3rd Time's The Charm

I finally remembered to take my camera with me to the DuPage Children's Museum today! Andrina and I have been there twice before, each time meeting up with Anne and Auntie April. Today Andrina and I went by ourselves but we met Auntie Doreen there who was eager to spend time with us and we enjoyed seeing her! Andrina especially loved playing with Auntie Doreen as you can see in some of the pictures.

Andrina loves going to the children's museum. Actually, being such a happy baby (oops, I mean toddler) overall, I'm not at all surprised how much she enjoys it there. Before we went, I was skeptical that it was worthwhile for her being that she is so young, but she just loves it. After the first time we went there, I decided that I would buy a family membership and take her there at least once a week. And so far, it is working out. The only thing that is not working out is going in the mornings. Andrina wakes up between 7 and 8 am, then takes a 2 hour long nap starting between 9 and 10 am, depending on when she woke up, I put her down for her morning nap 2 hours after she wakes up because that is all she can handle. Well, when we go in the mornings, she misses her 2-hour long morning nap that I, as a full-time presently stay-at-home mommy, really need. I love being able to take a shower, read, or go on my computer during that time. But when we go to the children's museum in the morning, Andrina misses her morning nap and then falls asleep immediately in the car on the way home (because she completely wears herself out there). And then she does not nap for the rest of the day after coming home from the children's museum. So, until she gives up her morning nap around 18 months or so, we are going to have to go to the children's museum after she wakes up from her first nap of the day and after her lunch. But we will still go, and this time frame will be better for her because she can also handle a longer period of being awake in the afternoons as opposed to the mornings. And she will also have had her morning nap, making it also less stressful on me so I'm not getting up an hour before she does so I'm all ready to go when she gets up and eats, hurrying to get out of the house. And I will have less mommy-guilt because she won't ruin her morning nap because of the outing!

"New X Files Movie" or "I Am A Nerd"

Yep, you call tell by the title that I am a nerd! I am a big X Files fan! So is Tom. So are my father and sister Doreen. Tom and I happen to have the entire series, all 9 seasons, on DVD and a few years ago we actually watched every episode in order. It took us several months to do this.

We were very excited to hear that a new X Files movie was coming out. So was my dad. He was very, very excited. So excited, that he said he had to see it opening weekend. This is from the guy who does nothing but work and occasionally watches a football game while folding his socks. For my dad to actually want to see a movie, then make plans to go see it is a HUGE deal for him. This is completely out of the norm for him. Trust me, he never goes to see a movie!

So today, Doreen, me, and our dad went to go see it (Tom is in LA at some charity party). My mom babysat Andrina while we went to the movie. I was really excited to see it too. So excited that I played music from the series on my iPod while us three drove to the theatre together. I'm a big fan and a nerd (but hey I did get an education so it all works out). I loved the series, I loved the romance between Mulder and Scully and my big question before seeing the movie today was: Did Mulder and Scully finally get together? Ok, so on the series, after years and years of working together and unrequited romance, they finally spent the night together and they had a baby. Which the baby had telekinetic powers and was in danger because the government wanted the poor baby for his powers. So the emotionally drained Scully had to put the baby up for adoption to save him. All the while Mulder was missing. So as a fan of the show, with all the conspiracy story lines wrapped up, I wanted to know, do Mulder and Scully finally get to be together? Are they still together? They have both been through hell and they deserve some happiness. And I want to experience their romance vicariously too. And I was hoping for some news on William, their son. Could they ever have the simple happiness of a life together or have Mulder and Scully lost their child for good? The mom in me feels such anguish for them. I could not go on with my life if I ever lost Andrina. Can poor Scully ever be a mom to her son again? She must live with such pain and emptiness...
Anyways, to pick up the mood--the three of us saw the movie and we all really enjoyed it!

SPOILER ALERT!!!!!! Stop reading if you don't want to know what happens!

Scully and Mulder have given up the FBI. Scually is a practicing physician and it is not clear what Mulder is doing with his time aside from following x-file type cases in the news. But they are living together! Yea! I am so happy that they finally got to have their happiness and be together as it was so obvious they loved each other. As for the stoyline, they get pulled into a new case involving a missing FBI agent. No conspiracies. The movie was more like one of the self-contained "monster" episodes. Asst. Director Skinner comes back for a very brief time in the movie, we three cheered when he came on screen! He is summoned by Scully to save Mulder, again, and the always caring good-guy Skinner is at his paternal best, working to save Mulder and provide comfort too. William is mentioned, but he is not there with his parents. He is with his adoptive family and neither Scully nor Mulder knows where he is to protect his safety. And at the end of the movie, Scully and Mulder are together, someplace warm and tropical. I'm so happy with how it ended. Perhaps there will be another movie that will focus on William........

