Fingers Crossed!

We have been waiting patiently for the last 2 weeks, hoping that the house we LOVE will be ours.  Well, temporarily ours.  Good rentals are very hard to find in the suburb we currently live in.  There are pretty much 2 choices:  rent an enormous house that can't sell because its listing price is well over a million dollars (for $4000-ish per month), or rent the crappiest, dirtiest, tackiest, house you can imagine (for $1700-ish per month).  It's rare to find a decent, clean, house that allows pets (DAMN YOU, TORII!) for a reasonable price. 

So, the day my favorite beautiful house was listed, I forced Andy to call our real estate agent and get us in there ASAP.  We were the first couple in the house, and we immediately filled out the application and the credit/background check followed a few days later.  We are still waiting.  We have great credit, we make more than enough to cover the reasonable rent, and we are awesome people...what more do they want?!

Please send some good thoughts our way.  This house is 2200 square feet, it has a HUGE fenced in yard, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, an office, enormous laundry room, and a finished basement.  Oh, and more closets than I've ever dreamed of.  Really, it's so lovely.  It's in a neighboring city and only 13 minutes from my dad's house.  It also has steep staircases and a slightly ugly kitchen...but whatevs.  I'm in love.  I need this house. 

If this doesn't work out for us, we have very few options.  I'm guessing people aren't going to be putting their houses up for rent right after the holidays...which leads us back to the nasty house with the wooden paneling and the salmon colored bathroom.  Ick.  I think I'd rather live with my dad until we could find something decent.

I'm done with apartment living.  I need a house.  I need my own space.  I want my own closest. Torii and Isla need a yard.  My fingers are crossed we hear back about this house soon...

Meant to be.

On Monday afternoon my home phone rang right as Isla and I were about to walk out the door for a play date.  I normally avoid answering the phone (no one has the number...it's just used to buzz people in, and sales people occasionally call) but for some reason I felt compelled to answer. 

When I picked up the phone I was surprised to hear it wasn't a salesperson, it was an old woman named Claire.  She asked me how I was doing and then proceeded to tell me that she is 82 years old, lives in the neighboring city, and doesn't get out much.  At this point I'm very confused as to where this call is heading. Anyway, she then told me she wanted to do her best to help people from her home, and that she wanted to share words of wisdom with people.  She said she knew some people were worried about the world ending soon, and wanted to give comfort to people.  She told me to look up Psalms 37 verse 29:

The righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever.

She then went on to say that God gave us this earth, and he won't take it from us.  She said she wanted people to be okay, and not worry so much. 

To some people, this woman might seem crazy.  To me, someone who has been struggling with the fear of the world eventually ending, this was a sign.  It was meant to be.  I swear it was God working through someone else, trying to let me know that things were going to be okay.  That I should stop worrying.  What are the odds that I would get this call...let alone even pick up my phone?!

I thanked the woman for her call, and hung up, feeling like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.  

Holiday Happiness!

Our December has been packed with lots of Christmasy fun, and I couldn't be more pleased with how festive I've felt this holiday season.  Last December we had an impending, out of state move on our minds....which left little room for holiday fun.

This year, we are all about CHRISTMAS!  We've seen Santa twice, taken a rainy sleigh ride, watched Christmas movies, played in the snow, and we still have some upcoming events!  Plus, the first 3 Sundays in December have been reserved for my family's Christmas EXTRAVAGANZA.  Sounds awesome?!  Yep...it is.  It is an event created by me, and so far, we've had a wonderful time.  My family usually gets together every Sunday...but we tend to do the same old thing.  So I figured I could add some festive fun to our get-togethers by adding things like:  Wii bowling competition (with a $101 prize!), Wii Just Dance competition, board games with Christmasy prizes, Christmas related games, an ornament exchange, and different yummy meals each week.  So fun!  Oh, and I'm sure you are dying to know who won the do-rag, right?!  My brother's girlfriend, Angela, won the awesome prize...but Tom was incredibly excited to share with her. 

He has no gang affiliations and that Starter jacket is from the early 90's.  Our basement is seriously a time capsule. 

On top of all that festive fun, I had a lovely dinner last Saturday with my wonderful girlfriends.  We exchanged ornaments, ate yummy food, and stayed well past the bill was paid (per usual!). 

