep that time as short as possible. I'm trying to find some place that's not crappy, but not too expensive that we can live in for two or three years while we finish saving up for our down payment for a place of our own. I'd prefer a townhouse or duplex so I don't have to mow the lawn, but I guess we could rent a house.

I want to live near work. My job is not at main campus, but at Scott Park campus, so even though I was originally looking strictly at West side places, I've started looking at the south end, too. For some reason I always think the south end is really crappy, but it's not. I think it's just because a friend I used to hang out with lived in the south end in a really sketchy apartment complex and I hated going there.

I really want to find a place I like so we can stay there until we're ready to buy. I don't want to move again until we buy if we can help it. I'm not concerned about the school districts since we plan on moving before Ramona is old enough for school. But I want to be in a nice safe neighborhood and be somewhat close to a park if possible. I also want a short commute.

The search begins...

This is my kid

2010-11-02T21:27:00.000-04:00

She runs around yelling all the time. It cracks me up, especially since she's getting better at walking. She'll walk up to me, and then go, "AAAAAAAAAAH!" and then walk away like that's totally normal. It was especially hilarious when she was wearing her ranger outfit. She looked so professional and then she just yelled. Also, since she has a cold she's been breathing through her mouth which has led to four times as much drooling. So she just walks around yelling and drooling with snot running out of her nose.

Hallow-wean

2010-11-01T23:02:00.000-04:00

New umbrella stroller

Ranger Ramona

Pirate Mommy, pirate Mony

Much to say- most importantly, I got the job at UT! So, we're moving back to Ohio and I'm so excited. There's only a couple of weeks until we'll be back in society. So now we're going to have a couple of super stressful weeks as we plan and execute a cross country move. But, I'm really excited. First, obviously I want to be back in Ohio and see my family and friends, but also, the job sounds like it's going to be pretty cool and I'll be able to finish my Master's.

We had a good Halloween. I did everything at the last minute. We bought candy Halloween morning and I carved the pumpkin just a couple of hours before trick or treat. Ramona had two costumes- first she was a baby pirate, although that costume was hard to get unless she was wearing her bandanna, and she did not want to wear the bandanna, so I switched her into her National Park Ranger outfit (which she also did not want to wear the hat for.) We just stayed home and handed out candy. Mony ate a little bag of Sweetarts (which was not a part of the plan. I gave her raisins as her treat, but she figured out how to open the Sweetarts by herself and ate them.) I'm not sure if that's why she wouldn't sleep, but she stayed up until 10:30. It was intense.

I've started working on weaning. I don't really have a plan except nurse her less and less until she's done. I'm trying to cut out her lunch/nap time nursing session first. I'm not really committed to a certain time frame of accomplishing it or anything. I might get more devoted to it as she gets older, but now it's just a gentle shift in our schedule. And I might hold off on it for a little while if she needs extra comfort during the big change of moving. We'll see.

Real Update

2010-10-30T17:43:00.000-04:00

I haven't updated much this week because the three of us have all been sick, which means Mony and I have been going to bed early but getting no sleep because she wakes up every 30-60 minutes. It's just colds and sore throats, but it has been pretty miserable for all of us. Joe had it first (and probably the worst) but we're all starting to recover.

This has been a pretty cool week. Sometimes Ramona grows and learns so gradually that I can't even notice, but sometimes it's almost like someone turned a dial up on her IQ all the sudden. Such was the case this week. All the sudden she became much more interested in books. She will sit and watch me read her stories over and over again. She also has started trying to give me kisses. (At least I hope that's what she's doing.) She gets right in my face and kind of sucks on my cheek for a couple seconds and then smiles at me. It's very endearing and disgusting. But as sloppy as the kisses are, I love getting them.

She also has been saying bye bye better. She still doesn't say it consistently, but she says it at some point when one of us is leaving for work most days. It's also changed from her saying "Da da" for bye bye to "Dye dye" which is closer.

I also feel that I should point out that Joe has been saying no and it has been working. I also want everyone to know that Joe and I talked about his lax discipline technique prior to me posting about it, so it's not like I'm passive aggressively shaming Joe on the internet instead of talking to him or anything. I posted about it because it was something that was going on in our lives. But I am glad that he's been making an effort at it and I've definitely noticed a difference.

Rock n Roll Ramona

2010-10-28T01:57:00.000-04:00

Ramona wrote her first song yesterday. Such talent!

Cuddle Baby

2010-10-23T23:16:00.000-04:00

Ramona fell asleep on her hand during her nap today and left that big hand print on her face. I thought it was pretty cute.

She was also clingy after her nap, which is pretty unusual for her. She is usually an adventure baby and would rather be crawling around than sitting on my lap. But she woke up and I fed her some baby food and then she crawled up on my lap and just laid her head on my chest and cuddled. I'm not sure if it's because we spent the whole last week together surrounded by other people and she just wanted some mommy time or if she was feeling a little under the weather from her shots yesterday, but it was nice. I read her some stories and she kept looking from the book to my lips. She's been much more focused on people talking lately. I think it shows that she's gaining interest in communicating verbally. She's also been making the same noises consistently and mimicking us more often.

The doctor's visit yesterday went well. She's 32 inches tall and 20 pounds, 8 ounces, which is above 95th percentile on height and 50th percentile on weight. She's been consistently in those percentiles since birth, so that looked pretty normal. We unfortunately had the same doctor as last time instead of Dr. Hilal. I'm not a big fan because she doesn't seem to really listen to what we have to say or give us advice or even give us much of an opportunity to discuss Ramona. She just gave us a handout about one year olds and looked her over and that was it. She got three shots of vaccinations and a flu shot, so she was not a happy camper when we left. She got over it pretty quickly, though, and did really well. I was cranky because my insurance didn't cover her visit or vaccinations (only the flu shot) which seems stupid to me. I guess she had reached her max on preventative care for the year, but it seems dumb to me that my crummy insurance wouldn't cover all her standard baby check ups and state recommended vaccination schedule. I mean, she's never been sick and she's only done the typical well baby visits. But my insurance annoys me on a regular basis, so I will digress on that issue. I will say that the doctor's office didn't mention this to me until we were there for the appointment which wasn't a huge deal, but it would have been nice if they brought it up earlier seeing as how I made this appointment three months ago. But the receptionist is super nice and I had plenty of money on me, so I don't hold it against her.

