Terrible Blogger

I have been a terrible blogger lately. Robbie was working out of town in September meaning I was a single mom for a little while. Hunting season arrived which took us to the Centennial Valley last weekend. I killed our computer in September by accidentally downloading a virus after uninstalling Norton...brainy, huh? Fortunately I was able to get our pictures onto an external hard drive. We got our new computer this week so I hope to do some catch up work.

Updates on Katie Rose:
Still not walking but growing increasingly frustrated (motivated) to figure it out.
Her bottom teeth came through a while back and now her top teeth are descending. They're the cutest little teeth ever!
She's also learning to bite and is leaving teeth marks allover her crib.
She says several words if you can call them words. She was saying Mo for more and learned sign language for "more." She's forgotten somewhat now that she feeds herself. She says Dadadadada and Mamamamama and No No No No No. She says Daw-dah for dog. She can't say kitty but she makes a hard "K" sound when she sees the cats.
She's getting a little temper and shakes her legs really fast and screams when she's not getting what she wants or when she's restrained from flipping around during a diaper change. She's learned to pick at the diaper stickies and pull them apart.
Her favorite foods are apples, blueberries, bagels, any kind of bread, seasoned rice, cheerios, eggs, shrimp - yes, I've given her shrimp, gerber pasta pickups, bananas, and most anything else besides green beans and a gerber stew we tried out. She spit that all down her front.

I can't believe she's almost 1...and that I already want another one...but we will wait.... More later!

For the Love of Adorable Dresses Part II

I posted an entry a while back about little girls, namely little southern girls, in adorable dresses. There is no disputing the fact that girls are more fun to dress and their clothes are much, much cuter than boy clothes which are expected to be more durable, less frequently ironed and starched, and appropriate for playing in the dirt. Here's a story about the foofy outfit that *almost* could.

Our friends Keith and Kelly got married August 20th and her colors were lavender/purpley and white. Meredith, my best justification-to-spend-more-than-I-should-simply-because-it's-adorable-and-perfect-for-the-occasion friend, and I had been gushing over different dresses and outfits we found online that would be oh so perfect for Keith and Kelly's wedding. I went to Strasburg Children's website a few months ago and found this ensemble:

This ensemble at the time was priced at 76 dollars which I nor Meredith could justify so we lamented and moved on looking for something else. Katie Rose has plenty of beautiful vintage dresses so it wasn't like we had nothing; It's just fun to shop. Ok so downtown Bozeman has a kid's consignment shop near where I work. I casually walked in one day during my lunch and low and behold, this very outfit was on the rack in her size for, get ready, THREE DOLLARS!!!! I couldn't believe it. What luck! What a prize!

I took it home and showed it to Mom who was also amazed at my fantastic find. She was at my house showing some other outfits she bought for Katie Rose. She said, "Let me take that home and I'll iron and starch it for you so it'll be all ready for the wedding. I'll take home some other dresses too because you know she'll spit up on the one outfit, and you should have another one or two to change her into throughout the party." Oh, perfect I thought. Things were falling right into place.

Then things took a turn for the worse. Mom had Katie Rose on the couch with her playing dress-up to make sure the new items fit. While Mom was holding her, Katie Rose spit up green goo allover the new purple outfit. She wasn't even wearing it and spit up allover it! But Mom was confident she could get it out with a little goo-gone and took it home. A few days later Mom came back over to our house with the ironed dresses. She had a solemn look on her face. She said, "Lee, please don't be too mad at me....pause....I got the spit up stain out of the outfit, and I transformed it from a wrinkled mess into a sweet, sweet outfit.....longer pause.....But, I accidentally got bleach allover the front of it. I am SO SO sorry." My unbelievable buy was ruined and had to become a play outfit...an outfit that could get - SIGH - dirty.

But - The relief is that we did only pay 3 dollars for it. And it happened to a store bought outfit and not one of the dresses Mimi made for me. Mom and I would have cried if that had happened. I suppose one shouldn't place too much value on material things because afterall, spit happens.

