Boo Cry it Out

I'm tired, so I'm not going to mess around with an intro. Here are some good things that happened over the weekend:

1. The Baby Lady started clicking her tongue! It is super cute. We were sitting at the table and she just started clicking her tongue. We have done that to her for quite some time now, so it was cute that she learned how to do it herself.
2. I got the new Camelbak water bottle I wanted. I've had my eye on this water bottle for a couple of weeks and I finally got a chance to pick it up on Saturday. I'm glad I finally got a water bottle I'll be happy using so I can stop wasting 4 plastic water bottles a day at work!
3. We had a nice visit to the park with The Baby Lady. We got a last minute invite to the park with the grandparents and some friends this afternoon so we took The Baby Lady to enjoy the warm weather.
4. Uncle B and Aunt H came to visit The Baby Lady. We unexpectedly got a visit from The Baby Lady's Aunt and Uncle this afternoon which was a real treat. The Baby Lady has only seen this pair a couple of times in her life so it was good for them to visit.
5. I decided to quit making The Baby Lady cry it out. I can't handle listening to The Baby Lady wail for significant stretches several times a day so I decided to put sleep training on pause until I figure out a better system. I feel good about not making my baby cry like that.
6. ZZZZzzzzzZZZZZZzzzzz...I'm tired and can't continue my list right now. Night night.

Ear Infection?!?!

Well, The Baby Lady has an ear infection. Poor little monkey. We started her on antibiotics so hopefully she'll feel better soon. Glad its the weekend. The weather is getting back to being pleasantly warm instead of oppressively hot. Looking forward to getting outside some time. Well, I didn't post yesterday, so I'd better get started on my super-sized list...

1. This weather is great. I had to make an ice cream run this evening and the weather outside is GREAT! I love a warm summer evening.
2. Chicken pizza was surprisingly not gross. I went out on a limb and tried making BBQ chicken pizza for dinner tonight. I was skeptical but wanted to try it to add variety to our menu and I'm glad I did. Not sure I'd put it on my menu every week, but I'll keep it in mind for the somewhat regular rotation.
3. ZZZZzzzzzZZZZZZzzzz. Huh?! What?! Oh, I guess I fell asleep at the computer.
4. Hub brought me a special treat today. I was having some doubts about my mommying so hub brought me a nice card and treat to help make me feel better. It was real nice and sweet.
5. I fed my office supplies addiction today. When I went to the store for ice cream, i perused the office supply aisle and found a neat new binder for tracking my crafty endeavours. Real nice.

Well, this might be my least inspired blog posting yet, but that's the breaks. I'm going to sleep.

An Experiment in Sleep Training

Today I finally decided that I am ready to help The Baby Lady learn to sleep. Up to this point, I have been highly resistant to sleep training of any sort because of the apparent stress on the baby associated with a long crying stint. However, I reached the realization that The Baby Lady isn't going to teach herself how to go to sleep when Mama is always there rocking and feeding her. So I told Hub that starting today we should let The Baby Lady work it out after we did our bedtime routine. As usual she fell asleep with her bottle but when I put her down in her crib she woke up and started crying. Usually I would pick her up and comfort her until she fell back asleep again, but this time I let her cry. It was VERY tough but after 50 minutes she finally fell asleep. We'll see how things go over the next couple of days, but I'm proud of myself for taking the first step towards giving the baby the tools to survive in the world. Here are my five positives for the day:

1. I tried out my dependent care spending account! I turned in my first reimbursement claim for The Baby Lady's daycare last week and I got a check in the mail today! The dependent care spending account will only cover about half the total cost of daycare for the year, but it is still quite a treat to get a check in the mail!
2. Cash for Clunkers! I looked into the government program aimed at getting old dirty cars off the road and stimulating car sales. I like the idea, especially the discount although I'm not sure I'm really in the market for a new car.
3. This HOT weather. Its easy to talk up the hot hot weather when I'm spending most of each day in air conditioning. I took a walk around the block at lunch today to take in the furnace-like effect of the heat wave. It felt great for the eight minutes or so that I was outside. Even though I loved it for those few minutes, I have a great deal of sympathy and compassion for those without AC.
4. We're trying sleep training. As I mentioned above, I finally broke down and decided that The Baby Lady's sleep health is more important than catering to my wussiness about hearing her cry. After a great deal of consideration, I decided that she needs to learn how to self soothe and she can't do that if one of us constantly tends to her at the first whimper. It was very VERY tough listening to her cry for 50 minutes, but I think we'll all be better off in the long run when she learns how to sleep well.
5. Hub sent me a nice song today. Hub sent me a nice hippie song today called The Visit made by The Cyrkle. They're pretty good for hippie music and they have a pretty interesting background - managed by the same man that managed The Beatles; John Lennon spelled their name that silly way. Ever since I lost my Rhapsody subscription my work music selection has been limited so this was a welcome change.

And the sleepiness

I've got a pretty serious case of the grumps today which is making it hard to find five positive things for my list. The Baby Lady did not want to go to sleep last night so I was up late and it was a busy work day and afternoon. We had to visit the dermatologist to hear that The Baby Lady's JXG looks good and we should come back in six months. Jeez guys. I could have told them over the phone that it looks good and we'll call if we needed anything without taking the afternoon off work. See? I'm already on the road to complainerville so here are my five positives.

1. I found a prize for myself. I saw someone drinking out of a CamelBak Better Bottle and decided I should get one too. I'm having a bit of a dilemma though trying to figure out if I should get the stainless steel version (not dishwasher safe) or the plastic one (dishwasher safe, but new plastic with unknown properties). I should probably get stainless steel for peace of mind; I don't want the next baby to come out with three arms (although I'd still love the little tri-limb).
2. The Baby Lady is asleep. That Baby Lady has been one tough customer lately when it comes to sleeping. Often, even if she goes to sleep at a decent time she'll wake up within an hour or so either yelling at us or and greeting us with a smile, a wiggle and a look that says "Hey, lets party. I love to party. Why do you guys always want to sleep at night? Are you guys hungry? I'm hungry, lets go to taco bell."
3. Its Summer! We're finally getting some nice summer weather here! Since I seem to have SAD, summer is one of my more favorite seasons and heat reminds me of my southern summers. I
4. I have AC. It is HOT here this week. Today the high was 104 and it might be hotter tomorrow! I can't say enough how thankful I am that we finally decided to get air conditioning this year.
5. I'm continuing to develop my crafty ideas. I have been continuing to develop my crafty baby line that I will eventually sell on etsy. I think I'll end up with some pretty cool products once I ever get around to making and testing prototypes. I also need to work on a name for my etsy shop. Hmmm. MilkyMonkey? MooCowMama? As you can see, this element needs some help...

Sleepy Monday

The Baby Lady was a tough customer last night so Hub and I are beat - especially hub since he wakes up most of the time with the baby. Despite the rough night sleep, I had a productive day at work and we got The Baby Lady down to sleep in a pretty timely fashion. The Baby Lady seems to be experimenting with new motions so all through dinner she was shaking her head no; she looked like she was losing her marbles! I don't have much to report, so here are my five positives for the day:

1. That hazlenut Folgers coffee is delicious! I decided to go out on a limb and try the hazlenut flavored Folgers coffee this week and we made our first pot today. Boy was it delicious! What a brilliant choice on my part. Now I don't have to put quite as much sugar in my coffee in the morning.
2. I was very on task today. Even though I was tired a was a good task master at work and I got a good start on my weekly to-do list.
3. My mom isn't a raging bitch like Candy Spelling. Over the weekend I saw the open letter from Candy Spelling to Tori and it made me thankful that I have a good relationship with my mom. I have a lot to say about Candy's habit of communicating with Tori through open letters released to trashy media outlets but I will keep those comments to myself. All I'm sayin' is that I can't imagine a mother being so callous towards her child regardless of the circumstances.
4. That Heather B. Armstrong is funny. Once again Heather B. Armstrong (www.dooce.com) made me laugh with her irreverent take on life as a mom of two.
5. The Baby Lady is hilarious. The Baby Lady has been pretty tired lately due to the poor quality of sleep she's getting while teething and all this fatigue seems to be leading to delerium. In addition to shaking her head through dinner The Baby Lady sat there and laughed at us the whole time. The shaking and the laughing made her look down right nutty, but in an adorable way.

