December 2005

December 2005 had been a busy month for us.

On December 3rd, we found out that we were pregnant. It was a Saturday morning and I decided to give EPT a try. It said 'Pregnant'. No way. Maybe I did it wrong. So, I took another test. Pregnant. I took both tests downstairs to show Huzbend. We were in shock. We were very pessimisstic in those first days. We both were careful not to get TOO excited in case, "something happened." We also decided not to tell anyone until after the 3 month mark and we wouldn't tell anyone unless it was face to face. We just didn't want to do it over the phone.

In the middle of December, Huzbend woke me obscenely early one day and told me to get in the car. It was suspiciously close to my birthday. I thought, maybe he's taking me to go see some moose. You see, I had never seen a moose for real. I always wanted to. It's one of those touristy things that you can do back east. We got on the highway and he kept turning on the blinker to make me think that we were turning and then he wouldn't. Stuff like that. We finally started heading toward the airport.

We parked in the long term lot and got out of the car. There were suitcases hidden in the back of our truck.
"Do you know where we're goin?" he asked.
"Um, not really." I answered tentatively.
He pulled a blue packet out of his pocket that had sparklies on it.
"Go ahead. Open it up." he said with a smile.
It was information about Disneyland. He was taking me to Disneyland for my birthday.
What an awesome dude he is.

The trip was great. My mom called to wish me Happy Birthday. She knew about the trip. I was talking to her while waiting for Huzbend to get off of Space Mountain. I was a bit depressed because I didn't want to chance anything happening to the baby, so I would not be able to ride my favorite rides. She asked me how the trip was going and that she was so excited for me. I told her, and I quote, "I don't know. Disneyland is great, but I don't think I'm going to be able to ride any of the rides." She answered back with, "What??!?! But, why??" Um. Duh. She didn't know I was pregnant. I quickly answered back that the park was busy and the lines were long. Phew. That was a close one. From that day on, I decided that I would have to forego any contact with my mom until it was telling time. It was just too easy for me to slip up.

There were plenty of hormonally induced emotional breakdowns. I remember watching the fireworks show at Disneyland and crying through most of it. It was because I was thinking to myself that one day we would be able to share these experiences with a child. I kept picturing us walking out of the park hand in hand and having the kid look up at me and tell me that it was one of the best moments of their entire life. "Gee. Thanks Mom & Dad. You're the greatest."

I was absolutely starving all of the time. I put away more food than Huzbend, if you can believe that. Anyone that knows him knows that he eats, like, twelve meals a day. I had to eat every 2 hours or so. What better place to be than Disneyland when you've got the pregnancy munchies. On every corner there is some kind of tasty treat just calling your name.

There were also some bouts of queasiness. One really bad one while waiting in the airport to get back home. That one was so bad that I actually cried. But, you know what, I never puked. Not once. Shhhheeeeeee-raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Christmas was next. We traveled to see relatives. It was really hard not to tell anyone that we were expecting. The good thing about it was that I ate A LOT. Yummy.

For New Years, we went to visit Mike & his family at his parents house.

We decided that we were gonna go to this pizza joint that was near where our first apartment was. Where we were living at the time, there was NO good pizza to be found. So, I was soooooo psyched about eating that pizza. I wanted it so badly. We got to the restaurant. It was open, but they were only serving their "New Years Eve Menu" and pizza wasn't on it. I hate when restaurants do that. They create this cheesy special event menu and charge you three times what you would pay for the same meal on a normal day. I was so disappointed.

At five minutes before midnight they handed round the champagne flukes for the 'ball drop'. I couldn't say no. It would be suspicious. Even though Huzbend and I don't drink, it's only polite to take a sip of champagne at New Years. Anyways, I made sure to position myself at the back of the room so I could try to ditch the glass somewhere. I remember counting down with the clock on Dick Clark's Rockin' New Years Eve broadcast. "3....2.....1......HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!" Everyone around me gave a hearty cheer and threw back their champagne. I remember Huzbend giving me a look, as if to say, "Don't you DARE!" Like I would. Sometimes he can be such a silly head. I mean would I really jeopardize the baby with a drink of champagne (which I don't even like) after I had to give up a ride on freakin' Splash Mountain, my all-time favorite Disney ride? I think not. That kinda sounds bad, huh? Oh well. It's the truth.

We spent the night at a fancy hotel. Oh. Here's some advice for you all. Do NOT spend the night at a hotel that has banquet facilities on New Years Eve. There were drunk people running up and down the halls until about 3am.

Since then, the year has been a whirlwind of change. But, you know about all that so I won't bore you again with it.

This New Years, things are a bit different. We're at home. Huzbend is in the other room playing Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess on the Wii. I think he's put about 35 hours into it so far. He's had this week as vacation. K-T is asleep in her swing taking her big afternoon nap.

Tonight, we'll have some nice sirloin steaks that we got as an Xmas present from Mike & family. Maybe there'll be some green beans and sweet potatoes. We'll chill out. We'll play with the baby. Then she'll be put to bed. I wonder how the "New Years Rockin' Eve" works out here?

The clock will strike twelve. Huzbend and I will kiss and then we'll fall asleep.

This next year should be even more interesting than the last. I can guarantee it.

Get Out The Vote

Here's your chance to participate in the democratic process.


Help us decide what picture to put on K-T's "Baby's 1st Xmas" ornament.


Your choices are below. Choose wisely.

Happy Christmas!

Well, Christmas is here.

I'm feeling nostalgic. It might be the fact that we are in a new house in a new state on a new coast with a new baby. So much has changed in the past year and a half. Sometimes it's hard to get a handle on it.

Before, we were just status quo. Huzbend and I were married, we both had jobs, no kids, a house. Plenty of disposable income. It was the same thing, day in and day out. Year in and year out. Sure, we moved a lot. Sure, we both got new jobs. But, that's normal change. It's expected and predictable.

Every holiday we had the same 'plan' of where we were gonna go and who we had to see. The 'plan' remained virtually unchanged since our high school days, just a few tweaks here and there when friends or relatives moved away. It was something that I could count on and look forward to. The holiday season was my absolute favorite time of year.

But, things change, and there's nothing we can really do about it. It's hard for me to think about this holiday season without a little sadness.

I spoke with Poppop the other day. He said something that really hit home. I told him that this year the holidays were going to be different because we were so far away. He said, "They're never gonna be the same. Never. But, you have a family now. You gotta take care of them." He's right. Sometimes, it's hard to accept change especially when it means that you have to push on without the people that you love.

But, we're a family now. And even though we are so far away from everyone and we won't get to enact our holiday 'plan', it's gonna be okay. It's time for us to start our own traditions and create our own memories. It's our job as parents to give KT the same great memories. You know what? I can't wait to get started.

So, without further adieu, here's a random list of some of my favorite holiday memories, traditions and all that jazz. Some of this stuff is really emotional, so be warned. Some of you should get out the Kleenex right now. Dudes. Just go grab a hanky, will ya?

Picking out a pre-cut Christmas tree every year at Gloria's.

Eating 'Ice Cubes' until I felt sick.

Going to (Great)GrandmaF's place for a heaping plate of cheese & crackers, veggies sticks, and lasagne. Oh yeah, she also always had Birch Beer.

Bubble lights on our family Xmas tree.

Cold 'Honey Baked' Ham at GmaC & GpaC's Xmas Brunch.

Santa Snax.

(Great)GmaC & GpaC's Xmas Eve Family Bash. Even Huzbend didn't know half the people there.

The dogs eating pine needles off the Xmas tree and having explosive diarrhea.

Exchanging put-downs, insults, barbs and wittiness at (Great)GrandmaF's.

My dad getting a jar of baby food every year in his boyhood stocking.

My Great Aunt Lollie exclaiming, "How 'bout those Flintstones!" while watching a Simpsons special on Xmas Eve.

Seeing Mema & Poppop drive up the street in their big white car on Xmas morning no matter what the weather.

My sis, Auntie Onion-Dip, getting her tongue stuck to our front screen door.

Having to wait my turn to open just one present. There was an order in our house. The director was my mom.

Getting Chapstick and underwear every year in my stocking.

Huzbend's dog, Shelby, stealing ornaments off of the Xmas tree and NOT giving them back without a fight.

Our first Xmas tree as a married couple.

Getting a bike for Xmas and having Auntie Onion-Dip tell me the night before. "Guess what?!?!? Santa brought you a BIKE!"

My sis, Auntie Skinny-ma-link (twice as pink), getting the full 'Annie' costume for Xmas. Yes, curly red wig and all.

My presents being stacked up in front of the TV. That was my spot.

The Santa sleigh and reindeer tree topper spinning on my parents Xmas tree.

Seeing my "1st Christmas" ornament on my parents tree and thinking that it looked just like me.

Being called 'Miss (insert my name here)'. Noone calls me that anymore.

Sitting around the TV to watch 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' with a freshly made batch of Jiffy Pop.

Accidently knocking over our Xmas tree onto Auntie Onion-Dip.

Lavish black-tie holiday parties at the New York Museum of Natural History.

Throwing wrapping paper across my parents living room into the big garbage bags.

