Why me?!

Yesterday afternoon Caitlin, Nancy, and I went to get my haircut. I have been wanting to do it for a while but it has been a bit difficult finding the time. Anyway, I went to a new place and ended up getting a really SLOW chick. Nancy helped me find a picture and I had told her I always part my hair the same way, I wanted it short and textured, and I never flat iron it...ever. Well, she was VERY conservative on the short part and I didn't realize how conservative until she was practically finished. I didn't say anything because it took her forever to cut what she had and I thought it would get shorter when she textured it.....it didn't to say the least. Then, the most frustrating part, she cut my hair with it parted in the middle and I always part it on the side so when I got home and parted it normally it is UNEVEN!!! I immediately picked up the scissors and snipped a small amount off and realized I was heading down a road that shouldn't be traveled.....so I sent a text to Nancy and she immediately replied "don't fix it yourself!".....which was the best thing she could have sent because it was a second reminder that I should put the scissors down...ASAP!!! I should go back and have her fix it but if she didn't get it right the first time, I don't trust her to fix it this time....so I think I'm gonna go somewhere else in a few weeks. You can't really tell it's uneven because it's tucked behind my ears.....thank goodness! It seems like every time I get my hair cut I don't like it. Why that is, I have no idea. I think I need help! This just proves, yet again, that my hair and I just don't get along. :)

Chicago

So Dennis leaves for Chicago tomorrow morning and we are all not wanting the morning to arrive. He will be gone until Thursday afternoon, so it'll be just Caitlin and I till then. Normally when he goes somewhere (usually for only 24 hours) I stay up as late as my eyelids will let me so it'll make falling asleep much easier....but now that we have Caitlin, I don't think that would be such a wise thing to do. Dennis is going to take his laptop so we will be able to video chat while he's over there....that will make things a bit easier I think. I already miss him and he hasn't even left yet! He is definitely not looking forward to this trip either, but I hope with the video chatting it will make things a little more tolerable.

Pretzels

Lately I have been addicted to these pretzels....which I find really odd because I typically don't eat pretzels. But I guess this addictions proves you really shouldn't go grocery shopping when your hungry. A few weeks ago I went shopping while hungry (yes, I should have known better) and I just mingled down the chip aisle....to look not touch (as my mother would put it)....but then I spotted these pretzels and oh boy did they sound good. Not only would it satisfy my crunchy craving they would also be a bit tangy....and apparently I had been craving that too. The ones I got are nibblers, but they have ones called pieces that I might try next....Listen to me! I've gone loony!

This is the beautiful sling that my sister-in-law made for me. Caitlin's not so sure about it....but I think that's because she's so little. I know it'll become priceless once she can sit up and we'll have so much fun in it!

Poor Caitlin

Let's just say it was a rough night for the both of us. I ended up giving Caitlin Tylenol when she woke up from her nap yesterday and then again this morning because she had a fever. Last night she never did get a fever but you could just tell she was in pain.....poor baby girl! She woke up from her nap screaming and would calm down a bit and then start screaming again....I just felt so bad for her. Then she didn't sleep well and was up often. It was the first time in a very long time I actually turned on the TV in the middle of the night. We were up at 2:30am and didn't get back to bed until 5am. Thankfully, she wasn't fussy.....she was actually very smiley which made me feel better. She's down for a nap now and hopefully she'll sleep for a while....she sure sounds like she needs a good nap.

First Shots

We took Caitlin in for her first shots today :( .....and we both cried. I couldn't even watch the nurse give them to her! Then when we got into the car, I saw that she had tears running down her cheek!!! Poor baby girl! Now that we're home (and she nursed) we are all doing a lot better. She's all wrapped up now and drifting off into dreamland. I'm hoping she'll do well tonight and not need any Tylenol. She weighed 10lbs 13oz and is 22 inches long.......she's within the 50th percentile for everything! Thankfully, we wont have to go in again for shots until March. Oh, and her baby acne is practically gone!!!! Woo hoo!

First nap.....

Yesterday Caitlin took her first nap in her crib!!!! I think it was more stressful for me than her since she slept for 3 hours!!!! I didn't get up that morning thinking that was going to be the day, but I desperately needed to do some organization around the house and her crib is in a central location. So I set up the monitor and put her in there. The monitor worked great! I could hear her every breath, but that didn't stop me from checking in on her about a million times! Today I have regressed....she is napping in the living room.....and tomorrow.....well, we'll just have to see about that.