Anyway, I had a great time cuddling with Ramona for the night. We also went for a walk and played on the swings. Story time is fun because Ramona is developing favorites. She really likes her dinosaur and animal books. Today I noticed she gets really upset when I read Where's Spot? It's a lift the flap book where each page asks where he is (for example "Is he under the bed?" then you lift a flap under the bed and it reveals an animal that says, "No!" until the last page where we actually find Spot in a basket.) Before I thought it was just coincidental that she was getting cranky whenever we read that one, but now I think it makes her upset because there are so many animals saying no and she cries when I tell her no. I thought that was kind of cute and funny.

Speaking of saying no, I think I'm going to have to be the mean parent. Joe is already starting with his excuses on disciplining. Today he told me that she doesn't listen when he says no. Lame, Joe! You have to make her listen. She didn't magically figure out that I mean no when I say it. I had to work at it. He also says she doesn't listen to him when he says her name, but I don't know how true that is. She is really good at responding to me when I use her name. If I yell Ramona when she's crawled in the other room she'll come back. I also can get responses based on my inflection. When I say it my warning voice, she'll usually stop doing something (I use this mostly at bath time when she stands up in the tub.) I usually use that to give her a chance to stop doing something peacefully before I start in with "No!" which invariably ends with her crying. (Honestly, you'd think "No!" is always accompanied with a horrific beating instead of a stern look by the way she cries about it.) I've yet to see Joe give an effective no, and even though Joe says it's because she doesn't listen, I think it's because he is a big softie. Well, guess what? I don't like making her cry either, but discipline is part of parenting, so get on board and quit making me the meanie!

Trip Home

2010-10-23T17:32:00.000-04:00

The visit home was quick and exhausting. I had a great time seeing everyone and getting to see Ramona's reaction to visiting so many new people, but I felt completely overwhelmed pretty much the whole trip.

The flight there went really well. Ramona slept when we were actually on the plane, and entertained herself by crawling around and working on her walking while we were waiting in the airports. People were incredibly nice and helpful when they saw me traveling with a baby. The trip definitely restored my faith that there is an inherent goodness in humanity. I think I've lost a lot of that since we've been living out in hermit-like conditions and most of my interaction with society is via the internet, where people seem to enjoy being huge jerks all the time.

Even though the flights there went well, I got very little sleep and felt like I never got quite caught back up during the entire trip. But, it's ok because I didn't have anything too responsible to do while we were there, so I was at least fairly relaxed while I was tired. Saturday was pretty much hanging out with my parents and I got to meet Erin's boyfriend. Sunday, my aunt and cousin and her daughter came to visit and we hung out, ate Marco's (Mony's first cheesy bread!) and went shopping. I also ate dinner with Ramona and Joe's parents and one of his brothers and there was a chocolate cake she got to enjoy which was quite the mess. Joe's mom said she left a chocolate ring around the tub from her post cake bath. Monday, my grandma and Sam came up to visit. She cross-stitched a really pretty blanket for Ramona with people in various traditional outfits from different countries. It was gorgeous and probably took a ton of work. We all went out to dinner and my sister Kathleen and her fiance Mitch went to dinner with us as well. After dinner we got to go see the house Mitch bought earlier this year which Kathleen had been telling me about forever and I got to meet Kathleen's dogs for the first time. Ramona got a real kick out of the dogs. She really enjoyed watching them run all over.

Tuesday I took Ramona to the park in Oak Harbor. We played on swings and checked out the new upgrades they'd made since the last time I was there. I realized I probably haven't been there in like eight years, which made me feel old. But it brought back some fun memories of sledding on the hill and playing on the equipment over the years. It's weird to see my kid play at the same park I played at as a kid. I think the fall always makes me feel nostalgic, but it was intensified by observing my own child living my childhood memories in front of me. Tuesday night we spent at Joe's parents, and Wednesday Mony spent the day playing with Joe's mom while I did my interview. It went really well and I'm supposed to know what's going on with that by the end of next week (which is going to make it one loooooong week.)

The flights home were really long and terrible. Ramona wouldn't sleep on the first one, but the flight was not full and we had two empty seats by us, so I don't think we bothered other people all that much. Luckily, she didn't want to walk around, but she was not especially amused by my tricks either, and spent a good chunk of time crying, so I couldn't wait for us to land. In typical frustrating child fashion, she fell asleep as the plane was landing. Then she woke up to play during the layover. She had so much fun walking and crawling around Dallas airport. And she is getting fast. I had quite a time catching her because she would walk over to a row of seats and then crawl under them and then get up and walk to the next ones. Needless to say, I was busy during that layover. She did alright on the second flight. She slept, but she kept waking up and fussing. I was very happy when we finally landed and got back to the car (and I even remembered where we parked!) I also managed to get to the hotel we were staying in without taking a wrong exit or making a single mistake, which is pretty miraculous for me. I have never been so happy to see a bed. I was exhausted when we got to the room. Ramona and I were both DONE and cranky. We got to sleep pretty quickly and were in much better spirits the next day- aka the big number one birthday.

For Fun

2010-10-22T00:20:00.000-04:00

Here's the post I wrote on my old blog ten days after Ramona was born...

So, as everyone knows, Ramona was born last Wednesday. She was late enough that the doctor wanted to induce me, but Ramona is tricky and decided to come out by herself. We were supposed to go to the hospital at 8am so I could start the induction process. Instead, I woke up at 4am with contractions. I figured we'd just go to the hospital as planned and I played on the internet through the contractions and woke up Joe at 5:00 as we had planned so we could leave for the hospital at 5:30 and get there around 8. When we got to the hospital, they were having some meeting, so we ended up sitting in the waiting room for like an hour, and finally got admitted. The nurse looked at the paperwork the doctor had sent to me and checked to see if I was dilated and I was at 4cm, so she called the doctor to see what he wanted her to do since I was already in labor.

