hitting the road

so it has been a few days. i keep meaning to write, really, but i have been busy. you will forgive me, right? i promise it will not happen again, honest. i am a good blogger. the baby and i have been busy. we are getting ready for the trip home and that always takes time. i had to take the recycling to drop off so there would be room in the car. then i stopped to get a few items from target, mainly because i love target and i needed an excuse. i packed the baby's bag and started the laundry, and then she tried to break my toe. i already mentioned that. i do not think it is really broken. tomorrow i have a pedicure, an investors dinner, and i still need to clean out the fridge. i have not even had much time to take pictures of the baby. i did get a short video of her trying to crawl. joshua says she will hate me when she is 16. i do not think it will take that long. the video is up on youtube. i will try to get a link here soon. my user name is ivycassidy but you can also search by her name, audrey rose.

babies are harmless

how can one so young cause so much trouble for everyone?
i broke my toe a few years back, stubbed it on a vacuum cleaner. i think i may have another broken toe. this time it was not my doing. the baby did it. really, she did. those cute photos of her eating in the little chair take place on the kitchen counter. she grabbed for a spoon in a mug as i was walking by and knocked the mug onto my toe. the nail is cracked. she just looked at me. joshua had to finish feeding her because i was too busy cussing. feeding, other than that one, are getting better. she eats better and will sometimes try new things. i got her to eat a little green beans and she ate some squash the other day. mostly she likes yogurt and bananas. and sweet potatoes.
check out my new gig:
www.larryville.com
i am a moderator for a local site joshua acquired. some fun we are having.

solid foods continued

so i almost knocked myself out with the dryer door. i opened it to put the clothing from the washer in only to find that the washer was empty. i proceeded to fill the washer with what has to be the worst smelling diapers ever, trying to steer clear of the stench. that is when i came into contact with the dryer door, still open from earlier. i knocked my glasses off and bent them. if i end up with a black eye i need a better story. maybe i will say that joshua wanted me to do the dishes and i said no. i wonder if he will appreciate the humor in that...
summer is almost here and the little one is wearing her cute little dresses, if anything at all. she has continued with the fun solid foods, trying sweet potatoes, carrots, bananas, yogurt; and hating peas, and green beans. she is starting to eat three squares a day in addition to her nursings so she has put on a little weight. i call her chubba wubba. we will be in tulsa in a week for a family thing so we can visit the tulsa peoples. and everyone can pinch little chubba wubba's cheeks.

peas

so i cleaned the house, mostly. i am still working on it but the upper level is clean, mostly. we are having a get-together tomorrow and joshua wanted the house to look decent. i just wanted to find all the laundry. i would wash it, and throw it in a big pile in the basement to be folded while watching a movie some night. i kept falling asleep so the pile got bigger. now when we want clean clothing we go 'shopping' for outfits in the basement. i feel like i am 13 again and hiding the piles of laundry from my mom so i do not have to fold them. come 3pm tomorrow everyone is going to see my laundry habits. audrey has tried to help. she screams at me when i take her down there, as if to say, "mom, time to put away the laundry. you have to set a good example for me." maybe that is not what she is saying, it might be in my head. i have a new picture for the viewing pleasure of all... this is what happens when you try to get peas into audrey.

toys

we went to the farmer's market this morning. what a great idea! all kinds of people bake really good, local food and bring out their eggs, lettuce, meat, honey, and more. we purchased eggs, lettuce and wool yarn. i got the see a picture of the animal my wool came from. he was cute. audrey enjoyed seeing all of the dogs. she even got to pet a few. i really wish i had time to get her a dog. i think she would like an animal a great deal, probably more than i ever did. she is fascinated by every dog she sees. i am going to make time this week to visit the humane society to see if they need volunteers. that would be fun for both of us. all of the joy of a dog with none of the responsibility. and we would be helping out. i also wanted to add this photo, taken by and arranged by joshua. by arranged i mean that he arranged to have audrey play with all of her toys at once. and i do mean all of them. the picture does not show the entire play yard.

new menu

so as promised...sweet potatoes.
this has become her new favorite food. however, for a child who has had nothing but mom's milk and cereal up 'til now, this is not a big surprise. the sweet potatoes are a nice orange color that she enjoys rubbing all over her face and sometimes spitting at me. not because she does not like them, she has just discovered how to spit. oh the joys of motherhood. why did someone not tell me to get a plastic wardrobe earlier? she drools, she spits, and sometimes she leaks. there is a nice sound that goes with the spitting too, a humming that could be soothing if she did not have sweet potatoes in her mouth. i will try to get a little video once the new camera shows up.
next on the menu, peas or avocado?
i have yet to decide.

