blackbirdnight

So much to talk about

2012-01-19T19:48:00.000-06:00

Of course, there wouldn't be if I did this a bit more regularly.

The highlights:

I got to go home for Thanksgiving this year, which was awesome. Iris and I went on the Christmas Train in Dry Gulch USA. It was awesome fun, then religious creepy. But Iris had a great time and I highly recommend it.

I planned a trip to Sapulpa in December for the annual Sontag Christmas Party, but went home a bit early for a job interview in OKC. Had a marathon interview, but got the job!

Yes, I got a job, a super cool job in OKC which I start in 1 month. I have a lot of packing to do.

Here are some of the things I will miss about Houston:

1. My awesome friends here
2. Swanky grocery stores - no harsh overhead lighting or cheap floors. All kinds of cheese and wine, whole foods sections.
3. Wine in grocery stores
4. All my familiar haunts (this deserves its own list)
5. Free stuff at the Miller Outdoor Theater
6. Bus system
7. Warm weather all the time (most of the time)
8. Awesome live music
9. The districts - Museum, Theater, Gay

My haunts:
1. Under the Volcano - I shall never meet such a perfect mojito again
2. Silver Dragon Chinese Buffet
3. Miller Outdoor Theater and Hermann Park
4. The Village
5. After bar Tapatia
6. The Big Easy
7. Cool grocery stores

sigh. Change is good, right?

Catching up

2011-11-13T07:27:00.000-06:00

My intention was to follow up on that last post rather quickly. As you may have noticed, I did not. We're halfway through November already. Here's some quick photos as I really have not a lot to say.

OU FAN

TuTu Fan

Yogurt fan

Awesome Aunt Erin had a birthday party for Iris!

Iris was an OU princess.

I dressed her in the Black pants and Halloween shirt (thanks Aunt Erin).

Iris added the riot hat, red skirt and lipstick.

With her friend Isaac at the zoo yesterday. I love her hat!

OCTOBER

2011-10-27T21:53:00.000-05:00

October! I think this is my favorite month. And this one has been quite exciting. A few weeks ago, a friend and I ran an "adventure" race in Dallas. We had an awesome road trip up there and a fun evening with her 90-something year-old grandfather-in-law. The race was a 6.7 mile course with 5 legs and 6 obstacles. We alternated running and biking. I loved the biking, although the course was a bit hillier than I am used to. I did okay on the obstacles. reference www.muddybuddy.competitor.com for some examples of the obstacles. you can even see my pics (Dallas 2011). We came in dead last in our age group, which did not set well with my buddy (we had to enter as a team) as she had to wait at least 20 minutes for me, but I thought we did great doing the course in an hour and a half. We also got to crawl through 30 feet of mud.

I took a trip to Oklahoma last weekend. So much fun. Miss Iris is quite the traveller, but developed an attitude on this trip. We were picked up and whisked to the pumpkin patch in Bixby. We saw the lady whi sat in front of us on the plane there. Small world.

They let the kids climb on the pumpkins. Crazy. Iris and her cousins had a great time, though. I see that you can't tell by the picture, but it's true. The baby, Addison's doll, caused quite a few raised eyebrows and whispered discussions about us letting the little girl take care of the "baby".

We also met cousin Ramsey and her mommy, Megan, there.

This was the closest I came to capturing a smile from this precious baby.

There was goat feeding. I missed it, but Addison said Iris danced with joy when the goat took the food from her hand.

More to come...

29 and 30!!!!

2011-09-30T22:56:00.001-05:00

29. Someone's Facebook account you can always count on to annoy you.

I am on a break from Facebook. While I desperately missed it at first, I have found it to be liberating overall. Then I read about all the info Facebook links and steals and I am kind of glad to off for now. When I did check every hour or so, there was no one's posts that annoyed me. I had over 300 friends (how do I know that many people?), and different poeple's posts popped up each day, so no one really got the chance to annoy me.

I do miss seeing the fun updates and the family news and interesting photos that were posted.

30. List what's in your purse.

Goodness.
1. 2 diapers
2. Baby wipes
3. My Baylor badge/building pass/parking card
4. wallet with credit/debit cards, grocery cards, and insurance cards
5. $23 dollars in bills
6. $14.28 dollars in change (mostly Sacajawea dollars)
7. Coupons
8. Enterprise Rent-a-car voucher
9. Kindle
10. hairbrush
11. 3 lip balms (2 bURT'S Bees and 1 Chapstick)
12. Lipstick
13. 2 flash drives
14. 4 hair bands and 3 barrettes
15. Blood pressure pills
16. Pocket Poch Logic
17. Chili's Gift Cards I need to mail
18. Blush brush
19. 4 pens
20. Some recipes I printed out today (pumpkin chocolate chip cookies
21. Band-Aids
22. Lotion
23. Checkbook
24. 2 albuterol inhalers
25. old receipts
26. Pledge to Muscular Dystrophy Association I need to mail
27. Keys to something?
28. 5 crayons
29. a highlighter (green)

And There you have it.

Thanks, Hazel, for letting me tag along on this adventure. I know I will not keep up daily entries as I could not for this month, but I had a good time.

Wow I have some catching up to do - 24-28

2011-09-28T23:48:00.002-05:00

24. My favorite movie and what it's about.

I have to say, despite what i have told most of you, my favorite movie is not Grease. Although, I dearly love Grease. Dearly. It is The Shawshank Redemption. Not only is it well-written, well-cast, and well-directed, it is a story about REDEMPTION. And couldn't we all use a little of that? Plus, I love Morgan Freeman.

25. Talk about your siblings.

I have an older brother (barely). When I was very little, I wanted to do everything he did. When I was a bit older, we were great playmates. By middle school, he did little but tease me and we fought a lot in high school, but I always know he has my back. He is a supervisor at the same job he's had for years (I admire this). He likes to hunt and fish and is quite knowledgable about guns.

We were in the same grade. In high school, I was often known just as his sister. At a recent reunion, the teachers asked about him and told me funny stories about him and weren't much interested in me. I guess he was friendlier than I was. Definitely more memorable.

I also have a younger by 5 years sister. I was so very happy to get her, even after I found out we couldn't be twins. She taught me sacrifice. Well, my mom did when she encouraged me to sacrifice the front seat of the car or the red popsicle for my baby sister. I am really not as bitter as this sounds. She works for a children's shelter and is tireless there, which I really admire. I also think it's pretty cool that she got a Master's when she had a toddler and was pregnant. I also really love her kids and am so glad she had them.

26. My first celebrity crush.

Easy. Ernie. I wanted to marry him. Then I moved on to Kenny Rogers. Had a big poster of Kenny. Enough about that.

27. The last person who texted you.

My aunt just a few hours ago asking me to call her about some ancestry stuff I was working on. It was a good chat.

28. 5 things within touching distance of me right now.

1. Steve the cat
2. Boo the cat
3. Winnie the Pooh
4. Throw pillow
5. My wallet, if I stretch a bit

There ya go.

Day 23!

2011-09-23T09:11:00.001-05:00

23. Give pictures of five famous dudes you find attractive.

Yes, I do.

Even when he's dressed like a white man

Even with the hat.

This Val

Not this one.

Hubba Hubba.

21 and 22

2011-09-22T15:13:00.002-05:00

21. TV.

I watch too much. I like the talent shows. Music and dancing, mostly. Maybe because I have no talent in either area. I especially like "So You Think You Can Dance", not for the drama or competition, but because there's rarley an opportunity to see such wonderful choreography and talent on television.

I also like/hate Toddlers and Tiaras for a weekly dose of outrage, although I don't have cable anymore so I haven't seen the recent controversial ones and I am pretty sure the Toddler in the hooker garb will turn me off it forever.

22. The last movie I saw in a theater. Oddly enough, like Hazel, it was Avatar. Saw it in 3-D and I really liked it, except for the story but it wasn't terrible. I like going to the movies and should really try to more often. I think I left Iris in daycare to go see that and felt tremendous guilt over that. I still can't bring myself to get a sitter for a movie. I do regret not seeing the last Harry Potter in 3-D, dork that I am.

Day 19 and 20

2011-09-21T00:43:00.003-05:00

19. Music.

I like it all. This year, I have been on a mellow folksy kick. I have actually purchased several old-fashioned CDs recently: The Perishers, Dwight Yoakam, Band of Horses (my favorite), Iron and Wine, The Swell Season, and 50 Children's Favorites. The last was for Iris, but also for me so that I did not have to listen to music I don't like.

20. Is education important?

Sure. But all kinds, not just the grammar school kind. I think most people don't get enough of any education these days, but especially the type of education one gets from camping or volunteering. I got a lot of education from having siblings and a very large, close, extended family. I wish that I had gotten more (although nothing is stopping me from doing it now) education about religion and spiritualism. Of course, I am a huge advocate of traditional ed and hope to return to the system some day.

Blog Challenge days 17 and 18

2011-09-19T00:09:00.001-05:00

17. What makes you instantly happy

HYRAX
When The Sound of Music is on regular TV
Babies
Iris laughing
New books
Booking a flight home
Music

18. What scares you.

Not a lot. Maybe the unknown. It has always turned out to far less scary than I anticipated.

30-Day Blog Challenge: Day 16

2011-09-16T15:44:00.003-05:00

Day 16. Talk about your family:

Well, I have a lot of family. My own little family is BD, Iris, Steve, Boo, and me. Steve and Boo are cats. BD and Iris are humans. BD does not like for me to talk about him too much, but he's smart, and funny. Iris is a joy who dances when she likes the way something tastes and prefers to run or strut rather than walk. She wants to be independent but will still hold my hand anytime I tell her to.

The rest of my family is 500 miles away and I miss all of them.

Blog Challenge -13-15

2011-09-15T15:39:00.000-05:00

Whew! I am a bit behind. Irritatingly, I started number 13 at the appropriate time, but the computer was not cooperating. No excuse for yesterday. Oh, the guilt.

13. Where would you like to visit or live.

This is difficult. I can think of only a few places I wouldn't want to visit. Like to live? I don't know. That may be part of the reason I am still living here. I would like to spend time on the water.

Lake, river, ocean, I don't care.

I just really like water. I think I might like to try a small town for a while, but probably not soon. I am too attached to the city amenities right now.

14. What is your earliest memory.

I am not sure. Memories are tricky in that you can form a memory of something you never experienced just by believing you experienced it. I think that's what happened to me. I remember being in a kiddie pool at age 2 and an older cousin putting worms in the water and my slightly older brother thinking they were snakes. However, I know this memory has changed over the years based on the re-telling of the incident by my mother. So I am not convinced I actually remember it. However, I do remember a lot about pre-school when I was 3 and I am confident those are real.

15. What are your favorite blogs.

See my sidebar. Also, though, Cakewrecks is probably my favorite. They moved from blogspot to an actual domain this month. Hilarious. I also frequent Hazel's favorites as I am too lazy to find my own. Thanks, Hazel.

30 Day Challenge - Day 12

2011-09-12T14:24:00.000-05:00

Day 12. Bullet the day (I will be inserting typical events where applicable)

7 am - Wake up, shower, dress, wake up baby, dress her, gather crap, out the door
8:15 - Drop Iris off at Daycare. Linger if she cries
8:20 - Work. Today was payroll (every other Monday), so did payroll
10:00 - Made my presence known in the employee area
10:30 - short meeting with Sam about referrals (this does not need to make sense to all readers)
11:00 - Work on stuff (completely random and unpredictable)
12:20 - Go to Methodist for lunch, because I forgot mine AGAIN
1:30 - MTG with very expensive equipment rep
2:30 - Cut cornea for surgery tomorrow
3:30 - Answer emails and return calls
4:00 - Random work
5:00 - Wrap it up and head home
5:05 - Confer with spouse about location of child and dinner
5:30 - Arrive home - either cook or leave for restaurant
6:30 - Play with baby
7:30 - Bath for baby on bath night, otherwise books, TV, etc with baby
8:30 - Put baby to bed
9:00 - Go to gym
10:00 - Read, housework, shower
12:00 ish - give it up and go to bed.

30 Day Challenge. Day 11

2011-09-12T14:15:00.001-05:00

11. Put the iPod on shuffle and list the first ten songs that come up. OK. So, I hava an iPod that I adore. However, I have a hard time keeping it charged and it is not charged and I do not know where the charger is. So, I delayed this and fired up Pandora at work. Pandora plays songs based on my input and previously "liked" songs. Here they are for today:

1. Laura Marling - Sofia. Love it.
2. Tracy Chapman - Broken
3. Ben Folds - You Don't Know Me. Love Ben Folds, even if he is a TV judge.
4. Jaymay - Sea Green, See Blue. FIrst time I heard this one. Mellow. I liked.
5. Adele - Chasing Pavement. Adele: All good.
6. Iron & Wine - Tree by the River. I ADORE I&W
7. Voodoo Child - Melvin Taylor. My dad played this song on his guitar a lot when I was growing up. Good Times.
8. Lesser Birds - Take the Leaves. New, nice.
9. Barenaked Ladies - Alternative Girlfriend. I am surprised this is the first of BNL to pop up.
10. Indigenous - Come on Home. If you want some awesome blues with unbeatable guitar, this is the place.

30-Day Blog Challenge: Day 10

2011-09-10T22:03:00.001-05:00

10. Write 5 letters without identifying the addressee.

1. Hello. It's been a long time. I miss you. We all miss you. You are so refreshing when you're around and leave such a huge void when you're gone for too long. Come back, just for a visit, and re-energize us. You don't even have to come to my house, but if you could hit the park or the farms, that would be great. I know I've complained about you in the past, when you overstayed your welcome, or brought so much with you that we were literally flooded, and for that I apologize. If it's not asking too much, just hit the fires. Thanks.

2. I had a great time at our last visit. I am sorry Iris got sick and we couldn't have the big get-together. I appreciate that you are always willing to host when I'm there so that we can see everybody. I also wanted to thank you for the really cute stuff you've gotten Iris. I don't know how you manage to do all the things you do. I should really work a little harder to move there so we can see you more often.

3. Hey there. I was going to write to you and I saw that you wrote to me. You're very welcome, BTW. I loved the animal prints, too. Iris was starting to take the diapers off, too. I am sorry to say I just gave up on the cloth a few weeks ago. We are starting potty training and to be honest, the toddler poop was a little hard for me to handle. As I've mentioned before, I wish we lived closer. I do a lot of things here that would be more fun with you. I also like tea and chats with you, which are hard to do at this distance. Can't wait to see you again. I really may plan a visit, but I'll consult you first.

4. Hey, I know you don't read this, but I want to thank you for being such a great friend and wonderful co-worker. Sometimes (a lot of times), you're the only reason I go to work. You have such a rational view of the world and I appreciate your advice and insight. I am really excited to run that race with you, even if you lap me.

5. Hi, my little companion. I am so glad you've been with me for so long. You are sweet and cuddly and still good for a hunt. I wish you many more years at the end of my bed.

The challenge. Day 9

2011-09-09T12:33:00.000-05:00

9: Tattoos (I am paraphrasing). If you have one, post it. If you don't, jump on the 20-year-old bandwagon and get one. Or at least really want one.

So, I have two. I got one in 1993 when I was 21 and no one I knew had one. That makes me special. I got the other during my mid-life crisis at age 32 (gonna die young, aren't I?).

I think they kinda look like this, but not sure as they are on my back, one on each shoulder blade, and kinda small. I don't see them very often. I regret the placement as they look nipplish if I am seen from behind from a distance.

30 Day Blog Challenge: Day 8

2011-09-08T14:13:00.001-05:00

Day 8: A show you thought you wouldn't like, but did.

I can't think of one, however I did think I would like GLEE, and I don't. It's okay, but I had really high hopes. I love singing and musicals and glee-clubby things, but I lost interest the first season. It isn't as bad as the singin cop show was several years ago - so long ago I forgot it's name.

30 Day Challenge - Day 7

2011-09-07T13:40:00.000-05:00

What do you wear to bed?

Varies. If I fall asleep putting Iris to bed thinking I will get up later to finish the day's chores, I sleep in my clothes. This does not happen often. Usually a t-shirt and shorts. So very exciting.

Off topic - Amdro is apparently the god of killing fire ants. Applied Sunday, no ants on Tuesday.

Off topic 2 - I am reading "Eating Animals" by Jonathan Safran Foer. I am no longer eating animals. Not that I eat that many, but I had gotten into a chicken habit the past few years. No longer, not only can I not stomach the way they are treated (which is one of the reasons I stopped eating them in the first place), I am now aware of the enviromental impact of eating meat. An even better reaon to embrace the tofu. Did you know that the turkeys you buy in the grocery store cannot reproduce. Can't. They are that genetically altered.

30-Day Challenge, Day 6

2011-09-06T16:56:00.000-05:00

Wow, six days. This is a record for me. Today's Challenge, 30 interesting things about me:
1. I like school
2. I am Seneca
3. I once rode my bike from Houston to Austin
4. I read a lot
5. I cannot knit
6. I like to bake
7. I can stand on my head
8. I get sea sick
9. My favorite place is seaside
10. I am a fan of OU
11. I watch college football whenever I can
12. I like Jazz
13. I love musicals
14. I can write with either hand, forward and backward
15. I find hyraxes hilarious
16. I cannot drive a stick
17. I was a vegetarian for 18 years, then I ate chicken, but am now a vegetarian again
18. I don't have a favorite season or color
19. I currently have a mild Diet Dr. Pepper addiction
20. I can play the piano
21. I am crafty
22. I am not as interesting on paper as I am in my head
23. I am completely in love with my baby. Still.
24. I could shop all day. And the next
25. I hate having to drive to work and actually miss the bus.
26. I eat vegetables even though I don't like them.
27. I am from a small town
28. I make a mean truffle
29. All of these "I's" have made me uncomfortable
30. I am doing an adventure race in 5 weeks for which I am unprepared.