P.S. - She loves the vacuum! As soon as I turned it on she stopped fussing around and was totally chill the whole time in the front pack!

2 Months

I can't believe our baby is 2 months old today! The time has really flown by!!! She is smiling more and more each day. We've also discovered that she just loves the fish in the bedroom. We can set her in her bassinet (which is next to the fish tank) and she just smiles and kicks her little feet while watching them. Caitlin has also developed a pretty good sleep schedule, but was thrown off last night when we let her fall asleep early. This lead us to wake up at 4:30am and not get back to sleep until 8:30. On the bright side, we got our grocery shopping done at 6:30am!

Sleepy Baby

Caitlin has been practically sleeping since 9:30am!!!! She was in deep sleep when we had to leave for Nancy's house (Barb's party) which woke her up. Then she fell back asleep a half hour after we arrived....slept for about an hour....ate....and has been sleeping on and off since 4pm! We've successfully kept her awake for the last hour now.....we are going to be in for one long night I think. I'm wondering if she's coming down with something? However, when she's awake she's just fine.....super happy in fact. She's such a funny little girl.

The party was really fun. We sat at Nancy's beautiful new dining room table and had appitizers while we chatted about this and that. The twice baked baby red potatoes I made turned out really well and were devoured up......there were a few cupcakes left, but Nancy took them to a party tonight. She was in charge of dessert and since there were enough left over, it saved her a trip to the grocery store and the hassle of making a dessert after Barb's party. Oh, and how did those cupcakes taste?......(cover your eyes Dad and Aunt Donna)......fucking amazing!!!! I'd never made buttercream frosting before and boy oh boy did it go well with the chocolate cupcakes.....and the butterfly wings were awesome too! I can't wait to make more cupcakes!

Hello, Cupcake

As you all know (at least 99% of you) I absolutely love cupcakes. Well, for Christmas my mentor teacher (the 1st grade teacher at our school, Barb) gave me a book called "Hello, Cupcake." It has lots of cute cupcakes to make using basic ingredients to create masterpieces....this includes using box cake mixes and frostings. Anyway, tomorrow we are celebrating Barb's birthday and I decided to make something from the cupcake book.....and I chose the butterfly design. In the book they are all Monarch butterflies but I wanted a little bit more color so I added the blue ones too. I think they turned out pretty well.....and I didn't even have a meltdown or freakout during the whole process!!! Woo hoo!!

New Year's Eve

My plan for New Year's eve???.....attempting to stay up till midnight! I took a nap this morning and I will try and take another one this evening to prepare for this momentousness event! I'm taking this whole staying up till midnight thing as a challenge.

So I've been thinking about my new year's resolution.....and I've decided on one. I know it may sound a bit lame, but here it is: I am going to send out more birthday cards. With our ability to send more greetings my phone and email, we are forgetting the excitement of receiving mail from loved ones. I am reminded of this every year at Christmas when I receive all the wonderful Christmas cards in the mail. So by setting a goal to mail birthday greetings, I hope to add a little more excitement to my loved ones lives......So what's your New Year's resolution?

"Did you hear me?"

The nerve of some people! Just before Christmas I was doing some last minute shopping at Target....along with the rest of the town. I parked in the garden department because it was the least crowded. I usually try to park next to a shopping cart kiosk so I don't have to lug Caitlin back into the store to return the cart....but there are none close to the entrance and that day all the empty carts were in front of the store. Well that day Caitlin did not want to hang out in her carseat while shopping and was only content when I was holding her. By the time check out came I just set her in her seat without buckling her because I knew at some point in the check out process I'd have to take her out again (and I did). We proceeded to the car and she cried (very loudly) the whole way. I put everything in the cart as fast as possible and because I didn't have her strapped in I needed to go the shortest distance to return the cart. Seeing that there was no one parked in the row behind us, I put the cart at the top of a parking space. Well, a van had stopped at watched me do the whole thing....they were there so long without moving I felt they could have seen my thought process. Anyway, I got Caitlin in the car (still crying) and sat down with her to breastfeed. All of a sudden I see this lady (and a shopping cart) walk (and stop) next to my window. This lady proceeds to tell me not to put shopping carts in parking spaces (normally, I would completely agree with her but it was painfully obvious I had one upset child and was trying to comfort her)........I seriously couldn't believe the nerve of this lady!!!! Completely thrown off (and royally P.O.ed) I rolled my eyes and diverted my attention back to Caitlin (who was still upset mind you).....then when I looked up again the lady was still there!!!! And get this.....she said "Did you hear me?" Can you believe her!!!! Who does that!!!!! Especially to a nursing mother and child!!!!!! If I wasn't so shocked and unprepared for a comment like that I so would have let the curse words fly!!!! I won't speak them here....but those of you who know me....you know which ones I'm talking about. Still (6 days later) that lady totally bugs me. I know I really need to let it go, but I think the reason I'm having such a hard time getting over it is because I never got to tell that lady what I really though of her comment. So now that I have vented to everyone in cyberspace, I can begin the recovery process. :) Now that I have given you quite a sour story.....I leave you with something super sweet!

