Ibprohpen to the rescue!

I don't know what I would do if Ibprophen didn't make my sore throat tolerable. I was sure I was going to feel much better today, but I really don't! And instead of resting (like my sister said I should have done) I made 20 jars of baby food!.....and stuffed manicotti with TWO different sauces! Oh, and thanks to the tip from my cousin Bryn, I gave Caitlin cheese for the first time today......and she really liked it!!!! It's a little scary watching her eat it because I'm so afraid she's going to choke or something. I'm pretty sure that feeling won't go away for quite some time. Anyway, I made quite the variety of baby food today. Here's a list (because I LOVE making lists):

Yams
Carrots and Yams
Carrots and Apples
Carrots, Apples, and Yams
Zucchini and Acorn Squash
Acorn Squash and Apples

I really need to make some green food to counteract all the orange! But most green food needs to be strained (green beans, peas) and I really don't get a long with my strainer these days.

Alright, I must get ready for bed. I HAVE to start feeling better tomorrow, right?

Bummer!

Mommy brain and sick brain collided today. Remember the baby shower I was going to on Sunday? Well, turns out, it was today! Thank goodness Nancy called to ask about carpooling! Otherwise, I wouldn't have known at all..........even though I have the invitation on my cork board AND it's written on my calendar too! Anyway, because I'm still not feeling well, I didn't go. I was so looking forward to Julia's shower......I even registered with her! It's a total bummer and it makes me sad. But I would be even sadder if she got sick because of me. I haven't had a fever all day (woo hoo) but my throat and ears have really been hurting. Plus, I've developed a gnarly cough. But like I told Kelly, I'm beginning to mend and I should get a little better every day. Now it's off for bed. Caitlin has been down since 8:30 and if our current theory holds true again tonight, she should wake up for another 3-4 hours! I'll share the theory tomorrow.....I don't want to jinx anything yet!

Fever....yet again.

Yesterday morning I woke up feeling achy and not myself. I got to school and I had perked up a bit and was feeling okay. Then, an hour later, I wasn't doing so good at all! I was fading fast, but I was determined to make it through the day......but it didn't happen. By 1pm I was done, and by 1:30pm I was in bed with a 99.6 temp. Thank goodness daycare had room for Caitlin today because I felt miserable this morning. I stayed in bed until 10am and then headed to Urgent Care to see if I had strep throat.....and of course, it's just a virus. So I'm still feeling crummy and I have a baby shower that I really want to go to on Sunday. Let's just hope I feel better by then!

So Caitlin has graduated to apple "wagon wheels." She absolutely LOVES them and gets so excited when she sees me getting one out. We also gave her the mesh feeder for the first time today filled with apricots. She really liked them, even though they were pretty sour. Oh, and it was a no-go on the tofu or cous-cous. I think we'll have to try it again in a week or so.

Have a great weekend!

Photo Spectacular

We had a wonderful Memorial Day visiting family this weekend. There are not enough words to describe our fun, so I will have the photos help me out.

Our sweet family.

J, K, B-man, and Miss Maddie

Awe!

Caitlin giving Maddie a big wet one!

All tuckered out from a day at the park!

B-man catching a ride on Uncle Dennis

Silly girl!

He's getting to be such a big boy!

So cute in a hat!

Look! Mommy actually got a clip in your hair!

Are they sharing? Or playing tug-o-war?

Ogling her daddy!

Brady watering the garden!

Maddie: Oh, Caitlin, just a little hug.
Caitlin: Not right now Maddie. I'm a little grumpy after my 3 hour car ride.

Maddie: But Caitlin, I missed you SO much!
Caitlin: I know, but give me a bit to calm down.

Maddie: Please!
Caitlin: Later Maddie.....Mooommmyyy!

Maddie: I'm sorry Caitlin. I just wanted to give you a hug.
Caitlin: I know. Maybe I can give you a hug after I wipe my tears, okay.

Maddie: I thought you said a hug!
Caitlin: Ha! Paybacks!

Shy Brady

Papa, Grandma, and Caitlin

Papa is SUPER excited to see Caitlin.

Cousin Hunter holding Caitlin during his picnic at school.

Caitlin trying to "attack" Hunter.

Caitlin showing Daddy how to use the laptop.

Alright Mommy, enough with the photos already.

Okay, my sweet baby girl!

Surprise!

Today Caitlin and I surprised her cousin ,Hunter, at his school. They were all out on the front lawn having a picnic and rocking out to a local band....he's in kindergarten by the way. All the kids were so cute! Hunter really liked seeing Caitlin and was really excited and gentle while he held her on his lap. Later, while we were at my dad's house, Hunter and my sister stopped by and Caitlin was so fascinated by him! I'll post pics as soon as we get back home.

Well, tomorrow we're off to Trader Joe's!!!!! Woo hoo!!!!

