Bring it on, Spring!

Every year, the time change surprises and annoys me. I'm ready for it to be done with already. Surely we could function just fine without changing our clocks twice a year. Would it really make that big a difference to people to just keep 7am where it is? Cows and such wouldn't know the difference, I'd bet you a dollar. That said, if changing the clocks makes Spring hurry up and get here, I'm willing to give this whole time-change thing another try. I've got the planting itch.

Speaking of trying things... I have some "Oikos" in front of me. Greek yogurt is WAY thicker than the yogurt I'm used to. Very odd. It tastes a little goat-y. Did I buy goat yogurt?? wth... it doesn't SAY it's made with goat milk but there's a distinctive upper-rear palate zest... Oh well. I'll live. At least it has blueberries in it. :)

Lily is 10 months old today. TEN! What happened to my tiny baby?? (Yes, I said it again. I will probably continue to say it, like every other mother, every 6 months for the rest of my natural days.) She's in what I call the perfect baby zone. Still roly-poly and cuddly but also learning how to snatch food, clap her hands and cackle at everything. 2 months till the big 1 and I'm getting excited. Also, starting to miss being pregnant but I'm sure that'll pass. All I need is a good session of both girls crying and maybe a muddy disobedient dog and I'll be SO glad to be done having babies.

Ugh... I have blueberry seed or skin stuck in my teeth and it's not coming out. How are we even aware of something that small being stuck in the crevice of a molar, anyway? It seems impossible... get a tiny seed stuck in your teeth and you'll know it but if your glasses are on your head, you'll continue to scour the house for 'em.

Soggy Mondays aren't so bad.

This morning, Izzy woke up at 7 like normal but after a bath and some snuggling, she went back to sleep. This NEVER happens. I was going to wake her up at 9:15 but she didn't respond to me stroking her hair so I let her lay there a while longer. I think Pullo must have thought I'd given up too soon because he went to check on her while I tried to get Lily to lay down and I heard cackling and 'Oh, Pullo, you so silly!' coming from our room.

The verbal skills of a 2.5 year old are always changing and impressive. This morning's fun sentence was "I did wake up and I want to get down and find and put on my tutu!"

Watching "Sid the Science Kid" with Izzy and the dog on the show isn't even a little bit anatomically correct. And they call this educational television. At least "Dinosaur Train" had an episode segment that was all about poop. Izzy thought that was pretty fascinating.

Lily is pulling up on everything these days. I'm not ready for her to be walking but it's exciting to see her reaching all these fun milestones.

Yesterday, Chad said something about having lots more kids. Izzy didn't take too kindly to that and told him "No, just two kids. 1 kid, 2 kids." I guess she figures she's sharing the spot light plenty these days.

No Gold for Team USA. :( Stinking Canada... I knew it would probably work out this way but it's still disappointing. Oh well. At least Brenden Morrow brings a shiny medal back to Dallas. Partial bragging rights are better than none at all! :)

New Year! New teeth!

Ok, not for me, tho... for Lily. She has two little tiny teeth and is just itching to use them on something yummy. She's working on learning to crawl. I wish I could remember being this age because it SEEMS like it would be terrifically exciting to be learning new stuff all the time. She looks like she's very pleased with herself when she gets up on all fours and starts to rock. Won't be long and I'll be wishing she didn't know how to crawl, as I chase her out of everything.

In 5 months, Lily will be ONE! I don't like to think about this at all. I was so thrilled to be having a second baby to enjoy all the baby stages again ad now she's moving along, inexorably moving towards toddlerhood and then childhood. Argh. Babies don't stay babies for long enough.

Tried out some new yoga poses today. Half Moon and... some sort of chair pose. Dear lord, it just about burned my thighs and calves up. I know it's good for me because I'm nowhere near as limber or toned as I'd like to be but jeebus... must it hurt so much? I'm determined to be in better shape, though. Not being fat isn't good enough, I need to actually be FIT!

New Year's resolutions: I didn't make any this year. Not even an Uber List. I need to, though. I have many crafts and projects I'd like to tackle this year, not to mention a kitchen/bedroom to reorganize and declutter. I'm determined to get rid of STUFF. If/when we have to move again, I don't want to have so much to pack or get rid of 'last minute'. It's exhausting to carry all this around.

You want me to WHAT? With my WHAT?

A month or two ago, we bought a used Wii. It was apparently a very gently used one, as the children it was bought for lost interest and started to play with their PS3. Ostensibly, we bought this Wii so we could buy the Fit/balance board and start being a little better about doing things to actually improve our physical condition. I won't lie. I didn't want a Wii because it seems like a time-suck but when the boy had his most recent physical at work and found out his good cholesterol is again too low and his BMI is too high, it seemed like a good compromise.