Thanks for sticking with this to the end.

30 Day Challenge, Day 5

2011-09-05T11:32:00.000-05:00

I am at work today waiting for tissue to warm up so I can see it, so this one will actually be at an appropriate time.

3 Favorite books:

This is incredibly difficult for me. I love so many. But, I will narrow it down by influential.

1. Ishmael. This was an incredibly thought-provoking book which involves a man's conversation with a gorilla. I had never previously thought of humans as the pinnacle of evolution, but this book made me realize I actually did think that. And it made me reconsider and think about a lot of other things, too.

2. To Kill a Mockingbird. My mom gave me this to read when I was in 4th grade and I still think it is one of the best stories I have ever read. I am not alone in this, I know.

3. The Mezzanine by Nicholson Baker. A stream of consciousness revolving around replacing a shoelace on a lunchbreak. Baker writes a lot of erotica, intellectual erotica, but still. His latest is almost too much for me to take, but The Mezzanine was so perfectly written that I thought I was thinking what he was writing. I admire this book so much because that style is hard to do without being over or underdone.

Incidentally, on another day, Hazel's (http://www.todayslittlepoem.blogspot.com) list could have been my own.

30 day challenge, day 4

2011-09-05T00:46:00.000-05:00

I am only 20 minutes late today.

Before I get to the question, I'll let you know why I was late. Iris and I got up late - after 8. I wanted to go to the zoo, but she seemed perfectly content at home and even insisted on running around sans pants and diaper for a while. But, BD really wanted to go, so we wrangled her after noon into diaper and pants and headed off to get her grandma, which is a 30 minute drive, before heading to the zoo. So now it is after 2pm, on a gorgeous, if gusty, Houston day in the middle of a holiday weekend. I knew parking would be a nightmare and it was. We had to walk a bit to the zoo, then we stayed there until it closed. I bought a family pass because I really like the zoo and Iris does now, too. We then rushed home to get supplies and headed back to the park for the Bollywood extravaganza at the Miller Outdoor Theater. We left early because Iris was crawling under the blanket and saying "night night". So that's why I was late. Fun-filled day.

And on to the question: Number 4 - What are your views on religion?

I am not religious, nor am I spiritual. I believe consequences and rewards happen here, not in an after life. I think religion served (and serves, in some cases) a good purpose in providing a guideline of how to live so that people couls live together. "Let's all agree not to kill each other" is a good tenet and if the power of a god overseeing the population was necessary to help enforce those sorts of tenets, I can see the case for there being one. I can also see that many things were (and are) unexplainable to a people at a given time and the idea of something superior or otherworldly was an easier to take than simply feeling ignorant. I can also see that religion as a way to connect to others, unite a community, and allow its members to feel secure by having their faith in something to rely on has its benefits. But I also see that religion is a way for people to justify ostracizing and killing others, as a way for the unscrupulous to line their pockets with donations from the poor and hopeful, and a way for politicians to push a personal agenda under a religious umbrella.

I have considered religion often for the past 26 years and have reached no firm conclusions. I wish that I had the faith that I see in others. The kind that brings them peace amid turmoil. And I envy those who find comfort in the community a church can bring. But I doubt I will ever be religious or a believer in a higher power. Unless there were a god of fire ant destruction. I would pray and sacrifice to that god.

30 day challenge days 2 and 3

2011-09-03T10:55:00.001-05:00

Ok, so I missed yesterday, but I have a good excuse. I was stuck in McAllen Texas with no computer and the Blackberry was not cooperating.

So, Day 2: Where do I want to be in ten years.

I want to be settled, but not so settled that I am complacent. I think I would like to be more involved in politics, although they sicken me. My baby will be almost 12. I want to have a job that gives me time to go to her swim meets and piano recitals, but still pays me enough to have her in private school. I'll probably need more education for that to happen. Or I need to learn how to sell myself better.

Day 3: Weird things I do when alone.

Well, this is a challenge. I suppose I do weird things alone precisely because they're weird and should be done alone. I sing a lot, but I imagine a lot of people do that. This is especially hard since I haven't really been alone since Iris was born. So, the real question is, what will I admit to. I used to like to take a hot bath and drink Champagne directly out of the bottle that I kept chilled in a sink full of ice. That's more alcoholic than weird.

I should mention that I was inspired to do this by my friend Hazel* (https://todayslittlepoem.blogspot.com). She was one of my preggo buddies 2 years ago, along with my cousin Megan (https://hurthomesweethome.blogspot.com). They are both currently expecting again and, I think, due about the same time. I kinda feel like I missed the starting line in a race. But that's okay. Not really prepared to run right now. I am really happy for them both, though.

*name changed

30 Day Blog Challenge

2011-09-01T09:22:00.001-05:00

OK - here goes.

Day 1: Three things that irritate you about people

Easy

1. Stupidity. The kind that can be prevented and occurs mainly due to laziness. Like not reading directions and then being irritated that things didn't go well. Or thinking that the cosmos or jeebus or whatever is just going to take care of things and not planning for them and then being shocked when it didn't go well.

2. People who waste my time. I should be the only one allowed to do that.

3. Bigotry of any kind.

Pictures

2011-08-30T16:49:00.000-05:00

End of July

2011-07-26T17:05:00.001-05:00

I just cancelled my surgery. Yeah, I just decided I am not going to do it. A lot of people live with gallstones and so can I. So there.

On the way back from Florida, we stopped in the Big Easy for a night. The hotel was on Decatur and very near the Aquarium, the church, in the French Quarter, a few blocks from Cafe du Monde, and pretty cool. Iris enjoyed the beignets.

We took a long walk and I got blisters. Bourbon street was a little racy - several strip clubs - so I was glad we went early, as we had a toddler with us. A nice lady threw her a stuffed unicorn from a balcony and she didn't even have to flash.

Last weekend was very hot. We went to the mall, which Iris loves. What she does not love is going into stores, so we just walk the mall part as I long to actually shop. Then we headed to Kemah. That place has gotten really crowded and popular. The rebuilds after Ike look nice, though. I let Iris play in the water.

She had a great time. I love that she can be so independent. Unfortunately, she took a spray up the nose and needed a hug, which rendered my t-shirt completely see-through, so we headed home. It was a good time. I think my friend and I are taking our kids to Galveston next weekend. Wish me luck.

Beach

2011-07-17T21:09:00.001-05:00

So Iris says "fish" and "beach" pretty much the same way: "bitch". Which is funny in its own right, but hilarious when you spend a week at the beach in a condo filled with fish pictures with her. Okay, so maybe only I found it funny, but I found it funny several times a day. We are back in Houston, but spent a luxurious vacation in the panhandle of Florida with several member of my extended family. There were 24 of us all together in 5 condos in the same complex. My little family roomed with my sister, her two kids and my mom. We left here Sunday and drove to Baton Rouge, LA, which, I must say is a cute little town. We spent some time at LSU and at a public park (mostly to tire out our little carseat rider). Then we headed to Destin and pulled in right behind my sister after hours of trying to catch up to her. Great timing!

Iris got to spend 4 whole days with her cousins and loved most of it!

What she really loved was the beach and the pool. The first time we went to the beach and got in the water, she fought to get out of my arms. I think she seriously thought she could swim on her own. She laughed as the waves smacked her face. Crazy little water baby. In the pool, she wanted me to let her go, jumped in and bobbed right back to the surface and even fell in and came back up before I rescued her. All this and she hasn't been in a pool (other than the 12 inch kiddie pool) since last summer. I really need to get her lessons.

As I mentioned, we were in the same condo complex as a lot of my family. One of my mom's brothers and his wife and a sister and her husband, 4 cousins, their spouses and kids were around for family fun. We generally met up with some of them at the beach or the pool. We only had a few scheduled events, so it was a really good mix of free time and family time.

Unlce Chuck, Aunt Cathy, cousin Sarah and her daughter Abigail stopped by one night and Iris really seemed to like Uncle Chuck. I should have taken pictures. She just about wore him out with the hugs and kisses.

We had two cookouts and took over several pools thoughout the week. We also had a dolphin cruise and wore matching t-shirts, which was actually kind of fun. Iris, of course, enjoyed the boat ride.

I caught my sister making this face quite a bit. This is the best shot I got of the t-shirts. they were awesome with all our names on them.

You can tell I'm tan in this picture because you are not blinded by my legs. This was during one of our all family cookouts.

We had arts and crafts. Quick and simple - entertained the kids for about 5 minutes. I forgot to mention we had 9 kids age 7 and under amongst us.

See how nicely they all posed. Except Iris, who ran away.

Proof I was on the beach, with a lot of accessories. The water was a beautiful greenish blue. I'm glad Iris is a little water baby. I can see many years of beaches ahead of us. Just want to shout out to the Sontag family for making this vacation so awesome!

Summertime

2011-06-14T13:09:00.000-05:00

Well, it's almost officially here. Been hanging around for a few weeks temperature-wise. I bought Iris a tiny little blow-up pool in the hopes that she would swim (in the shade) while I exposed myself to the sunrays. It works for about half an hour and then she wants more entertainment. To be fair, the pool is about 3 inches deep and she looks just pitiful trying to "swim" in it. We have upgraded for the coming weekend. Plus, I left the little pool out Sunday and all the creatures of the backyard descended and popped it. There was even a baby bird being fed by its mother. We are in a drought (I typed "draught" at first and, oh, how I wish that were so) and guess all the creatures are feeling it from the bees to the squirrels (which Iris can say).

We are debating the hat. She makes this expression quit a bit. In pictures. Never see it otherwise. Her vocaulary has exploded this month. As has her affinity for shoes. She wants new ones every time we go to a store. At the very least she feels (at this stage, I am quit sure she is feeling, not thinking about things) she should try some on. Then she wants to choose her shoes for the day. Sometimes even the whole outfit.

She did not care for the bikini experience and spent a lot of time pulling the top down to cover her belly.

Note the pitiful little pool. We go out fairly early in the day usually. Although it was around 2 on this day. My lush backyard has sun in the morning, but is shady in the evenings.

In the background you can see one of two trees that are begging for a hammock. I may break down and get one this weekend despite the overabundance of bugs and spiders (all kinds) in and around the yard. I don't know when I would use it, but I can just imagine myself gently swaying, napping, reading in it.

I was trying to get a photo of this adorable outfit I got in the cousins' hand-me-down box. Iris, however, knows about cameras and wants to be the photographer so pictures of her are getting increasingly hard to get. One solution is to put her in my lap so she can see what's going on.

Also a look I see often. She's usually happy when she does it. Or she might be bitey.

Look - a smile

The end.

In case you have been wondering...

2011-06-09T10:02:00.000-05:00

Way back in the day, when I first started either this blog or the one before it, and way before every update was devoted to my preciousness (that would be Iris), I used to blog about my little life. One of the first entries was about recycling and how I hate shampoo bottles. Actually, I hated that recycling was so difficult where I lived and that I had to buy a product that was mostly water and then I was left with a non-biodegradable bottle. So I tried some bare shampoos and was wholly unsatisfied. I did some research at the time and was aware that the all natural, non-sudsing ingredients were never going to give me the satisfaction of a good lather that the bottled stuff does. So, years later, I have reached a compromise. One brand shampoo bars.

While not ideal (the packaging is such that it suggests a bar twice as big as you get, which is not only misleading, but wastes so many packing materials. Stupidly. I would pay the $7 even if I knew the actual size going in), it is far better than what I tried before and the claim is that it takes the place of up to 5 bottles of shampoo. That is potentially 5 bottles I don't have to recycle. Not that I hate recycling, especially now that it is curbside, I just hate that I am contributing to the waste and the creation of plastic.

So, I love the shampoo. The conditioner is not so great, but it's not terrible. Also, traveling with these is very convenient. http://www.drugstore.com/ if you're interested. I picked mine up at Target, but their carriage is spotty.

I am going on a super-duper fun-sized family vacation in July. Extended family vacation - aunts, uncles, cousins, cousins' kids. We're headed to the beach, we're gonna have matching t-shirts, it's giong to be Griswald awesome, I am sure. In preparation, as I am lily-white, I thought I'd get a tan. I have generally avoided the sun since I was 13. There are notable exceptions, like the bike-short and glove tan I had going when I did the MS 150, the summer I fell asleep on the beach (at 9am) and was burned, blistered, and crispy (except my face; I was wearing a floppy hat), and the cheek blistering I got at an OU football game one November. However, for the most part I have been inside, in the shade, or slathered with sunscreen for the past 20-something years. So far, I have been in the sun about an hour (total) in the last 3 weeks. I need to step it up. Maybe I'll just get a spray tan and invest in sunscreen stock. That will be less work.

I could totally rock this look.

I have lost a bit of weight recently. Which is cool but my clothes are starting to look unprofessionally sloppy on me. Which is not cool, because I need a new couch before I can get a new wardrobe. Anyway, saw the doc about it (because I was not trying to lose weight). He sent me to get a belly ultrasound (unpleasant) and, with the discovery of gallstones, off I went to a surgeon. I like the guy, but his exam room was so inelegantly stark that I started to mistrust him. I agree that those two concepts should be unrelated. I have agreed to remove the gallbladder in August. However, the surgeon is unconvinced that that is the problem and suggested we remove it as a "diagnotic test". I see his point, but am really not comfortable with surgery as a "test". I'm going to do it anyway as I would sincerely like to avoid the acute gallbladder syndrome that can (and most likely will) occur when I don't have time for it.

My momma is coming to take care of the Babe in a few weeks. That means I need to devote all of my time to building shelves and organizing my house. I can do it. Deadlines are my most favorite motivator.

18 months - Can you believe it?

2011-05-25T13:44:00.000-05:00

It has been a little over 18 months since I birthed the sunshine of my life. She had her 18 month checkup yesterday. I didn't get to go, but here's what BD had to tell me.

She is:

27.5 lbs

32.5 or 33.5 inches (he's not sure)

She wears 18 month to 2 T clothes

She wears a size 6 shoe, but I think she's almost ready to move up

She may have a hearing loss since she doesn't know any words.

OK, that is sarcastic because she routinely says over 20 words and understands many, many more. Her daddy just didn't think they counted since they are not said perfectly and in sentences.

She does not have a hearing loss.

She is, in fact, King of the World(see above pic).

She loves to play outside

She has started to become a picky eater

She is still fascinated by bellybuttons

She has 4 orange fish and an orange mouse now.

Sometimes we sleep with all of them

Iris and squirrels - you should click on the pic to get a better view

Don't have a good title for this one

2011-05-03T09:35:00.001-05:00

I have been busy. Or tired. Or both, depending. Since I last posted, Iris and I took another trip to Oklahoma. Rather spur-of-the-moment, but great fun. I had just moved and could not find a camera, so there are no photos to document the occasion.

My house is finally coming together. I have a strange invasion of roly-polies, though.

I am not sure why. They don't seem to bother anything, just creep me out in general. I am sure Iris would like to taste one if she hasn't already. I am hoping it is temporary or I can find where they're getting in.

We spent some time last night cleaning the back yard. It is a large yard with some interesting landscaping left-overs from previous tenants. BD has done a tremendous amount of work clearing out the dead and unwanted and it finally looks nice. Now, to get some deck furniture and we'll be all set. Miraculously, there are no fire ant hills in the back. However, there is a proliferating tree that we are battling. I don't know what kind it is, but there are little treelies everywhere - in other bushes, in the planters, in the cement cracks. We also have 2 pecan tress. Our yard often has five or more little gray squirrels eating the nuts, to the delight of Iris and the cats.

I got a great deal from the Houston Press VOICE deals - $100 at Ikea for $50. I can always use something from Ikea. I broke my TV stand while moving (it was on its last leg anyway), so I got a new one. I am terrified of the TV falling on Iris (kills a couple of kids every year), so the stand is low, wide, and sturdy. It does not have doors as I had originally wanted, but Iris is much less interested in pushing buttons that she once was, so hopefully it will not be too bad. I also got Iris a table and chair. She likes to sit and eat like a real person now.

Speaking of Iris, she has blossomed of late. Repeating words, using sign language, giving me complex instructions to get what she wants. It's fascinating, really. There is a handy man at her daycare. He calls her "no, no, no" because she wags her little finger at him and says this when he tries to come into her classroom. She thinks it's hilarious. She's been saying this for a while now, but just this week started nodding her head and saying "uh-huh". I'm glad she has something positive to say.

I took her to the Museum of Fine Arts Houston on Saturday so that I could see an Impressionist exhibit. She did reasonable well. I made her stay in her stroller during that part as it was crowded and I really wanted to see the paintings. My apologies to all my fellow museum-goers who had to hear her. Fortunately, with that many people in such a small space, the noise was substantial anyway.

After we left the special exhibit, I let Iris out, but she had to hold my hand. She tolerated that. She approached every docent, boldly, waved and said "hi". I don't know if it was because they were standing still, looking at her, or if she instinctively recognizes who to charm. I hope it's the latter. That skill can be very handy.

Here's my baby about a year ago. She will be 18 months this month. So very hard to believe. So hard to believe that 2 years ago, I was nauseated, exhausted, and convinced she was a boy.

Oops. Skipped a month.

2011-04-08T12:37:00.000-05:00

Of blogging. Don't get excited. Here's a synopsis:

1. I moved to a little house in a familiar neighborhood. Hardwood floors.
2. There are many spiders that now live in and on my car. I look foolish at least once a week dealing with them.

3. I took a drive north in March to visit the family and unload 3 giant tubs of baby clothes. Here are some pictures:

Iris with her great-grandmother

With Nana and her cousins Jacob and Addison.

Don't they look happy?

