They Say the First Step Is Admitting You Have a Problem

Hi, my name is Lacey, and I'm addicted to Singapore Mei Fun. It's a Chinese take out dish that I had never had before, until we went back to the Sconnie to visit my in-laws. My MIL had gotten it when they ordered Chinese for dinner while we were in Sheboygan visiting our friends. The night we got back to their house, it was a little late and Chad had driven down to Chicago. Nobody really felt like doing anything, so we just ate leftover Chinese and I shared my MIL's with her. OMIGOD. It is so delicious. I immediately started looking up Chinese restaurant menus around my house. No Singapore mei fun. So I expanded to the city - I'm not averse to driving 20 minutes for good Chinese. No dice. Damn. So I looked up the recipe online. And it's pretty easy to do (there are several variations, I chose one with no shrimp. I'm totally averse to shrimp.) - so I've made it a few times. And it gives me a few meals, so that's pretty cool. Plus it's TOTALLY delicious. I'm so addicted. One more time making it and I'm going to have this thing memorized. Mmmmm...

Can you guess what I'm making for dinner?

It's My Own Damn Fault

Well, I had an epiphany today. I know, I know - for someone so smart, I can sure be dense. I gave Wylie his bath tonight (that was the product of another epiphany from yesterday), cuddled him, greased him up (poor boy has Momma's dry-patch sensitive skin), diapered and dressed him, then brought him downstairs to roll around on his quilt for a little bit. When he started fussing, I scooped him up and brought him upstairs to his room where I fed him, told him a story, and rocked him until 7. Then I put him down in his crib, gave him his paci, turned on the seahorse, and shut the door.

I went downstairs and listened to him fuss twice before I heard not another peep. And what was my little epiphany I had today? Well, the fact that Wylie has had no bedtime routine! So, here is my goal: start Wylie on the road to bedtime each day by 6 pm. He obviously can't have a bath each day (Colorado + dry-patch sensitive skin = sandpaper skin), but I can wash his hair each day (which will help to curb cradle cap), and I can definitely grease him up each day and give him an infant massage in the process. So the end result will be bedtime by 7 pm. I think this will help him to go down more smoothly each night and hopefully, stretch out his sleep times (fingers crossed!).

My other epiphany? Wylie didn't like bath time anymore because he didn't like being reclined for it! I figured out how to take the infant bar out of the baby tub so he could sit for his bath and he liked it much more. He splashed and kicked the whole time, instead of crying. Duh, momma.

So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehn, Good-bye.

Well, it's just me, the baby, and the cats again. Sigh. I really miss my parents. It's not as bad this time, though. When they left to head back home in November I cried for days. Mind you, that was pre-Zoloft. But still. I cried every time I thought about it for a few days beforehand and for about a week afterward. Yeah. Postpartum depression is awful. I mean, right now I really miss my parents, but I'm not a freaking mess with mascara running all over my face and racing through boxes of Kleenex.

But, I shan't be alone for long! My BFF KJ will be coming out here the end of May-ish. She called me this week to tell me about the wonderful deals that she's finding on airfare and to ask me how long she can stay. I told her forever. LOL I'm hoping she'll stay like two weeks. You know how you love you have company, but after a few days you start to get annoyed by their little quirks or foibles? That NEVER happens with KJ. She once lived in my room with me at the sorority house for a few months, off and on, and it never got old. I could probably see her everyday for the rest of my life and not be sick of her. This, my friends, is why she's my BFF. That and we have the same interests (read: Wylie, food, video games, nerdiness).

Also, my friend SummerSausage* is apparently coming out for a visit too. But she's said this before and I've still yet to see her here (I'm going on three years living here). So, sadly, I'm not actually planning on this happening. My MIL is making tentative plans to come out here and visit in June, I guess, and then at the end of June, Wylie and I are flying back to MI to hang with the fam and friends for two weeks. Then in August, I guess I'm going to WI with the baby, and then in October is cousin Holly's wedding in the Chi. So it'll be go-go-go soon enough. But for now, I'm just a little blue.

So Excited!

So, you thought I was excited about all the money I saved at the Just Between Friends sale? That doesn't even come close to how excited I am right now - my parents are in transit on their way here! It is going to be so great to see them with Wylie. You know, since the last time they were here he slept all the time. But now, he sits up (pretty steadily), he has two teeth, he eats rice cereal, he pushes up on his hands and knees, and he rolls all over the damn place. I can't wait for them to see him again. It's going to be amazing.

