Sick Baby

My poor little girl had a rough day today. She was definitely not feeling well. Coughing, and a runny nose (that kept going and going and going....), and she just looked tired all day. She took a long nap in the morning, and ate ok, but just wasn't herself. We realized that she had a fever after lunch, so she got some Tylenol and played for a little while in just her diaper to cool down a bit (it was warmer in the house today since it was finally NICE outside for a change!)

Her fever did go down, and she played a bit, but you could tell she just wasn't feeling like herself all day. She ate well, but didn't want her bottle before bed, she just wanted to sleep! Hopefully she'll get a good night's rest and be feeling a little better tomorrow!

Troublemaker

Since Mara started crawling last weekend, she's been starting to figure out where she can get into trouble. She usually heads for the tv stand where she can grab a video game controller or something equally fun!

She also enjoys cords...usually my laptop cord, but last night she discovered a few cords for the TV.

Tonight she apparently wanted to give Oliver a big hug! I can't believe how quietly he sat while she basically pig-piled on top of him! After that she followed him out to his food dish. We knew she wouldn't eat the cat food, but we did get a little nervous that she might break one of the dishes! (and Oliver watched cautiously to make sure she didn't steal any of his food!)

Nothing is safe anymore!!

Nine Months Old

I can't believe that our little Maralyn is 9 months old today! She's now been on the 'outside' as long as she was on the 'inside' -- and the 'outside' time has gone WAY faster! ;)

She's having a rough afternoon (has a bad cold and possibly some teeth coming in), so it was hard to get any decent pictures of her. These are the closest that we got to a smile. And once she figured out that she could get up on her knees and grab the lamp, she went for that instead of sitting.

I have a feeling our days of 'easy' photos are in the past!

We went to the doctor yesterday for Mara's 9 month appt and got her 'stats' for the month:

Weight: 22lbs 9oz

Length: 28.5 inches

She's a big girl, but her weight has slowed down a bit (she's now AT the 97th percentile instead of ABOVE it!). Our doctor said she looks great! Well, duh! :)

Another Christmas Present!

Today Mara got a package in the mail! It was from Laura and Daniel...they were afraid it had been lost in the mail, but it finally arrived (maybe it WAS lost for awhile!). It was like Christmas again!

What a cool gift! Jay of course was excited because it's Mara's first video game! It looks like fun, and something she'll be able to enjoy for a long time, since some of the cartridges are for babies, and some for toddlers.

Thanks Laura and Daniel!! :)

Home

I'm at home today. I went to work, and got a call around 7:30 that Mara had thrown up at daycare. She's never done that before, and several of the boys there have been sick lately. Yuck!

She seems ok since we've been home. She has a bit of a cough, but drank some water, and took a bottle fine. She's napping now, so hopefully she'll be ok when she wakes up. Our fingers are crossed that she isn't getting sick, but that it was just a one time thing.

I brought my laptop home, so I've been able to do some work here too. Hopefully we'll all stay healthy! Have I mentioned lately that I can't wait for spring??

Lazy Sunday

We had a pretty lazy weekend. Mara ate some very messy food for lunch yesterday (vegetable beef I think?). Couldn't resist the picture. What a mess! Later on, Jenna and Derek came over to play. Mara showed off with a little crawling, and then showed everyone how her toys worked. She didn't mind Derek's hat, as long as it stayed out of her eyes so she could keep playing!

In other news, my head was feeling pretty good for the last couple days...at least until this afternoon -- now the dang headache is back. I'm hoping it's just weather-related since it's so cold again. But maybe I need to think about going to the doctor...I guess (can you tell I'm reluctant??).

New Carseat

Mara is out-growing her infant carseat, so we decided to take a look at the next carseat. We bought these a few months ago, but hadn't checked them out yet. She looks like such a big girl in this one (although not an especially happy girl in this picture!). It will definitely be less convenient since we won't be able to just grab the infant carrier and go, but she is getting way too heavy (and tall!) for that. I was hoping to make it through the winter, since it's easy to just throw a blanket over her in the carrier, but at least we made it this long I guess.

Hopefully Jay will install these today so we can start using them. Crawling, and a 'big girl' carseat...Mara is growing up way too fast lately!

