How a 1 year old plays

1. Realize that you are beginning the toddler stage so toys can now be used in a messy and/or sinister manner.

2. Realize that you are learning how to walk which means you can now spread what you're playing with out over a larger area.

3. Realize that you are still small enough to fit into things so if spreading the mess doesn't work out, be one with the mess.

4. Realize that mommy is watching you, and photographing you, so try to suck up so she doesn't get too upset at the great need to vacuum.

5. Realize that if all else fails you can always snuggle up to Daddy and have a good nap together.

Twilight

So the actors are cooler than I am, but can you say you've been to Forks!?

Jesse and I went to see Twilight today and it was FABULOUS! Jesse was apprehensive about going but he ended up really enjoying it. Our friend watched Rosalee for us so we can actually classify this as a date! I loved the reading the Twilight series so I was nervous that the movie wouldn't be that good. I got especially nervous after I read some negative reviews from critics, people, and even some of my friends. But I thought it was a great movie and it is something I recommend to others and plan on watching again when it's out on video. The best parts about the movie were that it takes place in Forks, Washington so I got homesick looking at some scenes and the love story of Bella and Edward. So go and watch it! Then read the books and watch the movie again, I promise you'll enjoy yourself.

Not so fun noise

What is a horrible sound to wake up to at 3:30am? How about the sound of your child gagging, choking, and dry heaving? Jesse and I sprang out of bed to find Rosalee in a crawling position dry heaving in her bed. Of course she was terrified and crying but we felt like there was nothing we could do. She finally vomited all over her crib and calmed down slightly. Jesse took the messy bedding to the washer while I took Rosalee to our bed to comfort her. She kept crying and clinging to me with all her might. Just as she was relaxed and sleeping, she startled awake and started heaving again. She wanted to cling to me but I wanted her to face down so the vomit could come out. I ended up wrapping my arm under her belly and over her shoulder (like a seat belt) so she could grab my arm. As soon as she vomited on her pajamas, my arm, and my pillow she felt a lot better. Jesse being Jesse had to examine her vomit as he helped clean up. He found pieces of fruit in it so we're convinced that the fruit is the culprit. We gave her some canned oranges and pineapple last night while we were reading some books. So she either has a flu like illness or the fruit made her sick. She doesn't have a fever and we've read that citrus fruit can cause an upset stomach, diarrhea, etc. in children younger than 1 year old. Apparently her stomach didn't get the memo about being 1 now. We thought we were being good parents giving our child something soft to eat and full of vitamin c. Here's to the first, of what I can only assume will be many, things we'll do that we think are good for our children that ends up blowing up (literally at times) in our face.

Driving Ms. Leelee

Jesse and Rosalee have WAY too much fun with her new car! She's too short to move herself so Jesse helps push her. I'm convinced even when she's taller he'll find a way to play with it! If you look carefully you can see Rosalee's unicorn ponytail I made to keep the hair out of her eyes.

Weekend in Ohio

Jesse's sister lives in Dayton, Ohio with her husband and 3 kids so we decided to go visit them for the weekend. Both of us needed a break from the daily grind so we decided going and seeing family would be nice. Rosalee had a GREAT time playing with her cousins. She would crawl around after them and enjoyed all the new and different toys. She slept in her cousin's toddler bed and it made me SO nervous! She rolls around a lot in her sleep so I was afraid she'd roll right off the bed. I made Jesse put the air mattress next to the bed so if she did fall off she'd fall on to it or me. I figured either was better than hitting the floor. Thankfully she didn't fall or crawl off the bed but I kept waking up during the night to see if she was okay. We also celebrated my niece and nephews birthdays since they also have November birthdays. Rosalee got some clothes and a car from her aunt and uncle. The car is one of those Flintstones kind that the kid walks around in but Rosalee is too short for it yet. We figure by the time it's warm enough to play outside again she'll be able to use it. Rosalee also helped her cousin learn that the potty isn't scary. My niece saw Rosalee sitting on the potty and said, "Me potty! I big girl!" Then she cried while on the toilet because she couldn't make herself go to the bathroom. Poor kid. On Sunday Rosalee and I both woke up and couldn't go back to sleep so I decided to do her hair. She fought me at first, but by the end she had 2 small ponytails. If you notice in the pictures her hair is different in all the shots and they were taken within 20 minutes. I learned all too quickly that soft ponytail holders won't hold thin baby hair, clips are meant to be taken out by babies, and small rubber bands (combined with cat like stealth) are all that works.

