McMissis

Bama

2012-02-11T12:23:00.000-08:00

Gracie's favorite letter sound, by far, is "ba". She uses it all day long and it means pretty much anything. When she does learn real words, she almost always adds a "ba" in the beginning, whether it belongs or not. (Except of course, with the word "banana" because calling it "nana" and leaving out the one sound you use constantly makes complete sense.)

Anyway, she adores a new treat we've recently begun giving her: graham crackers. Every single time I go into the pantry (which, because I'm 24 weeks pregnant, means 10,000 times a day) she yells "Bama!" and runs straight for me.

The other day, McMister came home for lunch and could not get her to say goodbye to him when he had to go back to work. He asked for kisses, hugs, bye-bye waves. She completely ignored him. He finally left, and when the door shut, she ran out of the room. Nowwwww, she cares, I thought.

Then she slammed her body up against the pantry door and cried, "Bama!"

Well, today, right after lunch, she asked for one. "Really?" I asked, "You just ate."

I gave her one anyway, and we played and read for a few minutes before her nap. Of course, the dogs were hounding her for a quick bite, but she was not about to give up her precious bama.

About half an hour later, McMister came into the room while Gracie napped. He was on the phone doddling around behind me when he started cracking up. Apparently, he found our not-so-hungry girl's doggie-proof bama hiding place.

Weekly Wednesday Photo - 1 year, 4 months, 3 weeks

2012-02-08T12:06:00.000-08:00

Jammies + belt + veil. Toddlers are awesome.

Getting a little better at being park parents

2012-02-07T12:26:00.000-08:00

Remember last year when we went to the park? Well, we're getting a little better at it now that we've had 16 months of practice.

OK, not that much better, but better all the same.

Each year, the Pacific Northwest weather gods treat us to one beautiful week in February. I dubbed it The February Fakeout because even though it happens every year, everyone always forgets and we think it means we're magically going to enjoy a spring season. Then, immediately following this one gloriously sunny week, we return to gray skies and rainy hearts until July 5 when summer arrives.

Since this week is hosting this year's Fakeout, McMister took off work early yesterday, and we all went to a nearby park. The reason I like this park is because it has two separate big toys: one for ages 5-12 and a little one for ages 2-5.

The 2-5-year-old one has short slides and fun little gadgets to twist and spin right at toddler height. When we first arrived at the park, Gracie ran around with a wild grin from ear to ear simply taking in all the kids and all the action. She wanted to be right in the center of everything, but since it was about 3:30, most of the kids were older, school-aged kids and much bigger than she.

So I veered her toward the little ones' area, and McMister walked her up the stairs, across the bouncy bridge and over to the slide where I waited patiently below. While there, a bunch of big kids ran over and basically took over the area.

"Do you like anyone?" one little girl with a disgustingly ugly hot pink leopard print track suit asked a tousle-haired little boy.

"Uhh... uhhh," he hesitated. "I like..... UNDERWEAR HEAD!"

McMister cracked up, pointed right at him and yelled, "That kid's hilarious!"

After exploring the rest of the park for a while, McMister suggested, "I bet she could go down the big slide."

I ignored him completely until a few minutes later when he demanded, "I'm taking her down the big slide."

Her shoe had been catching on the little slide the whole afternoon, but it was simply slowing her down before she hit the bottom. So when we told me to wait at the bottom of the 5-12-year-old slide and he'd take her to the top, I swallowed my hesitance and tried to trust my husband (and the sticky shoes).

Um, yeah. BAD IDEA.

She got to the first curl in the giant slide, got her shoe stuck and flew forward, slamming her face on the side of the slide with her feet now above her head somehow. I hoisted my giant belly against the side of the slide, lifted my arms all the way above my head and lowered her down to safety. She sobbed hysterically and McMister and I tried to console her without letting any of the other parents watching in horror know that we were actually laughing.

She cried in my arms for a few seconds, transferred over to McMister to cry in his, and then yelled "Off!" about 45 seconds after the whole ordeal had begun. She raced back over to the stairs and started to climb up for a second try.

"OK, let's try it again!" McMister shouted excitedly.

"NO!" I said and yanked her away from him as fast as I could. All the other parents merely continued to stare with their mouths wide open.

"Well, she's certainly daring!" one of them finally said, breaking the ice.

I just smiled awkwardly and ran away.

Next, we went over to the swings where a bit of a line had developed for the baby swing. A dog was nearby and Gracie ran over yelling "Oof! Oof!" The owners thought her rendition of barking was cute so they let her pet him while we waited. She sat there weirdly petting the dog's butt, repeating nothing but "Oof" for several agonizing minutes until the swing finally opened up.

Of course, McMister, the father and apparent sole gene-provider of my little daredevil, wanted to push her on the swings, since I'd apparently "make it not fun for her."

And he swung that little lady so high I could barely breathe. Obviously, she loved every second.

We left shortly after and had to wade through a group of Dun.geons and Dra.gons weirdos on the way to the car.

"I love the groupie!" McMister said about the woman watching from the car next to us.

"Her window is open!" I whisper-yelled back as she glared at us with her wizard eyes.

Angels and Demons

2012-02-03T19:19:00.000-08:00

I thought the screaming, boundary testing and defiance was supposed to peak at 16 years old, not 16 months old.

The past two days, Gracie has been an outright terror. We've had blood-curdling screams when something doesn't go her way, kicking, hitting, scratching, choking (if you can even believe it) and of course, the all-around brilliant move used by toddlers everywhere, going limp.

Getting mascara on both my top and bottom lashes in one sitting can only be done with a 2-foot whining mess pressing her lower body against the sink and her upper half against my legs somewhat successfully turning herself into a jack whose main use is prying me from my routine with the jaws of life.

Diaper changes have become something I spend my days in fear over. Keeping the filthy mess to a minimum while a hysterical yelling maniac twists, turns, kicks and stiffens her entire body into a bizarre mini-backbend would be laughable if it didn't happen six times out of every seven.

Not being able to read Baby Elf's Christmas for the 94th time while simultaneously making dinner could possibly mean the end of the world. I must either stop what I'm doing to avoid mass hysteria or promise to read it when I'm done, attempt to continue cooking, then watch from the corner of my eye as she stomps around the living room slamming all the couch pillows onto the floor.

Then, every few minutes, the light changes in her eyes and my little angel appears once more. She can be so sweet, it's actually heartbreaking. An unsolicited hug, kiss or snuggle feels unimaginably incredible when you're scared there's not much love left for you in that little mile-a-minute heart.

And her happiness knows no bounds (when she shows it). I sang the Itsy Bitsy Spider to her tonight for probably only the fourth time in her life, and as she asked me to do it again over and over and over, she tried to play along with her teeny little fingers and enormous beaming smile.

I read a really fun book called The Napping House to her after dinner. We read it all the time, so she knows how it builds and builds until an eruption of bright color and laughter fills the final pages. This time, every time we closed in on those fun pages, she literally couldn't contain her excitement and started squealing with anticipation and joy.

Those better moments, the ones where her heart shines directly through her big, beautiful eyes, make it all so worth it. Even if they happen to be far outnumbered by the bad ones for a few days at a time.

Why I can't get anything done

2012-02-02T10:51:00.000-08:00

Life with a fearless toddler is, shall I say... challenging.

McMister always wonders why there's so much laundry backed up. Well, I certainly can't do it when she's awake, I often explain to him. Can you imagine what she'd do to a pile of folded laundry?

We do have one of those nice laundry rooms with counter space all around to temporarily house folded laundry, so I thought I'd lock her in there with me today and try it out.

Yeah, not so much.

Edited to add: I do recognize that this is dangerous. That's what I meant by "fearless". She literally has no fear, which means I constantly live in complete fear. I was in the room with her the entire time and the machine was turned off completely. Please don't worry. I would never leave the door open for her to do this again. When I texted McMister the picture, he wrote back "Not cool." I realize that, babe. That's why I sent it to you.

Weekly Wednesday Photo - 1 year, 4 months, 2 weeks

2012-02-01T12:07:00.000-08:00

How I birthed a jock, I'll never know.

(A public) bathroom with baby post

2012-01-31T12:16:00.000-08:00

I've written about going to the bathroom with a baby several times since Gracie was born.

All of them have taken place in the privacy of our own home because I do pretty much anything to avoid taking her into a public bathroom with me. Not because I'm a germ-freak, but because she is who she is.

The only times I think I've really ever taken her into a public bathroom are many a time at Target and once a few weeks ago at a church wedding.

Now that she can stand, I take her into the (usually handicap) stall with me and stand her up next to the door. She walks around a little, touches the flusher and then immediately starts to crawl out underneath the stall door. So, I try to pee as quick as lightening to try to beat her to that point of the process.

A few weeks ago at the wedding, there was a wild little girl who was about 3 in the bathroom with us. "Hiiiiiii Baby!" she said actually somewhat mocking Gracie. "Aren't you soooooo cute. Like a little baby!"

I was already annoyed at her (yes, I realize how insane that sounds that I became annoyed with a 3-year-old stranger after seeing her for 47 seconds). Gracie and I went into the stall and because I was failingly trying to squeeze my pregnant ass into a pair of pre-pregnancy nylons, the ordeal took a little longer than usual.

As Gracie crawled out underneath the stall to check out the rest of the bathroom, the 3-year-old started nervously shouting, "Baby! Baby! WHAT are you DOING, Baby?"

It was hilarious.

Fast forward to yesterday and I used the bathroom before we left for Target trying to avoid any similar situation from occurring. But, since I'm enormously pregnant already, I had to go by the time we walked in the door of the store... 10 minutes from my house.

I set Gracie down in the handicap stall with me, sat down on the toilet and she went straight for the flusher. She's never actually flushed the toilet before so although it's disgusting and warrants an immediate and thorough hand-washing afterward, I wasn't too bothered.

Until it worked.

She apparently now has the strength to pull hard enough on the handle to flush the toilet while I'm sitting on it and spray horrifying Target toilet water all over my butt.

Pregnancy Pics

2012-01-30T18:09:00.000-08:00

McMister and I are doing all of these, except for #2 because he's so skinny. I usually outweigh him by the end of my first trimester.

My current version of Teen Bop Magazine

2012-01-27T07:02:00.000-08:00

This is the best thing I've ever seen in my entire life.

And, even though The Notebook is one of my all time favorite movies (remember how much Noah and Allie fight in the first part of the movie? Well, I'm pretty sure the writers spied on McMister and me to get most of those scenes), I've never liked Ryan Gosling. Well, DAMN! did that change when I saw the movie Crazy Stupid Love. I am now utterly obsessed with anything and everything that includes him! The fact that two of these include him makes my week. I'm seriously considering printing them out and hanging them on our bedroom wall.

P.S. The comment section is hilarious. Readers made suggestions of what else they think should be on there. My personal fave: "I wanted you to know how much I care, so here's a smoothie, a carton of whoppers, and some Tucks."

January 2012

2012-01-26T12:46:00.000-08:00

Dear Gracie Girl and Mayflower,

This month has very much been overshadowed by this past week. Our lives were drastically altered while we were stranded at home without power for 5 straight days. Then we had a nice little 7 hour powerless break again two days later. I promise I'm finally getting over it, but I couldn't write about this past month without at least mentioning it.

Gracie, you turned 16 months 10 days ago, and I try to write one of these letter at each of your month birthdays. Sorry, I'm so late on this one, but again, see last paragraph.

The week the power was out, you made enormous leaps and bounds! Literally. You learned how to jump. It is hands-down the most hilarious sight to see. You dramatically throw up your arms and entire upper body, and about 7 percent of the time, your feet come about a half an inch off the ground. You had been trying all morning on Sunday, then when we were at Granny's for our weekly family dinner, Granny and Daddy started screaming with excitement in the other room. When I asked what it was about, they said you had finally done it: jumped! When you did it again and they started convulsing with pride, I laughed a little at how ridiculous you (and they) looked. But it is too freaking cute.

Also during power outage week, you randomly learned how to talk. You'd think there'd be some direct correlation with the power being off, TV being off, radio being off, etc. But one of the positive things that week did for me was to make me realize that we really don't use power very much during the day at all. We pretty much spend our time at home reading books and playing so the power being out doesn't really affect you like it does Mommy and Daddy. Anyway, power or not, you learned a new word each day last week and started actually using them! Beforehand, you had a few words that you'd say if we asked, "Can you say Mama? Dada? Banana?" Then all of a sudden, it's like you realized what words were for and started using them to your advantage. "Up!" you yell when you want up. "Dada!" you yell when you see him walk in the door. "Apple Apple Apple!" you yell pretty much whenever you get bored and want to eat. (Please note, yell is the word I used for each of these, not say. As in everything else in your life, you are overly thrilled to be able to say things and so must do so with the sheer force of a hurricane.)

Mayflower, I've decided to call you this since you're due the last day of May, and by that time around here, everyone is more-than-desperate for any hint of the summer to come. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we don't have that season called "Spring" here in the Pacific Northwest, so you'll have to be our bright, beautiful sign of newness and growth.