On a brief side note: I'm starting to wonder if Wylie is just going to bypass crawling. He seems to prefer to roll to whatever it is that he sees and wants. He rolled three feet the other day from his baby gym to Chad's Rock Band drumset controller. LOL It would be just like my child to be contrary. On that note, I'm going to try to head to bed now. You know - my parents are Morning People. I am not. However, that means that they will be leaving their hotel in Salina, KS, well before the buttcrack of dawn tomorrow morning, I'm guessing. So tomorrow, friends, I must be a Morning Person. Thank God for coffee.

I Am a Money-Saving QUEEN

Okay, I talked about it before. But let me just tell you, if you live in a state where there is a Just Between Friends sale, you better get your butt there! I totally went to the pre-sale last night for my local sale (there are several qualifications for attending the pre-sale, mine is that I'm a military wife and a first-time mom). Pre-sale attendance also has a pre-requisite of registering. I attended with two friends, who are also military moms and first time moms. We walked in and Good Lord - the baby items galore that awaited us! There were potty chairs, high chairs, bouncers, jumpers, walkers, strollers, play yards, kitchenette-type toys, activity table, sorting toys, table after table of toys of all kinds, bottles, boppies, swings, bouncy chairs, and, of course, CLOTHES. There was also nursery decor and furniture (baby) as well.

Let me share with you some of my score -

Jogging stroller

Retail: $140

My price: $42.50

Sesame street deluxe walker

Retail: $45.00

My price: $20.00

Sesame street singing pop-up pals

Retail: $40.00

My price: $2.50

Parents electronic activity puzzle cube

Retail: $41.95

My price: $8.00

Fisher-price Laugh and Learn Puppy

Retail: $20.00

My price: $5.00

Fisher-price Slumbertime Soother with Remote Control

Retail: $35.00

My price: $10.00

Plus an entire bag of 25 baby toys (mostly Lamaze and Fisher-price, plus teethers) for $20. So the grand total of savings? Over $200. That's right. I told you - I'm a money-saving queen.

Go to your local Just Between Friends sale. You must. All of the items available are based on what consignors in your area have put up for sale. But it's like a conglomeration of all of the baby stuff from all of the garage sales in the area, all in one location, all being checked for quality (they don't sell stained or damaged goods), and they have a credit or cash line (at least mine did). Everything was organized. There was no digging through stacks of clothes - everything was hung up and labeled and grouped by age/size. Go. Shop. Save. And when you're done with your things, consign them to the sale so you can participate in the presale. Or volunteer and participate in the presale. And most of the things that are left on the last day of the sale are 50% off. Can you really afford to NOT go?

Leaps and Bounds

Well, in the last few days, Wylie has started stacking up accomplishments. He started by first scooting backwards on his stomach. Then, he started to scoot forward on his stomach. Yesterday, I got him to sit, alone and unassisted, for 30 seconds. Today, he pushed up on his hands and knees for the first time ever. And then repeated to do so for, oh, an hour (off and on).

Which brings me to a great realization - I haven't childproofed. True, some of our cabinets already have the childproofing locks on them, but the plugs are a free-for-all, the table has tile on it, our video cabinets have sliding doors on them, and I haven't even begun to look for baby gates. Oy. Vey. I know that I need to look for mounted baby gates and not pressure-mounted baby gates because we have several stairs. I tried to look at my local Target, but they didn't have anything in store other than the pressure-mounted gates. So, I guess I better get a move on.

A Serious Post

This is a post that I've been debating about writing for a while. It's a sensitive subject that doesn't get a lot of attention, even though it is something that affects millions of women. Postpartum Depression is different from baby blues, which is the classic feeling of a little sadness and whatnot from experiencing the birth of the baby.

You may have noticed that a while ago, when I update my blog, that I included postpartum depression in my blog banner description. That in and of itself is a huge step for me. I am very uncomfortable openly discussing anything that I see as a shortcoming. I much more prefer to gloss over things with a heavy dose of sarcasm. But looking back at my pregnancy, I can see that I was suffering from depression before the third trimester. As I mentioned in several different previous posts, I had several of the risk factors for PPD. I live far away from my support system, my husband is in the army, my son was diagnosed with a condition (CCAM) while in utero, and several of the women in my family had PPD. I've been on zoloft since I went for my six-week postpartum check-up. That was also a huge step for me. But I don't believe that I could have done as well as I have were it not for a little chemical help. Especially with Chad still having to travel for training, and now, for deployment. I still don't have my support system here, though I have made inroads with hanging out with some of the other women with young children who I know. But there is nothing that can substitute for your long-established support system or your family.