Crawling!

Mara crawled last night for the first time! She's been so close for awhile, and last night she did it! She was pretty hesitant, but there was some definite crawling going on! After awhile (Jay kept moving her tosys so she had to crawl to get them) she got tired and was just dragging her legs behind her, but hey...at least she was moving forward instead of backwards, which is what she had usually been doing up until now! Jay got it on tape, and I got a few pictures (not like you can really tell that she's crawling in pictures!).

I'm interested to see if she remembers today that she can do it or not! So far she's just dragging herself to where she wants to be, or rolling there, but I'm sure at some point she'll remember that she can get places a little faster if she crawls! It's probably a good time to go get a baby gate or two!

(I'll see if I can figure out how to post a video here...otherwise I might be able to link to it if I can't post it!)

Red Lobster, Take Two

The last time we took Mara to Red Lobster I forgot my camera - it was her first trip to the restaurant and her first time sitting in a high chair at a restaurant (yes, everything is an 'event' for me).

So, this time I didn't forget the camera! Mara was such a good girl. She just sat in her seat, watched us, and watched everyone around her. She barely made a peep, and played with the kid's menu they gave her (maybe someday she'll order something off of it - they even have a crab legs option!).

When we were leaving, we stopped so she could watch the lobsters in the tank - she seemed interested, and even giggled at them. Very cute!

We stopped into Barnes and Noble since we were nearby, and wandered around there for a little while. They have an awesome kids book section, so Jay read Mara a book while I looked around.

Next on our list of things to do -- get a small stroller! The stroller that we have is nice, but it's huge and we definitely need something smaller for trips like this! Mara is way too heavy to just carry around!

We are SO lucky!

We've been so lucky with one major thing since Mara was born. SLEEP.

It's a pretty major thing, as any new parent will tell you! And I try not to take for granted how lucky we are. She has consistently slept through the night since July (about 10 weeks old). That was the first time I tried to start a bedtime routine for her, and it worked. Sure, she's had a couple rough nights here and there, and sometimes she'll put up a little fuss before she falls asleep, but for the most part, we have been extremely lucky.

Sometimes on the weekend (when we don't have to get her up for daycare) she'll even sleep in until 8am. I used to think that was early. Now, it's a chance for me to sleep in, and I love it!

I'm not going to jinx anything here, so I'm definitely 'knocking on wood' as I type this!

I realize this is NOT the norm for a lot of parents, and I try to really appreciate it every night!

When she's being a difficult toddler (or teenager!) I'm sure I'll look back on these 'easy' days -- when I could put her to bed and she'd talk to herself for a little while and then go to sleep, and Jay and I would have the evening to ourselves. I'm definitely enjoying it while I can...it could change at any time. But my fingers are crossed that it won't!

A Historic Day

Wow.

I am overwhelmed watching footage from Obama's Inauguration today. What an amazing scene. I was getting teary watching it this morning. Luckily at work they had it on in one of the breakrooms, so I was able to watch President Obama being sworn-in, and was able to hear his speech (since it was pretty much impossible to see it online!).

I wish Mara was a little older, so she could appreciate the history that is being made today! What a great feeling, knowing she will grow up in a time where an African-American President is possible --and is a reality!

I'm looking forward to seeing the direction that Obama leads our country!

I am very hopeful for the future of the USA, and very proud today!!

A Quiet Night

Thankfully I had a quiet night tonight. I still have my headache! But tonight it hasn't been nearly as bad as last night.

I was worried that it would be a rough night, since Mara had an 'off' day at daycare today. She refused food (that's unheard of for this girl!), didn't nap well, and just didn't have a good day. She was fussy when I picked her up, which is also rare. She was crabby when she got home, but once she had a bottle and some food, she perked up. She had a nice night playing, and went to bed easily. Not sure what the issue was today, she may be teething, but we'll see how she's feeling tomorrow.

We've just been watching some TV, and I'll probably read a bit and try to go to bed early again. My fingers are crossed that this stupid headache is GONE tomorrow!!

The Headache That Won't Go Away

I've had a headache since Thursday.

