Looking for Me?

Wondering where I am? I've moved! Check out the new blog Waterfalling Up for more updates from our family!

Friday, December 29, 2006

Photo/Video Friday

Everyone,

We've been a lot of fun places this week, and gotten a few cute pictures of Butterfly. I thought you'd like to see them.

Butterfly on one of her Christmas presents, Christmas morning. She got a few more things (okay, lots of things) but this was an early favorite. I like it too. I used to have one when I was her age.

She loves to pull out Juice's engineering text books and go through them when I change her diaper. I swear this girl is going to do something special with her life!We went downtown to just hang out (our second trip this week...Juice has had the whole week off!) and we went to the World War 2 Memorial. It's very nice, very peaceful. Butterfly loved running around and desperately wanted to swim in the pools. I like that right now, they have all the grassy areas fenced off. It basically makes a tunnel for Butterfly to walk down. She had a great time, and she didn't run all over the place!




Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos


We've basically had a really great week and it's going to be hard for Juice to go back to work on Tuesday.

Safire

Thursday, December 28, 2006

My best Christmas Present

Everyone,

About a week before Christmas, my washer died. If you are long time readers, you remember last year at this time we had the great dryer fix. The washer going out was just the last straw. I had been running to the laundry mat for essentials, and Juice kept telling me to wait on the washer...he'll take care of it.


Boy did he ever! This is what I found under the tree.
And then it came today!
I am so not sorry to see this one go. Good bye and good riddance!!!
Safire
PS- Sorry about the pictures being sideways, I can't figure out how to change them.

Sunday, December 24, 2006

Merry Christmas!

Everyone,


Have a very Merry Christmas!
Love,
Juice, Safire, Butterfly and Soot


Friday, December 22, 2006

Answers to your questions...

Everyone,

Part of the counter I have at the bottom of the page is the ability to see who is coming to my page and what they are looking at. Or for. I thought I would address some of these queries, and we can all wonder how they got to this blog.

1. girls in white keds pics (AOL search). Hmmm...why white keds? Butterfly has pink keds.

2. baby swimming class maryland (Google). This I can help with. If you are looking for a baby swimming class in Maryland, check your local YMCA. They had great classes! Or there is always your local pool, or country club. I highly recommend swim classes. Besides, the babies look so cute in those swim suits!

3. keds shoes hole in toe (Google). Not sure why we're looking for holes in the toes of keds. And who knew that Butterfly's pink pair would get me so much traffic on this site!

4. tushy video sharing (Google) Hi pervy googlers! No tushy sharing here. In fact, Butterfly screams bloody murder if you even mention her tushy lately. Poor baby has flaming diaper rash, again.

5. daylight hours - baltimore md (Google) I wonder are they looking for exactly how long Baltimore has daylight hours? Because tomorrow the sun is supposed to rise at
7:24 AM and set at 4:48 PM. The day will be 9h 24m 04s long. If you are looking for something to do in the daylight hours in Baltimore, the National Aquarium is fabulous. I believe that is open during daylight hours, and probably a few hours after (considering a quarter to 5 sunset is a little early for them to close). There is also Fort McHenry, which played a roll in the writing of our National Anthem. Francis Scott Key watched the flag wave above this fort during the 1814 Battle of Baltimore and was moved to write his tribute to the Stars and Stripes. The place is awash with history and culture. There are also a lot of things to do after daylight hours, if you're interested.

Periodically I will post a series of searches on here. At least, I hope to remember to.

Safire

2006 In Review, Blog Style

Everyone,

I saw this on another blog, and thought I would copy it. Here is the first line of the first post each month this year.

2005 was a year of change for us.

Butterfly turned 9 months old on Friday.

This is a test of my abilities to put a video on this page.

The cherry blossoms are out in peak right now.

Butterfly is babbling up a storm.

Now that my company has all gone, and I've spent a few days recovering and not sleeping (another tooth...sigh...) I thought I'd update you on all of the fun we had with the grandparents.

On Friday morning, my favorite radio station was giving out free pancakes and prizes at the local diner.

This passed weekend my Dad was here to visit.

One of the joys of living on the east coast is these great storms and hurricanes that occasionally go through our area.

Suddenly it seems like our life has exploded in activities.

Today starts the 30 days of posting from me.

Turns out my writing gig is going to stop.

There are a whole lot of highlights that were missed. Butterfly's first birthday, Hawaii, first word, walking, Juice's graduation, and all the other little things that go on in a year. We've had a busy one. I hope next year is just as busy and fun! Come on 2007!

Safire

Friday, December 15, 2006

Butterfly-isms

Everyone,

Butterfly is just so funny. She really is making connections at an amazing rate. Here are a few talking stories.

The other day we were listening to Christmas music while I folded laundry. Jingle Bell Rock came up, and she started running around the room yelling, "Rock! Rock!"
"Yes, baby! Rock! It's the jingle bell rock! Are you dancing?"
"Nooo. Rock!" And she ran out of the room. I finished the laundry and went to go find her. She was in our rocking chair, rocking away. "Rock! Rock!" So smart.

We were eating dinner and still had the blinds open to our sliding glass door. Butterfly starts pointing and babbling at the door, gets off of her chair and looks outside for awhile. Juice and I were amused, but didn't think much of it. Then Butterfly turned to me, said very clearly, "Dark outside!" and pointed. Holy cow, yes, it's dark outside. She is so smart!

She has started to voice a preference towards her clothes. Her favorite things to wear are her purple coat, and her purple shoes. She will ask for these by name. "Puple coat! Puple shoe!" It's really really cute and I love that she is starting to learn her colors and other things.

In other news, we tried to get a picture of Butterfly and Soot. No such luck. I was really frustrated last night, and pretty disappointed. We went to the local kiddie picture place and they usually are very good. The photographer we had just stood there. No noises, no peek a boo to try and get her to look at the camera, nothing. Butterfly is crying, Soot is terrified, and Juice and I are frustrated. We ended up leaving without any pictures being taken. I'm going to see if I can try again, maybe on Saturday or next week.

I'm determined to get this picture and if we have to try for weeks, we'll get it.

Safire

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Butterfly Videos

Everyone,

Butterfly asks for these videos over and over, so I thought I'd share. I clicked on them first because I like horses. Now she sees horses ALL OVER. It's so cute.

HERE and HERE

Safire

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Library Adventure

Everyone,

So remember a few days ago how I brought Butterfly to bed with me because she wouldn't sleep and I was just so tired? Yeah, should have sucked it up, been tired, and made her sleep in her crib. Because now she won't sleep without me. Oh sure, Juice is fine after 15-20 minutes of screaming for Mamamamama! But she WILL NOT sleep in her crib. She goes down fine, and then within an hour, is up screaming. Juice slept in her room last night (in his clothes, didn't even knew he fell asleep till I went and woke him up this morning) and she fell asleep in my bed this morning and woke up angry. It's an angry day! I'm feeling slightly frazzled and pulled out. And all I want it the baby to SLEEP.

In an attempt to get out of the house, I took Butterfly and Miss Long Hair (the girl I babysit) to the local library for tot story time. I've been to a few of these before with my mom's group, and they sing songs, do games, read a few books out loud, play with toys, etc. It takes Butterfly awhile to warm up so by the time we are all putting things away she's ready to play! So yesterday I decided to go a little bit early and wander in the children's section and see if she wouldn't warm up a little sooner.

We were there maybe 5 minutes, enough for me to read a book to Miss Long Hair, and Butterfly had that serious "I'm pooping" face on. I wait, she says, "I change!" and tries to start pulling her diaper off. I grab her hand, and we march off to the bathroom. (Miss Long Hair along for the ride, of course.) I get to the bathroom, get all set up to change Butterfly's diaper, and put her on the changing table.

