Gym

Why yes, I did go to the gym yesterday. It had been a few weeks so I took it pretty easy. I do feel better physically, but I woke up from my nap early yesterday (horrors) starving! I kind of wonder what the point in going to the gym is if one is going to be so hungry that they eat back all the calories they just burned. Sigh.

Let's see, Lily has been alternatively extremely funny and extremely irritating. Right now she's pushing all the buttons on the printer, trying to get it to do something. It's so cute watching her grow up and become more independent, but it's also frustrating when you tell her for the 100th time not to play with the cat food. (Or eat it). Did I mention that her horse's name is Moo Moo? We have an interesting household. Last night I heard Pedro tell Lily "Grab the bowl Lily. Be careful don't drop it."

SMASH

I didn't laugh although it was quite funny. I ran into the kitchen and rescued Lily while Pedro cleaned it up. I'm seriously thinking of switching to all plastic dinnerware for a few years.

I hope everyone has a good New Year's Eve. I've been very introspective lately - partly the holidays, partly just life. Hopefully, a new life will be joining our family next year. I'm not putting too much stock in it being a girl (shut it, Pedro) because the ultrasound was done so early. It will be what it will be, right? :)

Kung Fu Noodle

I bought Kung Fu Panda on Friday and we've now watched it 5 times. Po, the Panda, works in the noodle shop for his dad and throughout the movie we're subjected to shots of dumplings or noodles. It finally drove us downtown to the dumpling and noodle place. I know, right. Advertising is a billion dollar industry for a reason. Lily grabbed Pedro's chopsticks and did pretty well with them. She also inhaled a lot of noodles. It's the first time, since she was able to walk, that she's actually stayed at the table to eat. We did not complain although Pedro had to go and get his own noodles. Then we went for a little walk on the downtown mall and bought a toy horse for Lily. It was a nice evening. Our little social butterfly LOVES going out.

Oh yeah, onto the other news. I had another ultrasound today with a specialist. Just to rule some things out. I think they have newer machinery than the regular doctor's offices. I found out today that Dr T came up with the markers used to determine fetal abnormalities. So I felt good knowing that he was the doc doing the ultrasound. We got some more pictures but Pedro (shut up Pedro you know you moved the pictures to a weird place) left them behind. I called and they're in my file waiting for me. Sigh. Anyway, drum roll please.... It's going to be another girl. I told Pedro we're going to start a double X chromosome only club. His worst fears are being imagined.... :)

It's Christmas!

I've had a lovely low-key Christmas with Pedro, Lily and g-ma. Gosh, I'm really tired now and neither my brain or my fingers want to work. :P Oh for the love of turkey! I watched this old SNL video and all I can think of in my head is "I wish it was Christmas today". Thanks Betsey Booms. argh Anyway, someone very sweet sent me a beautiful Christmas centerpiece. I was very touched. It's gorgeous. :) I hope the cats aren't eating all of the flowers off of it. HMPF At this point the baked ham was still in the oven. Apparently, my dollar store meat thermometer was right.

Lily got a lot of presents today. She especially loved the baking set and dvd player. There is a little red and white checked apron in the baking set. I caught her wearing it. I don't know how she figured out how to put it on or even why she'd want to put it on. Maybe she saw the picture? Anyway, she puts it on to "cook" now. It's too funny. Sometimes I look at her and wonder where the toddler went. She just doesn't seem 2. She obviously has great role models. :P I almost typed "roll models". I think I need to lay off the pecan pie.

Hopefully, tomorrow we can get out and do some shopping. I may let Pedro get a flat screen tv. But he'll have to promise to get rid of the old one, post haste. I just had to look up post haste, cuz I thought, what the heck does that mean, anyway? Merriam Webster deemed me archaic: it means with great haste. That's what I get for having had older geeky parents. :P Well, I think I'm done. I wanted to get some pics up for g-pa, who's working. Lily got Horton Hears a Who, Party Edition. Beat that suckers!

Beware: the Zombie Invasion

I may be the next victim as Lily tried to take a chunk out of me last night. She was on my lap, facing Pedro and I thought she was nuzzling me. I let out a bloodcurdling scream when her teeth started clamping down on my skin. It somehow doesn't look as painful as it was, in pictures. I hope that made sense. It's the end of a long day. I've been making up classes I've missed so I had class from 9 to 2, met Pedro at the dealership at 2:15, then went home and slept from 3 until 5:22. Yeah, the last part was a mistake. I thought Pedro would wake me up for school. I usually leave at 5:20. So I was late, but I made it to night class too. SIGH.