Oh, and a side note, I also enjoyed the new remix of the theme song that played during the end credits. I will have to get the soundtrack too.

Big and Little

My sister April recently blogged "Big and Little" about Anne and Andrina playing together at the children's museum. Well, the big and little in this blog refers to the big and little toys that I am using trying to teach Andrina the concept of size. I though these toys were great to do this with. The larger toy telephone and cornpopper in this picture were both birthday presents for Andrina while the smaller ones were happy meal toddler toys from 1996 that I have previously blogged about. I gave them to her when I realized that she now has the full-size version of them and of course she loves them, especially the bigger ones!

Fun On My Baby Slide!

Here's some step-by-step pictures of Andrina enjoying her new slide on the swing set she got from Auntie/Godmom Becca for her birthday. Thanks Becca! Can you tell how much Andrina is enjoying your gift?

Don't' worry, I'm not about to slide down like this...

I'm trying to get myself ready to slide!
Gotta get closer to the slide

Getting really close now!

(Notice how dirty my socks are? That's from the children's museum this morning)

Wheee!

That was fun! I did it all by myself and I want to do it again!

Thanks Auntie Becca!

No Pictures Yet!

I've been trying to post pictures for about an hour now but blogger must be having problems. I'll try again tomorrow!

Worst Hair Metal Band Ever???

Today I did something very rare for me-I left the house without my iPod. And I actually listened to the radio while driving. And while listening to the Loop, I heard something very distrubing. Apparantly, Yahoo decided that the 80s hair metal band-Poison-is the "#1 worst hair metal band ever". Wow. I think the people at Yahoo have too much time on their hands. As a now 30something, I spent my fun and fleeting teen years during the late 80s and early 90s. The time when hair metal was all the rage and then it started to die out for Grunge in about 91. Now, before you start criticizing hair metal in general, let me list some reasons why it is a valid form of music:

1) People critize it for "not being serious". It's not supposed to be serious. It's supposed to be nothing but fun. It was spawned by guys in their teens and 20s with too much time on their hands, too much sex drive, too much energy (and perhaps they were bipolar too?) too many drugs and alcohol and without any serious goals in life to pursue. So OF COURSE IT IS NOT SERIOUS!

2) That being said, it is music to just cut loose to and feel good about and have some fun. Enjoying the forbidden, such as partying and sex without any emotional connections. Like you can do to an extent when you're young and still move on with a real life after that. Did I mention this music was invented by GUYS in their teens and 20s?

3) People also criticize it for being "posers" to real heavy metal music (such as Metallica, Megadeath, Iron Maiden, etc.). Real "heavy metal" music is purely anger driven. And I can understand that. It is a valid form of expression. If you look at the personal histories of heavy metal musicians, there is nothing but anger in their pasts that they could not cope with. Almost all of them grew up in poverty, had abusive or neglectful parents, had no supervision and basically began drinking, drugging, and everything else that you're not supposed to do. So of course, real heavy metal music is very angry. And that's ok. When you experience all that is wrong with the world and nothing that is good about it when you're growing up, how do you think your outlook on others and the world is going to be? Hair metal, on the other hand, was created by guys who were influenced by heavy metal but wen't so pissed off at the world, hence, why it is young, energetic, and FUN!

4) Hair Metal was by guys secure enough with themselves that they could be heterosexual and have long hair, without being hippies (hence the term "hair" metal). And as a heterosexual woman, there is something so raw and primal about long hair on a guy that is so attractive (unless he has a bald spot, is over 50, or has really fine or thinning hair, then it should be short in my opinion).

Now for the meat of my rant: How could they have said Poison is the worst hair metal band ever??? They had, according to Wikipedia, 3 multi-platinum albums. I have heard almost all hair metal bands and there are many that were 1 hit wonders (like Kix or Faster Pussycat as some examples of forgettable bands) that could have easily been the "worst hair metal band ever". How can they say Poison was the worst? Poison was the quintessential hair metal band! They made it big when all of the original members were in their mid-20s. They were sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll. And they were YOUNG and ENERGETIC and OVERSEXED! That's what hair metal is! Oh yeah, they had to have had some talent to sell as many millions as they did! And their music still sells now, 20 years later! Yahoo, I think your vote was cast by those who don't like hair metal in the first place! That's like having 50 cent critique County music.