Meeting at Mike's parents house back when we were in school for food, laughs and presents. Yes, in that exact order.

The little plastic Xmas tree display stand at Mema & Poppop's that held Hershey Kisses.

My Caveman Video game.

My tape recorder.

Getting a trip to Disneyland for my birthday.

Finding out that I was pregnant the first week of December.

Driving back home on Xmas day in a blizzard. It must have took, like, 6 hours.

Having Auntie Skinny-ma-link stand next to our first pick tree at the tree farm and then not being able to find her.

Getting the Norwalk Virus on Xmas day and puking my guts out. The next day, Huzbend had to shovel out from the blizzard mentioned above.

Entering Poppop & Mema's house through the back door and hearing Xmas music playing on the radio in their office.

Going Xmas shopping with my Dad and sisters at the last minute. It was always, like, on Xmas Eve.

Having to get to the Xmas tree farm early so that we could get the perfect parking spot.

Getting in the car and driving around to look at the Xmas lights. "Oooooooooooooooo".

Razzleberry Pudding.

The hum of Mema & Poppop's Xmas tree. They had a silver tree that they would set up in their office. It came with this spinning light display that would shine on the tree. Every 10 seconds, or so, the light bulb color would change. The light would shine on the tree and make it change color. It's kinda hard to explain, but it sure was beautiful.

Wrapping up one of Huzbend's own flannel shirts as a decoy "Big" present one year. Just watching him try to get excited about a flannel shirt was priceless.

Eating popcorn balls.

Well, that's all that I can think of right now. I'm sure that I'll think of more as the days go on. Things that I've come to cherish. It's great to think that I'll be able to share some of these memories with KT someday. Maybe even carry on some of the traditions. I think she's ready? Don't you?

Merry Christmas to you all!

We love and miss you.

JINX!

I jinxed it. I knew I would. Dammit.

The 'sleeping 6 or 7 hours' thing didn't last.

For example, last night she ate at 9pm then again at 11pm. Then, she woke up at 3am to eat once more. But, after that, she made it all the way until 8am.

I mean it's good, but not great.

Oh well. It was nice while it lasted.

She's napping downstairs at this very moment.

She takes what I like to call "mini-naps" during the day. It's like, every 2 to 3 hours she needs to shut herself down for a recharge.

I like to pack those hours of awake time with as much playing and activity as possible. My goal is to wear that little girl out!

The mini-naps allow me to regain whatever sanity I have left. I mean, don't get me wrong. I love playing with the kid. I really do. But, there is only so much you can do with a 4 month old.

Mostly it's just cycling through her toys. Handing them to her one at a time so that she can learn to manipulate them with her hands. Then we'll do a little singing and dancing. We'll do a little "tummy time". We'll play patty cake with me doing most of the 'patty'. I read her stories and talk to her. We practice rolling over, sitting and standing. Watch the mobile. Bounce on the bed.

I'm pretty sure she enjoys it. She's always smiling and laughing at me. Oh yeah. She laughs now. A real laugh. She does it on a regular basis now. It is the cutest thing ever. I mean, EVER.

I guess one day, I'll be wishing once again for the cutie non-mobile KT days. But until then, it's "Katie is SOOOOOOOOOO big" for the next couple of months or so. I can deal with it.

I have to tell you that it is really strange to have one little giggle make your entire day. I guess that is what being a parent is all about.

Ooops. Gotta go. I hear the giant toy bee a-jingling. You know what that means? It's PUUUUUHHHHLLLLLLAAAAAYYYYY time!

I like this. Oh, yes I do.

Since last Thursday, KT has been sleeping at night. I'm not quite sure what brought this on. It's like she turned 4 months and now all of a sudden she is compelled to sleep through the night. It's just downright weird.

She'll go to bed somewhere between 11pm and 1am and then sleep for about 6 or 7 hours straight.

I'm not complaining about it. I'm just perplexed at how one night she can be up every 2 or 3 hours to eat and then the next she's sleeping all the way through. Hmmph.

It's also the fact that she picked the night of the worst wind storm in 13 years to begin this night sleeping thing.

It's really, really nice. It kinda brings some normalcy back into our lives. I thought this day would never come. It's been a loooooonnnnnng 4 months. Sigh.

Another cool thing is that I have gotten her used to waking up at 9am or so. This means that if she wakes up to eat at 6 or 7am, I can get her to go back to bed until 9. I used this trick this morning to get in a workout and a shower, clean all three of our bathrooms, dust, do laundry, water the plants, and eat breakfast. It was great.

With all this talk about her new sleeping pattern, I hope that I didn't just jinx it. Guess we'll find out tonight.

Yesterday was my 33rd birthday. I don't feel 33. Can you be as cool as me and be 33? Just kidding.

I woke up to a surprise blueberry pancake breakfast complete with birthday candle. Then Huzbend demanded that it was present time. He hates when I make him wait to watch me open my presents.

Got myself a baby jogger/cycler. It converts from the jogger to a cart that you can pull along behind your bike. KT has to be old enough to sit up by herself to ride in it. By the time spring rolls around we should be good to go. I also got some cycling clothes and two video games.

The rest of the day was spent giving KT a bath, changing diapers, playing my new games, and just hanging out.

It was a good day.

Um, you call that a birthday?

Has it been another month already?

Jeez. Time flies when you're havin' fun!

I've taken all the skills that I picked up last month and I've been workin' on perfectin' them.

I'm super-awesome now at getting my hands in my mouth. I'm getting better at grasping things too.

I've also figured out that I can make both of these hand thingies work together to do stuff.

Do you know what that means?!?! It means that I can take virtually anything you give me and put it into my mouth. Loads of fun let me tell you. You give me a blanket; BOOM in my mouth it goes. You give me a toy; BOOM, in it goes. You have long hair and lean over me; BOOM. And so the list goes on. Neverending fun.

I can even hold my own books now. Still can't read. But, the way things are going, Mommy thinks I should be able to do that by the end of next month.

I also encountered my nemesis this month. One day a knock came at the front door and there she was. Raggedy-Ann is her name and intimidation is her game. We have this game we play called "Stare Down". I never win. One day, I'm gonna turn my back and BAM she's gonna be on me. I can't let that happen. Not on my watch. I've got my eyes on you Raggedy-Ann! Don't be messin' with me or there's gonna be a throw down! Do you smell what the K-ROCK is COOKIN'?!?!?

Hey, you know what? I don't always have to lay flat on my back. I was gettin' kinda bored with that whole thing and decided one day that I would change perspective. I kicked up these leggies of mine and rolled over to the side. I found that there is much more to life than the ceiling. It also makes it much, much easier to get both my hands in on the action. Poor Squiggly Monkey. He never gets any peace and quiet now.

You know what else hands are good for. Grabbing feet! I've got two feet, do you? And on those feet are these little things called toes. Here let me show you.......

Man. How totally cool am I?

What else happened this month? I was visited by GMaC and GPaC. They stopped by and entertained me for a week. I got lots of cuddles from GMaC and learned a lot about these things called 'cars' from GPaC. They also helped Mommy and Daddy eat a turkey or something. I got to watch a thing called a parade on TV. Daddy says that it's his curse is to have to watch it for the rest of his life. I didn't think it was that bad.

This month I also got my own place. Oh yes. 'Party Central' is what I like to call it. I've got this rockin' crib all to myself. I really like the fact that I have my own space now. Mommy and Daddy were beginning to cramp my style. I mean, how can you have any sort of social life if you are still sleeping in your parents room? Mommy just didn't want to let go, I guess. She finally caved in to my incessant fidgeting. I annoyed her into letting me get my own place. I'll have to remember that for the future.

Daddy is teaching me the ultimate video game ninja stare. If I keep practicing, I might be able to take Raggedy-Ann one of these days. The only thing I can't figure out is how he can keep from drooling all over himself with his mouth open like that for hours on end. I just can't seem to do it. He's got mad crazy skillz. I can only hope to approach his level one day.

So, I have two complaints about this months birthday.

Number 1. For some reason this past Thursday night was ultra-cold at my place. It was also a lot darker and noisier than usual. Mommy said something about the power going out because of some big storm. She seemed quite nervous about the whole thing. There was talk of trees falling over and all that jazz. She even slept over on the floor. Sometimes I just don't get her. I don't know what all the hullaballoo was about. I slept fine. Almost 6 hours in a row. Hmmph. Then the next day, Daddy was home from work and it was still cold. They hung out at my place, like, ALL day. I guess it was the warmest room in the house, but still. I think they should have to pay me rent.

Number 2. Who decided to schedule a doctors appointment on my birthday? First of all, they tell me that I'm just an 'average' kid. Um. No, I don't think so. So what if I'm 12lbs. 13 oz. and 24.5 inches tall? So what if my head has a 16in. circumference? I'm special dammit. I've got feet for cripes sake, AND I can grab them. I mean, show me someone else that can do THAT.

Then at the end of the appointment, this nurse lady grabs my leg. I'm thinking to myself, "What the heck? Who the heck does she think she is?" and I let her have it. I begin to scream at her, "Back off, lady!!! You don't know who you're messin' wi...OWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!"