good times

if i avoid writing my papers do you think the professors will take the 'dog ate my homework' bit? i am so done with school and yet i am not finished. they will not give me my degree until i finish these classes. i want to just cry. i wonder if that will work? so i play the avoidance game. if i ignore it maybe it will go away. i am also avoiding cleaning the house, but that is a different story.
my little angel is learning to sit up. she still wobbles a great deal so, unlike joshua, i stay close so she does not hit her head on the coffee table when she topples. no, no, that never happened. honest.
the weather has turned nice for a brief period and she has pulled out her summer outfits. she mostly likes to chew on the edges of her dresses so i will need to keep her in those whenever possible. her 'singing voice' has increased as well. that is her father's term for the high pitched scream she emits when entertained, or tired. that is all for now. i will try to add info about the sweet potatoes soon. as larissa would say, 'good times.'

the life and times of audrey

little miss has been a joy and a trial these last few weeks. we are learning to get along, this includes sleeping from 7pm until 3 or 4am. she has also thoroughly taken to the solid food concept and has started to assist me in those feedings. she grabs at the spoon and tries to shove it in her mouth for me. i am not certain if this is because i am not doing it fast enough or if she just needs to be in control. i am leaning toward the latter. we have taken several trips recently and audrey has faired very well i feel. the first was a trip home in which she pleasantly rode in a car for 5 hours there and then repeated the act home. most of the time she slept but there were quite a few periods of quiet play in her seat. our next trip involved several plan rides to what turned out to be an annex of mexico located in the south of texas. she did well then as well. mostly i nursed her while she slept in my arms. the last leg of the journey home was not so pleasant because she did not want to nurse but rather have her own place to sleep. eventually she calmed down and slept on my lap. this was not until all of the passengers had decided to throw us out as soon as the door could be wrangled open. then she screamed during the entire car ride home. i believe that for a 5 month-old she did very well. joshua, however, has decided never to travel with small children again. and for the amusement of all, i include this photo. it was taken recently during what i like to call 'naked baby hour.'

messy

messy, originally uploaded by krisadair.

i am still having fun with the solid food thing. should feeding my child illicit such humor? obviously, i took more pictures. here is my favorite. she still looks at the camera with suspicion every time i bring it out. sleeping is still slowly getting better. she went down at 6pm yesterday and did not wake for her dream feed until 2am. then she slept until 6am. that made me happy. she is also asleep now. after a prolonged battle she decided to take a longer nap. i made have had a little influence in that decision. when i let her she will take 6 30 minute naps a day. i would rather she take 3 1-2 hour naps. i am currently winning this battle. it could turn on me at any moment though. we are going to a small town somewhere near corpus christy this weekend to be with joshua's grandma who is not doing well. travel is always fun with a baby. this trip will involve several hours on planes and in airports. i believe we even get to change planes. good times. i am wondering how i am going to pack everything. for instance, she eats in the cute little chair that helps her sit up. how am i going to get that in a suitcase? maybe joshua will know. actually, best not to ask him, he thinks there is little need for all of her stuff.

more sleep issues

nothing really exciting going on here. except the entire town is going crazy about the ncaa championship. the game is big news in a town that boasts the founder of basketball as its first coach. audrey and i are still working on sleeping. she has her good days and her bad. she mostly wakes me up a lot but i usually get to go right back to sleep as she is just crying in her sleep. tonight is no different. eventually she will actually sleep though the night and both of us will get some rest. i am reading a book by a woman who calls herself the baby whisperer. cheesiness aside it is actually a good book. she is british so the thing is full of references to mums and she keeps using the term ducky. supposedly it will help me get my baby on a routine in 2 weeks. we shall see.

pictures

she really is taking to the eating from a spoon thing. i only feed her solids in the evening and this morning she was eying my grits. i tried to tell her that grits are an acquired taste but she seemed to want some. maybe when she gets the hang of swallowing. on a happier note, we are all in various stages of sickness in this abode. i have allergies that have caused a cough and sore throat, audrey is teething with the accompanying runny nose and cough, joshua seems to have some sort of sympathy illness with unknown symptoms causing him to sleep a lot.





he was able to drag himself out of bed to go put a van downtown for the game. if you want to know about lawrence, ks read the ljworld.com website today and see how the town is preparing for the game. for instance, no missiles are allowed downtown tonight and you must be at the restaurant no later than noon if you want a table for the 8pm game. i bought audrey a shirt last week before the game and she is getting a lot of laughs for it when we go out. i am curious about downtown and may try to get down there some time today before bedtime. we will be asleep before the game starts so do not wake us with congrats when ku wins.

