Swimmy Lessons

We have been very busy lately and I haven't been able to write! I wanted to make sure that I wrote down our swim lesson experiences!

I never had swimming lessons growing up. Of course I had two lake cabins and grew up around water so swimming was just something you did. With Ella I wanted her to have that same sense of security around water so we started swimming lessons at the YMCA. I call them her "swimmy lessons" and we go every Monday.

The first lesson was less than fun. Going by yourself for with a small child is not only a little scary, but it was exhausting. When we first started she couldn't crawl so I could change her into her pink poodle swim suit and plop her down. Now that we are on our second session she has learned to crawl, therefore she has learned to CRAWL ALL OVER the gross disgusting floor. I have learned to corner her with the dressing stools on a towel. My poor child is in swim jail!

So far Ella has learned to reach for foam letters, "jump" into the pool, dunk under water, float on her back, and stare at the other kids laughing like they are nuts. She always seems so unenthused, but at the same time she doesn't act like she hates it so we keep going! My child is just very serious. Swimming is a serious activity in this household.

Here are some fun photos that we finally were able to get taken thanks to daddy taking a day off of work!

Here are the things that swimming lessons have taught us:

1. Mommy is more afraid of baby in the water than baby is.
2. Swim diapers are not made to hold pee...
3. Three towels is a must
4. Just because your child isn't smiling doesn't mean she isn't having fun
5. Do not place your child in car seat in swim diaper (see #2)
6. No one is looking at mommy in her swimsuit if you put baby in a pink poodle suit. Trust me, they aren't.
7. Naps before swim are very important. VERY important.
8. When it is cold outside the pool is warm, when it is warm outside the pool is ice cold. Go figure.
9. Babies do not mind getting a mouth full of water
10. You will look like an idiot singing in a circle with your baby, but see #6

So fun! I highly recommend swim lessons. People always look at me strangely when I saw we take swim lessons, but it is really just something for mommy/daddy to do with baby and a good way to get baby to get used to the water. Plus, HELLO pink poodle swimsuit!

Sleeping is for losers and other fun times...

Ella would like to say that sleeping is for losers. All cool kids know that waking up all the time is awesome. You should all try it sometime. It makes for a super grumpy mommy, squealy baby, and a frustrated daddy. Or you know...be a loser...and sleep. That's cool too.

So needless to say, sleeping is not really happening in our house and hasn't been since about February. Fun times. I've read a ton of books and blogs and asked for what other people have done and then I came to the conclusion that I have no idea what I'm doing so I'll just wait it out a little bit longer and try again. That's all I'm going to say about that, and I feel that helps to describe why I haven't been blogging lately.

Since Ella is now HALF A YEAR OLD I thought it would be fun to do a list of her top 10's. Here they are, Ella's top 10 things!

10. Bouncing up the stairs at night time.
9. Singing head and shoulders
8. Playing in the exersaucer
7. Jumping up and down on the bed
6. When daddy comes home
5. Bath time aka make a big wet splashy mess time
4. Daddy kisses on the tummy
3. Chewing on things - everything really
2. Rolling around the floor
1. Boobs

So yeah...boobs still win out. Here are her least favorite top 10 items

10. Getting in the carseat
9. Socks
8. When something inhibits rolling all over the floor
7. Those bumpy things on the cement in the doorway of Costco (the cart going over that is not cool)
6. Pickaboo that goes WAY too long
5. Putting on a onesie
4. Getting out of the bathtub
3. Whenever mommy leaves the room
2. Feeling hungry
1. Sleeping at night

So that is what is happening in baby land! Hooray for this kiddo!

Angel Baby Easton

Last night my online mom group was rocked by the loss of one of the babies - Easton. He died in day care during his nap. It is one of the hardest things being a mom knowing how much this mom's heart must be breaking. Before I was a mother the loss of a child was sad, but I was incapable of knowing the devastation. I haven't been able to stop crying or holding Ella tight. We just don't know how long any of us are here, or how long our loved ones will be in our lives. Please all of us give our sweet loves hugs today, Valentine's Day as today is not just about romantic love, but about appreciating those that have enriched, lightened, and touched our lives each and everyday. I know some are anti-Valentine's Day saying it is a made up holiday by the card companies, but to me especially this year, it is more about taking a small moment to thank heaven for those people who we have and who we have lost.