I didn't vilify Lily too much for biting me. Pedro was playing this annoying video game where you have to feed people sprouts and then make sure they fart so they don't explode. Lily hated it. I think that's why she bit me. *grumble* I took this picture just a few minutes ago. It is really cold in my neck of the woods right now. I think it's 10F outside. It's around -12C. Oh yeah, it's cold. So there's a roaring fire and BG is sprawled out in front of it. I call this look "dead cat". Anyway, I really should be getting to bed. I have another long day tomorrow. Plus I got cool new sheets to sleep on. We've been so broke-ass poor for so long that I finally got to replace the stained sheets with holes in them. Go me! I know, I chose to be a stay at home mom with all the financial sacrifices that entails. But it still feels nice to have pretty new purple sheets. :) Merry Christmas to me!

Behold!

My awesomeness, mortals! I am the proud owner of a Hello Kitty Teacup Alarm Clock. Lily thinks it's technically hers, and I may pretend from time to time but it's really mine. It's so hard to find alarm clocks and one so cute! You push down on Hello Kitty to snooze. Awesome! I still haven't finished my Christmas cards. I'm so, not into it this year. I'm getting a little better energy wise but I'm still pretty tired. I sometimes wonder when I'll ever feel rested.... Sigh. At least now when I wake up after weird dreams (twice a night, at least) I'll know what time it is. :) The little lemon slice is a nightlight. AWESOME!

The Aftermath

Well, I've been doing some laundry today. Most of my cleaning towels are soaked in either baby puke or baby pee. It's been a fun two days. :P Lily's been playing with the closures on her babyseat. She's been putting one of her babies in the seat and doing it up. I'm very tired and I feel like I'm not making sense. Pedro would probably argue that I rarely make sense so this is nothing out of the ordinary. Then I would punch him, and things would generally go down hill from there. Rhetorically speaking, of course. Although, we do live on the top of a hill....

You can try and tell me that this isn't the cutest picture ever and I would say you are made of fail.

















I hope the doll isn't telling her to kill her parents.

Cranky Pregnantpants and her sidekick, Barfarina

It was an interesting evening. I really wanted to go to Pedro's work's Christmas party. And we did go. However, my shoulder, which has been acting up, really started spasming, and Lily, who never misses a chance to act up, was touching all the art in the gallery that she could. I didn't get much of a chance to eat because Pedro was standing with his friends having fun. (he'll pay for that later) And, of course, someone had to watch Lily. She did look cute, in her party dress. Good thing I took this picture cuz I had to throw out the dress. Why? Because it was covered in vomit.

We parted company after the party (where I think we stayed 35 minutes) and I went by myself to Whole Foods while Pedro and Lily headed on home. She spewed in the car. Sigh. And I missed a class for all of this. Sigh. That's okay. I really preferred being at home and resting tonight. My shoulder is still tight. I haven't been to the gym because of my cold, which still lingers (malingers). I try to do my exercises at home but it's more difficult. Like, when Lily decided to help me with my wall pushups by leaning against the back of my legs. That's probably why my shoulder hurts!!!!

On the plus side, Lily did scarf down a lot of strawberries once I got home. I've been making smoothies again too, trying to be more healthy. Of course, I still hate veggies but I'm working on it. Does salsa count as a vegetable?? Tortilla chips have corn, that MUST count. :P I felt kind of bad for Lily's dress. She did choose to wear it tonight and was really patient with me getting her all dolled up. Oh well, I'm sure there will be other pretty dresses. :)


Her Divaness:

Jingle bells, Santa smells

Well, okay, I'm not sure that Santa smells. Maybe like Christmas? I still haven't finished my Christmas cards, or wrapped any presents. It's just like that this year, okay???? I push myself to do all the other things I need to do in my life that I don't have a lot left over for the "fun" stuff. I'm skipping class tonight to go to Pedro's Christmas party. Then, as I'll be home much earlier than normal, I will finish my cards and wrap the presents. Hopefully, tomorrow I'll get to the post office and mail some things off. PHEW Well, that's the plan and lately things don't always go according to plan. Sigh.

Fish!

Actually, Lily pronounces it FEESH! So it takes me a minute to figure out that she wants to watch Finding Nemo. You know, as hard as it is running after a toddler (and they do run, thank heavens for hoodies) it's a fascinating time, watching them absorb so much information.

I have been a little busy today trying to clear up clutter. It's like usually I don't see it, but lately it drives me crazy. I've gotten to the point where I just throw things out if I haven't used them in a long time and they're just sitting there irritating me. It's hard for me, in one respect, because I am an only child and therefore the steward of two people's "things". I want Lily to know her other two grandparents although she'll only learn about them through pictures and pretty jewelry (thanks mom!).

I should also be a bit more vigilant than I am right now. Lily didn't want to wear a diaper this morning. No wet spots yet. I have her potty in her room and took the best picture of her sitting on it and playing video games. I will NOT be posting THAT picture. I have some standards.