Date Night!

What a busy weekend! We got up at 6:30 with The Baby Lady on Saturday and got to the hospital for a neck x-ray nice and early. When we walked down the hall to the x-ray room the lights were still off, reminding me of so many TV/movie hospital scenes. I don't know why they insist on portraying hospitals as dimly lit when in reality they are garishly bright with all the headache-inducing fluorescent lights. We decided to skip book babies at the library in favor of resting for a while before taking The Baby Lady to swim with her Little Buddy. It was HOT outside so we didn't stay too long. A little later we dropped off The Baby Lady with her grandparents and went on a date! Sunday was just as busy culminating in The Baby Lady developing a fever during the afternoon :( Except for her sickness, it was a great weekend. Since I didn't post yesterday, I'll list ten positives today...

1. We got an early start on Saturday. The Baby Lady woke us up at 6:30 and instead of trying to gt her to go back to sleep for another hour or so we just got up and got a move on! I always like early days because the day always feels longer, which is especially good on the weekends.
2. I found my dream house (http://7095swkelsi.com). We took a drive Saturday morning after the hospital and checked out a neighborhood we've never seen before. As we wound through an established area peppered with infill developments we found a year old house that is just a dream! Of course it costs way too much, but the flyer came with a floor plan that I'm going to hold on to it as a dream for the future.
3. We went on a date! What a treat. We dropped off The Baby Lady with her grandparents and took off for three hours of Hub and Wif time. It was a real treat but we were both eager to pick up our Baby Lady by the end of the night.
4. We discovered a new taco spot. We were going to head to our old standby Zach's Shack for dinner but when we parked we saw something that piqued our interest. We saw a long line of people waiting to get tacos at a place called por que no. Hub pointed out that it felt like we were on vacation because we were trying a new place (and it was such a nice sunny day)! And, the tacos were delicious!
5. A nice walk. After dinner we took a walk in Hub's old neighborhood which has several lovely, fragrant rose gardens throughout. It was very warm for 8:00a (about 90) and a great evening for a walk. And, while we walked around...
6. We stumbled across a party celebrating the renovation of a cool old house. There is a house in the old neighborhood that has been in pretty severe disrepair for many many years. Apparently, over the last 2 years, some people have been renovating the house to its original glory. It was built in the early 1900s and has huge 2 story columns in the front. It was neat to find out that someone put/is putting the effort into preserving the historic relic.
7. We had a drink at the Slammer. I haven't been to the slammer since some time before I was pregnant and I've missed the (self-proclaimed) friendliest bar in town. The best time to go there is the Christmas season because the owner lady puts up a bazillion Christmas lights, but its pretty awesome any time of year. We sat outside at a picnic table with a view of the west hills and the tops of the buildings in downtown. It was really nice and we met a strange band of people whose relationship was unclear that were totally hammer timed.
8. The grandparents had a really nice time with The Baby Lady. It was nice to pick up The Baby Lady at her grandparents' house and hear that they had such a good time hanging out with her. They took her to the park to play in the fountain and walked with her and generally seemed to have fun. Especially as she gets older, we hope The Baby Lady will enjoy her little adventures with her various grandparents.
9. We're becoming regulars at the coffee shop. We found a coffee shop in our neighborhood about a month before The Baby Lady was born and we've been going in regularly ever since. These days we go often enough that we have started meeting and talking to other people from the neighborhood that are also regulars. Ever since my childhood spent watching Cheers, I've wanted to be a regular somewhere.
10. I'm not a teen mom! I'm watching the 16 and Pregnant after show and its reminding me to be glad that I didn't have a kid when I was a kid.

Yay Weekend Time!

ZZZzzzZZZzzz...Thats me sleeping. Its been a pretty tiring week. Hub poked me a couple of times this week to feed the baby in the night (which he should) so now I'm extra tired. Looking forward to the weekend though!