Your sister is as excited as she can be about your arrival. She doesn't have any idea that you're coming. At all! But her favorite book to read (79 times each day) is I'm a Big Sister Now. She loves loves loves babies (real ones and dolls) and I know, at least for the first few days you're here, she's going to love you.

I am so excited for the two of you to get to know each other and live your lives as sisters. Gracie, you and I just had possibly the most fun we've ever had together before you went down for your nap. For some reason, you got a serious case of the giggles and of course, it was utterly contagious. The whole time I changed your diaper, instead of acting like the kicking, screaming maniac you've become on the changing table over the past two weeks, you could not stop laughing. Then, when I tried to read your nap-time book Goodnight, Gorilla, you kept trying so hard to pay attention, then bursting into laughter once more. It was such a magical moment between the two of us, and I couldn't help but think of all the laughing fits you and your little sister will have over the years.

Love and laughter,
Mommy

Weekly Wednesday Photo - 1 year, 4 months, 1 week

2012-01-25T19:27:00.000-08:00

I've posted a couple times now here and here about our completely out-of-the-ordinary winter weather over the past week.

We took Gracie sledding around the neighborhood, and she COULD NOT get enough! The only problem was she kept trying to stand up the entire time.

Eventually, we just let her try and she actually went cross-country baby snowboarding around the cul de sac. I didn't get any pictures of her standing up because I was scared to death.

Have you ever thought about the mothers of those X-Games competitors? Well, now I have.

Powerless

2012-01-24T07:05:00.000-08:00

Last week was the biggest test of patience I've ever experienced.

The snow was fun for a day or two, then turned to ice storms, power outages and a trapped Mommy and Gracie stuck at home due to downed power lines littering our entire street and a severe lack of snow-driving skills.

Every day, McMister took his (fugly) giant truck and ventured out to work for half a day. Each afternoon, when he returned home to work from his laptop, I felt like the desperate star of one of those post-apocalyptic movies.

"What's it like Out There?" I'd ask wide-eyed and clamoring for any touch with the outside world.

He'd recount all the outright insanity that a little winter weather causes for us lucky(?) folks up in the Pacific Northwest who usually only(?) see 9 straight months of rain for our bad weather "season". I'd let him play with Gracie for a few minutes while I went to the bathroom or just stood in the bathroom contemplating what I'd look like if I pulled all my hair out, and then I head back downstairs so he'd inevitably start working away while I took back the reins of our little wild animal.

We survived and though the bickering did reach monumental heights by the end of the week, it wasn't really all that terrible. So, I'll let the memories fade away and not rehash every last crisis that occurred.

Instead, here are some of the high and lowlights of Winter Week 2012:

Gracie learned to say the word "off" randomly on Tuesday. Wednesday night, the power went off. So she woke up to a very dark house and ran around for hours pointing at every light in the house yelling "OFF!"

Many a diaper was changed via headlamp.

Many an argument ensued about how to properly use said headlamp to change said diapers.

"Gracie, do you remember when I told you about the term 'You're driving me bananas'?"... "Nana? Nana. Nana! NANA!!!!!!"

When we finally were able to leave the house Saturday morning, I took Gracie to my mom's house where the power had already returned. The second I got out of the car, my diaper back broke completely.

Gracie learned to climb on top of our coffee table and learned to jump. Separately. Now, it's just a wait-and-see game until she figures out to jump off the coffee table.

Since we couldn't keep any food cold or heat any food up, Gracie lived the entire week on bread and canned peaches. I ate two entire boxes of Ding Dongs.

At what we thought was the end of a fight, McMister said, "OK, I think we can stop being mad at each other now. We both just have a little too much cabin fever.".... "YOU have cabin fever?????" I responded with the tonal qualities and pitch of a cat who just happened to be dying and in heat at the same time.

2012-01-23T08:31:00.000-08:00

After 5 days without power and 5 days stranded at home, Gracie and I are finally ready to join the real world again.

It Has Sucked.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to reading all your updates from the past week! I randomly scheduled a bunch of posts on Tuesday right before the power went out, so that's why it seems like I never left. But I did. Believe me. I was gone.

An article so true

2012-01-23T07:27:00.000-08:00

A best friend of a good friend posted an article on Facebook last week, and I just can't stop thinking about it.

I shared it there immediately, but it struck such a chord with me, I had to post it for you guys as well. Enjoy!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/glennon-melton/dont-carpe-diem_b_1206346.html?ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false

Ugh the stupid internet is taunting me

2012-01-20T07:30:00.000-08:00

I normally only look at Target and Babies 'R Us for crib bedding because I know ~~my mom~~ I can afford it. The other day, I had waaaaay too much time on my hands while Gracie was napping and I found my way onto some website that had... THE HORROR!... stuff I couldn't afford. It was dangerously mixed in with stuff I could afford, so I couldn't stop looking. Every Single Thing I liked enough to click on was out of my price range.

Then. The very last one. It was perfection. I was done looking. I found the inspiration for New Baby's entire room.

I mean, seriously? Have you ever seen a more beautiful bedskirt in your entire life?

It costs $650! DOLLARS!

After scouring the internet trying to find it for cheaper somewhere, I gave up. It took a few days of dreaming longingly about it, but I was finally ready to move on.

BUT I CAN'T.

The stupid (but secretly freaking brilliant) internet keeps showing the image to me in the top right corner of my screen on every page I go to as an ad. FREE SHIPPING! it shouts to me. And 650 DOLLARS is all I can shout back.

The apple pedestal

2012-01-19T07:22:00.000-08:00

Gracie doesn't say many words yet despite hours and hours of babbling each day.

Tuesday, I gave her an apple as soon as we got to the grocery store, as I always do, to keep her happy and occupied. About three aisles later, in the middle of a long, laughable babble streak, she shouted "AP-PLE!"

"Yes!" I scream/squealed. "Apple!"

"APPLE" she said back happily. "APPLE APPLE APPLE"

I couldn't believe my ears. She's never done that before. Never just come out with a brand new word we haven't practiced or pushed on her.

She said it about 78 times throughout our shopping trip and entertained fellow customers and the checkout clerk with her impressive new vocabulary. When we got home, I placed the apple on a desk and she wanted back.

"Eh! Eh!" she kept yelling as she pointed.

"What's it called, honey?" I nudged.

"EH! EH!" she replied.

"You know what it is, honeybear. What's it called?"

"APPLE!" she said. I squealed again and gave it to her, elatedly.

A few minutes later, she followed me into the bathroom and pointed at the pedestal we currently have resting against the wall next to the sink, instead of under it.

"Pedestal," I said to her.

"APPLE!" she shouted back.

"No, pedestal" I gently corrected.

I swear to God, she literally rolled her eyes at me and blew a giant raspberry in my face.

Weekly Wednesday Photo - 1 year, 4 months, 0 weeks

2012-01-18T07:33:00.000-08:00

The three and a half of us.

What it looks like when I shower

2012-01-17T12:35:00.000-08:00

Our master bathroom is enormous. And covered in toys.

At first, we put the exersaucer in there so I could entertain (and contain) Gracie while I showered. While that lasted a few glorious months, she's been too old and too mobile for that for a while. She still likes to walk around the outside of it though and push the buttons, so it's remained in its bizarre home in the bathroom. Throughout the past few months, more and more toys have been added to the area to keep her occupied. And recently, she's learned to open the door so now also has access to our bedroom.

Each day, she plays with the toys we have for her in the bathroom, then ventures out to the bedroom to dig through my jewelry and/or unplug my charging cell phone.

Last week, I was showering when I heard the sound of running water. Did she just flush the toilet? I thought. But a quick glance confirmed my suspicion that that was incorrect because the toilet is in its own separate little room, and I never leave that door open.

Hmm, I thought and tried to ignore it.

Then my shower water got really hot, and I thought, Maybe the dishwasher just turned on?

But I couldn't shake the nagging feeling that I could actually hear it running.

So I stepped out of the shower soaking wet to see Gracie had turned on the jacuzzi tub (both hot AND cold) and was holding my cell phone and its charger above the rushing water with an awfully malicious gleam in her eye.

Gracie, no! I shouted, and she laughed hysterically.

I turned off the bath water, hopped back into the shower to rinse off and came back out to find she had somehow gotten into the safety-latched drawers and, consequently, a full, freshly-opened box of Q-tips.

Snow Day 2012

2012-01-16T11:51:00.000-08:00

We typically only get snow here once a year. So of course my facebook feed is jam-packed with snow day cuteness from friends and relatives with little ones. I couldn't disappoint, so here you go!

Of course, Daddy shows her how to make a snowball.

And of course, she throws it right at me!

Weekly Wednesday Photo - 1 year, 3 months, 4 weeks

2012-01-11T19:58:00.000-08:00

The other day, a lady at the Dollar Store was oohing and ahhing over Gracie when she turned to me and said, "You must be Mom. She has your eyes."

I melted with happiness.

Best pregnancy invention ever

2012-01-10T13:58:00.000-08:00

Animal crackers + Nutella. I'm the smartest person alive.

*Please note, Gracie wasn't actually eating animal crackers or Nutella when we took this picture. It's just what I feel like right now.

Trying to cool down from a high fever

2012-01-09T07:02:00.000-08:00

My impeccably dressed little tomboy

2012-01-06T07:33:00.000-08:00

I can't take credit for this last outfit. She did this all on her own.

The line that came after "it's a girl"

2012-01-05T10:26:00.000-08:00

As I said on Tuesday, our ultrasound tech said to us, "I'm 90% sure it's a girl, but keep your receipts."

McMister followed up with, "We won't have any receipts! We already have everything we need!"

To which I responded, "Hahhahahahahahahahhahahahhaha"

Weekly Wednesday Photo - 1 year, 3 months, 3 weeks

2012-01-04T12:02:00.000-08:00

She doesn't realize the no cell phones while driving law applies to riding horses too. She literally cannot be on that thing without that pretend phone glued to her ear.

Do as I say, not as I do, Honeybear!

WHA??????????

2012-01-03T10:34:00.000-08:00

Me: I'm 100% sure it's a boy.

Ultrasound Tech: I'm 90% sure it's a girl, but keep your receipts.

The Lonely Pregnancy

2012-01-02T12:37:00.000-08:00

I've kind of been at a loss for words recently because I've been feeling a bit down and out. Normally, the holidays are my favorite time of year... when it's physically impossible for me to feel anything other than love and joy. This year, though, between a bad bout of sickness and a lull in the marital department, I just haven't been myself.

It's certainly to be expected for a second pregnancy to lose much of the luster of the first, but I guess I didn't expect it to lose so much of it. The excitement of a first pregnancy seems to emanate from everyone (even somewhat) involved. The second? Not so much.

And I'm not counting myself out here, either. I very often feel guilty for not thinking about, glowing about, thanking God every second for the new life inside of me. I am so thankful and thrilled beyond belief for what's to come and even what's happening now, but it's just not the same.

My mom's husband's daughter (yes, that would make her my step-sister, but since they only married a few years back, I still can't think of her that way) came to visit for the holidays. She has a six month old and immediately said, "How are you feeling? I'm sure you get asked that all the time; I know I did!"

"Actually," I admitted, "no one really asks you that when you're on your second. Other than my mom and sister, I can't honestly think of anyone who's asked at all."

Then, after an awkward silence, I added, "But I'm feeling great! Thanks for asking!"

Woah, can you say over-share?

The one that stings the most is the lack of, I don't know, attention? excitement? support? from McMister. I gave him the benefit of the doubt for a while, reasoning that if I could barely wrap my brain around having another baby, another pregnancy, how was he to? So I assumed once I started showing, he'd pick back up where he left off last time.

Well, I've got quite the belly now, and I'm still not feelin' the love.

One major difference between this time and last is that I'm not working outside the home. With Gracie, we'd both get up and go to work each day, come home, eat dinner, do stuff, whatever, but I'd also be pregnant. This time, he gets up and does all that and I "just" stay home. I think it was easier for him to see the effect pregnancy had on me because we were basically living the same lives but I had this significant addition, while this time, it's like we're on two different planets. So what's another change?

When I got sick last week, I did feel like his eyes were opened a little. We had the exact same illness, but his lasted for about three awful hours, and mine sent me to Urgent Care, got me hooked up to IV and kept me on my back for a day and a half. Since then, he really has been more sensitive to "my delicate situation" as his mother so obnoxiously refers to it. And I really am appreciative. I've been very vocal about that appreciation as well, so I think he understands now how important it is to me.

Tomorrow, we (hopefully) get to find out the sex. I truly think that will make things more real for everyone, especially McMister and me. And I'm so excited to start getting to know New Baby in a whole new way.

Finally, I've wanted to write things down for a while now, but the guilt has been too much. I shouldn't be feeling anything but happiness about my life right now. I have everything I've ever dreamed of and the fact that I've felt this way has made me feel ashamed. But I plan to give my children this log of our early family years someday and I want it to be the truth, the whole. If Gracie or any other little girls we have someday are ever going through something similar, I'd love for them to be able to know I went through it too. I know I'll forget almost all of it by the time that day comes, so this record will be here for us both (or all).

