Siggies

So anyone reading this knows I chat a lot online. And well part of that life involves signatures that go along with your posts. Since most of the chatting i do is of the mommy-realm ~ thus are my signatures.

They're always fun to make and I try and share a lil of who I am and/or whats going on at the moment. But as I gather them all ~ they're especially fun to look back on.

Starting with the most recent...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY GIRL!

WOOOOOOOW. MY BABY IS A YEAR OLD!!!!!!!

What a birthday ~ what a baby girl . The other weekend we celebrated your very first birthday. I can hardly believe it. I had imagined it was going to be a really really tough day for me. Selfish, I know, but honestly that’s what I thought. However I learned that it really was the anxiety leading up to the day that was far worse than the actual SHE’S ONE factor.

In reality LOVED your birthday. I loved how you woke up at 6:05 am for a lil snack. It was if you wanted to say hi to your mommy at just the right time. I loved how a few hours later your daddy and I snuck into your room to sing you happy birthday. I love how you got to celebrate with your DC family. I love how Grandma and Aunt Joanne came too. I love how you laughed, ate, giggled, ate, and played happily all day long. I love how we laughed at how looooooong labor was and how wonderful the midwife experience was. I love how we can look back and not wish there was a single thing different about that oh-so-perfect day. I loved looking at all of the pictures of the past year and marveling at just how amazing life changes in one short SHORT year.

Since I’ve taken forever to complete this lil letter ~ I’ll also add that in the week following your birthday you’ve turned into a communication sponge. I’m amazed at how the verbal and signing just ‘clicked’ all of a sudden. Its soo fun / funny to watch you tell us what you want. EVERYTHING you want.

Unfortunately the whole asthma thing / nebulizer thing has taken a turn for ick. We have your next appointment in a few weeks with your doc and mommy’s armed with lots of questions and is looking into more holistic options as well. This nightly torture is just not fair to anyone and frankly – I don’t see your cough getting any better at all.

Speaking of ick…you want your diaper changed at 4-5am everyday now. Since your now a year old I think its fair for me to be honest with you and tell you – CUT THIS CRAP OUT. Since I don’t sit around in wet undies all day, your Daddy or I do the change, but I’d much prefer you sucking it up as you had previously.

This morning we dropped you off at daycare and from Miss Betty’s arms you waved bye bye to daddy and I with both hands. Despite me wanting to play with you all day myself, it seems you really like to play there. The other day I walked in to find your BIG lil body lounging in an ity bity baby bouncy seat. Miss Molly told me that you and Avery (the big girls in daycare) climb into the baby seats when they’re empty and just rock and giggle.

You make me giggle,
Mama of a 1 year old

Her perfect imperfection

So for MONTHS lil G's had this night time cough and for umm maybe the past month i could really hear it in her chest. So we made her 1 YEAR appointment a little early just to have it all checked out.

Turns out she might have asthma. BOOOOOOOOOOOOO anyone??? When you squeeze her she wheezes. We've learned asthma is partly genetic and could also be due to allergies...hello mom ~ dad.

However nothing stops her...even during her treatment she's smiling. Stoned, but smiling :)

In an attempt to get her lungs back to 'normal' (reduce inflamation & release built up mucus) we've acquiesced and are using pulmicort & a nebulizer. After her lungs are free and clear again we'll start playing with her diet, bedroom linens and dear sweet kitty to hopefully find a allergic trigger we can remove.

Fingers crossed.

Sporty Spice

moooore crap...err crafts

Soooo this is a handbag i made for an internet friend :) A site i chat on organized a craft swap. There are soooo many talented mamas so we figured it was time to share! This was my contribution to 'white daisy' theme. I hope she likes it!


Another girl who i hope likes my stuff is peanut. I can't WAIT to see her in these!

I'm READY!!!

So lately there's been a lot of talk from Mom & Dad about going to Burning Man. I did a lil research and found I already have the wardrobe.

so here...i've got the keys, now lets just GO already!!!

More crafts!

So G had a bib she borrowed from daycare. It was a nice plasstic one that covered her arms (this girl gets MESSY when she eats) but it was Blues Clues. No offense to those that like that sorta thing...but its just nms (not-my-style). So i looked and i looked and i looked for an alternative. Nada, niet, zip, zero, zilch.

So i took matters into my own hands.


It's completely wipeable and therefor great for messy eaters and craft projects. Can you believe 2 days after i finished them ~ i got an decent size order from G's daycare!!! Once those are done - i hope to be making more for my Etsy shop! Move over Charrise...

eek! 11 MONTHS

Dear lil G,

FYI lil button ~ time flies when your havin fun! and MAN are we having a blast with you these days. There are no two ways about it ~ you are just funny. You love to tease us (and Willoughby), love to be tickled, chased and even teased with your food/sock monkey on occasion.