Sending my love and prayers to Bridget today.

Here is my sweet love - who I am holding on tight to today and always.

Valentine's Day Game!

I found this blog that has a game to play for Valentine's Day, so here we go!

1. How long have you and your significant other been together?

Let's see...we started dating when I was 17, took a few years off, so probably 8 years.

2. How did you meet? {What's your "love" story?}

We were both in band in High School so we met in class. I remember the first time I really "saw" him was at a band concert when he was wearing a red island print shirt and a thick metal necklace right before the steel drum band performed. He was cute and super cool and I was super dorky. We were really just friends at first, I thought he liked my friend Lindsey. He asked her to the homecoming dance and I didn't have a date so I convinced Chris Parkin to ask me. We double dated and we realized that we liked each other better than our dates, even though Chris was super cool, funny, and seriously the most talented person I know, he was just not "the one". I put that in there because he really is cool...and now a professional musician and I think I sort of made him hate me after this whole double date disaster. I'm sure he is over it...

Here is the great photo of that night.

3. If married, how long have you been married?  {do tell}

We got married June 14, 2008, so 3 years!

4. If you are married, where did you get married at? Big or small wedding? 

We got married at Fort Wright Mukogawa in the Chapel. It was semi big, 200 people invited. It was much bigger than we wanted and we had to cap it because of seating in the small chapel.

5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another? Do share!

Ugh no I actually hate nicknames. Sometimes I call him Husband and he calls me Wife. So maybe that is nickname enough...(this photo has nothing to do with this I just like it...ha!)

6. Name 3 things you love most about your honey.

           1. He is funny, and thinks I'm funny. We are just funny people! (see photo!)

           2. He is really smart - he is a doctor after all! He just has this ability to learn and interpret   

               things that amazes me. He also teaches me things like sports and spelling. I suck at spelling.

           3. He loves me. This sounds weird, but the way that he loves me is amazing. I am somewhat 

               emotional and crazy at times and he is so grounded in his love that it brings me back and 

               makes me feel safe.

7. Tell us how he proposed?

I don't really have a good proposal story. We were buying a house and I was kind of freaking out because I just never envisioned myself buying a house without being married. After signing the papers which took twice as long because we weren't married, he asked me to marry him. It was sweet and real, not all puppies and rainbows.

8. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries, champagne, and rose petals?

Um...is there another option? Ha! I guess flowers but no teddy bear, since I'm not five anymore. I'm not a super big Valentine's Day person, but diamonds are always nice. (wink wink) This photo has nothing to do with this, I just don't have a photo to match and you can't go wrong with baby photos...best gift he has given me!

9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch?

I'm a sunset dinner on a beach person, but more often then not we are a watch 30 Rock reruns type of couple. It's all good - you can't go wrong with Tina Fey!

Or maybe a Mariners game with a Ichidog...

10. Tell us one thing you'd like to do with your significant one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere?

I want to go back to Europe with him, sooner rather than later. We had a great time, but missed Ireland and Wales which were on our list of to do's. I also would like to tour more of England. We had such a good time last time and are the best travel buddies! After that Brazil, Australia, and Italy. Of course we do have on the list Boston and New Orleans so we'll see how much of this traveling gets done with a little one.

11. Tell us what you plan on doing on this Valentine's Day.

Stay home with the Bean. I am going to make homemade Fettuccine Alfredo and maybe cheesecake or something. Oh and some wink wink...HA!

12. Are you asking for anything this Valentine's day?

Not really, just some time with my family. Maybe a nap if possible since this doesn't have a snooze button...oh how babies change things!

13. Give us one piece of advice of keeping a relationship strong and full of love.

Laugh and laugh often. We try not to take ourselves too seriously, and sometimes it is hard, especially as a first time parent. Just try to remember that it is supposed to be fun. Oh and it helps if are the same political party so you can watch the Daily Show and not get in a fight, you both love
"good" beer, and root for the same college team.

