A Whole New World

I feel that one of my responsibilities as a mom is to introduce new things to my child. I say this with the utmost excitement. I don't know who enjoys it more. Although my baby's going "Oh cool what's this?", I'm thinking "Wow, look how excited she is to see a rock! I wish I could find a rock that was that cool to me!" So the last few days have been learning days.

On Sunday we went to the pool. Although we have done this a few times, it's still new and exciting for Joli every time we go. Once we get into the pool she starts jumping and squealing like it's a giant tub of pudding. (Ooh that sounds good, I hope it's chocolate.) So this time we took Joe so he could take some pictures and I don't have to worry about the possibility of either A) dropping my camera into the water, or B) taking pictures of my child drowning. We had a good time as always and Joe finally got to see how much fun Joli has swimming. They also have a little wading pool for the smaller kids. Unfortunately it's still too high for Joli to be able to crawl around in so I help her walk around in it, and she also crawls around on the step.

Monday we took the "learning about art" that we started last week when we attempted to color, (which mostly consisted of "I wonder if this color taste different then that color"), and we finger painted! Well if you want to call it finger paint. Joli seems to believe it's called fingers, arms, legs, feet, toes, mouth, and booty paint. But hey you might as well throw yourself into your work right? I just taped a few sheets of paper down to the driveway, and put a couple globs of paint on the paper, and then let her lose. It was actually very exciting to see that she somewhat knew what to do. That is that she smeared it around on the paper in between tastes. All in all I think her first painting turned out quite nicely. Lucky for us we have a small wading pool that she also enjoys. So when she was done with the paint I put some water in the pool and tricked her into getting clean by calling it swimming!

On Tuesday we went slightly less (and I use the word loosely) messy, and Joli was introduced to whole pieces of watermelon. It would have been fine if I had had the foresight to do it outside and not in my living room. Oh well, you only live once and Joli decided it was her new favorite food!

I think maybe tomorrow we'll go to the zoo. That'll be fun! I have to say that I really do love the simplicity of being a baby.

Bathroom Talk

So let me begin by saying I hate ants!!! They make me crazy! I feel like I'm a constant battle in which at any given moment I could make the wrong move and be taken over. The strange part is that although I feel like that are all over my house, the reality of it is that they are in every room except the kitchen. Very strange since there is all kinds of food in the kitchen, but they don't seem to be the food kind of ants. No these ants have very peculiar tastes indeed. Their favorite food seems to be baby poop. I am constantly finding swarms of them in the diaper pale. They also seem to enjoy wet towels, dirty laundry, dish soap, and the litter box. I do not understand. I have a crazy child who throws food on the floor at regular intervals throughout the day, yet they ignore the piles of bananas and meat and whatever else is cast aside, for the stuff that has already been processed and pushed out!! I just don't understand.

So a few days ago when the evil creatures had once again invaded my laundry room, I decided enough was enough. I called the front office for help. She said they could send the pest control guy out the next morning, but having an infant in the house, I was a little worried. Then she said that he can use a "natural" spray that won't harm the baby. I was a still a little nervous, so I decided to look up some natural remedies. I found out that ants do not like baby powder, vinegar, or lavender oil. Lucky me! These are three things in which I have fully stocked! So I mixed some vinegar and water in a spray bottle and sprayed my carpet. Then I put a few drops of lavender oil in some water and mopped my other floors with it. Then I spent the next few days throwing baby powder at any ant that I saw. This seemed to work, however my husband had a bit to say about the "snow" that had now taken over. Every time he went to give Joli a bath, she would come out lovely and clean and he would look like something close to the abominable snowman. So last night I swept up all the baby powder and lavender mopped again. Hopefully it will last awhile.

This also brings me to the next interesting thing that has been happening in my bathroom this week. Every time I get in the shower I start thinking about what other people do when they're in the bathroom. So I think well I'm going to ask people about it, but by the time I get out of the shower and out of the bathroom, and then get done dealing with whatever happened while I was in the shower, I forget whatver it was that I was going to ask. So I got this brilliant idea to keep a dry erase marker in the bathroom so that when I get out of the shower I can just write it on the mirror. So these are the questions I have come up with.

