Maybe this post explains...

...why my house looks the way it does? Or why I never feel I have enough time in the day? Or why I have that annoying little nervous tic?

Today, as I was leaving from McKenzies' swimming lessons I almost ran over four separate children. They were darting between parked cars, dashing in the road, chasing after balls, and who knows what else. No parents in sight. Mental note: next year, don't book swimming lessons in the same park and same week as the county arts festival.

We somehow make it home, and about the time I strip off McKenzies' swim suit, the door bell rings. I instruct McKenzie to wait in the bathroom for me, but of course, she's soon standing at the door, somersaulting in all her glory in front of my neighbor.

The neighbor leaves, and I tackle McKenzie and dunk her in the bath. In the meantime, the baby has found my juice and begins to bathe herself (and my carpet) in it. Apparantly, she's now tall enough to reach things from the end table.

I begin mopping up the mess, and then dunk baby in the tub. In the meantime, McKenzie had been brushing her hair, but somehow knocked over daddys cologne, where it breaks and spills all over the floor. Scent overload. Glass everywhere! Kenzie gets banned to her room (and safety) and baby gets locked in her crib where she wails. And wails. AND WAILS!

The glass finally gets cleaned up. No cuts! But, for some reason I don't think anything will ever smell the same again. Baby is rescued from the crib, and I ask McKenzie to pick out a book for us to read.

Reading time/cuddle time begins but Alli can't give up her independance long enough to finish the story - she's set free to crawl around the living room.

Book is finished, toddler is happy, and where is baby? BAH! Beginning to eat the check the neighbor just dropped off. Did I mention I just found out she was tall enough to reach the end table!?!

A work in progress...

Thought I'd fallen off the face of the Earth, did ya? Nope! I was just buried up to my neck in sand and dirt and SOD! I'm SO EXCITED!

We built this house almost SEVEN years ago, and had starry eyed fantasies about how easy it would be to finish the back yard. We had no clue the amount of work and the money we would sink into it! But, we made huge improvements this year. (Mind you, all of this dirt is left after we had TWENTY TONS of sand hauled away!)

BEFORE:

DURING:

We were so lucky and incredibly grateful to have so many people help us out! My family was there, Cris' dad and some friendly neighbors! Thanks for putting in the hard work, everyone!

I think we picked the hottest day of the year so far for the work. There was a little bit of sunburn, lots of sweat, and sore muscles the next day. Thanks for helping put this "vision" into reality!

AFTER:

I have some grand ideas for filling the planters with lush plants, shading the yard with leafy trees and growing moss between all the rocks... but my husband assures me I've spent enough this week! It's taking every ounce of self control I can muster to resist maxing out the credit cards at the nursery. It's that feeling of being so close!

We still need to put in a few cement pads, acquire some patio furniture and some lighting, then is Bar-B-Que time! Wahoo!

Two Thirds of a Year

Allison is officially eight months old. It's been a hard milestone for me to swallow. For some reason 8 months seems incredibly close to a full year. Where did the time go?!

We're also under some big adjustments in our house because she is now officially mobile! She's been rolling around the house for several weeks, then she learned to sit up from laying down, and now she's officially crawling! I can't believe it! She's also pulling up to stand and is pretty good on her legs, so I won't be surprised if walking isn't too far off. It's exciting and fun... but I'm not looking forward to the bumps and bruises that her new freedom will inevitably bring.

She's a good little eater! She likes oatmeal and veggies, but doesn't usually care much for the fruits or juices. However, most of the time she prefers to eat whatever the family is having. She has an uncanny knack of identifying dinner time, and has a way of guaranteeing herself a spot on my lap.

She still hasn't mastered sleeping through the night, which is my only complaint. However, it's not horrible - she wakes up around 2am to eat, and goes right back to sleep. I might also have to get up once or twice to help her find a binkie.

She's learned to give kisses, but doles them out stingily - saving the majority of them for Grandma. She claps, sometimes waves bye-bye and mimics just about every sound - including "no, no, no" when we have to take something away from her. My favorite sound is when she scrunches her face up until her nose wrinkles and she snorts over and over again! Too cute!

This afternoon my mom was over helping me paint the hallway in our home. Allison was sitting on the floor of her room, where she could still see us, playing with some toys. She grabbed her baby brush, and rubbed it up and down on the door over and over again, all while looking so proud of herself! I swear she was trying to paint, too!

She's a super happy, easy going baby (unless you don't feed her fast enough) that always has a smile on her face. We love her so much and can't wait to see her next set of tricks. Even if right now I'm remembering when she was a newborn who nuzzled under my chin and would fall asleep on my chest. I miss those quiet cuddles, but, I love this stage too - who wouldn't want a full beam smile on a bouncy baby SO excited just to see ME every morning!

Love you, babe!

Imaculate Degeneration and Bird Friendly Beans

While we spent some time at the cabin, we went to check out Midway, which is a really cute little town! We ordered gourmet pizza and ate at an outdoor cafe - where my dad ordered organic, bird friendly, grown in the shade, environmentally suitable coffee. How do I know the coffee was that good? The coffee cup told us! What is bird friendly coffee, anyway?!