She must have bit me or something. Four freakin' times!! It hurt really, really bad. I screamed and wailed to try to scare her off, but she must have been made of tougher stuff than me. Good thing Mommy was there. She showed the lady the door and then gave me a bunch of hugs and kisses 'till I felt much better. Boy, sometimes that Mommy lady is pretty cool.

Here, check out my wicked cool moves.......

Until next month!

Ciao!

I Suxor

Overheard recently on the radio while driving to Walmart (again).....

"Okay, son. We have to go get Mommy a Christmas present!"

"Are we gonna get her a dinosaur, daddy?"

"Oh no, son. Mommies don't like dinosaurs. They like pretty things. We're gonna get Mommy a diamond."

Screw you, daddy. There are plenty of Mommies out there that like dinosaurs! If you were my husband, I would soooo kick your ass.

Okay, so I like to 'dress up' as much as the next girl. I actually used to enjoy going to the stupid holiday parties because it gave me an excuse to get dressed up and pretend that I was a Bond girl for one night. Put on a nice slinky dress, sport some high heels, put on some lipstick. Yeah, I like it. But, I'm not a big jewelry person. I've got a couple of nice pairs of diamond earrings, and of course my engagement and wedding band, but that's it.

I would rather get a Nintendo DS game than a diamond. Call me crazy.

It's been a crazy week. Thus not so many posts.

The weekend was spent dealing with clogged ducts. Not the ducts you're thinking of. Milk ducts. Yeah. They get clogged. I don't know why or how it happened, but it did. It's the most uncomfortable and painful thing too. Happened once on Friday and then again on Sunday.

Let me explain it this way. It's like having a rock under your skin. Then having someone suck the rock out with a straw while you 'massage' it along its path. Yeah. UNPLEASANT. But, KT did her job and Mommy is functioning once again.

Tuesday, I had the second dentist appointment. Only a cleaning on the right side this time and no anesthetic was needed. One of the fillings that was redone on the left is really sensitive now. Hot and cold sensitive. I told the hygenist and she blew me off saying, "It's normal for teeth to be sensitive after fillings. Let us know how it is when you come back in January". There better not be some hole in my tooth. If it gets infected and I end up having to have a root canal or something there is gonna be hell to pay.

Huzbend got the Xbox360 game 'Gears of War' last week. The game is really, really cool. So cool, that even I began to play. I'm usually not into FPS's ('first person shooters' to all you non-geek types). But, I figured I would give it a try.

I suck. Why do you have to use TWO joy-stick thingies? You have to use one to get your guy to run around and the other to get him to turn/look around/aim your gun. I can't seem to use both at once. Add to that two triggers; one zooms in to target and the other actually shoots the gun. And then add to that another four buttons and it becomes downright laughable to watch me attempt to play. My top two exclamations during play are as follows:

"Get away! Get away from me! You're too close!" Said while baddie is running directly towards me. I can't kill guys that get to close to me because I panic and hit too many of the buttons.
OR
"Sigh. I don't know where the hell I am."

Poor Marcus Fenix ends up running into walls and turning in circles before dying many horrible deaths at the hands of the Locust hordes. Poor guy. I'm really sorry, dude.

Anyways, enough about my suckage. The only complaint that I have, even though I am nowhere near finishing the game, is why so SHORT? Huzbend got the game last Wednesday and finished it on Sunday. He only put in maybe 6 hours total. That is really unheard of in this day and age. Usually, it takes 20 plus hours to finish a game. Huzbend had this one RPG (role-playing game) that took him, like, one hundred hours to finish.

He felt gipped that the game was so short. So did I. I like to watch and I didn't even get to see most of it. Guess I'll just have to finish it myself. That is, if I can get Marcus to cooperate.

Dammit. Get OUT of the CORNER, doofus. God, I suck.

Sigh.

Sigh. It never fails.

I've discovered something in the past week that I thought I would pass on to you folks. You most likely already know this. It might be old news. Oh well.

Walmart has the SLOWEST checkout lines E-V-E-R!

I've been to Walmart twice this week. Both times there were only 2 people ahead of me in line and I stood there for what felt like an eternity. I don't get it.

They have those fancy bar code scanner thingies just like everyone else. Why the hell does it take so damn long for them to check people out?

Well, good people, I believe I have solved the mystery.

There was a crotchety woman who was arguing with the cashier.

"This is on sale. Should be $2.99," she says as she violently thrusts her index finger down onto the lame-ass 'Merry Christmas' mat laying on the checkout counter. The thing looks like it shouldn't even be 99 cents let alone $2.99.

"I'm sorry Ma'am. It's ringing up at $3.99," the checkout girl says patiently.

"Well, that's not what the sign said! It's $2.99," the lady says vehemently. Almost as if she is going to jump over the counter and kung-fu the poor cashier. I think I would pay to see that.

The lady's brow beaten husband is standing right behind her with a carriage full of other knick-knaky crap. His shoulders are hunched and he's decked out in all plaid. "Uhhhhhh, I'm pretty sure it's $2.99. Uh-yuh."

"I'm sorry, but it's still ringing at $3.99. I'll have to call over the floor manager," the cashier sighs.

The lady turns to her husband and says, "You watch. It's gonna be $2.99."

I wisely decided to switch lines.

Okay. I know that people shopping at Walmart shop there to save money. 'Roll Back' prices and all that shite. I get it. That's why I shop there. Got a tip before I left back east, baby supplies at Walmart are the cheapest around. So, I get my diapies and my wipies there.

Walmart is cheap. I get it, I really do.

It's just A-holes like the lady above that piss me off. Does she really NEED that raggedy "Merry Christmas" mat?

Okay, say she did need it that bad. It was a life or death situation.

Terrorists are holding her brother and the President of the United States hostage in the Seattle Space Needle. They also have a canister of the mysterious 'Green Spotted Virus' that they will unleash onto the world unless their demands are met. C.T.U . intercepts a message stating, "The only way we will release the hostages unharmed AND spare the world from the horror of green spots is to have you hand deliver one 'Merry Christmas' door mat along with a pair of Garfield fuzzy slippers and exactly 13 blue M&M's. You have 24 hours. The clock has started."

Jack Bauer has picked his way to the top of the Needle and is waiting for the requested items to be dropped to him via helicopter. The clock is ticking down and there is only 30 minutes left.

"Dammit, Tony! Tell Chloe that I need that mat NOW or we are all going to DIE!"

So, she needs the mat.

If you needed the damn mat that badly, wouldn't you suck it up and pay the extra one dollar?

Jack would. Either that or he would wait for the floor manager. Kidnap him. Tie him up and drive him to some unmarked warehouse somewhere.

The conversation would begin something like this, "You are going to give me that mat for $2.99 or I swear to God I will hurt you before I kill you, and no one will be able to stop me....."

OW

I had the first of three dentist appointments last Friday.

I guess hormonal changes during pregnancy can do a number on your teeth. Pregnancy just kicks your ass all around. There is nothing safe from it's destructiveness. Is 'destructiveness' even a word?

The hormonal changes cause you to produce more plaque and nasty stuff than normal. It also makes it harder for you to remove the accumulation with regular brushing and flossing. Yippee.

So, I went in to the dentist last month and they did a full exam of my mouth. It was in pretty bad shape. Some areas of my gums were bleeding and there were large pockets forming. Also, I had a significant build up of plaque on my teeth. Specifically in the area behind my bottom front teeth. I still have a lingual bar left there from when I had braces. It was so bad that they had to schedule me to COME BACK to have deep cleanings done that would require anesthesia (aka novacaine).

At the same time as this, most, if not all, of the old amalgam fillings in my mouth are beginning to fall apart. None are in great jeopardy of failing in the next couple of months, but they will need to be replaced. I've had these things in my mouth FOR-EVER. They are really, really old.

So, I bit the bullet and decided to have it all done in three appointments. The first one would be to clean the left side of my mouth and replace all the fillings there with the new tooth-color fillings. The second would be to clean the right side of my mouth. And lastly, the third to replace all right side fillings. Sigh.

Friday was the first appointment to take care of my left side. I kinda like that nowadays they give you a topical to numb the area they have to stick the novacaine needle into. That is very nice of them. I remember the days when they did not do this. They would stick the needle in and then wiggle it around to make sure that the novacaine was spread evenly. Many of you probably know what this pain was like. I would like to forget.

The cleaning took all of 15 minutes. Man, did she get in there and scrape away. It was sickening, really. Even though I couldn't feel the pain, I still felt the scrapes. It made me want to vomit or run away. Or both.

Next, came the filling replacements. The doc came in with an assistant and they went to work. Both of these ladies had BOTH of their hands in my mouth at the same time. The doc had two instruments going, the assistant had the suction and the sprayer thingie.

I was numb for like 4 or 5 hours afterwards. But, as soons as that wore off my jaw was very sore. I think they strained all of my jaw muscles. My gums were a little sore too. One of my teeth is very sensitive to cold. I hope they didn't screw up.

Because they gave me novacaine, they told me that I might not want to breastfeed KT for a few hours. The novacaine crosses over into breastmilk. To be on the safe side, I waited a full 12 hours before I breastfed her. I had stocked up on milk, so she was all set.

