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

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!

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

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

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

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

Big Changes

Everyone,

I have finished the biggest change this blog will probably go through. Due to a lot of internet searches for our names, I have changed them. I have also gone through and taken out anything that could really identify us, our town, last name etc. It just seemed like time. I am getting more hits for this blog daily and it was starting to make me nervous. So instead of shutting it down completely, I changed names. You'll catch on pretty quick who is who.

Yesterday we went to the Renn Faire. So much fun! If we lived closer, we would seriously be there every weekend. The only bad thing about it is the smoke. I wish they would make designated smoking areas here so I wouldn't have to worry about getting a cloud of smoke hit my face. Or even Butterfly's face. Juice and Butterfly dressed up and they looked so cute! I am still looking for garb to fit me, but I haven't found anything that hit me as me. I think I'm probably going to go for a chemise/surcoat look...but we'll have to see what I can find. The cloak I wanted last year is still there. In it's $500 glory. It's beautiful but not worth $500!

Butterfly went on her first horse ride there! It was so cute! There was another little boy in front of us who wouldn't get on, but Butterfly let me put her up there like that was so normal. And when we stopped, she was trying to get the horse to go. And she was reaching down and petting his neck (Champ was his name). I am SO happy she likes horses. I wish we could get both of us into horses.

I think I've caught a cold. Lucky me.

Until next time,
Safire

Sugar and Spice

Everyone,

It's amazing how things can turn on a dime with Butterfly. One minute she's sweet as can be, and the next, she is just awful. A few days ago, I had one of those mornings with her. Everything I did (or didn't do) brought her to tears. Laying on the floor sobbing dramatically type of tears. She had been up since 4:30am, and was just being a bear. I am still trying to wean her and I know that every time I drop a session, she has one really bad day. Well, this happened to be her bad day. She slept very little that afternoon for a nap (repair guys woke her up). It was so bad I had to have Juice come and help me out for a while. I couldn't take all the crying anymore!

Then, as I was leaving for mutual, I kissed Juice goodbye and she was in the backpack. She leaned over, looked at me and kind of puckered her lips. She then got a full round of kissing from me, giving kisses in return! Is there anything better?! It made the whole horrible day so worth it.

In other news, my blog has now been updated. You will notice the new blog roll on the left, along with some snazy new colors. :) I'm really enjoying blogger's updates and it has given me the things I want to do. Also, be on the look out for some bigger changes in the next few days (as soon as I can finish them).

Long over due pictures:

One More Year

Everyone,

Yesterday was my birthday. It was a nice, quiet low key day. I've needed one of those for awhile. I took a nap all morning with Butterfly, went out to lunch with her and did a little shopping (the weather changed and she has no sleepers that fit her!). The shopping was nice. Butterfly was a really good girl and didn't cry at all. We played a little in the frog land they have in the center of our mall. (More about that later.) She even split a sticky bun with me...okay I ate 80% of it. Still, it was really nice just to hang out with her. I look forward to many more Mommy/Daughter outings in the future.

When Juice came home, we had cake before dinner, and then I ran to my church meeting. I am in charge of the 12-13 year old girls in my church now, and they have meetings every Wednesday nights. Last night was singing lessons. Pretty fun but I think I should have stayed home. One highlight of the evening was that the singing teacher had us stretch out before we sang and asked us to touch our toes. I DID!!! I'm so proud of myself for being able to touch my toes. I don't think I could do that when I was little. I guess all that time at the YMCA is paying off.

Thanks to all my family who kept me up until 10pm wishing me a happy birthday. :) (Love ya bro.)

It was a good day. And yes, this year I feel older. It's weird.

So, about frog land in our mall. I swear, Butterfly gets hurt every single time we go there. I don't know why I continue to subject her to torcher, other than it's an free indoor playground and super close to my house. With all this rain we're getting and the weather turning, I suspect I'll be using it more and more.

Anyway, yesterday's owie was purely an accident. Butterfly was running behind another little kid who decided mid-stride to change directions and go the other way. They smacked head on and both fell down. Crying ensued, and Butterfly wouldn't let me out of her sight the rest of the time. I think it was a flash back from what happened the other time we were there.

It's been about 3 weeks since this happened and I didn't blog about it before because I was so angry. We were at Frog Land with my mom's group, and Butterfly and I were walking behind another girl and her mom in our group. Things were going well. Frog Land was PACKED. Another mom and her child (I actually think that she was a nanny of some kind) walked passed going the other way. This little girl reached out and slapped Butterfly. Hard. I could see Slapping Girl's hand print on my sweet baby's face. Poor Butterfly was stunned (so was I) and then she started to cry. I wanted to cry to and turned on the Nanny. She was mortified. She told me she was sorry over and over again, but I told her this was not okay. Slapping Girl must have been 5 or 6, old enough to know better. Nanny turned to her, and started signing that she was angry and not to hit little kids, etc. Slapping Girl is deaf. But really that is no excuse for her reaching out to hit my child. I made Nanny aware of this and she explained that Slapping Girl is handicapped. It doesn't matter. If she can't be trusted to be around other kids, then she shouldn't be there at all. Especially if it means that MY child has to bear the brunt of her acting out. Not cool.

Until next time,
Safire

Hawai'i 2006

Everyone,

At long last, I finally have a moment to write about Hawai'i! We had a wonderful time. Let's start at the beginning.

We happened to fly out on the morning they decided that you couldn't take liquid onto the airplane. We left our house at 4am, and didn't hear anything about it until we got to security. I had ALL of my cosmetics and hair stuff in my carry on because I am always so afraid of loosing it if my luggage happens to get lost. I probably had 200 dollars worth of stuff, because I had just bought new things to last me through 3 weeks. Everyone was dumping everything into big bins right before the metal detectors. I couldn't do it. If they made me dump it, I would. But just doing it on my own was something I couldn't do. The diaper bag went through first. A tube of diaper cream set them off. The TSA worker pulled it out, and started calling for a manager. (By the way, they made us dump Butterfly's water so she is howling in my arms while they are trying to figure out what to do with us.) Since we were probably some of the first flights to go through with this new ban, no one knew what to do. In the mean time, my bag with all my stuff slid through. No one stopped it. I gladly dumped the diaper rash cream and we quickly walked away. This doesn't make me a felon, does it?

Right before I got on the plane I called my mom (sorry for waking you up Mom) so they could all repack before they left.

Butterfly was a total gem on the airplane. We were in first class all the way (thanks again Dad!) so she had a very nice breakfast, lots of milk, and slept a lot of the way. She latched onto this toy bunny I had bought her and kept trying to feed it cherrios. So cute!

It was really great to meet up with my parents during our lay over, and let Butterfly get out and walk around. Again, a really good flight with her, although she was getting very restless towards the end. We walked that plane a lot, and smiled at everyone as we went by.