The Family Flu

2011-12-30T12:24:00.000-08:00

Just over a week ago, McMister went to soothe Gracie back to sleep around 10 p.m. As soon as he reached her room, he shouted, "BABE! Get up here now. She's sick!!!!!"

I walked in to see throw up all over her crib, all over her and all over McMister. McSister was visiting and promptly gave her a bath while McMister shed his clothes and I threw everything (sheets, McMister's clothes, Gracie's PJs) in the wash.

A few minutes later, we were all playing with her trying to console her when she puked again. All over the living room floor. We washed up again, ran to the washing machine to pause it while we threw in all new outfits and tried to soothe her once more.

After about two hours, she was finally starting to fall asleep again and we put her in her crib. McMister stayed with her the entire night and said she woke again around 1:30 for another round but had nothing left in her little stomach.

We were scared to death but talked with the doctor the next morning and fed her light snacks the rest of the day. She was just fine after those few hours of throwing up and has been fine ever since.

The following day, Christmas Eve, I felt pretty bad most of the day while celebrating the holiday with my mom's side of the family. I never threw up or anything though, so even though I got a few "You must have a bit of what she had" comments, we all thought I was pretty lucky.

Fast forward to Tuesday, and McMister went to bed at 8 because he didn't feel well. When I joined him about 9:30, he raced to the bathroom and was violently ill for an hour straight. We got everything cleaned up and just laid in bed talking for a while to make sure he was in the clear and ended up going to sleep at 11. An hour and a half later, Gracie woke up crying. I went to her room to comfort and ended up laying on her floor until she finally stopped screaming at 5:30. At least now she'll sleep 'til like 7 or 7:30, I thought. And at 6:30, she was up for the day. All told, I got 3 1/2 hours of sleep that night.

I made it through the day just fine and went to bed around 9. At 4:30, I woke up and started throwing up and... you know the other thing that happens when you get the flu and was sick for a solid three hours until 7:30. We called OB and told them what was happening. They said to come into Urgent Care to be hooked up to IV.

So that's where I spent the first half of yesterday, laying in a hospital bed hooked to an IV of anti-nausea medicine and whatever other fluids they give you. I felt better after the IV bag emptied and they sent me on my way. I made it all the way to the pharmacy to pick up some more of the anti-nausea medicine before frantically searching for the nearest garbage can to puke in front of all the other sick people waiting for their meds. It didn't happen. I never actually threw up, but I really truly thought I would.

I went home and laid in bed for a while but couldn't sleep. McMister had fishing plans with clients so his dad and sister (visiting from Illinois) came to help out with Gracie. I could hear everything that was happening and was proud of myself for not going down when I heard her cry time and time again. Finally, she started screaming bloody murder, intermittently going from truly sad and upset to outright ire. I went downstairs and found McMister's dad on the couch with Gracie in his lap, and they were in an all-out wrestling match trying to get her clothes back on.

"We just tried to change her diaper!" McSIL said in a state of shock.

All I could do was laugh. I know she can be quite a terror when she doesn't want to be changed. And that's with me! I can't imagine how mad she was when a girl she's only met 2 or 3 times in her entire life and most likely has no recollection of and a grandpa who's changed about 2 or 3 diapers in his entire life were trying to change her.

Eventually they both left and I had Gracie by myself for about an hour and half before McMister returned. I laid on my bathroom floor with her as she played with the most obnoxious toy ever created: this bizarre cat piano that plays cat-themed music on its own and allows you to play the keyboard along with it but the keys don't sound like a piano, they meow.

McMister got home and took care of her until she was asleep and I went to sleep myself about 7:30. I'm feeling a thousand times better today and am so glad we've all had our fair share now. KNOCK ON WOOD.

Hopefully, we'll be back to regularly scheduled blogging next week and not just taking care of a sick family and then having them take care of me.

Happy New Year!

Weekly Wednesday Photo - 1 year, 3 months, 2 weeks

2011-12-28T19:21:00.000-08:00

We went Swagger Wagon shopping again today. It poured down rain so that meant McMister and I took turns running out to look at the cars one by one and then jumping back into the car to say, "I like the red one, three vans down. Go!" And that meant Gracie spent a lot of time sitting in her carseat not actually going anywhere.

Despite being WIDE AWAKE from 1:30 to 5:30 last night, she still looked like this most of the time in the car. It was pretty awesome. (The shopping trip, not the being awake all night.)

Christmas morning 2011

2011-12-26T19:06:00.000-08:00

My facebook status late on Christmas Eve read: If Santa doesn't get up from his "evening nap" and come downstairs to put together Gracie's rocking horse, there's gonna be hell to pay from Mrs. Claus.

Here's why!

Merry Christmas from the sweetest angel on Earth

2011-12-24T07:04:00.000-08:00

Sweet nothings

2011-12-23T07:10:00.000-08:00

The other night, McMister and I were laying in bed, and he was trying to feel New Baby moving around.

"I haven't even felt it yet, Babe," I said to him. "I think that's just gas."

"Weird. I think I can feel the gas bubbles in there," he said as he was pressing on bulging belly. "Stop farting on my daughter."

Isn't he just the sweetest?

Meeting Santa 2011

2011-12-22T07:29:00.000-08:00

Weekly Wednesday Photo - 1 year, 3 months, 1 week

2011-12-21T06:34:00.000-08:00

Seriously. Cutest effing consignment store dress EV.ER.

More of this cuteness to come tomorrow!

McMister's solo shopping trip with Gracie

2011-12-20T07:30:00.000-08:00

Babies 'R Us had a great deal last Friday and Saturday that if you bought two giant packs of diapers and a massive box of wipes, you'd get back $35 in gift cards. Since we'll be using the diapers and wipes anyway, I was obsessed with doing the deal. The only problem was I couldn't get there on those two days. We had too much to do on Friday, then we hosted a party Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. So I had major house cleaning to do Saturday until then.

So I asked McMister to take Gracie while I cleaned.

When I turned off the vacuum, I realized I had two texts and a voicemail. Here are the two photos he sent me about 40 seconds apart.

So I called him back and all he would say is "Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. This is so hard. How do you do this all the time? Oh my God. She keeps standing up in the cart! Oh my God. I never should have given her two balls. Oh my God."

I just love that feeling when Daddy realizes (for a split second) that staying home with Baby isn't quite as easy as he daydreams.

McMister's dream girl

2011-12-19T07:00:00.000-08:00

As I explained a couple weeks ago and about a year ago, McMister is a big time sleep talker.

Friday night or early Saturday morning, I was tossing and turning and heard him say, "Are you wearing animal print, Gracie? So pretty!"

I'm pretty sure it was the sweetest thing I've ever heard him say.

Weekly Wednesday Photo - 1 year, 2 months, 4 weeks

2011-12-16T12:17:00.000-08:00

*Yep, another Friday edition of the Weekly Wednesday Photo. We were on vacation, and I honestly don't really know how to use my phone, so here it is two days late.

Gracie may be a rambunctious, raucous little devil, but she also loves herself some girly things. Anything shiny? She's in! Sparkly? Yes, please! Dresses? Well... she doesn't hate them.

It's become a (multiple times) daily ritual for her to rifle through my jewelry drawers and take every single item out of it's place. I keep all the necklaces unhooked so she doesn't try to tear them apart, but this morning she was so interested in the pearls that I let her wear them. She was so happy :)

December 2011

2011-12-15T12:42:00.000-08:00

Dear Gracie Girl and New Baby,

The holidays are here and I couldn't be happier. I get to experience the wonder of the Christmas season with a baby who is really noticing things for the first time. Last year, you were only 3 months old, Gracie Girl, so although it was endlessly fun to force all our yuletide traditions on you while you cooed and smiled politely, this year has been magical. Watching you sprint to the Christmas tree each morning and show us where the unplugged cord is and yelling at pointing until we plug it in hasn't gotten even remotely old yet. Hearing you growl every time we see Santa anywhere is hilarious. And watching you transform the sweetest holiday outfits into a running, slobbering, throwing, laughing mess lights up my world.

I can't wait to see your face when you see all the presents under the tree.

New Baby, I'm especially excited about the holiday season this year because although the end of it is typically sad and cold, I'll be rejoicing still this year because of you. Right after the New Year, we find out if you're a boy or a girl. And once we're finally in 2012, it won't seem quite as far away from the day we get to finally meet you.

My belly is showing very noticeably to those who know me, but still looks more like a bowl full of jelly to those who don't. I haven't felt you move yet, but I know it's just around the corner. And if you're a boy, your Daddy and I already have your full name picked out.

Gracie, you're 15 months old today, and everyone around you can tell you're on the verge of some major leaps in the talking department. Right now, though you understand what seems like millions of words, you only recognizably say Mama, Dada, Nana (banana), ball and BAD! (of course with accompanying finger shake.)

You can now point to any normal body part on others as well as yourself, though you're just now really getting your own face. So sometimes when asked for nose, you point somewhere between your nose and eye and look hopefully at us.

You just can't get enough reading. If we let you, I'm pretty sure that's all we'd do for hours and hours and hours every day. Your favorite books right now are Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and this random book about shapes and colors that we actually threw away because Daddy couldn't handle looking at it any longer.

But most of all, you love anything and everything physical. There is absolutely no denying what a budding athlete you are. You run, kick, throw and bounce all around the house, and everyone that spends more than five minutes with you postulates on which sports you'll dominate. It's pretty crazy how advanced you are in that area even though you come from an extended family of top of their game (even professional in some cases) competitors. Because really... I'm your mom. The only time anyone has ever uttered the word "athletic" in the same sentence of my name, they were either drunk or insane.

As I've mentioned recently, you're quite the little firecracker now when you don't get your way, but you've been annoyingly successful at balancing that with the most heart-warming cuddliness. I don't know how you're going to react when your little sibling arrives, but I know one thing. It's not going to be boring!

Love you both,
Mommy

SURVIVED: plane trip with toddler

2011-12-12T07:30:00.000-08:00

BUT, and this is a big BUT, we still have to fly back home without killing anyone. We'll see :)

By far the funniest line of the trip so far was Friday night while we (meaning I) were packing and McMister said, "I can't decide what book I'm going to bring for the airplane tomorrow."

HAHAHAHHAHA! Hahahahha! Haha! Ha!

The forgotten babies

2011-12-09T07:08:00.000-08:00

In about six more months, the forgotten babies are about to get a lot more... forgotten-en.

For now, they keep one eye on the clock at all times waiting for Miss Gracie's bedtime. Because then, they finally get to cuddle with me.

We're leaving on vacation for five days tomorrow morning. I'm sure they'll spend those entire five days missing us like mad but also relishing in the fact that Gracie isn't here to attack-cuddle them every waking moment.

We still love you Brit and Grif. Kinda.

Someone's getting into the Christmas spirit

2011-12-08T08:07:00.000-08:00

McMister talks in his sleep a lot. Remember how sweet this was?

Monday, he left at 4:30 a.m. to go fishing and didn't come back until after 9 p.m. So he didn't see Gracie the entire day. First thing Tuesday morning, I brought her into our room and said to her "Guess who's here!"

Apparently, McMister thought I was talking to him and in his 3/4 asleep state, he responded, "I don't know... Santa, maybe?"

Weekly Wednesday Photo - 1 year, 2 months, 3 weeks

2011-12-07T12:38:00.001-08:00

I'll admit it's extremely difficult to stay mad when every time you turn the corner, you see this running toward you.

With increased terror, an increase in love

2011-12-06T07:30:00.000-08:00

As many of my posts have explained recently, our little Ladybug can now quickly turn into more of a really pissed of wasp in the blink of an eye.

Her outbursts of anger, jealousy and frustration have brought a whole host of new feelings to me as well. Her anger often breeds anger in me. Nothing is more frustrating for us than her being frustrated and not being able to articulate it. Her jealousy and inability to understand sharing elicits embarrassment. And her sadness will break your heart.

But at the same time, Gracie's emotional spectrum has grown in the opposite direction as well. She adores giving kisses. Her hugs are unsolicited, tight and everlasting. And she often asks to be picked up just so she can lay her head on your shoulder. As she's learned to express her upset, she's also learning to express her love.

I've never experienced such highs and lows of emotion in anyone before, and I've never experienced them in myself. She can act out so horrifically in one moment, making me want scream and kick and flail, and then flip a switch and give me the sweetest smile and most tender hug I could ever dream of in the next.

I now often find myself near tears from being filled with happiness and love for this little girl. She is truly changing into a little person now. With a baby, there are certainly ups and downs throughout the day. But with a toddler, an emotional, tumultuous little girl, everything is so... heightened.

I know that some of this has to do with me being pregnant, but I also know that's not all of it.

Gracie and I are growing together. Entering a new phase. One no longer of babyhood, but of personhood. I no longer love her just as a mother, but as someone who knows this little girl. Really knows her. And though the lows are certainly lower, the highs are unbelievable.