1. I got a compliment at work today. I got an email from a coworker letting me know that the boss lady was speaking kindly of me and my work-product this week. Its always nice to hear that type of feedback :)
2. The Baby Lady did good at physical therapy today. We have had trouble finding the right time of day to take The Baby Lady for her physical therapy; if she's in a bad mood she doesn't like to participate. Today was her second (?) afternoon session and it worked out pretty well. The Baby Lady was in a great mood and did her exercises for the full hour. If she keeps this up, maybe PT will start to believe what we say about the things The Baby Lady is doing at home.
3. I can't get over the food thing. The Baby Lady's eating continues to blow me away and brighten my day. What a treat to have a baby that actually wants to eat solids instead of clamping her mouth shut. At some point we're going to have to try another flavor, but its so hard to turn away from the first thing that worked.
4. Got a Blizzard. I love DQ Blizzards so I was pretty pumped this evening when hub suggested a trip to the ole DQ. Got myself a heath bar blizzard and boy was it satisfying. Mmmm, Mmmmm!
5. The family got to take a walk this evening. The Baby Lady was still pretty wide awake after we finished dinner so we strapped her into her stroller and headed out for a walk. The weather is great and it was pleasantly warm outside when we took a short walk. On the way home The Baby Lady wanted to be held so we got her out of the stroller and Hub held her and bounced her in a way that made her crack up! She was laughing for at least an entire block and it was very adorable.

OK. I MUST go to bed now.

Some Days its Tough

Today I'm a little blue and its tough to think of five things, but here goes nothing:

1. I got to cuddle with The Baby Lady this morning. The Baby Lady woke up around 5-something this morning and after making a bottle and changing her full water balloon of a diaper she was wide awake and ready to party. I was not. So I brought The Baby Lady to bed with Hub and I so I could doze while she chattered, tugged my hair and whacked me. I miss the days of sleeping with The Baby Lady every night so this morning was a little treat.
2. I resisted out food at lunch. Co-worker and I went to Target today to buy snacks for the office and the location we chose happens to be attached to possibly the most pathetic "mall" in the state. The food court had mostly empty stalls and a few remaining vendors including a Baskin Robbin's and and Taco Time. I resisted the urge to buy ice cream and a fried burrito delicacy opting instead for my pesto pasta and chicken leftovers. Good job Wif.
3. I also didn't eat all of the new snacks when we returned to the office. I fought my sweet tooth and didn't eat all the candy we bought upon returning to the office. I had a satisfying enough lunch today that I didn't even feel too much of a pull. But, I know the rolos, snickers, twix, starburst and everything else will have a magnetic pull starting tomorrow. I told co-worker that she will have to hide most of the candy so I don't eat it all in one week. Today I did good and I hope to continue down this virtuous path.
4. The Baby Lady is eating like a champ. We got more chicken and rice dinner for The Baby Lady tonight and she was back to eating like a champ. I'm soooo pleased that my girl is eating solids. Hub bought a few other Stage 2 flavors so we can hopefully expand her repertoire.
5. 16 and Pregnant is on tonight. I know, this one is a little pathetic but I'm addicted to that show. I can't decide how I feel about it. Some of the teenage mothers are portrayed as not having that difficult of a time. But regardless of my feelings about the message the show sends, I love it and I'm excited for tonight's episode.

Blog in My Underpants?!?! I Don't Think So!

Blog in my underpants, you say? I don't think that will help me be more productive. I'm pretty sure it would only result in a lap burn from this hot hot laptop battery. But I digress. Today hub sent me an adorable picture of The Baby Lady while I was at work and it totally brightened my day (for about an hour). On that note, without further adieu, here is my list for the day:

1. I TCB'd today! I finally got around to cancelling a bunch of things that I pay for but don't use. Six movies over three years at $12/month made Blockbuster online a pretty f*in expensive movie rental scheme. I bet they have a significant number of subscribers like me that never get movies but faithfully pay the dues. Movie rentals by mail is a brilliant scheme. I also cancelled my HRC "membership." What ever happened to the old scheme of making one time donations to causes you support?
2. That cute picture of The Baby Lady. On Sunday while I was off learning how to sew apparel Hub took The Baby lady to the park and while he was there he got some adorable picture of her sitting on her new picnic blanket. Hub G'Talked me one of the pictures at work today and it totally made my afternoon. I was sitting at my desk probably looking nuts with a huge smile on my face admiring The Baby Lady's cuteness.
3. I'm pumped about my crafty ideas. In the last few days I've been thinking of ways to expand upon my craftiness and I've come up with a few ideas. Since having The Baby Lady, I've discovered a few products that are either lacking entirely or could use some improvement and I think I've got some pretty nifty solutions. I'm super excited to start doing market research to see if there's a place for my products.
4. We had time for chores! The Baby Lady was beat by the time we got home from work today, so we got her to bed nice and early. Couple that with a dinner of leftovers and we were in shape to get a bunch of chores done. We got dishes done, the counters wiped down, laundry cycled and Hub even vacuumed the stairs which had menacing dust rabbits lurking in the corners. I look forward to coming downstairs tomorrow morning to a nice clean and tidy downstairs.
5. I'm on track to get 8 hours of sleep tonight. I know I'm not there yet, but it makes me happy to think that I'll possibly get enough sleep for the first time in at least a couple of weeks.

How to Make Smore Cupcakes - wikiHow

S'mores are everywhere these days!

How to Make Smore Cupcakes - wikiHow

Two Nights in a Row?!?!

Weekdays are always pretty mundane. Get up, get dressed, get baby dressed, get out the door, work, come home, play with baby, feed baby, put baby to bed, do chores, go to bed. That pretty much sums up five days out of my week. Of course, all of those mundane elements are brightened by little discoveries, interactions and other experiences. Today the baby lady provided me with most of my brightness, but even at work I found something to be happy about.

1. I finally finished a project that's been hanging over my head! Since I'm afraid to blog about anything remotely work-related, suffice it to say that I'm relieved to have finished something that was hanging over my head.
2. The Baby Lady ate solids for THE SECOND NIGHT IN A ROW!!! This one makes my heart swell with pride as I write about it. The Baby Lady took eager bites of her chicken and wild rice dinner for the second night in a row! AMAZING. After last night, I was keeping my fingers crossed that yesterday's dinner wasn't just a one time affair. My tongue cries every time she takes a bite because the food is mixed with squash and looks like mustard, but if she thinks its delicious I'll take it!
3. The Baby Lady loves to see Mama in the evening. It makes me incredibly happy to come home from work and see The Baby Lady's big smile because she's glad to see her Mama. It makes ME smile whenever I think about seeing her smile.
4. I'm NOT crazy (at least in one respect). I have been feeling phantom baby kicks for about two weeks now and I pretty much thought I was crazy. The sensations I felt are like nothing other than what I felt when I was pregnant; these were not gas, muscle spasms or anything else the average non-pregnant lady feels. Since one of my hobbies is self-diagnosing I took to the Internet and found that quite a few no longer pregnant women have had similar experiences. That was all I needed to be satisfied that I'm not nuts and I'm not the victim of some mystery abdominal ailment. Hallelujah!
5. Nighttime summer air smells great! There is nothing better to me than the smell of summer air in the night. We got air conditioning at the beginning of June, which is great particularly with The Baby Lady here. With the AC running all the time our house is cool and dry. The house is so cool and dry, in fact, that when I step outside in the evening it feels hot and humid reminding me of my childhood summers at the beach in Texas. All I need now is a little frog hopping around on my front porch that will pee on my hand when I pick it up and a stray armadillo running through my yard.

Holy Cow The Baby Lady Ate Solid Food!!!

Not much happened today, (a trip to the Back Crackler, work and home to The Baby Lady), so I'll just get to my list.