When we got to Hawaii and got our stuff, we were brave and stuffed ourselves into the car. There were 7 of us and probably 10 bags. That was funny, although we may have permanitly damaged my brother's leg nerve in the process. Hotel check in was easy and we had a stunning view! We tried to get Butterfly to nap but that was a no go so we made our way out for dinner.

This is where Butterfly broke down. She was finally done. We went back to the hotel, put her down at around 7:30pm Hawaii time and went to bed ourselves. She slept through the night and that was all I had to do to get her onto Hawaii time.

We went to the Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC), but first stopped off at the Hawaii Laie Temple and walked around the grounds. Note to self, do not watch sappy feel good movies while nursing. Way too many water works. The temple is beautiful, calm and peaceful.

Our time at the PCC was good, although it started off roughly. We had a guide whose pace was a little too fast for us. Juice, Butterfly and I broke off from the group and things were much better. If we needed to change a diaper, we could! If Butterfly needed to nurse, we could! The PCC is divided up into the 7 major Polynesian cultures, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Hawaii, Tahiti, Marqusas, and New Zealand. In Samoa, we saw a really funny guy talk to us about how they start fire and saw him climb a palm tree. In New Zealand, we learned how to use poi balls and did the stick games. We spent most of our time in Tonga where Juice learned to throw a spear and we made animals out of palm leaves. Juice had a great time with that, and taught the girls there how to make a few different animals. Butterfly moved rocks from one place to the next and was happy.

After visiting all the islands, we were able to have a luau. Butterfly crashed before she even ate anything. We lost my brother at this point and were constantly on the look out for him. After the luau (with bright purple rolls!) we went to the show. We had perfect seats, 2nd row back front center. They did native dances from each of the islands and also some fire dances. I really liked the bit they did with 3 guys trying to put out a fire with their heavy grass skirts. It was great. Butterfly slept through all but 20 minutes of it and woke up to the drums. She danced and clapped the rest of the time. We finally caught up with my brother after the show, and headed back to the hotel.

The next day we planned to spend at the Sea Life Park. Here, Andrew (my brother), Angela (my sister in law) and I swam with sting rays and with the dophins. This was an awesome experience! It had been something I wanted to do since I was little and wanted to be a marine biologist. I can't remember my dolphin's name (Andrew do you?) but she had freckles and was pregnant! The baby was moving so we could feel it through her belly. That was awesome.

Juice, Andrew, and Angela got to feed the sea lions as well. I got horribly burned on my shoulder here. Silly me I forgot to re apply sunscreen.

The next day we got on our cruise ship. The rooms were small, and we had to call and remind them to give us a crib. As a whole, NCL was okay but not great. I won't cruise with them again. We had to attend a mandatory safety muster which Butterfly had a really hard time with. She had to be held the whole time, and it was hot and long. The food was okay, but not spectacular. We ate in the main restaurant a few times but it was so hard with Butterfly to have to wait for food. And I didn't think the waitressing staff was very friendly towards her. We mostly ate at the buffet. Our last day there we ate in another restaurant which had really funny waiters and that was a good experience.

That first full day on the boat we just hung out. I believe Juice and Butterfly went swimming (salt water pool) and we went to Walmart. We were in Kauai and they have wild chickens there. Apparently, there was a big flood a few months ago which left the whole island without power for 4 months (can you believe that?!) and people lost chickens they used for food and cock fighting. So now the island is covered in these wild chickens. This is the island that they film most of the movies on. So they have a lot of things that are not native. For example, someone brought peacocks over for a movie and a few of them got out so now they have peacocks.

We went on the Waimea River Cruise. We were supposed to be able to see the Fern Grotto but it had been damaged in the rains and was being repaired. We went to a botanical garden instead. It was very low key and pretty.

Andrew, Angela, Juice, and I were able to go on a double date and celebrate our anniversaries. (Theirs is a week after ours.) They also had a kid's crew place on the boat that we were able to take Butterfly in a few times and let her play with toys. She loved to climb through the tunnels.

We sailed to the Big Island and rented a car and drove to see Volcano National Park. This was very interesting! I loved to see the steam coming up from big gashes in the ground. We also stopped to see the lava tube, which looks like a big cave. As we sailed around the point of the Big Island that night, you could see the lava flowing out to the sea. I stayed in the room to watch Butterfly since I had already seen it once the first time I went to Hawaii. We didn't get any good pictures but Juice said it was cool.

In Kona on the other side of the Big Island, we had a beach day. My mom came with us and we just hung out on the beach. They had kayacks, paddle boats, snorkel gear and a glass bottom boat for us to use. It was the best day of the whole trip. Juice snorkeled for about 3 hours, and we had lunch and rode the glass bottom boat. We saw a turtle and an eel and a lot of fish. I am amazed at how clear the water is! I got a turn snorkeling and Juice and I went out on a kayack. Butterfly was a major mamma's girl that day and didn't care for the water. But we had a blast. If I go back to Hawaii again, I am staying in the Marriott that was right on this beach.

On Maui, we went to Laihana which is a tiny shopping town. They had a strong missionary settlement there and we were able to see one of the houses. It was here that I also bought my new strand of dark pearls! Also, my parents picked out an oyster and got 2 black pearls in one! So they picked another one and got 2 pink pearls!! The lady was so surprised since she has never seen people get 4 pearls in 2 picks. I wish we could have stayed longer in Laihana.

We also went to see the sunrise at Haleakala Crater. It was amazing. We were up above the clouds, and really stunning. I don't think I've seen a prettier sunrise. Butterfly was not pleased with this day since we pulled her out at 3 in the morning. Also, our bus driver droned on and on about everything. On the way up, he kept saying "You can't see it right now but..." We were all tired and wished he would have shut up! But it was worth it. Very beautiful.

This day Dad and Andrew also tried to surf. The guys to teach them to surf were really late, and kept hitting on the girl that went with them. A surf board also hit my dad in the knee and he was hurting pretty bad. But after a night's rest and icing, he was doing better.

We sailed back to Oahu and our flight wasn't until 10pm that night. We decided to go to Pearl Harbor. I didn't realize that we had to wait 2 hours for a chance to go out to the USS Arizona. I felt like this day was all waiting and no fun. Pearl Harbor was interesting but tough with a toddler. And then we went back to wait for the bus to the airport. And we waited, and waited, and waited. We wandered around the shops by the pier and had lunch at Don Ho's restaurant but it was a day of waiting. Finally, when we got to the airport, we waited some more. Butterfly was all over the place, and screamed a lot. When she finally went to sleep, she woke up when we got in the plane. It was an all nighter to Salt Lake and I held her the whole time. The best part about the flight was taking off and seeing the lights of Honolulu below us. It looked like lava flowing into the ocean. Very beautiful.