A milestone: public tantrum number one

2011-12-05T12:19:00.001-08:00

Saturday morning, Gracie, McMister and I ran a few errands. This is a big deal in our family because

McMister wasn't fishing on a weekend day and
McMister actually participated in errand-running with me.

The first and third stops on our mini-journey went fine. The second, not so much.

We went to Panera and got a gingerbread cookie and fruit smoothie. Gracie and I had done the same thing about a week or so ago, and it was really fun. I let her sit in the booth with me (instead of the high chair) and she thought she was such a big girl. I broke off pieces of the cookie for her to eat and let her take drinks of the smoothie when she reached for it.

On Saturday, though, I made a critical mistake by letting her hold the entire gingerbread cookie. Every time I took a piece of it for myself or McMister, she literally screamed. No crying, just a blood-curdling scream.

Things were starting to escalate slowly and I thought for a brief second that we might have to just get up and leave. She wasn't in a full-on tantrum or anything though and was quite pleasant in between bites. So we tried to stay.

Then, after I took a piece of the cookie, McMister tried to offer her a drink of the smoothie to distract her. She stood up, screamed, and slammed the entire smoothie out of McMister's hands.

"You take her to the car," I barely managed. "I'll clean this up."

As I wiped pink smoothie off the walls, booth, floor and table, I glanced over at the family with two young children sitting closest to us. Those little kids were sitting there like perfect angels. I think they might have even been praying. OK, not literally, but still. The difference between their family's experience and ours would have laughable if I wasn't so embarrassed. And pissed.

When I got out to the car, Gracie was smiling in her car seat and McMister had his head in hands in the driver's seat.

"She tried to slap me when I put her in," he said shocked.

Later that day, we went to a baby shower for McMister's cousin. During present-opening time, I chased our little Ladybug around the house for a while. Eventually, I signaled for McMister to trade me places.

"I actually want to see the gifts," I mentioned and he whole-heartedly agreed to play with Gracie instead of watching a bunch of hippies coo over ragged-looking clothes, blankets and toys that proved how anti-establishment they and their babies could be.

About half-way through, the whole room heard crying coming from upstairs.

"Oh, no," McMIL said.

"Don't worry," I answered back. "That's not a hurt cry; it's a mad one."

Later McMister explained that he had taken something away from her like scissors or something equally as fun and dangerous, and she flipped out.

"I guess our days of taking her places and being proud to show off our outgoing, bubbly little angel are over," he said. "Now, we just have to be embarrassed to bring her places like normal parents."

Getting the tree

2011-12-02T12:12:00.001-08:00

Playing peekaboo

Look at that face she's giving him!

OK, here's a close-up if you ignored my previous request :)

OMG these newborn goats were the cutest things I've ever seen. Besides Gracie.

Not so sure about this.

That's better. She's sees Daddy in the distance.

Her first look at the decorated Christmas tree this morning.

She's running toward it and he hasn't even put her down yet!

Am I allowed to touch this?

Gracie, gentle!

What?

Bringing her beloved milk in for a second look.

The best moment of Gracie's life: drinking milk while looking at lights and balls.

P.S. The entire tree is decorated with a set of "shatterproof" Christmas ornaments from Costco. If anyone's going to test that claim, it's our little Gracie Girl. I'll let you (and Costco!) know how it goes :)

Husband of the Year

2011-12-02T07:22:00.001-08:00

Last night, McMister slept on the floor in Gracie's room and let me get 7 1/2 hours of sleep! STRAIGHT! IN A ROW! That hasn't happened in nearly 15 months.

Then, about 2 minutes after he left for work, he called me.

"Hello?" I answered with a hint of hesitation and worry.

"Oh hey babe," he said. "I just called to say it's Britney Spears' 30th birthday. The human one, not Brit Brit (our dog)."

PR Princess

2011-12-01T07:25:00.000-08:00

I mentioned a while back that McMister was going to leave his job and become co-owner of a different firm closer to home. He's been at it since August, and he's happy with his decision to move. He now works in the same town where we live, gets to go fishing a lot more and doesn't have to answer to anyone above him.

Now that he feels comfortable in his role, I suggested to him that their website be updated. Well, I say suggested, but I really mean demanded. If I'm being generous, I'll guess that the last time it was updated, Y2K was looming in the near future.

He asked if I could do it, and a new employee was born.

I finally got in to his office today and he took Gracie for a couple hours. While I was there, I realized they need a public relations touch on everything they put out. They're a smart bunch of people, but they're a smart bunch of scientists. The finesse of the English language and the panache of visual appeal aren't high on their list of priorities or finely-honed skills.

So I now have a some-hours-per-week job. We're not sure how many, just as many as I can fit in during naps and evenings. But I need a title.

So what should I be? Marketing maven? PR princess? V.P. of beautiful awesomeness?

Help us out, yo!

Weekly Wednesday Photo - I year, 2 months, 2 weeks

2011-11-30T11:38:00.001-08:00

Gracie and I are finally getting to the point where I can do a very (and I mean very) limited amount of cleaning while she's awake if she stays in the same room as me.

She can usually distract herself for a few minutes before breaking down and demanding I read her the same book I've already read 34 times that day.

While I quick-cleaned her bathroom this morning, she started fussing a bit and I turned around to see her stuck inside the bucket that holds her bath toys.

As you can tell by her face, she was thrilled by what had transpired.

VIDEO: First word... sorta

2011-11-28T19:27:00.001-08:00

For some reason, people always used to ask me what I thought Gracie's first word would be. It's kind of a weird question, in my opinion, but whatever.

My answer was always "Probably 'Griffey NO!'" And then they'd laugh politely.

Well, I was pretty darn close.

A Thanksgiving rerun

2011-11-24T10:19:00.001-08:00

Last year, I wrote a post about Thanksgiving that deserves repeating. Maybe I'll just rerun it every year :)

Enjoy!

Thanksgiving traditions and transitions

Growing up, Thanksgiving meant cousins, cousins and more cousins. My dad is #8 of 12 kids (yes, a dozen!), so we have something like 40 cousins on his side of the family. Each year, we'd spend the first part of that oh-so-special Thursday at my mom's parents', and then head over to my dad's parents' on the other side of town. We had weekly dinners with mom's side of the family so Thanksgiving never really stood out as anything different. But at my dad's parents', Thanksgiving was THANKSGIVING.

Walking into the split-level house, you'd be welcomed by mouthwatering aromas of turkey, pie and warm, toasty bread. All the aunts and uncles would be talking and laughing and pushing their way around the teeny kitchen in somewhat of a controlled chaos.

Immediately outside the kitchen was the staircase. Travel down there and you'd be enveloped in a storm of screaming, running, crying, laughing... pandemonium. This was there action was. Thiswas where cousins played together, grew together and became as close-knit as any smaller (or normal-sized) family would.

After hours of this loud, messy, lawless fun, juuuust as the kids would start to show signs of wear, all the parents, aunts and uncles, and grandparents came downstairs for dinner. We'd all stand up and for just one moment, the house would quiet down. We'd all say Grace and give our silent thanks for the very people filling that room and the crazy, familial love we all shared.

THEN... The rows and rows of picnic tables brought indoors, kitchen tables brought downstairs and chairs and benches brought from all over the house would empty in a flash and the longest food line in history would form. It felt like hours before you'd get through the line, and the people in the front would be finished eating before the people even halfway through could see the shining bird.

Once everyone had eaten and all was cleaned up, kids would be dropping like flies and the parents stood around talking for just a little bit longer. No one quite ready to go, quite ready for Thanksgiving to end. But, we all knew, Christmas Eve was just around the corner and that was a night unlike any other.

Since then, both grandparents have passed on and our parents have divorced. For a few years, it was absolute insanity in our immediate family juggling way too many Thanksgivings for three kids to enjoy. Then McMister came along and I had one more to add to the mix. Consequently, the past few years have brought more stress around the holidays than joy sometimes, and it's been really hard. When McMister and I got engaged and married, I knew it'd be the last holiday season with so much friction and upheaval. I vowed to never put our children through that stress and let our families know, last year would be the last like it if we got pregnant like we planned.

This year, my dad and his wife went to Mexico for the week, my mom and her husband decided to host the big dinner at their house and McMister's parents did the same. Since they live just 10 minutes apart, we'll be able to go to both and keep everyone happy and sane.

Tradition in McMister's family is having no tradition. I swear they do something different every year. For us though, we're rooted in it. Doing the same thing every year is half the fun when you're growing up. Knowing that for at least a few days a year, you knew exactly what was going to happen and exactly how fantastically fun it was going to be.

My mom's family isn't coming to Thanksgiving this year, so it will be decidedly smaller. But our immediately family will be there and so will my mom's husband's. We're starting a new tradition and it will take some getting used to. But truthfully, that's the way it should be. We're paring down to grow anew. It's just Gracie now, but so many more little feet will be running around someday and they'll have this to look forward to each year. And really, with family, food and the best message of any holiday out there, do you really need anything else?

Weekly Wednesday Photo - 1 year, 2 months, 1 week

2011-11-23T12:29:00.001-08:00

Here's what we put on Facebook today with the status "Here's to expanding waistlines this Thanksgiving!"

And here's how we announced my pregnancy with Gracie.

Today I'm thankful for

2011-11-22T14:31:00.001-08:00

a working cell phone
the power staying on
a functioning roof
neighbors who don't tattle on me (TO MY MOM) for parking in the street
and knowing how long my daughter's arms are.

Oh wait, I have none of those things today.

And here's the bowl of rice my phone was reverse-soaking in.

Wow... toddlers.

2011-11-22T09:50:00.000-08:00

Thursday evening, McMister, Gracie and I were hanging out in the den. I was at the computer and McMister was sitting on top of the desk behind me. Naturally, Gracie wanted to sit up there with him. He let her and she immediately grabbed a pen and paper. So he immediately grabbed the pen away from her.

And she immediately started screaming, kicking and flailing her arms.

"Oh my God," McMister half shouted, half laughed, as he put her back on the floor. "What is she doing?!?"

Both of us busted up laughing because we were witnessing her first ever temper tantrum. It went on for kind of a long time, and neither of us had any idea what to do with her. We basically just sat and watched until it was over.

The next day, Gracie and I went to Target. I let her hold the two apples I was buying while in the cart and she fa-lipped out when I had to hand one to the cashier to ring up. I quickly gave it back once it registered and she quieted back down. When we got to the car, I took them both away from her because I was scared she was going to choke while I was driving. And that turned into a 10-minute car-ride home of her screaming bloody-murder and me gawking at her in the rear view mirror because I just couldn't believe my eyes.

Yesterday, we had a playdate with a little girl and her mom, who come over about every other week. The girls don't normally play together but often play well next to each other. Today was another story.

Gracie was a diva beyond diva. She wouldn't let the other little girl play with any of her toys. I mean, ANY of them. Every time the other girl grabbed anything, Gracie would run over and start yelling at her and waving her finger at her. (She does the same thing to the dogs every day when they try to eat her cookie.)

She tattled (without words), cried, yelled, ripped things out of other people's hands and, last but not least, HIT the other girl!

My mouth dropped open and I blinked before I could regain consciousness. I yelled NO, picked her up and carried her away from the scene of the crime for a mini-couch sit/time-out. I was devastated and embarrassed and every negative feeling you can imagine.

We meet with a playgroup every Tuesday and she's the youngest of the bunch. The two 2-year-old boys often hit and push and steal toys, but Gracie's always either been the victim or merely an observer. Well, I guess she was observing a little too closely.

I knew she was a wild woman even when she lived in my tummy. And every day since, she's shown us what a determined, vibrant and willful little lady she really is. But I still, deep down, hoped she'd skip over some of these toddler trappings. These past five days have shown me I was naively living in a fantasy world.

Nursery ideas for New Baby

2011-11-21T12:37:00.001-08:00

I know we're having a boy. There has been no doubt in my mind since I saw that first positive pregnancy test 5 days before my missed period. I had a totally bizarre dream last week that New Baby is a girl, but I know it's not, so I'm ignoring it.

As I've mentioned before, McMister is a crazy obsessed maniacal fisherman. He literally goes 2-4 times every week, sometimes MORE! during the summer. So I plan on buying each of these prints from the LeeArthaus Etsy shop as soon as our January 3 ultrasound wraps up.

If, and my mind will be blown if this is true, we're expecting a girl, I think this alphabet idea is so cute. I doubt I'd commit to it, but I like it.

And just for the record, here's my post about Gracie's nursery before she was born. We've since moved, but I got almost the exact same paint color for her new room and a very, very similar tree decal. We'll be taking out a lot of her bigger furniture (i.e. changing table/dresser and accompanying shelf and the glider) for New Baby's room. So I'll do a whole new post at that time with her slightly more grown-up toddler room.

Bakery breakfast on a snowy Saturday

2011-11-19T08:43:00.001-08:00

Gracie's first doppleganger

2011-11-17T14:00:00.001-08:00

When we were at Costco the other day (two days ago to be exact and we're headed there again when I post this. Man, we love ~~spending $200 on bulk randomness~~ that place!), a couple was smiling at Gracie and whispering about how cute she is. I heard the woman say, "You know who she looks like? She looks just like..." and of course I immediately became enthralled at whatever was right next to me so that I could eavesdrop on them and hear what she said.