Down The Slide!

Andrina went down her baby slide by herself today! But I didn't have my camera :( sniff, sniff. I helped her climb up to the top, then she got herself sitting down with her legs on the slide, and I held out my arms to her and she scooted her little baby butt down towards the slide till she slid down it! All by herself! And she loved it! She loved the motion and she appeared to be very pleased with her new accomplishment. We repeated this several times until she got tired. Next time I'll have to take the camera outside and capture some of this!

Oh Yeah, I Forgot...

...it's also my birthday today. Happy Birthday to Me!

She's Definately A Toddler

Andrina is so not a baby anymore. When she was a baby, she would eat for me without any problems. She would feed herself only a few bites during any meal but she would eat everything I offered her. And I always offered her healthy and balanced meals. I made sure that she had fruits and vegetables with every meal, including breakfast, along with protein and with lunch, baby yogurt so she had protein and calcium. And Andrina would eat everything, even her vegetables which she seemed to love. Now most meals she eats about half the amount she used to or even less than that. Today at lunch, she would only eat about 4 bites of cereal with fruit and none of her green beans. And that was it. I knew she was still hungry but she would not feed herself and she would not let me feed her anymore either. So I gave up and an hour later, I put her back in her high chair (and she cried as soon as I did that) to offer her a toddler banana cookie and a sippy cup of milk. She would not eat any of the cookie and would not even take one sip of her milk. Then it was time for her nap and she was MAD! It took her over an hour to fall asleep. She would be quiet for 5 to 10 minutes then she make some angry crying noises, over and over for more than an hour. When she finally fell asleep, she slept for only 40 minutes but she did eat about half of what she usually would for dinner when she got up. And this time she ate about 2 ounces of the cereal with fruit and about 2 ounces of green beans. After she finished that, I offered her the same banana cookie that she rejected at lunch. She was in better spirits, waving the cookie around and smiling and babbling and then she finally took a bite of it. A real bite in wich part of it broke off in her mouth and she chewed it and swallowed it. After that she accepted one sip of milk, but that was it for her meal.

Aside from the huge change in her eating habits, Andrina is much more negative now (yes, totally normal and age-appropriate, I know). She is more forceful in displaying what she wants and does not want and will throw mini temper tantrums too where she will lay on her back and whine. And she is much more moody. One second she is withdrawing away from others, the next she is engaging me, smiling, and even clapping. Actually, she cries more now than she did as a newborn but the crying is much shorter lived, it just occurs with greater frequency. The two pictures below were taken no more than 30 seconds apart. In the first, she is withdrawing. I called her name, smiled, and talked excitedly to her and she then wanted to play and was back to her usual self, exploring and being happy, which is what I captured in the second picture.

Withdrawn and soothing herself. Something made Andrina upset.

Engaged, exploring and happy again!

Some Success

Andrina woke up for the first time last night around midnight. Since I was still up and I'm the one insisting that she not get milk at night, I decided to go into her room and change her and put her back down. Well, it didn't work. I changed her diaper and put her back in her crib and she started crying. So I rubbed her back a little bit and she was still crying. I had to leave her room with her crying and a few minutes later she was quiet. The she cried again, then was quiet, over and over again for about an hour. So I gave up. I let Tom go into her room to give her a bottle. Which she guzzled down then immediately went to sleep when she finished it. However, when she woke up at 6 a.m., Tom only changed her diaper and she went to sleep. So we've made some progress with only the one nighttime feeding instead of two. We've come to the conclusion that Andrina has been conditioned to being fed at night and it will be difficult to change this but for the next week, she will only get one bottle at night, the first time she wakes up. If she wakes up a second time, she will only get her diaper changed. After one week, we will give up feeding her during the night entirely. Good luck Honey! I know you're a "toddler" now and not a "baby" any more but you certainly still seem like a baby to me most of the time. It's better for you to get more sleep at night and drink your milk during the day.