'solids'

several items of note: audrey had her first 'solid' food, we hired a nanny, sleeping is getting better, joshua is now working from home. also, i made a lasagna. this last item is major for me. i have tried and failed several times to make one and this time joshua had seconds, always a good sign. he even used one of my favorite lines while dishing his second helping, 'beware of showing competence.' i do not mind making dinners for him if he will eat them instead of poking and saying it is fine and then never touching it again. on another note, we went to the doctor this week for audrey's 4 month check up with it's accompanying round of shots. the shots went better this time but lil miss is not gaining weight as quick as they would like. the doctor strongly encouraged solids so we started with a little rice cereal. the instructions call for 1tbsp of cereal and 4-5 tbsp of liquid. this makes a runny mess that could hardly be considered solid. she had fun with it and joshua took a few pictures. they are up on my flickr if anyone cares or i will try to load one here soon.

the internet is infinite

I have been invited to a new site to share books. This sounds like a great idea since I am constantly recommending books to friends. If you would like to join me the site is Goodreads.

I have just started using it so I do not know much about it yet.

lil miss and her easter dress

easter2, originally uploaded by krisadair.

it is hard to see in this photo but it is a cute dress. it has little lambs on the front and is made of cotton. i love the matching bloomers and, apparently, so does audrey. she would not leave the dress alone and kept pulling it up to taste it. reminds me a a bit george used to do about little girls pulling up their dresses. she always said it was a trait women should not give up, that they would get further if they randomly pulled their dresses up over their heads. my little one certainly looks cute with her dress up. i wonder how i will feel about that in 15 years?

too girlie

it is official, she slept through the night. of course the crazy people who decide call sleeping through the night more than 5 hours. i do not believe waking me at 4am should be celebrated. i should have gone to bed after her 11pm feeding and maybe i would be happier about it. joshua wanted to watch tv together, then we decided a little adult relations would be nice and it was much later before i went to bed. i hope she can repeat the sleeping performance tonight and then i can join her. i do not even know what 6 hours in a row feels like.
today we will put lil miss in her easter dress and take pictures for grandma. joshua complains that i am making her too girlie by putting her in a dress. she usually wears jeans so i am uncertain as to why a dress one day is a problem. my problem is that she has learned to scream. it is not a cry but a high pitched scream and she loves to do it. i think she just likes the sound of her own voice. i am not complaining, i love her voice.

a&k

a&k, originally uploaded by krisadair.

Mom and baby playing together. We hung out in Tulsa with my sister, I got a new tattoo and shopped for fabric with my step-mom. All was well until my return to the mad daily life of Lawrence. I have tried to stop working and keep failing miserably. This time maybe it will last. We hired a new person and Joshua promptly fired me. There is so much else to do around the house and I still need to finish school work. And I could use a decent amount of sleep.

home again

after a four hour drive we are home. it was great to see the family and spend time in tulsa but it is nice to be home. the drive was relatively easy as the little one slept most of the way. she awoke once and demanded food at a truck stop. we stopped, she ate, and we went on. i am happy to be back in hopes that she sleeps better. we had a rough time sleeping at my dad's house; the last night she woke up every 30 minutes to an hour all night. at 3:45 my step-mom took over for me and i went to bed. if i could have only explained to audrey that i was driving the next day and she needed to let me sleep. she is sleeping now and i hope she stays that way. i am off to slumber land myself. it is good to be home, even though mine smells like paint right now.

mommy brain

i went shopping today to get a slow release food for the fish and new bras for me. my little angel went with and i had her in the front sling. everyone kept stopping me to look at her and marvel at the way she was being carried. it was like they had never seen a mother strap a baby to her chest and go about regular chores. it did end up a fiasco when i misplaced my purse and had to go retrieve it from customer service. i explained to the nice man behind the counter that i used to be smart and be able to remember things but then i had a child and now i have mommy brain. he smiled politely at me and said he understood. maybe it happens often in his store. some woman sets her purse down to look for a coupon for diapers because she is traveling and can not use the cloth ones on the road. she is thinking about all of these things and trying to decide which diapers would work best for her baby and then she calmly leaves her purse on the shelf. i bet the mother who found my purse and turned it in understood, i bet she has done the same. that is what i think anyway.

bathing beauty

bath pictures as promised. she loves her new friend the rubber duck.

love

i never knew love like this until i had a child. it hurts sometimes it is so strong. i just went to check on her to make sure she was ok while she slept. i think part of my problem is that i miss my dad so much. i really miss him. he should be here to share in my joy. i remember the look on his face when my brother was born. you never saw a prouder father. he was a good grandpa too. i thought it would get easier but it seems to be getting harder. maybe that is because i bottled it all up and did not deal with it when it happened.