I know, surprise, right?

What's drier, the Gobi Desert or my bedroom?

I know it rains, at least once every decade, in the desert. I had a vaporizer going last night to try and help me sleep with my cold. Where the heck did all the water vapor go? None of it reached me. I swear the walls and furniture sucked it all up. Usually, I feel suffocated by the humidity - not last night. hmpf I may try running it today, and then again at night. I mean there was NO condensation on the glass doors. Do you know how weird that is????

In other news, I'm still totally not prepared for Christmas. Sigh.

My my my my stuffed up nose-a!

I feel like I should be feverish but I don't think I am. I have such a tickle in my nose and I sneeze so hard I shake the windows. Oh but the sinus pressure. Good grief. And I can't really take anything!!! I do have a Neti pot but I don't think hot water will be enough to blast through the mucous. This is a really pretty post, no? Yes, that's Lily busting some moves to the right.

And when did it become December 12th? I haven't even done my Christmas cards yet. They will not be Lily ones as I didn't have the time to make my own cards. Heck I don't even have the time to sign the ones I have! Alright, I might have the time but I'm too darn tired to get around to it. Sigh. I ordered Chinese food for dinner. About enough for 8 people. The restaurant through in free soup. Which we through in the toilet. Anyway, I ordered crispy duck and for a moment I was transported back in time to the Saturday mornings my mom and I would venture into Chinatown. We'd go into these dark restaurants where they didn't have forks and get the best food. Or sometimes we'd order food. We'd stand outside the glass window in the front, where they'd have all the ducks or slabs of barbeque pork hanging. We'd wait until we got someone's attention and then point out what we wanted. Then, of course, go inside and pay or go inside and have them serve it to us. Those were such fun times. :)

Anyway, what was my point? Pedro made about 5 lunches out of the rest of the chinese food. It made me sick to smell it after I'd eaten it. I'm also starting to feel like I look pregnant. Or maybe I'm just stuffed full of duck. hmmmm I did buy a cute maternity dress for Pedro's Christmas Party. It'd so cute how the little pleats in the front make my lump look all delicate and ladylike. Ish. I've also been researching used cars to see what might be a better fit for my soon to be larger family. It's a very frustrating process. Mostly I'm looking for something safe, good mileage and a big backseat. Color it mission impossible. Sigh.

I wish this was me....

I just yawned and my ears sort of popped. I wonder if the congestion is finally leaving my head?? Then why does my throat hurt so bad? Sigh. I know that colds and flus are unrelated but this is the first year in two or three that I haven't had a flu shot and I'm sick almost all the time. I wonder if pregnancy has something to do with it? And I can't get a flu shot while I'm sick. argh

Sick (still? again?)

Lily and I both seem a little under the weather today. I felt pretty good last week but I think one of the rug rats gave me a cold on Friday. It's kind of a bad time of year to not feel well - I have a lot of things to do. My Christmas cards are still sitting here looking at me. I got some presents in yesterday which need to be packaged and mailed. And me? Sitting here in my pajamas wishing Lily knew how to make me a cup of tea.

Lily has been talking more and more, and by that I mean she's making more sense. She says things like "Riley, where'd he go?" Or, "what do you want to do, mama?" Something I ask her all the time. Mommy's answer is easy: sleep. :) The funniest was when she introduced her Winnie the Pooh to her Christmas ornaments. All of them are named Baby so the conversation went something like "Baby, this is Baby mine". It went on for a few minutes in that vein. :) I'm hoping that because she has more reasoning skills that she might be convinced to start using the potty. No breath holding going on over here.

Lost

Alright, I'm just trying to be dramatic. I honestly do not know what to do with myself. I'm so used to having Lily around that I am a very confused mommy at the moment (although well fed - yay bagels!). Pedro and Lily went down to g-ma and g-pa's house. Apparently, they're having some fun. :) Pedro got his Christmas present early. A 5-ton log splitter? I wasn't sure I heard him right. But I heard the glee in his voice and some machinery sounding thing in the background. I'm so glad I made him wait to buy one.

My day "off" was kind of lame. Maybe if I wasn't pregnant I could've had some wine and relaxed but as it was I felt like I was dying, I was so tired, and so had a nap, of sorts. The cats are also confused by the lack of toddler but not so much that they didn't come and werfle on me while I was trying to sleep. You know, "could've" is underlined as a mistake but "werfle" isn't. Really spellcheck??

Stacy and I went to check out this place that does Christmas lights every year. They also have live bands (Bluegrass) and food. I was also hustled into buying some apple butter. LOOK if you're like me and have an apple butter "thing" then you know that the store bought stuff is just not that great. So when you see a kettle over a bonfire with apple butter being cooked up and some smooth talking dude comes along, you might just buy 3 quarts of apple butter. That's all I'm saying. I gave one to Stacy. So hmpf. I also pretty much demanded a piece of sweet potato pie from her when we got back. I love being pregnant. FEED ME!