The reason I have been struggling with writing this post is that this is a very personal issue for me. But it is something that I don't believe is openly discussed, which is sad. Women who admit to having PPD are often stigmatized by those who don't have it, who discount it as baby blues, and those who just don't understand. It took me almost two weeks to admit to Chad that I was on zoloft after I had been diagnosed by my doctor at my postpartum appointment. I was so ashamed (don't ask me to explain that, because I can't) and I worried about how he would react: would he think I was weak or crying wolf or faking? (Sidenote: I don't know why I worried that Chad would think those things. The only thing that I can think of is the stigma.) Postpartum depression, I think, is not well understood by many people. And I can't speak for every woman, but I can speak for myself.

It was awful, looking at my beautiful baby and feeling intense love for him but escaping into the shower so I could sob without worrying about someone catching me. I could calmly change his diapers and bathe him and change his little clothes. Wylie wasn't a colicky baby. He was and is very mellow and easy-going. He's a happy baby. And yet, I would suddenly feel like the saddest woman in the world. Or I would get SOO angry at Chad, for no real reason. And I could tell that I didn't have a rational reason for being unbelievably angry with him, yet I was. It was hell trying to keep that from showing through to him. There were times that I was thisclose to calling my parents to ask them if I could move home with them with the baby while Chad was deployed this summer because I couldn't handle the thought of having to face everything by myself. (Which, I want to add, kudos to all of you single mothers out there. You are amazing, and I doff my cap to you.)

But now, I'm on zoloft. And I will be on zoloft through at least this calendar year. (Going off too early can cause your brain chemicals to drastically unbalance, causing a serious relapse.) And are things perfect? No, of course not. Do I still have bad days? Yes, I do, which I'm actually glad of. Part of the reason I was so scared to go on a pill was because I didn't want to feel like a zombie. I still get teary and will sometimes cry, but I can validate those instances (that stupid Humane Society commercial where they show all of the sad eyed dogs looking at the camera), or Wylie does something Big Boy and it's bittersweet that my little baby is growing so fast. The zoloft doesn't make everything magically better: I still wish I lived closer to my family, I still miss my friends, I still worry about Wylie having to have surgery in November (probably), I still resent the lack of support I experienced here during my pregnancy, and I still worry internally about stupid, inane things. I live with PPD everyday. I have good days and bad days. But I'm not a crazy woman, I don't imagine harming my baby, and I don't feel like a zombie. Sometimes I still feel a little overwhelmed. But I'm taking things one day at a time, and I put my bras on one arm at a time, just like you.

Going, Going... Oh, Wait, Not Quite Yet!

Well, since I last wrote, Wylie has been a busy boy, trying his hardest to move. And he's been successful. Kind of. He's scooted backward about 6 inches several times while on his stomach. But I think his most favorite method of trying to move is sitting on his butt and using his heels to pull himself forward, also in a scooting motion. But he hasn't quite gotten the hang of that either. You see, he tries to lean back so he can move further, but I don't think he quite understands that he will just fall backwards, since he's not using his hands behind him to brace himself. But it's very entertaining to watch!

He's also starting to move toward taking longer naps in a smaller quantity. I'm okay with this. I would rather have two long naps rather than like 5 small naps. He's not real consistent on that yet, but I have great hope.

Continuing my Wylie update: he has spent the last three nights sleeping in his crib. The transition wasn't nearly as painful as I had imagined it would be. I imagined that he would wake up screaming because he didn't recognize it and couldn't smell me right next to him. I imagined that I would bawl my eyes out because my precious baby wasn't sleeping right next to me anymore. But you know what? Neither of those things happened. I know that I talk in my sleep (I've had several people tell me so, from past roommates to my cousins and friends who slept over when I was younger, to my mother). And since Wylie's been sleeping in his crib, his waking up in the middle of the night has been drastically decreased, so I'm guessing that I was part of his night-waking problem. LOL