1. Do you ever repeat after you've lathered and rinsed?

2. Do you wash the bottom of you're feet in the shower or do you get out assuming they got clean?

3. Do you poop at the same time everday or is it random?

These are things in which I wonder about while I'm in the bathroom.

Joli Day

Well today was all about Joli!! We woke up and got to Toys'R'Us before they even opened. I had a double stroller that I was told I could return since I had never used it. Unfortunately, once I got there I found out that since it had been more than 90 days, they could neither return it nor exchange it. But the very nice lady helping me whispered that if I took it to Babies'R'Us, they would take it back without a receipt, no questions asked, and give me store credit, which I could then bring back to Toys'R'Us and use there. So it was very sneaky, but very nice of her to fill me in. So after I did all of that I then returned to Toys'R'Us and proceeded to buy what I had come for, which was a wagon. Along the way I also found a baby bike helmet for about a tenth the price of the one I found at Target. It looks a little funky, but for $3 who cares!! Another thing that I had been looking to buy was a riding/push toy for Joli, but all the one's I had looked at where more than I wanted to spend. Until I came across a John Deere Tracker one that was originally $20 and 25% off, plus another 20% off because of the clearance sale they had going, and the nice lady from before found me a five dollar off coupon!! So after our major score at the toy store, Joli and I rushed home to put her new toys together. She had a blast!!! Not only because we had new toys, but now we had a great big box! It was a spoil Joli day!

Oh and she just loves her helmet by the way. Good thing she's easily distracted!

I love my skirt!

I look hot!!

Yay Me!!!

Oh, and here's a cute baby!

Happy Anniversary To Me!!

Joe and I have been married for three years today! We had a nice and interesting anniversary. Joli and I spent the day hanging out by the pool. Joli loves to swim and we have great time just bathing in the sun.

Afterwards we picked up Joe and went home to get cleaned up and work on some things before dinner. Joe worked in the garage and Joli helped me make a skirt! This was very excited for me. Although I have tried to make clothing before this was the first time that it actually came out looking like an article of clothing!! It was somewhat fancy sewing if I do say so myself!

Once we were all done playing. We all went out to dinner. We decided to try some place new and went to Claim Jumper. The food was absolutely amazing. I had something called Black Tie Pasta. It was bow tie noodles with blackened chicked and spinach tortellini, all covered in some type of wonderfully amazing cream sauce. It was sooooooooo good. The salad bar was pretty good too. My favorite thing about it was that they had several types of pasta salad that we could give to Joli, and she seemed to just be in heaven. They were also amazing about the baby. They brought us a high chair and a disposable place mat that attached to the table so we didn't have to worry about cleaning the table for her to eat. Then when she was done and there was food EVERYWHERE, they just smiled and played with the baby, telling us it was no big and they've never seen a happier baby. And Joli was so happy the entire time. From the moment we got out of the car she was smiling and laughing and bouncing up and down. She didn't cry or scream once. Even when we went to Barnes and Noble afterwards, she crawled around in the kids books like it was a candy store. To top the evening off, as we were getting ready to leave the restaurant, the waiter brought over a slice of carmel apple cheesecake that Joe had secretly asked him to bring us when he "went to the bathroom". It was very sweet.

When we got home I was thinking about how wonderful our evening had been when Joe took Joli off my hands and bathed her and put her to bed. That in itself would have been enough for me, but what Joe said afterwards just made my night. First I have to explain that Joli has a really hard time shutting off to go to sleep. So every nap time or bed time is an epic battle. She kicks and screams and hits, and then screams a little louder. Then, right at the moment that you think that she's probably going to lose her voice, she passes out. So when Joe went in to put her to bed, he started out normally by reading her a story and then once she became uninterested, layed down with her. That's when it started. After a few minutes I hear him say "Babe, how do you do this?". So I said "Hunny, you have to roll her up like a little taquito so she can calm down." He did something that resembled wrapping her up and then layed his arm across her so she couldn't get free. After five or ten minutes Joli stopped screaming and went to sleep. I waited a few minutes and then crept in to make sure all was well. I tapped Joe on the foot and then helped him get his arm out from underneath her. I looked over and he is face down in the bed going "Oh she wouldn't stop screaming." That's when I said "Yeah and I get to do that three to four times a day." That's when he said it. The thing that told me that he finally appriciated what I do. He said "Oh it sucks to be you." Although I really do love being a mom, it was the best anniversary present a mommy could ask for!