Photos by Stacy. :)

I'm a Survivor!

I made it through a 3 year old's birthday party! Mind you, Lily didn't fall asleep until almost 12:30 last night so she and I were both tired. But she did pretty well. I mostly collapsed on the sofa every few minutes. :) I also ate about 18 sausage rolls. I'm not sure what else to call them. They were lil smokies wrapped in crescent roll dough. OMG The dough was kind of sweet and the smokies were kind of salty.... This was me "Gosh these are so good, I'll just have one more". "Okay, I keep on eating these, I'll just have one more". "umm, I really need to move from here, I'll just take this one". Sigh I didn't eat lunch. :)

Lily was on the chair but that little boy pushed her out of the way. Not to worry, Lily snagged the seat beside the birthday girl. Then the there was a little battle to blow out the candle. Lily was second to try but she only moved the hair on her forehead. :) Then things were moving too slowly for Miss Lily who started eating the icing. Sigh. Then someone gave her a fork. Do you know how hard it was to keep a 2 year old from cake when she has a utensil? When she was unsuccessful, Lily picked up a plate and slowly moved it in front of everyone else's to make sure she got the first slice. Myself and two other parents were cracking up. :) Although the little blond girl across the table from her looks like she can already taste the cake. SHE kills me. :)

Lily had some banana pudding while she waited for cake. I had some pudding too. It was the shizzle! I'm going to have to beg the hostess for the recipe. I usually don't like banana pudding but this was more of a whipped cream consistency but very rich and flavourful. *drool* I did have a good time. I was so tired that I was glad Lily was kept busy by the other kids cuz I was mostly flaked out on the overstuffed sofa. :) We went to bed after midnight and I was half asleep while she was still roaming around on the bed so I know her butt was tired when we got up this morning.

I don't know if I'm so overtired that I can't sleep. It took me forever to fall asleep this afternoon with Lily. I felt like I wasn't breathing and then I wasn't sure if I should breathe through my nose or my mouth and then I just couldn't get comfy. I finally fell asleep and then Pedro called. Talk about taking his life in his hands. All in all, today was pretty good. Lily and Pedro are going to grandma and grandpa's house tomorrow so I hope I will spend a lot of time at the Land of Nod before going out to look at Christmas lights with Stacy!

I don't like Cheese!

Well, I like cheese but apparently Lily doesn't because that's what she told me about 10 minutes ago. I asked her how someone could not like cheese and she rubbed her chin and said "hmmmm". She cracks me up so bad. She's having a good time with the Christmas stuff too. There are these little ornaments called Baby's 1st Christmas and Baby's Second Christmas. She carries them around with her everywhere and calls them "baby". I couldn't leave the house with her today because she started to cry and say "baby". She was fine once I brought them to her. Sigh.

ALSO:

"Lily you have pretty hair"

"I know my hair pretty" *hair flip*

What????

Not Beyonce

But close. Is it wrong that Lily likes Single Ladies by Beyonce? Is it wrong that she shakes her butt? Lily, I mean. I figure that it's not in a bad context and she looks cute. :)

O Christmas Tree

Being tired and not particularly creative, yes, Pedro got us a Christmas tree tonight. It's a very nice one, but freaking huge. Ow. I just gave myself carpet burn on the bottom of my foot! I have an itch. NEVERMIND.

It was so peaceful tonight hanging out with Pedro. Lily put herself to sleep before I got home. Go Lily! The tree was up and there was a fire going. It was just such a beautiful feeling. Until I had to get up to do the dishes. SIGH

Class was busy tonight. A couple of massage ladies showed up to get waxed. I was sort of counting on a relaxed evening, that's why I didn't have a nap today. I know, poor me. I was working hard! At least I did a good job on the eyebrows. :) I have a facial to do tomorrow night, cuz one of the school people is coming in and then I have another one to do on Thursday cuz a mom is coming in. WHEW It's almost like work!

Fetus Gump

Well, the ultrasound went well. Everything looks good so far. I kept asking the tech if she was sure there was only one baby in there. I did see hands moving around and it looked like it was waving hi at one point. So much more camera ready than Lily!

Unfortunately for daddy, he was wrangling Lily and missed most of it. Oh, we have pictures but they're pretty grainy. The really good news? It's normal sized. At 12 weeks, Lily was already the size of a 14 week old so this is awesome news for me!

Big Day

Today's the day I get the ultrasound. We'll see who's set up shop in my baby factory. I know, I'm weird. Lily refused to go to bed until very late last night and then woke me up at 5:30. Maybe she thinks I look better with bags under my eyes???