Juice left us in Salt Lake, and continued back to MD. More about our Utah trip later. Juice said that when he got back to Maryland that he noticed how bad it smelled here. Compaired to Hawaii with all it's beautiful flowers and sea air...it does smell worse here!

So since I took over 500 pictures, I picked out the best ones and put them in a little video for you to see. Enjoy!

Edit video online at onetruemedia.com

Until next time,
Safire

Today sucks.

Everyone,

We have entered into the month of suckiness, or non-suckiness should I say. I am weaning Butterfly. I totally hate it. She screamed for HOURS this morning. The only time she wasn't miserable was when we went for a walk in the rain (no shoes but at least a coat!). I was pretty miserable getting wet though. I hope this gets easier. A friend in my mom's group says that her little girl has been weaned for 6 weeks and still asks for it. Ugh...

I can't figure out why my blog has suddenly changed and you have to scroll all the way down to see the posts. I have not changed a thing. Stupid computer stuff!

In other news, we got maybe an inch of rain with Ernesto. No biggie.

Yesterday we went to our good friends' house for a Labor Day bbq. It was nice, quiet and Butterfly had as much room to run around as she could walk. Also cats to harass, and frizbees to chase. The dog loved it for those reasons too!

Also yesterday, we went to a dairy and helped feed the baby calves. SO CUTE! One was licking Butterfly's leg and she was in gales of laughter. We are thinking of having our milk delivered to us through the dairy. We bought a bottle while we were there and Butterfly drank about half of it, when it's a struggle to get her to drink milk at all. The cost is the same. So we may soon be eating farm fresh goodness like milk, eggs, chicken, beef, pork, fresh ice cream, butter, cream cheese, etc. I'll let you know how it goes.

We also got a new computer desk for our downstairs computer. I think Juice finally got fed up with the tin can approach. I don't know if I have any pictures of the old one. I'll have to see.

I have finally gone through all of the Hawaii pictures so be on the look out for a post about it soon.

Until next time,
Safire

Tropical Storm Ernesto

Everyone,

One of the joys of living on the east coast is these great storms and hurricanes that occasionally go through our area. (You know I'm being sarcastic right? Good, we'll go on.) Right now I am looking out of our front room window and watching the rain come down. It's been a pretty steady rain since last night, as Tropical Storm Ernesto moves through.

Is it just me, or is everyone freaking out about this a little too much? I mean, they've talked about evacuating for this storm. Yes, evacuating us! For a tropical storm! Not even a hurricane! Can you tell I'm surprised! It seems crazy to evacuate when Ernesto came on land in South Carolina and came on land as a tropical storm. Yes, I know that this used to be a hurricane, but I wonder if everyone is just being really sensitive since Katrina. Katrina was a horrible thing, but it was also a category 5 hurricane.

We haven't done much to prepare. Juice's work sand bagged the front entrance because it's low lying. We are ready for any power outages we may have. We have plenty of food and water and ways to cook it should we be without power for days.

We're ready for you Ernesto! Rain on us all you want!

Safire

Games on the Internet

Everyone,

I saw this on Julia's blog and had to copy.

1. Figure the numerical values of the letters in your name:
Safire
3 1 20 8 5 18 9 14 5

2. Add all of the numbers together:83

3.Add the digits of that number together:11

4. Find the post of the first number (step 2) in your blog. If you don't have that many posts, add the digits together again. Keep doing so until the number is smaller than your pathetic number of posts:http://livinginmaryland.blogspot.com/2006/04/peak-season.html

5. Take the digit you noted in step 3, and count that many words into the post:"you"

6. Use the resulting word in a Google Image Search, and select a picture from the first page:

Who knew such an interesting picture could be searched and found? Thanks Julia! That was fun!

I promise I have a Hawaii update for everyone. Just give me a bit to write it all out first (and organize the pictures) and you will have a nice story to read.

Also, we went for Butterfly's 15 month old check up on Tuesday. She weighs 25 pounds, 2 oz and is 32 inches tall. Holy cow we have a long legged baby. She got 2 shots, cried for a second and then proceeded to run out the office smiling at everyone in the waiting room.

She is SUCH a BUSY baby. She is into everything. Over everything, poking it, pulling, pushing, standing on, etc. I feel like I can't keep up with her because it's just move move move all day long. That was great in Hawaii. She kept up. But now that we're home I'm having a hard time filling the day. I'm seriously looking forward to a park trip with my mom's group tomorrow. We need to get out of this house and do something with other toddlers!

Safire

ALOOOOHA!

Everyone,

We are back from Hawaii (and our short stay in The Land of Mexican Restaurants and Car Washes aka Utah) and we had a blast! No details right now. I'm really tired. But never fear readers. You will at least get a picture of our trip. Yes, one single solitary picture. Give me credit...I have over 500 pictures from the trip.

Safire

We're off!

Everyone,

Well, almost off. Hawaii is in 2 days, and we are packing up what seems like the whole house. I never knew how much stuff you would need on a 16 day trip with a toddler. I have to borrow a suitcase from a friend just so we can get all of the toys there and back. It's pathetic. Then I think, oh, I'll just leave some of these toys behind and I hyperventalate at the thought of 11 hour on a plane with a 15 month old and no toys. So I borrow the suitcase and hope that the airline/cruiseline/family don't hate me for how much stuff I'm bringing along. I've decided that I intend to use skycap at the airport. Seriously, I don't think we can haul Butterfly, her stroller, car seat, my bag, her bag, the toy bag and Juice's bag to the front desk. Not to mention the diaper bag, Juice's carry on and I'm sure a million other little things. I don't remember...does sky cap cost? At least my family will be there to help haul everything to the hotel. Hopefully luggage for 7 of us will fit in the rental car!!

I also have a million and one things to do at home. Things like call the shuttle and confirm that they are coming to get us before the sun rises on Thursday. I'd like to clean the house a little, so that it's not a complete wreck when Juice comes back. I need to do the laundry, and the sheets (which for some reason always takes me forever). I need to finish putting stuff on my brand new ipod. (okay, I don't NEED to finish that...I'd like to.) Soot needs a good outing before going into the kennel on Wednesday. Oh, and I need to look out her vaccination reports. I need to run to the bank. I need to make sure we have no milk left in the fridge. I could go on and on.

So instead of boring you, here's a great picture of Juice and Butterfly. I think Juice is a little excited to go to the ren faire this year. What do you think?

Oh! And I am now one of the best blogs on the web, according to this sight here. Interesting!

Until next time (check back in 3 weeks!),
Safire

1826 Days

Everyone,

Juice and I have been married for 1826 days (5 years for those of you who don't want to do the math).

Juice says: "Yay us!"

Honestly I can't believe it's been 5 years. It seems like 2, maybe 3. This week also marks our anniversary of moving to the east coast. We have now been out here 3 years.