The Man Has Returned!

Joli and I were so excited to pick up Joe this afternoon, after a week of training! He smelled a little bit, and looked aweful, and is definitly skinnier, but it was wonderful to have him home! Joli was especially excited. She followed him around while he made something to eat, and when he picked her up she layed her head on his shoulder and hugged him for the first time! It was the sweetest things I've ever seen. One of those moments when you're trying not to be obvious about the fact that you're holding back tears.

These pictures she's watching Joe shave and get in the shower. Once he did I had to come hold her while he was in there because she was upset that she couldn't see him! She loves her daddy!

I finally finished something!!

I may have missed my goal of finishing in time for the faery festival but I have finally finished my faery quilt!! I'm so excited. It's just a square quilt for Joli to play on, but it's so cute. Each square has its own little faery with its own little personality. I decided that I'm the sunflower faery. Joli is the faery that's giving the bumblebee the flower. I haven't picked anyone else out, but those are my claims so far.

The backing is a green fern print. It reminds me of the movie Fern gully. I love it!Here I have it all set up in Joli's play area.This last pictures is a new baby card. I didn't make it, I bought it, but I thought it was just so cute. It's like a 3-D thing. The hair is actual swede pieces.

And Breath

It was such and incredible feeling to wake this morning in my own bed with no plans to go anywhere. I love to see people, but I think it's time someone came here. I don't want to drive anywhere for awhile. Joli and I just hung around the house and sort of got things done but mostly relaxed. We walked to the park and swung on the swings, messed around on the computer, and called those we hadn't talked to in awhile. Joli seemed extremely excited that she could crawl around wherever she wanted to and no one would stop her. It was a lovely day.

Weekend Getaway

Well with all the traveling we've been doing, Joli and I have failed to spend anymore than a few nights at my mom's. So we made a special trip up there this weekend just to see them. It ended up being a crazy weekend anyway. Some family friends drove all night from Oregon, and brought back my sister Elena. They were exhausted. Brianna and her friend Laura entertained the little boys in the backyard.Meanwhile the rest of them caught up on the sleep they missed the night before.

Joli didn't let it bother her though. She was just as busy discovering grandma and grandpa's house. Today we decided to take lunch to the beach so everyone could enjoy the beautiful day. The big teenagers slept on a blanket. The younger one's played in the water with my dad. And my mom and I watched Joli eat sand. I did take her into the water for a brief moment that she seemed to enjoy. But her chin started rattling almost immediately so I wrapped her up in a towel and her blanky, and she fell asleep on the way back to the car.

It was a quick but fun weekend.

Good to be Home

Well we've been home almost a week and if feels like all we've been doing is catching up. The house is finally clean, bags unpacked, and laundry clean and put away. I even had a moment last night when Joe and the baby were asleep that I was a little confused on what to do. Not that I'm just sitting around now. Joli had a fever all weekend and we're pretty sure she has some teeth trying to come through. Joe's back to work and running all over the place. Now I'm just running down my list of things I wanted to do once we got home. We did take a brief moment to relax and play some ball last night.

Joli wasn't quite sure what to do, but her daddy helped her by catching the ball, and then she kicked and hit it until it fell back to me and we started again. I'm not sure if she enjoyed, she seemed to be focusing really hard.

Another thing on my list was to gather some baby clothes for my sister-in-law we has a pregnant friend. While I was going through them I found a little hat that used to be Joe's and I just had to put in on Joli.

She did alright as long as I was flashing the camera at her, but once that stopped she started screaming and tugging at the hat from all sides.

I suppose tomorrow I might just take a gander in my sewing room and see what I may find. Nighty night.

