Yay!

I had so much fun yesterday. We were there for almost 7 hours and it seemed to fly by. All the performers were amazing: the dancers, singers and drummers. I think my favorites were the grass dancers. Although I didn't get any pictures of them because they did a memorial dance and we were asked not to take pictures. The whole thing gave me chills though. :) I didn't get that many pictures, I think because I was enjoying the thing so much.

It was pretty well run too. There was continuous garbage pick up and people directing the parking traffic. My only complaint was that the porta potties were fairly gross. But I guess at an outside event you can't have everything. :) And when I say they were gross, I mean they were actually fairly neat inside, but they, achem, filled up fast.

It took place in a really beautiful area, but it was hard to capture that with all the parked cars and power lines. I know, it doesn't sound beautiful. :P I'm very glad that I went with a high SPF sunscreen or I would have been a fried mommy by the end of the day. Oh, I also had an Indian taco. mmmm It's kind of like taco ingredients on fry bread.

The announcer was really cool and explained what the songs and dances meant. The grass dancers initially flattened down the high prairie grasses so there could be a pow wow.

This guy was the crowd favorite. He was really tall and fierce looking. I couldn't help but think if he'd been there when the settlers had shown up, things might have gone differently.

I didn't spend too much money. I got myself a pretty larimar ring and some dangly turquoise earrings. Plus some bells because everyone else was jingling, darn it! I also got some sweet grass to use for smudging instead of sage.

I'd like to give a shout out to Stacy for inviting me and for bringing the folding chairs. I still miss mine. :(

PS - tribal dancing is not that easy. I did dance around the bonfire and I'm sure I looked like an epileptic stork. Completely unlike the regal and graceful ladies who did the shawl dance. Sigh.

PPS - I danced a round a bonfire! How cool is that???

PPPS - with other dancers and to Native music

PPPPS - just in case you thought I was off dancing by myself

pow WOW!

Well, I'm off to the Pow Wow today. I'm so excited. The weather couldn't be better 77F and sunny. I'll be packing my sunscreen since I'll be out all day. Actually, Lily's 50 SPF sunscreen. I'm old and freckly already. :)

I'm not getting back until late so no Lily stories until tomorrow. Have a great weekend y'all!

2 adorable

Well, the mom's club group bailed on the walk this morning. But I'm still going. I ate biscuits in anticipation of walking 4 miles and dagnabbit, I'm a gonna walk 4 miles.

I'm not sure when I turned into Yosemite Sam.

AKC!

Oops. I'm so twitterpated. I mean ACK! Pedro took Lily to the park and I cannot stop rubbing my eye. I don't believe the two are related. But I should be enjoying the peace not rubbing my eyelid raw. argh I don't see anything, do you??? It is driving me crazy! I'm not sure if the picture is overexposed or if I really am that pale. Don't tell me, I don't want to know.

So playgroup was fun. The lady who hosted it was really nice and had a beautiful home. I mean beautiful. It was hard to come back to this mess. Sigh. Pedro said that no one commented on my pony post because no one cares about ponies, they only care about Lily. But I remember when I put up the pictures of the baby hedgehogs and everyone was all, "ooh" and "ahhhh". I mean, come on people, the pony has a real bunny on its back! Oh gosh. I used some eye drops and my eye does feel better although I have tears running down my cheek. argh! Gah!

Jeesh. I just pulled a little eyelash out of my eye. Jeez Louise. So in real news, Daphne is walking with a limp. I only noticed it this afternoon but I got us an appointment for tomorrow. She's an old lady and I'm not going to let her suffer. So I've been brushing her so that the vet won't think I'm a slacko cat owner. She hasn't bit me YET. But she's threatened too. I'm watching Pedro playing with Lily outside. He's a good daddy.

Lily said a special new word today. Cookie. She was holding a cookie up in front of her so I know it wasn't a fluke. :) Pedro and I forgot that Lily doesn't like raisins, so the oatmeal raisin cookies were a bit of a mistake. I've been picking raisins off the floor all afternoon. Oh! I've also found out that the mom's club has playgroups that meet everyday. I guess you pick a day or get assigned to one. That's what I've been looking for!! So I've emailed a few people and hopefully Lily and I can find a new group of people to harass. :)

Yay

I made it to the gym this morning. I meant to get up at 6 and out the door by 6:15 but it was more like, up at 6:15 and out the door by 6:45. oops. The gym was really quiet - it was nice. I didn't work out too hard as I'm still in recovery. :) This is a picture of Lily at playgroup last Friday. We have another under 2 playgroup to go to today. Then there's the stroller walk tomorrow. phew! It's kind of fun but I've been such a shut-in for so long it feels a little overwhelming at times. But as a mom, I feel like it's my duty to show Lily how to make friends.

