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!

Thursday

The day is almost done and it's all very exciting. Caitlin and I may head into my work tomorrow so she can say hello to everybody. Tomorrow is May Day and the Kindergarten classes usually make bouquets for people at the school and then deliver them. It's one of my favorite days and since I don't work tomorrow, it would be the first time that I've missed it.....yet another reason to visit tomorrow. Ooooo, tomorrow I also go in for a massage! I'm hoping they'll release some of the tension in my neck so I can sleep and change lanes more comfortably.

Oh, before I go, I have a bizarre question. What is the one word you misspell the most? Mine is "definite".....I always spell it definate every single time! You think I'd learn from my mistake already.....but I guess not!

Caffeinated Morning

Okay so this morning I stopped off by McDonald's for one of their new iced coffees....and boy oh boy did it have some caffeine! I was completely wired all morning! My poor students! Although, I did accomplish a major project today. I've been working on a problem with our GATE identification since last year and I had a major breakthrough today! My room, however, suffered the most. I normally keep it pretty darn organized, but since I was going a hundred miles an hour, everything is piled EVERYWHERE!!! Tomorrow I will feel my caffeine hangover, but tonight I'm going to bask in my accomplishment.

Little Piggy

Caitlin finished all her food by 1:30pm today!....and I even sent extra too! She drank two sippy cups of milk (3.5 oz each) two servings of rice cereal, and a jar of bananas! She's never eaten that much a daycare before! I felt so bad she didn't have anything more, but Dennis reminded me that she's gone 9 hours without eating before, so she was just fine. For tomorrow I've packed 3 sippy cups of milk, another 30z bottle for rice cereal or drinking, butternut squash, peas, and a peach oatmeal thing. I just wasn't prepared for her to eat so much since she has never eaten that much before! So either tomorrow or this weekend, I'm gonna need to get some extra baby food to keep at daycare so she won't run out. I told Dennis she's probably going through a growing spurt, and he said she's been going through a growing spurt since she was born!!!....LOL!

Water For Elephants

Miraculously, I finished this book in less than a month! If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. It was just spectacular! Unaware of what it was about, I started reading and soon discovered it was about the circus. This immediately freaked me out because I didn't want to read anything about clowns....."nothing scarier than a clown" Carrie from SATC. Thankfully, there is only one minor reference to clowns and that's it!....big sigh of relief! It takes place in two times, the great depression and present day. It is an amazing story that sucks you in immediately and by the end, you really can't put it down! A truly enjoyable read. So much so if fact that I would stay up a half hour to an hour past my bedtime to continue reading it. Now I think I may begin Twilight....although I've been really wanting to reread The Other Boylen Girl. I may just have to flip a coin.

Meatloaf

For the first time tonight I made and ate (yes, I did say ate) meatloaf! I've never had it or made it before because of my estranged relationship with meat. I'm what you would call a selectatarian. I select which meat I eat and don't eat. Usually it's a very small amount and if it is served on a bun or something, it must have at least a 50/50 bread to meat ratio....otherwise, I'm not eatin' it. However, when I was pregnant with Caitlin meat is something I would crave.....and I would eat the heck out of it! I would eat more than Dennis and Jonathan combined! Since then my relationship with meat has improved and I have been willing and able to eat more of it. Before this recent meatloaf adventure, I devoured several leftovers of spaghetti with a homemade meat sauce, and before that I unearthed the wonderful world of BBQ pulled pork sandwiches. To say "I've come a long way" is just the tip of the ice berg when it comes to me and meat eating. My family just stares at me in disbelief (imagine deer in headlights) when I ask for another helping of ribs...they want to know where I hid the real Cindy. Anyway, I must thank Nancy for her meatloaf recipe....it was delicious...and for further developing my relationship with meat.

Poor baby girl!

So this morning I ended up calling my mom and let her know it would be best if she came out next weekend instead of this weekend. Caitlin had a pretty bad night last night.....getting up every hour and several times screaming in pain. We had to give her Tylenol twice during the night and finally brought her in bed with us early this morning. She's been chewing on her hand or finger all day and her nose is just dripping. And although she's not running a fever, she feels warmer than usual. She's also trying to tell us all about her teething issues.....she talks and talks and squeals up a storm! And she's also trying really hard to figure out how to crawl!

Jean Update: I am now a proud owner of a new pair of low-rise, boot cut, size 4 jeans!!!! Woo hoo!....I don't think I will EVER want to take them off!!!

First Tooth!

I can't believe it's here already! I sat down to blog (with Caitlin) and I had a completely different story to tell, but I decided to feel around her gums......and there it was!!!!! It's one of her bottom teeth and you can see it coming up too! We tried to take a picture, but you can't see anything on the photo. She won't be 6 months for another week! I can't believe she has her first tooth already! She's growing up so fast!