That's when I noticed it. The bright green splotch on her shoe. What the...?

Further exploring lead to a very disgusting realization. Butterfly has diarrhea. And that poopy diaper? It was more like soup which ran down her leg, coated her pants and socks, and filled her shoe.

All together now: Ewwwww.

After much cleaning up and cursing the fact that I had no other clothes for Butterfly, we left. Poor Miss Long Hair was looking forward to some story time but we had to go. I'll try story time again. Maybe.

Safire

Saturday, December 09, 2006

The Creeping Crud

Everyone,

Juice is sick. It could be because the baby threw up in his face the other day. He spent the night puking and is now achy and cold on the couch. Poor guy. I seem to be doing a lot better. I can eat, and sit up for long periods of time. Butterfly is still throwing up, but is also eating so this is a good sign.

I had a very rough night. I was having some dream about my Nana and her new ring on a tea cup (all I remember...) when I was jolted awake by Juice bounding out of bed. Poor guy. I got him some water, he made some yarrow tea, and I got him a blanket for the couch. Just as I had gotten settled in and was almost asleep, I hear the unmistakable sounds of Butterfly puking in her bed. I rushed in there, saw her covered from head to toe and scooped her up for a wash down and change. She then screamed in Juice's arms so I could wash down her entire crib, get her sheets (I had put a double layer of sheets and water proof pads down for this reason), and clean the dripped stuff on the floor.

For the next 2 hours I tried to get her to go back to sleep in her crib. No luck. I think it was around 4:30am when I finally gave up and brought her to bed with me. I had been up since 1:30am. I'm tired today.

And all night long while I was cleaning up everything, I kept thinking I want my Mommy. Sometimes it's hard being so far away from family that could help.

Safire

Thursday, December 07, 2006

More sickness

Everyone,

So, what's worse than a sick mommy and daddy? A sick baby and daddy. Butterfly seems to have caught up with my flu. Yuck. It started yesterday around 3:30 when she puked on the floor and looked up at me and said, "Uh oh..." I didn't see her puke, so I thought maybe the dog had done it. As I'm bending down to get a better view, more comes out. On my head. Trying not to gross out, I sweep her up as she pukes down my clothes, and rush her into the kitchen to the sink. On the way, she puked all over herself (some how getting it into her hair...not sure how, unless it dripped from my hair to hers) and puking all over the kitchen floor. Lovely.

Once she seems finished puking, she insisted on being held (puke side in, of course) and rubbing snot and tears all over the one clean shoulder I had. Tub time. I strip her down, and wash her up. She is screaming and begging to be held. Once she is dry, I change and get her ready for bed. Then we went back downstairs and I tried to convince her to let me clean up the puky carpet.

Juice came home, and he got her to drink a little ginger ale (yes, soda...bad for her I know). She fell asleep while I showered and cleaned. Somehow our house still smells sickly.

She slept for a good 2 hours, and woke up puking again. This time all over Juice's face and down his clothes. And he's the only one that hasn't caught it yet. At least it was just water puke, and not the chunky puke I got.

She went down pretty easily, and woke up at 1, 2, 4, and 5. She didn't puke but I think she was just feeling unhappy. Poor thing.

She's happy and eating today. But I have changed at least 4 poopy diapers already. She is on her second 2 hour nap of the day, and she has a temp. But if she's anything like me, she'll be completely better by tomorrow.

We can only pray.

Safire

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Sickness

Everyone,

Why is it when you have a child you are sick more often. Or maybe it's because you notice how sick you are when you have someone depending on you for their every need. Add a sick husband to the mix and what do you have? One very sick Mommy.

This time I am sicker than Juice. He did not spend all night puking his guts out. I did. He just has a cold. He can manage. And he did very nicely. He stayed home from work yesterday to take care of Butterfly. I was so sick I could barely get out of bed. I'm feeling better today, and I bet by tomorrow I'll be fine. But still, I hate being sick. And worse, I hate throwing up. It's the worst thing that could happen to me. I just hope Butterfly doesn't get it. That would be bad.

She was very good for him yesterday. And freaked out this morning when he left for work without her. How could he leave her with this women who hasn't showered or done anything for her all day yesterday?! She got over it, but is still wandering around the house saying "Daddy bye bye!"

I hate being sick.

Safire

Friday, December 01, 2006

Bad news

Everyone,

Turns out my writing gig is going to stop. They are going in a different direction and will no longer be paying me. BUMMER! I was so enjoying the extra money a month, and not to mention the fact that people ask me what I do and I say I'm a writer! I loved that. Looks like I will just have to start looking around for another writing gig.

An all around bad day today.

Safire

Thursday, November 30, 2006

Last Post NaBloPoMo

Everyone,

It's the 30th of November, and so ends my writing every day. I did it! It wasn't too bad, except for those few days without internet. Stupid cable company. But, I had a good time. I may or may not continue to post so regularly. Maybe during the week I will post, but not on the weekends. That was rough. Anyway, I'm hoping to win some sort of prize for this posting. If not, then I will at least have 30 days documented. It has also renewed my desire to write in my paper journal a lot more. Haven't done that since April I believe.

So...pictures! I promised pictures! Here you go. And Butterfly has a new cousin. Phoebe born on the 28th. Juice talked to his mom about it and got all the particulars which is why I have none. Never tell that stuff to men. They don't care to remember. I'm waiting for pictures of this little girl. :)

Safire

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Video Wednesday

Everyone,

Now that my internet is up and working (still having some issues with the cable...stupid tv company) I thought I would show off Butterfly a little bit. My mom has been begging for pictures of this little girl, and those will come tomorrow. Today, video!

This first one is her helping us decorate the tree. She is determined to put that ornament on the light. I think Juice moved it after she put it up, but it's still very cute.

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos


This one is of her trying to put a hair bow on Soot. When I was younger, I used to dress up our old dog all the time. She fit so well into my doll clothes. And I would put her in my back pack and cart her around the house or out on my bike. Let me tell you she didn't like the bike rides. I'm glad that Butterfly and Soot are becoming friends, and that Soot doesn't seem to mind these things too much.

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos


This last one is of Butterfly and Juice reading her favorite book. This girl loves to read. And she has a few books memorized. She will even point out the word dog if she's in the mood. But this book is one of her favorites. You can see why.

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos



Safire

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Major Melt Down

Everyone,

Last night Butterfly had her first major melt down. Nothing would please her, and she raged probably for 45 minutes. All because I cut up her chicken for dinner. Yes, I am a horrible mother for wanting her to eat chicken in smaller bites. I thought I had the melt down almost stopped when she nodded when I asked if she wanted juice. But then I made the mistake of letting her see me put water in her juice. Melt down ensued. Lava was pouring out of my house to the parking lot outside. Great bursts of ash and soot were raining down on the neighborhood.

She did finally calm down and ate a little more and went to bed early. I was ready to go to bed early. I did.

I had something else to say but my mind has just been numbed by reading Humpty Dumpty 30 times in a row.

Maybe it will come back to me later.

Safire

Monday, November 27, 2006

Butterfly is going to be an engineer

Everyone,

Butterfly loves books. Loves them to the point of having to take them to bed with her. She reads while she eats. She reads all day long. Any other toy will get chucked when a book is offered. Her favorite thing to do is snuggle on you and have you read books over and over. She even has one memorized and will get upset if you read it differently. She also says "No." in all the right places. I have a video of it that will have to wait till our cable comes back. (By the way, I'm posting at my babysitting job...Butterfly is asleep and Miss Long Hair is watching a movie.)

