Thursday schmursday...

Miss Busy Body and I pretty much hung out today and waited for the Verizon man to show. While the waiting around wasn't a whole lotta fun, the end result was! We had that new FiOS system installed, which has made a huge difference in the amount of time it takes to upload pictures, such as the ones I'm posting today.

And while I waited on the sofa, reading up on my Parents Magazine (yeah, I'm that exciting!), Miss Piddle Pot couldn't contain her excitement so she waited impatiently at the door:


But then, as usual, she couldn't stay still for more than 1/2 a second before she was off! I managed to give her a quick bite to eat and change her diaper before she was insistant upon moving (hence the lack of diaper in the next photo!). Next stop??


Yep, the lovely dog bed. For some reason this is her favorite snugging nest and she inevitibly winds up cuddling on it and manages to snag a few dog toys in the process. Of course, Quin isn't particularily fond of her interest in his bed but being the easygoing fella that he is, he politely gets up and heads to the next comfy spot; our sofa :)

And while we waited for the late-but-better-than-never Verizon guy to show up, the Hubster came home for lunch to say hi to "his girls". This is one of the things I love about his job; he's able to make impromptu visits, as his office is very close and he's the boss, applesauce.


So Miss Lauren hung with her daddy for a bit while I managed to eat my lunch ALONE, which was beyond Heavinly. You see, when you have a baby that is very perceptive to people eating and is mobile enough to join you, you have no choice but to share your grub. Therefore, I very rarely get to eat my lunch alone. Instaed, I end up sharing my food with a drooly little girl who contently double-dips in all things mommy's.

Anyways, the Verizon guy sauntered in hours later and the FiOS system was installed without a hitch. And while Justin and Verizon Man BS'ed about computers, routers and other stuff that had zero interest to yours truly, I took out my trusty camera and began snapping away. You'd think it wouldn't be too hard to get a few decent pics of such a beautiful little girl, but you'd be wrong. Why? Because Miss Busy Body will NOT sit still so most pics end up blurry and fugly. But alas, I ended up with two that I think are pretty cute...the pic below and the one at the top of this post. If you haven't looked at the top pic, go look at it. She's too cute not to. I mean it, Go!

Lauren: then and now!

It's no secret that Lauren was a "high-needs" baby... she was from the day we brought her home from the hospital. She just knew what she wanted and that was all there was to it. It was up to you to figure out what that need was. And if by chance it took you longer than 3 seconds to decipher what it was that she needed, she'd let you hear about it in the form of screaming, piercing cries!! She constantly wanted to be held (moreso than most babies), needed to be entertained 24/7, needed to be rocked asleep over and over and over, she was Colicky, etc... needless to say, I often longed for the day when she would be just happy and content.

Well, that wonderful day is here. Actually, it's been that way for a couple months now and man, is it fun!! Justin and I were just talking last night about how fun and enjoyable she truly is. Back when she was a newborn, there wasn't a whole lot of fun going on. Between sleepless night, sore ouchy breastfeeding sessions every 30 minutes, poopy diapers, burping and spit up experiences, there really wasn't much time top enjoy her because there was always something she needed. Sure, she was sweet and cute and cuddly, but the vast majority of our time was simply keeping her fed, clean and warm.

Now that she can play, she is loads of fun! She plays peek-a-boo, gives Hi-fives, claps when you say "Yay Lauren!", waves bye-bye, etc... she really has a great little personality and I have such a blast playing with her these days. And honestly, it's the simple things that make her happy; a good pot and wooden spoon are enough to make her day anymore because she adores all things loud and obnoxious sounding.

And when she seems tired of our usual surroundings, we head out to the mall, to the park, to our Mommy and Me group, to the Library for story time, on a walk with our pals Elizabeth and Nathaniel, to her "Tiny Turtles" class, etc... Back when she was an itty-bitty baby, I couldn't really take her out much because I was always worried about her crying and not being able to soothe her. These days though, we are all over the place...we've even gone out to lunch at "Red Robin", just the two of us, where we shared a Strawberry Lemonade and some Spinach and Artichoke Dip :) She was such a good girl and even the waiter kept commenting on how happy she was. I was beaming...not only because she was so good, but also because I vividly remember waiting for these exact days when she'd enjoy herself like she does these days.

Anyways, I uploaded a couple pics of Princess Piddle Diddle and I this morning. As usual, we were going out for the day...and as usual again, she enjoyed herself thoroughly :)



(Oh, and for the reference, I know my teeth look weird in this pic...I promise it's the glare and not platinum caps..haha!)