Night Time Feedings

Ok, so Tom and I are still giving Andrina bottles when she wakes up at night. Which I know we're not supposed to do. And her pediatrician said that this afternoon. However, Tom is the one getting up with her twice at night to do this (yes, it is normal for her to wake up 2x a night at this age, even Brazelton says so) and he insists on feeding her at night. I've tried to tell him not to, that her system is mature enough to go through the night without eating but he insists. So I figured I'd tell him again after Andrina's doctor visit today. So I did and he reluctantly agreed not to feed her when she wakes up at night. He agreed that he would only change her diaper and put her back in her crib when she wakes up during the night. We'll see if this is going to work out or not...

1 Year Old Stats

We had your 1 year old well-baby visit today so your stats are: 20 lbs, 5 ozs (41st percentile) and 28 and 1/4 inches tall (34th percentile). Sorry baby, you only grew 1/4 of an inch from last month. But you're still growing great!

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY!!!!

Happy Birthday to You

Happy Birthday to You

Happy Birthday Dear Andrina

Happy Birthday to You!

Always the happiest baby!
I love seeing how this Elmo birthday toy was magical for you.
I love the gift of a second childhood you have given me to experience through your eyes.

Wow, you were only 18 inches tall and 6 pounds, 6 ounces when you were born.

Look how much you have grown since then.

Good night Andrina!

It's hard to believe that a year has passed since I gave birth to you. What do I say on this momentous occasion for you? What can I say that celebrates your first year of life? How can I convey just how much I love you? I have enjoyed your first year immensely. I loved you and enjoyed this first year, even when things were difficult, like when I could not nurse you, when you were fussy every evening for the first 3 months for no apparent reason, when you woke up every 2 to 3 hours and I could not sleep. I loved you though it all and as much as I loved you when you were born, I've grown to love you even more as the days and weeks and months have passed.

I'll never forget how when you were born that you were in my arms when you took your first breath of life. I'll never forget how hours later when I was still so pumped up with adrenaline that I could not sleep and you were asleep, I took you into my bed and laid you down next to me. I just gazed at you and kissed you all over, I was so full of wonder and amazement that I grew you inside of me and that I knew that I did something wonderful. I remember thinking that you were so beautiful and tiny and I waited so long to meet you that I could not get enough of you. And now it is one year later and I still feel the same way. There are so many times when I just look at you and I fall in love with you all over again. I can't describe how much I love you, how much your smiles and laughter and kisses and cuddles shake me all the way through to my soul. I don't know how many times the strength of my love for you have made me burst into tears. Every day I say "thank you" to God for you. My dearest daughter Andrina, as the years continue to pass, I hope that you will always know that I love you. I hope you will always know that you are my everything. And I hope you know that I truly believe that because I have loved you, I have gotten a glimpse of heaven and it's more that I ever could have hoped for.

1st Birthday Party

Andrina's birthday party was yesterday and it was a lot of fun for everyone! There was a threat of rain but the weather stayed clear so everyone was able to enjoy the moonwalk and swimming pool and Tom was able to bbq outside and we were all able to enjoy the day out there. Here's a sampling of pictures from your party:

With cousin Anne and Mommy

With Grandma

With Grandpa

Daddy at the BBQ with Uncle Eric

Godfather Bob and Aunt Theresa

With Anne and you're both having a blast in the moonwalk

Your first experience of birthday cake

Auntie April and Anne

Opening presents. Your cousins Cheryl, Anne, Maddie, Jamie, Jackson and your Godmother Becca are in this picture too.

With Mommy and Daddy taking a rest from jumping in the moonwalk

With Auntie Doreen in the moonwalk

I love this picture:

Here you are moving forward, literally and figuratively and Mommy and Daddy are right there with you, watching you and cheering you on.

Your 1st birthday cake

The balloon centerpieces from your party

Some decorations

More decorations

And some more decorations!

I'm so glad that you and everyone enjoyed your party! It's been a great first year with you! I've loved it and I love you. I could not have asked for a better baby! Here's to the rest of your years and I'll be loving you through all of them!