Something unexpected happened though, when I had to stop breastfeeding her.

I missed it.

I remember the lady who taught my infant feeding class saying that you develop this "bond" with your baby. That is was special mommy/baby time unlike any other. That you would come to cherish these special moments. Breastfeeding releases hormones that relax the body both in the baby as well as in the mom. Before KT was born, I was excited to feel this "bond" and eager to learn how to breastfeed.

Now, as you all know, my experience with breastfeeding has been very hit or miss. Well, nowadays, there are a whole new set of challenges and problems. KT still doesn't latch properly. This is especially true when she is tired or she just doesn't feel like concentrating on the task of eating. I've learned to deal with it, but sometimes it can be extremely painful. She is also able to grasp things now. That means that she'll take a handful of boob and practically try to rip it off me.

There have been many times when I've just about given up on it. I thought that "bond" stuff was a bunch of bullcrap. I'm just a human cow. But, for some reason, my brain always says, "Keep at it. It'll get better." And I do.

I've realized that the lady at the class was actually right. There is a "bond" that is formed. When things are going well - KT doing her thing and me doing mine - it's really a great feeling. I don't know why I never felt it before. Maybe I am just addicted to the hormone release. I need my fix. But, I really missed our time together for those 12 hours. The bottle just doesn't give me the same feeling. I wonder if she even knew the difference?

Two more appointments to go. I can't wait.
NOT.

Dolphin Girl

I swear, our daughter can communicate with animals. With some of the noises she makes, it seems quite possible that she does hit that "undetectable by human ears" range. Hmmmm. That might be why there are so many cats wandering in our backyard.

K-T has made so many firsts in the last 2 weeks that I can't even remember all of them. She turns from back to side and can stay there, she has sucked her thumb, she can bring her hands together in front of her, she can play with a toy held over her chest with both hands, she is getting really good at grasping, she can lift her head and look around when placed on her tummy, and last but not least she giggled.

She giggled. Just for a few minutes. I can't seem to get her to do it again. It was at the mobile. It was the cutest thing. Everytime the mobile would spin a certain way she would laugh, "heh, hehe, heh."

Starting this past Sunday night, K-T has been sleeping in her crib. She's made the transition pretty well. I think she really likes the extra space. The bassinet was getting a bit cramped for her. It's really hard to believe that at one time the bassinet seemed TOO big for her. Sigh.

To help her along down Big Girl Lane, I've set up an inflatable mattress in her room so that I can be at her beck and call all night. Huzbend calls it, "Mommy Central". Really, it's just to help ME get through the night. She's having no problem. It's me that just doesn't have the will to get up and run across the hall every 5 minutes to pop the binky back in when it falls out. Cursed binky. OH well.

When I finally do get her down to sleep she wiggles her way all over the place. Last night, she turned herself a full 360 degrees. She also was flipping around so violently that she ALMOST flipped herself from her back to her tummy. I'm thinking one day that I'll wake up to her screams of panic because she's all of a sudden got her face planted in the mattress.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, without further adeiu. Please find, for your ultimate enjoyment, a video of the famous, the wild, the craaaazy, BAYBEE
K-T!!

SNOW DAY(s)

This was not supposed to happen.

We got snow. We've got about 4 inches of the white stuff in our backyard, with more on the way tonight. WTF?!?!?!? I thought we left this for good when we left the east coast. Come ON!

Everyone said when we moved out here, "Ohhhhh. We don't get snow out here. If we do, the most we get is, like, an inch. Mostly we get ice events. No biggie." Welllll, what happened?

This all started on Sunday afternoon with cute little innocent flurries. The forecast was for an inch. Monday came and it slowed down. Then in the afternoon we got hit with a whammy. Big bands of snow kept hitting dropping a couple of inches in an hour or two.

It is pretty laughable, really. This area is TOTALLY unprepared for this type of weather. Practically all of western Washington was shut down by about 4 inches of snow.

Let me put it this way. I was watching the news the other day and the forecast was for more snow. They did the standard "getting ready for the snow" report that they do every couple of days back in New England. The difference was this comment, "Seattle DOT is busy getting ready for the approaching snow storm. There are about a dozen or so plows that need to be fueled up and adjusted."

A DOZEN. A DOZEN plows for an entire metropolitan area. That is friggin' hilarious. I think, when we lived back east, we had about a dozen plows on our street alone. HA!!

You shoulda seen the traffic Monday night during the worst of it. It took some people 9 to 10 hours to drive 15 miles. People just abandoned their cars on the side of the road and walked home because it was faster. I don't think I have ever seen anything like this.

Our street. Unplowed. There is about an inch or so of ice coating it now. The sun came out for a while, just enough to start the melting process. Then at night it got frigid cold and everything froze. I can hear someone outside right now trying to move their car. Nope, dude. It ain't goin' anywhere. Spin, spin, spin.

They actually shut down the Evil Empire yesterday because of the ice. They told people to stay home. Huzbend, wisely, chose to work from home on Monday after he saw the forecast. He's been working at home all week. That's how ridiculous the roads are here.

Another funny thing. We were the ONLY ones in the neighborhood that had a snow shovel. That is just downright weird.

We've been held captive in our house for 3 days due to a measly little 4 inches of snow. Who woulda thunk it?

Gobble Gobble!!!

Happy Turkey Day!!!

This was our first Turkey Day in the Northwest. It was funny. It was exactly the same weather here as it was back east. Cold and rainy.

It was weird to have to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade on tape and not live. I mean, we were watching it and it was already over. So, the people back east have a 3-hour head start on the holiday shopping season. It just doesn't seem fair.

Huzbend's Mom and Dad (GMaC & GPaC) were here for a visit and a good time was had by all. GMaC brought K.T. some cute new clothes. Is this not the cutest thing you have EVER seen?

It was also K.T.'s first Turkey Day. I really can't tell if she enjoyed it. She actually slept through most of it. Can tryptophan be passed through breast milk?

She DID enjoy putting on a Thanksgiving fashion show courtesy of Auntie Swims-with-Dolphins and Uncle Lil' Bro. She was decked out in Turkey goodness.

Huzbend decided to try something a little different with the turkey this year. He decided to try 'brining' it. This is when you take the turkey and soak it overnight in a salt water bath. The salt water also contains herbs and aromatics. I have to say that it was the most succulent turkey we think we had ever tasted. You know how you always have to put salt on turkey to get it to have some sort of taste? Well, that was totally not needed this time around. I think we might be doing this from now on.

I, again, made my candied yams. I just can't seem to be consistent with the quality. Last year, they were perfect. This year, not so good. Oh well. One of these years I'll get it right. I have to say that they will never be as good as my Mom's. I think it was because my heart just wasn't in it this year.

It was good to have GMaC and GPaC here. They sorta took the focus off of the fact that we are now all the way across the country from our families. I really missed my family. I called to say hi, but I kept wishing that we could just drive down and get some hugs. Just being SOOOOO far away and having K.T. and all. I don't know. It just doesn't seem like the holiday season for some reason. Sigh. I'm sure it will get better with time. In the meantime, X's and O's to you all! We miss you lots!

On a brighter note, K.T. has made some significant jumps in the past week. During "Tummy Time" she can lift her head off of the floor using her arm strength. She can almost look straight forward from a belly position. A week ago, she couldn't even get her head off the floor. She is so close to pushing up with both arms. If she can just get her legs in on the action, she might be able to turn over.

And FINALLY, K.T. has found her thumb. Yesterday, she was fussing. I turned away to grab her binky and suddenly, she stopped. I turned back and this is what I saw.....

I get a Wii, you cannot find. Great success!

In celebration of K.T.'s 3-month, we went to the movies again.

This time we saw Borat. Unlike last time, we were not the only ones in the theatre. There were probably a dozen or so other babies.

When we got there, K.T. was sleeping soundly in her carriage. As soon as the previews started, she woke up dazed and confused. Immediately, she began to give me the "I'm scared Mommy. Pick me up." pout. It's the cutest and yet the most pathetic look you can imagine. So, I picked her up.

By this time a preview of Casino Royale popped up on the screen. 007 began shooting and exploding his way through the preview. K.T. was having none of it and quickly decided that she was going to ball her eyes out. The next preview was just as loud.

But then a funny thing happened. Borat started and she instantly calmed down. I'm not sure if it was Borat himself (he's pretty funny looking) or the funky Eastern Block-type polka music they were playing. She watched the whole movie and even laughed at one point.

I thought Borat was hilarious. But, that's my kinda thing. I'm into that in-your-face type of comedy. Putting people in akward positions and seeing how they react.

It's kinda like the sitcom 'The Office' on NBC. 'The Office' is actually the USA version of the British hit named, um, 'The Office'. There is no laugh track and people find themselves in awkward yet hysterical situations. Usually, these situations have to do with crossing boundaries of what is polite and acceptable. Borat's version of comedy is kinda like that, but R-rated. There is also lots of male nudity. Not so nice male nudity. You have been warned.

Saturday we made our weekly trip to REI to buy yet more cycling gear. This time Huzbend's waterproof gloves ripped. So, he needed a new pair. He also got himself a kick-butt waterproof jacket. Sigh. This makes Huzbend happy though. So, I cannot complain too much. It's also nice to have him walking around everyday in his spandex outfits. Did I say that out loud? Oooops.

