iPhone Pictures

I have gotten into the habit of sending Smug-Hub pictures of Smug-Baby throughout the day while he is at work. It gives him insight into our day as well as giving him something to show around to his co-workers!

Sometimes I feel badly when I send him one of us doing something fun, like playing at the pool because I feel like he will be sad that he is missing something fun. So I try to send him pictures when she is not having fun too, so he gets the whole picture :)

Here is a sampling of the shots that I have captured over the last few days along with their caption that I sent to Smug-Hub when I texted them to him. Enjoy!

She walked herself all the way down the house from the garage. She can hear the dog in Foley's backyard!!

Feeling the grass on her toes and bare butt!!

Hi Daddy! We are going for a walk!

I let all the water out of the tub daddy!

Mom! Fill it back up for me!!!

Good Morning Daddy, have a good day at work!!

Dog! Dog!

I'm driving mommy home!

Pool water and pretzels, life doesn't get better! Miss you!

One tired girl!!

Swimming Suit Shopping

Today Smug-Sister and I have been discussing swim suits and how we are both in desperate need of a new one. I am currently using my maternity suit, but it is way too big on me since 1) I am no longer pregnant and 2) ...no... just that one reason!! It is also starting to show signs of wear, like when you hold it up to the light, you can see the thin patches. Which, by the way, is strange considering I only wore it twice while I was pregnant, maybe 3-4 times last summer and so far only 3-4 times this year. I guess they just aren't made to last!

Anyway, she was looking at this one and while it is really cute, it is $55 and back ordered until July. Who wants to wait until July for a new suit?? There is this one that she likes OK and it is also $55, but available now. So, order the one you really like and wait months to receive it, or order the one that you can get shipped out to you right now that you don't love...

I want to try some on before I buy, so I really really don't want to order one and wait until July for it and then hate it, but the thought of trying to go swim suit shopping is daunting for two reasons, 1) I will have a toddler with me, who will undoubtedly run away from the dressing room while I am struggling to get into/out of a suit that is horribly unflattering and I will have to chase her around the store half naked and will, of course, run into an ex-boyfriend or ex-friend!! and 2) it is hard on the ole' self esteem to try on suits that are tight and show off all the weight that one still needs to lose...

So, tomorrow, if I can get some decent sleep tonight, I may venture out and test the swim suit waters... maybe not.

Back Packin'

Most days, when I finally get home after all my jobs, errands, tasks, and to do's, a whole new list of stuff that needs to be done awaits me. Smug-Baby has been sharing her mama all day with Smug-Niece, with the grocery store, with the cell phone, with the car, whatever and all she wants is some concentrated time to play with me.

Some days I throw out my to-do list and crawl around on the floor with her, playing airplane, chasing her, tickling her, reading to her, anything that she feels like. There is lots of catch up nursing and running around the house involved and it is great!

However, there are a lot of days where stuff just has to get done. There isn't anymore clean underwear, all the dishes in the house are dirty and starting to attract teeny tiny ants, or we are simply hungry for a real dinner instead of chips eaten over the sink and followed by a glass of water you really aren't sure how long it has been sitting there. It is those days that Smug-Baby finds herself in the back-pack and getting a birds eye view to all the things her mama is trying to do. She is normally happy for a time, but gets irritated if the scenery doesn't change often enough (like say I am chopping potatoes, she gets real bored with that real quick!!)

The other day, I had taken Smug-Baby out of the carrier as she was just done with it, and let her play while I attempted to corral the mess in the kitchen. Suddenly, I realized that it was quiet, too quiet and had been too quiet for some time. I came into the living room and saw what she was up to. I ran for camera!!

Mr. Bear has become a favorite toy lately and she carries him around the house in her arms.

She carefully aims...

Just a little bit more...

He is in! He is settled! He is ready for a ride!

Now, she begins her part...

Carefully inserting first one arm...

And then the other. Just like mommy does.

Whoa! This is not working!

What am I doing wrong?!?!?

With a little help from an unseen (mommy) hand, she is in position!

Here, she is walking around the living room. I am holding the back end of back-pack off the floor so she can walk around. She would then stop, pull Mr. Bear out of the pack, hug him tightly (something I always do when pulling her out of the pack), then put him back in and repeat the whole procedure.

We walked Mr. Bear all over the house that night, stopping and starting 50-60 times easy before she was tired and began to whine. Then, I asked her if she was ready for a bath. She took off down the hall and banged at the closed bathroom door until I caught up with her! The ants had free reign of the kitchen while I took the time to enjoy this sweet moment in my baby's life with her. I did conquer them later after I put a happy, clean, sweet smelling baby to bed for the night!