First Snow

As you have read, Caitlin has had many "firsts" within a short time span. Among them was her first snow. On Christmas day, after we came back from Nana's, I decided it was time for her to brave the snow with Mommy. So I bundled her up in the adorable outfit pictured above and headed outside. I don't think she thought it was as fun as I did though. By the time we were finished taking pictures (all of 2 minutes I think) she was definitely ready to go back inside.

I'm standing in front of my dad's pond (yes, there are still fish in there) trying to keep both of us warm. I guess I should have worn a jacket or something. It was a beautiful sun shiny day and you could see the mountains behind us beautifully.....but because we were in a hurry (and it was weird lighting) we don't have a single shot of them. Oh well, there's always next time!

Madeline Hope

She's here!!!!....Madeline (Maddie) Hope....Caitlin's new cousin and Brady's new sister!!! She was born on December 26th at 12:54am. She weighed 7lbs 11.5oz and was 20 1/2 inches. Dennis and I were very excited to be able to meet her before we left for home. Caitlin was too little to visit her in the hospital, but they will get to meet each other for the first time sometime in January....and of course I will post pictures! Maddie looks just like Brady when he was born! Brady is being a great big brother already....saying goodbye to her at the hostpital (unprovoked) and asking to hold her once she was home! Tomorrow we are going to do some video chatting with Dennis's brothers and all the kids....it should be lots of fun!

Caitlin's First Christmas

CHRISTMAS EVE

We got into town about 5pm and headed to my brother's house to meet my mom, sister, and her family. Everyone was so excited to see Caitlin again...and for some of them it was the first time. We exchanged gifts and then we all headed to our final destinations to avoid the falling snow. We got to my dad's house around 6pm and had homemade turkey noodle soup for dinner. On Christmas eve my step mom (Chi-Sai) has her family over for dinner and to exchange gifts. It was the first time my step brothers and their families were able to meet Caitlin. My little brother was also there with his girlfriend Sarah...who is really super awesome! Anyway, it was great to see and take photos of Caitlin with all the family. My dad was just so cute with her too.

Papa

Uncle Bill

Cousin Krista and Aunt Denny

Daddy

Uncle Damon
Grandma Dea

Auntie Brenda

CHRISTMAS DAY

Caitlin had a wonderful first Christmas....Dennis and I did too. Dennis had picked out a super cute outfit back in September for her to wear.....and she didn't even throw up on it the entire day!!! Around 9am we went over to my Nana's house like we do every year. This year was very special because it had been years and years since we have had babies at Christmas. My cousin's baby Kate is 5 months and was really interested in Caitlin. They were really cute together and Kate kept reaching for Caitlin's hand! Adorable!!! The whole day was really fun and will be a wonderful memory for us! We left Nana's at about 11am and just kinda hung out at my dad's until dinner. After Christmas dinner (while everyone else was playing a game) my dad and Caitlin fell asleep on the recliner....too too precious! Everyone else got to bed around 10pm, but Caitlin decided she wanted to stay up until midnight....it was a very long night for us. :)

1st Christmas outfit

Cousins Kate and Caitlin

Cousin Amy and Aunt LuAnn

Soon to be Aunt Cindy.....my cousin Jason just proposed that morning!!!