I'm glad I got the doorknob covers. I'd like a few more so that I don't have to worry about Lily sneaking out of the room at night. She hid on me yesterday and because of all the mess in the livingroom (thanks Pedro) I had a really tough time finding her. I knew I had bolted the storm door so she was in the house somewhere!!! As you can see in the picture, she is all about being sneaky right now...

Oh and Lily can now climb into the bathtub on her own. Do they ever stop growing? Holy crap! I guess it's not that bad but it's like they say, as soon as you get used to them being at one stage, they move onto the next one! I try not to limit her and in fact, I've been trying to challenge her a bit more. I mean, I used to assume I'd need to point to things or keep questions simple. Now I just let things fly. It's more fun to learn some things on your own, right?

Lily found the Christmas book yesterday. I moved an antique piece to the front hall (Pedro said something about getting rid of it and I said something about removing his heart - hey family heirlooms do not just happen by accident!) and I thought it would be a great place for Lily's books. Now I just have to teach her to put them back....

I need to ask M'Lou who owned that little table-thingie first... M'Lou?

I want a Pony!

You can go to here to get the story but check out this adorable pony!!! Pedro said I can't get a dog....



Yes, this IS what I do all day.

Good Times

Well, Lily and I spent a couple of nights down at grandma and grandpa's house. We had a good time. Thanks for the hospitality g-ma! Lily and g-pa had a good time too. :)

No, I didn't take any pictures and I can't actually recall all the stuff we did. :) Of note, was lunch yesterday. After Lily pitched a fit at the Carrot Tree (I didn't know they were trees, either) we went to Trader Joes and loaded up on some yummy food. We had edamame, pierogies, mandarin chicken and cheesecake with fresh strawberries. It was sort of an international theme. Lily stayed at the table until we were all done. I was seriously impressed with her. :)

She and I have a busy week. Tomorrow is playgroup. Friday is a 4 mile stroller walk. Saturday I'm gone for most of the day (and part of the night) to a pow wow. I'm harsh excited as I've never been to one before. :) So I'm busy planning what I'll need and trying to find things for Lily and Pedro to do. So they won't miss me TOO much.

Smarter than the Average Bear?

Lily scared me yesterday. I moved a black shelving unit to my trunk and parts of it were like long black narrow round tubes. So Lily ran into the spare bedroom (I really need doorknob covers) and opened up the closet and grabbed a similar looking tube (for an old vacuum cleaner) and brought it out to me. I was like, how did she remember that was there and make the connection I might need that too? I was floored. I'm not sure what most 18 month olds can remember or how well they know that one thing is like another thing but I was a little scared at her mental capacity for her age.

Any thoughts?

Well, I need to get ready to go and spend Mother's day in Newport News. Pedro is staying home. So that means for Father's Day I get to go to the Outer Banks by myself??? Just wondering.

For really reals

That's one of my most recent favorite sayings. It drives Pedro nuts, however, which is probably part of its charm. Anyway, it is currently 9:12pm EST and Lily pants is still awake. I spent over 40 minutes trying to get her down but she finally popped off the bed and went and opened the door. Note to self: I need to get those doorknob covers. So I gave her some food and milk and now she's hanging out with us. SIGH.

So I finally got those cookout pictures. My cellphone kept on having a low battery. AKA me not plugging it in. Lily was just fussing at me for not holding onto her blanket for her. I'd wait until she got to the doorway to through it on her again. She'd turn around and tell me off, then walk back and firmly place the blanket back on my lap. It was VERY hard for Pedro and I not to laugh. It's just so cute to see her personality coming out. She also played very nicely with a baby today. She tickled his toes a little bit. :) I was so proud.

Thunder!

Poor Pedro. It's a good thing he asked for the day off today or he would've had to call in. He was up most of the night with Lily. I was up most of the night because of the storms. Good grief. She's doing okay this morning. She ate most of her waffle - which has NEVER happened before. And she's been running around like gangbusters. So we'll be going to the arts and crafts day. I'll just make sure that we focus on making the plate and try to keep Lily away from other kids. :)

And look what I got a picture of??? Nice grammar. Anyway, I'm sure Lily appreciated me snapping pictures in the dark while she was trying to sleep but I managed to capture her rubbing her foot with her blankie. I think a video would be better but... Hey, what does Benedryl do? Her doctor said I could give her children's Benedryl when she's sick. Is it supposed to help with runny noses? I didn't notice it help much last night. It took Lily a LONG time to fall asleep. Poor wee thing. She was tossing and turning. And poor big Pedro. :) Anyway, I need to jet to make it to the playgroup!

PS (Yes, I am still sick too - I may actually break down and go to the doctor. :P)

PLAP!!! (the other shoe dopping)

Miss Lily is sick. She was plugged up last night but slept okay once we suctioned out her nose. One of those fun parenting jobs. :) Today she's had a runny nose and she's been coughing, but nothing too bad. She enjoyed our walk today. She had a blanket over her and relaxed and yelled at the trees. :)

In other news, she has a cute thing thing she does. Like, THE CUTEST THING EVAH! kind of a deal. With her eyes closed, Lily grabs the corner of her blanket, then grabs a foot and rubs the soft corner up and down her foot until she falls asleep. It's too adorable. I taught her how to do that to her face today too. :) She's a tactile little thing.