It comes and goes, but it's never totally gone. I can numb it for awhile, but it always comes back. I thought it was weather related at first, but now I'm not sure anymore.

I'm really hoping this isn't a sign that my normal headaches are coming back. I had been doing pretty well, and enjoying the 'drug-free' life. I'm hoping this will go away.

It's hard to feel better when you have a very vocal 8 month old around too! I'm just trying to drink a lot of water, and I think I'm going to go lay down now, even though it's only 8:15. Luckily Mara went right to sleep when I put her down tonight, so hopefully it will be a quiet night.

And hopefully tomorrow it will be gone!

I'm feeling kind of productive today

Usually Sundays are a pretty lazy day for me, but I've actually gotten a few things accomplished today. I love lists, so here's my list for the day!

-Washed, dried, and put away two loads of laundry
-Organized Mara's clothing - boxed up two big boxes of clothing to pass on to my friend Maggie. Moved some bigger sizes into Mara's drawers and closet, and packed away the smaller sizes.
-Cleaned up some other things in Mara's room (how does an 8 month old have so much STUFF??)
-Organized the books on one of my big bookshelves so I can see which books haven't been read yet! Also made some stacks of books that I can swap or sell.
-Went through the 200+ photos that I got in the mail yesterday -sorted them into groups and labeled them so they're ready to be scrapped!
-Made a list of other photos that need to be ordered for Mara's scrapbook

Besides that, I did some dishes, read a little bit, played with Mara, and watched some football. Not bad for a day when I didn't even change out of my pajamas!

I'm still hoping to get a few more things done tonight. I want to get my scrapbook supplies organized and my desk cleared off so that I can get some scrapping done at home...I haven't done any for awhile, and I'm getting way behind! It would be nice to get papers and colors picked out for each set of photos that I sorted earlier too, so that everything is ready to go when I have time to scrap! Then I need to pack my lunch for work tomorrow, and pack Mara's daycare bag, and should probably clean up the kitchen too...

So, that's my productive Sunday! Always nice to get things done around the house.

Change of Plans

Today we were supposed to head up to my sister Shelly's house to hang out with them and our friend Andrea (and her husband and kiddos), and for dinner. We started driving, and the further we got, the worse the roads seemed. People were going really slow, snow was blowing, and covering the highway in places. Saw a couple cars in the ditch, and I was starting to get nervous. We decided to turn around. I knew if we went, I'd just be nervous the whole drive up there, and then nervous the whole time we were there about driving home. So, we stopped at my parents for a little while since we were close by and we hadn't seen them for a couple weeks. Grandpa and Grandma were excited to play with Mara, and she showed off by ALMOST crawling (really close this time!!).

When we got home, I took off Mara's hat, and her hair was so sweaty and messed up that it looked like she had curly hair! Poor girl!! We had stopped for some food, and got ice cream too. I wanted to see if Mara would eat any of it, since she's so picky about what she eats (she loves baby food, but isn't interested in anything else!). Anyway...she didn't eat that whole spoonful in the photo, but she DID seem to like the little lick that she got, although she made a funny face at first of course! She started yelling for more, but after a couple licks I decided that was probably enough for now.

We might watch a movie tonight, otherwise I'll probably just read, or maybe try to do something productive around the house...

Hat Hair

This is how Mara's hair looked tonight after taking off her hat. And TWO hoods. And a blanket. (Yeah, it was that cold!). I love her outfit today...it was the warmest thing I could find to put her in, and even though it's a little big, it looks so cute and comfy!

We've been playing upstairs most of the evening, since it's so much warmer up here. Thank goodness it's going to start warming up a little bit tomorrow.

Mara will be going to bed in a little while, and then I just plan to watch some TV (new episode of The Office tonight!) and then read a bit. I could probably find something productive to do, but I'm feeling kind of lazy!

ok...now it's REALLY cold

Apparently yesterday wasn't all that bad (ha!). Tonight and tomorrow are going to be even worse. They have already closed a lot of schools in the area for tomorrow because of the cold. Even Rochester is closed, which rarely happens. The windchill is supposed to be 40 to 50 BELOW zero, with actual air temperatures of -25 to -30. That's just nuts.

