Little Girl has been fussy and having diarrhea episodes the last week or so, and of course there has been drooling (oh the drooling!) and chewing on everything in sight, so I’ve been on the lookout for more teeth. Well, last night I spotted one on the bottom – the lateral incisor I believe it is called; and this morning I saw the first bottom molar peeking through. So I will be excusing all that crankiness and diarrhea and blowouts and everything else because getting two teeth at once has to be pretty rotten. I’m assuming two more are on their way as well. Fun fun!

---

On a more serious note, my friend Theresa at This Mom Blogs is asking for prayers due to a family emergency. No further details right now, but please do keep her and her family in your prayers.

So, I had three things on the honey-do list today for Mike. 1) Hook up the automatic watering dish for Melody; 2) Make our hall bedroom doors closeable so she can’t get in there when we don’t want her to (she meaning Melody for now, but soon enough it will mean Little Girl, too); and 3) Make it possible for me to actually see who is standing in front of the door when it’s dark outside because the peephole does no good if I can’t see who is there and I’m somewhat paranoid after “The Incident”. And I’m also going to add 4) Clean out Melody’s crates (pee-you) if he has time.

First he had to go to Home Depot and they didn’t have what he needed for the doors, so he had to go somewhere else, then came home and has been trying to find the wire for the porch lights since then. He just found it. Ya’d think he would know where all that stuff is having wired the house himself wouldn’t you? ;) Luckily he took pictures of everything before the drywall went in. He’s smart that way.

We just finished our lovely lunch of frozen fish fillets, corn and mini powdered sugar donuts. Little Girl’s first try at powdered sugar. Yeah, it was quite amusing. Her response to powdered sugar donut? “Mmmmmmmmmmm”.

Why is it that even though Little Girl has untold numbers of toys in her play area, she chooses to entertain herself by grabbing the magazine that I had left on the sofa and ripping it up? *sigh*

I am feeling slightly better. Still not up to par, and not good enough to go to Marlene’s tonight for scrapbooking with her, her sis-in-law, The Social Butterfly, Rochelle and The Princess and Little Girl keeping us on our toes. Which makes me sad. :( I love scrapbooking with the girls! I also don’t want to give them what I have if I’m contagious, so better safe than sorry I guess.

After Mike left this morning, I put my jammies back on and laid on the sofa all day while Little Girl played on the floor. Then when she took her afternoon nap, I actually (are you ready for this?) TOOK A NAP. I know. Hard to believe. I think it helped a bit. I felt so yucky today, though, that I didn’t even put Little Girl in her high chair for lunch. I put her veggie crackers and fruit snacks on a paper plate and let her have a “picnic” on the floor, lazy mom that I am. Melody was sorely disappointed because she likes to camp under the high chair when Little Girl eats. Something like this:

There is seriously too much cuteness in that picture isn’t there? :)

Yesterday I felt puky every time my stomach was empty. And that is no fun. In between I felt okay, but by the time we got home from our day together, I had a headache and I was tired and I just wanted to go to bed, but Mike had to go to work. So that was not fun. Today still feeling puky. I have an empty stomach, but filling it with anything is not really all that pleasant a thought. No, I’m not pregnant and no, we didn’t get drunk.

What did we do yesterday? Well, Mike took the day off and we did errands with Little Girl in tow. Yes, I know it’s not the most romantic way to spend an anniversary, but there were things that needed to be done, and the main thing is that we had a lot of quality together time.

So, we went to the credit union to get Mike on Little Girl’s account and make a deposit from her “tip jar”; we went to get an oil change in my vehicle; we went to Verizon to switch Mike’s phone over (FINALLY) to my account so we don’t have to pay to talk or text one another anymore; we went to Olive Garden for lunch and I had Black Tie Mousse Pie or whatever it’s called. Love that stuff. And we were going to go look at tile, but I was starting to feel yucky again, so we came home. And found that Melody had escaped her crate at some point during the four hours we were gone. She met us at the door little dear that she is, but we both had visions of destruction and poop and destruction and pee all over the house. And there was exactly one napkin from the garbage and one tissue from the garbage shredded in our bedroom. Other than that, nothing. So, hurray. We have picked a genius dog. We are so brilliant. :D (And thank goodness we taught her to use the doggy door already. Whew.)