1. Got my neck crackled today. Despite the disturbing crunch, a good neck crackling always leaves me feeling much better. Dr. Back Crackler is always able to take my vague complaints and adjust me perfectly. Incidentally, The Baby Lady also went to her Back Crackler today with my mother. I think The Baby Lady is far more troubled by the odd angle of her head and the crackling sound it makes when twisted quickly than I am. She pretty much starts screaming uncontrollably as soon as she sees things heading that direction. She is always VERY relieved when that part of the visit is over.
2. THE BABY LADY WILLINGLY ATE FOOD! This might be the highlight of my week. MY Baby Lady, the baby who looks like she ate a lemon when even a drop of baby food hits her tongue, took eager bites of chicken & rice baby food! And this was AFTER she munched on cantaloupe through her little mesh feeding bag without making a face. We may be turning a corner with food here which is a real relief since I've been having nightmares of The Baby Lady carrying a lunch box full of baby bottles to school.
3. The weather is great! I know I've used this one before, but I sure do love the summer. I took a nice slow walk down the block this evening to get something from Hub's car and really enjoyed the warm fresh summer air. What a treat.
4. I think I'm going to make it to bed on time. I've been struggling with going to bed on time for the last week and I think today I'll finally get everything done early enough to go to bed by 10:30 or so. I know this one is kind of lame, but my days are much better when I get enough sleep.
5. Dance Your Ass Off! Trice anyone?! I have to say that the luster of seeing Trice dance has worn off in the last few weeks since she's kind of a one trick pony but she still has more personality than any of the other contestants. There is probably a name for her signature move, but I don't know it. She does the splits then sort of humps the floor while making a sexy face. AMAZING! Dance Your Ass Off is the most glorious show ever invented. A bunch of morbidly obese people shaking their asses in hooker outfits - this can only be awesome!
   

Weekend Fun

I always look forward to the weekends and this one was worth all the anticipation. After spending our nice Friday night at Hub's company party we got our fun and busy weekend started. Saturday was chock full with a walk to the store, a trip to Book Babies at the Library, a BBQ with good family friends and a visit to DQ. Since I didn't post yesterday, I'm going to list 10 positives:

1. Book babies was fun! This was The Baby Lady's second time at book babies and she thought it was pretty awesome. She is particularly impressed with the bubbles, the opportunity to poke other babies' eyes and the variety of toys. We all have a fun time together at the library.
2. We BBQed with good friends. In the last few years we reconnected with old family friends with whom we used to be really tight, then lost contact then reconnected. These days we all get together maybe once or twice a year and this weekend was one of those times. We took The Baby Lady over to their house and she was a social little butterfly. She yelled (in a happy tone) and squealed and splashed her legs in their pool and was generally the belle of the ball. A good time was had by all.
3. The family took a nice walk. Hub and I took The Baby Lady on a nice walk through the neighborhood (and to the grocery store) in the warm sunny weather. It was a nice way to start our Saturday.
4. The s'mores nachos were GOOD! At the BBQ, I debuted my newly acquired s'mores nachos recipe (and, btw, everyone that heard the name conjured up a similarly disgusting image of cheese, chocolate and graham crackers) and it was AWESOME! I think I'll rename it s'mores pie as this is a more accurate description. Any way, it was easy, tasty and popular with the kids.
5. We went to DQ. A sunny day makes my mouth and tummy cry for a trip to Dairy Queen and we were lucky enough to be visiting friends that live very close to a DQ. On our way home we stopped in and I got my favorite - Heath Bar Blizzard with fudge added, YUM!
6. The Baby Lady thinks Mommy is funny! On both Saturday and Sunday The Baby Lady was cracking up at Mommy. All I did was make a popping sound with my mouth and The Baby Lady thought I was HILARIOUS. She was laughing for about 5 minutes straight which in turn made us laugh and that just made her laugh more. By the end of those 5 minutes we all seemed like loons, but it was fun.
7. I did The Baby Lady's morning routine. Normally Hub gets up with The Baby Lady in the morning, but today I got up with her instead so he could sleep in. We had a really nice time getting dressed, having breakfast and walking to the Travel Caffe. We ran into our Travel Caffe friends but didn't get to chat much since we were getting our coffee/pastries to go.
8. I made progress on my sewing project. Today I went and sewed with The Master seamstress, who is teaching me how to make a cute girly business jacket. This is the first time I've sewed an article of clothing where the experience has been pretty painless. Generally i get frustrated and angry because pretty much any stitch that isn't a straight line torments me. But, The Master Seamstress makes everything seem so simple and the experience is all around pleasant.
9. I got to take a nap today. Hub was very generous and let me take a two hour nap today. What a treat!
10. Hub loves me a lot. Hub is helping me assemble my list and contributed this item. What a sweetie.

