Our House, in the Middle of Our Street...

Wow...we've been busy. We just bought a house (or, you know, are in the process of buying one for the next 30 years or so). Yeah. We weren't really looking to move so soon, but everything kind of fell into our laps. It wasn't something we could really pass up because we were already beginning to outgrow our little rental. Well, more like our daughter was outgrowing it. Her room was the office/nursery, which is quite possibly the worst combination ever. Every chance she got, she would scramble onto our office chair and bang on the keyboard which would cause it to come crashing down to the hardwood floor. And break. That, along with the fact that she has about 450 tons of toys and will likely procure even more, was what got us thinking.

It was kind of one of those opportunities that comes along, and will most likely never come again. So, we took it. I'm so happy that we did because it feels so nice to actually have a place of our own! Also, we can have more than two people over at once (our rental was that small).

So basically, I've been busy moving/sanding/priming/painting/cleaning/etc. which takes about three times as long with a 17-month-old in tow. Oh, and we've also been dealing with a new stage called "I CAN HIT/THROW THINGS/WRITHE ON THE GROUND AND SCREAM TO GET MY WAY!". Which isn't actually true-the getting her way part, not the screaming and hitting-but she still tries. I really hope that she gets all of this out of her system before she turns 12 because, seriously, I'm tired. I can't get anything done because when I start something like painting, she spends every second trying to get attention by, you know, eating paint chips, or something equally as dangerous, and then protesting wildly if I take them away. Sometimes she even bangs her head against the wall ("Monica BANG!") to see what I'll do. Which just ends with more crying, somewhat because she didn't realize how much it might hurt to bang her head into the wall, but mostly because I don't react to it. If I do, she'll just do it more.

But, aside from all of the whining and hitting and head-banging, we're doing really well in this house. We love it here. And here's proof that sometimes we really do get along. Here we are bonding over our mutual love of snow. This was the first time she actually got to see snow since last year at this time she was about six months old. She kept looking up at the snow that was falling and saying "OH!" and then trying to catch it.

Simple Geometry

My daughter has one of those Tupperware Shape-O toys which she randomly brings to me so that I'll open it and dump all the shapes out. Her way of asking is to shake it violently while yelling something like "Uuuuuh!", which is her word for, "Do it now before I really get angry!". We've been working on 'please' and 'thank you' for months now, but I guess she's learned that her way gets the job done quicker. Sadly, it's true. But I digress...

Anyway, she has the Shape-O (I had no idea that it had such a ridiculous name until I Googled it just now) and usually she attempts to put the shapes back in by sheer force. She grabs the star shape for instance and bangs it against the pentagon hole as hard as she can in hopes that she can cause it to cooperate as easily as her parents do...ha. Today, though, I wasn't paying much attention after I had dumped the shapes out, when she came over and quietly handed it to me. I looked down and there were at least four shapes INSIDE the ball! I know I didn't put them there, and she hadn't left the room so my husband hadn't put them there. Apparently either her method of physically forcing the shapes into the ball finally worked, or she grew a couple new brain cells! Although, that theory is under investigation because she is now yelling because my purse is stuck on her arm. Not like wrapped around it, not twisted up in such a way that it is causing her to lose circulation, but just hanging off of her shoulder...

Well, I thought maybe I'd found the next baby genius...yes, she says "Uuuuuh!" in place of actual words, but is also a baby genius...haha. Let me dream.

Colic Frolic

My daughter is now 15 months old (nearing 16), and my husband and I are just now getting to take a breather. It's been a difficult year. The lack of sleep for the first eleven months of our adventure in parenting caused it to feel a little more like eleven years. I remember people telling us that the first year of marriage would be the hardest. That we should just prepare ourselves because it would get better. Well, our first year(s) were great. We really never argued and although we were attending school full time and working nearly full time, we always had time to spend together.



People never warned us about the first year of parenting. Sure, there was that whole 'Having a baby changes everything' thing, but really. Does that even need to be said? Obviously when a small person exits your uterus (shudder), things are going to be different. I guess it's true that unless you've experienced parenting firsthand, you won't quite understand what it entails, but come on, at least give a girl a clue. Oh, but once we had the baby, the advice-givers (that's a word. really) came out of the wood works. Not really helpful. Especially when we were running on about two hours of sleep between us and all we really needed was not advice, but for the person giving it to take our daughter for a little while and let us sleep.



So, we had a hard, sleep-deprived year and we're just getting to the point that we can spend some time together. For awhile it felt more like we were co-workers just working alongside each other and trying to stay afloat in a never-ending job. With a boss that screamed for at least four months straight at a volume that made our ears bleed, and then intermittently after that for another three months. I just think that either A LOT of people are lying about how easy it was to have a baby, or we just got a raw deal. But now that all of that is behind us, we feel like we can conquer anything. We are now able to truly appreciate her good moments because we know how bad things can get. It's easy to take things for granted when they come easy all of the time.