About Thursday of last week, Huzbend decided that, yes, he did want a Nintendo Wii. He always does this. Waits until the last minute to decide that he wants these high demand video game consoles. Last time it was the Xbox 360. I shoulda learned my lesson. But NOOOOOO, stupid me, I thought that he really would wait to see what all the hype was about. So, I didn't preorder one.

One of the local stores, Fred Meyer, was going to start selling them at 12:01am Sunday. As we were driving around Saturday afternoon, Huzbend and I made a bet. I said that there would be people waiting in line and he said, "No way, dude". I was right. Nya-nya-nya-nyaaaaaaaaa-nya! He had to make dinner AND do the dishes.

Huzbend decided that he would go out to our local Fred Meyer store at 11:30 to see if he could get one. No luck. The line was about 60 people long and they had already allocated all their machines to the people in line.

Sunday morning rolled around. K.T. woke up at 7am for her feeding. After doing my motherly duty, I decided to see if I could save the day. I got myself out of bed and drove off to the local Target store that was opening at 8am. I got there at about 7:45 and got myself in line. I stood there, in the rain, for about 10 minutes before I overheard someone talking about 'tickets'. I asked the guy if they had already allocated the units. He said yes. Dammit! I decided to drive down the street to the Toys 'R Us to see if that was a possibility. Toys 'R Us had tents out front. I figured it was a lost cause. I decided to give it one more try at the local Best Buy.

Best Buy had a line that snaked its way around the corner of the building. I pulled up and rolled down my passenger side window. There was this big kid standing on the side walk near the front of the line. He had glasses and a winter hat with a puff ball on top. He was wearing baggy jeans and Converse sneakers. He was also completely soaked. He must have been there overnight.

"Hey! Did they already allocate all the Wii's?" I screamed over the pouring rain.

"They're handin' out the tickets right now! Hurry up! You could still get one!" He yelled back.

I damn near hit 80 mph pulling into the nearest parking spot. I threw the truck in park, hopped out and ran towards the back of the line as fast as I could. It's a good thing I'm back on the treadmill. It guaranteed that I could outrun any other nerds that might have been making a run for it.

I found the guy with the magic tickets. I saw that he had two left.

"I need one! I need one!", I yelled at him, slightly out of breath.

"Here you go! Luck is on your side today."

I got Number 83 out of 84.

I had to wait until 9am for the store to open. So, I decided to go back to Target to get other shopping done. On the way back to the truck, I saw the nerdy kid that told me to hurry. He asked me if I had gotten one.

"Yep! Thanks to you, dude. Hug. You rock, man!" I gave the big kid with the glasses a hug. He did rock.

I got back to Best Buy at about 10 minutes to 9 to wait in line. At 9am they opened the door and there was a mad dash to this table that they had set up with all the games and accessories that were available. I almost got trampled. By the time I got to the table it was cleaned of anything worth getting. Then some guy that worked there said, "We have more at the back of the store in the video game department". Soooooo, all these big guys went running back there. I got stuck in a sea of nerdity as I went to try to get another controller. No luck. Gone-so.

Oh well. At least I ended up with a system, which I must say is completely awesome. If you don't know what the Wii does, I'll try and explain. Instead of using a controller to play the games, many of them use a 'remote control'.

For example, you can play baseball. You take the 'remote' and hold it like a bat. The character on screen pitches the ball to you and you swing the 'remote' like a bat and it hits the ball. Hope you can picture that. They also have golf, tennis, bowling, and boxing. There are also many other games that use the 'remote'. Like, Legend of Zelda. In that game you can use the 'remote' as your sword and another remote control called a 'nunchuck' as your sheild. So you are actually fighting in real life AND in the game as the same time.

We loves the Nintendo Wii! Is nice!

High five!

Happy Three Months to me!

Howdy folks!

Three months. Wow.

I thought that I had accomplished a lot at my two month birthday. I think I've broken my own record.

Let's see.

Well, as you can see from the picture above, I've learned how to drive.

Just kiddin' people. I can actually grab onto things now. How about that? Who knew these balled up little appendages of mine actually had a purpose? Wonders never cease.

This cool new skill has come in handy for all sorts of things.

I can now eat all of my friends. Here's a nice pic of me munching on Cheeky Monkey.

Mommy doesn't even HAVE to do the peek-a-boo thing. I can do it myself! Totally self sufficient, I am. Okay, except eating. And diaper changing. And moving. Ahhhh, forget it.

You know what else fingers are good for? Sucking! That's right. I can occupy a full hour just trying to eat my fingers. I just can't help myself.

My hands can also protect me from tackles. Yes, that's right. Tackles. My friends get antsy sitting around in the bassinet all day. Mommy will walk away and then 'BOOM' they'll try and mess me up. I'm ready for 'em though. They gotta get up pretty early in the morning to get me. Okay, so, Dolly got me this one time. It was just ONE TIME!!

There were also a few more firsts.

I took my first bath in what Mommy calls my "Big Girl Bathtub". Sorry, but no pics of that. I'm a nice girl.

I also got this totally awesome mobile on my crib. Beats the heck out of the lame safari mobile. That thing only spun one way and played the same boring-ass song. Mommy and Daddy would have to come and wind the dumb thing up every 2 or 3 minutes. My sweet new mobile is a multi-colored wonder. It spins all over the place, plays classical music AND lights up. Did I also mention that it plays for TWENTY minutes straight? Oh. It rocks. Yes, it does.

Grandma and Auntie Onion Dip came by for a visit. Grandma taught me some new songs. Itsy Bitsy Spider is my favorite. It cracks me up every time. Silly spider, getting washed out the water spout. Good thing the sun comes and saves his butt. What a riot. He never gives up though. You gotta give him that. I also have another question, why does the baker man mark the cake with a 'B'? Weird.

My self-created language is coming along just nicely. I am very impressed with myself. I've added all sorts of new sounds. Gurgles, coos, giggles, squeals, lots more versions of Ah-GUUU. Now, I just have to work on the parents. They still don't understand a word I'm saying. Even my friends stare at me blankly when I talk to them. I wonder why? Mommy says their stuffed. They don't talk. Hmmm.

I've learned how to post to youtube.com. Here's some vid of me in action. Hope you enjoy watching it as much as I did making it

So, that is just a taste of what I've learned this month. More to come I'm sure. I can't wait.

Later, dudes!

Bicicletta Bella

Remember that new workout implement that I mentioned in my last post?

Well, here it is.......

We got me a road bike. Figured it was about time. All my big talk about the Tour de France and I don't even ride. Can you say, "Wannabe"? Plus, why let Huzbend have all the fun?

I was sooooo nervous when I test rode it outside of the store. This is not your average bike. Nothin' at all like a mountain bike, and nothin' like your everday average 10 speed.

This things got ballz. You can feel it. She's just waiting for you to take off at light speed. This bike was built to go FAST.

It's been a long time since I rode a bike. I had a bike accident back in high school that scarred me for life. I was riding my bike around the neighborhood when me and a friend spotted a marsh fire in the distance. We decided to check it out. I began to pedal very fast while standing up and the chain came off my bike. My feet slipped off the pedals and I implanted myself on the bar. It hurt. A LOT. I had to go to the hospital because I was bleeding and passed out. Since that day, I have NEVER trusted a bike again. I am always wary that the chain will come off at the wrong moment.

So, understandably, I was a bit wobbly when I got on it the first time. I actually had to get a rolling start by pushing off the curb. What a loser I am. I was scared. Of a bike. It was awkward and I kept saying to myself, "I'm never gonna ride this thing. Why am I doing this?" I felt like such a chicken shit.

It's a good thing Huzbend convinced me to give it a second chance. I felt much more comfortable. I was changing gears and getting up to speed. I was sold. We bought the bike. Ka-ching! We bought me some biking shorts. Ka-ching! We bought me some cycling gloves. Ka-ching! We bought me some cycling click-in pedals w/ shoes. Dammmmmnnnn. This stuff adds up.

So, Bella, as I like to call her, is set up in our gym on Huzbend's indoor trainer. I've been doing these DVD workouts called "Spinervals" with a dude named Coach Troy. Man, he kicks my ass EVERY time. The cool thing with the click-in pedals/shoes are that you can push down AND pull up on every spin. Makes for twice the workout that way. My legs are screaming when I'm done.

Another super-awesome thing is, with the click-in shoes, my feet will NEVER slip off the pedals. They are stuck there, no matter what.

Okay. That said, here is the downside to the click-in shoes. You gotta be able to click out when you want to. This takes a lot of practice. While this does not pose a problem indoors on a trainer where I can take my time pulling out of them, it's a whole different story on the road. It's almost guaranteed there are going to be many, and I mean MANY, times when I can't get my feet out and fall over sideways. How embarrassing. Everyone will know for sure that I am the ultimate cycling noob.

The plan is to take Katie for rides next spring. Huzbend will pull her along in a baby carrier and I can follow on my bike. We can do family picnics and stuff. There are a lot of bike trails around here. I'm excited about that.