God, I love my life sometimes!!

Home

We have been home from our trip to ABQ for almost a week now and I am still not recovered. That is sad considering how great the trip was and how wonderfully Smug-Baby did on the plane. She is teething though and not sleeping as well and I think that time change (2 hours) has been hard on all of us.

We had a really great time visiting with all the family and Smug-Baby warmed up to her Grandma and Uncles really quickly! I took a ton of pictures! The first day we were there we took a family trip to the zoo:

Here is Smug-Daddy! No just kidding, but they kinda look alike :)

Here, Smug-Baby is looking at the ducks. This was about the most excited she got over any of the animals - go figure!

"Mom! Look! Ducks!!"

She was, however, really interested in the other children!

Laid back, Gangsta Style!!

This guy was freakin' HUGE!!!!

Getting a good look at the monkey.

He was still only a moment before bounding around like a ping pong ball!

Enormous Porcupine

Tiger

Smug-Baby liked the water animals, but I'm not sure she like the animals or the look of the water more.

I thought this was a cool shot - if I do say so myself!

Again, her love of the other kids was impossible to deny!

After the zoo trip, we spent most of our time at the house, just catching up and being together with this side of our family that we don't get to see much. 

Smug-Baby took it upon herself to rearrange Grandma's kitchen.

"This doesn't belong over there!!"

They even played a little piano together!

Smug-Baby and her Uncle Marker!!

Here she is looking at everyone eating and wishing that she had some.

This is right after she spit out the beans I gave her. Now she is trying to find them to give them to the dogs

Cutest Toes Ever!!

Leaving was really hard. I know that, in reality, traveling to ABQ again any time soon is impossible. The cost of airfare is crazy and after Smug-Baby is two, we must pay full price for her to fly, so that made this trip feel like it was our last for a while. I am really happy that Smug-Baby and her other Grandma bonded a bit and I hope that they will continue to have a relationship via Skype if we are not able to visit as often as we would like.

Kisses for Grandma!!



Leaving On A Jet Plane

We are getting ready to leave for New Mexico in a few days. We are going for Smug-Hub's brother who is graduating from college. This will be the first time this particular brother will meet Smug-Baby and I am really excited about that, not to mention she will get to meet a lot of that side of her family for the first time.

Smug-Hub and I worked on putting her clothes together last night and we argued over how many outfits to take and which ones. I was leaning more toward the comfortable play clothes and he was leaning more toward the fancy and totally adorable. We agreed on a few of each :)

I have been making lists of everything that I need to do before we leave, but it is frustrating not to actually be able to do any of them. Like I can't really turn off the air conditioner and unplug all the electronics until we are actually getting ready to leave!

I have the whole day before we leave off from all my jobs, so I want to clean out the fridge, do laundry, put fresh sheets on the bed and stuff like that, so we come home to a clean house. Since we aren't getting home until late and both will have to work the following morning, there just won't be time for a bunch of cleaning. I am hoping to hit the grocery store on the way home from the airport so we will have breakfast food for the next day, but we will just have to see how that works.

I have been working on downloading all my photos to the new laptop, so I can 1) have the memory card free for lots of pictures while in NM and 2) so I can share what I have already taken with the family! I have synced the phones and charged the iPod's. I have purchased a little lunch bag with ice pack to take food for Smug-Baby. Now, I just have to wait until the actual day we leave to do everything else!!

I'm getting really excited and I know that I will not be able to sleep the night before we leave! If I am this excited, then Smug-Hub has to be going nuts! I know he misses his family so much!!

OK, I'm off to bed! Probably won't have time to post while we are getting ready and while gone. Take care of yourselves and be good to each other!!

Mother's Day

I overheard two women talking in the grocery store last week. They were obviously friends who hadn't seen each other in a while and had just bumped into each other by chance. They hugged and asked how the other was doing. Then one asked the other what she was doing for Mother's Day.

She replied that her husband had been given notice of the bracelet she wanted and "he better make sure it happens!!" She then said that what she wanted most for Mother's Day was to spend the day at the spa and let him take care of the brats for the day. The first woman nodded and agreed that she too was planning on having a day "off" from motherhood; that her parents were taking the kids overnight and she was going to have brunch with friends and see a movie.