Grandparents love to babysit

Today was busy! The Baby Lady and I both had doctor appointments so there was a lot of running around. Last night, The Baby Lady slept from 9:00pm to 6:00am so Hub and I were pretty well rested this morning and we got out the door relatively on time. The Baby Lady had prunes for breakfast (which she understandably found disgusting) we all got dressed and we were on our way. Leaving for the doctor appointment in another city, while The Baby Lady stayed at daycare near my office was strange. I felt like I was leaving an appendage behind. Fortunately we both survived the temporary separation. After The Baby Lady's appointment, I had to rush her home where my mom was waiting to babysit so Hub and I could attend his company's summer party. Right before I left, I discovered that The Baby Lady cut her first tooth! I knew she was teething but had not seen any product of her pain and drooling until today. She chomped down on my finger and I was surprised to feel a little razor blade sticking up out of her gums. What a surprise! I told Hub about The Baby Lady's latest development during a conversation with another set of recent parents at the company party. Aside from hub feeling a little slighted about my delivery of the news, the weather was great and we enjoyed spending time at his CEO's beautiful house. The warm summer night put me in the perfect mood for listing five positives in my day:

1. All of our parents live in town. I think it is great that we live so close to all of our parents and as a result they are able to play an active role in The Baby Lady's life. Of course we have to put up with the kooky grandparent stuff (baby-inspired poems anyone?) but we love that The Baby Lady already recognizes and loves her grandmas. It is also nice to have such abundant choice in babysitters.
2. The Baby Lady cut her first tooth! What a treat to find out my baby grew a tooth! She's had a tough week and we suspected that a tooth might be coming so it was nice to have our theory confirmed. Hopefully now that the tooth broke through The Baby Lady will get some relief (at least until the next tooth comes up).
3. The weather is great! It was so nice to spend time outdoors this evening at Hub's company party. The boss man has a beautiful house and yard which made the warm summer evening all the better.
4. I learned a new fun snack recipe. Today my co-worker told me about something called s'mores nachos. The name inspires a vile image of chocolate, graham crackers and nacho cheese in my mind so I was reluctant to listen to the recommendation. BUT, after hearing how this delicacy is constructed, I am convinced I must try it - tomorrow. You layer broken up graham crackers, chocolate bar pieces and mini marshmallows in a foil pan and BBQ it all until it becomes a gooey delicious mess. i can't wait to see how this turns out!
5. Tomorrow is book babies at the Library. We took The Baby Lady to Book Babies at the library a few weekends ago for the first time but after that we were out of town and there was the 4th of July so we are finally making it back for a second visit this weekend. Hub, the Baby Lady and I all really enjoyed the book group the first time and we're sure it will be just as fun tomorrow.

No mice in this house!

After my inagural post last night I felt pretty pumped as I went about the rest of my nighttime routine. Then, I woke up to a fresh pot of coffee on a nice sunny morning! I was also pretty pumped when I went to work today and I was even a little more productive than usual in the morning. Good progress I thought, but maybe a little too soon to judge. After my positive morning, I went to lunch today with a childhood friend and we talked about another friend who is a total train wreck in life (3 kids, 2 dads, 2 bankruptcies, totally irresponsible with money...you get the picture) but who somehow managed to complete her masters in education. First that conversation got me thinking that I need to change my career, because if she can do it so can I. But then, I started thinking about how thankful i am that I don't have her life, which leads me to my list for the day.