After that, I will compete in and win the 2007 Tour de France.

But seriously, folks, the ultimate goal for me is to just get out on the road and ride. That, in itself, will be an accomplishment.

An Update

Hi there.

Sorry it's been so long since the last post. Things around here have been crazy. I'm trying to get some work done for my old company and I had a dentist appt. last Thursday. You know. Things like that.

I'm just going to update you all on some things that I have left hanging. If I forgot anything, just shoot me an email and let me know.

I'm gonna pump YOU up:
Baybee Katie has been nice enough to take predictable 3-4 hour naps every day. Usually, I just wait for her to fall asleep in her swing and then I am free to excercise to my hearts content. I was riding the stationary/spin bike and I even started running on the treadmill again. Boy, am I out of shape. My legs were killing me after running for 20 minutes at a 13 minute mile pace. Damn. To kick up the intensity, we went out and bought me a new workout tool. But, sorry folks, I am going to leave that for another entry. To date, and it has been about 4 weeks, I've only dropped, like, 2 or 3 pounds. How weak.

I hate 'dem meeses to pieces:
Mr. Terminix came back to check the traps that they had set around the crawl space. They caught ONE lone mouse. It must have been the one wreaking havoc in our kitchen. Poor little dude. Oh well. He said that there was no evidence of rats down there. He also said that since they caught a mouse there probably were no rats. Rats kill mice. Hmmph. Good riddance.

Echo, Echo...:
The doc called last week with the 'results' of Katie's echocardiogram. She started off by saying, "She must have moved around a lot, huh?" Um. No. She slept through most of it. Annnnnywayyyyys. The doc said that the experts did not find any significant heart defects. They didn't really see anything. The sound is most likely coming from a small hole between the two upper chambers of the heart and should close up as she gets older. Same diagnosis as huzbend when he was small. Go figure.

K.T.:
Katie is a crayzee baybee. She is full of smiles nowadays. She loves to play shy too. She'll smile at you and then turn away as if she is saying to herself, "Awwww. Shucks." She coos, laughs, giggles, and squeals with delight. She has also taken to talking to everything in sight whether it be to Mommy, Daddy, The Musical Bugs, Bubba Betty, Dolly (aka WideAss Wendy - huzbends name for her), Cheeky Monkey (& Chicken Leg), Giggle Puppy, GunShot Monkey, GlowBug, Bruce the Lion, or just the wall. Maybe one day I should introduce you to all her friends. They are quite the motley crew.

'To Binky':
We've been using the binky to great success. Besides the binky, she has gained control of her unruly hands and can now insert them into her mouth at will. Still can't find her thumb though. I use the binky only when she either A)seems to want to suck on something for comfort and is getting frustrated with her hands or B)is about ready to fall asleep. She can actually let the binky fall out of her mouth without waking herself up. Hooray.

Cradle Crap:
Is now officially gonzo. Yep. Since she started with the flakes, moms have been telling me the following, "Rub some kind of oil onto her scalp. It can be baby oil, veggie oil, olive oil - just some kinda oil. This will soften up the scales and then you should be able to use a soft bristle comb to get them off." I tried this technique to no avail. The scales/flakes would not come off. I figured out what my issue was. I wasn't leaving the oil on long enough to soften them. Duh. So, yesterday, I dumped half a bottle of baby oil on her scalp and let it sit on there during bath time. Afterwards, I got a comb and was able to scrape all the scales off. Problem is that with the scales came half of her hair. She is now almost bald. But, at least the scales are gone. Her acne is gone too. She is one cute lookin' baby, if I do say so myself.

Breast milk vs. Formula:
Katie and I have gotten rather good at the breastfeeding thing. We only use formula once a day now and that is at night. I find that I need to catch a boob-break. I'd say that it took us between 6 and 8 weeks to get into the swing of things. Let me tell you, those 6 to 8 weeks were sheer hell. I'm not gonna sugar coat it. It was NOT fun and it was a lot of hard work. It was even very painfull at times. But, we worked through it and I'd say things are going okay. It does sometimes seem that I just can't keep up with her demand though. I'm still pumping at night (when she gets her formula), so we can use that to supplement her during the day if I find that I just don't have enough. There are times when I find myself thinking that breastfeeding is a chore that I have to do. There are other times that I relish the special time with Katie. It's a mixed bag. It seems to coincide with what Katie's mood is at the time. If she is really fussy and just doesn't seem happily satisfied at the end, I feel kinda gipped. There are other times when she is very content and even smiles and tries to talk while feeding. She'll look up at me with her big blue eyes as if to say, "Gee Mommy. You make a great cow. Thanks for the milk."

Happy, Happy, Happy Halllloweeeen:
I did get Trick-or-Treaters. I also got rid of all my candy. Yay! Most of the kids that came to the door were older kids. I guess the youngsters go to the local church function. Bummer. That means all the houses near me were dark, 'cause they are all church goers. I also got word from Auntie Onion Dip that peanut butter cups ARE the #1 selling candy for Halloween (as well as Reeses Pieces). I knew it.

White & Nerdy:
I still am. So, quit askin'.

What the heck is Halloween?

Baybee Katie continued to garner media attention at her most recent photo shoot.

Even though she has stated multiple times that she is not interested in fame, she has still become the darling of the paparazzi. They just can't seem to get enough of her! Some say her disinterest in the media is just a hoax and that she is really just looking for all the attention she can get. This reporter would have to agree. Just take a gander at the comments below.

Please be aware that comments match the photos below them.

"OH BOY. Another photo shoot. I can't WAIT. Yip-freakin'-eeeee. Who signed me up for this crud? Um, these are going to be on the net, right? Just want to make sure I'm getting what they like to call in the business, 'exposure'."

"Alllllright. Who's bright idea was it to make me wear this hat? And where, praytell, are my pants for cripes sake? I've got an image to uphold people. I can't be parading around in my diapers! What kind of photo shoot is this? And my background, people. It's, like, falling down. What kind of low budget outfit is this?"

"Now, explain to me, why am I dressed like a pumpkin? Are you trying to tell me something? Are you telling me that I'm FAT? That's it, isn't it? I'm FAT. Ohhhhh. It's a costume? I'm just pretending to be a pumpkin? That's cool. Can't I be something cooler? Like, maybe, a kick-ass ninja or somethin'? Maybe a Jedi knight that's fallen to the Dark side. How wicked awesome would that be? I could, like, have a light saber and stuff. That would rock. Let's try that out in our next shot...."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Jedi's DO NOT wear pumpkin bibs. What are you people on?!?"

"Now, I'll just look off into the distance as if I am contemplating lifes mysteries. It'll make a great shot. Trust me. This one will make the cover of Time magazine."

"You mean, let me understand this 'cause, ya know maybe it's me. I'm a little messed up maybe, but I'm funny how? I mean, funny like I'm a clown, I amuse you? I make you laugh, I'm here to friggin' amuse you? What do you mean funny, funny how? How am I funny?!?!"

"HAAAAAAA!!! Just freakin' kiddin', man! Didn't ya ever see Goodfellas? Wasn't my Pesci right on, or what?"

Booga Booga

Since it is Halloween today, I decided to do something really scary.

I broke out my pre-pregnancy pant collection to see if anything would fit.

Wouldn't you know it, 80% of them did NOT fit. It's my damn belly. My legs have gotten a little flabbier, but not exceptionally so. It's all the belly.

I need to get rid of the belly.

It's the worst feeling when you're putting on a pair of jeans and you're pulling them up over your legs thinking to yourself, "Hey! These might fit. They're going on pretty easy....". Then BOOM! You get them up to your hips and try to pull the button over to fasten and there is a big lump in the way. Even if you suck it WAAAAAAYYYYY in, it still doesn't help. There is just no way in hell that you can get the damn things fastened. Sigh.

Well, good news is that there were three pairs of jeans and two pairs of khakis that fit me. There is light at the end of the tunnel.

It should be interesting tonight. We should get some Trick-or-Treaters this Halloween. First time in a looooooong time. Back east our house was too far away from other houses for the kiddies to walk, so we got nobody.

I've got it all set up. Got my black cat and pumpkin pics up in my windows, got the candy in the bowl, got the plug-in jack-o-lantern ready to go, cleaned off the steps so the kids won't kill themselves. Bring 'em on!

I find that I always buy candy that I wanted to get as a kid. The number one candy item when I was out trick-or-treating were peanut butter cups. So, now I buy them every Halloween because of that.

I wonder if I am off track; that I am just proving my old-schoolness. Are peanut butter cups STILL the number one Halloween treat? Like, are they still coveted enough that you would pull a chair all the way across the kitchen to the refridgerator, and using a broom stick pull your sisters candy bowl close enough to the edge so that you can steal HER peanut butter cups since she is annoying enough to always SAVE all her candy until yours is all gone and then eat it in front of you?

Not that I ever did that. Noooooo, not me.

Lookit all 'dem rich folk

Yesterday, I went to the movies. Let me rephrase that.

Yesterday, Katie AND I went to the movies.

Yep. You read it right. To a REAL movie theatre to see a REAL movie.