4. I have been internet-less at home for almost 6 weeks. WAY too long.

5. Iris is wonderful. She talks more each day. Mostly bugabugaBUGabuGA for long periods of time, but her favorite is "bellybutton", which sounds like "bee(ll)ybutt". The Ls are almost implied. Adorable. And she would like to see yours, please.

She's wearing my shoes in the new house.

7. We're all sick. She has another ear infection, but is feeling fine. Mostly.

8. And random pictures

Iris in an adorable dress my friend over and VERDANTVIOLET made for her.

Too cute. It's from a shirt and is really clever.

Could not convince her of cute shoes.

Chilling at Chacho's after a hard day at the park.

When it was cold in March. She tolerate the footies for about 10 minutes.

She's very glad it is warmer now.

It's 4am. And I'm doing this.

2011-02-24T04:47:00.000-06:00

That's right. 4 am. I am not an insomniac by nature. At least, I didn't used to be. I fell asleep pretty early tonight putting the baby to sleep. Then there was suddenly a cat on my head. The cats are banished from the bedrooms, so this was unexpected. They had wormed their way in. So, I chased them out. And saw that BD was also asleep. I knew he had clothes in the washer that he would want in the morning. So I am up drying them. Because I am an awesome wife. Also, I have a lot on my mind and as soon as I wake up, they pop right back in there and keep me up. I am considering baking cookies. Since I have time.

In baby news, just a couple of updates. It seems she has been sick all winter. Two weeks in December, three in January. She was home sick for 3 days in February. This time with her first ear infection. Poor baby. On the plus side, I know how much she weighs. She is up to 24.5 lbs. Which I think is lower than last time she was there. I got an awesome growth chart custom made from VerdantViolet on Etsy.

She custom made this. It's a red iris with a white tree at the top. Get it? Super cool. I would recommend this site for cute, cool, awesome toys, books, and growth charts (which were not on her site, but that she whipped up just because I asked). I wanted one since I tend to move around and won't have the doorframe height marker. This one is portable.

My little Iris is delightful. She is sweet and engaging and very affectionate. She is also stubborn and headstrong. And bitey. She got two of her little friends pretty good at daycare on Friday. Because they were on the cushion she wanted to sit on. So now I have to tell her every morning, "No biting". She also got me on Sunday and her daddy on Monday. He deserved it, though. He stuck his finger in her mouth.

I am adding some photos here of my little darling. I want to note, however, that it is getting very difficult to do since she rund DIRECTLY at me when she notices me taking a picture.

Here she is showing off her new shirt from her Auntie Erin and family. She carried it around for a long time. It is her favorite color. Hopefully she'll let me put it on her tomorrow.

Saturday was beautiful, so we had a picnic at a little playground in the neighborhood. She was enjoying the tomatoes off BD's burger. She wasn't quite dressed for the park, but we played anyway.

She enjoyed the swings for a little while. It was actually difficult to get a good picture of her since she tended to watch the ground.

This is about the time her daddy couldn't take it anymore. She only managed to get a little dirt and leaves in her mouth before he swooped in. I think I got a pretty good picture.

We have to move next month. I dread this. I had so much stuff before, but the baby stuff seems to have quadrupled the amount of stuff I have. I am making a trip to Oklahoma to, um, return some of the generous donations that were given to me when Iris was born. So, Mae Mae, I hope you have room in your attic for some tubs of clothes. See you guys in March!

BTW. To all the people whose blogs I follow. I often try to comment, but the site makes it difficult. Just wanted you to know I am still reading!

Snow storm saga

2011-02-05T00:02:00.001-06:00

I have been very busy. That's why no blog. Not because I am lazy or uninterested in sharing the minutia of my life with you. I have just been very busy.

I like living in Houston for a lot of reasons. One of those is the weather. I'm not saying I don't enjoy a little snow or the occasional tornado, but being able to be outside comfortably 9 months out of the year is something I appreciate about Houston. However, this winter has been a bit challenging. Before all of you suffering the great blizzard of Snoklahoma or just the general temperment of the far northern states stop reading because I am about to complaing about the weather, just hear me out. No, we didn't get 20 inches of snow (which is just UNREAL, BTW) or suffer from subzero temps. What we did suffer from was 2 days of absolute panic over the potential of snow and or ice. First, let me say that this winter has been unusually cold here in the big H. So cold that I actually bought a winter coat a few weeks ago thinking I'd never have to actually use it. (got it 60% off!). I am so glad I bought it. I have a long walk to my car and it has actually gotten into the 20's here this week.

Since we were potentially expecting some snow, maybe 2 inches, Houston shut down yesterday, well in advance of the start of the potential snow. It was to have arrived around midnight Thursday night. My daycare closed at 1 that day to prepare. Then the schools started closing. Then city offices. I had to leave work early to get my bundle. Not that I minded too much. Her daycare was closed today, too, but she stayed home with her daddy. No one showed up to work today. I guess the clouds spit out a little sleet last night, although I never saw anything but the overpasses and bridges did get frozen. And, somwhow, 1000 or so people managed to crash their cars on the highways this morning. Okay, enough of my rant. I know what you guys come here for.

Iris and I took a roadtrip right after Christmas to see our friends Blueberry, Hazel, and Stanley (names changed). It was great fun.

On New Year's Eve, we hung out with BD's sister and her family. The little kids decided to wear hats.

She found some sunglasses.

She dresses like mommy.

Midwinter Thoughts of Summer

2011-01-07T22:36:00.000-06:00

This summer, I will taking a little vacation with some extended family. We're going to Florida, renting condos, and chilling on the beach. I have heard rumors of matching t-shirts and group photos. I am just looking forward to fun in the sand and, knowing my cousins, margaritas! So, with these thoughts of summer in my head, I give you some photos of my wintertime baby.

We had a photoshoot in which I was trying to get a good photo for Christmas cards and show of some of the outfits she got for her birthday. I guess it was a bit much for her.

I just love her in a tutu.

Since we are going to the beach and I am 75 lbs overweight and have high blood pressure (thanks, Iris), I have decided to join WeightWatchers to shed some of this baggage. I also have to start exercising. That's a blog for another day. My place of employment subsidizes the cost of the program for a savings of about 65%. It's gonna work this time, I'm sure.

Christmas

2010-12-29T17:05:00.000-06:00

Just a little update. I got a Kindle. Are you jealous? I would be. I didn't think I wanted one, but I was wrong.

We had a pretty typical Christmas for having it with a one year old. She was far more interested in the boxes and paper than anything else.

See, she's interested, but a little unsure of what to do.

She thought she was pretty cute in these glasses.

Festivus

2010-12-23T13:26:00.000-06:00

I am back from Oklahoma with a chest full of snot and a head full of memories. Poetic, huh? I chose to trek north the weekend before Christmas for a few reasons. The big party for my mom's family was on Sunday, and I really don't have the time to take of work. Well, I could, but that's a long story. Anyway, Iris, BD and I spent 4 hours in the airport last Friday (neither of us warranting a frisk :( ) to reach OK.

Saturday evening, we had Christmas festivities with my mom, sister, and her family, complete with cookie baking. I am very thankful to have a sister who doesn't mind hosting us every year and letting us mess up her house. Iris made out like a bandit and really enjoyed the atmosphere, even though she did not feel very well.

The niece and nephew are always a good time. They are getting harder to shop for, however.

They got robes. They were unusually excited about the robes.

On Sunday, we headed out to the family bash. The weather was really nice. I miss the winters in OK. I love the way everything turns golden brownish yellow. It is actually a lot more aesthetically pleasing than I just made it sound. I should have thought to take a picture. The party is held out in the country, so I got to see plenty of the dead grass and trees.

Iris has 11 cousins to play with at these events. She was just a month old last year. So, not walking or trying to escape out the door. I think she mostly enjoyed the freedom to roam.

She's in the middle there, trying to unwrap a cousin's present instead of her own. It was a lot more exhausting being at this party an d responsible for a toddler. The gift exchange was just for the kids. We also brought donations for the 3rd grade class my cousin teaches. I really like that my family does things like that.

Miscellaneous and shots

2010-12-13T01:50:00.000-06:00

I took Iris for her 12 month check up last week. She checked out just fine. She's 30 inches, 24 lbs 4 oz. Dr. Wiley insisted she is advanced because she can find her nose (and yours, too, just ask). She got 3 shots. Sadly, I am also not talking about a lemon drop or other yumminess, I mean the kind with needles. I had intended for her daddy to take her to this one so he had to deal with shots, but he had court, so it fell to me. They were out of one of the shots, so we have to go back this week for that one and a flu shot.

I apparently have not uploaded pics in a while, so the opener is Iris about 4 months. She was so small. She is almost a foot taller than when she was born.

I had ambitions of posing her in her Christmas outfits in front of our tree for pictures today, but she woke up with a fever. This also prevented our trip to the mall to see Santa. She wasn't super sick - cough, runny nose, and fever, But, she didn't act herself, either. Maybe tomorrow. We have such a busy week planned. BD and I are going to a party on Wednesday. His days off are Tuesday-Thursday, so they party during the week. Thursday, I have dinner plans with an old friend and it's on to OK for the Sontag bash on Friday. In the meantime, I have a tremendous amount of work to do.

I have done next to ZERO Christmas shopping. I did pick up this gem from Etsy.

It's Baby's First Neuroscience Book made by a friend. See Verdantviolet to the right to follow her adventures in upcycling. I am really excited about the book and she is going to make an eye one, too. I can't wait for it to arrive.

Big Changes

2010-11-29T04:52:00.000-06:00

Ok, they're not actually that big on any sort of global scale, but here in my house, pretty big. Iris turned one lase weekend. Her Nana was here and then we had holidays and other disruptions. My poor babe is COMPLETELY off her sleep schedule. We took Nana to the Woodland Wednesday evening so she could hitch a ride home and didn't get back here until after 10 pm. Little Iris was all off and stayed awake until I finally just took her to her bedroom (which we moved her into last Saturday) and I rocked her to sleep in the dark. Thanksgiving night, I had to work 11pm to 7 am. BD took the little darling to his sister's house for the evening and stayed until after 1am. Iris did not get to sleep until the car ride home. Friday, I again had to hold her until she fell asleep. Saturday, I had to babysit while my friend Sam went on a case (we are REALLY short staffed at work and she and I have nad to work when we don't normally). Her son IC (the little blonde from the party) is 2 and a half and he and Iris has such agood time that neither went to sleep until after 11 pm. I started tonight trying to train Iris to go to bed at the same time each night and not by falling asleep to a bottle in my arms in the living room. Not easy, I gotta tell you. I am also trying to wean her from formula and the bottle.

Iris got this ADORABLE present from her cousin Ramsey (and mommy) for her birthday. TOO CUTE. I wanted one as soon as I saw Megan post about Ramsey's on her blog. The bow is from Aunt Erin and goes with an adorable OU outfit. Iris was going to wear the whole outfit for Bedlam, but since I had two kiddoes, for the evening, the game faded to the backgroumd. I did manage to watch most of the last half, but there was no time for a wardrobe change.

Presents

2010-11-27T04:49:00.000-06:00

My baby got some seriously cute presents for her birthday last weekend, including this fabulous zebra dress. There is an "I" embroideried on the front and the bow matches. I had a difficult time getting pictures since the imp has started walking. I felt really lax as a parent for not encouraging Iris to walk all the time. A lot of her cousins were walking at 10 months! As mentioned in previous posts and seen in the video, about 2 weeks ago, she just started taking steps. She has not stopped and is working really hard on running these days.

She got spoiled this week staying home with her Nana. I felt bad that I had to work all week and missed most of my mother's visit. but the time I had at home was wonderful and Iris seemed very happy to have someone at her beck and call. I never seem to ba able to get a good picture of Nana. I don't know why she makes such crazy faces when the camera is on her.

Iris plays a little rough, but we are working on her "nice hands". She has also started biting and slapping when she's angry. And she most definitely dislikes being told "no".

We cut her hair Sunday. I had heard that it was bad luck to cut a baby's hair before her first birthday. so I didn't, even though she had some crazy hair. But, Sunday, BD and I held beauty shop in the kitchen and cut the crazy hairs off. we waited until she was sound asleep to do the deed. It'll be a while before she's back in pig tails, but the new look is precious and she still has plenty of hair for the barrettes.

Today was Black Friday. Well, yesterday was. I worked Thanksgiving 11pm to 7am, so I am a bit off my sleeping schedule. And awake at 4am. Anyway. I didn't make any of the early sales, not that I needed anything. I have always found that I get caught up in the "great deals" and buy crap I don't need. I did hit a sale this afternoon for work clothes. I have been systematically clearing out my closet, getting rid of all the too-big, too-small, ill-fitting, faded out clothes that I shouldn't wear. Finding myself lacking in the work-related blouse department, I went to JCP and found 2 shirts and a sweater all for less that 40 bucks. And the crowds had thinned by 2 pm.

I am super excited that I still have two whole days before I go back to work. I am always on call, and may have to babysit tomorrow if my QA director gets called in to recover tissue. Which is fine, IC is a doll. I think Iris and I will do a little fashion show tomorrow so that I can get pics of Iris in her new duds to include in my Thank You notes.

I purchased my plane tickets for a brief trip home in December. I would love to spend the holidays there, but since we are so short staffed at work, I can't require them to work holidays and over time if I don't. Well, I could, but that would be quite a blow to our already flagging morale. Iris and I will fly in on a Friday and out on a Sunday so that we can make the annual Sontag family Christmas Party. BD is going to see if he can get off to go, too. I hope to be able to take a longer trip after Christmas, but it will be fabulous to be there for the gathering.

Birthday continued.

2010-11-21T21:47:00.000-06:00

In celebration of Iris's first birthday, we had a small party. Her grandmas, and all the Houston aunts, uncles, and cousins came, plus her good friend IC and his mom. She got a special outfit made by me in all that spare time I have. I also insisted on baking her cake. Actually, the cake turned out fine, but I had a major fondant malfunction and no time to make all the cute decorations to go on the cake.

The front of her outfit is seen on the previous post. Here is the back. I just used iron-ons. We had an under the sea theme. This was based on her love of the orange clownfish. So, I put a little orange in her tutu.

Here's what her cake turned out to look like. I had much more grandiose plans. I ended up sticking gummi fish on the sides. I had ordered a Nemo cake topper, but it did not come in. So, I bought a little fish and a "1" and put them together. Oh well. Better planning next year or buy one, I guess. As I mentioned, I had a fondant failure. My first in all the years I have been making fondant. Figures. I also made a little smash cake for Iris. I accidentally bought candy coloring instead of icing coloring, so I couldn't get the color as vibrant as I wanted.

And I had not black icing.

She didn't much care for the experience. After she had a bit on her lips, she ate some, but the icing on her hands was just too much.

Here's the little princess hanging out at the kids' table with her two cousins and IC.

My friend SC was a great kid entertainer. That's cousin Olivia and IC with Iris and Sam. Iris was very interested in doing whatever the kids were doing.

At this point, my camera got full, so Sam took pics for me. That means the rest of this post will have to wait until I get photos from her.

BIRTHDAY!

2010-11-20T23:37:00.000-06:00

It has been a year. A whole year has passed since I birthed my beautiful 8 and a half pound baby girl. She was mostly cheeks then and couldn't imagine her being any bigger than that tiny little ball of baby. Story and pics to follow.

VID00057

2010-11-18T07:18:00.000-06:00

Blast Off

2010-11-16T23:28:00.000-06:00

Just wanted to share some exciting news. My little missy has started walking. So, for the past week or so, she has gotten VERY adventurous with letting go of the couch when creeping. And a few times she has taken a few steps. She stands really well and can even clap her hands while standing unsupported. Last night, she thought I wasn't looking and she just stood up, took two steps, and sat down. Tonight, as we were frantically cleaning before the sitter got here, she just let go of her push and play musical walker and took about 5 steps! with her hands over her head. I had to go then, but when I got back, the babysitter said she was walking all around and even trying to run! I will shoot some video tomorrow and post. So exciting. More exciting if I had been here, but cool nonetheless.

As I am preparing this week for Iris's birthday, I thought we could take a look back at my wee infant. I think she is about 6 weeks old here. Just perfect. This past month, BD and I have been remembering what we wear doing one year ago each day. For instance, one year ago this past Sunday, I was at a bar watching a boxing match. Swollen ankles and all. Now, had I known that I was going to go into labor in less than a week, I may not have decided to do that. Or attended the bachelorette party the Saturday before that. I was under the delusion that I had at least 3 weeks before I needed to worry about expecting her. Delusional.

Speaking of her birthday, I have ambitiously decided to have a party. Entertaining is not my strong suit. I have made her banner and a birthday t-shirt. I intend to make her cake and some sugar cookies. I bought decorations. I am excited but nervous. I also need to clean my house for my mother's visit. About which I am also excited. We have birthday pictures, first haircut, and shoe buying planned.

ACK!

2010-11-08T01:36:00.001-06:00

My camera is out of commission. It is not hopelessly broken, for which I am grateful, but, it is difficult to find the memory cards that it uses and mine has died. I have two others, but they are in my camera bag, which I cannot locate. So, when we went to SeaWorld, I purchased some disposables. They produced interesting photos. Not framed as expected, distorted, off-color. I am including them anyway.

This is my sister and her "super-photogenic" family. I believe we are in the penguin hall which smelled remarkably like the morgue when there is a decomp. I hope it was just the fish.

And here is Iris with the fish her daddy won for her (by shamelessly beating my 4 year old niece). Iris quite loves this fish still. The day was very exciting, but a baby must nap.

As mentioned, the camera produced some interesting results. This is the out-of-focus results. Iris really liked these ducks, so we spent some time letting her look at them. She also really likes the wind. She turns her face into it, smiles, and sometimes sticks out her tongue.

BD's mom also came with us. Here they are hanging in the hotel room. Iris thought she was pretty cute in her grandma's hat. Iris basked in the attention.