Today Mike has to work and I have to deal with the two toddlers (one human, one canine) on my own while feeling like crap. That’s fun. Oh, the joys of being a mom. But hey, really? I wouldn’t have it any other way. Okay, maybe I’d have both of us staying at home because we were fabulously wealthy and could do that, but other than that? Naw.

Thirteen Reasons I Love My HusbandScroll down to read the anniversary post! 1. Our greatest achievement together – our beautiful daughter. 2. The thing that brought us together and has kept us together – music. We are most definitely musical soul-mates. 3. This beautiful (albeit unfinished) house we live in. A work of art from his heart. 4. His soft heart when it comes to animals – especially our dogs. 5. The fact that he puts up with me and my many faults. 6. Going ornament shopping the day after Christmas every. single. year. 7. The way I say “here’s my idea” and he makes it happen. 8. How I can write lyrics and a melody and he can make it into a real song. 9. That he works his butt off at three jobs so that I can stay home with our daughter. 10. That every time I’ve quit a job he has supported me and said we’ll make it work. 11. How he helped me care for my mother when she came home on hospice. 12. That he is passionate about things even though that causes us to disagree at times. 13. That he married me 15 years ago today and loves me still. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. Kimmy 2. Lisa 3. Uisce 4. Courtney 5. YellowRose 6. Chickadee 7. Renee 8. Emily 9. Killired

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Once upon a time, a little boy was born – the first of four children.

One year and almost 5 months later, a little girl was born – the only child.

They grew up only about three miles away from each other, both living in the same houses their whole lives. They even went to the same high school, the boy a year ahead of the girl. They were aware of the other’s existence peripherally, but they didn’t really travel in the same circles and so they never met. The boy went to technical school and became a draftsman, then got laid off and traveled in Europe and finally went back to community college to study music. The girl went to university for a year, but wasn’t ready to focus on studying, so quit to work for awhile. Then she decided to go back to school and ended up at the same community college. He was constantly in the music department. She was only there for choir the first semester, but then she decided she might like to study music, too, and so it was that one day on a break, she was relaxing on the bench in the empty lobby of the music building when the boy came up and started talking to her. They hit it off, and they started dating. The rest was history, except for that brief two or three month period when they broke up for whatever silly reason. But I guess if you’re meant to be together, you find your way back together, and they did and they dated for three years. And then one night, while watching the Lakers beat the Suns in the playoffs, he took her aside and pulled out a ring and asked her to marry him. Well, sort of. He didn’t actually ask her. He just pulled out the ring. Then she MADE him ask her because, well…BECAUSE! Of course, she said yes and they got married 15 years ago today.

I’d like to say they lived happily ever after, but happily ever after is only for fairy tales. Real life has its ups and downs and the boy and the girl have certainly had their ups and downs. Some of the downs even seemed insurmountable at the time, but love (and a heck of a lot of hard work) conquers all I guess, because the boy and the girl are still married. They still love each other. And they even have someone to share their love with now – the long-awaited Little Girl. There have been trials and sadness and laughter and tears and joy and pain and fear and triumph. All the things that weave together the threads of the tapestry of a life. And if their relationship could be boiled down to a few words, I guess they would be: honesty, perseverance, forgiveness, and love.

Happy 15th Anniversary Mike! I love you!

So today was sort of my day off. As in I got to go run around and do stuff alone. With no baby to drag in and out of the car at every stop. I actually went to EIGHT different places today! And Mike stayed home with the two little ones – one of which learned how to use her doggy door consistently. Does this mean she is housetrained? That remains to be seen, but it’s certainly a step in the right direction.