Wish me luck!

The Day After, the Day After

This is a picture of the disco diva last night after she got her codeine. All of the stickers that the nurses had given her, had to go on her face. She looks a little happy, no? I have to give props to Martha Jefferson Hospital. Everyone there was extremely patient and gentle with Miss Lily. I've always been very well treated every time I've had to go there. Including, when I gave birth to Miss Lily. :) I don't know how they do it, they always seem to have the best staff. The only thing that scared me last night, was the humongous State Police officer that showed up asking for information. I'm a tall chick but he made me feel like an ant. I was reminded of the Princess Bride:

"I'm on the Brute Squad."

"You are the Brute Squad."

The Day After...

Thanksgiving dinner was awesome. I stuffed myself so full of food I was sure I was going to puke. Which would only have given me a reason to eat more food, right? As it was, I couldn't help clean up after dinner. Which makes me slightly embarrassed. Sigh.

Well, I'm stuffed again. We had two curries tonight with rice and naan bread. Unfortunately, it was delayed by a couple of hours which is why I'm stuffing my face so maniacally now. Poor Lily dislocated her elbow. Pedro had woken her up and was walking her cranky self to the study when she suddenly dropped and threw a fit. He said he felt something pop and she wouldn't stop crying. So I called the doctor who advised me to take her to the ER. We were there for over an hour, which I didn't think was too bad, since that included x-rays. We were lucky, when we got there, no one was in the waiting room ahead of us, but it filled up really fast. whew

Lily was hysterically funny once she had some tylenol with codeine. The doctor suggested it because putting the elbow back together can hurt really bad for a few seconds. Once it was back in, she was ready to go. :) The change was incredible. Oh, and she was a very good patient. She let them take her blood pressure. How happy am I that I have a toy doctor's kit that she and I play with??? whew So all in all our little trip went pretty well. They warned us that since she's had this "nursemaid's elbow" once, that she is a candidate to get it again. AWESOME

Lime in the Coconut (when it really should be in the Corona)

Yes, I could do with a yummy alcoholic drink today. Too bad that i have to wait another 29 weeks. I'm very VERY tired today. My cold has come back and I'm all congested and feeling crappy. And I can't really take any medications to help. SIGH I know, things could be worse, but I'm tired and sick and tired. I hope I perk up in the second trimester. And I cannot wait to get an ultrasound on Monday. Oh no. We're watching videos on youtube and since she seems to be afraid of Beeker singing Carmen, I found a Maria Callas video and there's a conductor. Lily ran away then came back with two toys to help her conduct too. SIGH Alright, she left, I can enjoy Callas in peace. :)

Anyway, Lily put on her own shoes today. On the right feet!!! She's growing and changing. It's so weird. Well, since my brain isn't really working well today I'll come to the point of the title....



Oh, and in case you were curious about the Callas.

Crankier pants

Today, I'm not sure if that would be me or Lily. Pedro took the alarm clock so I don't know if Lily woke me up at 5 or earlier. Oi. And for some reason, my cold has come back with a vengeance, but I have a test on Wednesday night so I don't want to waste time sitting in the doctor's office. I never thought I'd be like that, but there it is. Lily got a hold of my rain boots. It took a lot of work for her to get them on and stand up, never mind "walking" down the hall. She's a trip.

Let's see... Lily took off her pants and her diaper yesterday. I told her that was fine, but that she needed to do her business in the potty. She came and went from the bathroom several times, sitting on the potty perhaps 30 seconds at a time. She finally came in, sat down and farted. I took this as a great sign. Until I walked out and saw the big damp spot on the carpet. SIGH But it's a start, right? Her doctor cautioned me that there would be lots of accidents. And baby pee is sweet pee. Not like that acrid cat waste. blech

I took some pictures of Lily looking cute yesterday. I love how that coat fits. It's not really a winter coat but every time Lily wears her winter coat she gets it extremely dirty so it's sitting in a laundry pile. Maybe a another winter coat for her for Christmas?? She also wore her cute little boots out. Oh yeah. We went to the gym and she took two of her "Rileys" with her. I thought, uh oh, what if the other kids want to play with them? I shouldn't have worried. As soon as we got in the door, a girl smaller than Lily toddled up to her and Lily gave her one of her kitties. I think I heard my jaw hit the floor. Lily's just a good natured kid. Now if Pedro or I were to try to touch one of the "Rileys" she'd grab it and take off running down the hall yelling "Miinnneeeeee". Such is life.

Cranky pants

That would be me. Gosh, I've been having a really hard time sleeping lately. Lily and I went to bed at a good time and she dropped off really quickly. I tossed and turned trying to get comfortable. I heard Pedro coughing so I went and brought him some cough syrup. Then I made myself a half a sandwich. I felt kind of queasy and thought maybe I was hungry. Nope. It didn't help. I took some Tums and still no relief. I had heartburn for hours. Sigh. I'm only 10 weeks but I have this feeling of fullness in my belly and then the heartburn. I'm like, what the heck????

