i have a ball of stress in my tummy the size of texas

this helps....

yesterday afternoon brett was washing his car and playing with bela with the hose. she loved every minute of it! she kept running up to him giggling as if daring him to spray her. when he did she would just stand there with her tummy sucked in from the cold water. such a dolly.

happy medium

as many of you know, i have lost my ability, drive and lust for reading since about my first trimester with bela. up until that point i read about 2 books a week. so it was naturally very upsetting for me when this came to an abrupt end. i dont know exactly what happened, it started out because i was just so darn tired and reading was the first thing to put me out. after bela was born, i just had too much to do to even think of picking up a book. in the past 18 months i have probably started 30 books and bought or taken out from the library about 3 times that many. and its was killing me.
recently i came up with a perfect solution. i spend about 2 1/2 hours a day in the car (ridiculous i know) listening to loads of npr (which i love) and other crappy radio. so i decided to use my time wisely and turn to books on cd. best decision ever. not only does it make the time go so much faster, but it fills that book void.
i am such a smart cookie, too bad it took me this long to figure it out!

another busy weekend

we spent the weekend at my folks house because friday was omas birthday and because my brother in law paul and niece holly were in town. bela and i arrived at my parents house on friday evening and my mom, dad, karen, karon, holly and paul all came out to meet us. bela pushed them all aside and ran right to paul. so very cute. you gotta love that uncle paul.
on saturday we hung out with one of my friends from work, her husband and their adorable boxer. bela had a great time teasing the dog and climbing up and down the patio stairs, it doesnt take much. after that we headed to my nieces (on bretts side) first birthday party! bela tried her best to be the center of attention and did a good job of it of course.
on sunday we spent most of the day downtown while paul ran the cleveland marathon. he had been sick for several days, but still made it through and did a great job.
bela never got a nap that day... weekends are sometimes just too busy. maybe i am a bad mom to think that way, but there isnt always time.

weekend away

so heather and i had an awesome time in athens. so much had changed, but it was still the same athens i fell in love with over 10 years ago. we did a lot of eating, had a few drinks, walked around exploring, saw a fantastic movie and got our long awaited sister tattoos! we also spent some time with some old friends and their two darling children. two doses of casa nueva and delicious margaritas were just what the doctor ordered for two mamas on the loose without kids. although i think we were both ready to head home to the kids by sunday afternoon. i miss my sister and i hope that we can do this again soon, love you heather!

hop hip

belas current favorite song is temperature by sean paul.. she loves to shake her booty and sing into her microphone (which is actually a mini maraca) when its on. too cute. i tried to take a picture of her this morning, but she got shy and stopped before i could.

funny girl

some info and some stories.

we were in cincinnati last weekend and didnt get home until after 6pm on sunday. bela was tired and very ready for bed, which of course always equals a struggle. i put her down with little resistance pretty close to 7. at about 10 to 8 she was crying. i walked into her bedroom to find my little angel butt naked and standing in pee in her crib. she had taken of the pjs and the diaper and as far as i can speculate had woken up when she peed. such a wonderful young lady.

yesterday morning i was in our bedroom getting dresses and bela was just milling around doing her thing. brett was sound asleep and snoring, as usual. his head was very close to the edge of the bed and bela was just standing there with her face right in his, as if she were trying to figure out what all the noise was. she would look at him, look at me, giggle and so on. then she started mimicking the noise of his snores. it was the funniest bela noise i have ever heard. she was cracking herself up too, of course she knew how funny she was.

this coming weekend my sister and i are headed to athens for babyless mama weekend. i am so looking forward to it. well to the sister part, but not so much the babyless part. i am gonna miss her! update on all this to come soon!

grandpas girl

no the jacket is not hers, but it was too cute to not capture.

current fave

here is a link to my new favorite blog, but as you all know i am a blog reading addict so that could change in a moments notice.

mama night and baby day

last night i went out for dinner and drinks with one of my favorite
fellow mamas megs. we had such a good time and only spent about half
the time talking about babies and they other half having some really
fantastic deep conversations that we had never had before . i just love
that girl! i really needed a night out and last night was just perfect.
hopefully soon we can hang out with babies.

today we ran around just about everywhere on the west side with fritz and then brittany. we discovered the best book store (twice) and i am happy to that i have found my new favorite. its called liberty books & news and it is just the best store.

happy birthday holly

today i just wanted to do a special blog for my very first niece on her 5th birthday! happy birthday holly!! i cant even believe what a big girl you are now, you grew up way too fast! but you make me proud every day to be your aunt and to have the same name. i love you dolly!