The start of Baby's Brownie's nursery...

First off, isn't she just the cutest thing you've ever seen? She loves, loves, loves these bears and manages to hoard them all to herself...hence the reason there's 4 bears in that crib with her (two are on the other side of the crib and she's laying with the brown bear and the green bear is being smothered under her). She's such a snuggly little girl :)

Great news today...the baby has started kicking me!!! And I'm not talking that "fluttering" feeling. I mean real, hard kicks and when the Hubster gets home tonight, we'll see if they're strong enough to be felt outside. But because I'm feeling these kicks early (4 1/2 months) and the fact that they are frequent, leads me to believe that we may end up having a soccer player, in addition to the little Princess that lives here :)

Anyways, as promised yesterday, I'm going to post pics of the new nursery. It seems so surreal to be decorating another nursery so soon but it was SO much fun! We put Miss Busy Body to bed last night and then began setting up the furniture we had purchased earlier that day. Luckily we had already painted and hung up the chair-rail, so the scene was set for his/her crib, dresser, etc... The dresser we purchased came with the crib as a set. However, it's not quite big enough so we purchased a bigger dresser that matches the set as well and this smaller one will find it's home in the closet where it will house blankies, burp cloths, diapers, etc...

And, I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I decided to go with a Classic Pooh theme (I say I because Justin could care less about the theme, as long as it's not mucho expensive or hideous and luckily it's neither). I contemplated doing this Pooh thing for Lauren but instead chose to do a Safari theme in her room. And I'm so happy I did because the vivid colors and animals totally fit Lauren...she is such a spunky lil' thang and she adores animals, so I'm happy that her room is the way it is. This time though, I decided to go with a nice, peaceful room filled with Classic Winnie the Pooh stuff. My room was Winnie the Pooh when I was a baby and I think it's very fitting that Baby Brownie have the same :)

So here they are:

I really don't think these pictures do the room justice. The paint color is so pretty and you just can't tell that from these pics (as well as the Tigger above which looks brown rather than the burnt orange it is). And even the Pooh comforter doesn't look as nice as it does it person. Ah well, come over and see it one day and I think you all will agree how cute it looks in there... but I recommend waiting 'till the baby is in the room because it will look much cuter in there I think!

Sunday

Wow, it just dawned on me that it's been a whole week since I've blogged my lil' heart out! Anyways, we've been busy this past week which is why we've been MIA.

But today, Papa bear, Mama bear and the baby bear pretty much just layed around the house and hibernated. It was raining and such, so Piddle Diddle and I lounged around in our jammie's ate Strawberry cake...well, she got fruit chunks and I indulged in some cake :) And Justin, not a Strawberry cake fan, lounged around in his holey pants and shirts and ate a bite (or 30!) of Spice cake I made him a while back.

We did, however, manage to escape hibernation for a bit when we went and bought Baby Brownie's nursery furniture. Yep, we're ahead of schedule and it feels SO good to plan and prepare for this new addition.

It's late now but I will post pics tomorrow...good night all!

Monday, Monday...

Yep, just another day cleaning up and chasing after the soon-to-be-Toddler Tornado :)

Miss Piddle Diddle figured out two things today; 1) Our attempts at blocking the fake plant (that she loves destroying!) is no longer working because she crawled through the chairs that barricaded it and 2) she learned that drawers and cupboards open (surprise, surprise!) so she tried out this new discovery on everything that resembled drawers and cupboards!

Here are our rather futile attempt to "jimmy-rig" the chairs surrounding the forbidden plant:


And here's more proof that where ever she goes, a mess is sure to be made! Here is my bathroom before Miss BusyBody visited:

This was my bathroom moments later:

Oh, and for the reference, no peaceful, luxurious master bath is complete without an Intelitainer to keep your incredibly mobile child from getting into further trouble...just wait, childless friends!!

And here's more...I once had a nice clean kitchen this morning. That is, until Piddle destroyed the cupboards contents:


And when you attempt to tell her no, she gives you this "Are you talkin' to me?" kind of look:


I kid you not, these messes are made day after day after day. And before you all freak out that Lauren was investigating bottles and cleaners and such under the kitchen sink, I was standing right next to her baking a cake. So she was supervised at all times...you just hung up the phone with CPS, didn't ya??? :)

And speaking of cake, I made this early Valentine's Day cake for Justin today so that he could enjoy it tonight. He had one small slice before we left to grab a bite to eat and he thought it was delish. Go me! Anyways, we get back home from getting dinner and this is what was left of the cake:

Dumb stinkin' dog!!! A whole cake, wiped out by one obnoxious, piggy Boxer. Ugh! Needless to say, Justin wasn't too pleased with him and he ended up getting banished to the kitchen for the remainder of the night.