6 month check up

Caitlin had her 6 month check up and received 3 shots (sniff, sniff) This time she wasn't patient of the day. She cried through every shot and when she did cheer up between the 1st and 2nd shot (while I did a rendition of the chicken dance), she was completely startled when the nurse gave her the 2nd shot and immediately started crying again. Poor, sweet, baby girl! Anyway, she is now 25 inches long (25th percentile) and weighs 14 pounds, which puts her in between the 10th and 25th percentile! She has upward movement! In the next week or so I'm going to add tofu to her baby food to give it more texture.....that should be fun!

Oh, the horror!!!

I can't believe it was that bad!.....Twilight the movie, that is. Within the first five minutes, I thought, "No!!!! It can't be this bad! It's just my imagination. It has to be better!" Oh, no! The acting was HORRIBLE and the soundtrack was just as bad! I had prepared myself for the usual plot tweaks that always happen when a book is turned into a movie, but there is no excuse for the bad acting!!!!! I had to read part of New Moon just to get the movie out of my head! And all day I've been trying to block the horrible images. Did they really need all those up close shots of Bella and Edward? And what was with Edward's eyebrows!!!! I know Bella is a bit mellow in the book, but she was simply without a pulse in the movie! Then, when she was supposed to be quite dramatic at a specific part in the movie, it was like she was having a normal conversation!!!!! Plus, the dramatic camera motions and blue tint, drove me nuts! Oh, and Edward's supposed to be this beautiful creature, but in the movie he looks just so unattractive! This has to be one of the worst movies I've seen in a very long time! Hopefully, with a new director (and some acting lessons) the second movie will be much better. I mean, it has to be, right?

3 Words

Twilight the MOVIE!

2nd Tooth

.....is both feelible and visible! This one didn't seem to cause as much commotion as the first one either. There was no fever or runny nose and on Friday night she only woke up once!!!! I actually got 4 hours of sleep in a row! It would have been more, but I've become embarrassingly addicted to the Twilight series and can't seem to pry myself away from them.......even if that means I sacrifice sleep. I find myself actually giddy when I read them! What is THAT about?! I've even caught myself reading in the middle of the day! I usually only read in the evening just before bed, but now I search out a minute here, and a minute there, just to read a little bit more. I've got a problem......Hello, my name is Cindy and I'm a Twilight-aholic. I wish I had the super fast reading capabilities of my friend Crystal. It would make things so much easier!

First Boo Boo

I knew this day would come, but I didn't think it would be this soon. This afternoon, as Caitlin and I were playing on the floor, she rolled over.....right into the leg of the coffee table! She stopped cooing and I picked her up right as soon as she started the "silent scream." She was like that for so long that I actually blew softly into her face, just so she'd take a breath! Finally, she did and then let out a HUGE scream!!! Poor baby girl! She only cried for a few minutes and then laid her head on my shoulder. After that, it was like it didn't happen at all. The only thing is, she's gonna have a little bump on her head for the next day or so :(

Body Aches

Oh! What a crummy feeling! This morning I woke up at 1am and my whole body was aching! Even my fingers were in pain! I just knew a fever was coming on, so I took some meds before it got even worse. When the alarm went off, I was doing pretty well, but decided it might be better to stay home and take it easy. I'm glad I did because I've felt "off" all day. I haven't developed a fever but my body is really achy. Thankfully, Caitlin has napped really well today and I have been able to sleep while she was sleeping. All I want to do now is veg out on the couch. Caitlin has been super happy (yet again) so I have been able to lay down on the floor with her while she plays and rolls around.

Here's hoping I feel better soon!

Crack Up

Caitlin started doing this yesterday while we were in Target. Dennis started playing peek-a-boo and she started cracking up like this. She laughs quite a bit anyway, but she's never laughed this loud for this long before. It's so much fun!.....even daycare commented about it!

Twilight and 400th Blog Post!!!

Woo hoo!!!! This is my 400th blog post! Who knew I'd be keeping this up after a year and a half!.....and have so much to say!

After putting it off for several months, I started reading Twilight. At first I was not into it at all. In fact, part of me wanted to stop reading it all together. The language is so basic and the author uses a LOT of descriptive language that gets very boring. But then, the story started to develop and I got hooked. I only have a few chapters to go and I'm anxiously awaiting to watch the movie and then read Midnight Sun which is Edward's perspective of Twilight. I had no idea this other book existed. I was talking to Nancy and one of the Kindergartner's mom overheard me and said I might be interested in it. So, during my next break, I promptly looked it up online. You can find it at Stephenie Meyer's official website http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/midnightsun.html It's an online document of a rough draft version.....she explains it all on that page. I see now why so many people would stay up for days reading the series....quite addictive, they are!

On an odd note: I was in the school office today writing out a note for some teachers, when I discovered an awesome pen! Do you ever get that euphoric feeling when writing with the perfect pen or pencil? The words just easily flow onto the paper and you feel like you can go on and on.....writing anything just to be able to hang on to that feeling as long as possible. The only problem is that the pen writes in black ink....I prefer blue (it's a happier color). Although, I may have to overlook this flaw because it writes so beautifully! To say the least, this pen now belongs to me (with permission from the secretary of course).