I was hooked up to an IV that had saline and pitocin and antibiotics and she broke my water. Joe and I did some crossword puzzles and his parents showed up about an hour later. An hour or so after that, Joe's dad went and picked up my mom at the airport. We all hung out, and my contractions started getting really bad. Our parents went somewhere, the nurse checked again and said I was around 6cm. Not longer after that they got more intense and I got an epidural when I was at 8cm. (Which means I was in transition, so I could have just waited it out. But I don't really regret getting the epidural because it allowed me to do the next part.) After I got the epidural I was almost immediately at 10cm, which is maximum stretch. The epidural was really light, so I could still move and feel my legs and vaginal area and the urge to push, but not feel the pain in my stomach, so it was nice. I pushed a couple times to practice with the nurse and the doctor came in to see how things were going. The nurse said it would probably be a little while because my pushes kind of sucked, and the doctor asked if he had enough time to go do a couple of scheduled c sections he had. She asked if I could not push, because it would give the baby a chance to slide down to the end on her own, and then I could just push her out when the doctor was back.

So, the doctor went to do his c sections and I tried not to push. which was really hard. Ramona was all the way down and ready to be pushed out, so the nurse went to get the doctor. He showed up a few minutes later, and I pushed through three more contractions and finally I could feel her right on the edge and knew if I pushed just a little harder she would be out, so I did and she pretty much rocketed out all at once. The handed her to the NICU people, who had come because there was meconium when they broke my water. The doctor and nurse started pushing on my stomach and I delivered the placenta a couple of minutes later which felt super gross. Since my epidural was so light, the doctor gave me a shot in my butt to numb the area so he could do stitches. It took almost a half hour of stitching to get it done, and in that time the nurses got Ramona cleaned up and measured and wrapped up so Joe could hold her while they finished getting me cleaned up. After the doctor was done sewing, he congratulated me and Joe and we took turns holding the baby for a half hour or so and then Joe and Ramona went up to the baby nursery and the nurse put in a catheter and cleaned me up a little and let me take a nap for a half hour and then she took me up to the recovery room where Joe and my parents were waiting for me. They brought Ramona in and our parents took turns holding her. Then they left and Joe stayed the night in the hospital to help me with the baby, which I really needed because I was so sore and still attached to an IV.

I finally got the IV out and the next morning our parents came. We got all our paperwork done and got to leave around noon. My mom stayed with us for a week to help out, which was great because I was still really sore and tired and Ramona wasn't very good at breastfeeding the first couple of days so I needed help getting her to latch on and my mom had good advice. Now Ramona is a champ at breastfeeding and can find Joe's nipple through his shirt when she's hungry. (She still hasn't figured out he can't feed her.) Things are good, and we are having fun.

Sorry this is long and rambling, but I don't really care enough to edit this.

Cakes

2010-10-22T00:00:00.001-04:00

So Ready

2010-10-15T00:07:00.001-04:00

Well, I haven't written much this week because I'm SO excited about not being here that I can't think about anything else. Plans thus far (and Mom, they've changed! They changed my interview date to Wednesday.)

Saturday- Mom picks us up, hang out with family
Sunday- shop with mom (possibly sister(s)) while Ramona plays with Joe's parents. Have dinner and birthday cake at Joe's parents house.
Monday- hang out with family
Tuesday- hang out with family most of the day, spend the night at Joe's parents house
Wednesday- interview, hang out in Toledo until it's time to go to the airport (Joe's mom said she will take us to the airport. Joe said she will probably just drop me off and keep Mony.)

It's going to be a pretty quick visit. But I really need it. I'm SOOO done with this place. Nina, if you have time Tuesday night or Wednesday before 4pm and would like to meet up, let me know. I think that's pretty much my only not really accounted for part of the trip that I will be in Toledo for. Joe's mom said I can use her car if you want to meet up somewhere.

That's it. Funny things that happened this week I would write more about- Mony figured out she can drink bath water and is learning to play patty cake. Sad things I would write more about- Mony has been having some tummy troubles and has been sleeping extra crappy. But I don't have to write it, because soon you will get to live it!

Walking Again

2010-10-10T01:20:00.000-04:00

This is the other video I did. I think she walks better and I am less shaky with the video, but my commentary is annoying. (And really, did I have to laugh at her falling over?)

Waiting

2010-10-10T00:11:00.001-04:00

I have some footage of the fish walking! I'm waiting for the upload to finish on youtube so I can post it. I actually took two videos and will probably upload both eventually, but I'm anxious to get at least one up. I also have video of Ramona clapping, but I might wait and get something better on that.

I tricked her into performing on camera by taking her to the playground with the video camera. She isn't very good at walking on the grass, but she refuses to crawl properly on it. She will either bear crawl or walk. So, I figured if I set her down a couple of feet away from me and her stroller, there was a good chance I could catch her walking attempts.

Now, this walking isn't all that great (even her standing skills look suspect here) but she's a lot better when she's on the carpet at home. She isn't used to the texture of grass or the uneven ground. This video is only the second day she's ever attempted walking on grass, so I think it's pretty good. Right now at home, she's really good at standing and passable at walking for a few steps (although she still goes to crawling any time she wants speed or distance.)

She hasn't attempted walking in shoes yet. She actually really needs shoes right now. I think I'm going to have to go shoe/sock shopping when we're in Toledo because I don't have anything here right now that fits her. I do have some shoes on-line that I really want to buy, but I have to wait until they get her size in again.

I'll post the video here when it finally comes up. Notice how cute her dress is- birthday present from Granny Jan! (I'm trying to teach Ramona to call my mom Granny Jan because it will drive my mom crazy to be called "Granny". Please feel free to encourage this as much as possible!) She got her birthday presents from my parents early since they sent them with their presents for my birthday. She's little enough that I didn't think it was a big deal to give them to her early, and it was laundry day anyway, so we might as well just wash the new clothes. There were a bunch of books and outfits. The outfits are super cute! I'm absolutely in love with the pajamas she got. And the dresses are really pretty. She seems most impressed by the book about animals that has textured pictures. She pets the puppy a lot.