So first I went to the grocery store, which sort of stinks on my “day off”, but it has to be done. Then I came home and dropped off the groceries (but I made Mike put them away because it only seemed fair). He wanted me to make a deposit at the bank, so I took the checks and headed that direction first. I pull into the drive-thru, pull up to the carrier thingy, grab the carrier, go to put the deposit in the carrier and realize there is no deposit slip. *sigh* I pull out of the line and over into a parking space and call Mike on the phone. I was slightly irritated with him because I didn’t realize he hadn’t written a deposit slip up for the checks. I did have deposit slips in the car, but I have no idea what the account number is (my credit union account number I have memorized but the checking account? no idea), so Mike has to look it up. I fill in the information and get back in the line grumbling under my breath. I pull into a different lane, make the deposit and drive off on my way to the next stop. Then I happen to glance at the passenger seat out of the corner of my eye and realize that the carrier from the FIRST lane was in is still in my car. So I had to turn around and go back and take the stupid carrier into the bank and tell them I drove off with it accidentally. Sheesh. I blame Mike for that one!

Then off to the other errands which included Babies R Us, Joann’s, Hallmark, Target, Anna’s Linens (where I got new pillows Theresa!) and Michael’s.

Mike held down the fort and I got a lot of stuff done, although I was definitely a little scatterbrained today. Oh well, it happens. :)

Little Girl is still not walking on her own, but every day she shows more signs that she’s going to do so very very soon. Of course, we all know that she’ll do it in her own sweet time when she is good and ready and that nothing we can say or do or think will change that, but just for fun, let’s have a little contest and see who can predict the day she will take her first unassisted steps. Leave your predictions in the comments and I’ll come up with some way to show them on the sidebar or something like that.

Here is some information to help you in making your prediction:

• She will be One Year adjusted on January 25 (one week from today).

• She will be 14 months old on February 2 (two weeks from tomorrow).

• She is standing on her own for longer periods and last night she was swinging her arms around as she stood – dancing to the music.
——

What will you win if you predict the right date? Well, nothing really. But I promise to write a follow-up post and link your blog prominently in it. How is that? :)

Little Girl has this little kitchen that she got for her birthday. Well, as you can see there are different shaped holes in the fridge that the play food fits in. And tonight out of the blue (as in I’ve never seen her do it before) she started putting the food through the holes – over and over and over again. Wow. I’m just astounded. My child is a genius. :D

UPDATE: She also has this toy:

And she’s putting the balls in the hole. She’s never done that before. She’s also putting the round egg in the hole and trying to put the balls in the round hole in the fridge.

Is it normal for these things to just happen out of nowhere??????

And did I mention that she climbed up on one of her toys with both feet? She can’t walk alone, but she can climb. Genius I tell you! GENIUS!

So our news of the day is that I’m going to be an aunt again!

Mike’s youngest sister is expecting baby #2 (another boy) at the end of July. So that’s 2 girls and 2 boys. Girl (brother’s daughter), boy, girl (ours), boy. So if I got preggers (*cough*) that would mean another girl, right? lol! But his other sister is also trying to get pregnant right now, so we’ll just have to wait and see. (And no that doesn’t mean I’m TRYING to get pregnant, it just means that if it happened we wouldn’t be terribly disappointed or anything).

Counting extended family, that will bring the total to 5 boys and 3 girls in the last 5 years. That’s a lot of babies!

In one week Melody has learned:

• That sitting under Little Girl’s high chair at mealtimes is a good way to get all sorts of delectable morsels which are dropped on purpose and not so on purpose
• To scratch on the door (sometimes) when she wants to go outside
• To stay calm in her small crate when we leave the house for awhile
• To stay calm in her big crate in our bedroom at night (which we refer to as her bedroom)
• That whining in the morning usually gets us up to let her out so she can relieve herself
• To bark at strange noises (including the sticker maker when I’m scrapbooking)
• That under the exer-saucer is a good place to sleep
• That her food dish is kept in her small crate, but that water dishes are kept in other various places that she can get to during the day

In one week she has started to learn:

• The meaning of “off”, “sit”, “outside” and “uh uh”.
• That the humans are not so happy when she uses the music room as her personal toilet (WHY the music room???)
• That she is not allowed in Little Girl’s room (and she will usually just sit in the hall and wait for us)
• That the doggie door is a good thing
• That jumping on small trash cans causes them to topple over on top of her
• That when Little Girl gives her toys, they will probably be taken away from her posthaste