Marriage is fun. I recommend it. I love having someone I can tell EVERYTHING to, and who tells me everything in return (except for his work stuff since he has some sort of clearance and couldn't tell me if he wanted to). I love having someone who loves Butterfly as much as I do, and who randomly blurts out, "She is SOOOO cute!" as many times as I do. I love being so close to someone, and knowing that we will be this close forever. I also love finding out new things about him. I wondered when I was younger if I would ever get tired of the person I would marry. I never have. And I hope I never will.

Okay, enough with the sap. On to the presents! I got Juice a new white short sleeved shirt for church (so he can give away his old one...it is too small!), a new tie, and the soldering tool that you see on TV all the time, plus wire cutters/strippers. He teased me all morning that I got him a stripper for our anniversary. Ha ha.

My parents gave us another set of silverware. Yay! We really needed that, and it's convenient that the anniversary gift table states that this is a silverware year. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Juice's present was a big surprise, but a welcome one! I am now the proud owner of a sewing machine. I have been saying, "I could do that if I had a sewing machine" or "That doesn't look too hard to make. Too bad I don't have a sewing machine" for ages. I am so looking forward to using it! Now I have to remember how...

Butterfly's present to us was being a very easy baby today, and being cute and smiley when we went out to dinner.

It's been a great day.

Love,
Safire and Juice

Grandpa Visits!

Everyone,

This passed weekend my Dad was here to visit. Really, he was here because of work but we all know that he truly came to see us. Specifically Butterfly. She's so cute, who wouldn't want to see her?! :)

Anyway, we got to visit Grandpa at his hotel, push the elevator buttons, have Brie cheese (yes, this child has wild taste buds!) and go swimming. Grandpa then came to stay with us for a few days and taught us how to enjoy milk or water or whatever else we're drinking. "Cheers! *drink*lip smack* Ahhhhh!" We also went swimming at our ward's pool and had a BBQ where we ate watermelon for the first time. Yum yum! We then proceeded to play in the giant sandbox covered in watermelon juices. You guess how well that came out. Grandpa helped clean off Butterfly, watched her while Juice and I had an actual date, and came to church with us on Sunday. Monday, Grandpa helped me pick out a new iPod (it's beautiful! and no, I haven't used it yet...you try setting up a very expensive and small piece of shiny-ness with a toddler.) and some new toys for the cruise.

What cruise you ask? I suppose it's time I said. Next Thursday, we fly first class to Utah to pick up my family, and then fly first class to Oahu, Hawaii for 10 wonderful days in paradise. Including a 7 day cruise around the islands. We then send Juice home (for work, poor guy) and Butterfly and I spend about 5 days in Utah visiting new babies. Because there are a lot! I am SO excited.

I'm also fairly nervous about flying 11+ hours with a toddler. I am nervous about the deck of the cruise ship and my toddler. And the time change should be interesting. But I'm excited about swimming with dolphins, spending a day at the beach and going to a luau. Oh, and spending some quality time with my family! This trip has been in the works since Juice and I got engaged, almost 6 years ago. It has changed destinations (first New Zealand, then Japan, then Europe, then Alaska and now Hawaii) and we've added 2 more people since we first started talking about it (Angela, my sister-in-law, and Butterfly). Should be fun!

Until next time,
Safire

Our Little Druid

Everyone,

Did I ever say that Butterfly hates her baths? I'm not sure if it was common knowledge before. So, anyway, Butterfly used to scream through her baths. No amount of toys or me being there would help. Then all of a sudden, about 2 weeks ago, she decided this was a great thing! Now she tries to climb into the tub when it's not bath time to play. Which is fine, but she's learned to turn on the water. This kid is going to make me old one heart attack at a time.

Other dangerous things she likes to do: play in the toilet water (ew!), climb into the fridge, climb on the kitchen table, the counters, chairs, pretty much climb.

She has decided that it's time to shut all the doors in the house when she goes past them. She shuts herself in a lot.

Until next time,
Safire

Not again.

Everyone,

What is it with this house and creepy crawlies?! Since we put our new front door in and new windows, it has cut down on the amount of ickies that get in. But we still get the odd alien looking cricket. But remember our worst creepy crawly? Well, ack spider take two!

Yes, people, we have had another sighting. Honestly I don't mind big spiders outside. That is where they are supposed to be. But one of these in my house? UGH!!!!!

This time we were smart and took pictures before we sucked it up with the shop vac. This spider almost didn't make it into the shop vac. It ran AWAY from the suction people. It was inches from it's body and it was able to skitter a few steps away. Then it turned to attack Juice and lost.

Ew ew ew ew!!!
Safire

*EDITED TO ADD* PS- Turns out this is a dark fishing spider. Not harmful but icky icky. It makes sense since we live so close to a few ponds and streams. Look here if you want more info.

Home Improvements

Everyone,

It seems like every time I sit down to write an entry, either Blogger or Butterfly conspire against me and it doesn't get done. I've got 3 or 4 entries in my head...Frequent updates ahead.

The oldest update is our home improvement projects. As you all know, we got new windows in March and our front door was long in coming. Big saga, the Big Orange Home Improvement Store sent the paperwork to the contractors, the contractors sent it back because it wasn't right, HD sent it back, contractors never got it, HD sent it again, again contractors never got it...it goes on and on. Needless to say, Juice spent 2 hours on the phone with a supervisor from each place trying to get it sorted out. We will never have HD put something in our house again. My friend Laura had similar woes with them and a door. NEVER AGAIN.

But it sure does look pretty!


The other home improvement is a new toilet. This is a big thing because our HOA paid for it, sent someone to install it and fix all of our leaks. Our HOA actually pays our water bill so I suppose it's in their best interest to keep things up to date. And this toilet needed to be replaced. It was the original commode (house was built in the early 1970s) and plastic. And rusty. I'm very happy about the new porcelain one. :) And they put in a new shower head for us which is really nice too! Ahh...new things.

16 more days till we leave for Hawaii!

Safire

So smart, So funny

Everyone,

Butterfly is so smart and so funny. Last week, Juice and I were sitting on the couch trying to talk each other into taking Soot for a walk. We were both exhausted and Soot was staring at us expectantly. Butterfly was just toddling around having a grand ol' time walking from the living room to the kitchen and back. Jokingly, Juice said, "Hey Butterfly! Why don't you take Soot for a walk and Mommy and I can stay here. Don't be gone too long." She immediately turned around and walked out of the room. We chuckled a little and were still trying to decide who was going out in the heat.

In walks Butterfly, carrying Soot's leash. "Walk?" She put the leash near Soot, and walked to the door. "Out!" Now how can you resist that? We all went.