In a town about 20 minutes south of here, right outside the home town of "The Evil Empire", there is a movie theatre that shows 3 movies every Thursday just for parents. You can bring your kids and babies to the show. They turn the sound down a bit and turn the lights up just a bit. That way you can catch the latest movies with noisy baby in tow. They will even deliver concession goodies to your seat if you want. It only costs seven dollars.

How awesome is that?

We decided to check it out. Katie and I went to go see "The Queen." We were the ONLY ones in the movie theatre. The previews started out kinda loud and I was nervous about how the rest of the movie would go. Katie did get a little antsy during the previews, so I had to walk her around.

After the movie started, she calmed down a bit and actually watched the movie with me. She sat on my lap and watched the whole thing. No fussing, no crying, no fits, no....nothing. It was extraordinary. I fed her during the movie and even changed her twice. She was so well behaved, you would have thought that she was a couple of YEARS old. Hmph. It must have been the british accents. You know that's how SuperNanny gets those kids to listen, she has that musical british accent. Same goes for Mary Poppins.

Katie ended up falling asleep for the last 15 minutes of the show. Just sitting there on my lap. She fell asleep. That has never happened.

After the movie, I decided to check out the mall next door. Talk about ritzy. Since there are many, many million/billionaires in the area, this mall must cater to them. They had those stores that offer unique couture. The ones that don't have, like, small/medium/large. You just have to buy what they have on the rack at that time. There was a store that only sold black and white clothes. Super fancy. They had all the high end stores and even a shop that sold fancy-shmancy cupcakes. I did not buy one, but Auntie Onion Dip did when she was here visiting. According to her and Uncle Junior, it was just a plain old cupcake with a bunch of extra frosting.

I felt so out of place. There were all these 'MetroMoms' walking around with their kids. The kind of moms that wear business casual clothes ALL the time. For example, there was this one mom that was wearing a black button down fitted blouse with pin-stripe pants and high heels. She was pushing an Eddie Baur stroller with one hand while talking on her cell with the other. Her hair was flawless blonde, pulled back into a smart pony-tail. She was wearing a pair of those bug-eye, Elvis sunglasses with a soft brown tint. Her kid, no doubt, was styling in the most up-to-date baby wear; matching shirt, pants, socks, shoes and hat.

I saw another fashion-victim (wearing the same stupid looking sunglasses) carrying her little dog who was wearing a sweater to match her outfit. She was carrying her dog. In the MALL.

Me and Katie, on the other hand, looked like we just rolled out of bed (which we literally did). I was wearing maternity jeans (sigh), a blue shirt, sneaks and a purple rain coat. Katie was wearing some pink onesie with long sleeves and legs, no socks or shoes (she likes to wiggle her toes) and no hat. I'm surprised we weren't kicked out of the place.

We window shopped a bit and then headed for home.

This morning we got up bright and early for the echocardiogram. Katie, again, was on her best behavior. An echocardiogram is really just an ultrasound of the heart. She was able to stay in her baby car seat/carrier. I had to undress her, except for her diaper. They put four little circle thingies on her to record her heart beat and measure her heart rate. Then they gelled her up and took pics of her heart in motion. She didn't cry at all. She even smiled at the ladies while they were doing it and tried to grab their hands. At one point, she started getting a little fussy, I popped the binky in her mouth and she fell asleep! The whole process took about 45 minutes, with no tantrums. Again, I was amazed. We get the results on Monday, so I will let everyone know what happens with that.

"What a well-behaved baby!", one of the nurses said. "What a little angel," said the other. If people keep telling me these things, I might start to believe them.

Too late.

Well-Baby?

Yesterday was Katie's 2 month "Well-Baby Visit". That's what they call these appointments, "Well-Baby Visits". I'm not quite sure why. They just do. I call them check-ups. Whatever, right?

Anyways, it was pretty horrible.

Okay, the first half of the appointment wasn't so bad. The first half was the "exam" part of it.

A nurse came in and took her measurements = 10pds8oz, 22in long, 15in head circumference. She grilled me about her developmental progress, as well as our family "situation". Standard questions such as; Can she hold her head steady yet?, Is there smoking in the house?, Do you use a car seat?, Does she sleep through the night yet?, etc. Katie had a ball during this part. She was all smiles, babbled for the nurse and to top it off had a good pee on the exam table.

Then the doc came in and did her thing. Checked her ears, her eyes, her joints, pressed on her tummy, listened to her heart and breathing. Katie didn't like the doc very much. I think she gets scared by deep voices. Our doctor has a very deep voice for a woman and everytime she took Katie from me, Katie would look at me with her super-pathetic pout and then start to cry. As soon as I took her back, she would stop and smile at me. What a drama queen.

The doc thought that she heard a slight heart murmur. Huzbend had a heart murmur when he was little too. Might be genetic. Don't really know. The doc says that it's hard to be sure of murmurs in infants since they are constantly making noise and moving around. Just to be sure that everything is kosher, we got set up with an appointment to have an echocardiogram this Friday. Now, THAT should be interesting. How they are going to keep a 2 month old still for this test is beyond me. Hmmm.

So, after all this, it was time. It was time for the worst part of the appointment. The 5 vaccines. We had to move to another room. The nurse came in with her 5 needles. This was not going to be pretty. I had to hold Katie's arms down on the exam table, while another nurse held both her legs out straight.

BOOM. The first needle went in. Katie began to scream as loud as she could. Then she went BEYOND screaming. It was like she had reached a new sound level that, like, only dogs could hear. Her eyes filled with tears. The tears didn't go anywhere though, because she wouldn't blink. She just had her eyes in this painfull looking squint. The first injection site began to bleed. The nurse quickly put a Band-Aid on it. It bled THROUGH the Band-Aid. She had to take that one off and put another on.

BOOM. Second injection. The supersonic screaming continued. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. Three injections quickly in a row all followed by Band-Aid applications. She was bleeding slightly from all the injection sites. The nurse commented that most babies don't bleed like that. The bleeding stopped pretty quickly.

It was over. The nurses said that I could take my time with the room to get her calmed. I said, "Thanks". They left the room telling me that I could use Children's Tylenol if I found that she was overly fussy or got a fever when we were home.

So, I was left with a ballistic Katie and it seemed that there was nothing that I could do to calm her down. I tried talking and walking with her. No luck. I tried breastfeeding her. She was too whacked out to settle down enough to latch on. Finally, as a last resort, I pulled out the binky. I popped it into her mouth. With a few more hugs and kisses and a lot more soft talking ("It's okay, Katie. It'll be okay") she was finally settled.

I started to tear up a little after I got her settled. I felt so bad for her. I mean, why do I have to do this stuff? Why am I always the one that has to hold her as these people stick sharp pointy things into her legs and feet? Why do I have to look her in the eye and have her look back at me as if to say, "Why, Mommy, why do you let these strange people hurt me so?" Why am I the one that has to hold her as she screams and then afterwards try to comfort her with words that have no meaning to her?

Because, I'm a MOMMY now. And that, my friends, is what MOMMIES do.

And I'll tell you another thing, us MOMMIES kick ass! I am MOMMY, hear me ROAR!!!!!!

White & Nerdy

Okay.

So, how many of you knew who Lloyd Christmas was? I'm sure it was, like, maybe two of you. And that would be overestimating. Here he is....

If you still don't know who Lloyd is, shame on you. He's in one of the funniest movies of all time, 'Dumb & Dumber'.

The reason I bring this up is that, by using Lloyd as a reference point, I proved my own nerdity. Yes. I can admit it. I am a nerd. I've been a nerd all my life.

Here are some examples:

I, at one time, owned many 20 sided die. I had a whole bag of dice including, but not limited to; a 4 sided, an 8 sided, a bunch of 6 sided, maybe a 10 sided. You get the point. If you don't know, all these dice are required to play Dungeons and Dragons. I was a D&D hag. Yes, I was. I always played the same type of character too. Either a halfling or a kender (both are kinda like hobbits). We used to play EVERY Saturday night in high school. We would gather at someones house, chow on Doritos and Mtn. Dew, and slay displacer beasts with Plus Five magic weapons.

This love of D&D extended into dressing up for Renaissance Festivals, as well as producing a theatrical version of the King Arthur legend for a high school English assignment. I was Queen Guenevere. Huzbend, King Arthur, of course. We called it, "The Pendragon Legend". It was made with my parents huge ass video camera and edited using two VCR's. We made our own costumes for it as well. Our knights armor was made out of cardboard and Excaliber out of a two-by-four. It was a masterpiece of its time.

As a 'tween and teenager, I loved reading comics. In fact, my senior year of high school, I had a job in a comic book store. This allowed me to have first access to all the hot comics before they hit store shelves. I have to say that I got A LOT of attention at the store from the, uh, clientelle. How many girls do you know that can argue about superheroes and their powers? I mean, come on. I was a nerdy comic book guys dream!

I also am, and was, a big fan of anime and manga. I mentioned in my first post on this blog about Princess from Battle of the Planets. Well, that was just the beginning. From there I fell in love with Robotech, which led me to Lum, which led me to Bubblegum Crisis and so on. I would spend hours drawing all my favorite characters. This obsession eventually reached its peak when Huzbend and I visited Japan a couple of years back. We studied everything we could about the country and even took language lessons.