We went out to chop wood today. Daddy did a really good job. Except for when he worked himself too hard and had to lay down in the dirt. I watched steam roll off his face while sweat turned frosty on his brow. We also put Lily to work. Actually, she really wanted to help. She went back and forth a lot. Which was awesome for me. I just had to stack the wood and didn't have to try and bend over. :) Thanks Lily.

Then she got tired.

For Pedro

Mocha: (1): a superior Arabian coffee consisting of small green or yellowish beans (2): a coffee of superior quality b: a flavoring made of a strong coffee infusion or of a mixture of cocoa or chocolate with coffee

Got it???

Sleep: addendum

I just found out that Pedro's been giving Lily my Mocha soymilk to drink for the last two nights. ummm It has coffee in it??? Pedro said he was wondering why she was tearing around the house. SIGH It's after 11 now and she's showing no signs of slowing. Hopefully, tomorrow night things will be under control.



MEN

Turkey

I baked some turkey legs this morning. I want to cut them up this afternoon and make chili. It's a balmy 37F outside so I think some chili would be awesome for dinner. Anyhoo, I gave Lily a piece of turkey and next thing I know......

I know it's smudgy looking. Someone got a hold of my camera this morning. Just like she got a hold of some more turkey. Sigh. Anyway, I think I feel okay enough to go and sleep. I had to get up and make a sandwich so that I wouldn't be so hungry. I'd better not weigh as much as a baby hippo by the time I give birth!

Sleep

Sleep is a very screwed up thing at our house lately. Lily and I didn't go to sleep until AFTER midnight last night. I think she stays up on purpose to hang out with me when I get home. But, of course, when I get home, I have things that I want to do. I don't want to waste an hour trying to get her to sleep. So I just keep her up until I'm ready for bed.

Sometimes I put this pressure on myself that everything has to be by the book. Or by what's "normal". But this is our life and what's happening right now. So, :P

Lily was making a lot of noise, playing with her bracelets from India. All of a sudden, I realized that there was no noise and went to find her. There she was. All snuggled in her blankets on the sofa. Poor wee thing. I use the term "wee", loosely.

Also, in the news, it snowed today! SNOWED. In Virginia. Bless my biscuit stuffed heart. I looked around for the giant fire that the ash was falling from but couldn't see anything. Then I noticed that the "ash" was melting on my window. der I think tomorrow morning, I'm going to have to bite the bullet and get Lily and I up at 7. It will NOT be easy.

The Sweetest Thing

Lily woke up this morning, looked over at me and said "mama" in this really cute little voice. Then she scrambled her way across the bed and threw her arm around my neck and snuggled. :) Then she turned over and tried to push me off of the bed.....

Anyway, I have that sweet image to sustain me. Lily threw up this morning too after a long series of coughs. I managed to catch most of it on a burp cloth and her shirt. But then she wouldn't pull her arm out of the shirt, so I pulled her arm and then everything ricocheted and she got puke in her hair. Sigh. It's just been one of those mornings.

Oh and I put Vick's Vaporub on my feet last night. I didn't wake up coughing once, how funny is that?

Jingle Bells

Argh

Well, I had another bad night. Coughing, coughing, coughing! I hate this miserable *&$#*! cold.

So that's it really. I don't have any new pics of Lily. Although, I have been blown away lately by how well she's been talking. She's making sentences now. It's just amazing to me to watch the process of her learning. Also, she made me tie a Christmas bell strip around her waist. She broke part of it so I had to use a paperclip but she's proudly parading around the house. So if anyone wants to get her a jingle bell belt for a present.... It's a nice way to keep track of her too. :)

And since I know three nurses, since I've been coughing for over a week, should I go to the doctor soon? I don't really feel a lot of stuff in my lungs, it's just my dang throat. If I take a breath too quickly it's like the air snags on it and I have a coughing fit. IT SUCKS.

Better?

I finally got a good night's sleep last night! It had honestly been a week since I'd had sleep where I wasn't woken up by coughing. I do feel good. I was woken up by Lily crying a little in her sleep but she seemed to do pretty well also. I gave us a break from the cough medicine too. But I put a layer of Vick's Vaporub on my neck, so thick that you could've skated on it! I think the menthol vapers knocked me out. :) It was getting a little stressful. I need sleep in my condition and I wasn't getting any. Unfortunately, now Pedro seems to have come down with the cold. Which means he's going to do less and be crankier than usual. Sigh. Lily is trying to look like she's not stealing things off of her daddy's desk.