SWITCHING GEARS

HALLOWEEN

Iris is getting a little too grown up for my taste. All loungin' in her jeans, holding her own bottle. And look at that hair!

Pursuant to her love of orange clownfish, Iris was a clownfish for Halloween. She steadfastly refused to wear the fin booties and cute fin hat. She is wearing the hat, but you can't see the cute fin and she tore it off as soon as her hands were let go. I really wish I could have gotten good pictures.

THE ACK

I have agreed to hit the beach next summer with my cousins. I think this will be a complete blast. They have young kids, too. I have not the body for the beach. Fortunately, I never have, so there's not much pressure. However, I have also agreed to participate in a crazy race in the spring involving obstacles and mud. It is 10 miles I think. So, I, too, am embarking on the couch to 5K program starting tomorrow. I swear.

It is now 1:26 am. I have to be up at 6. I decided not to go to bed tonight until I finished my to-do list. I made dinner, washed dishes, folded laundry (even hung some up - this NEVER happens), made Iris a tramp-stamp onesie (her dad will not be happy), re-hemmed 3 pairs of pants (part of my masterplan to look less disheveled than I had been), made cookies, and updated blog. What I did not do: color hair, fix nail polish (on toes), find camera bag. Probably will not finish them.

Fun things I did this weekend: Finished the book I was reading (Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore - I liked it. Jumped on the Vampire bandwagon, but it was clever. I like his books.), watched "Get Him to the Greek". but was not impressed, took Iris to the park (that was fun.) Speaking of the park, I have been dressing for the weather in my apartment, which does not seem to be correlating with the weather outside. Anyway, I got hot at the park, but it was fun anyway. We'll be doing more of that.

11 months

2010-10-29T21:29:00.000-05:00

As mentioned in the previous post, Iris recently passed 11 months out of the womb. SHe weighs 22 lbs and is about 28 inches. She is still a happy, happy girl. I remember fretting when she was 3 months old that she never smiled. She is more than making up for that now and is the happiest baby I have ever been around. That doesn't mean she hasn't learned to express herself when not getting her way; she most definitely does that. She arches her back and may even thrash. I have found recently that she likes to climb and will probably endanger herself many times before she grows out of it. We are weaning her of formula this month and so far, she loves milk. I think it won't take too long to get her off the bottle.

Iris in the bassinet she slept in for her first almost 4 months, just to see how much she has grown.

Big news! Her top front teeth are coming in. I have been suspecting this erroneously for some time, but I can finally see the little buds poking through. This will bring her grand total to four. She is far behinf my friends' daughter, Blueberry*, who is nearly two months younger. I have had tooth envy for a while due to this. Not that it is a competition. Really.

I know I've mentioned before how much my life has changed with the arrival of the bundle. Some things have just been enhanced. For instance, I never been very "put together", mainly because I am lazy, but in the past few years, I had been making an effort. Clothes that fit, make-up more often, cuter shoes. Thursday, I was accosted with how much of that battle I have lost. I had a 7:30 am meeting in Galveston. I left here at 5:30 jsut to be safe. I wore cute shoes, although generally comfortable, and a sheath dress with jacket. A few minutes after I arrived on the island, the electricity went out. It was dark. I, of course, had assumed I could find the building. I could not. I parked in the garage that still had electricity so the gates worked and walked toward the building. Turned out, it was farther than I thought. I was late so hadn't put on make-up or dried my hair and now I was limpimg. The A/C was not working, so half way through the presentation (being given on a laptop as we all crowded around), I was sweating. I went to the restroom and saw how truly hideous I could look. Hideous. I guess I can no longer skate by on cuteness or youth. Sigh. And all the hems are out in my pants. Why? I have decided, I am really going to make an effort. I don't need to look high-maintenance, just presentable. I'll update as this will require fighting my most worthy enemy - laziness.

I love the fall

2010-10-26T10:18:00.001-05:00

And I wish we had one. However, with fall came fall break which brought my sister and her family south to escape the frigid north. Okay, so I think it was maybe in the 70's in Oklahoma last weekend, but still. Erin is crazy. I say this because she decided to drive from Tulsa to Houston to Galveston to San Antonio to Tulsa in 5 days. With a 5 and 7 year old. I didn't get to accompany them to any Houston or Galveston events, but I met up with them in San Antonio for a wonderful visit to Sea World. Erin loves Sea World. We all stayed in the same hotel. Little Iris was a trooper. She really liked the hotel and seeing her cousins. Oddly, Erin's camera quit on Thursday, mine quit on Friday and BD's seems to have broken some time ago. So no one had a camera. We bought disposables, but I won't have those pics for a few days. The kids had a great time, but I'll let Erin fill you in on that.

Even more fun, my mom happened to be just north of Houston. Iris and I took the day off and drove up to see her Friday morning. It took a minute, but Iris warmed up. She is a very busy little girl and was into everything, but she definitely enjoyed the attention.

Last weekend was much less eventful, but Iris and I did go to a fall festival with a pumpkin patch. As usual, Iris was very cooperative. The festival was at a church that was very well equiped for toddlers. She had a fab time on the slides and little cars. She loved being able to crawl around and I managed to let her eat only a little grass. At least she didn't faceplant with her mouth open this time. She used to do that in order to directly eat the grass without the interference of hands.

Here she is with her friend IC (those are his initials). He's 3 and adorable. He is insisting that I dress up as a princess for halloween. And that his mother be a witch. She's pretty galled about that. These pics were taken when Iris was just shy of 11 months. She has started throwing fits. I had hoped she would continue to be the perfect easygoing little baby she was for the first 6 months of life. Slowly, though, she is developing her own wants. And when she wants something, she's pretty vocal about it. The full-on fits are a little funny and tend to happen at night when she's tired, but I still think I could do without them. She arches her back then whips her head and arms from side to side while emitting a noise best described as protesting. Not a cry or scream.

As you can see, she really enjoys the slides. It was really warm that day (unexpectedly), so she is barefoot. Incidentally, I took her to the doctor to have her feet checked out. I realize I am super paranoid about feet since mine are so crooked, but I felt better taking her in. Since she has started standing (which is one of her favorite things), I have noticed that she doesn't really stand on her left foot as much as her left ankle. The advice was to let her learn to walk, if it is still super-pronated, we'll go to support shoes. Of course, she also recommended always buying "good" shoes, which I intended to do anyway.

We have a very busy fall planned. Sort of. Iris's birthday is in November and I plan to have a party. My mom is coming to visit that week, which will be fun. I am sure. Since Mom will be leaving on Thanksgiving Day, I don't intend to cook, but I think we'll go out for a nice breakfast. We are so short-handed at work that I will likely pick up a shift that weekend. I'll likely pick up a lot of shifts between now and New Years. Well, now, that's depressing.

Birthday girl

2010-10-04T22:26:00.000-05:00

I was looking over my last post and realized I didn't post a picture of the birthday girl. Here she is with her grandma looking very happy. Happy First Birthday, Ramsey.

Take me back to Tulsa...

2010-10-02T02:08:00.000-05:00

Iris and I went to my hometown last weekend and had a great time. As I have mentioned, Iris is in love with orange fish. Her cousins found a giant one and Iris was so excited. A new best friend. The other orange you see here is a pair of pants she carries around. I really hope this doesn't mean she has an affinity for OSU or, gasp, UT. I'll have to work a little harder to make a Sooner out of her.

We had a wonderful visit from cousin Mariah and her kids, J and little J. This is little J. Isn't he a Goldilocks? They came over for my nephew's 7th birthday.

Here's Mariah's other son, J, and my nephew. It was his birthday.

Mariah takes a lot of pictures of her boys, so they are great posers. Iris is not quite as adept.

We, of course, lined up the kids for the group shot! And included the fish as Iris would not yield. Addie is holding Iris. Addie really liked holding her. Fortunately, no one got dropped. She was a very good "sister".

Erin had a great little push buggy for Iris to try out. It allowed her to cruise around and she really liked it. Despite the look on her face here. She took right to it and started walking around. I was a little surprised because, although she cruises, we hadn't really walked her around much.

Imagine my further surprise when she took a single unassisted step on Wednesday as I was getting ready for work!! I haven't coaxed her to do more, but that was awesome.

Jacob got a lot of cars for his birthday. J is almost 4 and also loves cars. Iris really loved played with them. Well, she really loved putting the cars in her mouth, but I think she thought she was playing with the kids.

A bit later, uncle Jasson came home. Iris really likes him and he always gets a good laugh out of her.

On Saturday, we got to see Jacob play football. Well, since they don't play the whole field and we were at a high school field, we watched the backs of the coaches and other players as the actual game was hard to see. It was not a good game for Sapulpa White (0-24), but the weather was nice.

Iris and Addie had matching hair bows and mom got Iris this adorable onesie with my hometown on it. And sparkles. She is so cute and was so patient during the game.

The day started out cool, but REALLY warmed up. Jacob played the whole game and was quite sweaty.

Later, we took 10 month pictures of my baby in her OU cheerleading gear. We were gearing up to watch the OU - Cincinnati show-down.

And here she is chillaxin between takes.

I convinced the cousins to join in. They autmatically strike this pose. I don't know where they picked it up, but they just fall right into place. Too cute.

Sunday brought another party and a cold front. It was a lovely outdoor party for our precious cousin R, who turned one. I had brought a jacket for Iris, but I had to bum a sweater from my sister. It was blustery, but not too bad. The party was adorable and Iris had a great time. It makes me think of planning her party. Ugh. Too soon.

Here are cousin Sarah and J. We had haybales to sit on. I thought that was a very cute idea.

Iris and little J enjoyed the cool play area set up to entertain the little ones.

Little J really loved the car. Iris tried her best to 'jack the car from Little J. She's been livin' the thug life here in Clutch City. Little J is a year older, so he's always gonna win these battles.

Mariah is sitting by herself on purpose. Her mom and sister swear.

Here's my sister Erin. She went to a ball the night before. I have seen pictures and she was just stunning, but, I don't have any to post here.

We also stopped by to see Aunt Anna and Uncle Junior. Iris got on quite well over there. She has been a bit Momma-centric these days, but warmed right up.

And, here is a pic, if you look closely, of pigtails.

Next time I'll be witty. Thanks for enjoying the pictures.

OMG

2010-09-17T00:19:00.000-05:00

So, Iris's costume came in last night. I just wanted to try the cap on her. It was too cute, so I thought, "well, I'll just put the booties on." And THAT was so adorable that I put the costume on. Unfreakingbelievably cute. I didn't take pics, but I will be sure to post loads on the big day.

Seriously, she was so cute I wanted to EAT her.

There have been a lot of facebook posts lately about state fairs. I love these. And, I have wanted to enter one for a while. I looked up the Harris County Fair. Turns out, just anybody can enter in most categories. This is a pretty small fair, so there weren't a lot of categories, but baked goods were among them. I could do that. Cookies, a pie, banana bread. The entry fee is $10 and the deadline is next week. I could do this. Except, the fair is the weekend that I will be in San Antonio. Drat. Next year, though. I used to bake all the time. Since I got pregnant, I have jsut not had the time. But, I thought I'd whip up a batch of chocolate chip cookies tonight. I also thought I had the recipe memorized. Clearly I don't.

See how flat they are? This is due to my completely screwing up the ratios. WAY too much butter, not nearly enough flour. They are rather like crisps. Not bad, just not what I wanted. I guess I need to revisit the recipe.

Football season started up almost 2 weeks ago. I found some OU gear for my little displaced Sooner last ime I was home. The onesie even has a "90" on it. That was the year I started OU and I believe the year the onesie was made. I guess someone found an old stash somewhere and pawned them off on Ross. The hanger said 12 months, but I found out last week that the garment itself says 3 months. Fortunately it ran a little large, so I squeezed her into it. I'll have to look for a replacement when I'm up in OK next weekend for Jacob's and Ramsey's birthdays.

Here she is trying to get the camera.

And here is a close-up of the cute bow I got at the cute bow store in Sapulpa.

And here she is with her favorite forbidden item, my phone. You can almost see the 90 in this one.

BOOMER SOONER

random

2010-09-12T00:09:00.000-05:00

1. I ordered Iris's Halloween costume yesterday. She is going to be a clownfish. There are a lot of cute ones available online, but most of them are quite voluminous. While this is adorable, I am betting that Iris will spend a fair amount of time in a stroller and those would just be impractical. So, I found one that will be much more stroller friendly. I hope it is as cute as pictured.

2. Cinnamon Toast. My Grandma Whitetree made excellent cinnamon toast. The bread was so margarine-laden it practically disintegrated and the cinnamon and sugar formed almost candied flakes. I have tried for years to make some like hers to no avail. For some reason, I was quite determined last week. I bought oleo and white bread. Not close. I am not the proud owner of a toaster oven, which is what she used, but I have never tried before. Tomorrow morning I will test that out. I just wish I had spent more time watching her do it instead of parking my butt in front the TV waiting for her to bring it to me. I do remember her cursing quite a bit and throwing at least a few really burned pieces out. I may have to try that, too.

3. I was looking through my pictures on my phone a few nights ago and Iris caught me, stopped what she was doing, and started posing. Perhaps I have taken too many pictures of her in her very short life. She is really adorable. Little poser. She really just kept smiling until I put the camera down. Incidentally, you can see her "taggie" to the left. My frind Hazel* made it for her.

4. I have finally moved Iris into the grown up tub. This was a big step for me, and I don't know why. She really likes it and splashes aaround like a little fishy. This was her last night in the baby tub. As you can see, she is about to climb out. She has started standing, pulling herself up, and cruising. This weekend, she was most excited about letting go and standing alone, ever so briefly. She is so proud of herself. Of course, we clap and tell her she's awesome. We visited a friend last night whose house has a lot of open floor space and I guess the crawling wasn't getting Iris anywhere fast enough, she took to crawling on her hands and feet. Too cute. She really had a great time over there.

Illin'

2010-09-11T23:21:00.000-05:00

Last week, we made an unprecedented TWO trips to see the doctor. Monday, Iris woke up with a rash, so I took off work and took her to the doctor, who indicated it was most likely viral. She hadn't really acted sick that weekend, aside from more snot than usual, so I figured we were on the end of whatever and, yes, she was fine.

Thursday, however, I was craving some Thai spring rolls. BD graciously offered to take the family out to out fav Thai restaurant, Thai Village, conveniently located in the Village (not the cool one in NYC, but a local one near Rice U). I ordered 2 Thai spring rolls with tofu and two Vietnamese spring rolls with tofu. I don't know what BD had. I think next time, though, I'll just get the Thai spring rolls. Anyway, BD also ordered a Thai tea. I don't know what it is exactly, but it comes in a gradient from deep brown at the top, through an orangish color, then white at the bottom. The tea part is poured over a milk and then you mix it. It is delicious. Meanwhile, BD was feeding Iris her formula and then decided since we were eating, she should, too (he often decides this) and gave her some sweet potatoes. She was sitting sweetly in her high chair when she got a very strange look on her face and spewed at least a gallon of fluid onto the tile floor. I swear - and it may have been more. I was so grateful they had stuck us in a corner. Interestingly, the upchuck was the exact same color as the Thai tea, which we then decided to drink because it is good and we don't get it often. I really deserve a pat on the back for that. Really. So, off we went to the doctor on Friday, where I found out that she weighs 20 lbs, 4 oz. Or did before the weekend of malaise, poor appetite, and diarrhea.

Which brings me to last weekend (Labor Day weekend) in which I was stuck in the house on what I have heard were beautiful days and there was a holiday. I did get out on Monday as I was going crazy and Iris felt better. We walked to Walgreens, Barnes and Noble, and Randall's. It was Iris's naptime, so she slept a lot of it, but she usually sleeps when I stroll her anyway. Bored, I guess. We made it home right before the torrential rains.

Nine

2010-08-22T20:55:00.003-05:00

Friday was Iris's nine month anniversary of the date of her birth. Sidenote: It really bothers me that our months are not uniform so that when I say Iris is nine months, it does not mean nine equal months; it just makes it fell much more arbitrary to me. Anyway, we did not get around to photographing the momentous event then, or yesterday. I, therefore, made a special effort this morning to document the occasion.

Iris and I got up early this morning.

This is her early morning (or anytime I leave her hair down) emo look. Notice how flexible she is.

While I got everything together, Iris got herself into some trouble. With all the toys and books available, Iris inevitably wants to play with the speakers, the TV, and the electronics.

Little trouble-maker.

Of course, by the time I got ready to go, she was ready for a nap. Rather than disturb that, I waited. This meant getting to the park a little later than I had planned. It was predicted to reach 100 degrees today, so I wanted to get the photoshoot done in the morning. We got to the park around 9:30 am. I wanted to just set Iris down for these pics, but the cement was already hot and I ended up with two fire ant bites, so I compromised the composition and placed her on a blanket. I apologize for the distraction.

This is the reflecting pond at Hermann Park. She really seemed to enjoy it. I had wanted to photograph her with a nice floral background only to realize that all the flowers in the park were scorched or dead. So much for that.

We then set up on the lawn for a diaper change. We cloth diaper when she's not at daycare. This is one of her cuter diapers. A Gro-Via Grobaby. It has a very complicated design and still seems to leak more than many of the others. It's definitely not for night use, but if I change her shortly after she pees, it's okay. Iris enjoyed communing with nature. This is where the fire ants got me and I am very grateful that she was not bitten. It has actually been several years since I had one. They really hurt. At least none of them blistered.

I love this little dress, but it is getting very tight in the chest, so I will probably have to retire it very soon. I managed to keep the flower on for about one minute. She has really grown. She is 28 inches long and almost 20 lbs. That means she has grown 9 inches and gained 12 lbs since she was born. I am surprised it's not more. She really eats a lot. And she would love to have whatever it is you are eating. This is going to force me into eating healthy so that I won't feel guilty when I enjoy a mojito and processed food in front of her. I had to stop her daddy from sneaking her cookies twice this week. My rationale seems to make sense to him, he just can't remember the next time.