Anyway, so what does books and being an engineer have to do with each other? The other day she found Juice's textbooks on our bookshelf. She pulled them out, flipped through a few and brought me one to read. Modern Compressible Flow. Whatever that means. So she snuggled up on me, turned the pages and starting saying "ohhh....Ohhh...OHHH!!!" It was so cute. I called Juice at work and let him listen to her gush over the equations. He is so proud.

In other news, Juice is off to Chicago this week to do a conference thing. It's going to be a week of take out, girly movies, and facials for me and Butterfly. :) (Maybe not Butterfly on the facial but her mommy could use one.) Tonight's dinner of choice is Chinese. Yum!

Safire

Sunday, November 26, 2006

A overheard conversation

Everyone,

Heard this morning before I got up:

Butterfly: "Ohhhhh!!! Teee! Teee!!!"

Juice: "Yeah, that's our Christmas Tree."

Butterfly: "Ohhhhh!!! Teee! Teee!!!"

Juice: "Yeah, that's our Christmas Tree."

Butterfly: "Ohhhhh!!! Teee! Teee!!!"

Juice: "Yeah, that's our Christmas Tree."

Apparently she really really likes the tree. We had the best time putting it up last night. She put on a bunch of ornaments, and was really into it. We put the star on this morning, and she kept saying "Sta! Tee! Sta! Tee!"

Because of the tree, she learned 5 new words. Star, snowman, Santa, angel, and Christmas (which comes out more Musmus.) We have pictures of her hanging ornaments on the tree. When our internet is a little more reliable, I'll post them.

Safire

Saturday, November 25, 2006

A Rare Moment

Everyone,

Occasionally our internet does work. It's painfully slow and may go down at any moment, but I actually was able to get this to load.

Butterfly and I have been wrapping Christmas presents all morning. So what if they are all covered in tape and about 10 bows each. We had a ball. :)

Hopefully we'll put up our tree today. And hopefully Butterfly will leave it alone.

Safire

Friday, November 24, 2006

Day 3

Everyone,

Day 3 without internet. Feeling cut off from the world.

Safire

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Thanksgiving by the Numbers

Everyone,

My internet is still down, so I am being creative and dictating this post through my Dad in Utah. "Say Hi, Dad." Dad says, "Hi."

Today is Thanksgiving and here is the breakdown of our day.

Number of times Vanessa woke up before 5am this morning: 3
Number of turkeys eaten today at our house: 1/3
Number of items dropped on the floor requiring deep cleaning: 3
  • MusicMan dropped a carton of eggs
  • I dropped the corn before it was cooked. It covered the kitchen floor.
  • Toast was dropped, not all pieces retrieved, remainder ground into breadcrumbs on the kitchen floor requiring 3 sweepings.
Number of blueberries consumed by Butterfly: Huge Heaps
Number of movies watched today because our cable is still out: 2
Number of Nintendo Pool games played by Juice and MusicMan: At least 20
Number of games Juice won: At least 18
Number of times we threw the ball for Soot at the park: 20
Number of times Butterfly fell in the mud at the park: 3
Number of minutes it took to put Butterfly to sleep tonight: Less than 5
Number of minutes it should take for us to fall asleep tonight: Also less than 5

Thanksgiving with family: Priceless

Happy Thanksgiving everyone,

Safire

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Reference Section

Everyone,

I am at my local library tonight. Our internet went down. Of course. I thought about doing mobile blogging, but we get no signal for our cell phone at our house. So...not quite sure what I'm going to do tomorrow.

In addition to our internet going out, our cable also went out. The guy who came to fix it today spoke very little English. We had to call our cable company to get someone to translate for us because neither of us could understand each other. It was bad. Now, I have nothing against the Spanish speakers in our country. I applaude them for being here, and for trying hard to learn English. But some people just don't apply themselves. It frustrates me when you need help and you can't understand what anyone is saying.

When I left, both the internet and the cable were still down.

We are having a good time with MusicMan and Angel right now. We were supposed to go to the zoo today, but we had a terrible storm roll in. We briefly considered going downtown to a museaum but that never happened. So we hung out and played video games most of the day. So much fun! Angel of course kicked our butts.

Thanksgiving dinner is also underway. I have made deserts, stuffing, cranberry sauce and appitizers today. Tomorrow is the turkey, mashed potatoes, rolls, gravy, and vegtables. Should be a good dinner. I'm excited for it.

Safire

PS- I'm a little distracted because I don't normally blog with so many people around. The guys next to me are meeting girls on myspace...looks stupid.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Another First

Everyone,

Butterfly had another first this morning. She took off her diaper by herself. And since she was only wearing a diaper at the time, we had neeked baby!

Wow, have we already started into the neeked phase? I know she loves to run around in just her diaper but I don't know if I'm ready for her to start taking it off.

Short today because of impending visitors. I'm actually babysitting at my house today to get everything done. Looking forward to some family time with MusicMan though.

Safire

Monday, November 20, 2006

Good idea, bad idea

Everyone,

Good idea: Deciding to make Thanksgiving dinner for your family and guests with an organic turkey.
Bad idea: Having that turkey delivered and the service won't leave it out...you have to be there. Between 9 and 2.

Good idea: Washington DC
Bad idea: Planning the streets before thousands of people moved in and therefore creating a huge messy traffic thing.

Good idea: Picking up the huge crickets that infest our house from time to time and putting them outside.
Bad idea: Letting your toddler hold one. Enough said.

Safire

Sunday, November 19, 2006

First day of Nursery

Everyone,

In our church, the kids don't go into nursery until they are 18 months old. Guess who is 18 months? Yep, Butterfly. Last week really should have been her first time, but we were at stake conference (big regional conference). So this week was her first time.


At church, we typically would roam the halls. We would play with the other almost 18 month olds (3 other kids) and try to keep ourselves occupied. She knows where they toys are and has begged to go in there a few times. We've been in maybe twice but she fit right in. She would even sit nicely and wait for her snack with the others.


Today, I asked her if she wanted to go play with her friends and the toys and she nodded very enthusiastically. Toys, yes! Friends, yes! We walked in and she ran to the little teeter totter and started rocking. I stayed in a few minutes to make sure they were all okay, and then slipped out. There are about 7 or 8 kids in her class, only one other girl. Kay is just a week older than Butterfly, and Andrew is a week younger.


I got to listen to Juice's Sunday school lesson for the first time without running after a child. It was weird. Juice is a great teacher. He really loves learning and really wants to share what he knows.


I didn't get to pick Butterfly up from class because of my own class, but I hear she did great. She cried for a few minutes when she realized that we were gone. But she soon got over it and played and ate and had a great time. They even drew pictures. It is SO cute. I hung it on my fridge. Juice asked her what she did in class and she said, "I played!"


She's not a baby anymore.


Safire

Saturday, November 18, 2006

Scrub a dub dub

Everyone,

My brother is coming to visit on Tuesday. And my sister in law. I really should make up cool names for him and her like I did for us. And since they haven't made up online names for themselves, I get to pick. Let's see...let's call him MusicMan and her Angel. (Nothing like the Angel in Buffy). :)

I digress. They are coming on Tuesday. Right, already said that. So, because company is coming to stay, the house must be clean. If I learned anything from my childhood, it's the fact that the house must be clean. That and "You spill, you die." Just a family motto for the car.

Today being Saturday and we don't have any plans, we spent the day cleaning. Butterfly woke up at 6:45am! Thank you whoever is in charge of sleep habits for toddlers. It's better than the 5am that has been plaguing us for months. Juice got up with her, vacuumed, and I got up about half an hour later.

He swept, straightened, moved, packed away, went into the attic 4 or 5 times, and played with Butterfly. I sat at the kitchen table, eating my cereal and going through the 6 inch high stack of catalogues I have. I may have looked like I was enjoying myself, but really, I was cleaning.