*Katie Rose ended up not going to the wedding at all, not because she didn't have an outfit, but because Robbie and I realized that at her age, we might have more fun without her. She was perfectly content with zero regard for her clothing at home with Grumpa and Mama V where she played outside, got food allover her play clothes and hair, and mouthed every filthy, soggy tennis ball she could find. Baby bliss. The outfit has been worn once while riding in the car to Stevensville the day of the wedding. It has since been washed and has returned to the wrinkled mess it started as.

A Different Kind of Summer

In my last post I said something about this summer being a "different kind of summer." My friend Erin in Mobile commented that every summer will be a different kind of summer until our kids are out of college. So basically that could be another 25 years or more. I suppose we'll have to redefine different or rather, normal. Then my friend Todd said last night that as we get older we can take on more. Can we really? Or do we take on more because we have to?

This summer has been different from last summer and different from any summer I have ever had. I mentioned that Robbie's employer has not consistently had work so he has been working out of town off and on for at least a week at a time. The last time I wrote he had been gone for 3 weeks in July. He's been gone 2 weeks in August. We are coming to realize that living in Montana means beautiful skies, outdoor opportunities, a slower paced life, a safe community, and many other joys (like low humidity = good hair days)...but it also means that depending on your job, you might have to go where the work is. We have not been camping one time. Maybe Labor Day??

As for Katie Rose and me, we've been doing just fine despite being alone. I miss Robbie's help and the house is a total mess, but K Ro doesn't mind. She makes me so happy. I delight in the sight of her and the joy she expresses each and every morning when I get her out of her crib. The first few months of her life were tough - I was a new mom and she was a fussy baby, but at almost 10 months old, I cannot imagine anything more wonderful. I'm in love.

She has gone from a wobbly puller upper to a jack-in-the-box who pops up on every piece of furniture she can reach. At her 9 month well baby visit, Dr. Idzerda said she was perfectly healthy. She is in the 25th % for height and the 40th% for weight. She also watched her bear-crawl around and told me to not be surprised at all if she's an early walker.

We have also switched daycares. Meredith, aka Auntie M, will be closing this fall so we decided to go ahead and change so I had ample time if things didn't work out. Katie Rose loves her new daycare. She doesn't say so, but I know she does. Yesterday when I picked her up I took her in my arms and held her for a few minutes while I talked to Miss Kathy. K Ro actually started leaning toward her and crying wanting Miss Kathy to hold her! I wasn't expecting that! And while it broke a tiny little piece of my heart (very tiny), I was relieved and happy to know how comfortable she feels there. Miss Kathy says Katie Rose is a social little girl who loves to play and loves to eat. Mama's girl, for sure.

My How Time Flies

I've been a terrible blogger. We said all last year that the summer of 2009 was just a different kind of summer with me being pregnant and Robbie working and all the preparation that goes into having a baby. Well, I find myself saying the same thing for the summer of 2010. It's just a different kind of summer. Everything is different with an infant in tow, but this summer has had some different kinds of challenges.

Just before 4th of July Robbie's employer laid everyone off for a period of time. Fortunately a friend of Robbie's in Stevensville was able to set him up with a contractor doing HVAC...but that meant Robbie was in Stevi until Midwest could hire him back. He was gone for 3 weeks and for 3 weeks I was a single parent. I'll admit the break was nice at first. I got to pick up my girl and come home for our nightly routine. After a while though it got to be stressful when I had to drop her off, pick her up, feed her, change her clothes, bathe her, refill the humidifier, and put her to bed. Thank goodness she sleeps through the night!! That would have been awful had she not. Robbie is back now - yay! - but it threw a kink in all the fabulous weekend plans we wanted to make. We have not been camping once! Mom and Dad were also around to give assistance.

So back to Katie Rose. She is 2 days short of 9 months old. Our little baby is graving up. That's what I used to say insteading of growing up. In the 3 weeks Robbie was gone she and I bonded. She's quite attached to me which I love but she will still go to strangers without fuss. I know she's attached because she'll be good all evening while Robbie has her and as soon as I walk in the door she starts fussing, crawling to me, and pulling on my pant leg. As annoying as that can be, it delights my heart.