I love Disney. We've been to Disney World at least 6 or 7 times (I lost count), been to Disneyland & California Adventure once, been to Tokyo DisneySea and Tokyo Disneyland once as well. I can't wait to go again. We even ran our first marathon THROUGH the DisneyWorld parks. Sigh. I miss Mickey so. I'm jonesin' for some Mickey waffles (wipes drool off chin).

What else?

I still like to dress up for Halloween.

We still watch cartoons. We love 'The Avatar'. It's on our DVR list.

I'm a big fan of Star Wars. I can recite lines from the movie. We stood in line for the midnight showing of Episode III. I think I dressed up as C-3PO one year for Halloween. My first lunchbox had an X-Wing fighter on it. I like Star Trek too. Next Generation was the best (sorry old school Trekkies). I even have a book explaining how to use the Klingon language. We are currently watching the new Battlestar Galactica. I watched the old series. Huge fan of Harry Potter. Stood in a midnight line for the book AS WELL as the most recent movie.

I own a Nintendo DS and have been known to play Animal Crossing for hours at a time.

Last but not least, and essentially what seals the deal is this. I've been to four concerts in my life. One was Madonna. Two were Van Halen. One was Weird Al Yankovic. Yes, Weird Al. I am a huge fan of Weird Al. It was the 'ALapalooza' tour.

He's got a new song out that speaks to me. Check it out when you get the chance. Here's a link to a video over at YouTube; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xEzGIuY7kw

Enjoy!

Retaliation

Baybee Katie has been adamant that I not upstage her blog entry and has, for the past 3 days, thwarted every attempt I have made at getting one posted. She is pretty good at it too. She's ruthless. She'll do whatever it takes. Whether it be; demanding food, wailing for absolutely no reason, making me run across the house to wind up the mobile, disarming me with her devilishly cute smile, wanting me to read her the "Five Little Monkeys" with puppet accompaniment for the 11th time in a row, or just pooping her diapies nonstop. There is one thing I can say, the kids got stamina. Either that or she's stubborn. Sheesh. Just to get back at her, I posted these 'not-so-nice' (but kinda funny) pics of her. TAKE THAT, little kid!

Hmmmmm. What's happened since my last post?

Huzbend and I took an Infant & Child CPR class this past Saturday. Katie came along for the ride as well. Why is it, when we go out into public, she decides that she is going to be a complete angel? The class lasted from 9am until about 12pm. She slept through the ENTIRE thing. It was amazing. Everyone was complimenting us on what a "nice, quiet baby" we had. HA! If they only knew. It was all an act, I say.

Anyways, the class was pretty good if not a little scary. It was good because we learned what to do if a kid/baby is choking and how to perform life saving CPR on them. It was scary because I just don't want to think about having to be in a situation where my child is not breathing and I am the only thing that is standing between them and death. Ugh. I guess it's better to be prepared than to stand there helpless. At least you can do something.

It was really easy to learn. We all got to practice our techniques on Lil' Annies (child size) and Baby Annies. Huzbend got a little TOO into it at one point and while doing chest compressions on our Lil' Annie, pushed his hand almost through the dummies chest to the floor. The instructor had to slow him down with a very polite, "Um. There in the back? That MIGHT be a little TOO hard." Ha! It was pretty funny. GRRR, HE-MANNNNNNNNN!

On Monday, I was supposed to take Katie to her 2 month checkup at 9am. We got up that morning and rushed around to get ready. I actually made it to the docs office about 10 minutes early! I walked up to the check-in counter and said, "Hi. We're here for a 9am appt.". I gave the lady our last name and she began to look us up in the computer. She then muttered, "Ummmm" and looked up at me perplexed. I thought to myself, 'This can't be good.' She says, "I'm sorry Ma'am. We have you down for an appt. next Tuesday the 24th at 9:30."

What????? I KNOW that the lady that I had made the appt. with told me to be there at 8:45am on Monday the 16th because I was the first appt. of the day. I KNOW that I didn't write it down wrong. BUT, I was nice. The docs office is less than 5 minutes away from our house. I was too tired to argue and decided to cut them some slack. Sigh. I had mentally prepared myself for this appt. too. She was going to get 5 vaccines. Now I gotta psych myself up again next week.

I was able to get the grocery shopping done early though because of the whole appt. debacle. I was also able to get Katie home from the grocery shopping trip before she went rip roarin' crazy too. Man, has she got a cry on her. Wow. You gotta hear it to believe it. She really makes you 'pay' if your not on your game. See the picture below and imagine a thousand fingers scraping their nails on a chalkboard or a million Lloyd Christmas clones making 'The Most Annoying Sound in the World' all at the same time. Dude, no lie.

It's been 2 months, but who's counting?

Helllllllllllllooooooooooooooooooo to all you loyal subscribers! Baybee Katie here.

Huh? You don't have to subscribe to this gibberish? You mean, we don't get paid? What is the deal with that? Who would spend the time to type all this stuff out and NOT get paid for it? Oh. Really? Sorry, Mommy. Didn't mean to 'dis you like that. To each his own, as they say.

Ahem.

Anyways! Today is the 2 month anniversary of my entrance into this world. Ahhhhhh. What a strange trip it's been. I can honestly say that I've had a wonderful time so far. I've done a bunch of stuff in the last month and made some new friends along the way. So, sit back and enjoy the latest installment of "Livin' the Baybee Lifestyle: A Life in Constant Transition".

One day, about 2 weeks ago, I was minding my own business when this chick started making faces at me. "How rude," I thought. She was sticking her tongue out, grimacing and even worse, laughing at me! LAUGHING, at ME! I was about to ask her what the hell she was staring at and if she wanted to "take it outside", when I was told I was looking into a mirror. Whoa. Dude.

It was then that I took a good look at myself. What is up with my hair? I mean look at it. I am balding on one side and the hair that I DO have sticks up in the back and the front so I look like a mutant Alfalfa. Take a look at the picture below. How could this happen?

Not only that, what is with all the flakes? I look like I have parmesan cheese spread all over my scalp. This does not make The Katie happy. How do my parental units let me go out in public like this? Ugh. How embarrassing. Enough depressing talk. I met some more cool people this month. Auntie Onion Dip and Uncle Junior came to visit. A good time was had by all, especially Mommy who enjoyed having other people deal with my, uh, shtuff. Mommy and Daddy tried to go out to dinner with them. Didn't quite pan out. I decided to throw a fit. Oh, you should've seen it. It was a classic. You might think it mean of me, but really it just comes down to the fact that I was NOT in the mood for Italian that night.

I also met a guy named Mickey Mouse. I overheard that he owns a lot of property all over the world and that he is worth millions, maybe even billions. Mommy said that one day we'll get to go visit him at his "kingdom". Well, I guess he is royalty too. CHA-CHING! Sign me up. I heard that he has a girlfriend already. But, he hasn't met me yet. Get me some Head and Shoulders and I MIGHT have a chance.

Who else did I meet? Oh yeah! Lambie. Lambie is a pretty cool dude. He hangs out over top of my swing. Best thing is that his brother, Lambie, and his other brother, Lambie, are always there too. They crack me up. They do this little dance. Mannnnnn, you just gotta see it. Here's a pic of them in action. Bad photo of me. I must have had a little too much to drink, if you know what I mean. Got the sleepies.
In the past month, I've given up the whole "Boob? What is that?" facade. I decided that Mommy had enough stress on her plate. I'd throw her a bone. How nice am I? I can now do both - boob AND bottle. I am THAT good. I've also recently taken up binky sucking too. I have achieved The Sucking Trifecta.

Hmmmm. What else?

I'm finding my voice. I haven't quite mastered the whole english language thing, so I just decided to make up my own language. I like to call it, "AHHHH-GUUUUish". There really are only a few sounds so far, but it's a work in progress.

Last week, I was able to read "The Hungry Catepillar" with Mommy. She reads way too slow. I kept trying to tell her, but she always replies to me the same way no matter what I say. It's always, "You don't say?" or "Oh yeah?". Sigh. I don't think she gets what I am trying to tell her. Speed it up woman! I'm not an idiot, you know.

I'm a little worried about Daddy. He rides his racing bicycle to and from work everyday. He says that it's quicker than sitting in traffic and that he can save money on gas. The problem is that sometimes he is just so wiped at days end that I think that he must be zombified. I mean, take a look at the picture below and you tell me. Doesn't he look possessed? Cuh-reeeeee-peeeeeeee.

Well, that is my life. Recently, Mommy and Daddy have realized that I am the cutest baby to ever reside on the planet Earth (even with the poopie diapers and uncontrollable dandruff). So, they've taken to dressing me in some crazy outfits. This is all in an attempt to take me down a notch. But, they can do their worst. I am still super cool. And DON'T you forget it!

Check out the socks. They are coordinated to match the outfit. Thanks a lot Grandma. Mommy can't wait to show my future boyfriends this one.

Here comes Katie CottonTail, hoppin' down the friggin' bunny trail....

Now, this one doesn't look too bad. Froggies. Cute. Pink. Cute. Me. Cute.

The feeties on the outfit. Gag me with a spoon.