Let's see, we have also cleaned off the top of our tv (a big deal, I don't think it's been clean since Butterfly's first birthday), did 2 loads of dishes, cleared the clutter from my scrap booking desk, got the guest bed half way set up, and cleaned all bathrooms. Plus, we went for a walk to the post office about a mile from here to get holiday stamps. And to give Soot some exercise.

I still have a few places to straighten up. Like the computer desks and the other table in our kitchen. But it's coming together. Thanks bro, for giving me an excuse to get my house picked up before the holiday season. :)

Please excuse me while I go scrub my kitchen floors. Thank you.

Safire

Friday, November 17, 2006

Infant Study

Everyone,

Today Butterfly and I went to the University of Maryland to participate in an infant study they were doing. The study is run by grad students in the psychology department. They have set up the waiting room with toys, games, diapers, and all sorts of kid friendly stuff. The girls were fun and engaging. I wanted to hire them as my babysitter.


After Butterfly and I played a little bit in the waiting room, we went into a small back room where they had a puppet stage set up. One of the girls was on the 'stage' and they had a curtain and a camera set up. I won't say specifically what were studying (they asked that I not) but they were very good. They wanted her to look at an object and when she looked away for 2 seconds, they put the curtain back up. My baby has a super long attention span. For an 18 month old. It is short at home, but play this game with her and she will stare for minutes at a time. The girls even commented on how long her attention span is. I got bored with the test. She didn't.


It was a really cool experience. I think they will send me the results of the study when they are finished with it. They gave Butterfly a toy to take home, and they will call me if they start a new study. I want to do it again. We both had some fun. I got to learn a few things about baby psychology (they are very visual learners at this age, and will touch everything to connect it in their brains...I never thought about that) and she got to play with a bunch of really nice girls that were focused on them.


Of course, I ended up getting on 495 going the wrong way. I went 10 miles before I realized it, and had to turn around. Of course, it was Friday afternoon rush hour traffic. 10 miles one way was no big deal. 10 miles on the outer loop meant 45 minutes. So I spent 2 hours in the car trying to get home. It wiped me out. But it was worth it.


Next time I'll know to go north instead of south. No trips to Richmond for me.


Safire

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Spin class

Everyone,

Last January, like most people, I made a resolution to get in shape. I figured I was healed enough from giving birth to try and loose some of the baby fat. Okay, I really didn't have any baby fat. I actually lost 30 pounds during my pregnancy. Yeah, 30. I was many pounds lighter at my 6 week post baby appointment than I was my first prenatal appointment. Hate me now? Sorry.

Anyway, I wanted to get a little more in shape. Especially since we were going to Hawaii and I wanted to look really good in a bathing suit. So I joined the local Y, and looked at their class schedules. One that kind of stuck out to me was spinning at 6am. I started taking it so Juice could be home with Butterfly and I could get back before he had to be into work.

My first class I thought I was going to die. Seriously, it was so hard! My heart was pounding, my legs were pounding, even my head was pounding. But I was determined. The second class was worse. I could barely make 10 minutes on the bike, let alone 1 hour. My butt was sore, my legs, my abs, everything. I was achy for days.

But then it started to get better. I started to actually be able to do what the teacher asked. I was starting to not be so sore for days. And I started to feel really good. I could tell when I missed a class because I had no energy that week. So I bumped it up to 2 classes a week. The teacher is hysterical, and has really good music. The other class members are a mix between old and young. I think I'm the only one with a small child at home.

Since I started babysitting, I haven't been able to go to my spin class 2 days a week. I just go on Thursday morning. I went today and I am tired. I haven't been for a few weeks, and I'm not going to be able to go for another 2 weeks (Thanksgiving and then Juice is out of town). But I'm so glad I went today. I feel like I can take on the world!

As long as I'm sitting down because we did a lot of dipping below the saddle today and I am SORE.

Safire

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Phone calls

Everyone,

Butterfly loves to play with my cell phone. Most of the time, I just turn it off and let her have at it. She will put it up to her ear, and jabber away. Today she was saying "I call!! I call!"
"Who are you calling?"
"Dada! Nana! Gamma!"
I didn't even know she knew Nana or Grandma. You can tell who I talk to on the phone though. :)

When I'm on the phone, she has to pick what ear I have the phone against. And she throws a royal fit if she doesn't get a turn on it. Bad when I'm on the phone to the insurance company or something like that.

The best thing she does with the phone on her turn is giggle uncontrollably. It is SO cute and so much fun for the grandparents. :) I can just imagine what it's going to be like when she is a teenager.

Safire

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Butterfly and her thoughts on Thanksgiving

Everyone,

My daughter prays. It's so cute. She will stand at the side of our bed, fold her arms, bury her head in her arms, say "Heavenly Father, thank you. Amen!" (comes out more "Hev Faaaa, tank ooo, men!") It's so so so cute. And such a sweet little prayer. She asks for nothing. This has really struck a chord with me this past week as we come up on Thanksgiving. What am I thankful for?
Juice, I love this guy. :)
Butterfly, what else would I do with my day other than work at a job I don't like? She is my life. She made me the mother I always wanted to be.
Soot, this dog is so funny and cute! She is so obedient, and knows tons of tricks. I like to show her off.
Our house, as much as I dream about our permanent home, this one has been fantastic for us. We kind of fell into it at the perfect time.
Juice's job, they took him in when they really didn't know what to do with him because they paid for his undergrad degree. Since then, they've taught him about monitors, paid for his graduate degree, gives great benefits, and pays us enough to live on. Without his job, we wouldn't even be here.
My Internet connection, I talk to everyone on it. I'd give up cable before I'd give up my Internet connection.
My parents, they listen to me gush about Butterfly all I want, and all the good things parents do. :)
Family, I miss everyone. But I'm glad that I know they are always there for me, no matter what.

It's the little things that make life good. Now when I watch Butterfly scrunch up her little eyes and say tank ooo with gusto, I am reminded to say thank you myself.

Safire

Monday, November 13, 2006

My daughter, the genius

Everyone,

That's right. Butterfly is a genius. Last night, Juice was reading one of her favorite books to her. I've talked about it here before. She carries around this book shouting "Child God! Child God!"

Juice was sitting on our bed, reading the book to her and pointing out things in the pictures. There are lions, elephants, shoes, balls, airplanes, trees, etc. The last picture in the book is of a boy kneeling in front of Jesus with his hands folded. (See it here.) She was pointing at Jesus and naming him, and then at the little boy and calling him Jesus too. Juice was correcting her, saying, "That's the little boy." Butterfly points. "That's Jesus." Butterfly points. "That's the little boy." You get the idea. She finally stopped pointing and stared at the picture for awhile.

She then turns to Juice and says, "Little boy praying with Jesus." I kid you not. Loud and clear Juice heard this. Wow, she is growing up so fast.

Other sentences lately have included: I want to go outside! I want that! I want soup! It's cold! It's for Cinder. I want juice! Dadda at work? Go get Dadda! I want to phone! Ouch it hurts! It hurts ___ (where ever the hurt is). No Mommy other ear! I'm not allowed to talk on the phone with the ear of my choice. She has to choose. Okay then.

I can't believe how fast she is learning to talk. And how big and long and strong she is!

Safire

Sunday, November 12, 2006

Word play

Everyone,

I thought this would be interesting on a Sunday afternoon. I found it lurking on another blog. We are doing some word free association here. And what is that? Go HERE to check it out. Until then, my words.


  1. Nick :: Santa

  2. Focus :: camera

  3. Police :: car

  4. Miles :: earning

  5. Earn :: miles

  6. Twice :: baked

  7. Razor :: burn

  8. Personality :: shot

  9. Dumped :: hard

  10. Reliable :: remarkable

Don't ask me what the words mean. I just type the first thing I think of. :) I like it, I may do another next week.