Well, she said Gracie looks like the baby from NBC's new sitcom Up All Night. McMister and I watch that show and often comment on how much the baby reminds us of Gracie. But it's just because they're about the same age and do a lot of the same things.

I'm pretty sure the woman just said that because they have similar hair.

And THAT reminds of me when I found out who Shaun White is. He and I might possibly be hair twins separated at birth!

Weekly Wednesday Photo: 1 year, 2 months, 0 weeks

2011-11-16T12:19:00.001-08:00

What's the oldest you've heard for a child never sleeping through the night?

No, seriously. Five years? Ten years?

I'm a planner and I'd like to pencil in the date when Gracie officially gets inducted into the Guinness Book of World Records for World's Worst Sleeper.

P.S. After being wide awake from 12:30 to 4 a.m. last night, we both looked like this, not just her.

November 2011

2011-11-15T07:06:00.000-08:00

My little Gracie Girl and New Baby,

The holidays are upon us, and your mommy is the biggest holiday freak there ever was. So get ready for some fun!

Gracie, you turn 14 months today. This month, I've pretty much completely stopped calling you a baby and wholly transitioned into toddler (unless it makes my point more relevant to call you a baby.)

You now roar ferociously when we ask you what a lion, tiger or bear says. You also roar ferociously when we ask you what any other animal or person says. We got a new dishwasher this month and had to take a couple trips to Lowes, where they have a massive, two-story blow-up Santa. Every time you see it, you point and say "Ba!" which means "What is that called?" I answer with "Santa Claus!" and you respond with "Eeh?" which means "What does that animal say?" and I give you a hearty "Ho ho ho! Merrrrrry Christmas!" at which point, you look me in the eyes and say "ROOOOAAARRR!" The workers there think you're hilarious.

When we ask where a belly button, hand, foot, ear, hair or head is, you can tell us where ours is as well as your own. When we ask about nose, eyes and mouth, you can point to ours, but you still don't quite know where yours are.

You are a kiss-aholic, a dancing fiend and laughing delight.

And just last night, you started clapping! According to all the books, you were supposed to start that months ago, but we weren't too concerned. It's not like clapping is a vital life skill, ya know? But OhMyLord, it is freaking adorable when you do it. And I'm pretty sure you've known how to do it for a while because you did it perfectly the first time, and then the rest of the night every time we said clap, you'd get right on it.

New Baby, I turned 12 weeks pregnant with you yesterday which means we're just days away from the end of the first trimester. I can't wait to tell everyone about you (even know most of the world already knows by now.)

Your daddy is finally starting to acknowledge the fact that I'm pregnant because my belly's already expanding. He's even started touching my belly each night before we go to bed.

We both love you two more than anything!
Mommy

Swagger wagon

2011-11-14T09:00:00.001-08:00

McMister, Gracie and I went minivan shopping this weekend.

Yep, we're those people.

We want to have at least three kids in the next few years so a minivan or, as McMister would prefer, a Suburban is in our (somewhat) near definite future.

When my cousin, who knew we were on the lookout, sent me this video on FB, McMister had just walked out the door wearing the same sweater as this dad.

A slap in the face... well two

2011-11-11T10:21:00.001-08:00

Last night, I took a Gracie-free trip to Michaels to buy a Bedazzler (don't ask).

A young couple kept looking at me and sort of smiling, but I figured it was just because I was kinda staring at them. I mean, what young guy agrees to go to Michaels with his girlfriend to check out scrapbooking paper?

Anyway, I ended up in line right behind them and the girl turns around, beams a giant smile at me and says, "I didn't know you were pregnant!"

Uh, WHAT?!?

"Yeah!" I said back with a smile. "... well I already have a baby," I added weirdly.

"Oh yeah, I know," she said. "You probably don't recognize me. I played soccer with your sister."

My sister played soccer about 10 years ago.

"Oh right, I knew you looked familiar," I responded as sincerely as I could, trying to find her face anywhere in my memory bank.

She continued on with "How's your brother? He's coaching right?", "How are your parents?", etc.

Her face started to look a little familiar and I finally asked what her name was. I recognized the name immediately, so felt a little better.

But seriously? I'm not even 12 weeks pregnant yet and my belly is big enough for a relative stranger to comment on? THROUGH MY PEA COAT?

I did start wearing my Bella Band on Wednesday because I was tired of walking around all day at home with my pants unbuttoned and then having to force-button them whenever we went out. And I'm certainly showing a lot more quickly with this second one than my first. But still!

I guess I better start standing up straighter. And not going in public after I've bloated my belly to its max with a nutritious dinner of Hamburger Helper.

Fast forward to this morning, and I'm attempting to rock Gracie to sleep for a morning nap. (I try every single day so that I have a chance to lay down for a few but she hasn't actually slept in the morning in about a month and half. Until yesterday, when my scheme actually worked, she fell asleep at 9:30, woke up at 11 and then would not take an afternoon nap. So I effectively screwed myself in the end.)

Anyway! She was wide awake from 4 until 5:30 this morning, then woke for good at 6:15 so I figured she'd be pretty tired when her pretend morning naptime rolled around. She grabbed her paci and her Winnie the Pooh lovey, all on her own, and brought them over to me, basically telling me "Uh, hello? It's time now."

So I read Goodnight, Gorilla (her naptime book) and started to rock. She immediately closed her eyes and was gently running her lovey through her fingers. I fought myself again and again about letting her actually fall asleep in my arms, not in the crib. Just this once, I thought. It's OK if I break the rules once.

I looked down at her angelic little face and realized This is it. This is the moment I've been waiting for my entire life. This is exactly how I've always dreamed having a baby would be.

And she opened her eyes, looked deep into mine, slapped me across the face and started cracking up.

Daddy's little girl - Phase 1

2011-11-10T09:56:00.001-08:00

Our little Ladybug is All About Daddy right now. She cries when he leaves, follows him everywhere and wants him to read books to her all the time. I know she'll go in phases when she likes him better than me and sometimes me better than him, so I'm OK with this current dynamic. (Plus, it helps when he gets home from work and I'm exhausted that she really wants to play with him and I can just ~~lay down~~ sit back and watch.)

Someday, when she gets into her teens, she'll really start to hate me and go to her dad for everything. But if we're doing this whole parenting thing right, she'll likely hate him a little at that point too. For now, it puts a real twinkly in McMister's eye to see her interact with him so lovingly and so clearly miss him when he leaves each day.

Whenever he returns home, without fail, she runs to the door, does one complete twirl, drops it like it's hot and slaps the floor. It's shockingly hilarious every single time.

Here he is putting his head-lamp on her the other night.

And just for good measure, here's a picture of the two of us. See, she still likes me. I SWEAR!

Weekly Wednesday Photo - 1 year, 1 month, 4 weeks

2011-11-09T13:37:00.000-08:00

Um, how cute is this little lady off to brunch in her Sunday best?

Go ahead and ignore the scratches on her face and her somewhat scowl-y look.

Pregnancy brain PLUS mommy brian

2011-11-06T19:34:00.000-08:00

When I was pregnant with Gracie, I only had a couple pregnancy brain moments that I can remember.

Well, today we went to a fancy brunch for my grandpa's 80th birthday and to celebrate our British aunt and uncle (Brian and Heather) who are visiting... FROM ENGLAND!

I sat down after my second trip to the self-serve extravaganza of decadence and after several bites of my whipped-cream-covered waffle, I announced to McSister, "This whipped cream is really gross."

"Yeah, I think you got the kind that I didn't," she said.

I took a taste of hers and said, "Yeah, yours is good... I think mine's butter."

That's right, I consumed more butter in three bites of mini-waffle than I have in the past three years combined.

About four minutes later, I gazed longingly onto my cousin's plate and said, "Where did you get those vegetables?"

Then, turning to McSister asked, "While you're up can you get me some of those?"

My aunt looked at me like I had completely lost my mind and said, "Honey, what do you think that is?"

"Carrots on the bottom and a pile of peas on top," I said back a bit nervously.

"That's salmon on the bottom and capers on top."

"Huh," was about all I could muster.

I promptly told McSister that I didn't, in fact, want that at all, and she went on her way.

"You were gone a long time!" I exclaimed when she returned with a full plate.

"Yeah, I was talking to Brian," she answered.

"Oooh, Brian who???" I asked.

She just stared back blankly at me and then busted up laughing. That's when I realized she was talking about Uncle Brian, the man we were there celebrating!

Weekly Wednesday Photo - 1 year, 1 month, 3 weeks

2011-11-04T13:04:00.000-07:00

Oops, it's not Wednesday. Or even Thursday. Whatever.

McMister's parents entered a raffle at a local home show a couple months ago. A few months later, they called and said, "Guess what! You're going to be so excited!... well, I think you're going to be excited."

Oh geez, I thought, thoroughly worried.

"We won a playhouse for Gracie! We're obviously not going to keep it at our house, and they're ready to deliver it in about an hour. Do you want me to just arrange it or do you want me to give them your phone number?" McMIL said back all in one breath.

"Uh, have them call me directly please," I said back worried.

An hour later, in the pitch black and pouring rain, as I'm trying to put Gracie down for bed, McMister greeted the strangers with the giant yellow house in our driveway.

"We'll just leave it right here!" they said excitedly.

"Uh, OK," McMister said back with a forced smile.

Now, I know she's going to grow up with a million memories in this thing, and it'll be great to send the kids out to play in it someday, but for now, it's a massive eye-sore (still!) in our driveway almost a month later.

Sorry, uppity neighbors.

Halloween 2011: tricks and treats

2011-11-01T19:57:00.000-07:00

That title makes it sound a lot more sinister than it really was. I mean who came up with tricks and treats? How filthy can you get?

Our neighborhood has very few kids in it, and Gracie isn't allowed to eat candy yet. So trick-or-treating wasn't really how we wanted to spend the evening with her. We obviously wanted to dress her up though and a nearby church hosted a massive Halloween party, complete with games, candy and free hot dogs.

We thought Gracie might be a little too young for the festivities, but that she might enjoy seeing all the activity and all the costumes.

Holy Crap. She was WILD.

The second we walked in she wanted to be put down. We thought the hundreds of costumed people plus brand new place plus elaborate games galore might frighten her a bit at first, but um, no. We put her down and she literally sprinted around the entire place for 60 minutes straight.

She touched everything she liked. That meant I spent the evening apologizing to little girls in frilly dresses who may or may not have gotten whiplash from our teeny tiny Ladybug trying to pull them to the ground. That also meant I had to physically stand between her and the preschool-aged boy who was glaring at her while she tried with all her might to rip his sword from his sticky, candy-covered fingers. That also meant I had to return all the candy she slyly grabbed out of the unfortunate-height candy bags of every Kindergartner who held their treasure at their sides.

We met a friend there with a baby about Gracie's age, and she was so overwhelmed by the entire thing that she didn't smile or make a peep once the entire time. She pretty much stood in one place with a dazed look on her face from the get-go. At one point, she was hiding behind a mini-lemonade stand staring blankly across the way. McMister and the girl's mom finally peeked around the corner to see if she was actually looking at something or merely acting like a zombie. They both gasped so loudly, I spun around to check out the horror myself. Her little 16-month-old girl was completely entranced by an adult woman in a Scream mask that poured blood all over itself every five seconds. We all busted up laughing when we realized that's what she was enamored by and then all wondered aloud why this bizarre woman would wear that to a kids' church Halloween party.

As 7 o'clock (AKA Gracie's bedtime) drew near, our little Ladybug started to randomly lay down on the floor every few minutes. "OK, it's obviously time for us to go," I finally said and we walked out the door.

Then, my car wouldn't start.

"You left the light on!" McMister blamed from the backseat.

"No, I didn't," I said back not annoyed at all :) "I'm looking at the light switch right now and it's still turned to off."

"Hmm," he said back hesitantly. "Then someone must've messed with it!"

"At a little kids' church party? I don't think so babe."

So we called our friend who was still inside with her little lioness and asked if we could load the car seat into their car and hitch a ride home.

Our friend's little girl sat in her car seat the entire time and didn't even flinch at all the commotion. All the new people in her car. Another car seat right next to her. Another baby wailing!

The second we settled Gracie into her car seat, she flipped a switch and turned into the pumpkin she so often does at the stroke of 7. It was like she was on a serious sugar high at the party and then crashed when we got in the car, except we never gave her any candy. She was just high on Halloween hoopla.

While turning the corner onto our street, we had stop to avoid a dead cat laying in the road.

Oh man, we all thought, Happy Halloween.

And then a few seconds later, just as we pulled into the neighborhood, our friend slammed on the breaks as we all screamed in disgust at the family of four massive raccoons crossing the road and glaring their beady little eyes directly into the car at us.