With Dad all ready for church

She found her cousin's bulldog stuffed toy and all weekend she dragged it around calling it Bubba. I tried to use it to get her to smile but she ended up just hugging it and kissing it.

Tyler, Lindy, Jacob, and the giggle box Rosalee

Rosalee and her Trouble away from Trouble

Because I can!

The Ultimate 8~ because sometimes I want to post about me! :)
8 TV shows I watch:
1. The Office 2. Dancing with the Stars 3. Gilmore Girls 4. What Not To Wear 5. The News 6. Biggest Loser 7. Jon and Kate +8 8. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (the toddler stage has begun...)
8 favorite restaurants:
1. Johnny Carino's 2. Puerto Valarta 3. La Scalla 4. Yatz 5. That place in Mississippi with FABULOUS crawfish 6. Wendys 7. Giordano's (that's probably spelled wrong) 8. The one at the college my brother attends

8 things I'm looking forward to:
1. Jesse graduating 2. Rosalee being fully potty trained 3. Moving closer to family (hopefully) 4. Not having to worry about paying every bill 5. Owning a house 6. Thanksgiving and Christmas 7. Rosalee learning to walk 8. The movie Twilight coming out
8 things on my wish list:

1. A job near family for Jesse 2. Some snow boots 3. A motorcycle 4. Another baby sometime in the next year 5. A date with Jesse 6. New slippers 7. A trip to Fiji 8. Picture frames for all the pictures I keep saying I'm going to put up

8 things I love:

1. Family, they can drive me nuts at times but I love my family. 2. Rosalee's laugh, nothing melts my heart faster. 3. Hot chocolate and a huge blanket on a snowy day 4. Food, I have often called myself fatorexic. 5. Going for walks on nice sunny days 6. Hugs 7. Going on vacation, especially if it's to see family. 8. Taking pictures!

8 things I can't stand:

1. A messy bathroom 2. People with special needs being treated like babies, or weirdly, or especially if they're being treated rudely or wrongfully I get upset! 3. The smell of coffee, especially if I'm pregnant 4. Having a kitchen full of food but not being able to find anything to eat. 5. Being cold and wet 6. Drivers who don't look where they're going and get mad at you when you're in the lane they want to be in. 7. Dealing with medical insurance 8. Children who get away with being rude and telling their parents what to do

7 Random Facts

1. I like the flavor of real bananas but won't eat them. Banana laffy taffy is gross because it tastes fake and sugary. Real bananas are slimy and remind me of being sick with mucus drainage.
2. I sleep with a blanket that was given to my mother when she was pregnant with me. Some how it remains intact after 23 years...
3. I have had many colors of hair, including electric blue and several shades of purple and pink.
4. I would rather eat a crisp, cold, green apple than any dessert.
5. My grandmother was Catholic, my mom is a Pagan and I'm a Mormon.
6. I learned to swim when I was in college and since that wasn't that long ago I'm still not very good at it. I'm pretty sure if the boat were sinking I'd be a goner.
7. I love the Washington and Oregon coast. My heart belongs in a cottage by the sea.

Sooooo big!

Rosalee is getting bigger and smarter every day! It seems like she learns a new word a day and is getting more independent by the second. I'm convinced she'll be smarter than us by the time she's ready to go to Kindergarten. This week Rosalee has done some pretty amazing things. The first thing is she told me "poo poo" BEFORE she went. I picked her up, placed her on the potty, and then she went. For being barely 1 years old, not too shabby! Every diaper saved is an extra $.25 in our pocket. (Give or take a penny) I'm pretty sure years from now, when she's ready to start dating, she'll be SO excited to know that there are potty pictures of her on the Internet, but oh well. I'm the mom and it's my job to embarrass my children.