Now my husband and I have a few hours each night to spend together without our little marsh mellow screaming (now she does it for fun) into our now shell-shocked eardrums. We appreciate the little things that we are able to do, like finish an entire movie, or even TV show in one setting. We've even been playing video games. I will admit to liking video games, mostly because we have Star Wars Battlefront and I can be Chewbacca and make all the funny Chewy sounds.

*Side Note: We've been watching the X-Files on DVD which are sometimes creepy, but mostly just humorous because a.) hello, early nineties TV series! Can't get much better than beige, over sized pantsuits and poofy hair, and b.) Scully and Mulder go to all sorts of exotic locations. Like Mattawa Washington. Seriously, for those of you who know, who goes to Mattawa on purpose? Although, I guess there is a possibility of aliens there. They're just more of the illegal type. But seriously? Mattawa! We were laughing so hard! And they filmed the series in Vancouver, BC so they made it look all forest-y instead of a desert wasteland like it really is. I guess it also made it into a Johnny Cash song though, so what do I know.

Anyway. It's been nice. I almost feel like a real person again (and I know by saying that, I'm just asking for another little bundle of joy to come along and scream in my ear). But honestly. I wouldn't trade any of it (okay, maybe some of it) because our daughter is starting to show her hilarious personality that has stemmed from her ridiculously strong will. It will never be easy with her, and I'm already starting to see that, but we know that she was made just for us. We don't like to sit still very often and neither does she, so at least we'll never be bored.

"How little a thing can make us happy when we feel that we have earned it."

--Mark Twain

And the Dundy goes to...

Nine Things You Never Knew...Or Wished You Didn't...

Random Things About Me (and a couple of random rants):

• I cannot tell you how much I want this presidential election to be over. I absolutely HATE politics. I also hate the fact that when I vote this year, I will basically be choosing between the lesser of two evils. I don't really like either candidate and I wish we could have a do-over.


• When I went outside earlier tonight, it smelled like it was going to snow. I love that. People don't seem to believe that I can smell snow, but I can. I swear. I can smell it coming.


• Um...the city has torn our entire street so that it can be repaved. For about a month now, there have been ruts and holes and giant rocks littering the street and they're just now getting to the point where they're leveling it all out. Apparently it will be another two weeks before they actually pave it. In the meantime, they keep leaving burms of gravel right in front of our driveway. Which is not really a problem since, you know, we don't plan on leaving the house in the next month anyway...ha. Good thing we have a Subaru so we can put that All Wheel Drive to use.


• My daughter dances every time she hears the theme song from The Office. Which makes me think that she's probably seen entirely too much of that show for a one-year-old...


• Every year, around the middle of the summer, I decide that I cannot take it anymore and I must get a haircut. By the time snowboarding comes around, it's at the awkward stage where it's too short to really put up, but if I leave it down it tickles my neck. I am at that stage now.


• I have issues with things touching my neck (see above). I can't stand turtlenecks (not that I would wear one anyway...), and I can't really wear regular t-shirts to bed because the get all bunched up around my neck. It weirds me out when other people touch the front of my neck, and I usually react somewhat violently (not purposely, I can't help it). But really. Who goes around touching someone else's neck anyway? Choker necklaces are out of the question, as are scarves usually. And don't even get me started about when the doctor checks my lymph nodes...aah. I have to sit there and pretend I'm not a freak that is about to punch them in the eye...I don't know. That's my weird little phobia (well, one of them).


• My husband and I are going to start playing hockey this November (to take out some of that post-election aggression) in a town nearby. I'm really excited. I used to rollerblade A LOT when I was younger, and I've ice skated a few times, so I'm pretty sure I'll have this hockey thing in the bag. Riiiiiight. Except for the fact that I will be one of the only females and I have absolutely no muscle mass to speak of...okay, maybe a little in the arm area from lugging around my pleasantly plump little Jabba the Hut.


• I feel like pregnancy stole my brain. Seriously. I was a little ADD before my daughter came along, and now it's just ridiculous. I can't seem to concentrate on anything. I forget things all the time (one of my biggest pet peeves in others), I lose my train of thought or fail to come up with the right word...Hence the ridiculous list style blog. It's pretty frustrating. Especially for someone who used to pride herself on her vocabulary skills. I can multi-task like a pro now though. I guess that's a plus.


• Besides being a stay-at-home mom, I also sell apples on the side. Meet me at the corner later and I can get you some of the good stuff...But really. I work at an apple stand that is owned by my step in-laws, and I love it. I don't know why. Maybe it's because this babymaking thing has turned my brain to oatmeal and it's all I can handle. But it's fun. It's so old-fashioned. There are people who have been coming there since the orchards were planted (in the 50s).