I'm not looking forward to taking Mara outside in this weather! Not looking forward to taking MYSELF outside in this weather! Luckily, it is supposed to be a little bit warmer this weekend and by next week. 20 degrees will feel tropical after this week!! Heck, even getting up to ZERO would be nice.

Baby, it's COLD outside

It's COLD. I'm ready for spring!!

Mara spent the day at home with Daddy today (daycare is closed for a few days). She'll be home again tomorrow too. It's VERY COLD here, so it was a good time to spend all day in nice warm pjs! She got these from Grandpa and Grandma for Christmas, and they are sooo snuggly and warm (not to mention really cute!). I wish I could have spent the day at home in my pjs too! It's one of those days when you barely step outside and you're already chilled to the bone! And it's not going to get much better in the next few days!

Can you see the hint of green in my hair in the picture here? No one has really seemed to notice yet (or maybe people are just too polite to comment?), so I'm just going to let it fade out by itself!

Shopping

Yesterday I went to the mall. I am NOT a big shopper. I usually avoid the mall. I mean, I love shopping for stuff for Mara (a little TOO much, sometimes!), but just don't shop that much for myself. Besides not wanting to spend the money, I'm just not the kind of person that likes to shop (my mom can vouch for me on that one!!). I don't like trying on clothes, and I don't like dealing with the crowds.

I had some giftcards, so I headed to Macy's first. Tried on a few things, and decided on a sweater. It was regularly $60, but was marked down to $30. It also had a sign near it that said 15% off. I was pleasantly surprised when it rang up as only $12! What a deal! I wish they had the sweater in another color too, I would have gotten it! I found a couple other things, also on sale, and even got Mara a couple pairs of pjs that were half off (yes, I know, I don't need to use MY Christmas gift to buy things for her, but it was a good price!). After all of that, I still have $30 left on the card, so I might go back sometime and see if they have any shoes that I like.

I also have several Barnes and Noble giftcards from Christmas, and had a couple books that I wanted to pick up for sure. That store was PACKED and I have no patience for that (normally I can browse through a bookstore for hours!), so I grabbed the books and left without looking around too much.

It was really nice to do a little shopping, get some great deals, and not have to 'pay' for any of it!!

Hair Update

Ok, this is kind of an awkward looking photo, but it's the best I have. So the part that looks 'green-ish' (almost gray too) is mostly towards the bottom in the front.

Can you tell? It looks different every time I look at it. I'm not sure if I should just leave it, or what. I think it looks worse in person than in this picture - it really doesn't even look that green in the picture. But, I'm not sure I really care anyway! I went shopping today and no one looked at me funny (that I noticed anyway), so maybe it's fine! haha.

I read some articles online and someone said to try KETCHUP. Huh?? Apparently soaking it in ketchup can get the green tint out. WEIRD. I almost want to try it, just so that I can say I did it! I actually saw it on quite a few sites online...

I need to get a better photo. For now, I'm just going to leave it. I contemplated getting some more dye, but I really don't want to make it end up looking worse. I think I can handle it looking a little weird for awhile, and eventually it will fade or grow out!

I hope my hair doesn't turn green...

I decided to bite the bullet and color my hair tonight. I'm so used to being a blonde, but it's growing in darker lately, and I've been trying to decide for awhile if I should 'give in' and try coloring it a little bit darker than usual, to help it blend. I like being blonde, but it's a lot of work! So, tonight I tried "dark ash blonde" - which looked REALLY DARK BROWN as it was sitting on my head! I rinsed it out, and am just kind of waiting to see what it looks like. It's a bit darker than I thought it would be (although a lot lighter than it looked before I rinsed!), and since I had some old blonde dye on some of the hair, I'm a little concerned about how that part is going to look once it dries...it seems to have a slight gray/green hue right now, but it's hard to tell if that is just because it's wet, or if it would change after a few more washes...

As much as I enjoyed green hair in college, I don't think it would go over quite as well now that I'm 29! So, keep your fingers crossed! And if it doesn't end up looking TOO scary, there may be a photo or two in the future...

Package!

Today Mara got a big Christmas package from Aunt Lisa and Uncle Alex! She was very excited (probably would have played with the package for awhile as if THAT was the toy!).