This morning we went to the park to try and get some outside time before it turned 100 degrees and soupy. We met up with a few other moms in my group, and the other town's mom group. It was fun, but oh so hot. We were both sweating, and now my clothes are clamily stuck to me. Yuck. I also took Soot with because there is no way I'm taking her out in the evening with the heat how it is. She did very good with all the other kids, enjoyed the dog park and drank tons of water. It was a good morning but man, is it hot.

I want to say a big congrats to my old college roommates who just had babies! Tanya, my first college roommate, just had her 3rd baby, a boy named Joseph. And Julia, my second college roommate, just had her 1st baby, a girl named Audrey. Congrats to you both!!

Until next time,
Safire

Butterfly at 14 Months

4 of July 06 028
Originally uploaded by safirecat23.

Everyone,

Butterfly turned 14 months old yesterday. She is such a busy girl! She has decided that walking is great, and she must walk everywhere. Too bad she doesn't quiet have the walking thing down yet. She can take a few steps, fall down, get back up, take a few steps...you get the picture. It is completely adorable to see her trying to stand up with her cute little tushy waving in the air. When we go on our nightly walk with Soot, she absolutly must get out and wander around the field while we throw balls for Soot. And she must push her stroller when we are not throwing balls for Soot. And she must go down the slide at the park at least 100 times. She is a child of "MUST" lately.

She throws huge temper tantrums, flinging herself to the ground and sobbing like her heart is broken. She does these mostly if we are at the park and I don't want to climb through the incredibly small hole designed just for kids with her. Or if she is talking on the phone to the operator (because she now picks up the phone, hits the talk button and starts to dial) and I take the phone away from her. Or if I am on the computer and she wants books to be read. Mostly I ignore the tantrum but those tears are so big and sad! I wish I could give her everything but I don't want a little Empress on my hands. (So maybe I already do...don't pop my bubble.)

She eats everything and anything we give her. Lemon slices in our water at resturants, spicy nachoes, apple sauce, cheese, you name it, she eats it. Makes me wonder if she has taste buds sometimes because she eats stuff I won't touch. Juice thinks it's great she loves spicy. Her favorites are guacamole, black beans, honey dew melon, sugar free popcicles, chicken, cheese, and banannas. Basically she will eat anything that I am eating, and will eat A LOT. She can eat half a box of macaroni and cheese herself. For lunch today she had a yougert, half a chicken breast, a piece of string cheese, 3/4 of a plum, and 2 handfuls of cherrios. She has a serious empty leg problem. :) She besides breakfast, lunch, and dinner, she gets 2 snacks a day (mid morning and mid afternoon), and she is still nursing around 4 times a day.

Speaking of the nursing, I am making a serious push to wean her. I have dropped out 2 of her nursing sessions in the last 2 weeks, and replaced them with snacks or trips outside. I wonder if she nurses because she is bored, and not because she is hungry. Either way, it's on the way out and she is fighting it. Which is why we're still at 4 times a day...I'd like it to be around 2.

She is also talking up a storm, and will say Soot, duck, book, Mama, Dada, dog, woof woof, done, yes, no, up, ball and I believe she has said her first sentance. I have a book I read her every night that has pictures from Greg Olsen and talks about being a child of God. She was flipping through the pages fast so all I could get in was "I am a child of God" about 10 times. We finished the book, she looked up at me and said "I chil f God." No joke people. It was the sweetest thing. (And if you want to know, this is her favorite picture in the book.)

She is busy, messy, loud, fun, giggle, happy, and determined. She is just so darn cute!!!

Safire

Good time with friends on the Internet...

I died in the Dungeon of Ely Chan

I was killed in an abandoned chamber by Isauraoktobre the cockatrice, whilst carrying...

the Sword of Aishuu, a Figurine of Leggsrobbins, the Amulet of Babies, the Sceptre of Riah Chan and 23 gold pieces.

Score: 61

Explore the Dungeon of Ely Chan and try to beat this score,
or enter your username to generate and explore your own dungeon...

I want a dungeon too!!! ;)

Safire

Butterfly Wins!

Everyone,

On Friday morning, my favorite radio station was giving out free pancakes and prizes at the local diner. Free food! Of course we went! I had pecan pancakes (okay...not great), Juice had some buttermilk pancakes and Butterfly had blueberry pancakes. Besides not enough syrup, it was a great free breakfast. Butterfly also rolled some prize dice and won! They gave her a Lady and the Tramp 2 DVD, and she went wild over it. "Da! Da! Oof! Oof!" (dog dog woof woof) She wouldn't put it down and insisted on carrying it for over 2 hours at home. The radio people thought she was so funny they took her picture. I haven't seen them post the pictures on the website yet but when they do, I'll let you know.

In other news, Soot caught a RAT this morning. Yes, A RAT! It was on our deck and was wandering our front yard when we went to take Juice to work this morning. Soot pounced, shook, and no more rat. It was pretty icky, but I'm glad the dog took care of it and we didn't have to try and trap and kill it ourselves. Needless to say, we're putting our rodent traps back out. We can't have rats!!!!

And for your viewing pleasure: Butterfly walks!


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Safire

Steps!

Jeff Graduation May 06 022
Originally uploaded by safirecat23.

Everyone,

Butterfly took 6 steps in a row today. 6!!!! We have an L shaped couch and she was in the corner and went to run after the dog. She let go, lurched the 6 steps, looked at how far away she was from the couch and dropped down. I think she thought she was really holding on. But my Baby Girl is so big! (And asleep again but we're not going to mention that.)

And for your viewing pleasure, my darling hubby in his graduation get up. Love you darling!

Until next time,
Safire

Post Catch Up

Everyone,

I hate to mention it but Butterfly is napping. Alone. And has been for an hour. And she slept for 2 and a half hours this morning. Alone. This is big people. I have actually had time to do some basic stuff, like brush my teeth. Change out of my pjs. Send off almost 300 pictures to friends and family. You know, the important stuff. :)

So, since Baby Girl is sleeping hopefully peacefully, I thought I'd catch up on some important posts I've been promising you. (I almost typed y'all...I think I've lived in the south long enough!)

Butterfly First Birthday Party

Butterfly's first birthday party was a hit! Of course, on her actual birthday we gave her some cake and sang to her. But we waited to invite everyone over to celebrate with us until the grandparents were here. And boy did we celebrate! I had gotten 2 6 feet subs from Subway and we only ate one and a quarter. (Left over Subway was delish...ate it for a week!) Everyone was full, the food was excellent, and Butterfly put on a great show! She also fed most of her birthday cake to the dog who gobbled it up like it was manna from heaven. She then proceeded to run like a dog on speed for an hour or so after. Note to self: NEVER give Soot sugar AGAIN. Although it wasn't too bad because she had a bunch of Butterfly's second cousins to run around with. And there was frosting all over the house for weeks. On the walls, in Butterfly's room, on my pillow case. We even had the party outside. It's over a month past and I am still finding frosting in weird places. Like in the hall closet shelf...what the?!