It was nice to be able to celebrate the holidays with my friends, especially since I'll be missing the annual Girl's Christmas this year with my MN girlfriends. And don't even get me started on how depressing that is! I have been to every Christmas gathering since our very first one in 1999. 



1999



January 2010

No Nap Friday!

It is 4:21pm and Isla has yet to take a nap.  I'm amazed that she hasn't just fallen over from exhaustion yet.  When I put Isla in her crib around 10 and she showed no signs of sleepiness, we headed to the gym.  Isla has fun playing at "school" and I got a good workout in.  Then we had several errands to run...and the whole time I kept hoping that Isla's pleasant mood wood continue.  By the time we got home and ate lunch it was after 1:30 and Isla was as energetic as ever...so I figured I'd lay her down when she got sleepy.  Let me tell you, the day gets looooong in our tiny apartment.  Isla colored for a record 40 minutes, we played with some of her toys, and then I set up a cozy area for her to watch Yo Gabba Gabba.

She sat in that box for a good 25 minutes and then I started noticing her head bobbing.  When I went to take her out of the box to put her in her crib, she instantly woke up and was smiling and laughing so I decided to just keep her up.  A 3:30 nap isn't ideal anyway.  I'm hoping she'll be asleep by 7 tonight.  Abb and I have a big night of Scrabble, wine, and Christmas movies planned!  And not that I don't love my little Bubbers, but she is not very good at Scrabble...

"Hey Everybody it's Animal Cracker Time!!"

I don't remember exactly when changing diapers became my living nightmare, but it slowly turned into a dreaded chore.  I had started dreading diaper changes because I knew it would entail me holding down a squirmy, screaming child while I attempted to change her diaper 1 handed.  Not fun.  I started giving Isla things to distract her, ie:  a thermometer, nail clipper, the tube of Butt Paste...weird stuff she never gets to touch otherwise.  That worked for a while, then she got bored.  Then I read an awesome suggestion in The Happiest Toddler on the Block...animal crackers.  Genius!

The book suggested giving kids an animal cracker when they laid down to get their diapers changed (I actually think they suggested half during the change, and half after...I stuck with giving her the whole cookie).  Holy miracle!  It has worked wonders.  When I tell Isla it's time for a diaper change, she no longer runs away from me, she actually holds my hand and we walk to her changing pad together!  The funny thing is, Isla doesn't eat the animal crackers!   She may nibble off a leg, but typically she carries it around like it's the greatest treasure she's ever received...then eventually she feeds it to Torii.  I no longer dread diaper changes, Isla gets a cookie, and Torii gets to eat it.  This my friends, is a win-win-win situation!

Grocery Store Checker-outer Update

Remember my "favorite" grocery store checker outer?  I had the pleasure of checking out with her last night. 

As I started unloading my food, I noticed the cashier was bent over on the counter, with her head in her hands.  She made no effort to acknowledge me or to even start the conveyor belt and have my food start moving toward her to be scanned.  I checked twice to make sure her lane was open, because I was really starting to think she was closed.  Finnnnnnnnally she looked over at me and started scanning my food, at an almost unbearably slow pace.

When she looked over at me, I completely panicked!  I threw a premium do-rag in my cart to use as a joke gift for our Family Christmas Extravaganza, night 2.  Knowing this woman's history of random discussions (and the fact that she is African American), I was terrified that she'd ask me why a white girl needed a do-rag.  So I tried to hide it under some food, and then I slowly unloaded the rest of my cart so I wouldn't be near her as she scanned it.  I avoided all eye contact until she had finished scanning all of my groceries.

Finally when I approached her she tells me, "I FEEL LIKE CRAP".  She then went on about how she doesn't want to be working tonight and how horrible she feels.  All I'm thinking is, the do-rag is for my friend, the do-rag is for my friend...please don't ask about the do-rag!   Then she asks me if I am collecting stickers (promotional stickers to save and redeem for pots and pans).  When I answered yes she loudly informed me that she doesn't care about "THEM STICKERS" and she gave me 20 of them.  Score for me! 

The do-rag was never mentioned, thank goodness.  And I scored 11 extra stickers.  All in all, a successful checkout.