In other news, Butterfly slept for 4 hours this afternoon!! This is the first time in a long time I've seen her without bags under her eyes. I sure hope we're done with teething for awhile. It's been a really rough ride.

Safire


Saturday, November 11, 2006

It's cold!

Everyone,

Butterfly learned a new phrase today. Check out the video:


Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos


That's Juice cleaning out the car in the back ground. We are getting ready for my brother and sil to come to visit us in a week and a half. As I got around to thinking about things that need to get done before they get here (clean sheets...Mom, you will be horrifed that the sheets are still dirty from our last visitors in May. But I had a good reason for it! They were hiding Christmas presents from Butterfly. I suppose they could have done that just as well clean...)
I figured that Bro and SIL's suitcases wouldn't fit in my car unless I took things out of the trunk. Like the bumper that Juice broke off last year trying to drive over a snow drift. Or the box to the carseat. I also had Juice vaccuum out the 20 lbs of gold fish and cereal we had in the back seat. He found half a banana from yesterday, and half an apple from sometime last month. Maybe? Icky stuff. So thanks Bro for motivating me to clean my car! :)

Juice was so productive today. All I did was watch Butterfly out the window, stay in my pjs until 2:30pm and wrap Christmas presents. Ahh...I love Saturdays at home.

Safire

Friday, November 10, 2006

18 Months Old

Everyone,

Butterfly turned 18 months old today. I can't believe how much she has changed in the past month. We took her in for her 18 month check up and she is 26 lbs, 5 oz and 34 1/2 inches long. This is one tall girl we have. She's off the charts in height, like 117%. She has only gained 1 pound in 3 months so her doc said to make sure she is eating at least 3 meals a day and 3 snacks a day. Hello, this kid eats ALL DAY LONG. Here is a breakdown:


Breakfast: she normally eats about half of my bowl of cereal (won't eat her own, monkey) and 2 scrambled eggs. She also has a sippy cup of milk, and a package of fruit snacks. If she's really hungry, she will eat some of Juice's cereal too.


Snack: she always has a snack mid-morning, about 9:30 or 10. It's either string cheese and more milk, or an apple or banana.


Lunch: her favorite thing is mac and cheese. She will eat half a box, if not more. We also have applesauce, milk, maybe some string cheese and a cookie.


Snack: after her nap I always give her a cookie and milk, dried cranberries and raisins.


Dinner: anything we are eating. She loves beans, rice, lentils, chicken, pasta, and guacamole. It's been a struggle to get her to eat dinner the past few days. She's more interested in playing and doesn't want to sit and eat. Tonight she had veggie lasagna, turkey, jello with berries, salad, some pasta tomato thing, and water. (We went to a potluck for our church.) This is the meal that I try to get her to eat more veggies, but she typically refuses anything but broccoli stems and frozen peas. Yum.


Snack: right before bed she always wants something to eat. (Probably because she didn't eat all of her dinner.) I try to offer her the rest of dinner, or string cheese. Oh, and milk.


I don't think she is starving. They just want to make sure she stays on her curve for growing. But of course, it's made me slightly paranoid that she's not eating enough. I know she is, but I guess it makes me doubt myself. Stupid doctors.


Let's see...she got 2 shots today. DTaP #4 and tetanus. She did not scream this time. Probably because she had a sucker in her mouth. The first sucker she's ever had. Huge amounts of drool during her shots, but no crying. It wasn't until after she was done and I took the sucker from her that she bawled. I don't mind that they give her a sucker for her shots I just wish they could pick something healthier. And also ask me if a sucker is okay. The nurse ripped the paper off and gave it to her without okaying it by me. I could have said no, thanks, but Butterfly had already tasted it and I knew we would have a battle. Better to battle the sucker removal after the shots than right before.


We went to the park today with my mom's group. Butterfly ran, and ran, and ran. She never stopped running from the moment her feet touched the ground. She is a mover, that one. She loves slides so much and I like that I can just be near the slide and she can get on it, slide down, get on it, slide down, without my help.


I'm looking forward to the days of going to the park and sitting on the benches and watching her run around. Soon.


Safire
PS- She spilled something on her shirt right before we went outside to take the pictures. I like that shirt or I would have changed her. It makes her eyes look so green!

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Boots

Everyone,


Yesterday evening, Butterfly and I were dancing to a CD my good friend Julia and I had made in college. It is a compilation of a bunch of really up beat country songs. See, Julia and I were avid country dancers at college. We would go faithfully every Wednesday night. And sometimes even Friday nights at the local club (only sometimes, Friday nights were my study nights). We never did dance much that year with partners. We lived to line dance! And we knew them all! We were almost always front row center and people would get behind us to watch the steps. The Boot Scoot 'n Boogie, the Watermelon Crawl, Cotton Eyed Joe. Ahh...I love those songs.


Sadly, I have forgotten most of the steps. Juice really isn't into line dancing and Julia lives 3000 miles away. But last night I turned up the volume and boogied with Butterfly. She had the best time. We jumped, we twirled, we shook, we hopped. She would point frantically at the cd player when a song was winding down and nod her head up and down. You want more music? Okay! Here we go!


There is a song on the CD called Whose Bed have your Boots been under. We weren't dancing at the time (I was getting ready to go to Mutual) and she disappeared. I finished putting on my makeup, and she arrived with her boots! My daughter is a genius and holy cow she understands things! Here she is trying to give me the boots.


In other news, we all went to the dentist this morning. No cavities all around. Butterfly was so interested in what they were doing that they are going to start cleaning her teeth in 6 months. Our appointment is on her birthday. Will she really be 2 in 6 months?!


Safire

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Service call

Everyone,

It doesn't seem like a normal month unless someone comes by to check up on some appliance of ours. The dryer, being our biggest epic service call. Don't even get me started on that one or I start to get mad.

2 years ago, while I was pregnant with Butterfly, Juice and I went to a holiday party at a friend's house. When we got home, our house smelled a little funny but it was late and we went to bed. Got up, went to work, and came home to a freezing house. The heater bit the dust. Great. It was a week before Christmas and we were leaving the day after Christmas for Utah. A very nice guy rushed out to see us, proclaimed the thing dead (it was 30+ years old...I was surprised it was still working at all) and ordered us a new one. We spent a week in a freezing house (not unpleasant to the pregnant me) and a week in Utah. And then we had a heater a few days after we got back. Bliss ensued.

So the other day when I got a little postcard in the mail asking if I wanted a pre-season check on my heater, I thought sure! Let's catch any problems before we go another 3 weeks without heat in the house.

Service call made, a gold star was given to the heater, and they went. Ahhh...I love those types of service calls.

Safire

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Seriously?

Everyone,

I'm in a funky sleep deprived mood. I am exhausted by our 4 hour battle to get Butterfly to sleep last night. Juice lost it. This is big because he NEVER looses it. He was curt, waspish, and cranky that she was screaming in her bed. Amazingly, I found a whole other level to my patience. Who says being a parent doesn't bring out the best in you?

So, yeah, she didn't go to sleep until 11:30pm, and then was up screaming again at 4am. And because of this new well of patience, I got the least amount of sleep. I am starting to wonder if she has an ear infection or something physically wrong. We go in for her well baby visit on Friday so I'll see what the doc says.

Until then, she will continue to scream, shake her crib so hard I worry she's going to tip it over, throw all of her toys out of the crib and beg for them to be put back in (scream...*thud*...uh-oh!...me? me? me? [her version of 'mine', think Finding Nemo's seagulls]), and sobbing into her mattress. Poor girl. I feel for her that she is so unhappy at night. It's really not a nice to fall asleep when you are so worn out from crying. But we've all got to get some sleep in the house.