As I mentioned, Iris is sporting teeth. She let me see them today and I was fast enough to get a picture.

Since the flowers were all toast, I found a piece of art for Iris's background. This is one of the Bernar Venet Exhibition pieces that are scattered throughout the park. This is a temporary exhibit, but very interesting.

More things I did this month

2010-08-19T22:54:00.001-05:00

In addition to heading north this month, I have had a few other adventures. Most recently, Iris and I went to the Miller Outdoor Theater to watch an Elvis (Presley) tribute For those of you not from this area, the Miller is an amphitheater in the middle of a pretty cool park. We were fortunate that night to find a great parking spot not too far away. We camped out pretty high on the hill and, fortunately, the few people who were going to plop down their chairs in front of us (we were on the NO CHAIRS side) thought better of it and left us a clear view of the stage. My Iris loves music. She was very excited about this performance and clapped her hands and shook her booty for about an hour, before the obnoxious (although quite friendly) family next to us drove us away with their cigarette smoke. I long for the day they ban smoking on the hillside. Here's Iris right before the show started.

She had been enjoying the grass and a cookie the boundary-pushing neighbors gave her before I could stop them. At least it was a mini. She didn't really know how to handle it, so most of it ended up on her bib in a thick, peanut-buttery drool. It was a fairly nice night with an almost cool breeze.

Speaking of my little munchkin, she will be 9 months old tomorrow. Hard to believe. Here are some milestones I missed. She started full-on crawling around the last week of July. After all of my anticipation, she just took off one day. She got promoted to the level 2 baby room at day care (am I repeating myself? Sounds like a familiar story) where she is watching the older babies walk. So, I am sure it won't be too long now. She already pulls up and stands quite easily. She got teeth.. She was quite fussy one week and at the end, 2 little teethies appeared. They are on the bottom. I was going to try to photograph them, but she fell asleep too early tonight. Incidentally, she is the same kind of out-of-the-ordinary fussy this week, so I will be looking for some upper pearly whites very soon.

Iris spent the day at the mall with her daddy. I had to work. Bummer.

Am I really that old?

2010-08-13T23:54:00.001-05:00

Yes, I am. In many ways I feel every bit as old as my birth certificate would indicate. In many others, I am glad I am not as old as some people my age. I flew to Tulsa last weekend for a high school reunion. Dare I give the year? Of course. Anyone reading this already knows how old I am. Honestly, I think the group of us looked pretty good for being out of high school 20 years. We didn't all act so mature, but that's another story. I thought in the interest of comparison, I would include a picture of me at 15. Apologies to the other two ladies - we had just woken up from a slumber party.

Definitely 15 - just prior to the spiral perm of junior year. And check out that tan. Those were the days. Carefree. The reunion was just fine. I saw some old friends and talked to some people I had not known before. Honestly, I wouldn't mind doing it more often than every 10 years. I do find it odd that I find myself interested in the lives of people with whom the only bond I shared was geography.

Of course, the main reason for my trip home was to show off my baby to my family. We saw just about everybody and had a great time. We spent some great time in Erin's pool. I have got to get one of those. Iris is in love. This is important. I had her in a little floatie ring and all of a sudden she took a frantic dive. It was toward one of thesethat someone threw into the pool It's a good thing that she was in the ring and I had a hold of her. Otherwise, she might have been swimming for it. She went so darned crazy because, as I mentioned, she is in love. I caught her one day at daycare with her chubby little arms wrapped around her love. Apparently, this had been giong on for a while as the staff had been reserving this particular object just for Miss Iris for quite some time. She is in love with a plush fish that's just about the same size as she is. I have been looking for one to buy for her. I mean she really loves the fish.

Days of summer and 8 months of fun

2010-07-25T01:48:00.003-05:00

8 months

It is the end of July. Unbelievable. I have attempted to have an eventful summer. This has been met with less success than I had hoped for, but I've managed to squeeze in a few things. First things first, however. My baby is 8 months old. Eight months. She is still an incredibly easy baby. She's a bit over 19 pounds, has no teeth. (I know I've been saying she's about to get some for two months, but so far nothing.) She's very mobile, but still not "crawling". (I know I have been expecting the crawl for months, too.) She can go forward now (generally in pursuit of food), but its more of an army crawl. She has been able to go from her tummy to sitting up for about 6 weeks, which was pretty shocking the first time it happened, since she had just learned the sitting up part. Her hair is still unruly and she wears it in a top pony tail most of the time, just to keep it out of her eyes. She eats veggies - sweet potatoes are still her favorite, and we have added baby Mum Mums, rice cakes, teether bisquits, fruit, and yogurt. This week, I am determined to add cereal back in. She talks all the time - mumu, dadadada, (Gene) Apodaca (I swear she said this - he's a newscaster.)

We had an outdoor photoshoot today. It was a bit frustrating. I wanted to go to Hermann Park. I remember years of going to this park without problems. Lately, however, parking is impossible. The corpse flower at the museum (HMNH) is blooming which really created some traffic. After cruising the parking lots for longer than I'll admit, I left in frustration and found a small neighborhood park reserved for residents and plunked Iris down. She was a bit overwhelmed, I think, as I could not get a smile out of her. Also, I woke her up from a nap.

I took her to a movie today. Yep, I am the crazy woman in a theater with a baby. I went with my friend S and her son I. He's 3 and we wanted to see Toy Story 3, however, they only had it in 3D, which was not going to work for us, so we saw Despicable Me instead. We didn't tell him of the change since he doesn't take change well, but I don't think he caught on. Overall, they both did very well. Iris slept through most of it and wrestled with me for about the last 10 minutes. At some point I dropped my phone under the seat, but figured it out before I left the parking lot. The rumors are true, the floors of a movie theater are DISGUSTING. And now so is my phone.

Work, of course, is always a challenge. We are still short-handed. We had a banquet on Monday which was fun, but involved me making a statistical report. We are training new employees. Wednesday, the FDA popped in for a visit. This is the single most stressful thing that can happen in my line of work. They are always surprise visits, so no time to prepare. We had all morning with the inspector and he returned for a full day on Thursday. I kept my dental appointed Thursday morning out of necessity and beat the inspector to the lab, but had a completely deadened mouth. At least it kept me from disagreeing with him. I had to cancel my hair appointment, though. I was pretty excited about this as my hair currently looks stupid. And my chin look big, but I don't think there is anything they can do about that. I was keen to get the hair done since I have a little trip coming up. No need to worry - it is rescheduled for next week. No worried about the inspection, either, we passed.

Another year...

2010-07-10T22:56:00.000-05:00

I am watching Across the Universe again. I had forgotten how much I liked it the first time. I saw it at the theater, one of the times I went alone. Really, a very fine movie. Beatles and a musical. If it fed me chocolate, it would be the perfect date. I have a New Belgium Skinny Dip. Great night.

I spent last weekend cleaning my place. It was long overdue. I feel really good about it now. I took a carload of stuff to the Goodwill. Got in my car. Got out of my car and retrieved my Garfield and Odie. I have had them since I was about ten. I also have an Arlene. I was doing a pretty good purge, but I could not walk away from my Garfield.

The reason for the clean was the visit by my friends from the north. I am generally pretty adamant that there be fireworks on the 4th. This year, I was jsut grateful that the baby was asleep by nine. My guests arrived Monday evening. It was a good visit. We opened a bottle of wine after we put the babies to bed (oh, yeah, they have a 5 month old.) Just like old times. Speaking of babies - theirs is adorable. See evidence below.

So, you can't tell from this pic, but Blueberry is taller than Iris.

Baby update: Iris is not crawling, but Thursday, she made definite forward army crawl progress. She also still has no teeth, but she is trying really hard. We got in the big pool for the first time today. She was chill. Had a little floaty thing and she just kicked back.

July is here. So is the rain.

2010-07-03T06:53:00.000-05:00

It is 6:30 on a Saturday morning and I am the only one awake. I should be cleaning as i am expecting house guests in a few days. So, when faced with the choice of laundry or blogging, I chose blogging. Probably a brief one. We had some flooding here yesterday. I managed to not stall out as I drove to Target for desperately needed baby formula that BD "forgot" to pick up Friday morning. We had the torrential rains. The kind that you really just have to resign yourself to getting wet in. So, I was resigned and I got wet. I shouldn't even have to leave the house today, though.

On the baby front, she is still perfect. She has started whining all through dinner, and I don't know why. However, I just know she is working on a tooth. She is still so very close to crawling, but only manages to go backwards. She has started to dance, too. It is awesomely cute. She has kicked her legs to music for a long time, but now she gets some shoulder action going, too. I'll try to post a video soon.

And a flashback

Seven Months!

2010-06-24T22:26:00.000-05:00

It's late June. I have a deadline that is repidly approaching and I am running late. As usual.

I had an exciting week. Mainly because I got to have a dinner out with a friend. It was perfect, BD brought Iris. He ate, my friend E got to cuddle my perfectly behaved baby. Then baby and BD left so I could have a grown-up dinner and great conversation. It was awesome.

I have some exciting summer events planned. My friends Hazel and Stan are visiting after the 4th with their lovely baby Blueberry. Blueberry is almost 2 months younger that Iris and I can't wait to see them together. I am very excited about the visit. It also strongly encourages me to reorganize my apartment. I am also excited about this impetus.

On the baby front, Iris is still wonderful. She turned seven months this past Sunday. I feed her food in the evening. I discovered Happy Baby frozen food and I like it. So does she. This package has greens with mango and pears and then spinach with pears and other stuff I can't remember. She eats it up. She can totally sit up by herself and scoot and rolls as a way of transportation. She is still cuddly and LOVES to have her cheeks kissed. Her daddy took some photos of her on her 7 month birthday eating some dinner and having a bath.

Seriously, isn't she cute?

No teeth yet. She is having squash and apple sauce in this picture.

Iris the Hutt

She usually LOVES the bath, especially now that she can sit up and splash around. She was not particularly enjoying the bath at this moment. She perks up later in the bath when I let her sit and splash.

She is still in size three diapers and 9 month clothes. Not too long before she moves up. I think she is cutting teeth because she drools ALL THE TIME. But, no pearly whites, yet.

BD took Iris to the natural science museum this evening while they waited for me to finish work. She apparently really liked the fountain out front and the people on the hill in the park at the amphitheater. She watched Grease with me this week and was definitely a fan. That's my girl.

Junish

2010-06-17T23:49:00.001-05:00

I few nights ago, I typed a great blog entry. Then Blogger went offline and I couldn't save it. I am now wary of committing myself to a long, fabulous entry.

1. Fun: I took Iris to the Aquarium restaurant for half-price Baylor day. We met up with my friend and her adorable 3 year old son. The restaurant has an aquarium, ferris wheel, shark train, and a few other overpriced "attractions". We skipped the restaurant. We had gotten there at 10am, but by 11am it was brutally hot. We managed to hang in until about noon, but it was brutal. Here're Iris and I on the shark train. She was a trooper.

2. Baby food: I tried to make apples, carrots, squash, and avocado for the baby. None of these worked out. I thought after the resounding sweet potato success that other foods would be easy. Not so. I have not used too much jarred food, but it's been more of a challenge that I thought it would be. I have found she loves squash. She can eat that without dropping any of it. Contrarily, she will get a mouthful of the super-staining carrots and razzie me. Carrots EVERYWHERE. I just started adding pears and apples as a dessert or sometimes mixed in. She's digging that.

3. She can sit up by herself.

4. The ER visit. The Wednesday after I got back from vacation, we took Iris to the ER due to labored breathing. I have asthma and it sounded like one of my attacks. Iris had been straining to poop all day. The thermometer must have started something because as we were walking down the hall to our room, I felt her lay a hard little egg. Well, I'm sure she thought it was big. Anyway, the doctor heard the labored breathing (that only occurred after a strain) and assured us that it was brought on by the strain and not because she couldn't really breathe. Then, since I had a moment not consumed by fear, I realized my baby was in a disposable diaper, had creamed peas on said diaper (front and back), on her face, between her fingers, between her toes - you name it. I also realized I was not wearing a bra. This could have been much more exciting than it thankfully turned out to be as we (Iris and I) somehow managed to not pull my moderately low-cut blouse down. Go us.

Vacation and 6 month check up

2010-06-04T00:25:00.001-05:00

It has been a while since I've been here and I have been intending to update all week, but, alas, it has been a hectic week. I had vacation last week. It was awesome. Iris and I left Houston on Saturday morning and drove to Dallas where we spent the lunch hour with my friend Marissa. I haven't seen her in a while and it was really great catching up with her, plus it gave us a great break in the middle of the trip. It was a smooth trip and having a baby with me only added a couple of hours to the drive. The hardest part was going to the bathroom. She was an angel and did not get impatient until 9 hours into the trip. Best of all, no crazy recognized a vulnerable mom and babe on the road and followed us to a remote area to kill us. That rocked.

We pushed on to OK and got to my mom's by about 8:30. Erin and the kids were there to greet us. You can read Erin's account of her 5 year old trying to steal my baby on The Brook's blog to your right. But yes, my niece tried to be the baby's momma. We eventually convinced her to be the sista from anotha motha and she was a great big sis all week.

Mom and I hung out Sunday morning and made it over to Erin's in the afternoon for more family time. Iris took a liking to her uncle Jasson and rewarded him with some great laughs. Both mom and Erin had to work during the week, so Iris and I were on our own on the mornings. We visited my grandmother in her beautiful yard. She has the kind of yard that makes me want one. It always seems cooler there and the trees and plants are beautiful. I got a lesson in sparrow nesting and saw a thrush as well as several cardinals and bluejays. We also got to visit cousin Mariah and her two boys on Monday and Tuesday and we went to the zoo with them on Wednesday. That was a lot of fun. She has pics on her blog - What Are Little Boys Made Of to the right. We also got to visit my grandmother, my brother, and my dad and we got to go to some softball games.

Note Dad's new scar from the quadruple bypass. He went shirtless for the visit, so he must be proud. Also note the direction my hair is headed.

Addison at her game. She scored!

We made a trip up to Grove to visit my aunt. Addison and Erin went with us. I spent many happy summers and weekends up there with my grandma. She had no AC and didn't drive, but it was still infinitely better than being home. Grandma made the best cinnamon toast and fries EVER. Also, she really liked me and made the place a refuge. My aunt had cleaned out the vast majority of the house and it didn't look at all like Grandma's which was fine since she made it the place I loved, not the furnishings.

This is a picture I am sure Aunt Dixie would not want me to post, but Iris looks so concerned, I had to include it. This photo makes Dixie look crazy and Addison look twice as big as she is. But Iris looks good.

Saturday, my wonderful sister threw a pool party so the family could hang with baby Iris. A lot of my cousins, aunts, and uncles came to swim and hang. We were especially excited to see cousin Megan with her baby Ramsey, who is only two months older than Iris. They got their very own pool. After the party, a couple of us went to a casino, but being the parents that are, we gambled very little, drank very little, and went home early. It was fun anyway. Here are some party pics (from the pool, not the casino).

We took the long drive home on Sunday. It was made much better by having BD with us. It took just as long, but I could pee without taking her in with me. I had Monday off. Nothing much happened.

Iris had her 6 month check up on Tuesday. She's 17.1 lbs and is 26.5 inches. She's 75-90% in both. She now eats peas and bananas in addition to those listed earlier. She rolls over both ways, can almost sit up on her own and really wants to crawl. She makes a complete tour of her crib through the night. We had some professional pics made of her with her cousins Jacob and Addison. They turned out great, but here's one we took on her actual 6 month birthday. Next time: Iris's first trip to the ER.

Suweet

2010-05-10T23:33:00.000-05:00

I don't have much to blog about. I am super stressed from work and BD is a huge pain sometimes. My friend Hazel (see right) has made some awesome stuff and now I want to make stuff, too. Instead, I spent an hour playing stupid internet games tonight.

This past weekend was Mother's Day. I am a mother. That sounds weird. Last year, I knew I was preggoes on Mother's Day, so BD got me some flowers and a body pillow with 2 covers and massaging slippers. Consequently, I didn't think of this one as my first Mother's Day. However, I got a nice bouquet of irises and a card Saturday, purchased while I was out revenge shopping. BD is on nights now, so he got home at 8 am Sunday morning and needed to sleep. Baby and I got up and I made biscuits. Yum. Had them with butter and British honey. Double yum. I also made pound cake for the strawberries I had picked up Friday night. I needed cream, so we went to Target where I got not only the cream, but a pair of jammies for the babe for $1.50. That's right. If you haven't bought baby jams in a while, I'll tell you it's amazing that the cute little outfits and rompers are so cheap, but jams'll cost ya. Like $10 a pair. I was excited. One more reason to love the bull's eye.

When BD got up, he raided the fridge and ate leftovers and half a pie (that he bought to share with me, but the egg brushing prevented me from eating) before I could stop him. So no MD lunch for us. I was a bit pouty over that, but then he left for work and I took Iris out for dinner - our first dinner out alone. She was sweet as usual. She absolutely loves to be talked to and will mimic the mouths of those doing the talking. So cute and makes her a lot of friends.

Anyway, got home, put princess to bed and whipped the cream. I get so much satisfaction that moment the cream starts to solidify. I flavored it with a bit of almond extract and it was good. I had made 2 8X4 loaves of the pound cake and I layered them with cream and strawberries (mashed with a bit of sugar). It was beautiful and I should have taken a picture. I let BD take it to work so I wouldn't eat it and so that he could make friends.