 

14. Show us a picture of what love means to you.

(ps I don't LOVE the way I look, but the feeling is total love)

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Playtime

Before I was a mom I would get really hurt when my friends would refer to their "mommy friends". What was I "childless friend" "married but not procreating friend" "selfish career working friend"? Why the categories? It wasn't until I was a stay at home mom, lonely, and in desperate need of someone who knew what I was going through to talk with. I tried with my other "childless friends" but it is hard. I think looking in you think that being a parent can't be that hard. Sure there is poop, crying, throw up...but the emotional toll it can take is something very different. I can't really describe it, but at the same time my "childless friends" are actually the people I like to spend more time with. It reminds me that I once was a normal person that did not have to worry about smelling like sour milk. Oh and also it is nice to NOT talk about babies for once...go figure. So even though I enjoy my time with my "childless friends" I know that I need to branch out if not just for my sanity but for Ella to meet other kids.

Well in my attempt to find "mommy friends" in the community known for their social freeze (Seattle is very well known for not being openly friendly...just trust me on this), I joined a mom group.

Yesterday Ella and I attended our first playgroup. It was at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park. It was a zoo. Tons of kids of all ages and moms, dads, grandmas, pretty much everyone! I was going to be a part of a mom group in my area, but when I got there I had no idea where I was or who to talk to. I felt like the first day of school.

In 6th grade I moved to a new school and that first day was one of the most frightening things I've ever done. You don't know anyone, and at first it is okay because you have assigned seats and everyone introduces themselves, but then recess and lunch happens. I skipped the assigned seats at the mom group and went straight into recess but now I had a small child attached to me. I'm not saying people weren't nice, but if it weren't for the fact that my child has only been around two other children, each for only a few hours, I would have ran away.

I found a spot next to two moms of similar aged babies, but talking was impossible with the loud and busy children running around. I kept looking at Ella because the other babies were fussy or unhappy. What was my Ella doing? She was sitting there smiling. She apparently loves other children. This is a blessing and curse, because while mommy wants her to be social, mommy herself had a slight panic attack with the sticky and smelling toddlers that were rushing around her.

Story time and songs then started, which is always Ella's favorite things. I moved her hands with the songs and she smiled and laughed as little my little the other small babies left to go home. We were there the whole time and Ella was happy and excited. I have a little social butterfly I guess!

I met the organizer of our mom group, but when I introduced myself she had a blank look like she had no idea I would be there. The 6th grader in me wanted to run and hide, she wasn't even expecting me? Ugh. I think it must not have been the best first time mommy experience. I'm proud that I forced myself for Ella's sake, I just know that mommy herself needs to learn to let go of the scared 6th grader and learn to find friend at recess.

Needless to say...I think we have a lot more baby dates in the future.

A Day in the Life

So the mommy group I am apart of suggested everyone write a "Day in the Life" post of what you do. It was supposed to be last Wednesday, but since that was Brad's birthday and Ella's 4 month shots I decided to wait. I picked yesterday.

It was Monday, which is a pretty typical day for us, plus it is grocery day! Woot! So here is our day in pictures when I remembered...okay I'm super bad at remembering to take pictures!

6:50am
Ella wakes up with Brad's alarm. She tries to go back to sleep but just couldn't. I got up to feed her and just when she finished she passed back out so I put her back in her crib and also passed out. No photos because we are not morning people. Glad my baby is not a morning person....Ha!

9:00am
We wake up for the day. Yes I know, be jealous. Ella nurses and then it is mommy's turn for breakfast. Yesterday I made some killer blueberry muffins so I munched on those with my coffee while Ella played with her BFF the doggy her Great Grandma gave her for Christmas.

10:30am
Time to figure out what's for dinner. I get out some cookbooks that I haven't used yet and Ella helps mommy pick out what to make. Yes that is my coffee cup on the ground and my baby's perfect toes. That's how we roll people.

11:00am

Ella goes down for her nap. This sounds like she just happily rolled off to dreamland, but in reality falling asleep is a very rough, tear filled and kicking screaming affair. She then passes out in my arms after rocking and then I sneak her into her crib. I take a shower and peak in on her. She is awake so we get dressed and then start going through the paper and our coupons to see what deals we can get!