Oh boy, it appears I've rambled on long enough that the video has uploaded. Haha, I love her "I meant to do that!" moment where she pretends to grab some grass and then picks up her sippy cup only to immediately throw it back down.

Also, the weird open and closing of her mouth is what we refer to as "Pac-Manning" and she does it whenever she's teething. In this video she has some sound effects going with it. Usually she just does it silently.

Flying with Mony

2010-10-07T23:51:00.000-04:00

So, I'm very excited for this trip home next week, but I'm a bit nervous as well. I scheduled the flights to be at night so she will hopefully sleep through most of it and nurse if she's not sleeping. Either way, she shouldn't be a crazy wiggle worm. The trip there is really late, so she should sleep no problem. I'm more worried about me being cranky because I'll be so tired. The trip home is earlier. I'm afraid she won't quite be tired during that one. I'm hoping she does well. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

I'm also nervous about flying without Joe. Not like I've never flown alone, but I've never flown with a baby and no one else to help. I'm just thinking of having to lug around the diaper bag, purse, carry on and Ramona, trying to take off my shoes and jacket while holding onto the fish so I can go through security, and not having anyone to hold her so I can go to the bathroom, so I'll have to take her into the stall with me. Blech. What if I have to pee on the plane? There's no room in a plane bathroom!

But I have faith we'll be fine and I'll feel like a champion mom after we make it through it. I'm looking forward to seeing family and Ramona getting to play peek a boo and show off her walking skills and hopefully getting to see some of my friends' babies so she can have some baby buddies. I'm also looking forward to seeing fall. We obviously don't have fall here, and even though we had real winter in Arizona, we didn't really have fall/spring because all the trees were coniferous. Without the leaves changing colors, it doesn't really feel like fall.

Anyway, one week and one day to get through before we hop on the plane. Yay! (I would put a picture of Ramona clapping here if I had a good one. She always claps when I say yay now.)

Oh, and one unrelated note- Mony got teeth eleven and twelve today. They aren't all the way through though, so I figure we have about a week left of teething before they're completely out. I'm predicting she should be about done with this round of teething when we get to Ohio.

27

2010-10-07T00:44:00.001-04:00

Here I am, 27 years old. The day wasn't especially remarkable, but I'm a little old for it to be, aren't I? As Don told Peggy, "You're twenty... something years old! Get over birthdays!" But I did get a few treats.

First, the picture above shows Ramona and I eating the pancake and bacon birthday breakfast Joe made for me this morning. It also shows that we really need a new couch. Then we had french onion soup for lunch. Then, I got a card from my Grandma Marilyn and Sam, and I got a creme brulee cookbook and all the stuff I need to make them from Joe. I'm super looking forward to giving it a shot this weekend. I heart me some creme brulee.

A few weeks ago, my cousin Brook told me that her in-laws would be passing through Death Valley. They ended up being in town on my birthday. Since Joe was working, I didn't really have anything else going on except hanging out with Mony, so I met up with them and their friends that they were traveling with. I'm really glad I did, because they were really nice and it was great to see some people be excited about meeting Ramona.

The other exciting news today was finding out that I was able to take some time off of work to go visit home. I'm very excited about being in Ohio October 16-20. I can't wait to see you all!

Above and Beyond

2010-10-03T23:58:00.000-04:00

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The fish and I have a new schedule we've been following the past couple of weeks since it cooled down in the evenings. I get home from work around 5:15 and I talk to Joe until he leaves at 5:30. Then Mony and I have our dinner and play with toys. Then we go for a walk that ends at the park, where Ramona plays on the swings for a little while and then we roll around on the grass.

Saturday when we got to the rolling on the grass part Ramona went over to her stroller and was playing with it. I laid there looking at it and realized how easy it was to turn the top part so it could be an outward facing stroller. Up until that point I'd still had it in a reclined, mommy-facing view. I'd noticed she'd been looking out the sides more and more and less at me during walks, but I had been too lazy to find the instructions to make it face outward. Sitting there and realizing how easy it was, I made the change right there. She was absolutely beaming the entire way home. She loves looking out at the world. We went on the longest walk she's ever stayed awake for today and she was happy the whole time because she got to look out.

Oh my gosh, doesn't she look big? Crazy! Tonight, she surprised me by enjoying the grass and crawling all over. Up until then, she'd been nervous about the grass. Since she was being adventurous I took her over to the play equipment to see how she'd react to stairs since she'd never seen any before. As show at the beginning of this post, she figure them out right away.

When she reached the top she was confused about what to do. There was nowhere left to go.

Luckily some big girls (maybe 9?) showed up. I was curious how Ramona would react since she doesn't see other kids very often. She was delighted! She smiled as soon as she saw them (which is her reaction to all strangers. She's such a ham.) Then she started clapping when they climbed up the stairs to where we were. She saw them go down the slide and you could see the wheels turning in her head. "Oh yes, of course, we go this way!" She started crawling down the slide. I caught her before she went too far. I picked her up and we went down the slide with her on my lap. She liked it! Fun times. My big girl.

Oh, my big girl. I can't believe she'll be a year in less than three weeks. Today Joe made a joke about me taking the camera with me every time the fish and I go anywhere. But I defended myself because I need the pictures. She's growing so fast. It's already hard to remember her being a newborn. It's hard to remember the time before she could crawl. Like all people, she is who she is right now. The memories fade, but the pictures are constant reminders. I looked at old pictures today and couldn't believe how little she was. How chubby her cheeks were. They're still chubby, but her face is starting to make the transfer from baby to toddler. It's happening so gradually that I don't notice unless I look at older pictures. And that, my friends, is the reason I need all the pictures. I need the little tugs on my heartstrings that come when I look at those old pictures. The memories of who she was and who I was and who we were rush back so quickly with one glance.