This Thursday, I'm taking him in to get professional portraits taken. I'm pretty excited. He's got the cutest outfit to wear, but it's 6 mos. sized, which means that I had to hurry and get him in for pictures, because he's definitely moving into his 9 mos. clothes. I had a little bit of a dilemma trying to find a place to get his pictures taken. I looked at Target and JCPenney, but those seemed so, well, expensive. So I kept looking. And I found what I thought would be perfect (maybe too perfect) - a $9.95 portrait package deal from Portrait Innovations. Well, being the Doubting Thomas that I am, I called the studio (they are a chain) to ask questions. The girl asked me when I wanted to book an appointment and I told her that I actually had questions and she said that she was too busy to talk to me and took down my contact information. On Friday. She said she would call me back. It's Monday. So after her slightly rude conduct, I searched for their customer reviews online - and it was NOT positive. That sealed the deal for me - not going with them. So I kept searching. And I wound up finding a nice, private photographer couple working out of their house, just about a mile from my house! They've been in photography for a couple of decades, and they had beautiful pictures in their online gallery. They were running a January special, so I asked what current specials they had, and she said that she would extend that previous special to me! So instead of a $75 sitting fee, plus pictures, our initial sitting is $49, which includes the sitting fee, a 5x7 and four wallets! Awesome! And then I'll order more portraits too, of course. But I'm really excited. They have both an indoor studio and a beautiful backyard garden. So if the weather cooperates, we might have some really beautiful outdoor pictures.

To wind up, in the next two weeks, the yard is being prepped for summer by a yard crew (thank you Mountain West Property Management!), my parents are coming to visit (Hooray!!), and I'm going to hit up the Just Between Friends consignment sale. Exciting times!

Where's the Beef? Right Here!

My beef right now: I just viewed this video about how the flight attendants association is getting miffed about all the carry-on baggage and the fact that they are sustaining injuries from people incorrectly using the carry-on bag to pack everything. I don't disagree with that. Especially since I'm pretty much a SouthWest airlines convert. Hello, traveling with a baby requires a TON of stuff. Two free bags per ticketed passenger? Hell yes. That combined with SouthWest's Wanna Get Away fares and you really can't beat it. Even with driving from here to Denver to get the cheaper fare - even with driving and parking, I'm still saving money. Sorry, I got sidetracked.

Back to the video content. This "reporter" is saying that with the baggage fees, more and more people are carrying everything they can on (Duh! Have you seen unemployment rates??). But she made a comment about people carrying on things like coats and food and that those things make for an unsafe flight. Really? My breakfast bagel creates an unsafe flight? Are you effing kidding me? So, if I fly from Denver, and I have a layover of, say, an hour before catching my second flight to my final destination, I have to eat in the airport? But what if my first flight is late? You want, me, a nursing mother, to go six hours without eating during the day when my child is nursing more? You're on crack. You complain about people having bad attitudes on flights? Has anybody thought that maybe everyone is suffering from massively low blood sugar? And that is compounded by the problem that most airlines offer NOTHING snack-wise on board anymore. No wonder everyone hates flying - everyone has low blood sugar and had to walk around on the gross airport floor with no shoes and their pants sagging because they had to have their belt scanned. Thank you so much, TSA, for subjecting us to security theater. That's right. I said it. Obviously, scanning my belt and my .05 ounces of hand sanitizer and my chap stick have prevented people like this guy from trying to blow up his own crotch on a plane. Oh, and that 76-year-old lady you just chose for extra screening probably has an explosive in the beaded chain holding her glasses around her neck.

Seven Quick Rants

One: I was bored the other day, so I clicked on the Next Blog >> link at the top of the page and read through some random blogs. But OMG you guys - do you have any idea how many running blogs there are? How many people need to blog about running? Is it really all that different? Or am I just ignorant? (Seriously, click the next blog link at the top of the page. Tell me how many running blogs you come across in 15 clicks.)

Two: Learn the different between there, their, and they're. They are not interchangeable. There is a preposition (it shows location). Their is possessive (my cat, their dog). They're is a contraction of they are. The same goes for your and you're. Your is possessive (my cat, your bird). You're is a contraction of you are.

Three: Punctuation is important. You wouldnt really want to read this blog if I never used any punctuation now would you see it all becomes one run on sentence and you cant separate the ideas punctuation serves a very important purpose you should try it sometime

Four: The rules of the road apply to bicyclists too. I'm pretty sure this is only a regional problem - God knows I never had the issue when I lived in Michigan. But nothing burns me more than when some idiot @$$hole on a bike disregards traffic laws, lights, signs, and courtesies. Guess what? I'm driving a car. In a battle of wills, I will ultimately win, and you will splat.