*Yes, Gracie did have a costume change - from one ladybug costume to another. McSister bought her the beautiful dress version at my baby shower before she was born. Before we knew she was Giant Baby. It was a 12-month size (thinking she'd be 13 months when she'd wear it) and it fit on her body, as you can see above, but was just too tight to be comfortable. And the hat that went with it must've been for a 3-month-old because that sucker was TINY. So before we actually left the house, I changed her into the cozier, bigger costume you see in the last few pics.

Medical Info Women Should Know: PREGNANCY

2011-11-01T07:04:00.000-07:00

Even though my grandmother has been gone for years, her best friend still comes to all of our family's holiday activities, sends us emails and likes every single thing we put on facebook.

She doesn't know I'm pregnant again yet, but yesterday she sent me this. SO FUNNY!

Medical Info Women Should Know: PREGNANCY

Q: Should I have a baby after 35?
A: No, 35 children is enough.

Q : I'm two months pregnant now. When will my baby move?
A: With any luck, right after he finishes college.

Q : What is the most reliable method to determine a baby's sex?
A: Childbirth.

Q: My wife is five months pregnant and so moody that sometimes she's
borderline irrational.
A: So what's your question?

Q?: My childbirth instructor says it's not pain I'll feel during
labor, but pressure. Is she right?
A: Yes, in the same way that a tornado might be called an air current.

Q: When is the best time to get an epidural?
A: Right after you find out you're pregnant.

Q?: Is there any reason I have to be in the delivery room while my
wife is in labor?
A: Not unless the word "alimony" means anything to you.

Q: Is there anything I should avoid while recovering from childbirth?
A: Yes, pregnancy.

Q: Do I have to have a baby shower?
A: Not if you change the baby's diaper very quickly.

Q: Our baby was born last week. When will my wife begin to feel and
act normal again?
A: When the kids are in college.

Two little ladybugs basking in the... clouds

2011-10-31T12:37:00.000-07:00

Gracie's favorite book is a countdown book called Ten Little Ladybugs. Once you get to two, it reads "Two little ladybugs basking in the sun, along came a frog, and then there was..."

Well when we showed up for my cousin's baby's first birthday party (animal costume themed), Gracie and the second cousin she's never even met were both in the exact same costume! It was adorable, but as most of you know, taking pictures of a baby is very difficult. Taking pictures of two babies is darn near impossible.

Happy Halloween!

This is my husband

2011-10-27T10:16:00.000-07:00

I know I said I wouldn't/couldn't be blogging this week, but I couldn't let this little McMister jewel go to waste.

For the past week or so, I've had major gas pains. (YAY for a little pregnancy TMI!) When I was pregnant with Gracie, I started out trying to hide such unladylike symptoms from McMister. By the end, it was basically all we talked about. So now that I'm already a whole NINE WEEKS in, I've already let the honesty start flowing.

"I'm so farty," I groaned, which wasn't exactly true since I hadn't been able to do so.

"Is that because you are what you eat?" McMister said in a dead-pan reply.

Weekly Wednesday Photo - 1 year, 1 month, 2 weeks

2011-10-26T07:00:00.000-07:00

Gracie wasn't sure I meant it when I said I might be taking a blogging break this week. Look how happy she is that it is now definitely so.

Lack of posts this week

2011-10-24T13:41:00.000-07:00

We have a sick baby. A sick, sleepless baby. A sick, sleepless, cranky baby.

Now, we have a sick Daddy. A sick, whiny, sleepless Daddy.

We have a tired Mommy. A tired, pregnant Mommy trying to take care of a sick, sleepless, cranky baby and a sick, whiny, sleepless Daddy.

Oh yeah, and we just decided to attend a birthday party next weekend that is an animal-themed Halloween costume party. Gracie already owns two ladybug costumes (duh!), but I have to figure out how to make (no, we can't afford to buy) animal costumes for McMister and me.

So yeah, if I fall off the blogging planet this week, don't say I didn't warn you.

So that's why they're called "odd"s

2011-10-21T10:32:00.000-07:00

This is odd.

Remember almost two years ago, when I found out my best high school girl friend was also pregnant and she was only 6 days ahead of me? Then she ended up having her baby almost three months early. He's fine now, and we both moved back to our hometown so Gracie and her little boy have playdates all the time.

Well, I told her yesterday that I was 8 weeks pregnant, and from her weird, not really excited, not really surprised response, I guessed it. She's pregnant too.

How far along is she? She turns 8 weeks today.

I'm one day ahead of her.

What are the odds??? If that's not the weirdest thing you've ever heard, you know some pretty weird stuff!

Forward-facing car seat

2011-10-20T09:40:00.000-07:00

Blogger-buddy Tara Lynn at Laugh When You Can asked earlier this week how moving Gracie from rear-facing to forward-facing in the car went. My answer is: fine.

I didn't plan on moving her for another year because the recommendations changed in January from 20 lbs. and 1 year old to 20 lbs. and 2 years old. Gracie's going to have to have her legs up around her ears for that to work, I thought, but we'll make it as long as we can. Then, at her 1-year doctor's appointment, he asked if we had moved her yet.

"No," I told him. "I read that the recommendations were changed to 20 lbs. and 2 years old."

"That's really for 1-year-olds who are barely 20 lbs.," he answered back confidently. "I imagine Gracie's been 20 lbs. for a while."

"Well, she was 19.6 at her six month appointment," I laughed. "So yeah. She's been 20 lbs. for a while."

"Then move her," he said back. "She'll enjoy it a lot more and it's perfectly safe for a baby her size."

So we did.

The first time we put her in that way she laughed out loud. Then she grinned the entire way to swimming lessons. On the way home, she still seemed pretty excited but much more calm.

Later that day, we went on a long trip (about 35 minutes) to a nearby town. She got a little fussy after about the 25 minute mark, which we fully expected. Then on the way home that night, just before her bedtime, she was not a happy camper.

"EEEEEHHHHHHHAGUGHHHHHHH!" she said as she tried to throw her back into an arch while buckled in tight.

"I'm sorry, honey," I said sympathetically. "Do you want to play with this?"

"EEEEEHHHHHHHAGUGHHHHHHH!"

"OK, I know, sweetheart. What about this?!?"

"EEEEEHHHHHHHAGUGHHHHHHH!"

"Right. Well, we have about 20 minutes left, then we'll be home."

"EEEEEHHHHHHHAGUGHHHHHHH! EEEEEHHHHHHHAGUGHHHHHHH! "EEEEEHHHHHHHAGUGHHHHHHH!"

"OK honey. That's not going to get us out of the car any faster. Believe me, if that worked, I would've done it a long time ago. And so would Daddy."

Since then, we've stayed around town (about 15 minute drives) and she does seem to like it a little bit better than rear-facing. It certainly hasn't been the glorious change I sort of thought it might be after everyone's comments of "Oh she'll be so much happier when she's forward-facing!"

Also, it's a lot harder to get her into the car seat the way it is now. I still have her in the middle seat in the back because the car seat inspector told us that's the safest place in case you get T-boned. So I used to sit on the outside seat and strap her. Now I have to sit on the outside seat and twist my body all the way around backward to strap her in. I can imagine that getting a little difficult with an ever-protruding belly, so we'll probably be moving the seat to the side sooner than I'd like.

Weekly Wednesday Photo - 1 year, 1 month, 1 week

2011-10-19T14:23:00.000-07:00

Gracie's favorite game isn't annoying at all. Opening my wallet and spreading out all my credit cards when we're walking out the door thrills me to no end :)

The Oldies

2011-10-18T13:04:00.000-07:00

On the way to our play date today, Baby Got Back came on the radio. I turned it up, looked at Gracie in the rear view mirror (she's forward-facing now WHOHOO!), and proceeded to teach her how to car dance. She giggled and pointed and bopped her head and waved her arms for the rest of the song.

We got a new radio station in town called Gen X. I don't consider myself Gen X because I'm so much younger and hipper than that :) - and Wikipedia says no one born later than 1981 or '82 is a Gen-Xer. BUT it is all the music I grew up listening to.

So the next song was Say My Name and the next one was Jenny from the Block. Gracie and I danced the whole way home and it was honestly up there with one of those funnest times I've ever had. (Spell-check thinks "funnest" isn't a word; it obviously doesn't know ME very well.)

We got a weird look from the next car over while rocking out to Baby Got Back. Did the other driver not realize it's my responsibility to teach my daughter the classics?

The second time around

2011-10-17T13:15:00.000-07:00

Last week, the oh-so-lovely Dana over at Hancock Heir asked how this pregnancy differed from my last. Well so far, things actually have been quite different, even though we're only a few weeks in.

The biggest difference is one I've heard about before: that it's easy to forget you're pregnant the second time around. Whenever I've heard or read about this in the past, I've always kind of rolled my eyes. I honestly thought people who said that were being kind of flippant. But the truth for me is that it's a little bit true. I do think about being pregnant less often than I did with Gracie.

With your first, everything about being pregnant is a mind-blowing mystery, the pregnancy itself and what's to come. But now I have my little angel here with me. And I know what labor is like. And nursing. And staying up all night. And cuddling my very own baby. And feeling those maternal urges to protect and nurture that emanate from the core of your soul.

With your second, a lot of that mystery is gone. You simply don't spend hours upon hours upon hours wondering what "it" will be like, no matter what that "it" is, because they're no longer worries or wonders, they're memories.

On the other hand, a whole new host of worries, thoughts and hopes appear. Will the pregnancy be as easy on me physically as the last? Will labor be the same? Will Gracie be happy with a sibling? Will the new baby sleep as poorly as Gracie? Will the new baby cry more than Gracie? Is there any possibility that we could love the new baby as much as we love Gracie?

Much more easy to think about and articulate are the physical differences that have happened so far. I feel SO MUCH MORE tired than I did when I was pregnant with Gracie. With her, I was working full time, but that meant sitting at a computer full time. Now, I'm chasing her around the house full time. Then, I could come home from work and sit on the couch for 3 hours until I could reasonably fall asleep at 8 o'clock. I'd actually be in bed from 10 p.m. until 7 a.m. Now, I never "come home from work". I never sit on the couch for three hours and I sure as hell don't sleep from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.

I am a lot more nauseous this time than last. I still (THANKGOD) haven't thrown up yet and I never did with Gracie either. I count my lucky stars daily about that.

I had a lot of cramps in the beginning with Gracie. One night, they were so bad, I called the 24-hour consulting nurse hotline and they told me to go to the ER in case it was an ectopic pregnancy. I was five weeks along and they gave me an ultrasound. They didn't even show it to me but since we had it and it confirmed the pregnancy and that there was only one baby in there, I was confident that I was actually having a baby, one baby. This time, nothing has gone wrong (again Thank God!) so I haven't had an ultrasound or even a doctor's appointment yet. We have somewhat of a history in our immediate family of twins (which I'll go into in another post sometime). So the thought is always in the back of my mind. Also, I got a positive pregnancy test at 10 days dpo, so that made me wonder if it was twins too. I'm sure it's not, but that nagging thought is there this time and wasn't last time.

With Gracie, every time I thought about the baby, I'd think "she..." or "...her". This time, I know it's a boy. I just know. Don't ask me how. I know there's still a 50/50 chance. But it's a boy. So there!

Just as I said before, the first pregnancy is filled with wonder, excitement and awe. That goes for the Dad as well. The second time? Well, do I need to remind you of last week's conversation?

Finally, no matter how much or little you sit and really concentrate on this second baby growing inside you, you no longer wonder if it could possibly be as great as you hope. You already know it's even better.

October 2011

2011-10-14T10:40:00.000-07:00

Dear Gracie Girl and New Baby,

I started out writing letters to Gracie on her monthly birthdays and do plan to continue, but now they'll be to both of you.

See little lady, you're already having to share with your sibling. Kinda sucks doesn't it?

Well don't worry too much, it really doesn't suck that badly. And I really wanted to have you close enough together that you wouldn't remember a time without everyone in your family being together.

Gracie turns 13 months today, and as your Nanna said the other day, you've changed a lot this month (again). You have the most hilarious and infectious evil laugh in the entire world. No one knows where it came from because none of us do it and the only TV you watch is the Today Show and if anyone on there laughed like that, they'd be fired. A couple of weeks ago, you also added a demon noise to go along with it. The demon noise is far more rare than the ever-present evil laugh, but equally as hilarious and maybe even more jarring. The juxtaposition between your precious, innocent, little face and those devilish noises is enough to make even the grumpiest grumps crack up. You are truly your own little wonder.

We haven't told Gracie about the new baby in so many words yet. What I've read so far says to wait until the 2nd trimester for the youngest ones because nine months is literally a lifetime to them. Plus, even if I said I had a baby in my tummy and you were going to get a new brother or sister someday soon, you wouldn't understand. So for now, I mention New Baby in passing but we don't focus on it too much.

I'm only seven weeks pregnant with New Baby right now, so it's not really quite real yet for your Daddy or me. (I mean it's a little more real for me because I feel sick all the time, but the fact that we're welcoming a new child into our lives hasn't hit home just yet.) I think about you all the time though, how you'll interact with your big sister, how you'll interact with us and how we'll all find room for you in our already bursting hearts.

No matter what happens, this month has changed our lives forever and I couldn't be more thrilled.