Being Lame

2010-10-01T23:49:00.001-04:00

I've been being lame this week and not posting. Last week I was gone and didn't post much, this week I'm just dumb. I've been in a crazy mood swing way this week. I have been eating like it's my job. I don't know why. But I have been in the mood to stuff my face pretty much every day. And one day I'll be really excited about life and my plans and other days I just don't want to get out of bed. One day I wish I was a stay at home mom and will treasure every second through Mony, the next day I'll turn on Nick Jr and try to speed through to bed time by the force of sheer will. One day I'm sure that I need to make a change now to be happy because life is short and we only get one shot at it, and the next day I don't have the energy to make breakfast.

I also have only showered once this week, which, as this chart indicates is really good or really bad.
When I'm depressed I just want to sleep all the time, so I sleep instead of showering. When I'm super happy I just want to have fun and GO! and don't have time to shower. I would say I've been on the low end of the spectrum lately. I have been running low on optimism lately. I need to recharge somehow.

On a totally unrelated note, can you believe it's OCTOBER? Jeez, this year has flown. I'll be 27 on Wednesday. How am I getting so old? I think this getting old thing is part of the dissatisfaction reaching such heights. I keep thinking "You get one life and you're wasting literally years of it unhappily wasting away in a desert? Hello! Get out of here." But then I get all panicky and think "You need to keep your job that you don't like because you need money because you have a kid and you're a grown-up. Suck it up! Life sucks and then you die, duh, you know that!" It doesn't help that I keep getting job interviews that go nowhere. It sucks away any and all confidence I have. Apparently my personality is so terrible that a piece of paper boringly describing my professional experiences makes people want to hire me more than actually talking to me. And I hate doing interviews, so I basically keep doing something I can't stand for no reason because nothing ever comes of it. I hate the questions they ask. They're always so irrelevant to the job. My most hated question is, "Why do you think you're the best person for the job?" or its variant, "Why should I hire you?" What am I supposed to say to this? I think I'm too logical. I mean, to be honest, I seriously doubt I'm the best person in the entire world for the job. There is most likely someone else who could probably do it better out there. And I can't even really say that I'm the best person that even applied for it since I have no idea who else applied. So I prefer the second question. But even then, I never know what to say. I'm an excellent employee? Every job I've ever had has had a manager say I'm one of their best employees? I enjoy having a job I can take pride in? I am quick learner and love to figure out new things? I really want to move away and it would be really nice of you to make that happen?

Sorry, I know I'm being a whiner. I'm just so ready for something new. The thing is, I wouldn't mind settling down for real, in a place I'm happy at. I want a job that I intend to keep for years and a house that I can make a home. It makes living in this limbo even more uncomfortable for me.

The fish has ten teeth now. The teething is going obnoxiously, thanks for asking. She is sleeping terribly, but isn't too bad during the day. She's just extra clingy and very screechy/squealy. The other two molars feel like they're ready to pop through pretty quickly, so hopefully we'll get through this one quickly. I kind of like how she gets all four corresponding teeth right at the same time so we can get through it really fast, but that really fast two or three weeks of teething are super intense.

We don't have any real plans for the weekend. Joe is working, so we'll probably do family park/swimming stuff in the morning and Mommy and Mony walks, adventures, and pictures in the evening. Yay for weekends!

Baby Steps into Toddlerhood

2010-09-28T21:50:00.000-04:00

As mentioned before, Ramona is working on walking. It really hits it home that she'll be a toddler soon. Another, less endearing reminder? Her insane temper tantrum today.

When I got home from work I was in a bad mood. Joe, being the awesome guy in the universe, offered to get pizza and some beers to cheer me up. When he got back, we ate pizza, and I let Ramona have a few bites. Then she saw the little containers of cheese and peppers. She always grabs them and makes a huge mess and it's really obnoxious. So, as soon as I saw her grabbing for them, I said, "Ramona. No!" She looked at me then grabbed for one anyway. I took it out of her hand and said, "No," again. She started crying. I said, "Sorry, kid. You don't get to fake cry and then get whatever you want. That's not how it works." She tried again and I said no again. Her cry turned into a squeal and her face turned red and tear started streaming down her face. I gave her some pizza and she stopped crying. Every time she made eye contact with me for the next few minutes she would start crying again.

So I picked her up and kissed her and told her I love her and that I'm not mad at her, but when I say no, she has to stop. I set her down and we were done. Then we ate pizza together and she was fine. But it was the first of what I fear will be many meltdowns. I had a pretty big temper when I was a kid. I mellowed out as I got older, and I think I'm fairly laid back now, but I used to be able to kick and scream and rip out my hair with the best of them. Unfortunately, it looks like she takes after me with that.

The weird part is being on the other side of it. As the adult, I kind of felt bad. I know better than to give into her, and don't intend to do so because she needs to learn to behave correctly and respect authority, but it's pretty hard to see her get so upset and not do anything about it. I guess all I can do is help her learn how to deal with her emotions and make sure she knows I am not going to be manipulated by some tears and a pouty lip.

Mommy is Funny

2010-09-27T00:47:00.000-04:00

What a weekend. After all the traveling we did earlier this week, we hung out at home this weekend. Joe had to work, so we tried to have quality time together in the morning. Saturday I made meatloaf and broccoli casserole for lunch so we could have a family meal. It was the first time Ramona had ever had it and she loved it as expected. (Broccoli, rice, and cheese are some of her favorite foods. Put them together and how can you lose?) We hung out the rest of the day, playing together and having fun.

This morning Mony and I played in the bedroom until 9:30, when we woke up Joe. He made us breakfast and then we all went swimming. Ramona has been a super splasher in the bathtub lately, so she was enjoying the pool a lot today. Then we came home and ate food and played some more. Joe went to work and Ramona and I went for three different walks tonight. The last one ended at the playground where she had a blast on the swings. Then we came home and played on the floor. She thought my peek a boo was hilarious tonight.