cousins at easter

doing what she does best

please take note of belas cheeks in the middle picture... could she cram anything else in there? maybe some veggies?

picky

so my little "eats anything" bela girl has suddenly turned picky. well picky about certain foods. she still loves most meat and of course cheese, but lately she doesnt want anything to do with veggies. i even tried cutting them up in minuscule pieces and mixing in to mac n cheese which only caused her to not eat any of it. so last night for dinner she ate chicken and cheese and she was perfectly happy. now i just need to discover new tactics for hiding veggies. on the upside she will eat baby food veggies... is that weird? i guess i cant complain really.

on a sidenote, this morning i turned on the tv to belas channel and the wiggles were on. gag. it was the "little wiggles" segment where all of the men are replaced for like 8 year old boys. gag. their tv was malfunctioning and one of them made a comment about missing oreilly. as if the show isnt horrendous enough, but now they gotta be young republicans too? gag.

too much

somehow did i not only make it almost three weeks without posting, but
i made it without a single person reminding me of it. so know it has
been way too long and way too much has happened in that time. we have
been really busy and idont think my brain can take recapping it all right now.
we have family in town for easter which was wonderful. my sister, her husband and the their girls and also my aunt and uncle from colorado. we all crashed my folks house and it was such a full house, but no one complained. i think we all loved every minute of it, i know i did!
in current news, bela was sick again last night, i hoping today will look up.
okay so i know this was a crappy catch up post, but thats
it man. i will post more if i think of something worth while. and in typical style, i will supplement with pictures! lets
all just forget about the lapse and i will try to be a better blogger.
deal? deal.

guest sitter

mama chris is out of town so her daughter is taking over today and tomorrow! bela really likes her so its fine by me. i just called to check on her and was told that she was running the show and is for sure the boss of daycare. thats my bela!

busted

two strange things happened this morning all before 8:00am.

first, i was standing in the bathroom putting on mascara when bela came out of her room and down the hall. she was carrying a boris in each hand and had a look on her face that was a mix between "what kinda scam are you running here?" and "holy moly i just hit the jackpot!". as previously mentioned, there are many bori, but this is a secret that is meant to be kept. it started out with just one backup, but now there are a total of 8 in circulation. i am not sure how i allowed this to happen, but i quickly grabbed one from her tiny hand and threw it in the closet and scopped her up. i am just hoping that she will forget it ever happened.

second, we all know how much bela loves mama chris, most days it is all i can to pry her away and out the door at the end of the day. well this morning when we walked in, she didnt automatically reach for mama chris and when she did, she was reluctant. when i turned to leave, she actually started crying. that was a first! it broke my heart to leave her like that! one of the only things that gets me through the day is knowing that she loves it there. i called an hour later and was told that she quickly forgot the incident and was back to normal within minutes. glad mama.

back to the sick for a second

so in reference to the pukey virus that bela just recovered from, i would like to give a shout out to my favorite mama blog here. yes i know that dooce is the bomb, yes i love her too, but i think this lady is hilarious and her daughter is such a little trooper. she is exactly how i picture bela being at that age. check her out, she rules.

saving daylight

bela was all confused by this daylight savings garbage. this morning she didnt wake up at her usual 6am. nice, right? wrong, that just meant that i had to wake her little booty up which made for a very cranky baby. then bedtime came, normally 7pm on the dot, she doesnt usually make it a minute past. tonight, 8pm. so i know that some are thinking, that means mama gets to sleep in and then have more bela time at night. wrong. that means cranky bela at both ends and i still gotta wake up at 6am for work. i am hoping that this works itself out in a few days. but if not, eh more quality time is fine by me too even if it is with a monster.

finally

bela is finally over the crazy tummy bug and back to her old self again. i am so relieved. my girl is normal again!

daddy day

today brett stayed home with bela, she seems to be at the tail end of this bug, so this should be her last sick day. i talked to brett around lunch time and he was planning on taking bela to the comic shop when she woke up from her nap. i cant wait to hear how the day went! this is really his first whole day with her, i am sure they will both enjoy it!

sick girl

bela has been sick with a stomach bug since saturday. it all started when i went into her room in the morning to get her, there she was covered in crusted puke. nice, sadly no pictures. anyhow she is still sick now, although not as bad as in the beginning. its so hard with a sick baby, i know that she is feeling bad, but she cant tell me about it. she is very whiny and grumbly and just wants to snuggle on my lap. that part i am enjoying. i just want her to be back to her normal self now though, poor kid. tomorrow we will be back to life though, i have to go to work and she has to go to daycare. i think she will be fine, the lack of mama will be replaced with mama chris and her friends and that should make things ok. i hope.