Yesterday I really felt like making chocolate cake. Because, let's face it, I haven't had enough cake lately. Actually, perhaps that speaks to the power of chocolate - I did have a good night's sleep after eating it.... I'm also rereading Harry Potter. Chocolate has healing powers. How did J K Rowling discover that??? Or is it J P Rowling? Whatever. Since daddy wasn't feeling well yesterday, I recruited Lily as my assistant, mostly just to keep her out of his hair. Whilst I was making the frosting, she kept on trying to pinch off pieces of the cake!!! Oh and I made the mistake of telling her there was a chocolate cake. She pitched a fit when she couldn't climb on the stove. Sigh. Anyway, she was a very good assistant and got to lick the beater thingy when we were done.

I used a little too much mocha soy milk in the frosting. It wasn't really stiff enough to hold on. Fortunately, chocolate is chocolate. :) Oh yeah, Stacy and I had a good time in town yesterday. We went to Red Robin's and I had a chicken parmigiana. It was the bomb. I annihilated that chicken. There was pasta too, ehhh. I told her sagely, "pasta is pasta, but chicken is chicken!". I'm such a dork. :) Thanks for the fun day Stacy! (and the mug) :)

Breaking the chain...

of having cake for lunch. I had a chocolate croissant today. I know, my eating habits might appear to be atrocious but I'm not sure what else to do. I stole two of Pedro's fries today. The first one tasted disgusting, which I thought could be some sort of fluke, so I had #2. Also puke worthy. Now I know fries aren't healthy but my point is they're usually pretty easy on the taste buds, so if I can't eat them.... I'm 9.5 weeks, almost, and I think this is the worst week, hormone-wise. Hopefully, next week I'll be able to have salads for lunch. hmmm Salad cake.

Also, I need to get a good rice pudding recipe. I do NOT like the ones that call for cooked rice. I had a really good one from Cooking Light but I can't find it. I paid almost $4 for a can of rice pudding from Whole Foods. I could've made a gallon of pudding on my own for that price. Sigh.

Now all I can think about is that can of rice pudding. Dang it!

Moo

Well, things are still pretty germ coated at our house. I thought sleeping with Lily and being in with the steam would help me sleep last night. ummm, not. I had to switch beds with Pedro in the middle of the night so that I wouldn't wake Lily with my coughing. Yeah, it's still that bad. Now Lily's snot factory has kicked into high gear. But we're all struggling on. I missed two nights of class this week too. I really debated it with myself but I thought, if I go and become sicker then I might miss even more classes. And it has been nice having dinner at the table and talking and stuff. Sigh. Less than 4 months to go.

Oh yeah, Lily's riding her Moo. I try to teach her the names of different animals when we're out and I taught her that cows "Moooo". She thinks that's hysterical so everything is a Moo now. And yes, I had a baby blanket in the shape of an elephant that I called Moo, so it's just the circle of life. Or something. Sigh.

Sick

Yes, the Thompson household is ill. I mean, it's not the flu or anything but there's an awful lot of coughing and sneezing going on. Being in my pregnant state I don't like taking a lot of medication so I just suffer. I know, POOR ME. Pedro's home too and dealing with a sick husband is almost too much to bear. I know, not all guys are sick wussies who incessantly complain when they're sick. Right? I had a craving for chocolate cake yesterday. I love that Food Lion sells slices of cake. It meets the need without a major pig out. You know? Anyway, it was too sweet for me so I gave the rest of it to Miss Lily. She really wasn't interested. NOT!

Let's see... Lily is getting good at recognizing the color blue. Oh yeah! This morning I fried up some turkey bacon and I walked away for a minute. I knew that Lily knows the stove is hot, or that she'd figure it out pretty quick. Do you know what I came back to find? She had moved a chair over in front of the stove and was stirring the turkey bacon around. Talk about an almost heart attack. I'm always astounded at how her little two year old brain works. I know it's my own ideas about her development that make her accomplishments all the more surprising. I always think it's 3 year olds that move chairs to bust into the cupboards and get the cookies. Lily did that before she was two. I did mention it to the doctor and she was surprised also. So, :P, it's not just me.

Also, Lily likes balloons.


















Right after I took this video, I discovered that Lily's diaper had come undone and was sliding down her leg, inside the footie. I also discovered that that hadn't stopped her from relieving herself anyway. I additionally discovered that polyester footed sleepers don't let liquid through so all the pee collected in the feet. Last night was AWESOME.

D*mn

Someone gave me a cold. I am very upset. I had a tickle in my throat last night which has blossomed into an extremely sore throat. I HATE sore throats. The worst part? I shared my cereal last night with Lily. sigh. Why did I share? Well, we went to a birthday party for my friend's parents and I was around a smoky bonfire for a couple of hours. I figured maybe it was smoke inhalation? Oh no, my friends. It's viral and covered in mucus.