And while Quin sat alone in his solitary confinement, Miss Piddle indulged in some Cottage cheese and Blueberry delight. This girl LOVES, LOVES, LOVES to eat. You set anything in front of her face, and she's already lickin' her chops (well, minus green veggies but who can blame her??). So she practically ate the entire container of cottage cheese and fruit...and then even drank her bedtime bottle!


I love her gorgeous blue eyes in those pics...and the fact that blueberry is covering her sweet face! And of course, before heading to bed and getting our jammies on, we took a cuddling break and Miss Lauren was attacked by the kissing, hugging mommy:


So that was our day...more adventures to follow tomorrow, I'm sure! Good night everyone!

Brrrrrrrrrr....

You'd think being in the desert that it wouldn't be so stinkin' cold here. But apparently the word "desert" means freezing because that's what it's been around here....freezing. I know some of my East Coast friends would like to strangle me right now as they're hibernating in -4 degree weather but I'm seriously not used to this 30 degree crap.

Anyways, Miss Piddle Diddle and I go for a walk every morning...it's been our routine for quite some time now and we both love getting out in the fresh air (as does Sammie!). However, we've had to make a few adjustments now that it's colder than a witch's....ah, nevermind :) The most adorable adjustment is this new pink accessory:


But as much as tell her how beautiful she looks in it and how I'm keeping her male admirers at bay, she pulls and prods and yanks on the hat to get it off. She really isn't impressed that it keeps her head warm and her ears even toastier...she apparently likes her noggin to feel like the inside of a freezer. But with this chilly weather we've been walking in, there's not much room for compromising so she eventually gives in and I have my way with her snuggled in her Children's Place hat.

I took a few pics of her in the hat because she temporarily forgot it was still attached to her head and I knew I'd most likely never get another chance to capture her cuteness with it on. Isn't she just beyond kissable???

Rockin' the 'hawk :)

Notice the Mohawk?? Hehehe...


Because Quin and Casey weren't used to babies climbing and crawling all over them, they started to get really annoyed when Lauren approached them...and I started to get nervous. Luckily my mom agreed to "swap" dogs so that they would be in a home without active babies ruling the roost. And knowing how much my mom spoils her dogs, I know they're in Seventh Heaven over there. Perhaps it's the cottage cheese and canned Pedigree that gets mixed into their food every morning and night, lucky dogs!

Sammie, however, wasn't so lucky because she now lives with a very busy little girl:) Actually, in all honesty, she loves it here. We're home pretty much all day long so she gets constant attention, as well as daily walks, rawhide's, car rides, scavenging after Lauren attempts to feed herself, etc...And the best part is, she ADORES Princess Piddle...I mean truly adores her. When she wakes up from a nap, Sammie is at her crib immediately, waiting for kisses. It's too cute!

So, "switching" dogs (I say that even though Sammie has always been mine) has been a great thing for Lauren and I. The only thing about having a dog that LOVES babies is that Lauren's hair frequently ends up like this:


Yep, daily baths are now an absolute must because I can't stand the thought of dog saliva saturating Piddle's wavy locks. Blah!


But I guess that's a small price to pay for such an awesome 4 legged friend. And even though she's a Pitbull *gasp*, I would trust her over a Chihuahua or Poodle any day :) Don't believe me? A burglar could break in, no problemo, but they might have a tough time leaving because she would seriously lick them to death!

Prego pics

I wasn't very good about taking pictures last pregnancy because I thought I resembled a beached whale. Looking back though, I wish I had. So this time, I'm going to try very hard to take monthly pics whether I feel like a whale or not. This is the first batch of prego pics at 4 months:


Oh, and while I sat here loading the pics into this site, Miss Piddle Diddle decided to browse through all of my scrapbooking stuff...such a helpful little thang :) So now I'm off to clean up what my little Tornado has destroyed...

10 months old!

Officially 10 months...my little girl is 10 months old already. Who allowed that to happen?


I thought it would fun to look back on this post one day and reminisce about Lauren's milestones. So be prepared; this post may bore you to tears. If it does, my apologies...skip past it :)

At her 9 month appointment, Miss Piddle Diddle was 27 1/2 inches and 18 lbs. She's certainly "chunked" up in the past few weeks though, so I wouldn't be surprised if she's hit the 20 lb mark by now. She has two teeth and there are signs of other Pearly-whites poking through so I think it's safe to assume that we will have new toofers before the week's end!