stirring up change

i am so witty with that title.... or maybe not since i felt that i needed to point it out, ugh. (sidenote- i would like to point out the crazy-fab pants bela has on in the pic to the left)
so i officially have a new job that i LOVE. I am still at the same non profit, just a different department, out of the hood. things are great and i am so happy.

bela is officially a seasoned walker, last night she even attempted to run down the hall. she is also now in her big girl car seat!! she is still eating anything and everything and has a new found love of olives.
if the moment is right, you can get her to blow kisses, too cute. the other night she was sitting in her high chair dropping peas for the kitties. i said bye-bye peas, she looked at me, looked at the peas and then blew them a kiss. i almost died.
in other bela news, she is obsessed with stirring. this girl will stir all day long, and most days she does. give her some sort of bowl and a spoon, she is in heaven. heck, give her a stick and a plate, she will stir it. no stick, she will use her finger. obsessed. is this weird? some sort of deep seeded need to stir? i might need some feed back on that. anyone?
last night bela discovered she had a tongue, i guess. she was in the tub rolling her tongue and sucking on it. funny girl.
last thing, not quite ready to deal with this, but that didnt stop it from happening. katie is gone. she was here, we played, shes gone. i dont think i can go into it any further than that cuz it makes me sad that its over. friggin love that girl, she is my soulmate.

snow day!

it is a crazy blizzard here. i didnt even go to work today because i literally couldnt get my car out of the driveway. bela and i are home and so i bundled her up and took her out in the snow for 5 minute photo shoot.

what i did on saturday while bela took a 4 hour nap...

joanna and i went to kellys wedding shower! the only bad thing was that i was starving and the provided snacks didnt do the trick! the whole affair made me feel really old, many old high school pals who now have kids also. its nuts, i am so old. but thats ok cuz i have my bela girl! but it was nice to see those ladies and always great to hang with my joanna!

you're too cute not to be somebody's wife

"You know I still love, you, right? More than ever?"

"I like to hear it."

this morning on the way to work i was listening to npr, as usual, and on fridays they have a special segment called storycorps. i know most of you are npr kids like me so i wont go into the description. anyhow this one was really interesting to me because it dealt with the topic of alzheimers disease. check out the article here. (i think it is way better if you listen to the entire thing rather than read the recap) my nanny(dads mom) suffered from alzheimers disease from just about as far back as i can remember. i cant honestly say i remember her in a time before it. through it all, my poppa(dads dad) was right there to take care of her and help her through it. my nanny was always so together, she was a beautiful woman and worked to keep herself looking that way. as time went on, and her condition worsened, she no longer looked like the nanny i remembered. "my doctor told me he did not want me to cook, and that was music to my ears." while listening to the storycorps segment, it really hit me that this was an exact conversation that nanny and poppa might have had if she had been aware of her condition that early on. the woman was more afraid of her husband having to take care of her than she was of the disease itself, she didnt want to be a burden. "you know I'm going to take care of you, don't you?" my grandparents are both gone now and i realized at that moment that i dont think about them as much as i should. halfway to work in the car, tears streaming down my face, all these memories of my grandparents together came rushing back to me. as soon as the story finished, i called my sister. as i suspected, she was standing in her kitchen in tears listening to the same program.

where i've been

sorry for the lapse in posting, my life has been overrun by a giant veronica mars obsession and i have little time for anything else. its really quite sad, but damn is it good! this show is such a great time waster. i will not go on any longer raving about it, you have all heard it a million times. i should be finishing season 2 tonight and then hopefully return to the non tv world.

its offical

my bela is the walking girl! she isnt crawling at all anymore. she is still kinda shaky and looks a bit like frankenstein, but she is getting better everyday.

mama night

last night my mom took bela for the night and i went out for dinner and drinks with joanna. we were out celebrating my birthday, which was december 19th, that shows you how often this mama gets out of the house for adult time! we had a great time, as always, just chatting and hanging out. i miss times like that, being able to just go out without worrying about having to be responsible mama. although i missed my bela every minute of the night. now i am at work, a bit groggy and sleepy, but it was all worth it. i cant wait to see bela now though, being away from her for this long is tough, but i know i need it every once in a while.

so many boys

two of our good friends and two other boys are moving in to the other side of our duplex. they all came over yesterday to get the keys and sign the lease etc. bela was so overwhelmed she didnt know what to do, she seriously loves boys.