Okay...really. That's enough of that. Hopefully, someday, I can come up with a post that is coherent. It might be awhile. So, in the meantime. Here's my little blue-eyed baby (and her runny nose).

"Umm, I think I like the white shirt better.

Yeah, it's-it's more...

Pensive?

Damn, I was going for thoughtful."

--Ten Things I Hate About You

Did I ever tell you about the time I invented snowboarding?

This is my new ride...or it will be if the snow decides to fly this year...

2009 Burton Troop

Isn't it pretty? I thought so.

That is all. Boring, I know.

Have a lovely...night? Almost morning? And do a snow dance for your favorite snowboarder!

You Know I Read in a Magazaaaaayne....

Um...my best friend just got ENGAGED! I am so happy for her! Her fiance proposed yesterday (on her birthday!), and they're planning to get married sometime this coming summer! They are also talking about moving back to her home state (which is where I also happen to reside) after they finish school! Yay!! Okay, too many exclamation marks? Yeah. I thought so too...

Wow. I can't believe it. It makes me think about the excitement of getting engaged and then planning a wedding (c'mon, picking out napkin colors is fun! I swear! I didn't want to bang my head on the nearest light post at all!)...But really. I kind of miss that time back when my husband and I had time to do things together that didn't involve dishes or diapers. And had more than 3 hours of sleep under our belts...in the last year. I guess I've just been feeling kind of old lately. I'm usually tired, which is part of the problem, but it's also the whole spontanaity thing. As in, there is none when a one-year-old is involved. Anything we do takes at least a little planning, and it has to coincide with naptime/bedtime or else we witness the wrath of our little Animal...er...lovely daughter.

I know if I was given the chance I wouldn't trade in the life I have now, but it would be nice to take a nice vacation in my past. Or just any kind of vacation. Seriously. Even if it's just an hour of adult conversation...actually, I don't even care about the whole talking thing. It's overrated. Just an hour without a tiny human attatched to my leg/arm/hair/pant leg would be wonderful...

Okay...so this post didn't go in the direction that I expected...

Uh, moving on. Basically, I'm really happy for my best friend/brain twin. We call ourselves brain twins because our brains are honestly on the same wavelength. I can't even explain it. We think the same things at the same times more often than not. It goes way beyond coincidence. Creepy? A little. But that's how we roll. Once we were cloud gazing with some friends who wanted us to prove our ability, so they asked us to look at a certain cloud and say what we thought it looked like. I kid you not, less than five seconds later we both blurted out the same answer. Elton John. For one, what kind of a cloud looks like Elton John!? And for two, out of the kajillion objects that we each had to choose from, what are the chances we'd both choose that? I don't know.

Anyway. I know I'm a weirdy. You don't have to tell me. I've learned to live with it quite nicely.

PS--My daughter really does resemble Animal from the Muppets. She has a ridiculous amount of hair. It's about halfway down her back already (it's not actually growing on her back...just to clarify). She's also got a bit of a crazy side...to put it nicely. Maybe she'll make a great drummer someday...

"...She's got electrice boots, a mohair suit,

You know I read it in a magazine,

Oh! B B B Bennie and the Jets..."

--Sir Elton John

Remembrance

Today is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. I could have let this day pass by just like any other day (and almost did), but that's just the problem. People are not really aware that women (and men) everywhere are suffering daily because the baby they had waited and planned for was taken from them too soon. Some are desperately trying to conceive, and for some reason or another, are not able to. It's something that is sort of just swept under the rug.

A little over two years ago, I had a miscarriage. I was only about five or six weeks along, and had only actually known that I was pregnant for a few days, but it was still very painful. I think that one of the worst parts about it was the way some people treated us (especially the medical billing staff at the hospital). Many of the nurses and staff members were very nonchalant about it, like it happened every day so maybe I should just get over it. Others really didn't know what to say, so they would say things like "you're young, you can have another baby" or "at least you weren't that far along", which was worse than saying nothing at all. I realize that there are people our there who have suffered more than I can ever imagine, but that doesn't make my pain any less real. The experience taught me to be thankful for what I have. I was able to go on and have a healthy pregnancy, and am now blessed with a beautiful daughter. It also helped me to realize that God is in control of my life and His timing is perfect.

What I want to convey is: be aware of those around you who may be suffering. Do not discount another person's pain just because it's not something you've personally experienced. A death of a baby, no matter how premature, is life-altering.

So, on this day, think about those around you who have experienced a loss. Pray for them. Let them know that you care. Remember that you may not know what someone else is going through, so treat people with kindness.

Hello

Welcome to my new blog. I'm still in the process of getting all moved in here, and it's been made more difficult by my 15-month-old daughter's demand that I spend EVERY! WAKING! MOMENT! in her direct line of sight. Which is much better than crying every waking moment (her, not me) so I should be grateful! So, anyway, here I am. Enjoy. I am off to entertain the small dictator who lives in my spare bedroom.