Rosalee's other new "big girl" skill is reading to Trouble or her doll. She'll hold the book out for them and then read away. She flips the pages, points to pictures, etc. just like we do when we read to her. I started filming after she had been reading for a minute or more so she's not as enthusiastic as she was when she started.

Wacky weather and other randomness

This past Monday it was in the 70s and it was sunny. On Tuesday it was so nice we went for a walk at a park. On Wednesday we went to the park again because we couldn't believe the warm weather! Then it got colder, and colder, and is continuing to drop... Today we spent a good part of the day cleaning out the gutter and raking the leaves. The temperature... oh about 42! We were in coats, hats, gloves, and took several hot chocolate breaks. Oh how I love Indiana weather!!!!

So here are some pictures from our time at the park on Tuesday. The weather was so nice we decided to go to Purdue and have lunch with Jesse during his break.
The shirt says it all...

We ate, walked around, and just enjoyed the great weather!

Three days later we're dressed in warmer clothes and drinking hot chocolate! Well I was drinking hot chocolate and Rosalee was drinking soy milk. By the way, the GIANT elephant in the background was her birthday present from us.

Today we raked leaves at a friend's house and then at our house. Here's Rosalee dressed (minus a coat that we put on before leaving) for the weather. She has mittens, a turtleneck, a fleece vest, jeans, a hat, socks, and sneakers on just so she can be outside for a few minutes!
Rosalee's new found independence

Rosalee received a few gifts in the mail this week and enjoyed opening all of them. Below are two pictures of her opening her gift from Angie and Brett who live in Australia.

Rosalee also LOVES reading, as you've seen from the hundreds of posts dealing with books. She loves being read to, reading by herself, reading to Trouble, us reading to her and Trouble, it doesn't matter as long as she has a book near by. She'd MUCH rather be with books than toys. We have tubs full of toys and she goes right past them every day and heads straight for the books. Jesse put her in the rocking chair with a blanket and a book to see what she'd do. We expected her to look at the book, get bored, and then try to climb off the chair. No. She sat there for about 3 minutes looking at her book over, and over, and over again. She went through it so many times that she taught herself how to push, pull, and flip the interactive parts of the book.

Trouble made sure we didn't interfere with her reading...

What the!?
Out of nowhere all of these crows started flying around the house making a lot of noise. The craziness went on for more than 30 minutes and then just as quickly as they came, they left. It was the weirdest thing.

Rosalee's birthday

My baby is now a whole digit. That's right folks, she's hit the 1 year mark! Jesse and I decided to make some food and have some of Rosalee's favorite people over to play. I was hoping to take a million (okay, maybe only 700) pictures of Rosalee but the weather punked out on us. Thankfully I did get a few shots before we went to the grocery store so I'll have something to put in her frame. The weather, of course, is sunny today but I'm weird and can only put a picture of her actual birthday in the frame.


Thankfully before the rain started we had some nice wind to make a lovely yellow backdrop on my yard. Sometimes she seems so much bigger and then there are times when I feel she's hardly changed. Here are some recent developments~
*She walks holding on to a hand or furniture**She says "mommy", "daddy", "baby", "Bubba" (Trouble), "poopoo", "diaper", "cracker", "book", "bye-bye" (with a wave), "puppy", "more", "all done" (both with ASL), "duck", and as of last night "cake"**She can tell you what sound a duck makes, elephant makes, cat makes, and a lion/tiger makes**She dislikes eating green beans, drinking cool water, being told "all done", and being put down if she's sick or just woke up**She loves feeding herself finger foods, drinking soy milk, getting hugs and kisses, and being read to**Has used her potty at least once a day since last Sunday**

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Here are some pictures from her birthday party last night

Playing with Kevin and his daughters

Rosalee's baby friends came over to eat and play. I love this one of Mia, I call it her "rock star" pose.