But when we opened it, we found something even more exciting! A fun toy - a Busy Ball Popper! Jay put it together, found some batteries, and the fun began.

Mara loved it! She started giggling immediately as the balls popped around, and tried to grab them as they popped out. Definitely entertaining to watch!

Thanks Lisa and Alex! For entertaining Mara...AND for entertaining me and Jay! haha...

Silly Baby

Mara has lots of toys. So, the obvious choice of what to play with is a remote, a catalog, and her own socks, of course! Silly girl.

She is getting really close to crawling now! She's scooting all over the place, and I'm trying to enjoy these last days of her not getting into EVERYTHING! (although she's still managing to get into SOME things!) I can't believe how fast she is growing up!

Daycare is closed for several days now, so Mara and Daddy will get some quality time together before he goes back to school next week.

I wore purple and gold for THAT??

Obviously the Vikings didn't get my letter. Or blatantly disregarded it. Either way, we're done. One and out. Am I really surprised? No. Did I hope for better? Absolutely.

Oh well. Maybe next year...

My parents came over to watch the game, and Mara decided a nap wasn't going to happen this afternoon, but was still pretty well behaved. We ate pizza, and held out hope until the big touchdown by Philly. After that, I was wishing the game had been blacked out after all.

Maybe this was Jay's fault. After all, he was the only one in our house not wearing a Vikings shirt! Yep...I think I'll blame him!! ;)

Dear Minnesota Vikings...

Dear Minnesota Vikings,

Please don't blow it today! Please?

A home playoff game! Take advantage of it! Let the crowd affect the other team. But not you guys. No stupid penalties. Don't hand over the game. Hold on to the ball. Don't overthrow EVERYONE. Protect the quarterback.

Pretty please?

Love,
Katie

Crafts

The last few months have been pretty busy, and I haven't been keeping up with my crafty stuff as well as I would have liked.

Obviously my big craft project recently was Mara's stocking, and I got that done in time! But there are several other things that I'd like to get done, so I've made a little list of things that I want to accomplish in 2009. I'm sure I'll be adding to the list as the year goes on!

--Mara's cross-stitch birth announcemnet - I started this when I was pregnant, and it got put on the back-burner after she was born. I really want it to be finished by her first birthday!! It's ALMOST done, just need to finish up some details...

--Jay's stocking - I'll be starting this early in the year so I'm not frantic to finish it up at Christmas time!!

--my stocking - see above!

--Mara's scrapbooks - I was doing really well on Mara's scrapbook until about October, and haven't had time since then. So now I'm several months behind again (and have TONS of photos that need to be ordered and scrapped!). I need to catch up!

--Ireland scrapbook - it's been a year and a half since we went, and I haven't even ordered photos! Narrowing down the 2000+ photos will be the hardest part of this one!

--Other scrapbooks - I need to finish up my wedding scrapbooks, and work on family albums...

I don't have any specific sewing projects in mind, but I would love to do some sewing this year too. I've been wanting to make a quilt, so maybe I'll be able to get started on that...

Yikes. Maybe I should get started right now!!

One Last Christmas...

Today we celebrated Christmas with Grandpa David and Uncle Larry. Mara got several gifts, and had a good time opening them, and playing with toys and reading books.

Oliver enjoyed cramming himself into one of the boxes.

Mara was spoiled a bit by others that sent gifts, so a big thank you to everyone!

I think Christmas is now officially over for us!

Happy New Year!

I can't believe it's already 2009! We celebrated last night by going out to dinner at Timberlodge with Jay's Dad, Uncle Larry, and my parents. Mara was such a good girl the whole time! She sat happily in the high chair while we visited and ate. The food was great, and it was a nice night out.

I have a cold and haven't been feeling the best, so after we got home, I read in bed for awhile, and then took some Nyquil. I think I might have made it until about 10:30pm, but not even close to seeing the ball drop. Oh well, maybe next year!

It's hard to believe that this year Mara will turn ONE year old (in only 4 months!) and I sadly...will turn 30. I still have 10 months of being in my 20s though, so I guess I'll try to enjoy them!

Happy 2009! I hope you all have a great year and make lots of memories!