It was one of those weekends that made me wish I could be a stay at home mom. I never thought I would be one or want to be one, but sometimes I just wish I could spend all my time with her. Of course I love having a job and making my own money, so I know I would miss that a lot if I were to stay home. But days like today make it really hard to know I have to wake up and go into that office tomorrow. Who couldn't use more Ramona giggles in their day? Of course, I'm glad that Joe and I both have jobs and can provide a stable comfortable life for her. And even better, she spends all her time with at least one of us. But some days I like to dream of Joe winning the lottery and us all spending all our time together. Today was one of those days.

Daddy is Funny

2010-09-27T00:43:00.000-04:00

Joe making Mony laugh.

More berfday

2010-09-26T19:02:00.001-04:00

I got Ramona the last of her bday presents today. Five board books from the How Do Dinosaurs... series. We already had How Do Dinosaurs Love Their Cats? and How Do Dinosaurs Clean Their Rooms? I bought

How Do Dinosaurs Laugh Out Loud?

How Do Dinosaurs Count to Ten?

How Do Dinosaurs Play with Their Friends?

How Do Dinosaurs Learn Their Colors?

How Do Dinosaurs Love Their Dogs?

Amazon had a 4 for 3 deal right now that I didn't even know about until I checked out. Good deal! I wasn't sure about Love Their Dogs since we don't have one, but I figure she'll probably go to Aunt Kathleen's house and play with Lucy when she's bigger, so she'll still have a dog that she plays with. I'm ready to birthday it up!

Berfday

2010-09-25T21:39:00.000-04:00

Today I bought presents for Mony's birthday. Here's what I picked:

Leapfrog Learn & Groove Musical Table

Melissa & Doug Deluxe Fish Bowl Jumbo Knob Puzzle

Manhattan Toy Feeding Set for Baby Stella

Fisher-Price Corn Popper Push Toy

Playskool Step Start Walk n Ride

Fisher-Price Sesame Street Silly Sounds Remote

Melissa & Doug Deluxe Bug Jug Fill & Spill Soft Baby Toy

Fisher-Price The Farmer Says

Manhattan Toy Baby Stella Doll

I'll probably get a couple books, too. Possibly some clothes, but the grandmas are pretty good at keeping her clothed, so I'm not too worried about that. I was unsure about the doll. She isn't really to that stage of play yet, but I imagine she will be within the next year. Joe found the toy remote control, which I think might end up being a favorite since she LOVES the TV remote. We have to take out the batteries so she can play with it without totally screwing up the TV. Today I spent a good ten minutes trying to figure out how to get rid of screen within a screen. I didn't even know the TV had that feature, but Ramona somehow got it to work. So, we had Wonder Pets with Hollywood Murders until I figured out how to turn it off. Definitely a fun juxtaposition.

The birthday is rapidly approaching. I can't believe it's almost a whole year since the day we drove to the hospital half-way not believing we would return home as parents. It's strange to think that a year ago I didn't know Ramona at all, I just knew the constantly kicking and hiccuping mass in my belly that I already called Ramona in my head and when I talked about her to Joe. I had no idea that she would have such beautiful blue eyes or such a charming smile or crazy laugh. It's hard to remember not knowing her. It seems like another life altogether.

Don't really hate your kids. Jeez.

2010-09-25T17:53:00.001-04:00

Wow, I recently wrote about how sometimes your kids drive you crazy. But obviously, you stay in control of the situation and act like a grown-up and deal with it. Apparently some people don't remember that part.

I was watching Teen Mom the other day. For those who don't watch it, it follows some girls who got pregnant in high school. One of the girls gave up her daughter for adoption because she had an unstable home environment and didn't want her daughter to grow up the same way. Watching the episodes involving the issues with her mom and step dad really shows how mature a decision it was. Her step dad is currently in court ordered rehab and her mom is upset about it and takes it out on her daughter.

In a recent episode, her mom went shopping for a prom dress with her. The mom got mad at her because she liked a dress that her mom didn't like (for no real reason except she said it was ugly.) Then the mom totally started acting like a teenager, complete with eye rolling and sarcasm, and then actually told her daughter, "F--- you, Catelynn!" This was all in front of her friend who went shopping with them. Then, the daughter went out with her boyfriend to get his tux and her mom called her and said that she owed her gas money for taking her dress shopping.

I guess my point is that while everyone is annoyed by their children every once in awhile, you shouldn't actually hate them. I thought that goes without saying, but maybe not. The world can be a sad place. It makes me want to show Ramona how happy it can be as much as possible.

Hyland's Teething Tabs- Myth or Legend?

2010-09-24T23:58:00.000-04:00

So, all my mom friends (who are pretty few and far between) especially the hippie type ones (even fewer and farther) recommended these. They're "all natural" and are supposed to help your baby during teething troubles. As I mentioned in the last post, Mony is getting her first set of molars. She is doing really well, but since we were at Target and I saw the teething tablets, I figured I'd give them a try.

So I read the directions, and last night gave her one. You're supposed to do 2-3, but I figured I'd just do one and see how it goes. The directions indicated you were supposed to hold it under your tongue until it dissolves. How they expect you to relay this information to a baby is beyond me. I kind of let it dissolve on her tongue. We tried this right before bed.

Then the craziest, totally most unexpected thing happened. Ramona slept through the night. She hasn't done that since she was four months old. She went to bed at 8pm and woke up at 6:30am. I was thrilled. I slept until Joe got home from work and was climbing into bed (around 2am.) Usually by that point Ramona has woken up at least two times and is in bed with me. He was actually confused as to where she was. I think he thought she rolled out of bed or something. He whispered, "Where is she?" and I answered, "She's still asleep!" while thinking Shut up, don't ruin it! But she managed to sleep through Daddy getting home from work. That never happens. Joe and I actually got to cuddle together in bed. And sleep! Uninterrupted!

So, was it the teething tablet? Was it just coincidence? I don't know. But you can bet your ass I gave her one before bed tonight.