Change Can Really Suck

I'm really missing my friends lately. And today I found out that my friend Danielle moved to Minnesota. I knew that she got a great job there as a program director for sex offenders and substance abusers in the prison system and that she was going to move, I just thought that she was moving in August. But they wanted her there sooner so she has already moved up there. I am very happy for her and the great career move but I am selfish too and I miss her that she is not around here anymore. Danielle and I met while I was doing my post-doc and she was doing her pre-doc internship. We quickly became friends and maintained our friendship after we finished up our positions and left that hospital. We were both loaded up with tons of responsibilities while at the hospital together and trying so hard to survive our training and get on with the rest of our lives so we became such good friends. I remember how we'd get cheap lunches at Jalapenos buffet about once a week and while there one day in November of 2007 I got a headache and suddenly felt nauseous. I had told Danielle that Tom and I had started to try to get pregnant before that lunch and she said to me "oh, you might be feeling sick because you're pregnant" and I did not believe her! I remember saying to her that we had only tried once and I was old, I couldn't be pregnant yet. So she argued with me and insisted that I could be and wanted to know if I'd missed my period yet. Well, she got me thinking about that, which I had not been serious about due to the aformention reasons. So I took out my appointment book and checked and sure enough, I was supposed to get my period that day and had not yet! Well, that got me convinced that I could have been pregnant so I bought a pregnancy test and took it and had the faintest pink line. It turned out that I was pregnant and it was my good friend Danielle who got me to think of that possibility that early on! If not for her I probably would not have tested for about a week but I got the very early on heads up thanks to Danielle. And I don't know if I would have survived my post-doc due to all the bs politics at that hospital if Danielle had not been there and been such a good friend to me. I owe you for that my friend, and because of you I knew very quickly that I was going to become a mommy.

Danielle, I miss you so much already! I am happy for you and your great new job but I hate it that you have moved so far away! I really, really, really hope we keep in touch. I've loved having you as a friend and I would really hate to lost that.

Kitty Says "Meow"

Tonight while getting Andrina ready for bed, I pointed out to her that her jammies have kitties on them and that "kitty says meow". Well, Tom and I both swear that Andrina was trying to say "meow" and imitate the kitty sound! It came out like an "ow" sound! This is so cute! And I'm happy to say that this milestone is a little early, I've read that babies try to imitate animal sounds at 12 months old or later. Ok, it's not that early as Andrina will be 1 year old in less than a week but I am so proud of her! Here's Andrina saying "meow" in this picture:
This joins the other "words" that Andrina has said: "da" for Daddy and "ba" for ball and bear. Do those one syllable utterances count as words? I think so.

I Love The Internet, Part 2

Piggybacking on my last entry, I tried to remember a song from an older Mitsubishi commercial. It was not the widely played "Days Go By" by Dirty Vegas, which I actually own the CD and bought it when it came out it 2000. It is a different song from a slightly newer Mitsubishi commerical than the Days Go By one. I could not find it on YouTube but I did find it on ask.com. It is a wonderful song, dance yet sentimental, from a car commerical where a Dad is driving a car and looking at his child in the carseat in his rearview mirror. He's watching his child as a baby and growing and growing and the music was sentimental to the theme. Well I've liked this song ever since I saw the commerical and I just found out that it's called "Breathe" by Telepopmusik and the commerical aired in the fall of 2002. Got that one on my iPod now too!

I Love The Internet!

Here I am, about to get ready for bed and flipping through the channels when something comes on that reminds me of that old DeBeers commercial "A Diamond Is Forever" and the classical music that plays in it, which I've always liked and never knew what the song was. So I goodsearched "a diamond is forever music" and it takes me to youtube where there are many of their commericals with that music on and I learn that the song is "Palladio Allegro" composed by Karl Jenkins. So I take this info to my iTunes store and get the song downloaded! Yea! Anyone who knows me knows that I love music and many different types from classical to new age to heavy metal. So I have yet another song on my iPod that I love! I love that I was able to figure this out and enjoy it!

Flea Market, Take 2

We made a trip to the county flea market this afternoon and today, it was successful. We tried yesterday but our SUV decided to die on us in the parking lot there when we arrived. It was pretty bad mostly because we had Andrina with us. But as usual, she handled it like a champ. Just playing with her bunny and "reading" a textured animal book. So our vehicle died, and just would not restart. I called Mercedes roadside assistance and they sent a technician out asap (and I let the operator know several times that we had our baby with and needed someone NOW) and would need room in their car for all of us and her car seat if we needed a ride, which I was assured was not a problem. While waiting for them to arrive, by some miracle, I got our car started (it had about 15 minutes to cool down which is probably why it restarted and was not a real miracle) and Tom raced to put Andrina back in her car seat, get her buckled up and himself in the car while we kept our fingers crossed that our car would actually get us all home, only 3 miles away. Our car did die again while at the first stoplight but I was able to get it started again. I called the tech and let him know that we were going to try and make it home. Which we did. But the funny yet exasperating thing was that our car died in the middle of our driveway when we did get it home. And there was no restarting it then, although none of us cared at that point. So it sat there until the tech arrived, filled out his paperwork and took me to the dealership to get a courtesy loaner while he arranged for a tow of our car. So after all of this debacle that started at about 1pm until 4 pm when our car was towed to the dealer's service center. And now we're driving around a loaner silver sedan, which I am very happy about. That is one of the really nice perks of having a more expensive make of car, they give you a free loaner whenever your car is getting serviced, even if it's for its routine oil change and inspection.