Iris has begun rolling over in her sleep. She is not convinced she can do this while awake, but she flips at will during the night. Here she is right now on her side - a position she achieved all by herself. Tonight we introduced sweet potatoes to her. Well, I did. Sweet potato - $1.30, Food processor - $98.50 (yeah, I splurged, but I've always wanted one), Happy flapping orange baby - priceless (but I shuold have snapped a photo). So, now she can eat brown rice cereal and sweet potato puree. Hopefully she'll poop at daycare tomorrow and not here. She really likes food. And one more for the road...

The purpose of the earlier post

2010-05-01T22:16:00.001-05:00

was to talk about my new diapers. I took the easy way out on the cloth diapering front. My first were the Flip by Bumgenius. I have had the fewest problems with them and their inserts seem to be super absorbant. I then got some second hand Bumgenius 3.0. These are pretty good. Some need elastic upgrades in the leg gussets, but I still like the Flip insert better, especially with a soaker for night. Then, I bought some Kushies because they were super cheap. They are pretty good, but I can't get the legs tight enough and Iris has some chunky thighs, so I can't imagine they would work on a skinny baby. They commonality here is that I have not dealt with pre-folds, fitteds, or diaper covers. Suits me just fine, although I wouldn't mind checking out some hemp or bamboo inserts. Oh, I also got a Smartipants one size. It works with the Flip insert, but the one that came with it is not useful.

It's 9:30 pm and the laundry is washing, the baby is sleeping and I am bored. Not that I don't have anything to do. I have curtains to hang, floors to sleep, bottles to wash. Well, the list goes on. I just finished two books. but I'm too tired to start another. Maybe I'll go make cookies.

That terrible pic of us at the top is just to show how much I look like my Aunt Anna sometimes.

Things I've tried

2010-05-01T10:41:00.000-05:00

1. Qunny Zapp and Joovy Kooper. These two strollers have very similar styling. They are both billed as umbrella strollers, although they're not the teeny ones you might think of. The Quinny is a bit more expensive, but not by much. I purchased a new Kooper and I really like it. The canopy is huge and offers the best coverage of any umbrella stoller I've seen. It is extememly easy to fold, requiring no bending as the releases are foot pedals. So far, the only drawback is the folded size, which is really long (over 40 inches). The wheels can be taken off, but that's a hassle. Anyway, it barely fits in the back of my car, but I really love it otherwise. Here's a pic.

And to the left is the Quinny Zapp. The wheel base is different and the not-pictured canopy is much smaller, but its main attraction is the super-small size it folds up to. About 25 inches. I was looking for a stroller that would be easily portable on trips. And this one is. The major drawback, though, is the way in which it is folded. It requires both hands and is a little awkward. It came with a carry bag, car seat adapter and rain cover, though. These are included in the original price. I bought mine on Craigslist (yea, Craigslist) or I would not have it to compare. I got it supercheap, even if I did have to drive to League City. It also doesn't feel quit as sturdy as the Kooper. I had thought of selling the Kooper since it was so expensive, but I think I'll keep them both for now.

2. I really like chocolate. I have been trying to cut down. Part of my stategy is to only buy good chocolate that I really like, and preferably on sale. I have had a favorite for a few years now. Green & Black's makes the most wonderful rich, creamy, surprising milk chocolate bar out there and is hands down my favorite. I've had a few of there other recipes, too. The almond and toffee are okay, but not as good as the milk. Last night, Target had the peanut and sea salt on sale. Yippee. It might sound weird, but it was WONDERFUL. I am very lucky to have globe-trotting cousins who travel and bring back wonders. Okay, one globe-trotting cousin. From one trip to NYC, she brought back some interesting chocolates for her mother. It was the first I'd seen of non-sweet chocolate concoctions. My aunt let me try it. I can't remember the spice - a pepper of some sort (chili maybe?), but it was my first foray into the chocolate exotic and I was hooked and try to taste as much as I can the unexpected. While salted chocolate is pretty mild in comparison, the combo was just perfect. Highly recommended.

3. I gave Iris food this week. I was really trying to hold out for 6 months, but I couldn't take the way she looked at me with such longing when I ate. I did a lot of research and thinking about which food would be first and finally decided to go with rice cereal. I bought an organic whole grain brown rice box and prepared the babe for the trial, er, experience. We stripped her down, plunked her in the Bumbo on a mat and made the cereal. She was certainly eager, if unsuccessful. She opened right up like a baby bird for the spoon, and then pushed it all out. She would get mad and arch her back, then settle back in to try again. I hope that is an indication of a tenacious personality. We ended up with some on her belly, most on her face, and hopefully a little in her belly. We tried again the next night with similar results, so I may hold off a week or so before we try again. In the meantime, I am going to buy an apparatus with which to puree the foods I will be feeding her this year.

4. BD noticed that Iris really enjoyed the exersaucer thing at daycare, so we went to BrU 2 weeks ago to check them out. We decided on a model and went home to see if we could get it cheaper. I wanted to use Craigslist, but BD said he'd rather have new, and he was buying, so I didn't argue. We got the evenflo SmartSteps. It has a million gizmos on it. She loves it for about 5 minutes. The first night, we put her in it and she did her happy noise. I must get this on video. It's kinda like a cat hiss. She opens her mouth and breathes out heavily, sometimes almost panting, but doesn't use her vocal cords. This is very similar to part of her laugh, which starts out as the hiss and ends in an little laugh explosion. It reminds me of Mary Poppins when Bert is describing laughs and one is just a loud "BWHAAA". Anyway, she really does love it for a few minutes, but that's all she can take right now. Her hair is so long, that if I don't dry it out of her face, I have to pull it back with a clip. So much for avoiding ridiculous bows.

Glorious weekend!

2010-04-25T20:53:00.000-05:00

Often in the spring and fall, Houston is a fabulous place to be. It was glorious this weekend. Warm and sunny with a cool breeze. We went for a family walk Saturday morning. I thought it would be great for the kid and for the pallor of my legs. The babe fell asleep about 2 minutes in and we kept to the shade, so I don't know if either happened, but it was a lovely walk. We walked for about an hour. We had a bit of confusion that afternoon. BD went into work at 2pm, but returned shortly thereafter as they had changed his schedule to 7pm to 5am. That really threw my day off. He came home and took a nap. I didn't really have any plans for Saturday, but I did for Sunday, as that was supposed to be his day off. We haven't actually spent a whole day together in a month, so I was rather looking forward to it. Working at night meant he would be sleeping late Sunday. I had thought we would clean, shop, take pics of the baby today. He did get up in time to go with me to League City to buy stuff off Craigslist. We stopped for lunch at Dimassi's Mediterranean Buffet (always awesome). Our foray to the suburbs reminded BD of how much he wants to own a house. It will be practically impossible for us to do this in the loop, so we'd be looking at the suburbs. Ugh.

He did help me take baby photos. She turned 5 months on Tuesday. I haven't had professional pictures taken of her since she was two weeks old. I think I will for her 6 month photos. Although, I think I got some really good ones today. We did them outside. I still haven't captured her laugh or her full-on smile, but here are some attempts.

She was pretty tolerant of the photo session, but I didn't get the shot I was trying to get. Cousins who read this, you'll understand when I tell you she turtles her nose when she's really happy. I gotta get a picture of it.

More about me

2010-04-23T20:40:00.001-05:00

I've been reading lately about the effects of soda on the body. One study found that drinking 2 or more cans of regular soda increases the risk of kidney damage (David Shoham, Plos ONE). I don't think the data is very tight, but it is something to think about. I drink more than that. So I decided to quit this morning. I lasted until 4pm. If it's this hard to quit soda, I can't imagine how hard it would be to quit nicotine or heroin. I mean, I just had a little throat tickle, not DTs. I have quit before, though, so I don't think it's impossible, I just don't know why it's so hard this time.

On my drive home or walk to work, I think of all the things I could address here in this forum, but when I have it before me, I forget almost all except this little creature lying beside me. Her hair has grown into her eyes, so she is barretted for the first time in earnest. She is just beautiful and when she's around I seen to lose intelligent thought. It's like I'm a man in the presence of a pretty girl.

I am watching Glee, which I never do. It's Madonna tonight and brings back so many memories. I have such vivid memories of my childhood, up through college. Then just muted ones. Is this common? Is this why my grandmother was 17 again when she went senile? As though the intervening years had so much less meaning. I understand and I have so many fewer intervening years. I wonder if it would have been different had I had babies earlier and had something bigger than myself to remember. This baby beside me furrowing her brows in sleep and worrying her hands. The bow in her hair changes her, lessening her seriousness. I look at her and see myself, both of her grandmothers, my grandfather (that Sontag filtrum is distinct). She has BD's sister's smile, but my smirk. She is so good at entertaining herself that I am afraid I am not stimulating her enough.

5 whole months

2010-04-20T22:58:00.000-05:00

Iris is five months old today. Five whole months. I can't believe how fast it went and how much she's grown. She is still such a happy baby, especially in the morning. She wakes up and squirms with delight when I get to the crib. She still is pretty impatient when she's hungry. We haven't tried anything other than formula yet, but i will spend the next month researching what her first food will be. She still only takes about 6 ounces at a time, but occasionally wants more. She sleeps 7-10 hours a night. She usually goes to bed at 9 and is up at 7, but she slept until 8:30 this morning when I had to wake her up. So precious. We did a little photo shoot this evening before she fell asleep, but I'll get more this weekend.

She is on the blanket her Grandma Rojas made for her. She is getting really good at sitting up while leaning on stuff. She will now sit in the Bumbo for a few minutes. I will be getting her an exersaucer pretty soon as she loves the one at daycare. She doesn't really like to be held, so it will be a way for her to practice supporting herself, too. Her hair is just starting to lay down. It is also just starting to poke her in the eyes, so she may have to get used to headbands pretty soon. She is wearing a size 6-9 months. And she talks all the time. I am pretty sure she says "hello" to get my attention.

I got a new batch of cloth diapers in the mail this week. They have mixed reviews, but I got them at a great price, so I thought I'd try them anyway. I'll let you know how they worke out.

Milestones

2010-04-17T11:46:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned in the previous post, my cousin Megan blogs about her baby. Ramsey was born about 2 months before Iris, so I get to see what's in store for us. A couple of weeks ago, Megan wrote about Ramsey blowing razzies and having a little game during breastfeeding. Iris started with the razzies and the feeding games about 2 weeks ago. She blows bubbles with her razzies and looks a bit rabid a lot of the time. And when she's not ravenous, she likes to push the bottle away, put it back in, roll the nipple around, look around the romm and try to eat with the bottle at impossible angles. It takes forever to feed her when she's like this. Cute and frustrating all in one. It really is nice to see her doing new things.

She stayed with a sitter for the first time last night. The sitter is my good friend from work, so it wasn't like a stranger sitter. BD and I got to go out to a little party for his friend's PhD getting. It was a nice gathering, but we had to go late, so we couldn't stay long. She did very well and was smiling and happy when I left and asleep when I picked her up.

Baby and I are going to a crawfish boil this afternoon for which I am making a cookies and cream cake. It is so good. I hope she is not allergic to the boil like I am. I am giong to have to Benadryl up when I get there.

I made stuff

2010-04-15T22:03:00.001-05:00

I had a burst of creativity this weekend. You should all follow Hurthomesweethome over there to the right so this makes more sense. I love babylegs, the little baby leg warmers. Megan (of hurthomesweethome) mentioned she had some on her baby (Iris's cousin Ramsey), but wasn't sure of their purpose. I like them because Iris wears cloth diapers when not at daycare and her diapers are cute. And also hard to sqeeze into pants sometimes. And even though it is usually warm here, the evenings and AC can be cool. Therefore, it is easy and cute to slip on the leggings rather than pants. However, they cost like $12. Coincidentally, as I mentioned a few months ago, I have too many socks. But they are cute and hard to part with. Burst of creativity + socks + internet = homemade baby leggings. Below, you can see Iris sporting her second-hand Bumgenius all-in-one diaper in butter and her first mommy-made pair of leggings. You can't see this, but I had to sew and the leggings have a little cuff on the foot end. Too cute.

I am feeling a little better. I am still sad about Willard. He was a good kitty. But, my dad is doing okay and work will be MUCH better next week when I don't have to distribute tissue. I am super sleepy this week because I had to be at work early every day and BD is on evenings, which means he gets home around10:30 pm, right when I want to go to bed, but I don't so we can chat. And then, for the past two nights, Iris has been waking up at 4 am for a snack. We're trying to nip that tonight by feeding her before I go to bed. I thought about making cookies, but I am jsut too sleepy tonight.

RIP Willard

2010-04-13T07:52:00.000-05:00

We lost Willard to toxin buildup after 2 days of a blocked urethra. I wish this picture were in focus.

ChChChChanges

2010-04-07T22:28:00.000-05:00

So, the dear babe is four and a half months old. I was 37 when she was born. That is 37 years of forming bad-habits and cultivating laziness. I noticed tonight that I now, indeed, living exactly as I feared I would live if ever I had a child. In the (good?) ol' days, I would have left work around 6, picked up dinner, maybe stopped at Target for some imaginary "need", and vegged out in front of the TV until bed-time. Today, like many other of late, I had to deny the laziness. I forgot the car seat this morning, so I left work around 3:30 (I have to work Sunday - don't think I'm shirking!), went to my place to get the carseat and picked up my punctious. I was in a mood to get a natural baby cookbook, so we headed off to Whole Foods. I didn't find a book, but I found lots of other stuff. I got home, was starting dinner when I realized the fridge had gone out. Even with that inconvenience (unloading and cleaning fridge, getting a new one), between 5:30 and 10:00 pm today, I did the dishes, made some chicken (I don't really know how to do this, so it seems to take a long time), vacuumed, played with the baby, fed the baby, changed the baby, cuddled the baby, made and apple pie from scratch and did two loads of laundry (including the cloth diapers, which is a rinse, a wash, and a rinse). Notice how TV watching and dinner don't really factor into this. Honestly never thought I was so capable. Or could be so tired.

Leaving on a jetplane...

2010-04-06T19:25:00.000-05:00

Iris and I had a mighty adventure this past weekend. We flew to Tulsa without any help. I was lucky to be able to borrow a cool carseat that converted to a stroller that was FDA approved. Theoretically, this would make the airport navigation much easier. I packed pretty lightly for the two of us and checked our big bag. Unfortunately, for several reasons, we were running late. I got through security with really no problems at all. However, I had to fold the wheels up intot he stroller. On the other side, I couldn't re-deploy them. Since we were running late, I stopped fighting with it and just carried the stroller to the gate. It was heavy. I got the wheels out at the gate, but then didn't have time to change the babe. Big mistake. She was an angel on the flight and slept most of the way. The carseat amazingly fit on the little plane. Overall great. She pooped. Again. A nice lady helped me depoly the wheels when we got off the plane and we headed to the bathroom where I promptly threw away the clothes Iris was wearing. I forgot that I had changed her into her emergency clothes right before we left, so there was nothing to change her into. See, she had not pooped all day Friday and she apparently saved it up for the trip. I ended up wheeling her through the Tulsa airport in her diaper. True Okie baby. Here she is on the plane. Notice the two-finger paci method.

We went to Tulsa to visit the family with Easter as a bonus. Even though the visit was short, we managed to squeeze in a bunch of visitors. Mom, Aunt Erin and cousin Addison picked us up at the airport. We went to Mom's house for a bit and saw Uncle Todd, then Erin, Addison, Iris and I went to visit my dad, who had just had surgery last week. He seemed to be doing okay and was happy to see Iris. A little bit unhappier when Addison came this close to whacking him in the head with a ball thrower. Ha ha. We met Nanny back at Mom's. Iris was sacked out at this point. Then my old friends from my college days came by. I meant to take pics of them, but forgot. They've been besties since forever and one had an ADORABLE baby boy last year. I was glad they stopped by. Mariah came over with her boys. We had some fun in the backyard. They are both younger than they seem. So tall and talkative.

My friend's baby was a few months younger than Jace, so there was a lot of comparing. Jace was shorter, but could walk and his feet are WAY bigger. Plus, he talks a lot! Baby comparing is fun. As always, they were both cute.

We colored eggs at Erin's. Well, the kids did. Iris slept. I was pretty tired so we went home early and got the baby ready for bed. Sunday was also busy. We went to Aunt Anna's and had Easter dinner with Erin and her family. We went to Nanny's to check out her yard in bloom. The irises weren't out yet, which is a shame. I got a few pics before my camera died.

We had a pretty uneventful trip home.

BD and I did our taxes last night. He told me he did them last month except for the filing. When I did them, we got almost double the refund he predicted. I'm glad I stepped in. There is a huge list of things I should be doing besides this and now the baby is awake, so I'll sign off for now, even though I don't hink I am finished.

What's happening

2010-04-01T20:33:00.000-05:00

So, I've had some things going on here in my life. Mostly things that were not fun and took up too much time. Thankfully, some of those are over. My company was inspected by the asssociation that governs us. They can recommend accreditation for 1, 2, or 3 years. My staff and I (and I mostly mean my fabulous QA director) were a bit worried that we would not pass. This is because she is fittingly super anal, but also because we were led by an idiot for the first two years of the most recent 3-year pass. I was the inept leader for the past year and I was pregnant or on maternity leave for most of that. But, through hard work (mostly the QA lady's), we pulled it off. Go us. And we got all of the corrections done and mailed today. That means I left work at 4 today and Tuesday. I actually get to take the holiday off, too. Now back to the grind and all of the staff problems I need to fix.

My BD's mother is leaving. She is from Thailand and just retired so she could spend a year travelling with her siblings. They are starting out in Thailiand, but then they're heading to Europe. I am jealous. BD will miss his mother a lot. She spent yesterday evening with us. She really loves our baby. We're going to miss her, but I hope she has a fabulous time.