Five: Ads that are like 12 times louder than the program I'm watching. Thank God for DVR. I rarely watch live tv anymore.

Six: Inconsiderate people. The other day, I was in line at the grocery store. In the regular line, not my customary self-checkout line. This old lady in line in front of me had a big cart, but only three items. She loaded her three items on the belt and proceeded to turn her cart sideways to BLOCK ME OUT OF THE LINE. WTF lady? I had to move her cart and my cart, which was loaded to the brim and also had Wylie in his infant carrier seat in it. @$$.

Seven: The Sock Monster who lives in the dryer.

Reasons Why I Don't Believe I'll Ever Truly Be an Adult

When I was getting ready to graduate from first high school and then college, the looming Adult World kind of freaked me out. I mean, my God, I'd have to pay bills! But in college, paying bills didn't seem to be such the Scary Event I thought it would be. But the biggest marker of adulthood, Paying Taxes, that STILL seems daunting. And do you know, I've never had to do my own taxes? My parents always had a CPA do theirs (at least as long as I can remember), and they still claimed me as a dependent while I was in college, ergo they did my taxes for me while I was in college. And then, when I was facing my first ever time to have to pay my own taxes, Chad and I got married. Thankfully, he took econ classes in the business college at WMU and knows about Accounting and Banking Things, so he's taken care of our taxes for me. As I was ruminating on this randomly, I started to think of reasons why I won't ever earn my Official Adulthood Membership Card. And so, I give you my list...

1. I still watch cartoons.
2. I still like to play games.
3. I like to color.
4. Sometimes my imagination gets the best of me. So much so, that
5. I'm afraid of the dark (not all the time, and not truly, but every once in a while...)
6. I want to skip dinner in favor of dessert (I don't actually do this because I know I shouldn't. But it doesn't stop me from really, really wanting to.)
7. I could never have a Big Girl Job, working at a corporation or behind a desk.
8. I have no idea how to choose a retirement plan (which is why I never started saving for my retirement while I was at HSD2. Oops!)
9. I get distracted by bright colors.
10. I still play video games.

There. Now that I've confessed my deepest, darkest secrets, what's one thing about you that isn't very adult like?

One Man's Trash is Another Man's Treasure

Okay, I don't know how many of you are Craigslisters. I'm sure some of you (cough, My Parents) probably don't even know what Craigslist is. Well, I'm here to confess to you, that, well... I'm hooked! I sold that stupid monstrosity that the imbeciles we bought the house from left us (a.k.a. the basketball hoop) on there in less than 24 hours after posting it. I bought $75 worth of baby toys from a lady on there for $15. I sold the Wii Guitar controller for $25 yesterday. I'm selling my beat-up suitcase on there for $10, and I'm going to purchase two $30 planters for $25 total. I'm also looking at getting a cedar chest for $100. I'm also hoping to sell my golf clubs (thank you Tyler, you douchebag, for buying them for me so I can now sell them) and my stereo system. And you know what? If these things don't sell, I can just take them to Goodwill. Sweet.

And you know what? Yes, I'm cheap. I'm not afraid to admit it. But seriously? Baby things? They don't get used for that long, so if you can wash it or disinfect it, why not? And the cedar chest? Really? My parents have a cedar chest and I love the idea, but they are sooo expensive new (the one I'm looking at is $350 new, they're selling for $100!). So, yes. I Craigslist. And yes, I may have a problem. So there.

On a related Lacey-is-cheap note: I also signed up to go to the Just Between Friends sale this April. If you have not heard of Just Between Friends, let me enlighten you. It is a community of moms who get together twice a year and sell all of their no-longer-needed child-related things. From newborn to pre-teen. Clothes, strollers, toys, etc. And this isn't just a Colorado Springs thing. Click on the link, check it out. See if there's one near you. I'm totally going to look for a jogging stroller. Why? Those of you who know me know that I don't jog. However, jogging strollers have tires instead of little wheels. And there is this awesome trail that runs alongside a creek right by my house. But I can't go down this lovely trail with Wylie because the stroller doesn't go off-roading well. So I'm hoping to find a decent jogging stroller for like $50 at the sale. And baby toys. Maybe some kind of walker-push toy for Wylie for when he starts along the being-mobile path.

So, here are my questions to you: Are you cheap? Do other people tell you you're cheap but you disagree? Do you pretend that frugal sounds better than cheap? Do you Craigslist? (Because if you don't, you should.)