Miss Lauren is a babbling machine. As far as I can tell she doesn't use any words with intention but she does plenty of babbling and screeching (still!). Dadada is a favorite when she's happy and mamama is used mainly when she's fighting sleep....sooooo not fair! I spent 25+ hours in labor and she insists on saying daddy's name when she's happy and mine when she's not! Okay, rant over, I'll continue... She makes lots of cute silly noises now (like nananana), esp. in her crib when she's cooing and talking to her "bear friend".

And boy, this girl can crawl!! She's literally all over the place now. One of her new "tricks" is to lower her head when she begins crawling so that she gets there faster...it's a riot! One minute she's in her playroom, and the next she's on the other side of the house. She's still very, very active and always has things to do, whether it's chase the cats, or the dogs, open up the doggie door, or life the tab to make the water pour out of the Sparkletts container :)I swear, I'm having a hard time keeping up with her these days! She's been cruising the furniture for a few weeks now and has just started getting on all fours so that she can get to a standing position. She wants to walk so bad and I think that's coming up soon.

She loves doors and drawers and is endlessly fascinated by opening and closing them over and over and over. She loves pots and pans to bang on also, so we "play" that game alot. She can now wave bye-bye but her most favorite past time is clapping. She claps when she's happy, when she's excited, tired, angry, you name it...this girl loves to clap! She is now kissing and giving hugs too, which makes up for the lack of naps lately :) Miss Lauren is still in love with Tessa, and when she spots her, she begins laughing and laughing...she loves her kitty! She still wants to be held 24/7, which gets pretty tiresome on my poor arms but I hold her alot because I know she will only want me to hold her for so long...

As for eating, Lauren is still taking a bottle but LOVES finger foods...she eats everything and anything; fruits, veggies, breads, meats, pasta, ect...If we're eating, she MUST have a bite!

I think that's covered all milestones and personality traits for right now so here's a few more pics of our silly little girl:

Being sick sucks

I woke up this morning with a killer headache, sinus pressure, and "action" happening at both ends; the mouth and the hiney. Yeah, it wasn't pretty. But before I could wallow in the pathetic-ness that was me, Miss Piddle Pot began bellowing and hollering for us to come and get her....NOW! Minutes later, Piddle emerges with daddy, the remnants of a runny nose covering her face. Uh huh, my day just got a whole lot better. Ugh.

So Piddle and I stayed home, in our jammies and let the sickness flourish between us. I felt pretty bad but I can assure you, it was nothing compared to how Lauren felt. She had a slight fever all day, would barely eat, was a fussy, clingy mess, and worst of all, she didn't nap...alllllll day long. I so could have used a little nap today myself, but I was instead forced to carry and coddle her at all times. Having a sick baby is the pits.

I don't quite understand it; the Princess isn't in daycare and she's not exposed to sick kids. I guess another possible cause for catching a cold is if she lived in a filthy mess. But after vacuuming daily (hello dog hair!), keeping the house clutter free, sanitizing the floors and counter tops, dusting, etc..., I think it's safe to assume she didn't catch this nasty bug from her home because her mommy is too anal about keeping it clean. I read a few months back that the average child gets sick 10 times per year. At the time, I'm thinkin' "Big deal" but after having a fun-filled, snot-nosed, whiny mess of a day, I take the "Big deal" thought back. It's now "How in the world am I going to manage 1 sick child, let alone 2?!?" I'm thinking of perhaps inventing a "bubble" that I could quarantine Lauren in...

But in the midst of her crankiness, whining and irritability, Miss Busy Body did take time out of her no-good-very-bad-day to investigate. Sure enough, after realizing that I got a moment of peace with some heavenly quiet, I found Piddle in the bathroom:


Apparently, the toilet paper was far too fascinating to pass up so she practically unrolled the entire thing. I had cleaned up much of the mess before realizing I should take a picture of her naughty antics and so here she is, once again, with a small portion of her treasure:


Anyways, here's to hoping that the flu/cold bug that's residing in our home will take a permanent vacation. But until that happens, us "sickies" will be here, downing gallons of chicken noodle soup and OD'ing on Robitussin :)

Happy New Year!

First off, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Ahhh, 2008...where in the world did the time go??

It's a bittersweet feeling; 2007 was the year our baby was born and I can no longer say, "she was born in March". Now I have to say, "March 2008!". I know, I know, it's going to be difficult to mutter those four numbers after March but I'm hoping I can successfully ;) So 2007 is gone, and yet, 2008 will be the year our baby is born too! And in case you're wondering, there will be no 2009 baby...I promise!!!