So far the only one getting any decent amount is Soot.

Safire

Monday, November 06, 2006

Daylight hours

Everyone,

I hate that it gets dark at 5:15pm. In the summer, Juice, Butterfly, Soot, and I would all go on these long wandering walks around our neighborhood. We learned people's names through the houses, and enjoyed seeing the deer in the woods. Butterfly rarely wore shoes in the grass and we just enjoyed each other.

Now that it's so dark so early, I feel like we never get a chance just to hang out. Granted, we are a lot busier than we were in the summer. But I miss those long walks we took together.

I am listening to Juice putting Butterfly down over the baby monitor. Some sniffling on his part (stupid cold won't go away!) and some babbling on her part. Every now and then she pipes up with a "Mama? Mama?" I can just see her sitting up in Juice's arms asking that and then nodding her head. I hear a little "ohhhh...." as she realizes it's Daddy, and not Mama holding her. I know she loves to have me put her to bed but I have done enough for her today. Beyond the normal feed, clothe, change, and watch out for, I have also been shoved in the house (she wanted to play outside, alone. Okay then...) stepped on, slapped, shoved, hair pulled, and caught puke. In my hand. Lovely. I'm getting a much needed break from all the kid stuff.

Now excuse me while I go watch re-runs of Buffy and eat popcorn all by my self. Thank you.

Safire

Sunday, November 05, 2006

Arg.

Everyone,

I had a post all planned out about how I made rolls from scratch today (dry run for Thanksgiving) and how Butterfly is such a copy cat but she has just spent the last hour and a half screaming and shaking her crib because she doesn't want to go to bed. It has gotten me so frustrated tonight.

Butterfly has this thing with Soot's food. She really really really likes to touch it. And move it from the bowl to the floor piece by piece. We've started giving her time outs because of this. She had 2 today. After her last one, we sat in the kitchen chair and watched Soot finish her food. Butterfly was sobbing and hanging onto my hair. She kept pointing at the bowl and saying, "No!" And I would say, "That's right. We don't touch Soot's food." Finally she looked at me, said very clearly, "I don't touch Soot's food." Jaws drop here in MD. She then got down off my lap and hasn't gone near the bowl since. (Granted, it's only been a few hours and most of that she's spent in her crib but still.)

She's not even 18 months old yet and is starting to speak in full sentences.

Safire

Saturday, November 04, 2006

Christmas and Waterfalls

Everyone,

Once a month, Juice and I try to get out to one of the several things to do in the DC area. We have barely touched the surface of what all we could do and we've been here 3 years. So far, our favorites are Mt. Vernon, Great Falls National Park, and the National Mall. Oh, and we've been to the Air and Space Museum 3 times, and no other Smithsonian. Can you tell I live with a aerospace engineer? Oh, the Zoo is great, the International Spy Museum is good but expensive, and the National Aquarium in Baltimore is fantastic but you can't take a stroller in with you. If you're coming to visit the DC area, seriously ask me what's good and what's not. I've seen a lot of it.

Anyway, today was our day to get out and see something. And since it's fall, we decided to go out and enjoy the leaves. The first year we lived here we drove to Shenandoah. Beautiful, but a little far away. We have been back there a few times and do have the car tour CD. Today, we decided to go back to the place we went last year: Great Falls National Park. It's right on the C&O Canal. They've turned the old mule paths that they used to pull the boats up the canal into walking paths. We've been here at least 5 times, and each time it is beautiful. Today we went a different way than we normally go. It was stunning! The Potomac River was raging above these huge granite monoliths. The red, brown, and rust colored leaves lined the edges. It was peaceful. I would post a picture but they are still on the camera. Maybe tomorrow.

Butterfly was a little scared of the leaves, but soon got into the fun after I let Juice bury me with them. (Yes, there are THAT many). Soot even got into it and was digging them up, throwing leaf bits everywhere. A good outing for us.

After Great Falls, we decided to go Christmas shopping. I love Christmas. And I think I am done buying most of it. My goal was to have it done before Thanksgiving this year. I think I've made that. We are getting Butterfly the little people castle, and some blocks, a baby doll and stroller, and some bath toys. She is in desperate need of some new toys. Some older toys. All that we have is baby toys and I think she's ready for little kid toys.

Is it sad that I am sad that I'm almost done Christmas shopping? As much as I want to avoid the crowds in the stores at Christmas time, I love the stores at Christmas time. I love the music, the smells, everyone seeming so happy.

When I was younger, I worked for a bakery in the local mall. We made cinnamon rolls and sandwiches and drinks. I loved Christmas time in the mall because of the bustle. Time flew because you never had a moment. And when I would go on break, I would get a cinnamon roll, put extra frosting on it, find an empty table and just people watch. It was one of my favorite things to do.

My local mall here has a cinnamon roll place. Maybe I'll take Butterfly there and show this fun thing to her this year. After all, she does have to get her picture with Santa, right?

Safire

Friday, November 03, 2006

Chatter Bug

Everyone,

Butterfly is a chatter box. She talks all day long. All. Day. She explains things to me. She reads to me. She yells at the dog, then sits down and talks to her. (So cute with Soot cocking her head like she is listening!) She tells Juice about her day when he sees her after work.

So what exactly does she say? I have no idea. It's still all a mystery to me what exactly she is saying. But she does say a couple of words clearly.
ball
duck
bird
Soot
music (muuuac)
up
downstairs (do sair)
milk (muk)
what's that? (wus at?)
that (at!)
bear
horse
spider (spudur)
NO (I hear this one the most)
car
truck
train
bug
dog
kitty
sticker
I want that. (yes, full sentences now)
I love Mama. (so so so so cute!)
nose
elbow
shoulder
shoe
sock
diaper
tissue
picture
Buzz (Buzz Lightyear)
Woody
Pinocchio (Ponono)
Nana
banana
more
bite
hot
ouch
uh oh!
please (pees)
coat
fish
book (I get this one a lot too.)
teeth

She will also say a few things that I haven't heard her repeat.
No, I threw it!
I want to go outside!
Here you go.
Hi there!
More please.
Thank you.
telephone
talk
ring
hand
knee
1, 2, 3, 4
cougar
ginsbuck (that's what we get for watching Animal Planet)
zebra
flower
camera
paper
Lucy's ball (a book we read about a dog and her ball, always followed by uh-oh because the ball is stuck)
cup
water
Jesus
I am a child of God
hair

She can now point out all the animals on this play mat we have, point to different numbers, point out various body parts (eyes, ears, nose, mouth, knee, elbow, foot, toes, fingers, head, hand, butt, etc.), she will pick up things when we ask, take things to us (give this to Daddy and she will), go get things (go get your shoes), and throw tantrums. She is a doll when she's good, so snugly when she's cute, and a complete terror when she's not. She thinks it's hilarious to talk on the phone, and we've had fun conversations with grandparents lately. Her biggest thing is to jump. Stairs, boxes, anything she can climb up on she tries to jump off. It's a little scary but at least she asks for our help if it's too high.


I can't believe she is going to be 18 months old next week. Where did the baby go?


Safire

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Blood work

Everyone,

Since Butterfly was 12 months old, her doctor's office has been bugging me to get her hemoglobin levels tested. They are basically checking her iron count to make sure she is not anemic. I kept putting it off, and putting it off. Really, I didn't want her to have this test. I don't think there should be any more poking going on than necessary. But her doctor's office kept calling. And calling. And then Juice went in for his physical and needed some blood work. Then I needed some blood work. So we all decided to go in today and make it a family thing. You should have seen the looks on the ladies' faces as they realized that we all needed some blood drawn.