What Little Girl has learned in a week:

• That puppies like attention
• That Melody likes attention from her far more than the other dogs ever did
• That she can play keep away with the dog’s toy and the dog actually likes it
• That puppies have sharp teeth
• That she needs to be able to get away from the puppy as much as the puppy needs to get away from her
• That the puppy likes to hang around her high chair at mealtimes and that dropping food for her is FUN! *sigh*
• That not all baby gates are able to be pulled up on (because they are not secured and fall and make loud noises which scare both Little Girl and Melody)
• That sometimes Mommy and Daddy’s attention has to be shared with Melody
• That Melody will give her kisses whether she wants them or not

So, lately it’s felt more like Spring than Winter around ye olde Sonoran Desert. But today? IT’S FRIGGING COLD! Right now at almost 10 am, the temperature is 47 degrees and feels like 38 degrees. And when the sun is out and it feels like 38 degrees in Phoenix (because of the wind chill dahling) that is COLD COLD COLD. And yes, I know some of you are bracing for some severe winter storms, but puhleez. Y’all are used to that. This cold stuff is tough on us thin-blooded people. I thought I was going to freeze when I took Melody outside this morning in my robe and slippers. I told her to do her business or let’s go back in the house already before I turn into an ice cube. But of course, what do puppies do when it’s cold and windy? They run. And run. And run. AND RUN. As for me? Too. Cold. To. Run. Or. Do. Anything. BRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!

I got this in an email recently, and I loved it so much, I thought I’d share it with you…

THE PRICE OF CHILDREN

I have repeatedly seen the breakdown of the cost of raising a child,
but this is the first time I have seen the rewards listed this way.
It’s really neat!!

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from
birth to 18 and came up with $160,140 for a middle income family.

Talk about sticker shock! That doesn’t even touch college tuition. But
$160,140 isn’t so bad if you break it down. It translates into:

* $8,896.66 a year,
* $741.38 a month, or
* $171.08 a week.
* That’s a mere $24.24 a day!
* Just over a dollar an hour.

Still, you might think the best financial advice is don’t have children
if you want to be “rich.” Actually, it is just the opposite.
What do you get for your $160,140?

* Naming rights
* Glimpses of God every day.
* Giggles under the covers every night.
* More love than your heart can hold.
* Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.
* Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, & warm cookies.
* A hand to hold, usually covered with jelly or chocolate
* A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites, building sand castles, and skipping down the sidewalk in the pouring rain.
* Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.

For $160,140, you never have to grow up. You get to:
* finger-paint,
* carve pumpkins,
* play hide-and-seek,
* catch lightning bugs, and
* never stop believing in Santa Claus.

You have an excuse to:

* keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh,
* watching Saturday morning cartoons,
* going to Disney movies, and
* wishing on stars.

You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator
magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand
prints set in clay for Mother’s Day, and cards with backward letters
for Father’s Day.

For $160,140, there is no greater bang for your buck.

You get to be a hero just for:

* retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof,
* taking the training wheels off a bike,
* removing a splinter,
* filling a wading pool,
* coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and coaching a
baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream
regardless.

You get a front row seat to history to witness the:

* first step,
* first word,
* first date, and
* first time behind the wheel.

You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family
tree, and if you’re lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called
grandchildren and great grandchildren. You get an education in
psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human
sexuality that no college can match. In the eyes of a child, you rank
right up there under God. You have all the power to heal a boo-boo,
scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a
slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits, so one
day they will, like you, love without counting the cost. That is quite a
deal for the price!!!!!!!

Love & enjoy your children & grandchildren!!!!!!!
What a bargain ! ! !

ENJOY THE JOURNEY!!!!!

Little Girl again escaped her play area. But not because the gates weren’t secure. They were. Well, apparently they were except for the bottom because she managed to squeeze through an opening that I don’t know if even Melody should be able to fit through. But this time? I saw her. And so I caught her before she got very far. HA!