Back to the Crib

Well, I'm trying Wylie in his crib for a nap again. And so far, he's approaching the half-hour mark. I've discovered that if I stand by the side of the crib or the pack'n'play where he can see me, he usually drops off pretty quickly. Of course, that's only when I put him down still pretty awake. You know, he's at the point where he's tired enough to laugh-cry and rub his eyes, but his eyes aren't droopy. So I rocked him a little bit, then I swaddled him up TIGHTLY, popped the paci in his mouth, and turned on his seahorse. I stood where he could see me and watched as the eyelids got very heavy and then slammed shut. Poor baby. So tired.

So the plan is to try the rest of his naps today in the crib, and then maybe leg one of nighttime sleep. It'll be weird when he's no longer sleeping in our room with me. Ah, there he is now, just shy of a forty-minute nap. Off I go to get the baby. :)

The Much-Awaited Rolling-Over Video

Here it is folks - the much awaited video evidence of my peanut's newfound skill! Also, for future use, if you want to search for my videos on YouTube, please use the following email address: MrsLThorner@gmail.com. However, please don't email me at this address - it is used exclusively for communicating with my former students. Thanks!

Edited to ask: Are you getting choppy playback on the video? Please respond - I need to know if my new camera is having issues or if it's my computer. Thanks.

Edited again to add: I had the original post as a YouTube video, but this one is loaded through blogger and seems to play better on my computer. I still want to know about the choppiness though. And, if it's not too much to ask, if you want to check out the video on youtube HERE and see if that one is choppy, that would be awesome too!

A Chicago Wedding Weekend

So, my cousin Holly (really Chad's cousin, but I love her like my own, so I've totally adopted her) is getting married in October.  I'm really excited because it's promising to be quite the affair.  However, my mother-in-law brought up a good point - won't we want to have some kind of babysitter there to watch Wylie so we (and by we, I mean me, not Chad, since he's not truly the primary caregiver, you know, since he just left to spend 6 months overseas, courtesy of the army) can have a good time??  And the answer?  A resounding, "YES!"  So my MIL started throwing out possibilities.  Her niece's daughter could bring a friend to hang out with during the day and the friend could watch Wylie during the evening activities and during the wedding.  Okay, yes, that would work.  But honestly?  The only people who have taken care of my baby without me anywhere around in the vicinity, outside of Chad of course, are my mother and his mother.  And I'm sure that my MIL's niece's daughter (who is 17) wouldn't bring a complete moron.  But I'm not totally comfortable with the idea of someone who I do not know AT ALL taking care of my baby.  So I was really hoping my mom would come to Chicago (with my dad, por supuesto) and take care of the baby during the evenings and during the ceremony.  After all, I know that she's a reliable caregiver (hello, I'm walking proof) and she's already taken care of him before.  Plus, what grandparent doesn't want to spend some quality time with their adorable infant grandchild?  So, after a very heartfelt and pleading email, my parents agreed to come to Chicago and take care of the baby.  But Internet, you don't truly understand this triumph of a parent-looking-for-a-reliable-and-trustworthy babysitter if you don't understand that my father HATES Chicago traffic.  And, since my mother has to ride through Chicago traffic with my father (who is not a good heavy traffic driver in a mostly unfamiliar city), she hates navigating through Chicago as well.  But they still agreed to come!  Yay!!

I'm hoping that during the day we can head to some of the attractions with Wylie, who will be almost one year old (!).  Places like Navy Pier and the Children's Museum or Shedd Aquarium.  I think the aquarium would be awesome as a little guy - it's definitely one of my favorite places, so I'm really excited to take him there.  It should be awesome.  It promises to be a great, new experience, for him, and for me.  I wonder what it will feel like to watch him explore the aquarium, to see the look on his face.

And, speaking of new experiences, Holly is going to be having a Hindu blessing on the Sunday after the wedding, which will be awesome to see.  I've never seen any Hindu ceremonies, so I'm really interested to take part in this blessing.  It's called a Satyanarayan Puja.  So hopefully I will have some great new experiences to blog about after that weekend.