After all of that yesterday, I told Tom that I wanted to go to the flea market, again, today. Which we did in the loaner. And I am very pleased to say that there were no difficulties whatsoever. And my baby and I dressed in American colors since it's still 4th of July weekend. Andrina wore the same outfit as in this picture:

Isn't she just so cute?

I'm happy to say that for me and Andrina, the trip to the flea market was a good one. It was good for Andrina since she was out of the house and being carried around like royalty in the bjorn strapped to Daddy's chest. She really seems to enjoy the carrier and being able to see so much going on around her. I enjoyed the flea market not only because my daughter and husband did, but I also found a few things. I bought some homemade soap, which I've bought at flea markets before and love, and Tom and I bought some big bones for our dogs and some freshly popped kettle corn and a funnel cake (quintessential fair-type foods and so good we don't care if they are not healthy). Tom didn't have any luck though. He didn't find any old coins that he wanted to get. Maybe next month Hon. But we all still enjoyed the day anyways.

I'm Trying To Be Green

I have been trying to make some efforts to be more environmentally conscious. I'm having some success but not much. Here's what's working and what's not:

1) "Green grocery bags"-I bought 2 of them and had used them about 3 times each when one of the seams on one of the bags started to rip. I will need to sew it up for it to really be usable again.

1b) I often forget to take the green grocery bags to the store with me.

2) I drive a 6 cylinder SUV. Yes, I know it's a gas guzzler and the gas prices are awful. And if I lived in southern California my vehicle would probably have been torched by environmental terrorists by now. However as much as I'd like to drive a more fuel efficient vehicle, I don't think it's possible. We simply need a large vehicle because we have a very large German Shepherd dog (she's over 90 pounds of pure muscle, energy, and not too much as far as brains go...). And Tom and I both love the breed so I know we'll always have one. And, most importantly, I firmly believe that Andrina is safer in a larger vehicle as opposed to a compact car. And finally, being very short, I really like being higher up off the ground when I drive. It's like living a fairy tale where I can be like everyone else, as opposed to when I can't reach things on the top shelf at the grocery store and I have to climb up the shelves to reach it because I won't ask anyone for help!

2b) How about if Mercedes finally comes up with a fuel-efficient SUV? That would solve so many problems and I'd love it too!

3) Disposable diapers. When I was pregnant I wanted to use disposable diapers because I have so many memories of my own mother and her day to day life with cloth diapers. Using cloth diapers for my mom consisted of: dunking poo-poo filled diapers in the toilet to get the poop off, then rising them in scalding hot water, then soaking them in hot water with bleach, then finally washing them in hot water with bleach in the washing machine. Whew! I get tired and sick to my stomach remembering of all that. But I did have a little bit of environmental guilt over it. However, I read in a baby magazine (while still pregnant) that there is no winner as far as the environment is concerned when choosing how to diaper your baby. Yes, disposable diapers take up room in landfills. But, using cloth diapers uses up much more energy to heat up the water for washing them in hot water. Then to really kill the bacteria, you have to bleach them and of course bleach is not good for the environment (mainly ground water supply) anyways. So until baby is potty-trained, you are hurting the environment either way by simply having a baby, unless you don't use diapers at all and let them poo and pee wherever and whenever. Which is simply disgusting and a health hazard, no way I would ever do that!

4) Recycling. I am very good at recycling. We recycle all of our junk mail except for credit card offers. Those have to be completely destroyed for identity-theft prevention, all of our newspapers and magazines, and all plastics, glass, steel cans, and aluminum cans, even used aluminium foil gets recycled!

