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Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Memories of 1999


Baz Luhrmann - Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’99

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience…I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked….

You’re not as fat as you imagine.

Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing everyday that scares you

Sing

Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss

Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself.

Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.

Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children,maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…what ever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s.

Enjoy your body, use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own..

Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.

Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go,but for the precious few you should hold on.

Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.

Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it.

Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen…

Monday, May 4, 2009

Fairy Festival at the Herb Farm!

Yesterday we went to the Fairy Festival at Heavenly Scents Herb Farm in Fenton MI. It was a girls day, and we had so much fun! Kat got admired lots, which always makes her happy. I gotta say, we didn't do much, but I'm still tired from it! I think it's mostly due to allergies/cold, but I'm still feeling pretty tuckered out! We spent the morning at the festival, had lunch at The French Laundry (YUM!), then came back to the house to help Katie and Matt plan their wedding ceremony. Today was full as well! Kat is definitely back to her old self, but is more moody than normal, so she might be feeling some leftover sleepiness and such from being so sick. Now I have a cold (I think- the allergy medicine didn't work, the cold medicine did...)
Kat playing with Aunt Katie and Uncle Matt

Kat was loving the red highchair at The French Laundry, and trying to convince me to give her the pickle off my plate.

Me, Kat, and Katie at the big fountain (I kinda wanted to jump in, but remembered that Katie was the fountain jumper in the family)


Kat and Momma at the cool Mushroom Tree Garden


A gaggle of little fairies trying to do the maypole


Kat peeking over Grandma's shoulder at me

Grabbing poor Grandma's nose


The Wee Fairy Village, this was SO cool in person!


Kat in a Hat :)


We had fun :) I love the wee Monkey girl!
Bonnie and Katie

And later on... Kat figuring out how to get ALL the toys out of her basket!

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Better...

Man we had a loooong night! Kat still has a little bit of a fever, and is still throwing up a little bit, but overall seems to be better. She made the requisite amount of wet diapers overnight that the doctor won't be sending us to the hospital (yay!)

She is certainly perkier this morning than she was before bed last night, which does my heart good. She was so miserable at the end of the day, just curled up in my lap sucking her thumb and looking miserable. Daddy tried playing with her to perk her up and this is the response he got:
We thought the picture might be cute of her cuddling daddy, but it was just sad because she looked so miserable...
So she's definitely on the upswing, and hopefully will be completely better very soon! Thanks for the well wishes guys and gals!

Friday, May 1, 2009

Mean old Rotavirus...

Man, today I have to say I'm glad I didn't delay any of Kat's vaccinations! She's already had 2 of her 3 Rotavirus vaccines, and because of that, she's dealing better with Rotavirus than she normally would and we weren't given a pass directly to the hospital from the doctor's office.

Kat has been vomiting for about 2 days now and has had some moderate to high fevers, I took her into the doctor this morning expecting to get the 'it's a stomach bug' brush off... turns out Kat has Rotavirus. Normally a kind of benign thing in adults (causes some real minor tummy discomfort) but in infants can be deadly if not treated. There isn't any medicine we can give her, but we just need to push fluids to keep her from getting dehydrated. Apparently Rotavirus causes rapid and extended fluid loss.

So for the rest of the night she is on a clear liquid (read pedialyte only) diet, and if by tomorrow she's not showing some major improvement we have to call the doc and possibly take her to the hospital to start getting IV fluids.

It's hard to tell she's even sick... she's playing and laughing... granted she's getting tired out more quickly than normal, and obviously the projectile vomiting is a tip off, but she's not letting it get her down at all! The doctor was seriously impressed at how cheerful she was and how well her body was coping.

Gotta run and take care of WeeKat... here's hoping that tomorrow I post from home how much better she's doing!!!

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Mommy Superpowers...

I realized that being a Mommy has changed me in more ways than one... I've developed amazing superpowers!

~I can now take a complete shower in under 3 minutes in and out! I can do this while simultaneously listening for the angry cry from the nursery next door that my time is up!

~I can actually get dressed in simple clothing, still wet, while holding the baby the entire time (though I prefer not to! LOL)

~Mommy spit is an amazing multi use tool- it has the same cleaning power as Formula 409 and has the same hair holding power as Brill Creme!

~I make milk- nuff said!

~I can now effectively and neatly change a diaper on a target moving at upwards of 35 Mph!