You've taken a real liking to your tunnel again. About 20 minutes before you crash for the night you get this sudden burst of energy. And get just goofy. The other night you must have crawled through your tunnel 40 times. Then towards the end you started hoarding toys inside it. I started to worry that i had a 6 year old on my hands who was going to fight me to sleep in her fort. Thankfully ~ you did settle down at some point and went easily to bed.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh bed. Regardless of all those folks who insisted on telling us how to raise you and telling us that you SHOULD be sleeping through the night (despite not knowing a THING about breastfed children or our opposition to baby boot camp) You have finally, in your own time, taken to sleeping through the night. And this time its not just cause your sick ;) As wonderful as a full nights sleep is...i really miss you. THEN just to put salt in my gaping heart ~ you don't even want to co-sleep anymore! But if your happy ~ i'm happy. (i suppose)

You just capable of sooo much now:
~ You can hold a spoon and feed yourself. Of course its a great big giant mess but the fact that the right end of the eating utensil goes into the proper hole in your face (80% of the time) astounds me.
~ You help me dress you each morning. Of course you still haate diaper changes, you are willing to play along if (and only if) i promise to leave the diaper off while i take of your jammies and put on you tops & shoes AND if i let you suck your thumb through the process. Also, after one arm goes in your sleeve, you pop out your thumb and anticipate the next arms turn. I don't know why this cracks me up but it does.
~ Still chasing Willoughby through the house
~ Getting in and out...in and out...in and out and surfing on your rocker. In theory you haven't seen your rocker yet b.c. its your present for your first birthday, but since its still in its unfinished stage ~ AND YOUR A BABY ~ i don't really see the harm.

Half of me is eagerly planning your first birthday picnic in the hundred acre woods ~ a tribute to a depressed lil donkey & a lil girl with enough joy for the whole world; while the other half of me wonders if we don't celebrate your birthday you might magically stay my lil baby girl forever. I know each stage of your life is going to be filled with more excitement and laughs than the previous, but the unknown is soo daunting when a perfect life smiles at you every morning.

suspending time,
mum mum mum mum mum mum

Introducing....

Charisse ~ the sock monkey!!!

She's my first ;)

And well it took a lil longer than i expected (partly because i had sewn her face on her butt-side) but after a lil cosmetic surgery she's FINE. Lopsided - but FINE. and of course ~ we love her just as she is!

Thanks but no thanks Willoughby

Sooooo this morning G's playing with her lil toy box. She pushes it over to dump out the goodies inside when what the HELL is THAT under the box...oh its a DEAD MOUSE. Yea - thats it. A dead F-in mouse. Clearly a gift from Willoughby To lil G. but (shudder) clearly one i could do without.

Interestingly enough, the ONLY other time we've been given such a gracious gift by our otherwise adorable kitty was the day we bought lil G home. I wonder where her kitty calendar is so i can let her know she's a month off.

G's first Annaprashana

Much to Mom's and Uncle Suvo's dismay its suggested that lil Shiva will grow up to be a poet. Though it must be noted that she showed a fondness for just about everything on her plate. Knowing what i do about her family ~ this comes as no surprise to me.


G was a good lil attendent. She actively participated in the mantras and ate her share of rice, chicken and naan.

Here she eagly awaits her 'turn'


With the infamous bib

WALKER not a ranger

so i sent this video to my dad...because clearly the picassa link i sent out eons ago has been lost / forgotten / or just too difficult to figure out.

his response: PULL UP HER PANTS BEFORE SHE FALLS!

some things never change. If she had hair he'd be telling me to get it out of her face ;)

OH what a diff a few years makes...

Cherry Blossoms...

April 2005

April 2007

April 2008 (ok March 30)

Happy Easter lil Bunny!

Ohhhhhhh the Easter Bunny Came (a lil late, but he arrived nonetheless)

NO ~ i will not wear the bunny ears

Practicing my 'coy' look

ohhhhhhhhh ~ aren't i adorable

I didn't know there was a dress code.

With Mom & Dad in the 'pipe room' (makes mom giggle)

Ok ~ Really...I've had enough!

10 (thats T-E-N) Months

For starters…I love you ~ I love you ~ I love you!!!

This past month has been quite nice. No places to go nothing major to do. And Mommy’s new job is going well. (and by well, I mean fantastic ~ they are sooo nice! They think I’m smart, and helpful, and funny and its just great.)

Our rhythm of life is pretty much the same. You love love love to eat. A LOT! Since your still a boob baby we figured that you’d eat less table food…apparently we wrong.

Of course you love to play (I know, a shocker for a baby) But what I enjoy is how much I looooove to watch you play. At the end of the day after you’ve napped and had your second dinner you often take to wrestling with your daddy’s head. I often sit on the sofa like queen of the Nile and just smile at the riches that surround me.