I love you both with all my heart,
Mommy

Weekly Wednesday Photo - 1 year, 0 months, 3 weeks

2011-10-12T19:26:00.000-07:00

If Gracie had her way, she would look like this all the time. Seriously like all day.

While I was weaning her, we started gradually introducing whole cow's milk to her diet. She wasn't very interested in the beginning, but now... OH EM GEE.

She's freaking obsessed. Addicted. Maniacal. She wants to drink milk AT ALL TIMES!

We've started having to spell out M-I-L-K whenever we talk about it because if she hears you say the actual word, she sprints toward the fridge and slams her body up against the door until you give her some.

The other day, we went on a family walk (another word that has to be spelled out in our household, but for the sake of the dogs, not the baby). We let Gracie walk on her own on the way home and she wouldn't follow us at all. "Bye bye!" we shouted and waved at her as we fake-walked toward the house without her.

She just waved "bye bye" back at us and ran the other direction.

"Just go pick her up!" I 'suggested' to McMister.

"No, I have an idea," he said back. "Gracie, do you want some MILK?"

I kid you not, she turned toward him, grunted, and ran all the way back to our house from four houses away.

A conversation to avoid with your pregnant wife

2011-10-11T10:46:00.000-07:00

McMister: How many times have you thought about you being pregnant today?

Me: A lot.

McMister: No like, seriously. How many?

Me: I don't know. A lot. Like every other minute for most of the day since that's how many times I think I'm going to throw up.

McMister: Yeah, see. You know how many times I thought about you being pregnant today?

Me: How many?

McMister: Zero!

Me: Great. Thanks babe.

McMister: No, I mean it. That's what's going on here. That's why things have been off between us for a few weeks now. It just doesn't seem to real to me at all yet and it's really real to you. I mean, I was just in the other room and saw all that laundry and thought Jeez. Why hasn't she done that laundry yet? It's been like a week!

Me: It's been three days.

McMister: Whatever. That doesn't matter. What I'm saying is, then I remembered you were pregnant and it makes sense. It's totally fine that you haven't done the laundry yet. I understand!

The disheveled duo

2011-10-10T15:04:00.000-07:00

My mom took me clothes shopping for my birthday about a month and a half ago. I loathe trying things on, and Gracie was with us, so I'm kind of surprised I ended up recognizing anything that ended up in the bag on the way home.

When I went to hang the cardigans I got in the closet, I noticed one of them was... weird looking. It had this beautiful ribbon detailing on either side of the buttons. On one side, the ribbons were all straight; on the other, they were all messed up. I left the tags on and decided the next time I was going to go ALL THE WAY ACROSS TOWN (ya know, like 20 whole minutes), I'd take it back and exchange it for the same sweater, but normal looking.

Well last weekend, I ended up over there with my mom again and I explained the situation. As the words were coming out of my mouth, the thought occurred to me What if it's SUPPOSED to look like that?

I told my mom of my new thought and we both laughed about how embarrassing that would me if I tried to take it back and they were like "Yeah. It's supposed to look like that."

Well, yeah. That happened.

I walked back out of the store with the same sweater hanging from my brought-from-home hangar and my mortified, uncool face hanging past my shoulders.

A few days later, I put it on to show the world how cool I really was. I got it. I understood the weirdness. I own hip stuff!

McMister was tasked with dressing Gracie that morning. Well, I still laid out what she was to wear, but he was tasked with actually putting the clothes on her body.

He brought her downstairs and said, "Uh, the buttons do go on the front right?"

"Well, no babe," I said reluctantly. "Then that would mean that the ruffles go on the back. Ruffles don't go on the back of a shirt."

"Well, I think we should leave it this way," he said back emphatically. "It looks cool."

Another hint?

2011-10-07T07:00:00.000-07:00

I wrote this post a few days after yesterday's, long before a pregnancy test would've come up positive.

Britney Spears and Ken Griffey Jr. have been ignoring me for about a year now. (Well I guess the human versions have been ignoring me for a lot longer than that.) But our little dogs were obsessed with me when I was pregnant with Gracie. Every night they fought over who got to lay on my bulging belly.

Well, last night, McMister and I laid on the couch for our nightly Netflix On Demand viewing and Griffey jumped right up onto my belly to lay down.

That's weird, I thought. And quickly forgot about it.

McMister got up to get some food, so of course, Dr. Grifferson followed him in desperate hope for scraps. While he was gone, Britney waddled across the living room, hopped up on the couch and rested her head on my belly.

We both heard the all too familiar sound of Griffey's claws hitting the floor after jumping 6 and a half feet into the air for a goodie, and Brit Brit was off like a bull in those bizarrely dangerous matador races.

Griffey, fully satisfied with his evening treat, raced back over to me and claimed his spot on my belly once more.

A few minutes later, I had to go to the bathroom. Griffey followed me. This used to happen every single time I did anything, but now that he's had a full year to get used to the fact that I'm fully Gracie-focused 100% of the time, he's given up his need to be by my side every second.

He came right into the bathroom with me, laid on the bath mat under the sink and waited patiently until I was done when he gallantly walked me back to the couch and climbed back on my belly for the rest of the evening.

*Here's a shot me (very ready for Gracie's arrival) and Griffey. It looks like he's grabbing my arm, like Wait a minute! I'm not even looking at you, but where do you think you're going?

A month ago, I wrote this...

2011-10-06T07:00:00.000-07:00

I think I'm pregnant.

We've never used OPKs before and I decided to try them out this cycle. I got a positive a couple days ago and contemplated whether or not I should tell McMister. I ended up telling him because I can't keep anything to myself. I'm the world's worst secret keeper. Not because I'm a gossip or I need to tell the world. But I literally can't experience something and not tell someone else about it. Usually that's McMister and McSister. Sometimes if it's about McMister, then I'll just tell McSister. And vice versa.

Anyway, I started out with "I'm not sure you want to know this but..."

And he looked at me like I was about to tell him the world was going to end next week or that something disgusting was happening in my baby-maker.

"I'm going to ovulate in the next 12-48 hours," I said.

"Oh. Uh. OK. How do you know that?"

"I took a test."

"Weird."

Over the course of the next couple days, my body went into some bizarre baby-making overdrive and wouldn't let me think of anything other than, well, baby-making. It's like my uterus couldn't stop screaming, "PUT A BABY IN ME RIGHT NOW!... AND NOW. AND NOW!"

This is far from usual for me and got to the point where all McMister and I could do was laugh.

I've been temping as often as I can (which started out great and has greatly diminished recently) and was able to temp this morning. It seems like it went up enough that I can safely say I ovulated yesterday. And lo and behold, the baby-making urge is Gone Baby Gone.

McMister asked me this morning if I thought I was pregnant and I grinned from ear to ear. "I. I don't know," I said. "I hope so."

This week has been and will be the hottest of the year here. It's been gloriously sunny without a cloud in the sky. When we woke up this morning, a few clouds lined the brightening blue sky and the sun peaked through in the distance. A few minutes later, those wispy clouds were lined with the kind of orange glow that highlights the wonder of Heaven and Earth.

Then, in an instant, a sound we know so well in the Pacific Northwest that it's ingrained in our hearts came rushing through the windows. An absolute downpour.

We never get summer rain like that. It rains all year and then stops for July and August and most of September.

But this morning, the blue sky remained on the outskirts. The sun-kissed clouds glowed all around. And a fast and furious rain poured over us.

"I know I'm pregnant," I whispered. "Because of this rain. It's a new beginning for us."

--------------

I was right.

*For the very few of you who know me in real life, we're not telling anyone yet. So if you blab, I'll sneak over to your house and cut your hair while you're sleeping like Sarah Michelle Gellar in I Know What You Did Last Summer. Although, then you'll just end up with a way cuter haircut like she did. But whatever.

Weekly Wednesday Photo - 1 year, 0 months, 2 weeks

2011-10-05T10:14:00.000-07:00

After the extended ~~fight~~ discussion McMister and I had this week about him fishing too much, this belated birthday gift for Gracie hit just a little too close to home :)

Destruktor

2011-10-04T09:45:00.000-07:00

We went to a playdate yesterday with some older kids through a local stay at home moms group. Normally, the older kid ones fall during Gracie's morning nap, but this one was a make your own pizza lunchtime one. So I decided to go anyway (plus I knew two other under-2-ers were going as well, so she wouldn't be the only little one).

We arrived first, so the hostess' almost-3-year-old daughter was the only other kid there. Gracie walked right over to her and all her toys and started putting puzzle pieces in her mouth.

"That baby likes to put things in her mouth," the tot stated.

"Yeah, babies like to put things in their mouths," I responded with a smile.

"Um, that baby is still putting things in her mouth," she said a few minutes later, obviously somewhat annoyed.

The next to arrive was clearly a good friend of the hostess, as their daughters ran to each other for a hug as soon as the door opened.

The new little girl (age 3) walked directly up into my face, said hi and put her hand on my shoulder.

I said hi back and she turned to look at Gracie.

"Uh, he has a toy in his mouth," she said disgusted.

"Yeah, she likes to put things in her mouth," I said apologetically now.

"Ugh. Babies do that," she groaned.

As time went on, it became clearer and clearer what a vast age difference 1 and 2 and 3 really are. The two girls locked themselves in the bedroom squealing and laughing and Gracie stood outside the door staring at it. There were other kids there, boys incidentally, but she wasn't interested in playing with them even though they were the two under 2.

She finally gave up wishing the door would magically open and she'd be let into their older girl world. She returned to the living room and after careful examination of everything in the room, reached her arm to make one giant swooping motion across an entire table filled with family photos. I got to her just before the domino effect of framed memories began and declared, "Honey, you can look, but you can't touch."

A burst of laughter came from all the moms sitting nonchalantly at the kitchen counter and one joyfully shouted, "How soon we forget!"

I spent the rest of the hour chasing Gracie around as she smashed Goldfish crackers into the carpet, threw a pretend (but certainly not soft or bouncy) bowling ball against the wall repeatedly and knocked over the plastic shopping cart that the other little boys kept trying to fill with toys.

At one point, she managed to throw a plastic bracelet directly onto one the personal-sized pizzas as the hostess was putting the tray into the oven.

We were the first to go since her afternoon nap was fast approaching. The hostess graciously walked us the door and as I was putting my boots on, Gracie eyed a massive vase by the front door with 5 ft. tall twisted sticks shooting out of it. Her look of boredom as she searched for her next victim after slamming that puppy to the ground was priceless.

"Wow, I guess we really have forgotten all about baby-proofing," the hostess said.

Spitting out apologies left and right as I hoisted my little lady out the door, all I could think of was McMister's nickname for her since she was about 3 months old: Destruktor.

Pumpkin Patch and Petting Zoo

2011-10-03T09:58:00.000-07:00

When we got home from the pumpkin patch yesterday and I was looking through the pictures on the camera, I commented to McMister how crazy it is that we have a child who walks around the pumpkin patch.

Yes, she's been walking for months now, but seeing the pictures of her at the pumpkin patch made her seem so old! Not a baby, a kid. Crazy.

Weekly Wednesday Photo - 1 year, 0 months, 1 week

2011-09-28T19:45:00.000-07:00

Seriously. Toddler going on teenager.

*Don't forget about yesterday's mystery! I posted the actual answer earlier this afternoon.

UPDATED: Three days apart?

2011-09-28T16:21:00.000-07:00

Gracie and I went to Toddler Story Time at our local library this morning. We walked in alongside what looked to be twins, a brother and sister. These two were picture perfect, blond hair, blue eyes, the exact same height, matching but gender-specific outfits and big ol’ grins.

When the playtime portion of the event started, Gracie wandered over in their direction.

“Are they twins?” I asked.

“No,” the nanny said with a genuine smile.

“Oh. Are they brother and sister?” I asked trying to mask a look of bewilderment.

“Yeah,” she said. “They’re three days apart.”

WHA??? was about all I could think at first. Oh, I then reasoned, they must be adopted. Look at me and my closed-mindedness.

When all I did was smile, the woman said back…

___________________

*OK everyone, what did she say? I was wrong about them being adopted. So what do you think her response was?I’ll come back tomorrow at this time and add the correct answer to this post.

____________________

*Tara Lynn for the win! Nice detective work ladies.

They were, in fact, a two-mommy household. "Their moms had a bit of a snafu" was the nanny's response.

I live in a town with one of the highest percentages of GLBT people in America... I shoulda known!

Gentle, geeeeentle, GENTLE!

2011-09-23T09:30:00.000-07:00

We've been trying to teach Gracie the meaning of the word "gentle" for about 9 months now. Ever since she learned how to use her hands. Ever since she started grabbing the dogs as hard as baby-ly possible.

After several months, she started "patting" the dogs sometimes instead of pinching them, so we'd exclaim with joy and praise. She was basically hitting them now, but it wasn't as painful to them as the full on skin/fat grab. Now, she thinks hitting is gentle.

The other day, a ladybug was crawling around on her high chair while she ate dinner. "Oh my goodness!" I yelled. "A ladybug!"