~My one handed typing speed is now 40wpm

~I'm able to clean the entire downstairs one handed, holding a baby, while singing Farmer in the Dell.

~I am now immune to the nastiness of the grossest of substances, and barely think twice when I get one on me in the process of fulfilling my motherhood duty.

~I can spot creepy people who want to touch my baby up to 50 feet away and escape effectively.

~ I can detect shoddy parenting skills at up to 100 feet away, add an extra 50 feet to that range if it's my child in question... and can correct the problem with merely a look...

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Baby Legs

We got a treat this week! One of Auntie Jenni's famous boxes o' goodies and it had something in it that I had been wanting since before Kat was even here- BabyLegs! Tim said they were a waste of money and wouldn't get me a pair so I gave up... but here is Kat's first pair of BabyLegs, she got 3 in fact, but I thought she could model some for these pictures, and she really really likes them! No waistband to hurt her tummy, her feet are bare to play with, and her legs are warm! Plus she looks adorable and knows it :) Thanks Auntie Jenni!
So cute, there should be a law somewhere! LOL
Blowing Raspberries at Momma

Standing up so big!

Monday, April 27, 2009

Friday, April 24, 2009

My miracle

There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle
Kat is standing up like a big girl, she has been able to hold her weight on her legs for months now, but always with someone holding on to her balancing her and keeping her upright. Here she is holding herself up for short periods of time holding on to the crib rail all by herself! This is the absolute first time she's done it, so I had to run downstairs and grab the camera. She was holding the rail and bouncing too before this. The top picture looks like she's standing alone holding nothing, but actually she was falling backwards there after standing too long, and I happened to flash the camera, but I had to include it because it looked neat anyway.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

The Adventures of Happy Baby

I just unloaded my camera into the computer (which is becoming an almost daily thing LOL) and noticed I had lots of happy Kat pictures. It used to be that her smile would disappear the minute she saw the camera, but today she was being a ham and working the super model baby vibe, so I thought I'd share!





She thinks pulling up the skirt of whatever she's wearing is hilarious, we'll have to work on that before we send her to kindergarten LOL

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Toys

Kat is rapidly outgrowing her baby toys we originally got for her... as soon as she figures them out she's mildly bored with them... she'll still play with them, but not for long! So it's obvious that not only will we need a new car seat soon, we'll also need to get her some more 'big girl' type toys to keep her thinking and entertained. She's a total toy kid!

At (almost) 6 months old her favorite toys are: Anything that plays music or talks, especially as a reward for an activity; Books that have big colorful pictures that she can point to and turn the pages; Stuffed animals that she can manipulate easily; my desk calculator, guess that could translate to anything with buttons that looks like something an adult would use; her Jumperoo and anything else physical; Anything that makes her figure it out and think, she's never been a fan of anything mindless and enjoyable like swings, etc...

So I know lots of my mommy friends read this blog... here is my kind of 'list' for the toys we plan to pick up for Kat soon. I'll be sale hunting/yard sale-ing etc. to try to find what we need. What am I missing that she might really love at this age, and what was your kid less than interested in (ie: possible waste of money)? We like keeping her entertained and intellectually stimulated as much as possible, so learning toys are a plus! Looking for some input here :o) You can e mail me or comment if you want :) Thanks!

~Big Blocks (maybe Duplos or big wooden blocks with a wagon or something to keep them in)
~Stacking Rings (I found a set once upon a time that each ring was a different toy in it's own right, but can't seem to find it again and forget the brand, if anyone knows what I'm talking about let me know)
~More Big Picture Board Books (she likes turning the pages)
~Play Table (ie: something like the Leap Frog table that has detachable legs that she can use when crawling and standing, has music toys and big book in the middle)
~Inflatable Paddling Pool (for summer)
~Baby Safe Stuffed Animals (she's a stuffed animal junkie)
~A push toy of some kind, preferably one that converts from a crawling push toy to a walking push toy... no clue what brand is any good or fun. :o)

Also if anyone spots a sale on a Britax Convertable Carseat, let me know! :)

Monday, April 20, 2009

Saying DaDa

Kat started saying Dada yesterday, and we thought it was a fluke and gibberish, but now she's looking at Tim and yelling it all morning long. When she saw the camera she got really quiet, but at the end when Tim is walking away she reaches for him and yells Dada... guess we've got our first word!