Her 1st, official, birthday cake! I made strawberry cupcakes and frosted them with vanilla frosting. All made with soy milk... mmmm... delicious!

Election day

If you're reading this on Tuesday and haven't voted, GO VOTE NOW!!! Obviously you have the time, so GO DO IT NOW!!!
Anyway... last year on election day my beautiful baby girl was born. This Thursday will be her 1st birthday and I'm still in shock. Last night as I was watching Dancing with the Stars I had a deja vu moment. I was sitting on the couch looking at the clock counting contractions with my in-laws watching TV with me. My father-in-law kept saying, "we should be going to the hospital now" and my mother-in-law kept saying, "just wait, she's fine". Now here I was watching the show with Rosalee whipping books off the shelf saying "boop!" (Her word for book) and Jesse saying, "isn't it bedtime yet!?". A lot can change in just a year.

Our state has early voting so I get to spend today enjoying the 70+ degree weather and my wonderful little girl. We're planning a small party on Thursday for Rosalee and some of her friends. The theme is cave-man and there will be plenty of meat, a lack of utensils, and a huge mess. Oh how fabulous it will be!!

On our way!

Since Rosalee was just shy of being 10 months old she would wake up dry most mornings. Sometimes I'd put her in the tub and wait for her to go potty so I could save a diaper but most of the time I'd just wait to change her. For her birthday my mom bought her a potty so today we decided to put it to use. I am PLEASED to inform the world that not only once, BUT TWICE, Rosalee has used the potty!! She has no idea what is going on but we are very excited about it. We sat her on the potty this morning and in about 1 minute she went pee. We clapped and took her picture, but she seemed VERY confused. After her nap she was again dry so we put her on the potty again. Again after 1 minute she went pee and then started clapping for herself. When I said, "wow!" she copied me and has been saying "wow" or "woah" since. Hopefully she wakes up dry tomorrow morning and we can make this a daily occurrence.

Ignore the mess, I wasn't planning on having her go potty so I still had my towels and pajamas on the floor from after my shower. But as you can see she didn't quite know what to make of us being excited over pee.

Psychos and seals

On Halloween morning Rosalee woke up with a nasty barking, hacking, disgusting sounding cough. It sounded like a dying seal had crawled into her crib! I wasn't sure what to do so I called the doctor to see if we should come in. Yippee for us, the doctor office was closed!! So she got to spend the afternoon of her 1st Halloween at Urgent Care. Woo! The doctor said she has croup and an ear infection. She was given amoxocillan and told to sleep with a humidifier in at night. One plus of having croup on Halloween is that she still got to go trick or treating. The doctor wanted her to be taken outside for short intervals so the cool moist air could help her lungs.
My camera battery died right after we got to our friend's house so I'm waiting for him to send me the pictures of Jesse, Rosalee, and myself from Halloween night. Until then you can see the view pictures I was able to take. Jesse was a pirate, Rosalee was a flower, and I was myself, aka a crazy person.

We put Rosalee's bonnet on Trouble and made her a pioneer dog.

Crazy Marie... the neighbor kid said I looked like the Joker's girlfriend. In case you can't tell, that's a spider I'm chewing on.

Kevin and his daughter Isabelle

Passing out candy @ Kevin's house

I've been meaning to post our pumpkin pictures but with a sick kid NOTHING gets down. So here is Rosalee's pumpkin and our Frankenstein pumpkin. I got the idea for Rosalee's pumpkin from my insanely creative sister-in-law Lindsey. Rosalee had a BLAST dipping her toes in the paint, but didn't like staying still while I pressed them on the pumpkin. I was planning on dipping her fingers in black paint to make the eyes, but with the amount of squirming she was doing I thought against it. So I dipped my pinky and made the eyes and mouths. I am NOT artistic by a long shot but I'm pretty pleased with how the Frankenstein pumpkin turned out. It looks a lot better now that Jesse stuck some large bolts in the sides of it.