Grandma Chi-Sai and Auntie Donna
Nana
Papa and Caitlin tuckered out from all the festivities

First Trip

It was a 6 hour trip that usually takes about 4 1/2 hours.....and she slept most of the way. Our first stop was about 3 hours into the trip. Dennis and I were both starving and so was Caitlin. I didn't realize how long it would take to feed us and change a diaper....about an hour! Then back in the carseat and away we went. She cried for about 10 minutes and then fell asleep....which was a great thing because it was pretty stressful driving over the super snowy pass. Chains weren't required but the snow plow hadn't gone through yet so it made the road very slick. It was so pretty driving over the pass though....I really do miss the snow. The scariest part of the drive was going up my dad's driveway. Everyone was shocked that we made it up the hill!....they all had to use 4 wheel drive. In fact, if we hadn't hit a small dry spot we wouldn't have made it! We were slipping and slidding all over the road.....thankfully, Caitlin slept through the whole thing! Quite an eventful first trip I'd say!

Merry Ho-Ho

....as my brother and sister would say. Tomorrow, Dennis, Caitlin, and I will attempt to head over to Y town.....weather depending. Apparently a pretty gnarly storm will be arriving tonight bringing about 6-12 inches of snow with it. I'm just really hoping it doesn't turn out to be that bad.

Unexpectedly, Nancy showed up last night with the photos she took earlier....hot off the press...literally...they were really really warm. Anyway, they turned out even better than I had hoped!!!

Because we will be traveling, my blogging might go by the wayside.....so I wish everyone a very merry Christmas!

They're Done!

Both the cookies and the pictures. Nancy came over today to help me frost all the sugar cookies and then take pictures of Caitlin. I can't wait till she gets the pictures developed! Caitlin was being super smiley and photogenic! The cookies also came out great. With Nancy's help it took only a fraction of the normal time to frost all of them. Later this evening, or tomorrow, I'm gonna start to put together cookie packages. If I can get it done tonight that'll be great because I have a lot to do tomorrow since we are leaving on Wednesday to head over to my dad's house. Today there were no road restrictions and it'll be really nice if it stays that way.....not sure since there is a 70% chance of snow on Wednesday. I guess on the bright side the chocolate wont melt in the trunk on the way over!

Furnace Fiasco

Thank goodness furnaces do not have to be replaced often. They were supposed to install it on Tuesday....it was installed Wednesday instead. We ordered a Maytag.....they ordered a Ruud. It was supposed to cost $1800.....they said it was $2300. So after back and forth phone calls to Dennis and the heater company, I finally told them we were canceling the installation because of the $500 difference. Thankfully, they said due to the miscommunication on their part they were going to give us the furnace we wanted at the lower price. Woo hoo!!!! It got really cold in the house during the installation....not that Caitlin minded or anything. She was all bundled up and slept through the whole 4 hour process!!!

That's A Wrap!

All the gifts are wrapped and under the tree!!! I can't believe we're done already!.....especially with a little one around! Caitlin is a pretty good shopper though. This weekend I had her in the Baby Bjorn while we were walking around in the mall and she was fast asleep with her two little hands holding on to the collar of my shirt! So adorable! Tonight (when daddy gets home) I'm going to make the first batch of cookies....or rather candy (sort of). I'm making dipped pretzels with red and green accents. Then tomorrow evening I'm starting on the gingerbread cookies. I think I'm making a total of 8 different types of cookies. Here is what I have so far:

*Chocolate Chip
*Sugar
*Coconut Candy
*Gingerbread Men
*Peanut Butter Thumbprints
*Fudge Crinkles
*Peppermint Bark
*Dipped Pretzels

There is a slight chance I will add to the list if time permits.....very slight though. Ooooo, yesterday I bought some really cute cookie tins to put everything in!....I'm so excited!!!!!

Mommy's Little Lady

I had a different video where she's smiling a lot more, but due to technical difficulties (user error) I can't get that one to load correctly....it keeps on coming up sideways and because I downloaded the new Picasa it automatically rotates it, but when I upload it, it shows up in its original form...argh!!! Thankfully, I had a similar video shot the regular way. :)

Preparations Begin

I began to prepare today for the cookie bake off. I've chosen to begin the cookie baking marathon the weekend of the 19th. My friend is coming over on the 21st to help me. She's the ball roller. Her hands are unusually cold (mine are super hot) so she is able to roll all the cookie and candy balls without having them melt all over her hands. Today I gathered all my recipes and double checked what I was going to make and the ingredients I needed. Then I went through my cupboards and tossed all the old baking stuff. During that process I realized I desperately need to clean out the ENTIRE baking cupboard. It is a disaster!....and so unorganized! But I will leave that for another day.....when Caitlin's napping :) Tomorrow is shopping day....for both groceries and hopefully Christmas gifts as well. Oh, and Dennis and I bought an early Christmas gifts for ourselves.....new tires and rotors for my car....AND a new furnace!!! Yes, it is something I have always wanted (tear) and I finally have one! What happened was that on Tuesday we were supposed to get our super OLD furnace (45 years old to be more specific) cleaned but the guy said if he took it apart and found a crack (which was about 80% likely) he would have to condemn it and we would have ZERO heat! So we bought ourselves a shiny new furnace for Christmas......it will arrive next Tuesday....we're so thrilled!