The Champion

Well, okay that might be overstating things. I did do a lot of cleaning up this morning. I have a pile of things to go to Goodwill and I moved a huge bookcase and all the books into the kitchen. I'm trying to get the spare bedroom closer to being Lily's room. Especially, after she woke me up at 4 and didn't go to sleep until after 5. argh

A mom I met on Monday, called me today to see about walking. Yay! I was going to call her this afternoon to see if she wanted to get together tomorrow. :) Great minds and all that. And she has tattoos so she's my kind of chick. :) I wonder if she likes martinis?

I put Lily in a spring dress that g-ma got her a while ago. Lily looked at it a little funny until I put it on her. It looks so comfy and cool. I also think it looks cute with the little flounce thing going on. I took a lot of pictures trying to show how cute she looks but you're just going to have to take my word on it.

No, no cookout pictures yet. They're all on my cellphone which had one bar of battery this morning. So hopefully later today. I'm trying not to write about the evil little girl who pushed Lily at the playgroup yesterday. But I give in. Grendel had a kitty exactly like the one Lily has at home. So Lily saw it and went for it. Beelzebub pushed her away once and I was okay with that and Lily turned and walked away, cuz she's like that. But then the sh*t disturber chased down Lily and pushed her again from behind and that's when Mommyzilla stepped in. I only told the monster not to push. I didn't even backhand it. I mean, talk about restraint. (push my baby, will ya)

Morning View

We went to the last day of the kids group at Carysbrook and had a cookout. I'll try to post those pictures later. Lily didn't sleep so well last night so, of course, we're all tired today. Daddy is especially grumpy. I'm not sure why since he's not the one who's had Lily bellyflopping on them. Did that make sense? Anyway, I'm still coughing and feeling sort of weak. What an awful cold I've had. boo Let me see... Lily was kind of enough to pose for this picture. I wasn't fast enough with my camera the first time. Her hand is clenched because she's in mid "wave". Check out those long legs. whew Her little capris used to look like pedal pushers but now they're starting to look like shorts!

Oh and the other thing that makes it hard to sleep with Lily - she likes "stroking" my hair. I do that to her to help her sleep. Well, I'd like to say that I'm good at it. I don't pull hair or hit her on the head. Let's just say that Lily still needs some practice. Then, of course, there are the nights that she does it with her feet.... Sigh.

Cinco de Mayo - the Pantless Holiday

I agonized over Pantless or Pantsless. I get a red line underneath them either way so. :P It was another beautiful day. I was tired because Lily bellyflopped on me again all night. So I took her to the park today. I met a cool mom with a very cute little boy. We both want someone to go walking with so hopefully she and I can make that happen! Obviously, with our children. :)


Lily has started copying Linus. She drags her blankets with her everywhere. I mean, EVERYWHERE. It doesn't really both me. I think it's kind of cute. She's ummm, I can't think of the word. She's experimenting with controlling her environment. Is there a word for that??? She's also been more attached to her binkies so we're having a small war over that. I'm not too hard on her because I did leave her for a week. That excuse isn't going to last much longer so I hope Lily enjoys it while she can. :)

What's wrong with this picture? I changed Lily's diaper after her lunch and left her on the bed, without pants, to do what she wanted. Well, she took a while coming back out to the living room, which was weird as I was eating grapefruit and she LOVES grapefruit. So I look at her and something doesn't seem right, but I share my snack with her. So then she goes and stands in front of the tv. I was like, does her diaper have a crack in it???? The little stinker took off her diaper and then came out. No accidents, just a clueless mommy. She really is chip off the old block, huh g-ma??

Banana Bread Monster

I made some banana bread today. I was worried about what to take to the cookout on Tuesday but now I have banana bread! yay! Lily loves banana bread. I know it's kind of fattening (for me) but it's relatively healthy. Right? Okay, I put in chocolate chips. I ALWAYS put in chocolate chips.

Lily saw me pick up a piece of B bread and put it in my mouth so she grabbed a humongo piece and shoved it in her mouth. She even opened her mouth and showed it to me. :) I was cracking up because Pedro has a video of a Marine ball where he shoved not one, but two pieces of cake in his mouth at once. The bar is set high people.

Pedro was an awesome daddy this morning and took Lily to the lake. He walked even! Apparently, you have to let Lily know that it's not a bathtub and that she's not allowed in with her shoes on. :) So now she's all in love with her stroller and wants to hang out in it. As far as I know, that's the first time Pedro went out with Lily for fun, by himself. Well, you know.