We're Home!!!!

It seemed as though we were gone for years when we finally arrived in our driveway Friday night. I sat Joli down in the driveway with a box of animal crackers while I took everything out of the car and put it in the garage. Then I scooped up my baby and we headed upstairs. Imagine my surprise when I reached the top of the stairs to discover that the reason our house was so hot was because my wonderful husband left the oven on for two weeks. After I called his voicemail and left a scathing message, I began hauling all of our junk upstairs, setting up the animals, and trying to entertain Joli. Yay for home.

Overall it was a good trip. The fairy festival was amazing. We're all still talking about our costumes for next year. It was just an awesome experience. It was almost like a Renaissance festival but faeries. We could just relax and listen to the music or check out the booths. We could dress as crazy as we wanted to and it didn't matter. In fact the people who were looked at strangely were the once who weren't dressed up. It was a great time. Joli got her picture taken constantly for being the cutest little fairy. She's even on the web site. I hope she doesn't think it's normal to have people constantly taking her picture.

This would be the goat boy who bit my. It was quite a shock, but hey when in Rome, I guess.

Elena, Joli and me.

Isn't she the cutest fairy baby!

Faeries can Fly!

The rest of the trip was good too. I've mostly blocked out the fascinating task of dealing with diaper cream, nursing, sibling rivalry, puberty, and tantrums for everyone (even me). I think we all a good time. There was a brief moment when I lost it and started yelling at everyone, and threatening to leave them there, but I regained my composure eventually. I was actually in the middle of the seventh Harry Potter, so once I started yelling things about my wand and different spells, we all realized that I'd gone off the deep end.

Joli got to see a lot of people who I rarely even see. She even had a very sad moment when she thought my cousin Shane was her daddy. She got all excited when she saw him from across the room and then almost cried when she got close enough to see it wasn't him. She did get to spend a lot of time with my family and seemed to like most everyone this time. She especially had a good time playing with my cousins babies. They are both two months older than her but she kept up just fine.

Hanging out at her Grandpa Paul's house.

Joli and Grandpa Paul

Exhausted!

Cousin Joseph

Brianna had the wonderful new experience of being out in the country. I took her up to my grandma's house who has a ton of blackberry bushes, fields of cows, and a new puppy. After she enjoyed all three we went over to my great-grandma's where she got the hang out with my cousins and their two dogs and three kittens. They also picked a bag of apples which I made into pies. On the last day of our trip I took her swimming in the river. Hopefully she'll remember all those good parts.

Picking Blackberries

Elena had a great time. I actually ended up leaving her there. Her and my cousin Paige are about the same age and Paige has her license. So they ran around all over the place with Paige's friends. I barely saw her the whole week.

Elena Fairy

I had fun too. When I wasn't stressed over one of the kids, I enjoyed seeing my family. There were a lot of people in town that aren't always there so it was nice to get to see everyone at once. My cousin Cassaundra and I are about five months apart and grew up together. Now we have babies that are two months apart. She's never there when I come but this time it worked out that she was, so we spent most of the time together. We all stayed at my Aunt Karen and Uncle Albert's house. They have four girls. Three of them have grown up and moved out, but Aunt Karen and Uncle Albert are used to all the craziness, so staying with them is always wonderful.

Aunt Karen's Swing

Cassaundra's Baby

We finally headed home after about two weeks. We stopped at several parks so we could play and stretch. Joli loved to swing! The saddest part was seeing the lodge that Joe and I got married at. It burned down last summer and when you pull into the parking lot all you can see is the chimney amongst the dirt. Once you get closer it's obvious they are beginning to rebuild but it still brought tears to my eyes to see it.

The Swings

Swimming in Ashland

The Chimney

We stopped in my hometown and stayed with my best friend Jessica. She was so excited to have us. She's trying to get her husband the have a baby, so she spent the whole time telling Joli to be sweet to him and convince him. It went okay except for bedtime. Joli has this new thing about screaming around that time.

I got my boots mama!

Then we drove to my mom's where we stayed the night and unloaded another kid before we finally headed home. Ah home.