You’ve also started to become a bit more of a nudy baby. (genetics perhaps) Last night I was attempting to change you into some sort of night time gear. Since you have this icky diaper rash from the sposies of daycare mommy’s likes to let you pee on the carpet for fun. OK~ perhaps she’s letting you bum air out as much as possible and just when she thinks your ok with snuggling on her lap ~ whoosh ~ you slliiide down from the sofa and take off for ‘Fort Dining room’. Along the way spotting a kitty toy you HAVE to have and somewhere along the way deciding that NOW is the time to go potty. Its great fun I tell you. Someday when you’re complaining because we don’t have the money to send you to Europe for the summer ~ I’m going to pull out this letter and the 80 carpet cleaning bills attached.

Peeing on the carpet aside ~ You are just too fun to watch. You are so proud of yourself for getting off the sofa ~ for walking to the tables ~ for bending over and picking up toys and bending back over without falling down (“yes Giuliane, Mommy’s watching you”) I wonder if the infatuation ever ends. Perhaps that’s why soccer is so popular or why parents subject themselves to swim meets and dance recitals. It’s the joy of watching you sublimely happy and unaware of anything around you that just makes Mom feel like the world is just right. But do you mind if your Daddy and I come with a picnic basket of yummy food and cocktails and sit away from the other parents???

Your loyal subject,
Mommy

I want my MTV

Of course no one picked up the camera while this lil girl was really rockin ~ but... still pretty funny.

I'm sooo much better now

thanks for checkin in

Sick days suuuuuuuck.

So I’ve had my first official mom-orientation. Last night out of proverbial blue ~ G got sick. (and I mean siiiiiiiiiiick)

Retrospectively, perhaps we should have known what was coming. She’s had a decent little cold for awhile, and some nasty coughing at night. Basically, the typical daycare crap as I’m told. However on Saturday night she introduced us to her new battle cry. Man-oh-man was she l-o-u-d. It had a shriek that we hadn’t heard since the afternoon we went to a nice restaurant and opted for the beer sampler ~ since really…what else did we have to do that afternoon (HA!) Anyhoo…it went on and on for-ev-er. I can’t really explain it, but I’m sure other parents will understand when I just say it was different. An ugly different and I didn’t like it.

The next day she was her typically great self. We hung around at home. Went to Thai restaurant where she had some great rice balls, chicken and a lil Tom Yum/Ka soup. WE FINALLY found a park where they had a at least 3-out-of-4 baby swing parts. Ironically we were also ‘trespassing’ on church property. Ahhh the irony of it all. Basically my point it ~ it was a great day. A normal great day. Night came and she went to sleep as normal and THEN…

As usual she woke up about 1am ~ again with this new battle cry thing (is it those top two teeth? But they’ve already pop’ed…) So I hug, snuggle and generally mom smother her in love to try and get her to calm down. Nothing works. Finally she zips it but what's that I smell ~ funk you say??? Yes m’dear. She’s booted on me. GROOOOSSSSSS. So I swapped shirts, snuggle in and we sleep again. 30 min later we’re up and at it again. Only this time – she managed to hit the sheets (and me again). Hey 4am is the PER-FECT time for a family tub. Funny thing is…her lil face is red and on fire and I stand her next to the tub to put in the stopper and turn on the water and she absolutely squeals in delight. Dude – kid – your sick…act like it damn it. I’m not getting any sleep – the least you could do is be all sad and sappy. So we hop in the tub, rinse off and dare I say play for a few??? Well at least long enough for Peter to change the sheets and de-funk-i-fy the bedroom. So all clean and snuggly with PJ’s #2 – we hop in for at least a fewww hours sleep. (1 hour goes by) WAIL WAIL WAIL !!! O-M-G kid, your killing me. Apparently Peter felt my pain as he got up with her to walk-n-rock her around. A few min later I heard that gross gurgle-y sound I now dread. “uhhhh Jenn!” Poor things booting all over Peter and the kitchen floor.

(Funny observation he holds her like a diseased leper with stiff arms out front and gently leaning forward so as to get everything out and on the floor…anything but on him. Mommy takes off her top for snuggly skin to skin contact and lets the lil babe puke all over her without a second thought. Isn’t that what baby wipes are for?)

Well long story short ~ she skipped daycare today and recuperated with PLENTY of napping and a lil retail therapy.

That’s my girl!

Nine Months

Dear Giuliane,

Three – quarters of a year and 100% of my mommy heart. (like the Barosaurus, I have multiple hearts reserved for daddy, family and photography)

This month has been a special one. Not only have you spent an entire month in daycare, but mommy has ALLOWED you to spend an entire month in daycare. Well…almost. Somehow there were already numerous gov’t holidays, a snow day, school delay AND a trip to California!