They seemed really happy with their plans for the day and as I was leaving the aisle to continue my shopping, they were saying their good-byes. I was struck by this conversation and I have actually heard a lot of comments like this from other mothers.

I personally didn't want to be away from my family on Mother's Day, they are, after all, the whole reason I get to celebrate Mother's Day!! Without my husband, Smug-Baby wouldn't have been born. Without Smug-Baby, I would not be a mom! Why would I want to spend this special day without those who have made it possible?!?!?!?

The whole weekend was just lovely. It seems like we have been moving at a breakneck pace for a long time now, starting with Smug-Sister's move and then Easter and then this Special Project at work along with Gramps finally moving in with Smug-Sister. The whole family has been stressed out and wired and had far too little sleep.

I don't know if anyone else feels this way about it, but I was able to totally recharge this weekend. Saturday was a busy day running errands and cleaning the house and doing all the yard work. Smug-Hub and I worked together and got everything done with time to spare! So, we used that time to go to a wine and chocolate tasting at a local wine shop. It was small and cozy and they only had 4 sample wines to taste, but they were good and we bought two of them!

Then we were off to dinner with the whole family at our favorite Indian restaurant to celebrate Smug-Sister's birthday (which was almost a month ago, but as I said, its been crazy!) After dinner we all went back to my house for cake and gifts. I got her a Groupon for a canvas wrapped print and a set of latte mugs and she appeared to really like both! She also got a massage gift certificate from Smug-Grandma and we ate large slices of strawberry cake with cream cheese icing and drank a bottle of wine!

I also gave my Mom and sister both their Mother's Day cards and a small gift to show them how much I love and appreciate them. It was a really nice night and Smug-Baby fell off to sleep about 15 minutes after everyone left and Smug-Hub and I had some time to talk and catch up.

Sunday morning he took me to breakfast where Smug-Baby ate slices of banana and spit out every bite of oatmeal we tried, even the ones after I put some brown sugar in! I had an omelet and several biscuits (more than I care to admit here!). After that we went home and Smug-Baby took a long nap and I had some time to work on downloading items to out new laptop and transferring the iTunes library and so on.

When Smug-Baby woke up Smug-Hub took her to run a super secret errand and I was left with the remote all to myself. It was strange to be home alone. I didn't have to latch the baby gate. I didn't keep going into the bedroom to check on her. I watched what I wanted to watch on TV and folded some laundry and that was it! It was nice, but after about an hour, I texted Smug-Hub and told him that I was lonely and wanted my family back!

They came home and Smug-Baby napped again for a bit and Smug-Hub and I talked and he told me that we were having dinner at Olive Garden which is the place we ate for most of our dates and is kinda our special place. We actually ate there the night before Smug-Baby was born! To be honest, I was still full from all those biscuits, but he had this whole Mother's Day thing in is head and wanted it to be special, so off we went!

After dinner, we were both stuffed and after getting Smug-Baby ready for bed, we both crashed too! It was a full day, a happy day, a restful day! I got to spend my special day with the people I love most in the world, so it was the best Mother's Day ever!!

Self Confidence

Recently someone made a comment about by daughter. It bothers me on two levels. Firstly, it bothers me that this person didn't feel like they could express their concerns to me in person, which makes it feel more like gossip rather than genuine concern and secondly, it bothers me that someone thinks that there is something wrong with my child's development.

The comment was expressing a concern that Smug-Baby doesn't like to go into the arms of other people besides her daddy and I. Again, I have a couple of points to make here. Firstly, she doesn't go into the arms of strangers and why would I want her to? I would rather have a child who doesn't go to everyone than the child who will climb into the car with a stranger, wouldn't you? Secondly, she does go to other people and in fact, will go to almost anyone once she has a chance to warm up to them. If someone gives her 5-10 minutes of their attention she decides that she likes them and will take their hand or go into their arms without issue.

She also has a very close bond with Smug-Sister and Smug-Grandma and loves any and all other kids. She loves the neighbor girls and her cousins, she played with T when we were visiting within about 90 seconds, and she is drawn to other kids when we are at playgrounds, parks, restaurants or anywhere else.

Within the last week, she has really gained confidence and has started letting go of my hand and exploring her location with gusto! This is wonderful to watch, but scary too, because she will just run off without noticing that she is, say running into traffic! The thing is, she keeps looking up and finding me to make sure that I'm still there. She trusts me enough to know that she is free to explore without losing me, her security.