there are no words

today we are going to oma and grandpas to hang out and sleep over! yippee!

all good

bela is fine, no more throwing up. thanks goodness. also i have totally been slacking on pictures, the reason for this is that i cant find the cord to charge my camera. i will work on that this weekend.

more sicky

so today bela is sick still/again. she threw up this morning, i feel just awful for her because i think throwing up is just about the worst thing ever. i wish i could go get her, but my coworker is off today and i have no one really to cover for me. ugh. i am going to see if i can at least leave early to be with her, poor pukey baby.

our resolutions

happy new year! i never make new years resolutions because i know i will just break them. i decided this year that i am gonna give it a try. so here goes.
mamas resolutions: cut down on sugar and junk, join a gym with a daycare so i have no reason not to go (does anyone know of one?), learn to sew, perfect my knitting skills, get back into reading. i guess i must think i have a lot of free time, or just time wasted in front of the tv.
belas resolutions: master the art of walking, learn some new words other than kitty baby and bang, grow some more teeth, not be so wiggly during bedtime books.
ok, so lets see how we do for 2007!!

2 things

we are going to cincinnati for the weekend!! cant wait!! and equally as important, bela is so on her way to mastering this walking thing. she took many many steps yesterday. at one point she walked from me to chris and then did a u turn and came back to me. big big girl.

babys first...

ear infection! i am such a bad mama, i didnt even know. yesterday mama chris mentioned that she was tugging at her ear a bit. also she woke up with a bit of a froggy voice and a cough that morning, but i figured its the season. this morning i had to take bela to the doctor anyhow for flu shot part 2. i mentioned the cough and the ear thing to the nurse and we quickly found out that bela had a fever and an ear infection. for a baby who loves having her ears cleaned, she did not like the doctor putting the scope in her ear. i actually had to hold her down while she screamed so he could take a look. so now she is on antibiotics and mama is working from home today, rather unproductively.

party girl!

brett and i went to patricks annual new years eve party this year. last year we took bela along, but this year we left her with my parents. they also went to a party at a friends house. my little party girl bela stayed up until midnight! she was the life of the party, of course, and just a little bundle of entertainment all night. i am sure she was out like a light when they finally got her home and in bed though. even though she didnt go to bed until about 12:30, she was still up at 6:30. its like clockwork. my mom put her for a nap at 10 and she slept for 3 hours! I picked her up around 2 and we headed home. brett had the day off and so we all got to spend the day together. at about 4, bela turned into the demon seed. i thought her head was going to start spinning around. she was so tired that i couldnt get her to do anything, even eat and bela is the eating queen. i put her in the tub at 5 and she was content for a bit. i was able to hold her off until 6, but i had to give in at that point and put her to bed. she fell asleep in my arms while eating a bottle within minutes. she slept straight through until 7 the next morning and woke up refreshed! we made it through! i am glad though that she had a good time, i guess its fine every once in a while for the girl to have a party night!

christmas after

bela had a wonderful second christmas!! of course in true baby bela princess style had a pretty dress for both christmas eve and christmas day! she was not old enough to enjoy the first one, she slept through most of it i am sure. this year she was opening presents and playing with a lot of paper. on christmas eve, bela and i went over to my parents house early to hang out and get in the way. my moms family celebrated at my parents house and there are a lot of people. bela and i had to met brett at his dads house later, after he got off work. we ended up having to leave my parents house just as the guests were arriving. we had so much fun with bretts family though, bela got to play with her cousin hailey. at thanksgiving, hailey was not a big fan of bela, she seemed pretty scared of her, but on christmas they were great together! we got back to my parents house around 7, bela was tired, but stayed up until 8:30. she is not quick to go to bed if she knows that people are around to oggle her. christmas day of course brought delicious eats with the ladies k. and plenty of family fun. we are so lucky to have such great friends and family!
she got so much stuff, clothes, toys, books... stuff. we have been having lots of fun playing with new toys! although most of them are still in packages at this point though, the one thing we didnt get was a toy box. we desperately need one. well two would be cool actually. a certain someone is going to attempt to build one for her. i have high hopes! anyhow, christmas was tons of fun and i know it will only get better next year! i think her favorite toy right now is her cabbage patch kid newborn, its a small size of the original and came with a little car seat. she has been carrying her around since christmas, mostly by her feet.
hopefully being a mama will help me to appreciate christmas more, although i am not sure i will ever come around with the christmas music.