Pictures and Photoshop

E is already addicted to watching TV. She was all squeaky clean, bundled up, and enthralled with whatever was on.



More bath time at grandma's.



I finally installed Photoshop on this computer and my first attempt at anything was a profile of E for my mom. I figured it would be easier than trying to actually cut out her profile from a picture and do it that way. It's not the greatest - my mouse sticks and makes smoothing the lines pretty tricky - but it works.

Easily distracted

E and I were on 'vacation' for the last few days. She just had her first sleepover at my mom's house. She likes her grandma :-)

We had our garage sale. Sold lots of things, made lots of money, and we'll do it all over again next weekend. It's amazing the kinds of people that turn out to these things.

As a celebration after Friday's sale, we went out to a new Mexican restaurant in B-Town. Their margaritas are absolutely awesome. I asked our server just how much alcohol they put into them and his heavily accented answer was "Like 5 bottles with a gallon and then we mix it all up". Yes. He said 5 bottles of tequila to a gallon of mix. My mother and I were giggling little fools after just one glass. We will be returning.

E rolls over with noooo problem now. I set her down on the floor this morning to grab something out of her room before I put her in her carseat and when I came back out two seconds later, there she was hanging out on her tummy, all happy and looking around. She also has started to be ticklish. We got her really going with the belly laughing the night we were being rather goofy ourselves.

Rascal got to go out on the balcony tonight. He's a good little kitty and stayed away from the edge after I scared him once while he was peeking down. I left the door open while I was out there and Kitty never even wanted to come out. He just sat in the opening and looked out. Totally content.

There's a Susan G. Kommen 5k run/walk in September that I think I am going to try and do. My mom is going to do the 1 mile walk with a big group of the bus drivers and asked me to come too, so maybe I will have her walk with the baby and I can do the run. I think it would be fun to actually have a goal on something to work to.

I think I may need to go to the eye doctor. Lately, when I'm looking at something, everything in the background will shift and spin a little. It's like a 2 second dizzy spell. It's weird and getting annoying.

It's incredibly hot in the apartment tonight, so I think I'm about to go sit in front of the door with the fan on. I can't stand how all the heat rises up here and makes it boiling after the sun goes down.

Bad Mama!

I'm a horrible mother. E got her first sunburn today. We went a horse show at the fairgrounds for about 5 hours. And now she has some cherry cheeks. I also have a wicked burn on my arms and back. I still can't figure out how it happened though, cause we stayed in the shade all day. Sitting under a tree, in the car, and in the shade of a building. We spent maybe 10 minutes throughout the day in the sun, walking from one place to another. Can grass reflect the sun like water does? That's all I can think of that would do it.

Poor girl. She felt a little hot, so we did a preemptive strike with some Tylenol (and we all know how opposed I am to medicine, so clearly I was concerned about her). She wasn't fazed though. We'll see how she feels tomorrow.


Other observations for tonight - I am a spineless wimp (ask me why, Misha) and I just discovered a love for the show Little Bush on Comedy Central. So stupid it's funny.

White Trash and the Door That Ate My Foot

I'm still up. I meant to go to sleep an hour ago, but the diaper hunt was calling my name :-)

I just went down to the car to get some stuff out (gotta love hauling those giant buckets of kitty litter up the stairs). On my way out, I stopped to admire the newest inhabitants of my building. Right next to the main door lives some folks who seem to think they're still out in some other land. Hanging from the roof over the patio, you can find two hanging, wooden swing people (you know - the silhouette of the boy and the girl hanging onto the ropes), some dying baskets of plants, a faded teddy bear flag, and three candle lanterns (all rusted). On the patio is an assortment of worn out folding chairs and more dying plants. On the lawn and in the complex-provided landscaping you can find not one, but two wooden figures. One is the ever classy lady-bending-over-with-her-bloomers-showing and the other, well I'm not even sure what it is, but it's pink and purple. There is also a statue of a dog holding a newspaper in it's mouth and a Welcome Home iron sign and a tattered little American flag. I'm at a loss as to what whitty name to dub this menagerie with. It is amusing though; makes my jungle look much less out of place.

As I was coming back in the building, arms full, I set down the giant kitty litter tub to swing open the first door. I picked the tub back up and headed through the door. Apparently, I'm not quite quick enough though, because the door slammed into my foot, skimming over about half of it and then jamming deep into it. My foot was literally stuck under the edge of the door. That's a fabulous feeling, let me tell you. I unwedged my foot and proceeded to limp upstairs. It's currently a painful, black and blue bump with an inch long gash that doesn't seem to want to stop bleeding. And, to top it off, I feel as though I might just puke when I put any weight onto it.