My original story was how two of my GATE students scared me half to death. I had gone into my classroom (where the lights were off and the door was shut) and I started to fix this paper thing on my white board when I thought I heard something behind me. So I turned around and saw them in the corner of my room, but it scared me so bad that I screamed at the top of my lungs and had to cover my mouth before I said a curse word! That would be an interesting conversation with their parents if I had cursed! I was discombobulated for a good 10 minutes! I couldn't find which page I needed to be in the math book and I had to look at my lesson plans several times to figure it out....all the while, my students are just cracking up. They said they didn't mean to scare me and thought I had actually seen them.....I just kept on saying, "Don't you think I would have said 'Hello' if I had seen you in the first place?" Even though they found it completely hilarious, I think they were a little scared I might be mad and give them detention or something. After a while, I did think it was pretty funny. I did remind them about pay backs and they need to watch out. Hehehe!

So my mom is coming over tomorrow afternoon. It's pretty exciting. She hasn't been able to hang out with Caitlin for more than a couple hours since she was born because we're usually on the go and needing to get to our final destination. I think I'll take her to the farmer's market and the craft fair at the fairgrounds on Saturday. It should be a lot of fun! So if I don't blog between now and then, I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Roses and Chai

Around 11:45am, I called it a day. The morning started off really well and went into a downward spiral pretty quickly. All I'm going to say is that some things came up that caused a domino effect and frustrated me greatly. I realized that it was just going to be better if I went home and played with the Bug (a.k.a. Caitlin). Turns out, it was a great plan. Not only did the Bug help pull me out of my funk, but Dennis came home with roses and an iced Oregon chai (my favorite)!....and yes, it did make me cry happy tears to have such a wonderful and kind husband. Now, I am at peace with the day and enjoying my evening with family and soon warm blueberry scones.

Shocking!

You might just want to stop reading now. What I'm about to say may make some of you sick....but it shocked me so much that I just had to blog about it.

I've been on a search for jeans for the past few months. I usually have to try on about 25 pairs before I find one that fits me some what decently. Anyway, today I was trying on jeans at Target and I actually found a pair that fit! But here's the clincher.....they were a size 4 skinny jean!!!!! Okay, I cannot even remember when I last fit into a size FOUR....maybe early college?....high school? And to make things even more shocking was the fact that they were a skinny jean!!! Have you ever tried on a pair? Completely bizarre! I looked like all the teeny boppers you see hanging out at the mall. And really, are tapered legs EVER a good idea? The whole experience was mind boggling. Here I was in a dressing room wearing a pair of jeans that actually fit, but my mind was saying no, no, NO!!!!.....and if you couldn't tell, I didn't buy them. I just couldn't do it. Yes, I would have loved to have a size 4 in my closet....but in a skinny jean?.....no thank you. I would have never tried them on in the first place, but they were thrown in with the other normal low-rise boot cut jeans. And by now you must be wondering if I went back to check for a "normal" size 4 jean.....you bet I did......and was sadly dissapointed when they did not exsist. And to think I was this close to having a size 4 in my closet!!!!!

1st Shoes

Last Thursday, Caitlin wore her very first pair of shoes!!! They are sparkly silver ones given to her by my really good friend. She didn't mind them at all....now, only how to keep them on her feet?

So Long Vacation

Today is the last day of vacation. I must return to work on Monday. Where did the week go? I wonder this after every vacation, but especially this one. I never did get to take Caitlin to the Library....but I guess there's always next Friday.

Tomorrow I'm hoping we'll go to the farmer's market. There is usually not much there this time of year, but it'll be fun to take Caitlin there anyway.

Oh, I've eaten too much which is making it hard to blog. My mind is sluggish and my words are..well, not appearing as I would like them. So I'm going to hand over the rest of this blog to Caitlin. no nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn hj gggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg , IVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBWE XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXZZZmMMMMMMMMMM BBBBB C BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBF BHG

da da

So Dennis was talking to Caitlin while I was making dinner and he told Caitlin to say da da and she did!!!! It was clear as day! She hasn't been able to do it again and we know it was just a fluke, but it was so awesome!! She's been incredibly vocal today. We just love to listen to her babble on about her day. Super fun and totally sweet!

Picture Sorting

I have had a bunch of pictures hanging around here that I needed to sort and send out.....and finally today (while Caitlin is napping) I finished. All I have to do is address the envelopes and put them in the mail. That alone may take me a few days!