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She also got a bunch of really great presents. She desperately needed some new toys which very kind people gave her. And Nana and Grandpa gave her a big slide which she loves. She also got a few new clothes which is good too. Everyone was so generous. Thanks! I hope everyone had a great time. I know I did!

Juice's Graduation

The day after we had Butterfly's party was Juice's graduation. We had to be downtown DC by 8:30am. Ugh...which meant we had to leave our house by like 7am. It was a very busy morning for us. We met up with Juice's parents, and dropped Juice off at his spot. We then proceeded to sit in the sun for about 2 hours before they started things up. Butterfly did a lot of crawling around, a lot of nursing and a lot of walking. But I suppose it was okay because when the ceremony did finally start, she fell asleep. I was able to watch all of President and Barbara Bush (the first Bush, not the current Bush) talk and that was good. They said some nice things, which I don't remember anymore. I do remember that they were trying to be funny and it came off as practiced. But, a nice ceremony. I really liked seeing Juice all dressed up in his cap and gown. So handsome! I would show you a picture but frankly, blogger isn't letting me post them. So maybe in a few days.

I better go check on Butterfly. Maybe she'll still be asleep!

Safire

I think Butterfly may run for office in a Spanish speaking country

Everyone,

Butterfly has discovered the TV. I think it helped that we got DVD's of her little video and I'll play it on our TV for her. However, now she LOVES to turn the TV on when I turn it off, and change the channel to either 7 or 5. Channel 5 is the Spanish speaking channel and she screatches when I change it. So I listen to a lot of melodrama that I don't understand. I wish they had a French channel I could get her hooked on because I might be able to at least understand something. Or maybe a German channel and I can learn German. Channel 7 is the public access channel with people debating things, talking about books, etc. Can we say BORING? Butterfly can't because she is enthralled. I suppose I should be happy that she's not into Spike TV or MTV or something. At least there is no swearing (that I notice...maybe on the Spanish channel) and it's relatively slow paced.

In other big news, Butterfly took her first step! It was on Monday (bad Mommy for not telling you sooner but I've been busy!) and it was just one step. She has repeated it a few times, and is also getting better at standing. She was standing and clapping yesterday at a tot concert we went to. Baby Girl is becoming Toddler Girl.

I'd love to say more but she has just locked herself in our kitchen with the dog's gate so I should go rescue her.

Safire

A post from Butterfly

uuuuhh u gkg hjnh h h g hjklf a;jf

hgnnm vcu.48ppp


Okay, Mommy's turn now. Butterfly has figured out her shape sorter and is busily trying to shove the circle through the square hole. She can get it sometimes, but others she ends up just taking off the top and putting in the shapes that way. What a smart girl we have!

In other news...well, there isn't a whole lot of news. We've been very busy this past week. Since our town was voted one of the most family friendly town in America, I decided to take advantage of all the cool things they do for kids out here. So we've been to 2 different tot concerts in addition to my mom's group, swimming, and hanging out with Juice. A busy busy week!

More to come!
Safire

So so tired...

Everyone,

Thanks for the well wishes when Juice was away! He had a good time except his flight got cancelled, he got food poisoning and had to actually find a tourist trap to bring me something back from SF. (A cute trolley car music box...Brownie points for Juice!) Anyway, he had a good time and Butterfly and I survived. We actually survived with some sleeping through the night the last night. It felt SO good.

I also spent most days going to the post office. I had things to mail and I forgot them at least 3 times. But everything is mailed out and everyone got their mail. Drat, I just remembered that I have year old pictures of Butterfly to send to everyone. Who wants one? Oh and did you know that you can now buy a roll of first class stamps at the post office? I didn't. But now I do! Yay! NO more buying 2 cent stamps if they decide to raise stamp prices again.

Let's see, I also scheduled all of our excursions for when we go to Hawaii, ate a lot of food out, did a lot of walking with the dog, and visited this very cool park with Butterfly. I took pictures but of course, the camera is down stairs and I don't have the energy to go and get it.

Now that he is home, I feel like this big weight has been lifted from my shoulders. And I am TIRED. I slept in this morning until noon, and I never do that. I don't think I did that much as a teenager! And 8pm rolled around tonight and I had to fight myself to stay awake. Which is why I'm online right now. But now it's 9:30 ish and that's a perfectly respectable time to go to bed. Right?

Also, we've decided on a whim to go to Assatague Island in 2 weeks. I've always wanted to see the horses and as Juice put it, "I don't know how long we'll be here anymore so let's not put anything off." Cool...wild horses here we come!

Safire

PS- Butterfly is 13 months old today. No stats because I told myself I'd stop doing that every month when she hit a year. So we'll have stats and an update when she goes to the doctor at 15 months.

Miles apart

Everyone,

Juice is in San Francisco this week for a business conference. I miss him really bad. I know it may sound corny but we've never been apart except for Butterfly's birth. And that time I wasn't sleeping in the house alone. Besides, who will change poopy diapers and catch crickets for me this week?

To top that off, Butterfly is not sleeping. Does anyone know where I can get some elephant darts? She was screaming from 9pm to 3am last night. She's cried so hard her capillaries in her face have all broken. Poor girl. I don't know what her problem is...and I'm kind of at a loss of what to do. Maybe she has a tooth coming in. It better be 2 or 3 at once because she is a banshee!

Pray for me...if I don't get some sleep soon I may just have to run for Canada. (It's closer than Mexico.)

Safire

A busy 2 weeks!

Everyone,

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.

My parents came just in time for Mother's Day and we were able to have a nice week. We drove to Gettysburg, which is about an hour away from here. We went in the day time because last time we were in Gettysburg, it was too dark to do the driving tour. Very cool place. TONS of monuments. But we got a few cute pictures.


We also went to Butterfly's year old appointment with her doctor. She's back down into the 97% for both height and weight. She also got 3 shots, one in each arm and one in her leg. And boy did she not like that. Plus she was a bear the next day, had a little fever and we were all generally miserable.

We were able to go to Annapolis as well, where Butterfly was determined to crawl out into the street. There is so much to see in the DC area that I haven't been able to go to the same things twice so it was neat to have been to Annapolis and know my way around. The only sucky thing about it was the free shuttle. If you're ever going to Annapolis and are thinking of taking the free Navy Blue shuttle, don't. Save yourself a lot of waiting and just park downtown. We also had lunch at a really great Irish Pub where we had things like bangers and mash, fish and chips, and a really great bread pudding. I highly recommend it!

We also got Butterfly's year old pictures done. They turned out beautifully and we got a really great deal on them too.

And then there was the big birthday party. I won't go into details here because I'd like that to be a separate entry. Also, Juice's graduation. Separate entry.