Lovely evening. Or early morning. Whatever it may be.

Shleepy. shleepy

I am soooo tired. I'm not really sure why though. E slept in till 9 this morning, we took a mid-morning nap, and all I did today was some visiting. But it's only 10 and I am ready to pass out.

My first visit of the day was to one set of my grandparents. E was fascinated with my grandma, she was happy and smiling (but never took her eyes off me while she was holding her). It's kinda sad, my grandma had a stroke a while back and she seems to be having a progressively harder time with her words. But, at the same time she seems to be recovering nicely from her recent surgery.

Next, we headed out to my mom's. I fed the baby and then we all loaded up in the truck and went out to my other grandma's. Her whole day seems to brighten up when I bring the baby over. She may repeat the same three sentences five times, but she's happy.

Then we went down the hill to the degenerate cousin's house. His step-son was having a graduation party and we meant to just drop off a card from my grandma. But, there we a bunch of relatives there that wanted to see the baby, so we stayed a bit. I got to see my cousin and his wife who is about to have twins (scheduled for Tuesday). The poor girl looked so uncomfortable. I don't think she has any idea what she is in for. My uncle's girlfriend was holding E next to her when she (E) puked up everything she had eaten. My cousin's wife was beyond disgusted. The girlfriend wasn't even fazed, she just laughed and wiped up with a napkin. As we were leaving, the degenerate cousin was saying goodbye and grabbed E's hand and then her foot. As he was moving from hand to foot, he oh so subtly brushed across my stomach. Ugh ugh ack ick! He truly is the scum of the earth. My family is so messed up. Hopefully I will never have to see him again. I don't forsee any family events in the future.

3 Months

Happy three months to E! :-)

We had a milestone today. She let out her first belly laugh. She's been making "Heh!" noises for a little while now, but while her grandma was making ridiculous noises, she busted out with a real laugh. It was the cutest thing. I'm going to be attached to the video camera for the next while till I can get it on tape.

A Ton of Pictures

Since someone has told me I'm slacking on this thing, I will do my best at overloading the page with pictures. I could be sleeping, but I'm being the loving wife and sacrificing my rest so someone can have pictures to look at :-P

I got a hold of the in-law's camera and loaded all of their pictures to my computer. I found a bunch of cute ones, and ones that are worthy of sharing. So, here goes . . .

Random stuff from when M was home:

She was a squirmy little thing :-)

The pretty princess in her pink dress :-) That guy holding her doesn't look too bad himself ;-)

Gotta learn how to hold a baby in a dress!

Other random stuff:

Memorial Day - proof that he really has held the baby at least once.

She's in love with the fan. She's going to miss that fan.

July 14th - 90th Birthday Party for a P-family aunt:

Here we go!

Everyone loves a baby.
Right before she latched on to a fist full of her hair.

It was a long, hot day.


"Thank God we're home, Mommy!"

"Now tell these people to go home so I can eat and pass out!"

Yesterday:

In the cry room at church, after being consoled out of a tantrum with a yummy bottle.

Blankie #2

I made another one :-) I've decided I'm going to make them in two sizes, this one (16 x16) and a bigger one (24 x 24). If I have smaller pieces left over, I'll make teeny, tiny ones. Wahoo!

However, there will be NO sewing tonight. I am going to bed before 11 for once. (Just this once). Waking up has become way too hard.

Projects - The Fabric Addiction

I'm bad. Very bad. I get addicted to things way to easily. The current vice - fabric. I am working my free sewing machine to the ground! But, all that fabric gets expensive, so unless I can turn some sort of tiny little profit, or at least break even, I need to curb my addiction pretty quick.

A few days ago I finished a baby sling. E loves it. She gets to look all around, and she even fell asleep in it in the store yesterday. I have to tweak my measurements a bit, but it turned out great. I have some stretchy fabric I'm going to try next for another one.