I think I have used the Wii about 6 times since it took up residence here. It's fun... don't get me wrong. It's not like I don't want to play around with it and unlock even longer Hula-Hooping challenges. I just don't have the time/energy to set aside for this thing. I'm too busy being active to relax and work out. Surely there are ways to use laundry, chasing a toddler, vacuuming and nursing as ways to improve balance, flexibility and core strength. And when I figure that out, I'll be super-fit and wealthy because I will indeed find a way to sell the secret to somebody.

Kid stuff:

Lily is now 4 months old and 17.25 pounds. Izzy didn't reach that weight till she was 6 months. I imagine Lily will be at least 20 pounds by Christmas. Izzy's only 27 right now so there won't be much of a gap left.

Izzy is talking almost like a full grown person. She still uses some baby-ish but most of her speech is clear even to outsiders and she uses sentences more often than not. It's astounding to me that the human brain can master all this at such a young age. I know it's been happening for millenia but it's a miracle every time, I think.

Random:

Preseason hockey is a little disappointing. Lots of new faces and not as much energy and excitement as I'd like to see. I'm hoping the regular season will be better.

Today: I have a massive headache. I'm pretty sure I just need to relax and not have my hair in a pony tail but the odds are not in my favor for having a nice long soak. Maybe once the girls are in bed, I'll get around to it.

Washed up summer

It's been raining nearly nonstop for three days now. I can't remember the last time we had weather like this. I hope this means summer is over because I am SO over summer. I've had more than enough of the unforgiving heat and misery. We might not be able to play outside when it rains but at least going outside doesn't instantly lead to a river of sweat cascading down my chest.

Chad is in D.C. again. This time last year, I messaged him to let him know Lily was 'in the oven'. This year, we hopefully have no such surprises. I'm not sure I could handle that right now. I tried to imagine that last night, just for the sake of 'what if' but... I really couldn't even think about it without feeling overwhelmed. My girls are everything to me... which means they are enough. I wasn't sure I would be done with Lily but once she was actually here, I knew I was satisfied. Two is plenty. Any more and I think I would feel obligated to enroll someone in daycare. Or bootcamp...

Dog days of summer...

Lily will be 3 months old tomorrow. She's a wonderfully happy and well adjusted baby. Sleeps great, talks to herself and us, sings when we sing to her, and smiles constantly. Also, as of Saturday, rolls over in her sleep!

Izzy is every bit a two year old. She sings and talks constantly. One of her favorite songs is Portions for Foxes because it's easy to yell 'Bad News!' over and over. :)

This heat is ridiculous. I want to go to the zoo one of these weekends but I just don't know that we'd actually end up enjoying ourselves. Stupid summer. Always miserable.

Sick baby...

I don't know if it's just really bad allergies or what but Izzy has been stuffy and feverish since Friday. It sucks. Her fever finally seemed to break Monday, after some vomiting throughout the day but the funk it still here. I hate it. It makes her appetite go away and she's not a big kid to begin with. :( She's sleeping now. I hope she feels better and more like herself when she wakes up. As much as I like her being all cuddly, I think I'd rather see her running around yelling and making a mess of the house. I haven't had to pick up her toys in two days. :(

Lily is doing well. Dr. appointment yesterday was sucky, because I waited an HOUR to be seen and then was told they wanted to do my glucose screening, which takes another hour. If they knew they wanted to do it, they should have given me my drink when I came in. That's how it went last time. I guess the new staff is just not on the ball. Makes me miss my nurse from last time even more. Where are you, Cecilia?? :(

I weigh 125 pounds. Not too shabby! I'm hoping I won't gain more than another 10 so it'll be easier to get back down to a normal weight after Lily is born. I'd be fine with getting down to 120 and staying there. Makes my clothes fit better. :)

Economic news sucks. Today there's some sort of Congressional grilling of the big bank CEO's. I hope they do more than just give a tongue lashing. There needs to be some true accountability. All those billions of dollars the banks accepted needs to trickle down to the small business owners or things will just get worse and worse.

Blah. Not much going on other than the day-to-day stuff. Laundry, dishes, cooking, cleaning... meh. I don't know what else I want to be doing but after a while, I just feel like a housekeeper/nursemaid. I kinda wanted to dress up and go out for V-day but financially, it's not terribly responsible and if Izzy is still sick, I won't want to go out anyway.

Two new babies on my mama-board. Carter Patrick and Kylee Marie: pretty pretty babies! I think that means we have... 12 more to go? Crazy how quickly we're having second kids. I would imagine a few of us wouldn't be if we hadn't been friends and found the support we needed through the first year with our firsts. So yay Friendship!! :)