Also? It's 7:30am and I'm the only poor sucker up in my household on a Sunday am. Oh yeah, these pictures are from Stacy. She likes taking pictures when you don't know she's watching you. :) Lily was a riot last night. In good and bad ways. There was a baby boy there, almost one year old, and I kept telling her to be careful around him. She ran up to him at one point and I said "Lily be careful you don't stomp on him". Well how in the world did she know the word stomp? She started stomping and got him once on the leg! Mortification! She also gave him a really nice hug before we left so hopefully that made up for it. *rolling eyes* Also, there was a little girl there, a couple of years older than Lily. Lily called her "baby". For half the night you'd hear "Baby, c'mere!". She played with Lily a bit but I could tell she wanted a break. :)

Yes, I have mad weiner roasting skills. It was a very fun night. Stacy's family is laid back but always ready to laugh. They adored Lily (I think). She's been over there once or twice with me, previously. So she knew a few people. More than her daddy did! Pedro said he had fun too. It was nice hanging outside around a bonfire. I tried to share my hotdogs with Lily but she wasn't really interested and they were fireroasted, okay?? Also, the Mexican restaurant was good yesterday too. I can eat anything as long as it's fried. How does that work exactly? With Lily, I wanted to eat fruit 24 hours a day. And with whomever this is, I have to eat huge amounts of fattening food. If I don't, my stomach growls and snaps at me. And I'm not gaining weight. How weird is that? It had better NOT be twins.

Quote from Pedro

There's a recount going on in VA regarding a very close race between Goode and Perrielo. It's obviously been going on for a few days.

Pedro "It's easier to vote for an American Idol than it is to vote for an American President".

I thought that was pretty funny even though we were talking about Congress. :) Funny, and true, no?

Little Helper

Lily has been kind of amazing today. This morning, as I was getting her dressed, she said "My sock, my shoe". She usually says them seperately. Also, she's been really helpful today. She spilled a drink and I threw a burp cloth at her and asked her to clean it up, while I ran and cleaned up a cat mess. She did! I asked her to come out from the entertainment center - and she did! I asked her to bring me the VHS tape she found while rummaging around - and she did! The biggest shock of all? She's currently eating half of my liverwurst sandwich. I mean, she won't give it back. Sigh.

Anyway, back to studying. Poor Lily's been entertained by the tv the last few days. This test should be a doozy but it will all be done tonight and then we can go to playgroup tomorrow. :)

Oof

I was going to try to think up a cute title but I'm too full of cinnamon buns. That's not really the greatest excuse is it? Anyway, I took a couple of cute pictures of Lily with her bun. She's never had a cinnamon bun before. She inherently understood that the icing needs to come off first. :) Imagine my chagrin when I discovered that she opened up the cutlery drawer without me knowing and got a utensil to help her with her breakfast. She even closed the drawer! That little snickerdoodle is too smart.

And I try to keep politics out of here but congrats to Obama! :) *whisper - yes we can*

The Best Time...

to go grocery shopping is on election night. I was the only customer in there!

I'm having an okay day. Lily is by equal turns sweet and then exasperating. She'll be perfectly happy and then I'll touch something that she thinks is hers, or is hers and that will set off the freak out tantrum bomb.

Oh yeah, today I taught her the color blue. :)

Busy

I have had such a busy day today. I finally got caught up with the laundry. I know, wow. :P It's just been one of those days when there's been a lot to do. I finally got Lily down for a nap so I don't have to follow her around and prevent disasters. I'm really trying to lay down the law now so that she might listen to me later when I'm big and slow. You know, I have to admit that going to the gym just 2 times a week has made a big difference. I would like to keep it up as long as I can because I remember how hard it was to move around towards the end, with Lily.

Oh my gosh, this hot chocolate tastes like the best ever....










Anyway, yes, we were raking up leaves yesterday. Lily wasn't as into playing in them as much as she was into playing supervisor. I don't know why. I mean the first time she saw leaves, she did everything she could to jump in them. Maybe it's the forbidden fruit thing. She was allowed to play in these leaves so she didn't want to. hmpf Anyway, I should get to studying. I finally got the squirt to sleep and I have a test on Thursday.

But one last thing. My latest crush.....

I really can't wait to eat this. I keep on giving it lascivious stares. We don't eat a lot of red meat, but I sure have been craving it lately. I've been craving everything lately, who am I kidding. :P


And whoops. I just skimmed an article that said even a cup of coffee a day can put a pregnant woman at risk for having an underweight baby. hmmm Considering my first one was just over 11 pounds, and the second one is usually bigger, I think I need two cups of coffee a day. :P (actually I drink tea, but whatever)