Continental Airlines has specials from here to Tulsa on occasion. This week was one of those occasion. I wasn't going to go, but my dad had surgery today, so I thought we'd go and try to see him while we're there. I have not flown with the baby, yet, so that is going to be an adventure, especially since I am alone. I bought her a seat of her own. That takes care of the carseat dilemma. Now I just have to tackle how to get through security with a baby and a carseat and a carryon. Wish me luck.

part 3

2010-03-24T00:58:00.000-05:00

So here's the breakdown. Iris was 8 lbs 7.9 oz when she was born. She lost down to 7 lbs 11 oz. She is now...14 lbs 4 oz! That's not quite double her birthweight. Which is fine because she was gaining weight really fast there for a while. She was 19 inches long at birth and had grown over five inches since then to 24 1/4 inches. No wonder she feels so big to me; her neck is where her head used to be. Her hair is still crazy, just longer now. She is quite the talker and seems to really like Diego. She gets all excited and kicks and talks to the TV. Now, I always thought I would not park the kid in front of the TV, but it is just so cute. I do limit it though. She can take her pacifier out and put it back in all by herself. She prefers her own fingers, but i am trying to discourage it. She doesn't seem to rely on it for comfort; she generally just does it when she's hungry. Thanks Aunt E for the bib. It's one of our favorites.

4 months part 2

2010-03-23T16:00:00.000-05:00

Iris had her 4 month check-up today. She is now 14 lbs, 4 oz. I forgot to look at her height, so I'll have to add that later. She was in the 90th percentile for weight, but now she is at 75th percentile. Her height was still at 75th. So, she has slowed a little on the weight gain, but not so much as to be concerned. She is very active with the leg kicking and scooting. She will arch her back and hold her belly up, especially in the bathtub, but also jsut when she is laying down. Sometimes she straightens her legs out and hold them together so I can't get her diaper on. She is very strong. She had quite a conversation with the doctor today. We also discussed her diarrhea (since Friday, but getting better) and stuffy nose/mucus. These were not concerning to the doctor, so we are just monitoring them. She was concerned about a white line that runs down Iris's belly. It's just less pigmented and is a straight line midline that morphs into an unven line on the left side. It is about 1-2cm thick. We're going to a dermatologist in April just to check it out, but it seems to be common and not a problem.

We discussed solids foods. We agreed to wait until she's 6 months. The doc suggested rice cereal, but I am not convinced that's the best way to go. I need to do some more research, but we'll probably start with sweet potatoes or something similar. But that's not for a while. In the meantime, I have a lot of work to do before our big inspections on Monday. Hopefully, after that, I will be able to spend more time with Iris and with my laundry.

4 months

2010-03-21T23:57:00.002-05:00

Yippee

2010-03-17T20:32:00.000-05:00

I bought the stroller today. Well, Mom contributed a donation since I didn't get to do the focus group survey that was going to fund the purchase. Although I feel guilty about taking Mom's money, I am doing with it as she asked and I ordered the stroller this morning. I found it on sale in a pretty color I had not seen before - apple green. Perfect. And $50 less than at Babies R Us. It should be here by the beginning of next week.

Just a little rant: when did people lose grasp on the meanings of prepositions? I have been driven nuts by the incorrect usage of such simple words as 'on' and 'of'. Seriously, didn't we all learn these in middle school? A radio station down here advertises local businesses by allowing them to call themselves 'proud sponsors ON XYZ radio'. No, they are sponsors OF the station. One sponsors a station; one does not sponsor ON a station. This is just one example. It grates, I tell ya.

Happy St. Patrick's Day.

(Yes, that's a blingy pacifier in her mouth. She likes it for about 3 minutes.)

What a weekend!

2010-03-16T22:27:00.000-05:00

My mom made the trek to see us this weekend. Well, to see her baby granddaughter. We picked her up Saturday morning from her friend's house. She stayed Saturday and Sunday nights with us and we had a great time. I have been totally been lax about taking pictures of my sweetie since I have a work deadline looming. I was glad mom made a point of making me take pictures. I got some really good ones.

Here are Mom and Iris. Aren't they sweet. They really seemed to get along well. And here's Iris with her cow bib. Mom spent a long time trying to get that hair to lay down, but it will not.

Saturday, we went to a late lunch/early dinner at a steakhouse, then watched a movie. Sunday, Mom and I went shopping and Iris reaped the benefits. She got some really cute outfits. We then had Mexican food at Cafe Adobe. I had to work Monday, but I left early so Mom and I could make it to the suburbs before traffic got too bad. Overall, it was a lovely visit. Iris was mostly sweet. I don't think she felt very well this weekend, so she got cranky every now and then. She was still very easy to take care of and didn't cry much. She was an angel during our dinner with Mom's friends. I am really glad she came to visit.

This is Iris with angst. She can be very dramatic. Her fingers are fat baby versions of mine.

As I mentioned, I have been very busy at work and I should be doing the work I brought home with me rather than this, but I heard my audience was ready for another installment. So, Aunt A, now that you are home from the hospital, this entry was for you. Hope you feel better.

Iris will be 4 months old in a few days. I did not take 3 month pictures of her, but I will be sure to do her 4 month pics this weekend. She does have some cute, new outfits!

Meet my new obsession

2010-03-11T12:13:00.000-06:00

Hi, my name is Amacrine and I am obsessed. With a stroller. I must have it. This is the Joovy Kooper. I first saw it at Babies R Us when I was bored and BD and I took a couple of them for a test run. This one is awesome. It is sleek and high-functioning. It folds down into the smallest little bundle. It's light. I want it.

Amacrine's after work adventures

2010-02-24T09:06:00.001-06:00

BD has been on evenings for a few weeks, which leaves the baby and me on our own for dinner. Years ago, I had read a review of a vegetarian chinese restaurant that specialized in making meat dishes with mock meat. I am generally not a fan of mock meat, but last night I drove by the place on the way to pick Iris up from daycare and thought, "why not?". I ordered almond chicken, completely understanding there is no actual chicken in it. I assumed it would be like most dishes trying to be meatless meat and the mock pieces would be small and mixed in with many vegetables. Nope. I opened the container to see broccoli and large slabs of pasty-colored meaty mockness. I still might have tried it if the accompanying odor was not so reminiscent of canned cat food. I was ever so grateful that I also ordered egg rolls and rice as that made a perfectly fine dinner. I was a little irritated that I blew 8 bucks, but BD (who'll seemingly eat anything) had it for dinner when he got home. It may be a while before I get that adventurous again.

I don't have any new pics to post. I guess I could have shared that chicken, but the smell necessitated that I close the lid ASAP.

Iris is wonderful, as usual. She still only cries when she's hungry. When we get home in the evenings, I like to talk to her. She always responds with smiles and wiggles and will talk if in the mood. Sometimes she repeats the noise I make. It's a little uncanny. Last night, BD asked her if was going to be a Catholic like him or and atheist like me, and I swear she said "Jew". Why do we ask our 3 month old daughter such things, I don't know, but I like that she at least tries to answer.

I have been researching flying with infants because I need to take her to see my family. Really, they should not be missing out on her cuteness. It has lead me to research strollers and have major stroller envy. I will never spend $1000 on a stroller, but if one fell in my lap, I wouldn't look it in the mouth, if you know what I mean.

Mardi Gras

2010-02-16T23:22:00.000-06:00

Nothing much going on here. I notice that I used to post about my thoughts, plans, experiments, etc,but now I post about my baby. I never thought I would be that kind of mother, but I am. I can't help it. She's just so very interesting to me. Therefore, I assume you are interested, too.

Here she is in her Mardi Gras outfit. She is getting so big. And by that, I mean out of fetal stage; alert.

We took her to the park on Sunday, the only nice day we've had in ages. She didn't really seem to care either way. A LOT of other people had the same idea. Parking was hard to find. All kinds of people were there. I wanted to take pictures of some of them, but I was never fast enough. The people in heels and fur baffle me.

That is not my hand.

Nana sent Iris a beautiful dress for Valentine's Day. We had a photo shoot on Saturday. She slept through most of it. She has started staying awake much of the day, but I never seem to catch it for the photo shoots. She seemed to recognize me when I picked her up today, which was nice.

Isn't she sweet? Here's another. I really had to watch the perspective because her legs look GIANT in some of the pics.

I tried to video her talking today, but she always quit when I turned the camera on. Look up "amacrine72" on youtube for more videos of the babe. I suggest you turn the sound down so as not to be super annoyed by my voice.

Superbowl Sunday

2010-02-07T17:18:00.000-06:00

I guess the video sorta works. I'll try to fix that, but I make no promises. I have been slowly working on my apartment. It is by no means close to being all together, but it's getting there. I decorated around the baby's crib last week. She has a lot of entertainment around the crib, so I took pics of that, too.

The flowers don't go with the rain forest theme, but I like them, so up they went. The blankets are for demonstration, only. For safety, I do not keep them hanging over the side of the crib. Here's a better look at the mobile, which I really like. It has interchangeable pieces, so I can change them around when she gets bored.

She also has a mirror with lights and sounds. She likes the music on that one. And on the other side, there is the Baby Einstein aquarium, which she loves to watch and will go to sleep to when I am too tired to stay up with her.

She was twelve weeks old on Friday. Really, 12 weeks? I think so. It just doesn't seen right. I took some photos of her this week. Here are some. I love her little shoesocks and her chubby thighs.

dinner and a movie?

2010-02-05T16:21:00.003-06:00

I bought a little camera to film my little bundle. I am having a hard time figuring out how to let others see it, so I am trying this venue.

Did this work?

OK. I made some adjustments. Maybe it will work now. I really think this should be easier.

Check-ups

2010-01-27T11:48:00.001-06:00

Baby had her 2 month check-up last Wednesday. She is 50% in height and head circumference, but 90% in weight. She's 22 1/4 inches and 12 lbs, 1 oz. That means that she has grown 2 1/4 inches and gained 3 lbs, 9 oz since birth. Actually more since she lost almost a pound that first week. Baby likes to eat. She even slurped down the oral vaccine, surprising the nurse. She also had to get the shots and she wasn't happy. Neither was I. The doctor said she is doing fine.

She has started smiling and really, really likes to be talked to. She mimics my expressions. We upgraded to the size 2 diapers, but she still fits the size 1. She has outgrown all of the newborn clothes and a lot of the 0-3 months. Her hair is still long and crazy and her eyes are most definitely brown. A soft velvety brown. She'll take a pacifier now, but not for very long. She has started grabbing for toys and likes to watch television. She just started tolerating the cool bouncy chair thing, which makes my mornings much easier. So far, we have avoided diaper rash and cradle cap, but she did have a bit of acne for a few weeks. She puts herself to sleep, but also likes to lie in her crib and watch the Einstein Aquarium, the mobile, and the ceiling fan. She's still very quiet and alert. She has been sleeping most of the day at day care, but was awake yesterday for several hours and enjoyed tummy time. That may explain the 9 hours she slept last night. Unless I slept through a feeding. She splashed in the bath this morning and seemed to enjoy it for the first time. Generally, she just seems to tolerate it with a slight frown.

I love the way she smells. Her head smells like spicy vanilla and her breath like vanilla yogurt.

I had a check-up, too. Hypertension (new since the birth) and obesity. No surprises. Well, one. My EKG was normal. I am supposed to alter my diet and exercise. I have not managed either, yet.

I attempted to take 2 month pictures, but she was just not cooperative that day. I'll post some tonight, anyway.

She makes this face a lot.

What I did this weekend

2010-01-18T09:50:00.002-06:00

First off, I want to congratulate Hazel and Stan on the birth of their little Blueberry. You can read Hazel's blog by clicking her link to the right of this post. Hazel, Stan, and I went to grad school together and I love Hazel's blog. Anyway, shortly after I announced the impending arrival of baby Iris, Hazel announced her own uncoming baby. I visited them in August and Hazel and I got to be pregnant together, which was awesome. I am very happy for them and can't wait for more Blueberry updates! Go Hazel and Stan!

Friday night I tried out the cloth diapers. Worked just fine. Then I realized I did not have a comprehensive plan for dealing with the dirties. So I went to Babies R Us Saturday to buy a pail. We continued with the cloth mixed in with disposable and have not had a poopy cloth yet. The urine-soaked ones were easy enough to deal with, but I have some anxiety for the poopy ones. Yesterday, I bought Borax, tea tree oil, Bac-Out, lavender oil, and vinegar to deal with various smells and stains. Hopefully each will work as indicated.

I noted Sunday to BD that I feel as though all I do is make bottles, then wash bottles, sterilize bottles, make bottles, wash bottles...And it's true. The babe uses 6-8 bottles a day and I only have 9, so I have to keep up on it. Trust me, I don't like have to wash, sterilize, then make the bottle while she is very upset at having to wait. She doesn't cry much, but she can sound very insistent when she does. My mother would be happy to note that the babe has made me MUCH more organized than I have ever been at home. I have a system for bottles - they go in the sink on the left side (dishes on the right - I dont like them to mix), when I have 4 or more, I hand wash them. If I am running the dishwasher, I put the bottles and all the parts in there. If I am not, I put them in the drainer then sterilize them in the microwave bags. This is faster than the dishwasher, but is more work intensive for me. It's nice to have both options. This also means I can't let my own dishes pile up, so the kitchen is cleaner.

Then there's laundry. As my mother would attest to, the laundry situation at my house was out of control pre-baby. Well, since I have so much of her laundry to do, and now with the diapers, I do a couple of loads a day. And to make room for her and all her accessories, I no longer have the room to let the clean clothes pile up in the baskets and the dirties to pile up in the floor. I am actually putting my clothes away! Only took me 37 years to learn to do this, but it sure beats tripping over the piles on the way to the baby in the middle of the night.

Yesterday was lovely, so we took babe out for a walk. It has been coldish here, so she hasn't been out much. We walked up to the shopping center about half a mile from our apartment. She squinted for a bit then fell asleep. We ate lunch - she was fine. I have not taken her to a grocery store, yet, so we stopped in one. I think she liked the smells - deli, bakery - as she was quiet and wide-eyed. Next stop, the bookstore - a nice, big Barnes and Noble. Well, she did not like this as much and cried until we left.

Last night, I made cookies. It has been a while since I baked from scratch. It felt good. I made giant mint chocolate chip. Giant so that I only had 20 cookies and that meant less time scooping dough and fewer oven cycles. It was great. And the cookies turned out pretty well.

Diapers and such

2010-01-15T11:02:00.000-06:00

I am really too busy to be blogging. But I am, anyway.

I got my cloth diapers this week. I am in the process of washing the inserts before use, but I am going to try them out tonight. I went with the Flip from Bumgenius. There are fancy covers and adjustable inserts. I got the green, but I may get a pink one, too, if I like the system. I have 9 inserts. They look like giant maxi pads. I also need to buy a pail to put the dirties in. I guess I'll do that on the way home tonight.

See the snaps? They allow adjustments so this can be used from newborn to potty training. I am excited, not only to save money, but to not be as wasteful. I think the daycare she is currently in will do cloth diapers, so she may get to use them there, too.

We finally got the crib up on Sunday. It took a lot of pounding and new screws, but it is up. I got Fisher-Price rainforest theme bedding at a shower and it all looks very cute. I meant to take a pic, but I haven't. I also got the F-P rainforest baby gym from my friend Hannah way back in the summer, and then we got the F-P rainforest crib toy from BD's sister when baby was born. None of these poeple know each other or coordinated. I never announced a theme. How weird is that? Since I didn't take pics, here are the stock photos: I can't get the one of the bedding to show up, so maybe later.

Daycare seems to be going okay. She's so little, she just sleeps most of the time. I hope it's not too hard for her. I try to drop her off late and encourage BD to pick her up ASAP since he gets off work at 2pm right now. Still breaks my heart a little.

More baby crap

2010-01-08T22:23:00.000-06:00

Things I did not know about babies until I had one:
1. They accumulate gunk between their fingers and toes and behind their ears - where does it come from?
2. Baby girls can spray you, too.
3. They can fart as loud as adults.
4. They eat ALL THE TIME (or so it seems).
5. You have to put lotion on them
6. They change every single day.
7. Razor-like finger nails
8. Skin peeling is normal
9. So is dandruff.
10. She's perfect anyway.

Personal opinions on baby-products I have used.
1. Dr. Brown's bottles - I don't know if the contraption actually cuts down on gas, but the nipples put the baby's mouth in the most natural position
2. Moby wrap - love it, but haven't had a lot of reasons to use it, yet
3. Swaddlers - she slept so much better with these the first month.
4. Boppy - haven't used it, yet
5. Sterilizer bags, Medela and Munchkin, - love them
6. Papasan swing - she loved it the first 3 weeks, hated it, but likes it again, but not when she's trying to sleep
7. Heartbeat bear - I don't know what Iris thinks, but we both fall asleep to it sometimes.
8. Alphabet elephant - she finds it very entertaining

I got a video camera today so I can post and send videos. It's a Flip. I hope it's easy to use.

Iris starts daycare on Monday when I go back to work. We sat in for a while so I could see how they operate. I am not thrilled with where she's going - not because it is a bad facility, but it is farther than I wanted and expensive. I am on the wait list for a great daycare, but probably won't get in until February. I thought I had a closer one lined up - I offered to pay in December to hold the spot, but the lady said they had plenty of space and to come in January. Of course, they are now full. Bastards. Anyway, the place she's going is bright and cheerful and the workers have associates degrees, so it will work for now.

Iris Eleni - Cabbage Patch Kid

And now a confession. I had fully intended to use cloth diapers. I found a place that would mail out a sample pack of different types of commercial cloth diapers and then take back the ones you didn't like and replace them with ones you did. I intended to order them the first week of December. But then I had her in November, had no access to the internet, and got lazy. I still want to try them out. I think the current daycare will use them, but at least we could use them at night and when we have her. Incidentally, it looks like BD will have Sunday and Monday off for the next few weeks, maybe months, so he can keep baby at least one day per week. I think I will order the pack tomorrow. Yup, I will.