Afterwards, we toured a really cute boutique in a barn. While we wandered through, McKenzie discreetly passed some really bad gas. My mom asked her about it, and McKenzie said, "It's just my breath, it's okay!" We laughed so hard, we had tears running down our cheeks!

Grandma Dona had spent the weekend with us, too, and while I was driving home she was telling me about her macular degeneration. However, she had a slip of the tongue and called it "immaculate degeneration" a few times. I've heard of immaculate conception, but I'm really not quite sure how that effects her eyes. Hmm...

Grandma also had a few colorful conversations with me, that included the word "doggy style" and and a few choice parts of anatomy, that I am electing not to blog about. It was entertaining and uncomfortable all in one. Either way, I've officially decided that McKenzie is genetically prone to her "Kenzie-isms" thanks much to Grandma Dona. And if this weekend was any indication, I think our conversations with my daughter are only going to get more colorful!

Celebrity Look-a-Like

I totally stole this from Kristy's blog; thought it looked fun!



I'm not sure what to think about looking like Christian Slater. Hmmmm....

Be back soon!

We're off to the cabin for a few days. I'll be back to the land of internet shortly! Until then, I'll be collecting some great blogging material!

I love that smelly girl

Please don't think I'm cruel for the following post. It's meant as a light-hearted look at the situation. I'm not picking on my daughter, and I in fact, love her more than I could ever begin to describe. I'm choosing laughter (and maybe a little exaggeration) as my outlet to a busy week! :)

I think I might be a bad mom. Even though my daughter had surgery this week, I had a really hard time cuddling her. Or comforting her. Or even being in the same room as her! My stomach turned every time she got near. It's not that I don't love that little girl, because that certainly is not the case. Its the smell!

Have you ever been around road kill? In July? About a week after it was hit? That's the smell! It's coming from her nose, her mouth and her ears. When I first noticed it, I was certain that she had an infection. Or maybe a rodent crawled in the back of her throat and died?! I was about to strap her in the car and b-line for the hospital, when the surgical center called to check in on her. The nurse told me it was normal, nothing to worry about, and as long as she doesn't get a fever over 101, everything is fine.

The nurses reassurance was nice, but that didn't help my gag reflex! I think I may have injured my neck by craning my head so far away from her while I cuddled her during a movie yesterday! And at night the swelling has caused some major snoring that somehow gushes out more foul smelling air that literally fills the house. Last night I resisted the urge to turn on the light to check for green cartoon vapor lines coming from her mouth!

I'm sure it doesn't help that she has no interest in eating right now. Every once in a while, she will wander into the kitchen. I run in and follow her like an over-excited chihuahua puppy. "Do you want a popcicle? Ice cream? Jello? I'll make you some potatoes? Or soup! Even candy! You can have ANYTHING you want!" I think my eagerness creeps her out a bit, so she slowly backs away and tells me she doesn't want anything yet.

So, today, I was putting away some laundry and I heard McKenzie go into the kitchen. A chair scraped as it was dragged across the floor. I was sure she was going to climb up on the counter, but I resisted running in and checking on her or offering any help. I sat anxiously as I waited for some clue as to what she was doing. A few minutes later, she came in to my room carrying a brownie on a plate. "I got one for you, too, mom!" She had found a spatula in the drawer, climbed onto the counter, found a dish, and perfectly cut and plated a brownie. For me. I scooped her up in my arms and we had the biggest hug. And I didn't even cringe when I kissed the frosting off of her lip. I love that little girl!

Bath Time

I've been playing with a new scrapbook/photo editing program, and I am pretty sure I am adicted!

In other exciting news, Allison pulled up to stand by herself today! To mark the occassion, I made her pose standing by the bathtub... first in her diaper, then in her cuddly pink robe, and then with her cute little bottom on display. I'm sure she'll hate me later for taking the pictures, but I made it up to her by giving her an extra bath in the middle of the day. It's definately her second favorite thing right now, after food, of course! She loves to splash and play, especially when her sister is in the tub, too! She's been a little moody this week. I think it's the frustration of being so close to crawling and walking, but not quite being able to pull it off. So, this was a fun little photo shoot for both of us to break up the routine of the day. The only negative? I couldn't get my normally smiley baby to give me a good grin, she was more interested in trying to dive into the tub, or chew on her ducky! Silly little girl!

The bet is over

The soda challenge between my husband and I is over. I'm claiming victory, however, Cris has a million excuses as to why he really did not lose.

(Don't remember the challenge? Click here!)

I officially went more than 2 months without a single sip of soda. He says he didn't indulge either, but I can't be totally sure. He HATES to lose... especially to me, and I'm afraid it may have given him motivation to fudge a little on the truth. First, I found several fast food drink cups stashed in the garbage can. He claimed they had been in his car for weeks and he was merely cleaning up. I had my suspicions, but I trusted him. Silly me.

A little while later I found a receipt from McDonalds left carelessly on the table. A receipt that listed the date. And his name. And a detail of the contraband he ordered. BUSTED!

Honey, next time you challenge me, don't underestimate my willpower. And more importantly, don't be so careless in disposing of incriminating evidence. Now, turn off the computer and book my spa appointment! :)