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Changed the blog look again :)


I've been experimenting with GIMP (a free photo editing program) and made the topper you see above. I just learned to do 'cut outs' which is where I take a piece of a picture, cut it out, and put it elsewhere (as you can see the picture of Kat is cut out so I could set her in the little world of the picture I made) The picture also has a transparent backing and will show whatever is behind it, which is fun to use on certain projects :)

Friday, April 17, 2009

For Kerry

A family friend, Kerry, gave us this little dress for Kat her first week home and asked that when she was big enough to wear it she wanted to see pictures, so here they are :) Thanks for the outfit Kerry!

We had fun playing in the yard today until Kat decided to grab a great big handful of grass and shove it in her mouth before I could catch her... she decided it was definitely NOT tasty and then cried until I took her inside, cleaned out her mouth, and nursed her. Everything is an adventure with this little girl! It's 2 in the afternoon and she's worn me out already! :)

She's gotten over her camera shyness for the most part and gets excited when she sees the camera, but she also wants to use it just like everything else Mommy does!

Distracted by Freya running around chasing bugs :)


Little Imp :)



Sitting very sweetly


My camera case was discovered, and more interesting and chewy than anything else nearby!

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Today we did an awful thing...

We went to Grandma and Grandpa's house when Grandpa was out golfing, and he didn't get to see Kat! Grandma had no competition to hold the baby... it was awful.

I was also advised that I hadn't posted pictures in far too long (since Sunday)

So to make up for the awful awful thing we did here are a few pictures of Kat. :) We promise we'll come play later this week!

Cuddles right before bedtime



All ready to go for a walk to the park with Mom this morning!

Digital Scrapping...

I really love digital scrapbooking...

~It's basically free, though you can buy certain kits if you choose
~I don't have to worry about keeping track of glue sticks or small eatable pieces with the baby
~It takes up no room in my already crowded house
~I can do it one handed while Kat naps or nurses
~I can do cool things with the software (like signatures in forums, and blog backgrounds and headers)
~It's fairly quick, easy, and helps me feel like I'm actually doing something with the bazillion pictures I take of Kat.

My current and ongoing project is The Lewis Family Story... I am scrapping our life together from the very beginning through Kat's 1st birthday. At the end of this year we'll be sending it all to Shutterfly to be printed and bound into a leather book. We'll be doing one book per year (thats my goal anyway) so eventually we'll have shelves of books filled with our family story. A nice heirloom :)

Right now the software I'm using is Scrapbooks Plus, it came free with my printer. It works, but doesn't do well with Vista (very laggy and slow, lots of freeze-ups) So I'm saving a little to get better software sometime soon.

Here is a list of some of my favorite scrapping sites (mostly freebies)


This is a forum signature I recently created for my iVillage account. I used GIMP (free photo editing software) to make this one...

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Picture Madness

No time to type so here are some pictures... But I'm the baby!






Momma's Duckling


Love these two!!

Daddy is her hero :)

Friday, April 10, 2009

No longer a mystery...

I just checked Kat's new tooth for irritation, and you can see the tooth next to it just under the skin. You can't feel it yet, but you can see it...

So I guess that explains a good bit of the crankiness! Tooth number 2 here we come... and if the way it's looking now is any indication, there's going to be a gap :)

Ch-ch-ch-changes...

Looks like me posting Kat's typical schedule tempted the Gods...

She just really hasn't been herself all week. I'm not sure if it's the teething, her growing, or some random circumstance I can't pinpoint. She doesn't appear to be sick...

Regardless- this week:
-she has only slept through the night twice
-our normally happy baby has switched moods rapidly from laughing to full on temper tantrum (a new thing she's doing) in seconds... bipolar baby anyone?
-has cut her naptime in half during the day, and refuses to sleep without being held- she's so stubborn on this one that on Wednesday she took 15 5-10 minute naps, wore herself out refused to sleep and was miserable all night. She's sooo stubborn!
-refusing formula at night completely now, strictly mama milk all day now.
-refusing some meals (solids) and devouring others, with no regard to what food or time it actually is
-crying way more than normal
-pulling her hair and scratching at herself more (according to the doc, a sign of stress in babies)

Granted, this isn't all day every day, but at large intervals during the day interspersed with good times. Even the intervals are way out of character for Kat, she's a really happy kid normally.