As mentioned, I go back to work Monday. So much to do there. I am neither excited about nor dreading the return. It simply must be done. BD is working tomorrow, so I am doing to try to finish the crib assembly. It did not go well for us. Usually IKEA does not give me so many problems, but we broke some pegs and dislocated the support bar. I have wood glue, screws, and a drill and should be able to "fix" it good tomorrow. I am also going to hang curtains and rearrange my shelves. I have been watching the local news in hopes that they would tell me why a police helicopter circled my neighborhood for 45 minutes earlier tonight, but I guess they aren't, so I am off the refresh the diaper and go to bed. Toodles.

Party dress

2010-01-05T16:07:00.000-06:00

I don't know who I am. At the beginning of this pregnancy, I noted that I dreaded the pink that would come with a baby girl. Well, it came. And I found myself liking some of it. Then came social events. And I found myself imagining my sweet baby girl in an overly feminine, floofy dress. The kind I NEVER thought I would put on such an innocent creature. This past Saturday, we were invited to a grown-up party with BD's coworkers. I spent 2 days looking for a floofy, girly dress to parade her around in. I swear I have lost my mind. Here's the result.

Yep, that's lace and a bow in her hair. She's hungry, hence the mouth. She was a good sport at the party, mainly because she slept the whole time. Even when we went outside in the cold (no worries, I had her quite bundled.)

BD graduates from the Academy tomorrow. Yea, BD. This means a raise, but also that he'll be out on the streets starting Friday. Kinda scary. I know he's nervous and I have to admit I am, too. For the next few months, he'll be pretty close to where I live and work, but who knows what hours and days. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

UPDATE: on the breastfeeding front. I gave up. I'll get better help earlier if there is a next time, but after 2 weeks of pumping 10 times a day, I was exhausted. And the flow never increased. Turns out bottle feeding is very easy, and I have gotten over the initial disappointment. I am using and recommend the Dr. Brown's bottles for now. I was given some Avent bottles by my cousin that are bigger, so we'll probably graduate to those when she starts taking more than 4 oz at a time. She doesn't seem to care and switched bottles quite easily.

Here she is again, sleeping peacefully. I actually got a smile out of her this morning and it was AWESOME, but no pics of it yet. I'll keep working on it.

My Baby

2010-01-02T09:53:00.000-06:00

So this is just a little Iris update. This is Iris at 6 weeks in her new blanket that Jonathan and Jace got her for Christmas. It is super soft and very pretty. I think she approves. As I mentioned previously, she is growing very fast. Here she is in her bassinet at 3 weeks old.

She's bundled in an awesome bamboo swaddler that feels incredibly soft. Thanks cousin Kari. And here she is at 6 weeks in the bassinet.

She's more alert every day, but she still hasn't smiled at us while awake. Either she is she is very serious or we are not that amusing, yet. I sing to her a lot, which amuses mist people. Then again, that could be the problem. However, she has a reat smile while sleeping and I can't wait to see it when she means it in this realm.

Holidays and whatnot

2009-12-30T09:40:00.000-06:00

I am back from Oklahoma, where I had a great time. My bro and I drove to OK with the babe. The baby stops, weather, and multiple car accidents on the freeway (we were not involved in any of them) added about 2.5 hours to the trip, but overall, it went really well. Babe was an angel and only got fussy 10 hours in. We stayed with my mom who could not get enough of her grandbaby. I don't think she was ever more than 10 feet away from her. On Friday, my aunt Karen, cousin Bridget and her babies came to meet my little punkin. She did not wake up for the occasion. My grandmother and sister also stopped by to get a look at her. Of course I forgot to take pictures. Saturday, baby Iris got to meet her cousins Jacob and Addison and her uncle Jasson. All very exciting. On Sunday, we went to the Sontag family Christmas party. As always, it was wonderful to catch up with everyone. Here's Iris with her cousin Ramsey, who was born 8 weeks before Iris. Iris, of course, did not bother to wake up all afternoon. She was one month old on this day. Like the bows? The weather was lovely that day and the bigger kids got to play on the hay bales, which really looked like fun. We tried to get a picture of all the little creatures, but they are hard to capture. Here's my best attempt.

We spent the rest of the week visiting and shopping. I got to go to dinner with my brother and sister and her family, which was really nice. Then we went to the bookstore. Even better. I spent a lot of time monitoring the children, which I guess is what I'll be doing for the next several years.

We spent Christmas eve at my sister's house. We expected snow and we got it. It did not occur to me that we would get so much. I drove us back to mom's, but got stuck in the street in front of the driveway. As I was afraid of someone coming around the corner and taking my back end off, I let a guy push my car into the driveway and got some battlescars on the bumper. Here's BD shoveling us out Christmas Day so we could venture like fools back to my sister's house. We had a little snowball fight later, but it was really too powdery for a good battle.

Precious got many great Christmas presents, including a doll, heartbeat bear and a blanket with her name on it. She got a cool crib toy from my dad, whom she met on Wednesday. I'll take pics today and post later. Meanwhile, here's another picture of her doing what she does best.

The great breastfeeding adventure of 09

2009-12-10T17:06:00.000-06:00

When I was pregnant, I was determined to breast feed. I thought it may be challenging, but it would just take perseverance. I had some trouble in the hospital getting her to latch and keeping on a schedule. It seemed every time I settled in to pump or feed her, a nurse came in to disturb me, or family came by, or they took her to the nursery for tests. Then, she had to stay a day longer than I did, so there went a night. I didn't rent my pump until Tuesday, even though I was released on Sunday and she on Monday. Once I got the pump, I pumped sporadically, and got sporadic results. By the next Sunday, I was sure I wasn't doing something right. I called a lactation consultant for an appointment and saw her on Wednesday.

She was positive and we determined that my milk never actually came in. This is probably due to my hormone resistance problem. So, the baby is now 3 weeks old and we still are not nursing. I got a new pump today and some herbs that make goats' milk come in, so here's hoping I react like a goat. If I get nothing by next Wednesday, I guess I will concede defeat as the only other option is a hormone shot, but there's no reason to think that will work if my own did not.

The picture above is when she was 11 days old and we took her to see mom's friend in the Woodlands. Aunt Erin bought her that cute outfit.

And here she is this morning. I think her lips are getting bigger.

My brother is going to fly down next week and ride back to Oklahoma with me. This solves a dilemma I was having since I waned to go before BD had time off to go with me, but I didn't want to take Iris on a plane yet, and the drive up there with a newborn didn't sound like fun, either. So, Todd will fly here on Wednesday and we'll drive to OK on Thursday. This is great because I'll have more than a week with my family and I'll get to go to the Sontag Christmas party. And everyone can meet my precious.

I'm Back!

2009-12-06T20:11:00.000-06:00

I'm back with a baby! She's 2 weeks old already and I haven't blogged in three. As you can guess, a lot has happened since then. First off, I ordered a couch. It was supposed to be delivered November 17th, but I got busy and postponed the delivery to the 20th. Here it is - I was very excited about this as I just couldn't take the loveseat anymore! Wednesday, I convinced BD to throw the loveseat out.

Thursday, I went to my weekly checkup with the OB. I had a list of questions this time. Usually, everything is normal, but this time my blood pressure was elevated and there was protein in my urine. He put me on a monitor and fed me fruit. BP still up, so he abruptly decided to admit me to the hospital. I stopped by work on my way and cleared some things up and then went to the hospital. I was to collect my urine and have my bp monitored for 24 hours. We started at 2 pm, which was seriously going to compromise my couch delivery. I kept the appointment on the chance I could make it home before they came.

L and D was crowded, so I was relegated to a rarely used wing, given a gown, and hooked up to a fetal monitor. A few hours later, they moved me to the C-section wing, where I got a private room. I called BD and mom to let them know I was in for the night. At 4pm, they said I could eat, which meant the doc thought I was going home the next day. BD brought me some necesseties and dinner. I kept telling him to go hme as the fold out chair did not look all that comfortable and they were waking me up every hour to measure the BP. But, he stayed. Glad he did. My water broke at 2 am. And there we went. Pain, epidural, finally at 3 pm, I felt the need to get her out of me. But, I had sent BD home to get the couch. So I held her in until he got back. I didn't have to push very long, and BD courageously held one leg and encouraged me. There were many, many gross things that happened, and at 1547 on Friday, November 20th, I had a precious bundle of happiness. That's her a few days later.

We'd named her Iris a few weeks ago and by Saturday, I'd decided on her middle name - Eleni. She weighed 8 lbs, 7.9 oz and was 20 inches long. Her eyes were blue and her hair dark. The eyes are changing to brown, but the hair is still dark and sticks straight up like her mommy's and daddy's did.

They released me Sunday, but kept my precious overnight. I was a bit upset. I got to take her home Monday. My mom came on Saturday and got the apartment ready for us. We gathered Iris from the hospital and took her home. She's perfect.

She sleeps a lot and eats well. And she makes the cutest faces ever. She had her two week check-up on Friday, during a rare Houston snow storm - and I forgot to take pictures! She's back to birth weight and her umbilical cord fell off. Perfect.

I need to upload current pics, but here are some from day 1-9.

There's her first bath. Nana Pat gave it to her. She tolerated it very well, like everything.

On the left, people kept saying she looked really big in the first photos I sent out, so she's next to BD's arm to show that she is tiny.

And here she is looking precious.

Where have my feet gone

2009-11-15T14:23:00.000-06:00

I was warned about the swelling and I definitely have it. Here - have a look. These pictures dont do it justice, especially since I don't have any before pictures. However, you should trust me when I say I used to have bony ankles and feet.

And I decided to go into public like this. Ugh. Here is a side view. Normally, there is no lump.Ick. 'Nuff of that.

My ticker says I have 20 days left.

Here's what I need to do:

Unpack and clean apartment

Wash rest of baby things

Build baby dresser

Get rid of Loveseat

Find a pediatrician

Find a Doula

Train new employee

Hire and train 2 more employees

Clean my office

Make notes on everything I do at work

Get breast pump and bottles

Contact diaper people

Find a daycare

Buy a futon and set it up

Get internet at home

Figure out insurance

Buy shoes that fit my giant feet

Get the rest of my thank you notes done and mailed

Mail post marks to museum

Well, that's all I care to list right now. Feeling overwhelmed. Here're Steve and Willard in a jester hat. They did not like it. Steve attacked it after he handily tore it from his head.

Don't you wish you could see it?

2009-11-11T17:50:00.001-06:00

I went to the OB today. As fortune would have it, BD got to go as well. He hasn't been since June, when he started his training. However, Veteran's Day gave him the day off, so he came with me. Also, this was my first ultrasound since July and he really like seeing them. Unfortunately, as I was drying my hair, I had scrub bottoms on and my "It a Gril" T-shirt, with the intention of putting the scrub top on over it. He asked, "is that what you're wearing?" and I innocently said, "yes". He then changed out of his normal shirt and put his matching "It a Gril" t-shirt on. Yep. We matched. Except his is blue and mine pink. And because I love him, I let us go to the OB dressed like that.

On to baby news. First off, I had the Group B Strep test. I would have liked a little warning that it was going to feel like someone taking a knife to me then rapidly yanking my skin off. But, no warning. I didn't cuss or slap the doctor, but I came very close. Beware this test.

Secondly, he was very busy today and I never felt like I had the opportunity to ask my questions. Granted, he wasn't expecting any since I never ask. I'll catch him next week as I have started the lovely weekly visits. Next, we were off to the ultrasound. Tiger Lily was awfully quiet so I got reprimanded for not eating breakfast. The tech determined she weighs somewhere between 6 and 8 pounds. Sounds good to me. The doc, however, wants a second opinion. I seriously have my doubts that this is an accurate way to predict a baby's size as not a single person I have spoken to has had an accurate estimation of their baby's weight. Maybe if I go, it would convince him of the inaccuracy of his due date, though. I doubt it.

What I do know is, she head down, looking at my right side/back. She is practicing breathing, her heartbeat is great, she has kidneys and a stomach. Her profile is adorable - way better looking than her parents. And she looks a little chunky - like a real baby. The tech didn't get a very good pic, though, so I won't try to scan it.

In other news, I am in search of a Doula. I want to go as natural as possible and I don't think I can do it alone. Wish me luck.

Dangerous creatures

2009-11-01T20:11:00.000-06:00

Today I got "stung" by one of these. It still hurts. They call it an asp caterpillar. Apparently, I brushed against it on my way out the door this morning as BD had seen it on the door jamb. We then went to Sonic and after a few minutes, I felt a little sting - like contact dermatitis. So I felt at the area and found a few tiny bumps and casually mentioned to BD that I must have touched something and he said, "Raise your arm, I"ll take a look." By this time it hurt a lot more and then he got a look on his face that practically drove me into a panic attack and it was all I could do to not jump out of the car and run around in panicky circles yelling, "Get it off, gett it off." Fortunately, I kept my cool and he knocked it to the floor of the car. I was afraid it was a spider. Nope, a poisonous caterpillar. And it had been crawling on my ARM!! and I didn't feel it. I only felt the burn. In the end I treated it with ice and now, 10 hours later, it barely hurts. Moral: don't touch these things.

I built stuff

2009-10-28T16:40:00.001-05:00

When I drove to Dallas a few weeks ago and gathered up all of the awesome donated and gifted stuff from my sister and cousins, I got a few hand-me-downs unassembled, which means sans directions. They sat in bags behind my couch until Tuesday night when I just felt the urge to see if I could put them together. I started with the bassinet, mainly because sometime Monday I developed a fear that I would have the baby early and not have a place to put her. I laid all the pieces out and it only took me about 30 minutes to get it into a bassinet shape, except for applying the rockers. Nowhere to put them, plus, the thing was only about 2 inches off the grouns which just did not seem right. I gave up and was going to call M to see what was missing when I realzed the part I needed (support stand) was about a foot from where I was assembling the rest of the thing and I had just forgotton about it. It all made sense after that. I haven't taken a picture, but this one sorta looks like it, only mine is white with dark blue accents.

While I was working on that, Baby Daddy started on the swing. Swings are expensive, so I am very grateful to get this one as a hand-me down. It required us finding the tool box and the appropriate tool for the job. It is an awesome swing and not one of my cats wanted to test it out for us! Although Steve really dug the mirror before we put the seat on. Fortunately, this apparatus was all together and pretty easy to understand. BD even figured out the rotating button that allows the swing to switch from forward and back to side-to-side motion. I read this type of swing is a must-have. I guess for American babies, since most other countries don't have this kind of luxury.

At least now I have two places to put the baby. I need to wash all of the stuff that goes on these things and that will go on her. I think I'll pick up some of that special baby detergent tonight so I can get started on that. That means I'll have to build the dresser. Which means I need to clean my room so I can move the bed to make room for the dresser. Better start on that sooner rather than later...

2009-10-19T18:25:00.000-05:00

I am finally getting excited about this baby thing. I even put several HOURS of effort into arranging my apartment yesterday so I could fit the baby stuff in. I had a pretty good week that ended in me taking Friday off to meet my mom and sister, with my fabulous niece and nephew, in the big D. My mom has a good friend who lives on the way, so I picked her up Friday morning and we took off for the 4 hour drive. The goal was to pick up baby stuff from my shower or the hand-me-downs I couldn't get home on the plane in September.

I have a routine when driving north. I stop at a certain exit for snacks and a potty break. The have fresh-baked bread, cookies, cheese, jerkey, and all kinds of bagged candies. However, they opened a Buc-ee's at the exit before my old standby. Buc-ee's have great restrooms. I know this because I had to stop at one at 2 am when my cat pooped in her carrier. The bathrooms were so nice that I wasn't too mad at the cat. Anyway, turns out Buc-ee's has all the same foods as my usual stop, only in a nicer building. I feel very disloyal, so I will probably continue to stop at the old standby, but I will endorse the Buc-ee's bathroom.

We got to Dallas in great time and met up with the family. We transferred all of the goodies to my car. So, I now have: a baby swing, a car seat with stroller, a Bumbo, a bouncer, a bassinet, a box full of lotions, spoons (I got a lot of spoons at my shower), bowls, a baby bathtub, the teddy bears I got at the shower, many clothes and blankets, and things I am forgetting, I am sure. And it all fit in my car!

We took the kids to see the Mustangs of Las Colinas. They, of course, found the horse with the accessible hiney and I took a lot of pictures of them touching it. Kids are weird. I had a great time with them and my mom and sister. Saturday, we went toa park and they all got introduced to nutria. We have them down here along the coast. Beaver in the front and rat in the back. They are alarmingly large, but docile. Of course, the kids played the "how close can I get" which, of course, ended in the creature taking one step their direction, causing the awesome scream and run away. That was fun.

I realized this weekend that I keep saying I have 8 weeks left, but really, this kid could come anytime and realistically, probably closer to 6 weeks from now. Maybe 5. I have so much to do. I called baby daddy (maybe he doesn't count as that since I made an honest man of him - what a shame) on my way home Saturday only to be told he thought I was gone until Sunday, so had not done any of the chores I left for him. Grrr. He talked me into a movie Sunday, but we organized after that. It felt good.

Here's a question. How many paris of socks do you have? I had a little sock thing a couple of years ago and have ended up with somewhere between 60 and 70 pairs. I am starting to think that is a little much. I am right, right? One of the dangers of organizing - facing your obsessions.

This past week, the baby in my abdomen has been very active. I am convinced she is trying to burrow out my side as opposed to the natural route. And, she must be practicing flips and, maybe, complete gymnastics routines. It is much more violent than I imagined it could get and she attacks with a lot of force. Now, I understand she is getting a little crowded in there, but we are going to have to reach a compromise.

I am signed up to tour the hospital and take a breast feeding class in November. Better late than never.