Road Trippin'

2010-09-24T00:27:00.000-04:00

Stu is Really Good with Children

2010-09-24T00:26:00.001-04:00

Under Control

2010-09-23T23:36:00.000-04:00

Not the best pic of either of us, but a memory nonetheless

So we spent the first half of this week in Arizona, back to the land from whence we came. We left on Saturday and stopped in Vegas for Endless Shrimp at Red Lobster (which is Joe's raison d'etre.) We got up to the Canyon around 8:00 and went up to Maswik where we saw some old friends. Edwina said she is going to teach Ramona to speak Hopi. We ate pizza and hung out, and then I took Ramona back to the hotel for bed time and Joe went out to drink with his buddies. The next day I got up early (because Ramona doesn't really give me a choice) and called up my friend Ann. We went to breakfast and walked around the Rim Trail. It was really good to see her and we had some serious talks that I really needed. Mony was with us part of the time in her stroller and then when she was getting restless we took her back to play in the hotel room with Joe while we took another walk. After that Ann left and we got ready to go to Williams where my conference was. Joe and Ramona walked me to my room, so a few of my old accounting buddies got to see her. Then Joe and Ramona went back up to Grand Canyon and left me at the conference.

I was really not looking forward to this conference at all. I was sure we would learn stuff that had nothing to do with me, and that we'd have to play stupid team building games and do all that stuff that is so awkward that no one enjoys but they always make you do for some reason. Luckily, I was completely wrong. First of all, there was free beer. Honestly, they could have just sent out a memo in March that said, "Free Beer at the Controllers' Conference!" and I wouldn't have spent the year dreading it. I drank enough to get socially lubricated and met a bunch of people from all of our company's other properties. Everyone was nice (some were a little strange, but in a fun way) and I had a nice time. The sessions were informative and I learned a lot. And there was a lot of free food, little gifts, and just all around pleasantness. I missed Joe and Ramona but we talked on the phone every night. Also, did I mention that I got to sleep through the night, all alone with no one biting my nipple or kicking me in the stomach? That was definitely worth the whole trip.

But seriously, I did miss them a lot. We took the train up to the Canyon for the conference on Tuesday (in the dome car which was SOOO cool and comfy!) and one of the entertainers came up to sing for us and he did "What a Wonderful World". I admit I got a little teary eyed when he sang the part about seeing babies smile and watching them grow. So luckily, I got to see Joe and Ramona during my breaks when we were up there. There was a picnic lunch at Shoshone Point, which I had never been to, and it was really gorgeous. There were some more sessions, and we got a nice dinner at the El Tovar along with a couple more beers, so it was a nice time. We bussed back down to Williams and I went right to sleep. Wednesday was the big accounting game. Our team lost, but it was actually fun and a good time was had by all. After that we did a tour of the train shop and got to see where the work on the trains and we got to go up in the engine part of the car and look around. I really want to take Ramona on the train when they do Polar Express at Christmas time in a couple of years. They use the old timey cars and everyone wears their pajamas and they have hot chocolate and cookies and read the story and then you get to "the North Pole" (an area with Christmas lights where Santa gets on) and then Santa meets all the kids and gives them sleigh bells to take home. It's a really cute idea and I think it would be really fun for a kid at the right age.

After the train shop tour the conference was over so Joe and Ramona picked me up. I got a Christmas ornament with the Railway on it and got Ramona a toy train. Then we went to Flagstaff to get lunch. They opened a new brewery since the last time we were there, so we checked it out. It was called the Lumberyard. The food was pretty good and we did a sampler of the beers and there were a couple of really nice ones. It's owned by the same people who run Beaver Street Brewery, but the feel and menu are really different. After lunch we walked around the shops a little bit and then started the long journey home. We got back around ten and got some sleep. Today was work and playing with my Baby Fish. I missed her so much, but I'm so glad she got to see our old friends and have some time to bond with Joe. And of course, nothing beats that, "OMG! It's MOMMY!" smile she had when they picked me up on Wednesday.

In Mony news, her ninth tooth popped out, so she officially has a molar, and her next three are poised to break through at any time. She is now eleven months old, meaning I have less than a month before my little baby is a year old. It has been the fastest year of my life by far. She's grown and changed so much. Then again, so have I.

Hating Your Kids

2010-09-16T23:07:00.000-04:00

A couple weeks ago, my internet (and thisclose to meeting in real life) friend and notable Ramona Fan Cory wrote a post where she talked about how she hated her kid that night because he was being a pain. I shared a story about how just the night before she posted it, I had a serious hating moment with Ramona when she was not sleeping for millionth time. Now, obviously, we don't hate our kids, but I think everyone has those moments where they are so irritated they are about to go crazy. I base this on "my mom" evidence. My mom is pretty much the best mom ever, so whenever I do something and I think I might be being a bad mom, I think about whether my mom would do it. (WWMMD bracelets?) In reality I don't think I'm ever even close to being a bad mom, but I want to be a really good mom. So I strive for the best. But we all have our faults, and our bad mom days.

My mom is usually calm and has been described as the "nicest person I've ever met" by several of my friends. But there are a few times I remember her being really pissed off when we were kids. The most notable in my mind was one time my brother and I were in the car and were just being obnoxious kids and poking each other and whining about how the other person was on our side of the car, blah blah, stupid annoying kid stuff. It definitely wasn't the only time we'd ever acted like that, but for some reason my mom was really mad about it that particular day. She gave us a bunch of warnings to cut it out that we ignored and she finally pulled over the car and gave us both a smack on the cheek. I should point out that my parents were in no way abusive. We did get little smacks or spankings occasionally, but they were the kind that didn't hurt and were more to get our attention than to actually hurt us. When they did, they were usually very calm about it. This is the only time I can remember my mom actually being mad when she did it, which is why I think it sticks out in my memory. Anyway, we obviously shut up then, and my mom chilled out and everything was fine. But, I think that was probably one of my own mother's "I hate my kids" moments. If she had 'em, I feel okay having them.