Katie Rose's tricks:

Crawling! She started crawling at about 8 months old and loves her new mobility and freedom. I believe this is what she's been wanting her whole life thus far.

Doing headstands, sort of. She'll go from crawling to a "bear stance" with her feet on the floor balancing on her head. It's so funny.

Pulling everything down everything she can reach. As Dad said, everything in our house that she can pull down and break has moved about 4 feet off the ground.

Making sounds - DA DA DA DA DA DA DA TA TA TA TA TA TA TA TA then she'll whisper ta ta ta tat a yayayayaya. Music to our ears!

Cutting her first tooth - I just discovered it last night. It's the most beautiful tooth I've ever felt. She seems to be handling this just fine for now. She sticks her tongue out alot but doesn't seem any crabbier than usual.

Happy 4th of July

Over the 4th of July weekend Robbie went to Stevensville to work for the week so I was with Taylor and Gynn Gynn Friday and Saturday. More about their visit later...but on Sunday I had the baby all day at home before we went to a 4th of July party at the Ross' house. I spent all morning leisurely playing with Katie Rose until I realized I needed to get ready and make a rice salad which included going to the grocery store and go to the liquor store. Yes, that's right. I took the baby into a liquor store by myself on the 4th of July. I felt like mother of the year. There were 2 bottles I was contemplating and when K Ro put the entire bottle neck of one in her mouth, the choice was made. At least she looked cute. And she's a big girl now that gets to ride in the cart. She loved it and yes, I disinfected it.

Baby Buzzkill

Let me preface this by saying I adore my baby and love her so so so so much. But in certain circles she is affectionately known as "Baby Buzzkill." We use this title when we talk about planning something that would be alot more fun or at least alot more convenient without an infant in tow. You know, things like canoeing, camping, staying out late partying, going to a play, going out to dinner, etc. It's not that we can't get a babysitter now and then or that we hate taking her along but it's a different kind of outing when she goes and it always ends early.

So as some of you may know we just returned from a 10 day trip to Mobile. Robbie, Katie Rose, and I all went and she was truly an amazing, well behaved baby for nearly the entire time except for the first night we wanted to go out. We arrived on Friday and Saturday night we went downtown (without the baby) to Taylor and Tyndal's dance recital while Mom kept the baby. After the recital Robbie, Shelly, and I went to Hopjack's on Dauphin Street to have some food and beers. I had just finished my 3rd microbrew which contains a higher alcohol content than regular beer and was feeling pretty good when Mom called. Mom said, "Oh Lee, I'm sure the baby is alright but she's been crying for nearly 45 minutes and I can't seem to calm her down!" Baby Buzzkill strikes!! I assured Mom that she was fine and probably just needed to cry and let go of the stress of travelling and being in a new place. Mom didn't sound so sure and said she would call me back in 20 minutes if she was still crying.

Now I knew that BB was ok but being her mommy, my radar was up and I lost all prior concentration on the delicious beers and food. I kept waiting for the phone to ring and it never did. I waited and waited and waited and then started sending text messages and trying to call Mom to make sure she was ok. All the fun and energy I had put into the evening was totally gone and I couldn't think of anything else besides how she was doing and whether or not I needed to go home immediately. We went to Grand Central - an hold haunt where apparently my membership card from 2003 is no longer valid and I had to pay cover and get a new card! - had one drink but at that point I knew I had to leave. The buzz was over and dead. We walked to the car where I could still hear music coming from the bar. I contemplated staying but after a few minutes of sitting in the car with sad faces, we went home.

The next day Mom and I were talking about the evening and why she was crying like she was. Mom said, "You and Ross never did that! I never got a call from the babysitter." I replied, "That's because she had the sense not to."

More from the vacation later....

Katie Rose Gets Excited for Dinner

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com