She immediately started looking around the room at all her ladybug paraphernalia (because obviously she got a lot of ladybug stuff at her baby showers since that's what everyone knew her by).

"No," I told her, giddy beyond belief. "A real ladybug!"

I led the bug onto my finger, somewhat disappointed it was yellow and not red, but showed it to her anyway.

She started pointing at it and screaming, "DAAAAAAAAAAA" like she does at everything these days.

"Yeah!" I shouted. "A ladybug!"

Tentatively proud because I didn't know if she wasn't touching the ladybug out of fear or being gentle, I softly said, "Very good, Gracie. Gentle."

Then she leaned over and pressed that pointing finger into the ladybug as hard as she could until my finger was covered in yellow ladybug guts.

Weekly Wednesday Photo - 1 year, 0 months, 0 weeks

2011-09-21T19:23:00.000-07:00

Gracie started her birthday party in a red and cheetah print outfit, but we took it off for cake time and then she just rocked a diaper for a while.

One of the presents she opened was this shirt, and I'm not really sure why you would give this to someone at their birthday party unless you expected them to take off the shirt they were already wearing and put it on immediately.

Well, since she was already topless, we put it on her and it suited her perfectly if-I-do-say-so-myself.

Gracie shooting hoops

2011-09-20T06:59:00.000-07:00

Gracie got this hoop from my basketball playing/coaching/loving brother. I think she likes it :)

Gracie's first birthday party

2011-09-19T09:31:00.000-07:00

I, the leastest craftiest person ever born, made this sign. BOOYEAH! McMister came home from work late the other night after one of the most stressful days in his career. "Oh yeah! Well look at these tiny letters I'm cutting out!" I shouted back at him with a smile.

And we all know who the world's worst cook is. Remember this post? Well, I made and decorated this cake on my own. Even dyed the frosting! I'd consider that BOOYEAH number two. *Note: it was absolutely disgusting but whatever.

My mom saved the day with these balloons. I bought some the night before and was told by the clerk who accidently blew out an entire helium tank in the process that I bought "Small balloons. You know they're small ones right?" When I returned home with the wimpiest, most pitiful little balloons you could imagine, McMister laughed in my face and was like WTF? After the 45 minute ordeal, I didn't even try to explain. Ten hours later, at 6 a.m. still 9 hours until the party started, all those pathetic balloons were on the ground completely lifeless.

I asked McMister to put Gracie down for her afternoon nap before the party began. When he didn't return for a while, McSister went upstairs and found this.

12 months old

2011-09-16T10:19:00.000-07:00

My little Gracie Girl,

You turned 1 yesterday and though I've already written about that, I'd still like you to have a monthly update of the things you've learned and the ways you've changed.

You know that old saying about girls and their lovely mix of sugar and spice and everything nice? Well, you've got that sugar and spice thing nailed this month! You've developed some of the most adorable and endearing habits I could ever imagine. But your temper has developed quite enormously as well.

On your birthday yesterday, I took you to a local cider mill to visit the animals with a stay-at-home-moms group. You were the youngest in the group, but the other babies were only about 2. All the other moms looked at me with empathy and a smile. "It does get easier," one said. "When they turn 1, it's like they turn into a whole different person!" cried another. "I can see that," I said back somewhat defeated.

To say you were a little demanding would be an understatement. To say you were a lot demanding would be an understatement, in fact. You wanted so desperately to touch every single chicken, duck, turkey and goat (not the pigs, they made you cry) and all their teeny tiny babies, but each of their homes housed a sign that read "Chickens will peck" or "Pigs may bite". So I tried to tell you that you could look but not touch. That elicited a scream. I picked you up and moved you backward two feet, and when I went to put you down, you'd bend your knees and not allow any pressure on your feet. I hoisted you over my hip and you yelled, kicked and flailed.

I've only seen this side of you before in very small doses, so I was quite surprised, to say the least. I understand why you were doing it, and that did make it somewhat easier to not completely freak out, but it certainly opened my eyes to a glimpse into the dark side of the next couple years.

Like I said before, though, your spice has been balanced by an enormous amount of sugar this month. You are a strong, determined little girl, that's for sure, but your sweet side can brush all that aside in a second.

Every time someone leaves the house, they get up and say "Bye Bye". You automatically turn around and walk to the front door. You wave bye bye on the way to the door, while they're walking out the door, and the entire time they're pulling out of the driveway. It's so stinkin' cute and your Daddy melts every morning when he leaves for work.

You are now head-over-heels in love with books. One day, while I was out for a few minutes, you brought about 11 million books over to Daddy to read to you. He taught you to sit in his lap whenever you brought over a book, and the precious new skill has really stuck. Over and over (and over and over) throughout the day, you waddle over to me carrying a book and plop right down in my lap. Sometimes, you get right back up again after just the first page and sometimes you sit through the whole thing. I sincerely hope you stay a bookworm your entire life.

Even though you don't say any actual words yet (other than using all your might to belt out "BAAA!" every time you see a ball), your vocabulary has taken gigantic leaps forward this month. When asked, you will point out lights, balls (of course), Mommy, Daddy, Auntie Leslie, Granny, the asker's nose, the asker's mouth, the asker's ear and your own belly button. You know window, tree, Griffey, Britney, doggie in general and kitty cat. Sometimes I ask you something to try to begin the teaching process, but when I ask you where it is, you already know! Just yesterday I asked you where your pool was and you walked right over to it and sat down in the dry beluga-shaped blowup pool that hasn't held water for weeks.

You adore your little baby doll and bring it over to show me and Daddy every night. In the most adorable little sequence of events EVER, you carry her over, press your face against hers and lay both your own head and hers in our laps for a mini family-doll-group hug.

Two of you favorite books are Global Babies and How Do I Love You. Often, you'll stop us mid-read and lean over to kiss the pictures of the babies and the boy in the story. But in another favorite, Little Ladybug, a finger-puppet book, you can't help but lean over and bite the ladybug (and my finger) as hard as possible.

You're waking from your nap now, so I need to stop. I could write on and on forever this month though. You've become such a little person this month it's hard to fathom. And even though your spicy side as come on full force, it's OK because we knew it'd be coming sooner or later. And with the spiciness of your Daddy and me, we can't really blame you :)

Love,
Mommy

VIDEO: Ladybug's First Year

2011-09-15T17:09:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday to the cutest baby in the world, the wildest animal on the planet and the sweetest angel on Earth.

Untitled from Sheelah McCaughan on Vimeo.

Putting Year One to Bed

2011-09-14T20:10:00.000-07:00

I had an entire post planned about how this past year has changed me as a mother, wife and human being. But then I put Gracie to bed.

I used to rock her to sleep every night. McMister helped for the first couple months, but then literally, I rocked her to sleep every single night. Sometimes, it was perfect, peaceful, everything you dream of as a mother-to-be. And sometimes it was outright hell. There were countless tears between the two of us. Countless nights of frustration. Countless nights of bliss. And countless nights of both, neither and everything in between.

Since starting the sleep training program, I've had to give that part of our lives up and rock her to "drowsy but awake", then place her in the crib. But even as I clung to those few minutes of rocking, I knew they would be short-lived.

In the past couple weeks, Gracie has turned her back on the whole routine. Literally. She flips over onto her belly and tries to climb off the edge of the chair while screaming bloody murder. Obviously, things had to change, and I've just started skipping the whole rocking thing and putting her in the crib way less drowsy and no-doubt-about-it awake.

Tonight, though, something was different. After I read her nighttime book, Good Morning, Goodnight, she turned her face into my chest and closed her eyes. I started to sing Silent Night as I have night after night over the past twelve months and started to cry.

Holding my baby in my arms on the last night before her first birthday was heart-wrenching perfection. I knew I couldn't do it until she was asleep as I had so many times before; I still had to put her down awake. But that was fitting too. She's older now, she can handle it. And so can I.

I laid her in her crib and lingered just a bit. I stroked her hair, told her I loved her and cried a little more.

Happy almost birthday Gracie Ba.y.

Weekly Wednesday Photo - 11 months, 4 weeks

2011-09-14T10:15:00.000-07:00

I started Weekly Wednesday Photos because Gracie was born on a Wednesday. Here was One Week Old:

And now, the day before her 1st birthday, here's Miss Gracie on her Daddy's chest once again.

Basketball diaries

2011-09-13T09:24:00.000-07:00

Last year on June 14, I posted this to my facebook wall with the title "So this is why the dogs have been digging that hole?"

Well, 15 months later, they're not the only ones trying to hide things from me.

Attention moms and moms-to-be

2011-09-12T08:09:00.000-07:00

Those suction cup bottomed bowls don't really work.

Ladybug's creepy aunt

2011-09-09T08:57:00.000-07:00

McSister was a big sleep talker and walker when she was little. My favorite example was when my parents woke up to her standing in the corner of their bedroom rocking back and forth with the cat in her arms blabbering about some sort of circus.

Well, remember back when I explained how creepy I thought it would be that babies practiced their new skills in their sleep? And then when I explained that it wasn't as creepy as I thought.

Well, I'm back to change my mind again. Sorta.

Most of the time, it's not too creepy. But now that we use a nightlight in Gracie's room and can see pretty well in there. It is actually quite creepy to go in when she's crying, sitting up all the way against the back corner of the crib and her eyes are open but dead with sleep.

When I brought it up with McMister a few nights ago, his response was, "Yeah. She gets her creepy from Auntie Leslie."

Love you Les! :)

An inaugural trip to Toys 'R Us

2011-09-08T07:50:00.000-07:00

McMister, Gracie and I went to Toys 'R Us for the first time a week ago. We all went together to get something for her birthday. I had the brilliant idea of letting her pick her present(s) by showing her different toys around the store and buying whatever she seemed to love.

First, we went through the baby doll section. She already has a couple babies, with one being the favorite by far. Every night that both McMister and I are home, we go through a ritual of her bringing the baby back and forth between the two of us while we excitedly exclaim "A baby!?!" Little in the world thrills her more than this monotonous and adorable game.

She showed interest in every baby we showed her at Toys 'R Us, so we put a couple in the cart. In the same section, we found a little broom. She is absolutely obsessed with me sweeping the kitchen so there was no question we'd pick up one of those.

Then we rounded the corner and she spotted ~~Heaven~~ two giant bins full of different sized balls. This little lady literally could not focus on anything else for the rest of the trip because she needed to be standing next to said balls at all times. Let's let her carry one around! we thought. Then she'll be able to keep looking but keep a ball with her. Well that turned into her throwing, kicking and head-butting the ball around the entire store and ignoring all of our requests to even look at anything else.

By far, her favorite kind of ball is a basketball. She watches McMister shoot in the driveway forever on the weekends and can't even think of anything else on the planet if she is near one and not touching it. Often, she has to be holding another ball while she plays with the basketball.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: she is DEFINITELY her father's daughter.

She did throw the ball aside exactly once in the store when I showed her a giant apple that had lettered buttons all over it. When you press the letter, the apple says the letter aloud and what sound it makes. She adored the laptop looking thing, so we threw it in the cart.

We ended up putting the babies back thinking she might get some from other people anyway and left the store with a $6 broom, a $3 ball and a $20 apple.

She's quite the cheap date!

Weekly Wednesday Photo - 11 months 3 weeks

2011-09-07T14:44:00.000-07:00

Once Gracie learned to move around, she started to think that laying down meant she was going to have to go to sleep. Seriously she didn't lay down on her own from about 4 and half months (when she learned to sit on her own) until about 11 months.

It still totally weirds me to see her laying down awake. I can't help but think there's something terribly wrong. Of course, it only lasts about a third of a second and she's running around the house again so I don't really have too much time to worry :)

The first evening away

2011-09-05T09:08:00.000-07:00

Saturday night, we left Gracie with my mom from 3:30 until midnight. It was the longest I've ever been away from her and the first time anyone has put her to bed besides McMister or me.

I was a complete wreck all week leading up to it. And leaving that afternoon was so difficult. Gracie was fine and happily waved goodbye from my mom's arms on the front porch. She was much more interested in getting her hands on what she thinks is the world's greatest invention: the basketball. I'm eternally grateful that she's such a happy baby for so many reasons, and one in particular is that if she had been crying when I left, I really don't think I would've made it to the wedding. At least not with my mascara in anywhere near it's intended location.

I asked my mom to text me updates and she smiled but didn't respond. "Well at least text me when she's asleep," I begged. She agreed, and I left.

I got one blurry picture of Gracie trying to climb out of the tub and after I texted her (not until 7 p.m.!) to find out how it was going, she assured me everything was just fine.

My mom slept in the chair in the nursery the rest of the evening until we got home, and we walked in to a dark, quiet house with two groggy dogs greeting us at the door.

My mom thanked us profusely for asking her to babysit and left with a sleepy grin from ear to ear. I went up and looked at my sleeping angel and was asleep, myself, before my head hit the pillow.

And just because someone asked, here's a picture of the dress. I was writing down Gracie's snack, dinner, bath and sleep schedule for my mom, and she was furiously taking random pictures with her iphone without telling me. You'd think I was headed to prom.