300th Post!

Can you believe this is my 300th post!!!! It's been over a year and 300 posts later I totally still love blogging! It's oddly addicting and I think it helps me vent, obsess, and basically blab till my fingers go numb. I think I also like knowing that my words are out there in the vast world of the internet....just floating out there for someone to stumble on. Maybe I'll write a book someday...to make it official of course.....but then again I have no clue what on earth it would be about. And really, who would pay to read my words in print when they can read them for free here! It's the proverbial cow situation I've got going on.....Wow, that was some tangent.....I've got a bad case of mommy brain that just wanders and wanders on and on.....I apologize :)

Back to the subject, I thought to honor this special occasion I would post my first video of Caitlin. Enjoy!

Cookies

I believe next weekend I will begin planning my annual cookie bake off. This year I think I'm going to add gingerbread men to the mix. The reason being is that I watched Food Network the other day and they had a show called The Secret Life of Gingerbread so now I'm totally wanting gingerbread. Dennis doesn't like it so rather than make it now and have tons of leftovers, I'm going to add it to the list of normal cookies I make for the bake off. Normally I make the cookies on the weekend with friends but this year I may have to work on them during the week. I'm not sure how it's all gonna work this year now that we have Caitlin, but I'm determined to do it....I want Caitlin to grow up with this tradition just like I did. It's gonna be fabulous!

Papa and Grandma Visit

Caitlin's Papa and Grandma came over and visited her this weekend. It was great to have them here again. They arrived in town on Friday and were going to bring over a strawberry-rhubarb pie however, when they went to get it from the restaurant, they were all out and the waitress wanted to give them an apple pie instead. Well, they decided to get one from Marie Callender's instead. So that night after our dinner, we started to cut into the pie. It looked a bit light in color to me and when we put the first piece on a plate we realized it was apple! We were all disappointed but they were going to go back the next day to get the correct flavor. After doing some Christmas shopping at the mall, they came over.....with another pie in tow. Grandma (having a brilliant idea) decided we should "test" the pie before they leave to make sure it was strawberry-rhubarb and not apple again. And low and behold.....it was APPLE!!!! We couldn't believe it! The first restaraunt wanted to sell them an apple pie and they said no....and then when they go to the second restaraunt they get apple by mistake....TWICE!!!! So again they were going to go back and attempt to get the correct pie. The guy that helped them the second time said that he was going to check the second pie to make sure, but he thought that might sound a bit funny....but this time everyone was in agreement to check this, the THIRD and hopefully final pie. Thankfully, the third time is the charm and the pie turned out to be really really good. All in all, my dad and Chi-Sai got 3 pies and 2 complementry muffins for the price of ONE pie.....pretty good deal I think!

8lbs 15oz

Today is Caitlin's one month birthday and I can't believe she's almost 9 pounds!!!...and she now measures 20 1/2 inches long! Today I was able to put her in a 0-3 month outfit that she wasn't swimming in. Tomorrow we may take a little drive down to my work so I can introduce her to everyone. Also, my parents are coming into town tomorrow and we're all really excited about it. More photo opps!

Oh, I swear Dennis has become a mind reader ever since she was born. He seems to know the nights I'm completely exhausted and comes into the living room to send me back to bed while he takes care of her. Plus tonight he grabbed pizza for dinner (my request) and I completely forgot to tell him I wanted him to grab some ranch and root beer.....Well when he came home he had both! He's such an awesome husband and daddy! Caitlin and I are so lucky!

4 Weeks Today!

I can't believe our little girl is 4 weeks old already! The time has just flown by! She's getting so big...as you can tell by her squishy cheeks.

Enough with the photos already!

Apparently, daddy's little girl is getting a bit sick of all the photos we're taking of her! This little snapshot was taken when Caitlin was trying to nap on daddy's chest.....and that was her response to the previous dozen pictures that were taken before. I just can't imagine what's gonna happen when she's able to talk.