My parents left, and Juice's parents came to stay. We were able to go to the zoo with them. I really like our Zoo here. I feel like they have a good amount of animals, and that they allow enough room for them. This trip to the zoo brought out a new word in Butterfly: bird.

We were also able to go to the bureau of Engraving and Printing. Did you know that they actually print the paper money here in DC? I didn't! It was very cool. We got to go up the elevator and look at the workers from a gallery. The whole time we were there I was wondering what it must be like to work on display like that all the time. They walked us through the step by steps of printing money, let us smell the ink, and then ended up in the gift shop. I bought Vanessa a huge penny and a huge nickel because she really needed something to distract her on the ride home. She also fell asleep in the wierdest position; she was twisted around in her stroller trying to get me and one arm is way up. Very cute. I would post a picture but apparently I've hit a picture quota.

Now I'm just working on the thank you cards!

Safire

Final Video Slideshow

Everyone,

I think I have finished the slideshow. Take a look and tell me what you think!

Create your own video at One True Media

Safire

1st Birthday Party

Everyone,

We had Butterfly's first birthday party today. She is getting so big! And she's a toddler now! Help!



Safire

Visitors

Everyone,

Right now 2 of my most avid readers are landing in one of our local airports to see their granddaughter. Oh, and me and Juice of course. And maybe even Soot. But really they are here to see our big one-year-old. My dad has been telling me for weeks that he CAN NOT WAIT to see her. And all she is going to do is cry and cling to me. Ah well, c'est la vie. They will be here until the 21st, when we are visited by the other set of grandparents. They will be here for a week as well. They at least want to come because Juice is graduating from college. Yes, internet, he is donning the cap and gown and we are all sitting through commencement. With a baby. Outside. On the National Mall. Lucky us. ;)

No really, I am very excited about all of our visitors and Juice's graduation. I just wish that Butterfly would be a better sleeper. That and I wish I had taken more time through out the months to clean my kitchen floor. I just spent at least an hour on my hands and knees scrubbing. I sent Juice, Butterfly, and Soot to the park to be out of my hair. And now, I'm enjoying my house to myself. That is a rarity.

Sorry if this is out of joint but I'm just not in the writing mood. Or I'm in a writing funk, not sure. Oh, and if you're wondering about Butterfly's first year slide show, it's not done. I will keep adding stuff to it until her big birthday celebration next week, and then it will be done. I'll re-post the link then and you can cry some more. :) I know I do every time I watch it. Is she really a year old?

Today I went to my old work's baby party. In case you've forgotten (and I know you have) every year my old company has a big mother's day party for all the people who succeeded in getting pregnant with them. It was really fun to see everyone, and have everyone see Butterfly. She got a giraffe, a butterfly balloon, and we got our family picture taken. Honestly it was a lot of fun this year. They had a hand writing analysis for the older kids and also face painting. Butterfly had a great time chasing balloons around and bulldozing other kids. I swear she has no fear sometimes. I met another LDS couple there (amazing) and we just ate and talked. Very fun.

I may not be posting as much because of my visitors, or I may have so much free time that you'll here from me every day. Who knows.

Safire

One Year Old

Everyone,

My baby is one year old. I can't believe that in a few short hours, we will mark what time she took her first breath. It was 11:31 am, and I was not handling labor very well. I don't think I've ever told Butterfly's birth story on here. Let me start at the beginning.

It was a Friday and I had my regular weekly doctor's visit. He had checked me the week before and I was 2-3 centimeters dilated. They weren't too excited; women sit at 3 centimeters for a while. That week I had little off and on contractions, and made it to Friday again. This time when he checked, I was 5 centimeters dilated. He said he had only seen a handful of women who were that dilated and still walking around. We all kind of laughed about it, and he sent me home with instructions to call when I've had an hour of steady contractions or they were coming 2 minutes apart. Saturday passed, then Sunday...nothing. Monday morning I got a call from my doctor's office wanting me to schedule an induction. I think my doctor was thinking of me all weekend and expecting to see me at the hospital. So we scheduled the induction for the next day. May 10, 2005. It's weird to know your child's birthday ahead of time.

We checked in to the hospital, they got me in a lovely gown and stuck IVs in my arm. They started me on pitocin to get my contractions regular, and let us be. I was in no pain. Juice read to me, I took a short nap, and we chatted with the nurses. After about an hour or so, my doctor came in to break my water. There was a huge gush and my stomach suddenly felt tighter. And then a contraction came. H.o.l.y. c.o.w. I was not a happy camper. I think I had 2 or 3 contractions right on top of one another (it's a little hazy) and then I felt the need to push. The nurse checked, frantically called the doctor back in and got the room ready for Butterfly's arrival. I remember being annoyed at the nurse for not helping me hold my leg, and for making me hold my leg in the first place. Juice seemed nervous. And my doctor just sat down there looking a little bored. I pushed for about 15 minutes. I remember saying "no no no no" a lot. I remember Juice telling me she had hair. And then I remember looking down to see this squirming little person with long arms and legs in my doctor's hands. She was so small and so perfect. She didn't cry much but had these long long fingers and toes. My fingers and toes.

She weighed 8 lbs, 10 oz and was 22 inches long. And she was 10 days early. Big girl! We spent 3 days in the hospital just watching movies late at night (The Wedding Singer) and getting to know each other. She grew, and grew, and grew! She is now about 23 lbs, and 33 inches long.

I can't believe a year has gone by. What did we do without her? She makes our family what it is. Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

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Butterfly, we can't believe how fast you've grown up. We can't wait to see what happens this next year! You are such a little book worm and will sit and "read" books to yourself (turn the pages and talk). You will calm down almost instantly with a book. You are a social laugher, and will laugh whenever someone else laughs. It's really fun to be able to chuckle on purpose and have your eyes light up and you chuckle back. And speaking of your eyes, they are so luminous! Like someone stuck little lamps behind them. They just light up when you are happy or excited. It's amazing.

I get strangers that stop me and tell me how much you look like me. Or how beautiful you are. When we went to the zoo, people kept coming up to me and telling me what a beautiful baby you are. What can I say? You have good genes. :)

Your favorite thing in the world is still Soot. You will chase that poor puppy around the house and love on her as long as she'll let you. I've been trying to teach you to be a little more gentle with your loving.

You love to stack things and then knock them down. You also love to move things from one container to another. We spend a lot of time taking out your toys and then putting them back into their box. Fun times.

You are still a messy eater. Seriously, you get food in your hair with every single meal. And you're not the happiest eater. Some kids just chow down and open their mouths wide...not you. It's a challenge to feed you, but you're happier when you're full.