Then came the blankie. I have a hard time calling it a lovie - I always called mine a blankie. This is what I'm hoping I can sell. Somewhere, somehow. Craft fairs, online, word of mouth, whatever. This first one was a pain, though. It probably would have helped to know my sewing machine a little better. Apparently it has some quirks, just to keep you on your toes. I spent just as much time making it as I did ripping bad seams and digging fluff out of the bobbin case. The darn thing eats fabric like no other. Anyways, I just finished it a little bit ago, and I can't wait to give it to E when she wakes up in the morning and see what she does with it. She's at the stage where she loves to grab and hang onto things, so this might be a good thing.

Swim, swim, swim

Today my mom came down and we went for a glorious swim. It was HOT. I've had the air-conditioning cranked all yesterday and today, and probably will tomorrow too. The pool here is so nice. Today I even went in the deep end - all five feet of it :-) Apparently, playing with Elise makes me not think about my fears of that scary water.

My mom has this crazy idea that we should start giving E swimming lessons, and she heard somewhere that it's fine to teach them to go under water and that they will learn to hold their breath on their own. I, however, think she's crazy and I'm not sticking the poor baby under water. Crazy grandma. She also tested out E's floaty toy today. It will hold a grown woman, but I kiboshed that fun right quick. E likes it, so busting it when we still have 2 months of pool time left would not be good.

She's so comfy, she's falling asleep in the turtle :-)

She loves to try and stand on me - the whole weightlessness thing must be fun.

She's a happy, happy baby!

I'm a loser, baby . . .

. . . so why don't ya kill me.

I cannot get that song out of my head. It's fitting though. The loser part, that is. Don't anyone get any ideas ;-)

4th of July came and went. Normally that is one of my favorite holidays, but it's just not the same. It's no fun 'oohing' and 'ahhing' all by yourself. E was cranky from her shots, so I decided to wing it. We went to my dad's and had dinner. I dressed her up in the outfit they got for her, even though for some reason the 'All American Girl' it says on it really irks me for some reason. I'm stumped as to why I have this aversion to that phrase. Anyways, she looked cute as could be, and tolerated grandpa holding her for a little bit before deciding she wanted nothing but Mommy.



Alright. Blogger here is not letting me put anymore pictures on right now, but I have two more I wanted to add. So I suppose I will play with it later. Phooey.

Anyways. Back to the 4th. By the end of dinner, E had had it. She was tired and cranky and absolutely ready for bed. So, I reluctantly skipped out on the fireworks plans I had with my mom, and we went home, where she promptly passed out. I then spent the rest of the night cleaning the apartment and running out onto the balcony (seriously, running down the hallway and to the door - I'm a dork) to catch the fireworks someone was setting off behind the complex. Whoever it was must have spent a ton on them, because it was an impressive display and the spurts of explosions lasted almost an hour.

If she's up to it, I might take E and go watch the fireworks in somewhere on Saturday. We'll see.

E's Well Baby

Why, yes, she is a very well baby :-)

This morning I took E in for her two month checkup and vaccinations. She has grown so much. I was really surprised at how long she has gotten - 25 inches! I know she looks long, and is growing out of all her clothes, but seeing it on paper is kinda shocking. She weighs nearly 13 pounds, and is on the top end of the percentiles. My mom went with us and was being her strange self, raving about how "Mommy's Milk" is working so well. She gets a little over-excited at these things.

The pediatrician we saw was horrible. She dismissed most of my questions, wouldn't discuss developmental time lines, and basically told me I shouldn't be using cloth diapers and should get a membership to "one of those clubs" so I could afford disposables. Not cool. Thankfully, we won't have to see her again any time soon.

After stopping at JoAnn Fabrics (still working on my project - slowly) and the park, we came home and took a nice long nap. Then this evening, we walked (okay, so I walked, E was chauffeured around) up to the ice cream place, which just opened finally. I am now in love with their Pink Champagne Sherbet. It was awesome.

E was rockin' the pink camo bandaides all day from her shots :-)

The First Project

I'm beginning my first project tonight on my new old sewing machine. It's a bit ambitious, to say the least. The next few evenings will consists of ripping apart an ACU shirt so I can piece it back together in the form of my 'project'. I've been advised by my local sewing expert - mom, of course - that I better not expect this to be easy. No kidding. This fabric is a pain in the first place, let alone lining it up right and not having the machine eat it. I'm embarking on a learning experience. Wish me luck!

E must be going through a growth spurt, because her number one interest is sleeping lately. Followed closely by eating, of course. Today while my mom visited, she spent most of the four hours sound asleep. Her time was divided between my chest and the couch. Such a carefree life :-)