Admittingly – your life at home has become quite repetitive…
8am: wake up in a panic (how is it 8am ALREADY…wasn’t it just 6am???)
8-8:30: rush to get you ready and walk up to school by 8:30 (which never happens)
4-5p: pick you up
5:30-6: eat & snuggle time
7:30: bed

It makes me SICK that at most, I only spend about 2.5 hours with you a DAY. Somehow in the big wide world of things that matter ~ this doesn’t seem cosmically fair. Hopefully, someday you’ll understand the cost of living, mortgages and perhaps the consequences of bad decisions and forgive me.

But in an attempt to buy your love at such a young and vulnerable age ~ we took you on a trip to California!!! (ok, perhaps we took you out there to meet your Great Aunt Joanne, and see Aunt Jude, but believe me baby…a trip to the beach is a trip to the beach!) You in turn have rewarded us with learning how to wave. Perhaps it was all of the friendly faces you met out there, the warm weather, the sand and ohhh how you loved the swings.

At LAX we were sitting & waiting not so patiently for the plane to board. Daddy had brought me some chocolates and you were playing with the wrappers. (crinkly stuff is a favorite still) You had crawled a few feet away to assert your independence and appeared to be waving at the random passer by. At first it looked like a freak accident that your arm was waving while someone walked past you. Then sure enough ~ your Daddy noted that it was indeed with purpose. It was soo sweet and yet so sad at the same time. Many people giggled at how cute you were and many more smiled as they walked past ~ however there was the occasional traveler who would just walk past you and completely disregard your wave. It took everything I had in my body not to go up to these people and tell them that you JUST learned to wave, no family member has yet to see it and they simply can not disregard you.

But there you continued to sit, waving at each and every passer by and smiling so sweetly.

May karma always return the favor,
Mommy

ooohhhhh wadda I do NOW?!?!

Giuliane’s been testing the waters now and again on this standing thing. She thinks she’s super cool with her lil one hand moves on the table and at the entertainment center.

Over Christmas she liked to scare us both by hanging onto the rocking chair and holding on with one hand. I likened it to a children’s version of a mechanical bull at those classy bars someone might have frequented while on spring break.

Day by day she’s gotten steadier and steadier ~‘till this morning as we dropped her off at ‘school’. (I loath the term daycare) She just stood there standing when Peter put her on the ground. Not scared, not surprised ~ but she did display the slightest hint of confusion.

At one point in this hour-long minute I called out ‘Look Miss Betty!’ ~ alerting not only Miss Betty, but a roomful of curious toddlers. It was like we were the animals on display at the zoo. Three of the cutest little toddlers came rushing up to the baby gate separating the next room and in the most reverent hushed tones you could hear…wow that baby’s staaanding!

Raindrops on Roses, whiskers on kittens…

“…bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens. Brown paper packages tied up with string ~ these are a few of my favorite things!”

Apparently Julie Andrew and the dear Von Trapp children hadn’t tasted the newest and latest craze in culinary delights. Maybe Daddy and I spend too much time watching ‘Bizaree Foods’ on the Travel Channel. Who would have guessed that show was on after 8pm for a REASON.

Its been a great pleasure to serve to avocado, we giggle when you plow through a teething biscuit, turkey’s fine as long as its off mom’s finger and despite a few good carrot days ~ your no longer a big fan. Egg yolks used to be a favorite but now your tastes have…matured?

Perhaps it’s the love of your kitty that has taken you over because for the love of god I can’t keep you away from the cat food!!!!! At LEAST once a day either your Daddy or I catch you in the kitty bowl.

(for grandma) Each and every time we catch you, its just seconds before one of those nasty bites of feline fodder cross your sweet and perfect lips.

(for the rest of the world) 90% of the time before we notice that you are just too quiet for your own good, you have already harvested a tasty little morsel of goodness into your aforementioned steel trap of a mouth and are happily chomp, chomp, chomping away.

And I do mean happily. There isn’t a food we have tried serving you that you haven’t been hesitant about at least at first. There isn’t a food in this house that’s hasn’t taken some getting used to. And clearly, there isn’t a food that we can get you to eat two times in a row without you giving us a look your not supposed to be able to form well until your 7th year of life. With of course…this one exception.

What did YOU do this weekend?

WE GREW A TOOTH!!! (and by we I obviously mean G, but Peter and I should get a lil credit too don't ya think?)

Its been a long, long, loooooooooooooooooooong time coming ~ so long in fact that when I plundged my finger into the depths of your steel trap mouth and annouced proudly that there was indeed a lil sharp dagger in there I was met with a giant eye roll, sigh and "yes...i know its coming."

NOO DUDE...did you not HEAR me...its THERE, OFFICIALLY, FINALLY

So I proceeded to call all my family who now officially thinks i'm insane, pathic or in need of a good hobby