We checked in, took a seat in the exam room and proceeded to get stuck. I went first, then Juice, then Butterfly. Juice and I had talked about it before and had decided that we weren't going to be worried and talk her through it. She was so interested in all that the tech was doing. How she cleaned it off, stuck in the needle, everything. When it got to be her turn, she sat without any fuss. The veins in her arm were too small to draw it from there, so she had to be pricked on the finger. No fuss, no cry. She watched calmly. As the tech was almost done, Butterfly decided that her toy was more interesting than what was happening and she started to play with that. We have the most awesome baby ever. :)

In other news, I got stuck at the mall this afternoon. They locked the doors so no one could get out or in because there was a stabbing in the parking lot. Yeah, a stabbing. Welcome to Maryland.

I'm trying to do my writing job over here and I'm having a rough time. Everyone needs to submit a question through Mom Answers so I can answer it!

Safire

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Day 1

Everyone,

Today starts the 30 days of posting from me. It's already 2pm in the afternoon, and I'm just getting to the computer for the first time today. It's been a busy busy morning! Let's recap...

1:30 am...I wake up to Butterfly screaming at the top of her lungs. I know she's screaming bloody murder because I have forgotten to turn the monitor on and her screams still woke me up. I groggily flopped over, discovered Juice was STILL playing his computer game, and everything went black.

3:30am...Again, more screaming. It's like she's reverted to her infant wake schedule or something. This time she doesn't go back to sleep, so I haul myself out of bed and stumble down the hall. On the way to her room, I discover Juice has kindly moved all the couch cushions right outside her room. With a pillow and a blanket, I haul those into her room and set up a bed while she screams. I hold her foot for at least an hour through the crib bars, and give up. I pick her up and we nestled down to sleep. Finally!

6:30am...I jolt awake and wonder where I am, then wonder where Butterfly is. She has crawled UNDER her crib and gotten caught. Light comes on, Butterfly is extracted, and we start our day.

6:35am...Breakfast. We're out of cereal so I'm eating her Cheerios. She eats most of the bowl.

7:55am...Juice comes downstairs mumbling something about Butterfly being a head jumper. I realize that I have fallen asleep and she went and got Daddy.

8:00am...Breakfast time for Juice. Butterfly is asking to eat so I make them scrambled eggs and cheese (Butterfly's favorite breakfast) and raisin bread toast. They even have orange juice.

8:28am...Shower, get ready. I'd like to be out of the door by 9:45am. Think it will happen?

9:51am...Out the door. Butterfly is asleep almost as soon as her head touches her car seat. I drop Juice off at work and head off to the local supermarket for my flu shot.

10:19am...Flu shot. It didn't hurt at all. The price did a little. Why is it 25 dollars? I talk to the pharmacist about my medication and buy Juice some deodorant. This whole time, Butterfly is asleep in her sling. I wonder what people think when I carry this huge child around strapped to me like that.

11:00am...I pull into our parking lot and debate about getting sleeping Butterfly out of her car seat. I opt for cookies instead, and she wakes up about 10 minutes later.

11:11am...Play time! The choice of toys today is her candy bucket from last night. I am slowly getting a peek of what she got. We went trick or treating down the main street in our town. They had a big festival with free food and entertainment. Fun!

12:30pm...Lunch. I make Butterfly's favorite, mac and cheese from the blue box. We also have apple sauce, milk, and cheese crackers.

1:30pm...I consider nap time but she is playing so well and having a ball. Toy of choice: dirty laundry.

2:00pm...Typing this. Butterfly is moving her dirty laundry from my bedroom to her room. Now she'd like to wear a jumper. Fun times.

Welcome to November!
Safire

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Pictures

Everyone,

I had this great post all typed up yesterday about how I felt like I had the day off, it was great, blah blah blah...then Butterfly needed me. And then the power went out and I lost my post. Grr...

Yesterday was my ward's Super Saturday. The ladies in the congregation get together and do craft type stuff. I made a holiday recipe flip book and a jar full of scones and a jar of hot chocolate. Yum! Also yesterday morning I went to a local moms of multiples sale they have semi-annually. I bought Butterfly a ride on toy (she LOVES it) and a spelling caterpillar, and a few clothes.

Juice and I actually went on a date yesterday! We chaperoned the youth stake dance. Not the most glamorous date, but we got to relive how we met and talked about how we didn't recognize any of the songs they were playing. It was a costume dance so Juice was The Man in Black, and I just wore what I wore to the Renn Faire. I'm excited to get my own costume.

It was Butterfly's first time with a teenaged babysitter. She did really good, considering Butterfly was asleep and all she had to do was be there in case the baby woke up. An easy job for her, and I felt much better about leaving Butterfly when she was already asleep.

A few pictures:
Until next time,
Safire

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Another Contest

Everyone,
This time I'm not running it. But I'm joining in. All of you should benefit since the contest is to post every single day in November. Yes, you will be hearing from me 30 times in November. I hope you don't get sick of me. And if you do, stop reading until December. :)

Go HERE for details.



In other news, Butterfly has a cold. She is cranky! But we had a great time at the pumpkin patch on Saturday. Good times.


I feel very happy with my life right now. Just thought you all should know that.


Safire


Thursday, October 19, 2006

We have a winner!

Everyone,

Congratulations to Brandy for guessing our mystery building! It is the hardware store from The Runaway Bride. They filmed it in Berlin, MD which is very close to Assateauge. (Also filmed there: Tuck Everlasting) Good job Brandy! Email me your info at livinginmaryland AT gmail DOT com and I will send you out a goodie. :)

So, this past week has been busy again. I guess it's good I'm so busy. It keeps me and Butterfly entertained. We get out of the house every day. We always have people to see, talk to, call, play with, etc. But I am feeling a little frazzled. I feel like I have SO much to do, that I don't have any down time. Like right now, I should be switching out some laundry, sweeping my kitchen floor, picking up the huge pile of books Butterfly and her friend Miss Long Hair dumped on the floor, call my visiting teaching companion and decide when to go visiting teaching, respond to some emails, eat lunch, take a nap and clean the bathroom. All before Butterfly wakes up from HER nap. I know it's not all going to happen.

Ahhh, the milk is here! I'll be right back. I just heard Butterfly too. Will that girl ever learn to sleep longer than 30 minutes?!

Okay, Butterfly didn't really wake up, just a cry in her sleep. And can I just say that I love having my milk delivered? It tastes 10 times better than the stuff from the grocery stores. Plus, no hormones. Just plain old milk right from the cow. Tasty!

Poor Butterfly has been sick this past week. It started off on Monday when she wouldn't let me put her down and developed a small fever that night. Tuesday she was awful. I was at my babysitting job and I don't think her feet touched the floor all day. She would just hang on me, a stuffy snotty mess of hot dead weight. She was sick. 102 fever sick. She has never been that hot. She went to bed early that night, and woke up late on Wednesday. Wednesday she would play a little, then come over to me, ask to be picked up, and snuggle into me. I think she took a total of 5 naps yesterday, plus went to sleep at 6pm. Poor sick girl. She's better today. No fever and her appetite is back so I think we're safe to go hang out with my mom's group tomorrow.

I'd love to write more but laundry is calling.

Safire

PS- A very happy birthday to my grandma!!! Love you Nana!

Friday, October 13, 2006

Busy busy busy

Everyone,

Suddenly it seems like our life has exploded in activities. Between Juice's weekly computer night, my weekly night out with the 13 year old in my church, other church responsibilities, hanging out with friends, doing stuff with Butterfly, babysitting 2 days a week, and trying to see things in the area, my life is swamped. Not to mention trying to keep the house in somewhat of an order and actually make dinner before 7pm at night. I just feel so busy and I never have to to get on here and talk about the things I want to talk about. I've convinced Butterfly to play with her own computer right now so maybe I can get an update.