If I had to guess what is going on:
teething is painful
+
lots of drool from teething is causing upset tummy
+
not feeling good so I want lots of mommy time/comfort nursing
+
recent growth spurt changing her internal clock and moving her schedule around
+
structure hungry baby has no schedule due to internal craziness
=
really tired, worn out, and confused Mommy

So- we're starting from scratch and I'm listening to the Muffin and re-figuring out her schedule, plus trying to break her from the temper tantrum phase, and comforting her when needed. If you get some silence on my end this is why. I'm just trying to keep up right now :)

Thursday, April 9, 2009

First Foods Scrapbook Page


I used K Lund's Hearts Wish Freebie Kit, Baby's 1st Food Word Art by Bethany, and the font is Expletive Deleted...

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

5 Months old today! (long blog)

As I keep telling Kat- So Big!!

I can’t believe how much she’s grown, and that it’s already been 5 Months since we had her in our lives. It feels like it’s only been a few days, and then again I can’t remember what life was like before she was in it! So my little Sweetie is 5 months old today… and I write about her all the time… so I’m at a loss as to what to update! I figured I’d make a few lists, and then post what our days are like at 5 months old, I’m sure I’ll want to remember that someday.


Kat’s Favorite Things
~Getting Tickled
~Giving Kisses (she puts both hands on your cheeks and brings you in for a big opened mouth smootch)
~Toys- especially musical toys. Her current favorites are her Tag Ball, and her purple Dragon.
~Reading Books- most especially board books when she can turn the pages while you read. Her favorites are still Dr Seuss, but she also loves the big board picture books. She points to a picture and I tell her what it is, then she turns the page and picks another picture.

Mommy and Kat reading Goodnight Moon... with Kat turning all the pages of course!


~Bananas and Rice Cereal for breakfast
~Green Beans
~Playing with anything that looks like what I’m using. (using her sippy cup like a big girl, playing with my cell phone when I’m talking, using a big person spoon to play with)
~Dancing: especially to anything you’ll sing to her. She loves when you sing to her and hold her hands and let her stand up and dance.
~Waking up Daddy: She loves waking Tim up for the day, we go upstairs and lay down in the big bed and she pats his face until he wakes up. We stay there for awhile just playing and talking to Kat and cuddling. It’s one of her favorite times of day.
~Bath Toys! She loves when we put little floating toys in her tub so she can kick at them and try to grab them. It makes her really enjoy Bath Time. Then after that we do baby massage with lotion which she also just loves.
~Grandpa and Grandma: She’s always so happy when she goes to visit them, I think she knows she’s adored and of course completely spoiled- which is as it should be! They are her favorite people next to Mommy and Daddy!
~Dogs: Right now she’s completely obsessed with all dogs. She will watch the cats, but she’s all about the dogs. Big ones, small ones. Unfortunately even though Freya is protective of Kat, she still won’t let Kat pet or hug her which Kat desperately wants to do, and won’t give up. She lunges at Freya every time she comes near her, which doesn’t really help her case- poor girl!
~People: She loves watching people, especially kids. At the mall she likes to sit on the edge of the play area and watch the other kids play. I think she’s definitely going to be an outgoing kiddo!


Kat’s Many Nicknames
Muffin
Cupcake
Kitty
Kitten
KitKat
WeeKat
Monkey girl
Lovebug
Sweet Pea
Bunny Rabbit
Jumping Bean
Goopers (from Grandpa)


Kat’s Typical Day at 5 Months old
Wake up (between 8am-8:30am)
Cuddle and Nurse with Mommy
Quiet play (on the floor with her toys) while Mom eats breakfast (9-9:30 or so)
Play with Mommy, Read a book and nurse
Morning Nap (10:30-11:30)
Lunch (usually a fruit with Rice Cereal)
Active Play (standing, sitting, bouncing, dancing with Mom) 12:30-3pm
Bath Time (between 3-4)
Read a book
Cuddle and Nurse
Afternoon Nap (3-4:30 or so)
Wake up Daddy and Cuddle in the big bed (5pm)
Playtime with Daddy while Mommy cooks dinner
Dinner (usually a veggie) (6ish)
Nurse
Quiet Play (on the floor with toys or in her Jumperoo) while Mom and Dad eat
Nurse and Nap
Evening Nap (7ish-8:30ish)
Active Play with Mommy or daddy, or both!
Bedtime Routine starts at 10pm
Go upstairs with Daddy and get diaper change, lotion, and Jammies
Curl up with Mommy and her only bottle of the day with her special vitamins
Sleep by 11pm