You have become very clingy in the past few weeks. I think your teeth are coming in because you have to be touching me at all times. It makes getting anything else done very difficult. But I keep telling myself that sooner or later you will not want to be around me and I should cherish this closeness. Although it would be nice if you could nap without this closeness. :) Mommy would like that.

Time is just flying by and you get bigger every day. Daddy and I are so happy that you are in our lives. We love you Baby Girl!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

Exciting news!

Everyone,

I had planned on writing up a post today about how it was this Tuesday last year that Butterfly was born. But she decided to do something else that I'd rather show you. She said her first word!!! Check it out!


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She is so smart. I can't believe she is going to be a year old tomorrow. Please check back for something special that I've been working on for awhile.

Until tomorrow!
Safire

Sounds like...

Everyone,

Butterfly is babbling up a storm. I can hear her first word working it's way out of her mouth soon. Here is a list of things that sound like words, or things she's imitated.

Apr 13- asparagus (we had it for lunch and I would say "Yummy asparagus!" after every bite and she started saying "spuh spuh spuh". So cute!

Apr 17- Totally thought she said puppy, but couldn't get her to do it again. Counting it as a fluke. Sorry Andrew, I know it was your first word.

Apr 26- "Gamdig" for Juice's sword Glamdring. We had been spending a lot of time in the stair well going up and down the stairs that she finally noticed our decor. Now as we go up and down the stairs she points to each sword and wants to hear its name. Also discovered the light here but that's another story.

Apr 28- "Uck!" for duck. We have an animal book that we read several times a day and the first page is "This animal goes quack quack. Do you know what it is?" and she will say "uck!" Also, we went to the zoo this day and she was fascinated by the chickens and kept saying "uck uck uck!"

I suppose all of these could count as a first word, because she obviously understands what we are saying to her. I'm just hoping for that clear, repeatable word to count. Until then, we still have a lot of pointing and "uh uh uh uh!"

Safire

She is growing!

Everyone,

I know I always say how big she gets every day and how I'm amazed at it. Ditto...



Safire

Butterfly need a tooth fairy

Everyone,

NO she is not loosing her teeth. We don't need THAT tooth fairy. We need a tooth fairy that eases the pain of babies teething. Because she was up every. single. hour. last night. Nothing but mommy love would do and so I'm exhausted. So is she. She is also sporting another incisor (bottom right) and I think a canine is coming up too. We both have matching bags under our eyes. She's begging to sleep, I'm begging her to sleep and sleep will just not come. Maybe instead of a tooth fairy we need the Sand Man. Anyone have his number or email address?

In other unrelated news, Juice shaved off his beard. He looks younger. And Butterfly doesn't know him and will look startled if she looks closely at his face. This could also be the other reason why only mommy love would do last night.

Safire

Wait for it....

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She is getting so so big so so fast. This is what Juice did with her on Saturday afternoon while I was writing. Wow, she is getting big!

Safire

Happy Easter!

Everyone,

Happy Easter!

Love, The Pack

11 Months Old

Dear Butterfly,

You are now 11 months old. And what a busy girl you are! You keep me on my toes during the day. You love to be held, and to play either in my lap or right next to me on the floor. There are only 3 things that will let Mommy have some alone time...Juice, Soot, and books. You love books. You are also so great at cruising and pulling yourself up on things. When I am at the kitchen table I see these cute little fingers peep over the edge, followed by the top of your head and then your eyes. It doesn't matter that the kitchen table is taller than you are. You pull your whole self off the ground to see what I am doing.

When you do play with your toys, you like to have at least one toy in each hand, and the more you can pack into your hands the better. You will dance to music and you are starting to laugh because we laugh. And then we laugh because you laugh...it's a very cute circle. You are also babbling up a storm. You will seem to talk in all sentences and then wait for my answer. If I don't say anything, you will nod your head up and down and say "AH!" really loud.

You used to make the sign for nursing, but that seems to have stopped now. Although it does seem to come up during dinner a lot still. You are eating solid foods with more zeal, but still continue to prefer nursing to any other mode of eating. You love apples, stars (little toddler cereal puffs), squash, asparagus, peas, carrots, black beans, bananas, oatmeal, tofu, potatoes, chicken, and guacamole. Boy do you love anything that has a spice to it. Guacamole is your favorite! When nothing else will do, guacamole is accepted. Looks like you got your father's taste buds.

Everyone tells me that you look like me. Even little kids. And everyone admires your eyes. They are such a different color...not quite green, not quite brown, not quite blue. We are waiting to see what they end up being but they have settled into this color for a few months now.

You are growing so tall. You are already 33 inches long and weigh around 23 lbs. Not surprising since both of your parents are tall but you are just amazing how tall you are. You can already reach the door knobs on doors if you stretch. You are also learning to stand but have a tendency to fall on your head and bruise it. Poor baby. You still love swimming and are getting more and more into it every time we go.

Soon you won't be a baby anymore. I'm just starting into planning for your first birthday. I can't believe it's almost been a year. This time last year I finally felt like I could eat food again, and I was getting anxious/excited about your birth. I'm so glad that you are here, and that you have such a fun personality. I love the baby you, and now I'm looking forward to knowing the toddler you.

Love,
Your Mommy

Clarification

Everyone,

According to my Dad, I've created quite a stir here with my last post. To answer Andrew and Stacey's questions (and anyone else who had this question but was too lazy to post it):
NO we are not moving anytime soon.
YES we are moving eventually.
YES we would like to move out of the East and back to the West so Juice can have his mountains. Our plan is somewhere in Colorado. Since that is where I was born, it's like going back home.

Basically the deal is that we've been planning a move to Colorado since Juice got his job. They have a space division there and that is what he'd like to end up doing. As I have been talking to the moms in our ward with pre-k kids to get a feel for the school, I learned that our elementary is not the greatest school. It has all day kindergarten, and it's mostly ESL. Butterfly doesn't need it and I would rather send her to a school that can challenge her. So I told Juice we have to move by the time she starts school. That won't be for another 4 years or so. There is no rush, but we are moving.

Eventually.

Safire

Peak Season

Everyone,

The cherry blossoms are out in peak right now. You can go here for a live webcam of the tidal basin. Juice and I braved the crowds this weekend and went. They are stunning. If you ever get a chance to come and see them, do! We went down early Saturday morning and missed probably the biggest rush in the mid-morning. There were crowds, but we found a little grove just behind the Jefferson Memorial and spend most of our morning there. We sat under the trees, listened to the birds (and the traffic, can't get away from traffic here in DC), and enjoyed the blue sky. It was very relaxing.

I must admit I am loving living in the DC area. I love all of the stuff that is continually going on. I just hate the traffic. But I suppose that is a big complaint from anyone who lives in a major city. With our pending move out of here, it seems like I like the area more and more. I'm excited to see Annapolis next weekend.

I hope you enjoy the pictures!



Safire, Juice and Butterfly