Winging It

Yesterday Isla and I were walking down the hall holding hands and she gazed up and gave me a big, toothy smile. It's moments like that when I realize that I am really her mama. She needs me. I'm in charge of keeping her happy, healthy, and alive. The type of person she becomes is pretty much a direct reflection of my parenting. No pressure or anything! (This is where I blame my mom for all of my anxiety issues.)

It's so funny to think about the fact that I essentially  have NO IDEA WHAT I'M DOING when it comes to raising a child!  Yes, I've read some books...but I'm mainly winging it...hoping that my child will turn out to be an awesome person.  But really, maybe these early time-outs will scar her for life?  Maybe letting her watch tv will turn her into a lazy slob child?  Maybe her chicken nugget bender will contribute to obesity later in life?  Who knows?! 

Isla has constantly been climbing on the couch and falling off quite frequently.  Usually head first.  The book I'm reading says to let kids climb.  It's part of who they are.  But me, worried mom, pictures my child in a wheel chair from a spinal cord injury due to a bad fall.  Ohhhh what to do!?  If I don't let her climb, maybe one day she'll be a weird goth, emo teen...blaming all of her troubles on ME because I wouldn't let her climb on the couch!  You just never know! 

Anyway, I love being a mama and having such an awesome little person of my very own.  And so far, Isla is doing just fine.  Chicken nuggets and Yo Gabba Gabba, anyone?

Time out!

Last weekend we had to implement our first real time-out.  I hate doing time-outs, but Isla has started testing us to see what she can get away with, so we had to start being consistent and follow through with consequences. 

Isla got her first time-out for grabbing one of the ornaments on the Christmas tree (a glass ornament) and trying to take it off the tree.  I feel bad  because obviously the Christmas tree is interesting and something new for Isla to see...but I don't want her to accidentally pull it down or cut herself by breaking an ornament.  So the rule is:  No touching the Christmas tree. 

The first time she touched the tree I just told her simply, "no touchie", and then tried to get her to focus her attention on something else.  She looked at me, looked back at the tree, and then grabbed an ornament.  So it was off to time-out.  After her minute was up, she went right back to the tree, got her same warning and repeated to touch the tree.  Frustrating!  Back to time-out.  After the second time out, the same thing happened again.  At this point I'm feeling like a Nazi, but Isla goes back for her 3rd time-out.  Finally, after this time-out she decided to steer clear of the tree!  We've had our tree up for a week now and she hasn't touched it since!  Yay!  I was so worried about having the tree up with a crazy toddler running around that we almost didn't put ours up this year. 

Andy and I finally had our discipline talk to make sure we were on the same page with time outs to make sure we keep things consistent.  We both have to be clear with our warning, try refocusing her, and then give the time out if she has continued the action we have asked her to stop doing.  It's been tough trying to figure out what actions deserve a time-out! I want Isla to explore and climb and discover things, but I also want her to be safe.  And there are a few things we just don't want her touching at all (tv, dvd player, computer, etc).  I'm really amazed with how quickly Isla has learned that when we say "no" we mean it! She has been a much better listener this week!

Here is Isla during a time-out yesterday.  I'm such a mean mama for taking a picture of her while she was angry!  Oh well :)  I bought that yellow placemat at Target for $1.99 and that has become her time-out circle.  I love it!  Isla knows that is her time-out spot and will sit there without moving for a minute.  I stole the idea from Super Nanny...totes love her. 

Snowy Day!

Today I woke up to snow flurries swirling around outside my bedroom window.  Yay!  How fitting for the first day of December.  Isla was intrigued by the snow, so I decided to bundle her up and take her outside to play!  She was less than thrilled about wearing mittens though, and I don't really blame her.  Baby mittens suck. 

Anyway, once she found a ball she forgot about her trapped fingers and we played happily together for 15 minutes or so.  

Isla could have stayed out there for hours in that awesome snowsuit she has...I was the cold one!  (We got the snowsuit at Diapers.com for almost 40% off it's original price.  It's a Columbia snowsuit...appropriately named "Isla" so I couldnt' pass it up!)  We had been debating between a snowsuit or coat and snow pants...sooooo happy we did the snowsuit!  It was a breeze to put on and it seemed less bulky than all of the puffy snow pants we were looking at. 

The snow has already melted, but Isla and I are looking forward to more snowy afternoons!  I can't wait until we can build our first snowman together!!