12:30 - 2:00pm
We get ready to go and take off to the store. I went to Safeway and then Walgreen's. There are no photos of this because I forgot, but we were very cute and Ella had a wonderful time talking to people in Safeway. Talking or yelling, in babyworld it is all the same. Some people smiled, some gave me dirty looks because they think she is crying. Eh - she is just a talker. She falls asleep in Walgreen's so we hurry home and she goes down for her nap.

2:00pm
I realize I forgot to eat lunch so I had my favorite - cereal! This Kashi stuff is delish!

I then make pizza dough for our BBQ Chicken Pizza.

I also vacuum, clean the downstairs bathroom, do the dishes, check on baby, do the laundry, check on baby. Now I'm weirded out because she is still asleep. I then watch some DVR shows and finally baby wakes up.

4:30pm
Prepping dinner with my little helper!

5:00pm
Ella has a little mini-meltdown, as you can probably see coming in her frowning helper photo. We then play on the floor, in the Exersaucer, singing, dancing.  Yeah. That is Once Upon a Time in the background which is why she is faced away (please don't write hatemail about how I'm letting my child watch TV so I'm an awful person.)

6:00pm
Daddy gets home and dinner is just about ready. I then make everything for dessert - Blueberry Gallette. One of the things that totally rocks about preparing before you go to the store is that you learn that blueberries are buy one get two free so you can make yummy things...I always have a frozen pie crust handy so this was a no brainer. The second photo is the pizza. For some reason the cheese looks like apples. It is cheese. I don't know...

7:30pm
Daddy and mommy watch jeopardy. Daddy rocks it while mommy just says she likes Bob the best. Bob loses. Boo.

8:00pm
We try to watch Todd Margaret (show by that guy from Arrested Development). It sucks so we turn it off.

8:45pm
Daddy has a show down on his football game with his best friend - he scouts out the opposition and tells me all of the secrets to him winning. I pretend to care...then my friend Becky calls me (hooray!). She talks about her mother in law who is very sick, her kiddos, and pretty much everything girls talk about. I haven't talked to her in four months so we had a lot of stuff to talk about together.

10:00pm
Daddy gets Ella ready for bed and tells me he lost his game. I say that I don't marry losers. He says it is too late. We laugh and then go to bed. Ella sleeps like a champ all night.

The end!

Scarborough Fair Chicken

My dad bought me one of my most prized Christmas gifts - a red dutch oven. I love it so much because it makes me feel like a cook. Oh and it makes good food. But the whole feel like a cook thing is pretty much awesomeness. I've made a lot of things in it - chicken noodle soup, chili, and roast chicken but all of them were from my one cookbook that I always use and to be honest is the greatest thing in the whole world - the good ol' Betty Crocker cookbook. He bought me this book - Glorious One Pot Meals to go along with my new obsession so I wanted to make something easy to start out with since some of the recipes are tricky and very bold flavors and I wanted to slowly get Hubby into the idea of how awesome this pot really is without freaking him out.

Photo from Amazon linked above.

I made Scarborough Fair Chicken p 149 to start with. Now I forgot to take pictures and we ate it up right away so use your imagination here...

Ingredients
Olive Oil Spray
1 cup rice
1 cup plus 1 tbs brother or water
1/2 to 3/4 lbs chicken breasts
Sea Salt and ground pepper
3 to 5 garlic cloves
3 to 5 shallots
1 medium zucchini cut into 1/2 inch slices
1 medium yellow squash cut into 1/2 inch slices
5 fresh parsley sprigs
3 fresh sage leaves
4 fresh thyme sprigs

So here we go - spray the heck out of the top and insides of the dutch oven. Put in the rice as a thin layer and cove with the liquid. Place the chicken, then the garlic and shallots all chopped up on top. Then layer in the zucchini and squash and finally poke in the herbs where you can. Put the lid on top and bake for 45 minutes in 450 degree oven. Serve all mixed up and delish!

Now Hubby was a little scared of this one. He took a bite and then declared "It is much better than I thought it would be!" Gee...thanks. It was really good. Just take my word for it, the herbs and chicken yummers! I used brown rice which was a little more chewy but since I hate rice I was cool with it!