I personally feel that this is the sign of a child that has good self confidence and healthy self esteem. She trusts that when she needs me I'll be there, but she is also able to spread her wings and feel around her world.

I feel like I am defending myself and my child from this random comment that I am sure wasn't said with intent to hurt me, but it has got me thinking about Smug-Baby's development. I am like any other parent and concerned about all the ways I can mess up when it comes to parenting, but the only thing I can do really, is to always do the best I can in the given situation with the available information. I will make mis-steps along the way, but I am confident that Smug-Baby is starting off with a foundation of confidence in herself and knows that I always have her back! What more can anyone ask?

Stay At Home Daddy

Today Smug-Hub took the day off. He took the day off because I was working on my big quarterly project and it was finishing up today. I have been burning the candle at both ends for about two weeks on this project and I feel like the weight of the world has been lifted off me now that it has shipped and I am finished.

Anyway, while I was stuck in the office, printing my little heart out,Smug-Hub spent the whole day with Smug-Baby. I left this morning at 5:15am and they were awake and playing in the bedroom. I heard later that they both did fall back asleep for a while and when they got up, they took a shower and got dressed. Then they headed out for brunch with some of our friends who are retired. They also took a long walk and played in the flower beds along the front of a restaurant before meeting up with me for lunch.

We ate at the Indian food buffet, which I love more than life and Smug-Hub likes OK. Smug-Baby actually likes all the spicy stuff, but a lot of it ended up on the floor! After lunch, I went back to work on my project and Smug-Hub took Smug-Baby home where she fell asleep in his arms.

While she was napping, he started laundry and washed dishes. I arrived home about 4 and tried to call into bed with her for a nap of my own, but she woke up! I hadn't nursed at all since 4:30-5 that morning, so I was really, really full!! She nursed a lot and then daddy joined us in the bed and she jumped back and forth between us both for hugs, kisses and lots of tickles!

We met up with grandpa and grandma for dinner and since I had eaten so much at lunch, I was good and had a nice salad. I then had to dash off to my first Photoshop class at 7. While I was in class, Smug-Hub took Smug-Baby home and let her play in the bath. By the time I got home, she was all fresh and clean and smelling sweet so I nursed her and she fell right to sleep. I laid her down and while I type this, Smug-Hub is rubbing my sore and tired feet. He is so good!!

He keeps interrupting my typing to tell me what a great day he had and how much he enjoyed spending the day with Smug-Baby and how much fun they had together. He tells me that as soon as I am ready to go back to work full time, he will stay home and be a full time daddy. I am so glad that he had such a good day, and I am not going to tell him that I'm not giving up my time with Smug-Baby anytime soon :)

Review

So, have you guys heard about Groupon yet? You sign up online for your city and everyday you get an offer in your e-mail. Sometimes its $5 for $10 worth of food at a restaurant, sometimes its $109 for 6 laser hair removal treatments (which is worth like $1,200!!) I have bought Groupons for massage, pedicure, photo books, and canvas wall prints. Its really cool for yourself and an awesome gift for others!!

Anyway, I thought today I would give you a review of my recent experience using one of my Groupons for a pedicure. It was at Polished by Claire V. in Roanoke VA and it is a really nice nail salon. You come into a little shop area that has bags, wraps, jewelry and other little things for sale. Then you get to the receptionist. The day I was there, the girl working the desk was very obviously better than everyone else and it kinda set the mood and tone.

She wasn't rude, but she did have a air of snooty and it was a turn off. But then I met Brooke who would be doing my nails and she was lovely! When you get there you pick out a scent and then your water, scrub and lotion is all infused with that scent. I chose White Tea and Ginger.

I relaxed while she clipped and filed, buffed and scrubbed for almost an hour! An hour people!! Mom had both the babies in the stroller and was walking them around the market area and I figured I would be 20-30 minutes tops! She told me later that she kept trolling by to see if I was finished yet, but I never saw her cause I had my eyes closed, enjoying every moment!!

I chose a sparkly purple nail color in honor of the upcoming Easter weekend and was really happy with the result. I left feeling pampered and pretty!

Of course, Smug-Baby promptly stepped on one of my big toes and smugged the polish, but it was in her attempt to get into my arms for a great big hug, so how can I be sorry about that?!?!?

Overall, I would highly recommend Polished and Brooke, but if you go in, just ignore the snotty, better-than-you receptionist. After all, she isn't why you are there!!

