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!