I am happy to announce that I finally finished reading Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher. It's a very quick read and I found it quite entertaining. I think I may read some of her other books too. I really like her writing style and humor....it's very crazy and kind of all over the place at times, but that is what makes it fun to read. In the meantime, I started reading Water For Elephants. I really didn't know what it was about at all but it immediately caught my interest and I might just finish it within a record 6 months! I think that's how long it took me to read The Secret Life of Bees. My goal with this new book is to actually read every night before bed. So if that means going to bed at 9:30 rather than 9:00, so be it. I will sacrifice sleep this time.

Happy Easter

We're back home and already missing the family and the awesome warm (but not too warm) weather. Thanks to Dennis, I was successful in clothes shopping and got 4 new tops....now if I can only find a darn pair of jeans!!! Here are some pics of our wonderful weekend.

She started blowing raspberries for the first time on Easter morning!

Her eyes are so blue!

Oooo, this looks good to eat.

Tastes kinda good too!

Mommy! I'm all blue now!!!!

First bow!

Mmmm, cousin Caitlin hand tastes yummy.

Paybacks Miss Maddie for eating my hand! Ha ha ha.

Playing kitchen/doctor with cousin Brady.

Easter pic....what is daddy trying to do there?

It's all about the tongues!

Super sweet Miss Maddie and B-man.

Coloring eggs.

Tummy time!

Hello sunshine!!!!

We arrived in sunny Redding around 10:30am. Caitlin did really well on the trip over and was awake for the last hour at least. She kept cracking up when I made her blue elephant dance to the tune of the chicken dance.....which made me laugh hysterically too. The weather is beautiful here and Caitlin got to hang out in the sunshine bare footed for the first time! I think she really liked it. Miss Maddie and her were having quite a conversation about the nice weather as well. Now the kids are all down for a nap and Dennis is headed out to Home Depot (he'd live there if he could) with JT$. I think when the kids get up we may head to check out the mall....woo hoo! And if you have been to our mall you'd really understand my excitement!

Happy Saturday!

Mikey Likes It!

Or rather, Caitlin likes it....cereal that is. She ate two servings of it plus 3oz of milk at daycare on Thursday! And how did she sleep you ask? Like a log...okay more like a log that wakes up twice during the night...but I'll take it!!!

Today began my Spring break. I have all next week off and I'm super excited! I'm gonna catch up on all my DVR shows, possibly host a playdate for Caitlin, and take her to the library for the first time.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter. We're going to head over to see J, K, B-man, and Miss Maddie tomorrow morning. The last time we went over, B-man opened the door and the first thing he said was "Caitlin!" It was super adorable! We'll see what he says this time around :)

Sweet Potato Pie

Dennis has been wanting a sweet potato pie for a few days now. So while he's out bowling I decided to make one. I'm not sure if my crust will come out the way it usually does. I didn't really have the time to pay attention to it like I normally do.....Caitlin wanted my undivided attention and didn't want to share it with the pie crust! Anyway, it should be out of the oven within a few minutes and I really hope it turns out!....I should have him stop and pick up some vanilla ice cream or whipped cream at least!

BTW, Nancy (the K teacher) became a Mama Duck today! She had been incubating duck eggs and wasn't sure if they would hatch.....but today when she got to school, there were five little ducklings!!! It was the talk of the whole school!

Super Sipper

Today I sent Caitlin to daycare with a sippy cup and she kinda really liked it. I got the idea to let her play with an empty one from one of my books and last night I did. She was really fascinated by it and Dennis suggested I put milk in it to see how she would react...surprisingly, she didn't reject it and actually drank a tiny bit! I think she likes it because she can bite on the spout and it feels good on her gums. Here's hopimg she'll drink more because of it!

5 months....yesterday

Caitlin is now 5 months old! We took her to the mall and Dennis picked out a toy for her....fabric keys that crinkle held together with a wooden ring....she loves it! For dinner she had filet minion and garlic mashed potatoes via mommy. But for an appetizer she had strained carrots...mmmm. In a few days we will try sweet potatoes....daddy's favorite! She's beginning to put EVERYTHING in her mouth which coupled with her odd sleeping habits make me wonder if she's beginning to teeth!!! So I brought out the teething rings, but she would rather bite down on mommy's finger.

Muffin or Cupcake?

As found on merriam-webster.com:

muffin: a quick bread made of batter containing egg and baked in a pan having cuplike molds

cupcake: a small cake baked in a cuplike mold


Okay, so what is the real difference? Dennis had a discussion on this last night and I said the difference between a cupcake and a muffin is the frosting. You could have a chocolate cake in a "cuplike mold" and if it didn't have frosting, it would be considered a muffin....NOT a cupcake. The theory works in the reverse as well. If you take a apple cinnamon muffin, for example, and put frosting on it, it would now be considered a cupcake. I'm truly surprised that the dictionary doesn't mention the use of frosting to define a cupcake.....because really, the same ingredients make up both!

So, what's your definition?