What is most notable to me between my moment, Cory's moment, and my mom's moment is that our children's behavior was not really any worse than usual. James and I were pretty obnoxious on a regular basis as children. We would fight until Mom would separate us and then we'd spend the entire time we were separated trying to secretly play together. It was an every day event. Ramona has never been a great sleeper and I get up with her every night. Cory's son (just guessing) has probably been that annoying or more so another day and she probably didn't get upset about it. But in all those cases, us, as moms, were in a bad mood outside of anything to do with our children, which made it difficult to deal with the problems they presented. I don't remember why my mom was in a bad mood, but she had definitely run out of patience before we even got in the car that day. I was completely exhausted when Ramona wouldn't sleep. Cory had just gotten off of an extra long crappy day of work.

The hating is not about them, it's about us. Those are the hardest times to be a parent. Those days when, before kids were in the picture, you would have just taken a nap, or vegged out and relaxed, or had some beers and been back to yourself in an hour are so rough. Because it's not as simple as it used to be to take a break and get over yourself. Those times when we hate them are the times that we show our love for them the most. Because if we didn't love them, we would just toss them in a dumpster and head to the bar. Instead, we just think about it. What a wonderful way to show we really love them.

The Fish Walks!

2010-09-16T22:22:00.000-04:00

Ramona was a walking machine today. She has attempted a few half hearted steps in the past, but it was like one accidental step and she fell right over. Today she tried to walk a bunch of times and had success with several of them. I'm trying to video tape them, but she never does it when I actually have the camera. (Typical baby move!) The best time was definitely after we got home from our walk. She stood up and took three steps like it was nothing. So cool!

Sleep Issues Again

2010-09-15T23:41:00.000-04:00

Man, I do not envy Joe. Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday night I will be at my conference and Joe is going to have to get Ramona asleep and get her to stay asleep. I'm hoping through some miracle that she sleeps easily and through the night for Joe, but since that hasn't really happened her entire life, I'm not betting on it. I am the one that gets up with Ramona at night and I nurse her to sleep, so it's going to be a rough time for Joe and his non-lactating self.

She is such a terrible sleeper, and I often wonder if it's partially my fault. First, there's the sleeping in the swing thing. Then, I let her sleep in bed with me all the time. She really almost never sleeps in her crib anymore. It's used more as a play place than anything else. So I feel guilty about it and think that if only I did sleep training or let her cry it out, or at least didn't let her sleep in bed with me, she might be a better sleeper. But then I read Dr Sears, and he says that nursing babies to sleep and expecting them to wake up at night is totally normal, and that babies will sleep better as they get older and there's nothing wrong with them getting up at night. And I think maybe it's ok and I should just enjoy her being little enough to enjoy cuddling with her mommy.

It's one of those parenting things where people are so sharply divided, and they get so crazy about it, that you can't even get honest advice on it. Non cry it out people act like you are a terrible neglectful parent and your child will suffer horrible psychological repercussions if you let your child cry it out or attempt sleep training. Cry it out people act like you're coddling your child and they'll still be sleeping in your bed when they graduate high school if you don't get to it now. What should I do? I really am not sure. I'd prefer she sleep in her own crib and sleep all night. But, honestly, it doesn't really bother me that much when she sleeps in bed with me and gets up a couple of times (more than a couple makes me crazy, but she hasn't had that since she cut her last tooth.) I know I do it this way because I'm lazy and don't like hearing her cry. Is that good or bad? I'm not really sure.

All I know is that it probably isn't good for Joe next week. Poor guy.

Awesome Song Writing

2010-09-14T21:34:00.000-04:00

I was going to write something else, but when I was starting to write this, Ramona crawled over and had a poopy diaper. So I went to change it and sang her one of my brilliant original creations. It's called, "Stinky Butt." Lyrics as follows:

Stinky butt
Stinky butt
My daughter
Has a stinky stinky stinky butt
She's a pooper
And she smells nasty
Stinky Stinky Stinky Stinky butt

Brilliant, eh? I have a few classics that I have sung to Ramona for a long time and they are all pretty much the same. They have a familiar beat and ridiculous lyrics. Such as...

Tummy Drum
Tummy Drum
Ramona has got a tummy drum
Tummy Drum
Tummy Drum
Mommy has got a- TUMMY DRUM!

We've done that one since she was a newborn. I (surprise!) use our tummies as drums during the song. She finds it quite hilarious. Another classic is:

B-b-b-baby fish
B-b-b-baby fish
I've got a little bitty
Cutie wootie
Baby Fish

And of course the biggest one (and probably the reason Lars ran away) is this hit:

If I had
Just one wish
It would be for my Ramona Fish

If I had
Another wish
It would be for her Daddy Fish

If I had
A wish after that
It would be for our Danzig Cat

And if my wishes
Went that far
I guess I'd have to wish for Lars

I'm guessing Lars was mad that she was the last wish and that's why she ran away. In my defense, she would have higher billing if she hadn't peed on my stuff all the time.

I also do songs based on other songs. The biggest hit in that regard is probably, "Don't Bite your Mommy" which is based on "Don't Bite your Friends" from Yo Gabba Gabba! Joe's mom commented that she looked hypnotized when I would sing it during their visit.

I think the last major one is probably the one based on the Spider Man song:

Baby Fish
Baby Fish
Does whatever a baby fish does
Is she a baby?
Yes she is!
Is she a fish?
Not so much!
Look Out! Here comes the baby fish!

Joe and I always talk about how we need to start a band together. Our first idea for a band was to be called Especially Heinous and all our songs would be about Law & Order SVU. I actually wrote a couple of songs for that, which were mostly about how hot I think Stabler is. Our other plan was for me to start an indie girl type thing, where I would play acoustic guitar and sing slightly off-key while Joe played something stupid (possibly an empty coffee can with some beans in it that he could drum or shake). This plan was mostly to make a ton of money in advertising by selling my songs for commercials since that kind of music seems so popular for that. Neither of us actually like that kind of thing, but the people at Kindle don't know that.

However, based on the positive reinforcement I've received from Ramona, I'm thinking my true calling may be children's music. There probably isn't as much money, but I might be able to guest on Blue's Clues or Sesame Street. And I can't be any worse than the Fresh Beat Band.