Good friends, good times

So went up to Denver today to go to my friend and former mentor's baby shower.  It was so great to see her!  It's been almost a year, maybe more, since I last saw her.  She had gotten a different job during last school year, so she was at a different school.  Then her father up in Denver got really sick and died suddenly so she and her hubby moved in with her mother to help with the house payment (her father didn't have life insurance).  So it's been quite some time since I've seen her.  It was awesome to see her and her sisters and mother today.  But it kind of made me sad.  I wish that I could see her more, but since she's an administrator now, her work schedule is crazy.  Not to mention, you know, that she lives in Denver.  But hopefully we'll be able to keep in touch better.  I really do miss having her here in town - she was the person I was closest to here outside of Chadley.

But, I digress - it was so nice to be at her baby shower.  She received so many beautiful, handmade gifts.  She also received lots of little helpful things, like the fold 'n' go diaper kit or the forehead scanner thermometer.  She got a ton of other things too.  It was nice to see so many people there to celebrate her and the baby.  But I do have to say, Jenn is hilarious.  She is clueless about babies and baby stuff!  She held up a package of onesies and paused because she couldn't tell what they were.  I guess she let her husband do most of the registry.  Most people would say that's a bad thing, but you don't know her hubby - he's really the feminine personality in the relationship.  And he did good, let me tell you from having scanned the registry.

So, out of all of these handy dandy gifts, what did I get her?  Well, I got her a diaper cake.  That I made. It's wasn't totally pretty, I don't think, but I guess it was pretty good for a first effort.  You decide:

Meanwhile, I totally haven't posted any of the pictures from our Wisconsin trip.  So, here are photos of my adorable baby!

Meanwhile, there aren't any viable pictures of the teeth yet, nor is there viable video of the little tyke rolling over.  Oh yeah, did I mention that Chad bought me a Kodak Zi8?  So as soon as there is viable video, you can bet that I'll be sharing it!  Hope you enjoyed the photos, Internet!

Lotsa Excitement

So here I am in Wisconsin visiting the in-laws.  Well, actually, right at this particular moment, I'm actually in Sheboygan visiting with friends, but we're going back to the in-laws tomorrow.  Wylie has already accumulated like 10 more outfits between Grandma Sharon and Great Aunt Patty.  And you guys, these outfits are ADORABLE!  One of them, my favorite, is a St. Pat's sleeper with little clovers all over it and a ginormo clover on the butt that says, "My 1st St. Patty's Day".  Sigh.  Too cute.  And will probably never fit another kid, unless I can time a pregnancy just right that the next one (or the one after that) will be wearing 6 mos. clothes at St. Pat's day.  But I'm getting ahead of myself here.  Let me backtrack...

Thursday was terrible.  Absolutely awful.  Chad had to climb Pike's Peak on Wednesday.  In one day.  Carrying a 38 + pounds pack.  And he didn't wear sunscreen.  Oh yeah, and they all ran out of water with about 6 miles left.  And they started at 3 am.  So when he got home, he slept 11 hours straight.  In the guest room, because frankly, he STANK.  And when he got up, he had AMS.  So he was useless (his words, not mine) all Thursday.  Thursday, the day that I had to wash all of the laundry, do all of the dishes, pack my bag, Wylie's bag, and my carry-on/backpack/Wylie's-travel-diaper bag.  And take care of Wylie.  And Chad.  And make something for dinner that would help to speed Chad's recovery (read: protein).  And, Internet, this is the worst part - I had to wake up at 2 am the following morning to get ready to leave at 3 am for the Denver International Airport.  Of course, since Chad was still suffering from AMS, I had to drive.  To the DIA, which I swear to you is damn near located in Kansas.  And our flight from Denver to Las Vegas was delayed by about 45 minutes, which severely cut into our time in the Vegas airport (I didn't get any slots time, dammit!), meaning we almost missed our Vegas-Milwaukee flight.  Wylie did pretty well on the planes, considering the fact that he woke up at 2 am, with only one catastrophic diaper failure (on the plane, mind you), which necessitated a Wardrobe Change.

So we landed in Milwaukee, and, miracle of miracles, our bags made it too!  We were fully expecting to be spending the night without our bags, considering how closely our time was cut.  But, thank God, someone at Southwest airlines has actual, honest-to-God, good ideas - the put a neon pink tag on your bag is it's a transfer.  Bless you, Southwest.  Bless you for your transfer tags and for two free checked bags per ticketed passenger.  Bless you for your affordable fairs.  So here we are in Wisconsin having a good time.  Wylie is chewing on my finger, like he always does these days, you know, since he's teething.  Except now, it's a lot more painful.  I mean A LOT.  So I run my finger along his lower gum, and lo-and-behold, there is a sharp tooth-ridge poking through his gum!  Where have the last 19 weeks gone?