Last weekend Juice, Butterfly, Soot and I all drove down to the Atlantic Ocean to see Assateague Island and the wild ponies. This has been a lifelong dream of mine ever since I read Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry. Paul and Maureen's adventures with the wild horses on Assateague was something I read about over and over as a little girl. I told myself then that if I was ever close enough to go, I would. When we moved out here, I thought we would be close enough to go, but it never really happened. But last weekend, it did. Here are a few pictures. It rained pretty much the whole weekend. And let me tell you, it's no fun spending the night in a 2 man tent with Butterfly, Juice, and Soot. Can anyone say wet dog smell? Other than the wet, we had a really good time. Assteague is bigger than I though, and also a lot more inaccessible than I thought. I suppose it is a nature preserve so they want to preserve nature but still...it would have been nice to be able to go more places. But still, it was beautiful, and I seriously want to go again. Juice gets a little crazy look in his eye when I say that. But he did promise me that if we are still in the area in 2 years, we could go to Pony Penning Day where they swim the wild horses across the channel from Assateague to Chincoteage and Cull the heard. If we don't go in 2 years, one day I will go. Maybe Butterfly and I could have a trip when she is older or something. One thing that was no fun was going over the Bay Bridge. Traffic was backed up from 97 to the Bridge, which is about 20 miles. It took us 3 hours to go those 2 0miles. Apparently the weather was so bad they closed the bridge down to 2 lanes. Ugh IT was awful. I must admit that Butterfly did a very good job and only screamed for about half an hour. She slept so me, and ate a lot of snakes and played with Soot. Thank goodness for Soot.


Does anyone know what this building is a picture of? Think movie. Maybe I'll send a prize to the winning guess. If no one guesses right before Tuesday I'll put out a hint. (Mom, you don't count because I told you what it is already...sorry.)

Our good friends have just recently had a newborn baby boy so we were able to go out and see him. He has HUGE hands and Feet! Butterfly was very good while I was holding him, and discovered his nose, ears, mouth, head, etc. She was more interested in their 100 lbs Alaskan malamute than the baby.

Yesterday, Butterfly threw up for the first time. Not spit up, but actually heaving throwing up the contents of her stomach, smelling like puke kind of throw up. It was awful. Especially since I had to catch it in my hand or risk puke on the floor. What a mommy won't do for her kid, right?

Safire

Friday, September 29, 2006

Huzzah!

Everyone,

Here are a few pictures from the Renn Fest. We had SUCH a good time. I can't wait till next year! If you can't tell, Juice is the Dread Pirate Roberts from The Princess Bride. It was pirate day and all day long I kept hearing "Hey! The Dread Pirate Roberts! That's great!" It was really fun to have people know his costume. He's still missing a few key elements (the mask) but it's coming together. Sadly, I still have no garb to call my own. But doesn't Butterfly look so cute in her princess costume on her horse? We met the Queen of Scotland who made her cry and the Duke of Wellington who stopped her from crying by playing peekaboo. I think the most interesting garb I saw was someone who had turned their stroller into a pirate ship, complete with flag and a plank. We ate great Faire food (passed on the giant turkey legs this year, opted for German bratwurst which Juice said was very authentic) and wore Butterfly out! She slept great that night. Enjoy the pictures.




Safire

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Shoes

Everyone,

I have been sick the past couple of days. I've decided I can take a runny nose, but a hacking cough...no way. It's been icky. Luckily Butterfly doesn't have it and I hope she never gets it.

As the weather is turning colder and the leaves are starting to change, I decided it was time I updated Butterfly's shoes. She has never had a real pair of shoes. I bought her a pair of Robeez after she scraped up her toe to bad she took off part of her toe nail. She tolerated them. But then she grew to love them and started carrying them around above her head shouting "Shooo! Shooo!" with her face all scrunched up. She wore those Robeez so much they looked like this:


Notice the hole going through the entire toe. She loved those shoes so much we wore through them in 5 different places.


We then went camping with our ward. And it had been raining all weekend long. I couldn't bring myself to take my daughter out camping with wet grass, wet rain and wet dirt with these shoes. So I went to the shoe store and bought a pair of pink and white keds for $5. Score! She loves those shoes and I threw the above mentioned Robeez away.




But then I started lamenting the fact that the pink and white keds had laces. And I was in the market for shoes of my own so I just bought her these:


Aren't they lovely in all their cute purpleness? And they are so easy to get on and off! So easy, in fact, Butterfly walks right out of them. Bummer. So I think they may be a bit big, but I think they are so cute.


And doesn't she look like such a big girl with them on? I'm amazed at how much older she looks with shoes.


I have started babysitting a two girls in my ward two days a week. It's been good, and I go to their house that has an enormous back yard and tons of toys. Butterfly gets to play with the girls, we get out of the house, and their mom gets to go to school. Win/win. However, they have hardwood floors throughout their house and Butterfly didn't want to have her shoes on all the time. So I went back to the Robeez. These are great little house shoes. Not to mention gosh darn cute!
She wears them basically all day long and cries when you take them off of her. I only got them off for this picture because she found the pink and white keds and wanted them on. "Shoo! Shoo!"
Safire

Monday, September 25, 2006

Blog Carnival

Everyone,

I found this over at Stay At Home Motherdom and she is doing a contest. So I thought I would join in. If anyone else would like to join in, go here for the rules. I wrote this essay a few months ago just for myself and I think it's pretty good. Enjoy.

There has been some pain in my life. Some emotional pain. There was physical pain involved, but that was nothing compared to the gut wrenching hurt I had sometimes. And it's something I suffered alone. I never talked about it with anyone but Juice. Not even my parents knew until we were in the thick of it. And even then I don't think they realized what was going on. You see, Juice and I couldn't have a baby. (Yes yes, I know we have Butterfly now, but go with me here.)

I don't know if Juice and I can ever have a baby without some Herculean effort by a doctor. Okay, maybe not that much effort when it comes to infertility. But still, a third party is involved. Which I think is totally unfair. I think everyone who wants to have a baby should be able to. But my wishful thinking doesn't substitute the reality. I probably felt at my worst when we were living in Provo. We had been living there for about a year. Our neighbor came up to us and asked us if we were new. He had moved in 10 months ago, and was trying to meet everyone. Um, no, 10 months of living across the way from you. 10 months of going to church with you, of saying hello on trash day, of meeting in the stairwell.

"Oh! 10 months huh? That's enough time for a baby. Where is your baby?" I think he said it in jest but it was not funny. We had been trying for a baby for about a year at that point, and no money to spend on any sort of doctor and treatment. I was at a point in my life where I felt so stuck.

Fast forward about 2 years to Sept 10, 2004. It was just a few days before my 24th birthday. We had been seeing a doctor for about 8 months now, and we were running out of money. I had just had my last treatment for the year, and we were going to wait until spring to start up again. It would give us time to save our money for the heavy stuff. I was at work. The front desk called to tell me the good news. We were finally going to have a baby! I have never been so happy and so scared in my entire life.

I thought that this day would fix all of my infertile woes, but it didn't. It wasn't until a few weeks ago when a friend told me she was going to have a baby and I was truly happy for her. I wasn't sad for myself, I was just happy. Peaceful. Calm. It was that day that I really felt what joy was. And it's nothing huge or life shattering. It's quiet, peaceful and small. It's like a sprout just pushing up out of the soil. It's like a gentle breeze cooling your sweaty neck. It's a big puffy cloud that you know looks just like your profile (and man does it look good!). Happiness is found in big things, but I believe that you can only find joy in the small stuff.

Safire