5) Trees. We have several trees on our property and we have only planted more since we moved here over six years ago. Also, I plan to add more trees to our back and front yards this fall. I also need to plant some rose bushes and some flowers bushes and flowers to replace some that died over our extremely cold winter this year. I plan to do that this fall too.

My Patriotic Daughter or Happy Independence Day!

Today to celebrate the 4th of July we had a cook-out and invited my side of the family. I wish April, John, and my adorable niece Anne could have come too but things are a bit hectic with some cancelled visiting for them. We missed you! Anyways, in the true spirit of being me, I had to make sure that Andrina had some clothes for this holiday. Here some pictures of her in her patriotic dress!

With Grandma

Having fun in the ball pit
More fun!

So we bbq'ed for a late lunch/early dinner and then before Andrina's bedtime, while it was still light out, we went out in the shade and Tom set off 3 ground-only fireworks for her. Before you call the parenting police on us, they were the kind that are totally legal in our state and we stayed a safe distance away from them. Andrina got to see and hear all 3 of them and she really enjoyed them, staring intently at the changing lights, sparks, and smoke and she even kicked her feet while watching them too.

Happy 4th of July Andrina! In the spirit of our country's birthday, I hope our country remains a place that will continue to treat you, and all females, as human beings with minds and bodies that are to be respected. Instead of treating us like breeding stock or walking incubators! As now that I have a daughter it is even more important to me that this country be a place where you are able to grow up and live in that is safe and where you can reach your full potential, regardless of your biological gender.

The Toddler Years Are Here

According to pediatricians, toddlerhood begins at 1 year of age or when a child is walking. Andrina is neither 1 year old (2 weeks to go!) and is not walking yet. But as far as my own opinion goes, she is no longer an infant, she is a toddler. Here's why I belive that my daughter is already a toddler:

1. She has already shown the independent/dependent ambivalance.

2. She has begun whining.

3. She has begun whining/screaming.

4. She threw her first "temper tantrum" (although it was quite mild and short) today.

So, today I myself cried like a baby. Or was that the anger of a toddler? I cried because I knew with her temper tantrum today, that her baby days are gone. Oh Andrina, how I have loved your infancy. I loved it so and really, really wished it would never end. Besides you being so tiny and incredibly cute as a baby (of course you are still BEAUTIFUL), what I loved most about it was the closeness we shared since I provided everything you needed. You needed me so much but now you are going to grow more indepenent and I am so scared that you will someday not need me at all and I will lose you. So many times I held you, cuddled you and you were content just to be in my arms. I know that with each of those moments, I wanted to freeze time and just cuddle you for all eternity. Now you need to learn and explore your world and I need to let you have that as you can handle it. And with that comes all the dangers that you were never exposed to while in my arms. How many times will you fall down and cry while trying to walk? How many times will there be something that can potentially harm you around? I have babyproofed my home to the max but you cannot spend the rest of your life inside our home and I know there will be times when you will get hurt nonetheless. Everytime I learn of something awful that happens to a child I beg God for that to never happen to you. Our world is such a dangerous place filled with horrible people, accidents, natural disasters and the idea that you could suffer from anything fills me with such pain and dread that I cannot describe. I love you so intensely that I cannot imagine my life without you in it. I cannot ever let anything ever harm you but there is no real way I can guarantee that. Everything that your toddler years will bring: whining, screaming, temper tantrums, potty-training, all of that will be in-the-moment frustration for me. And there will be times when I will want to have someone else deal with that when they arise and I will be frustrated and want to escape. But it is the dangers that you will be exposed to and your growing independence that really make me dread this phase of your life. So I have verbalized it and I own it. I will cheer you on with all of your accomlishments and help you to achieve more while all the time loving and cherishing you. Let's make a deal, I will do all of that for you and I need you to always be safe and love me and need me, ok?

Her Own Ball Pit!

Yes, I sometimes overdo things for Andrina. I could not help but buy her her very own ball pit. Actually, it's more like a tent that came with 100 big plastic balls. But it has 200 balls in it since I bought extra balls too. I decided that since she can't use her baby swing anymore, the ball pit could take it's place in our family room. More like Andrina's playroom with a TV and 2 couches in it. Here's some pictures of her enjoying her new toy! Side note, I had to get in there with her to take the pictures.

Having so much fun I'm shouting!

Now I don't know if I like this...
I'm too much of a big girl to be laying down doing nothing, gotta get up!

I've had enough

Really, I am leaving now