1. I had a really nice morning with Hub and The Baby Lady. Hub woke up early today and did chores and made coffee. When I woke up, we took our coffee outside on the deck and took in the fresh summer morning air. What a pleasant way to start the day.
2. I feel in control of my diet. I started tracking my food at http://www.livestrong.com/ this week. I'm doing moderately well at staying within my calorie allowance and it feels nice to be in control. I'm even feeling good about giving up my nightly 2 cups of Tillamook Mudslide ice cream.
3. I had a nice lunch with a friend today. I went to lunch with a friend that I haven't seen since before The Baby Lady was born. It was nice to catch up and gossip; something I haven't done enough of this year.
4. The weather is awesome. I love this warm summer weather. It was really nice to spring The Baby Lady from daycare to have lunch today. We walked a few blocks to the restaurant and it was great to feel the sun warming my skin.
5. I don't have mice in my house. Shortly before the baby lady was born, Hub and I noticed that Cat 2 was "hunting" the lower cabinets in the kitchen. Cat 2 is DUM so we sort of ignored her for a week or so, but one day we opened the cabinet she was hunting and found evidence of MICE! Then, we opened a drawer in the same cabinet and found that the MICE ate one of my silicone potholders! OH MY GOD talk about the worst time EVER to find mice. A 38 weeks pregnant lady can't easily handle the prospect of the Hanta virus creeping out of the cabinets, into her mouth and infecting the unborn baby. But, I digress. We called Mouse Man and got that problem nipped in the bud without any chemicals. This morning, right before I woke up, I had a very vivid dream in which Hub had me sneak out the bedroom door into the hall and look down. At my feet, I found a tiny adorable brown mouse. Even though he was adorable, I knew in my dream that this could only be a bad sign because the mice had become strong enough to open the cabinet doors from the inside and roam the house freely. That was a very long-winded way of getting to the point that I'm glad we got the mouse problem taken care of quickly and easily because I know other people fight this adorable scourge on a much more constant basis.
6. Thats right, I even have six today! I read a funny post on www.dooce.com today. It always makes my day when I stumble across something on the Internet that gives me a good chuckle.

The Optimism Experiment

I read an interview with Drew Barrymore about ten years ago where she explained that she chooses to be a happy person, or something to that effect. I've always thought it would be nice to make the choice to be happy but I've never been sure how to effectuate that change. My natural inclination is to always focus on the negatives in situations (e.g. "I don't like the carpet in this hotel room" instead of "this room with a view of the beach in the Ritz Carlton is awesome"). Now, ten years down the road, I'm afraid I've already let too many of my adult years slip by while I've been in the throes of my pessimistic attitude. My baby is seven months old and I love her more than anything, but sometimes I worry that I'll only remember the hard things about her baby years (e.g. pumping multiple times a day because she never liked breastfeeding). Tonight, as my mind danced from topic to topic while I tried to decide how to spend my suddenly open evening (since the baby went to sleep relatively easily), I decided that now is the time more than ever to become happy. A change in attitude is in store for this unhappy lady and it will come in the form of frequent blog postings reminding me of the great things in my life, my day, my hour or my minute and here is my inaugural posting. Five things to be happy about on June 15, 2009 (and btw, pink is the color of optimism for those of you that didn't know):

• I have a job. I know this one seems like low hanging fruit, but I need to be thankful for and happy about gainful employment. Especially since I have a baby lady at home. My job keeps my mind sharp, looks good on paper and comes with great benefits. These are all features to cherish on a regular basis.
• I have a healthy baby lady. Once again low hanging fruit, but the baby lady lights up my day when she smiles or when she wiggles because she wants me to pick her up or when she laughs when i tickle the side of her belly and bunches of other cute sweet exchanges we have throughout the day.
  
• I started the optimism experiment. I don't know if I'm allowed to be happy about starting the optimism experiment before I know if it works, but I'm feeling pretty good right now and that must count for something.
• I have an awesome husband. My husband is a great guy to be married to and a super daddy. Good old hub puts up with a lot of my bad attitude and loves me anyway for some unexplained reason. I can't think of anyone better to have a baby with and I'm glad he's my man.
• My cats still love me. This one is out there, I thought I would save it for another day but it is hard to come up with five items (eek!). Even though we've been hard on them since the baby lady came along, the cats still love us unconditionally (well Charlie does at least). It makes me happy when I think about how much they love us just for petting them occasionally, feeding them and providing them shelter. They have such simple needs and I'm glad I'm able to take care of them.

OK. We'll see how this works! The optimism experiment may be leading to the anxiety result; I'm fearful that tomorrow I won't have five items to list since I used all the easy ones tonight! But, I'm optimistic (see, see, it is working) that by tomorrow I'll have five more good things to list.