Back on Track…Again

This morning as I am waiting for the veggies to soften I am thinking back about my wonderful weekend. I drove up Saturday morning to North Carolina to stay with my good Friend, Simple Peace Mama and her family. They have a new house I was dying to see and I was missing her and her son, T, like crazy! Smug-Hub was going to fishing in Tennessee over the weekend so it was good timing too.

The drive was really nice and Smug-Baby slept the whole way there and I listened to a book on my iPod. I arrived just in time for lunch and after showing me around her lovely new home, SPM made me a delicious lunch consisting of lettuce from her garden, goat cheese, roasted red peppers, walnuts and a grilled Portobello mushroom. It was light and refreshing and wonderful! Smug-Baby had some banana and when T got up from his nap they both had some grapes and little cookies. After that we went to a cloth diaper swap that SPM’s mothering group was having and I purchased one diaper that I hadn’t seen before, it looks like a cool option and I am looking forward to getting it stripped and washed really good and seeing how it does.

The other mothers were very nice and welcoming. We were all gathered in the living room next to the kitchen and the house has two big rooms off the other side of the kitchen that have been turned into kid’s play rooms with lots of toys. When we first arrived I had Smug-Baby in my lap and after about 5 minutes, she climbed up and toddled off into the kid’s play rooms to mingle and play with all the other kids. She was the youngest and yet had no problem asserting herself and taking a toy away from another child. I guess she really is a first born after all J

After leaving the mothers group, SPM and I were both hungry for dinner so we headed to a Mexican place and I had this really wonderful grilled veggie burrito, filled with peppers, mushrooms, zucchini and onions. Smug-Baby and T shared some beans and we ate lots of chips with salsa and guacamole. We were so full afterward we both swore we were never going to eat ever again. Instead, we took a nice brisk walk around her neighborhood and the lake in the fading sunlight. It was about 8 when we got back to her house and decided to put the babies in the bath together. They played a bit but mostly did their own thing. It was cute, but a little anti-climactic! We visited a bit more before putting the babies to sleep. I laid in bed with Smug-Baby thinking that I would get back up when SPM finished putting T to bed, but I fell asleep instead and slept all night. Smug-Baby who has been waking wanting to play in recent nights, woke only to nurse a few times during the night and once for a bad dream, but all in all, it was a great night’s sleep.

Sunday morning, we let the kids run around and play a bit before getting ourselves showered and dressed. About 9:30 we ended up at Earth Fare, a grocery store that also offers a Sunday brunch of local and natural foods. I had a Mexican Coffee, a muffin, some grits with goat cheese and some fruit. Smug-Baby had mostly muffin and kept spitting out the oatmeal whenever I tired to get her to eat some of that. We spent the next two hours and over $100 in the depths of this wonderful store! I was in vegan heaven, but they also have local, organic meats and cheeses and all these ingredients that I see on the Food Network all the time that should be available in grocery stores everywhere, but aren’t in my little southern town.

After we finished, I took Smug-Baby to McDonalds and let her play in the play area for a little while before getting on the road home. As it was she was really upset and fussy for about the first 30 minutes before she gave into sleep and slept until I bumped into the driveway home. As it turned out the river was flooded out and Smug-Hub was unable to fish and he came home on Saturday. He was frustrated about not being able to fish and about coming home to an empty house. He hung out with Smug-Baby while I went to the grocery store for our weekly menu items and while I was out I went and signed up for the pool so I can take Smug-Baby swimming all summer. I also took Pioneer Woman’s advice and went into Talbot’s and got two pairs of jeans – in size 12!!!!!! They are actually a big loose in the legs, but a bit tight in the waist. I think I may take them over to the tailor and see if she can fit them to my legs a bit better. I was really stoked about the 14’s being too big and I am inspired to once again get back to tracking my food and going to WW meetings and finding time to workout.

I know that this week will be tough and busy, but I will find 10 minutes to do something each day and try to take a nice walk too! So, that is why I am up so early this morning, sautéing veggies to make my Tofu Scramble with Veggie Sausage (3 points plus per serving)! I was going to make it last night, but Smug-Baby, who went to bed about 7:15 last night, was kind of restless and I was tired, so I joined her in bed at 8:15!! I slept really well, except for when Smug-Baby decided to crawl up and sleep at the top of her daddy’s head, T style. It was kinda funny, but since she seemed happy I left her there until about 3:30 and then pulled her down to nurse and warm up before I had to get up.

So, now I just need to add the tofu, stir and pack up my breakfast before heading into work. Which… Yikes, I kinda need to do right now!!