(Did I mention that I started Wylie on cereal this week?  No?  Well, I'm mentioning it now, in this aside.  Chad took pictures, and as soon as I can steal them from him, I will post them here, promise.  At first, he did not enjoy the cereal.  He only ate about a teaspoon of the tablespoon I had prepared for him, so I put the rest in the fridge and tried it again later, with MUCH success.  And on Thursday, he ate about 2 teaspoons of the 1 tablespoon I prepped.  My plan right now is just to make him one tablespoon at a time until he's eating a full tablespoon at a time.  We'll up serving size as he gets more used to actually eating.)

So amid my joy in my son's newest accomplishments and at visiting with family and friends, I received a devestating blow today.  I received a text from my cousin that they've placed my grandmother on Aricept.
I guess that she's not doing as well as I thought she was.  They haven't officially diagnosed her with Alzheimer's, but that's what the drug treats, so....

Edited to add: originally written on Saturday, March 20.  Posted later...

To-do Mania

Well, Wylie's rolled over about umpteen times since his first successful solo roll.  Chad finally saw him roll over last night (he didn't cooperate for daddy the night before), so he was really happy about that!  Wylie's also still working on those bottom teeth, and when I was feeling his gums for a progress-check, I discovered that gum tissue on his upper gums is feeling pretty rough now too.  Could he be getting ready to cut his top two front teeth shortly after he finishes his bottom ones??  Yikes.  Hopefully he's not a rough teether.  We've been pretty blessed so far.

Meanwhile, we're getting ready to head to Wisconsin next Friday and I just realized that I have a TON of laundry to do in preparation for that - all three of us are going to need clothes to wear, after all, and on top of that, Wylie's going to need bedding and towels.  Hopefully Chad's parents' friends can loan us some baby stuff while we're there so we don't have to cart everything through the airports with us.  Still waiting to hear back from her, but she offered, so I'm guessing we're in the clear with that.  After we get back from Wisconsin, Chad will have one day at home and then he leaves.  It's crazy - it totally snuck up on us.

Well, the baby calls, so it's time to get him up and feed him and change him so I can start on the out-of-house to-do list today.  Among those things are buying the supplies to make a diaper cake (wish me luck!).

Children's Chapter Books

Okay, so to continue my last thought from my previous post, I'm really looking forward to Wylie being able to enjoy being read a chapter from a book at night before going to bed.  That said, I don't want him to grow up.  LOL  I love him being a little guy and wanting to cuddle when he gets tired.  I hope that he doesn't outgrow that.

Meanwhile, back to the books.  There are several chapter books that I enjoyed when I was younger.  I know it'll be a while before I can enjoy these again with Wylie, but I got to thinking about them nonetheless.  I just thought that I would share some of these with you because I always liked them.

• The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster (which was also made into a live action/animated film by Chuck Jones)
• The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner
• The Cricket in Times Square by George Seldon
• The Farthest-Away Mountain by Lynne Reid Banks
• I, Houdini: The Autobiography of a Self-Educated Hamster by Lynne Reid Banks
• The Indian in the Cupboard series by Lynne Reid Banks
• The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
• The Fudge Series by Judy Blume
• Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
• The Sideways Stories from Wayside School series by Louis Sachar

There are more, I'm sure, but I just don't remember them right now.  What chapter books did you enjoy when you were younger?  Or which authors were your favorites?

Rolly Poly Pudding Pie

Well, today Wylie rolled over for the first time completely on his own!  He rolled from his back to his stomach and he looked so proud afterward!

He spent the rest of the day rolling back and forth from his back to his stomach and vice versa.  I can't believe it.  He is growing so quickly.  He's exclusively in 6 month clothes now and he's very close to sitting up on his own.

Yesterday at Target (which, P.S., is having a sale on two-packs of Gerber first foods for $.94), we got him some veggies and fruits and some single-grain cereal.  I can hardly believe that he's almost ready for food!  We're going to wait until he starts showing some serious interest in food, but I believe that he's almost there.  He's started grabbing for forks and plates when he's sitting on your lap at the table, but I don't think he's yet truly interested in the food on the said forks and plates.

I've also started thinking about some of the chapter books that I enjoyed reading when I was younger and would like to read to Wylie as he's growing up.  I already have one of them: The Phantom Tollbooth.  There are several others, which I will have to detail at a later date as he just woke up.  :)  Night all!