Anyways, funny thing happened this morning. I woke up and immediately noticed that Casey wasn't dying to get into our bedroom. She usually sits outside the door and waits to be let in. However, with no Casey outside the door, I went in search of her and found her frantically scratching and pawing at something under the couch. This is a pretty frequent thing because dog toys and balls usually find their way under the sofa so figuring it was a toy, I scooted the sofa over so she could get it. As I scooted it over, I looked down and saw something with fur MOVING!!! I screeched loudly for Justin and when I did, this "thing" started moving more! So the Hubster and I corralled the baby and pets and put them in the playroom, while we attempted to wrangle the beast (which, by the way, I assumed would be a squirrel or something that lay there half dead). So the sofa gets lifted up and out comes this HUGE HUGE HUGE Tomcat, weighing in at seriously 20 lbs or so!!! That cat must have gotten though the doggie door overnight, and somehow managed to make it to the sofa, which is on the complete other side of the house. I'm shocked he was still alive, because the dogs were practically foaming at the mouth with the thought for Tomcat for breakfast. Luckily we opened all the doors before moving the sofa so that when the poor cat took off, he escaped outta one of the open doors. I imagine he ventured in because it was freezing butt cold last night and he felt the coziness and warmth from inside our home. But hopefully the dogs scared him enough that he won't make that mistake again!

Anyways, Miss Fancy Pants and I have been busy and tonight is no different. Justin is getting Oggi's takeout (6 cheese pizza...yum-o!) and we are planning a nice, quiet evening for a change...that is, if Piddle Pot allows that :)

What pregnancy does to your brain...

I've read countless times that pregnancy can affect one's brain...so much so, that there's a name for it: Pregnancy Brain. Because I am sure that I've contracted this deadly, horrific disease :), I looked it up so that you all don't think I've gone nutso. My What to Expect book says "Pregnancy brain is a "condition" that affects expectant mothers, and is characterized by short-term memory loss or forgetfulness. Hormonal surges, combined with the fact that pregnant women must eat for two and may be getting less sleep, are contributory. A great deal of the mother's time is taken up with thoughts of the baby, so forgetfulness is expected." There, I don't feel so crazy now!

So this morning Miss Busy Body and I are getting ready to head out for the day. I walk over to the front door and reach down to pick up my keys...this is the same spot I keep them all the time. Anyways, the keys aren't there. I set Piddle Pot down and go in search of them. I look into her playroom because she thinks mommy's keys belong in that personal toy store of hers; they're not there. I check the SUV, thinking they got left in there; nope, not there either. I come inside and scan the house; nothing. Now I'm feeling a bit frazzled. I check under the Curio Cabinet next to the door, I check behind the piano, I check in between the couch cushions, I even check the refrigerator, thinking maybe I inadvertently set them inside...again, nothing.

By this time, Piddle is voicing her frustration that I was not paying attention to her and I was starting to really worry. You see, these keys have a chip in them, so that no one can steal the car. A new set of keys must be bought at the dealer, which costs $270 (I know, we just had a set made for the Hubster). Anyways, I called Justin and told him my dilemma. Needless to say, he wasn't happy because we'd have to shell out a lot of dough for replacement keys...not angry but you could just tell he was concerned. He tells me he'll be home soon to help me look for them and we hung up.

So as I'm waiting for him to arrive, I'm thinking of where they might have walked off to :) As I'm backtracking, I remember that Lauren and I went to A & W yesterday and that was the last time I used my keys. When we got home, I remember taking Lauren out of the car with one arm because my other arm was carrying the lunch. And then I remember dropping the keys into the A & W bag and walking inside. Then it dawns on me; the keys are still in the bag. Woo-hooo!

All is great for 5 seconds until I realize that the trash man had come yesterday...ugh, my heart begins to sink. At that point, Justin pulls into the driveway, and feeling all hormonal and emotional, I tell him where they went and begin crying like a big 'ole baby. His face lights up a bit as I'm telling him this and he walks outside, goes to the trashcan, and pulls out a bag of trash. I'm dumbfounded; the trash was picked up yesterday! As it turns out, the can was full so he put yesterdays trash (which contained the A & W bag) into the garage until the next trash day.

Justin opened up the trash bag and sure enough, the keys were in the A & W bag. Justin thought it was hysterical that I could be so forgetful but I was mortified! I began spewing out Pregnancy Brain info and he laughed and gave me this look like, uh huh, sure! How freaking embarrassing :)