Little Gamer

Daddy is sooooo excited! Caitlin (on her own) discovered the PS3 controller tonight! I think Dennis going to leave it on the floor so she can continue to "test" it out. I think Dennis has been waiting for this day since she was born.

Happy Mother's Day

It's been quite a Mother's Day for us over here. I think Caitlin is getting another tooth even though we can't feel it yet. She's just been a bit fussy and not herself today. Dennis had to go to Urgent Care because he has a MASSIVE urinary tract infection. He's home now and trying, unsuccessfully, to fall asleep because he's in horrible pain and has a gnarly fever. Yesterday morning he made me awesome blueberry pancakes for breakfast and for dinner we got my favorite pizza while we watched the ever anticipated Hatton fight on HBO with Nancy and Mark. So really, we celebrated Mother's Day yesterday, if you think about it. Dennis and Mark already new how and when the fight ended, so I was completely shocked (and devastated) at the second round knock-out of Ricky Hatton! In all honesty, it was a really good knock-out and was quite fun to watch over and over.

I hope all the mother's reading this have a wonderful day with their families!

Freak Out!

Okay, there ARE some things scarier than a clown and snakes are one of those things! Last night I was in our garden picking strawberries. I was already kinda creeped out and on the edge because we have a really bad infestation of slugs....both big and small. So as I was trying to pick the strawberries, and not inadvertently touch a slug, I heard this very strange sound behind me. I turned to look and there on the black plastic next to me was a garter snake flip floppin' around! I took off running as fast as I could (cursing under my breath) and seriously trying not to scream! For a good 10 minutes later, my adrenaline was still going and for at least the next 2 hours, I was completely freaked out. Snakes scare the living daylights out of me! I don't know how long it'll take for me to work up enought courage to brave the strawberry patch again!!!!!!

If you look really closely, you can see Caitlin's first tooth! I think she's working on a second one too!

Nevada

Today my mother moved to Nevada. There, I said it (or rather typed it) without crying. She's going to be cooking on a cattle ranch out in the middle of nowhere. This new job is completely up her alley and something she's looking forward to. I know I will talk to her and see her about the same, but it just breaks my heart that she's moving so far away. This morning I went down to Nancy's room to tell her and almost immediately had to leave and I barely made it back to my room before I burst into tears. I was pretty much on the verge of tears all morning long. Finally, I talked to my sister this afternoon and was able to compose myself...until I got home that is. I came home to a package sent from my mom. It was a painting that my great-grandmother made. Big crocodile tears flowed from my eyes and I just sobbed and sobbed. Things will get better each day. But for right now, I'm just really sad.

The Biting Continues

For the past several days, Caitlin has been experimenting with her new tooth....on me! It's definitely not the most pleasant experience in the world. She mainly does it during her last night time feeding before bed. Most of the time, I've noticed, I'm not giving her my complete attention (by talking usually)......and now I'm becoming a little gun shy! I'm hoping that this is just a phase and that by repeatedly saying "no biting" and not let her nurse right away again, she'll stop. Thankfully, she hasn't broken skin!

Mommy Brain

Mommy brain has struck again! Remember when I posted about Caitlin turning 6 months old on Sunday? Well, her actual 6 month birthday was yesterday! I can't believe how many things I forget in the course of a day! I even completely forgot the entire conversation I had with a teacher yesterday! I feel like such a space cadet! Those of you who know me, know that I'm.......well....particular. And it seems that since I've had Caitlin I'm becoming more particular in some ways and less in others. Take last night for example. While Dennis was doing the dinner dishes (like he does every night) I asked him to open the container of sweet potato puffs for Caitlin. Well instead of taking off just the plastic labeling on the top, he just happened to take it all off. Talk about bugging the heck out of me! He asked if it really mattered and truthfully it shouldn't, but for some reason it just freaks me out! I mean, there's no label! It falls under the same category as towels not being folded the same way or not separating the laundry before you fold it......or (I thought of another one) starting a list from the bottom of the list paper up. These things I simply cannot do! Call me crazy, but it just freaks me out!

6 Months

Here she is!....6 months old already! She's been squealing with delight all day! Oh, and Dennis discovered yesterday that she really likes the movie Grease....silly girl. Now she's down for the night and will hopefully sleep well. Her tooth is definitely visible to us, but not the camera yet.....but I think she's working on tooth number 2. We can't feel anything yet, but she's acting a bit toothy.

Mommy Night Out

Tonight I'm headed out to dinner with my friend, sans Caitlin. Daddy is staying home to baby-sit. I can't remember the restaurant we're going to, but it should be good. I've already gone through my closet and found my outfit. Man it was challenging finding something to wear that 1) fit me, 2) wasn't a t-shirt, and 3) fit me.....yes, I know I have fit me twice, but with my post pregnancy figure 11.5lbs lighter than before and my girls a bit bigger than before, I don't have very many "going out" outfits to choose from anymore.

Ah, Caitlin's awake! Gotta go!