well well whale

Reading

2010-07-04T07:29:00.000-07:00

E loves to read. Occasionally I'll find him reading books on his own. His latest obsessions is trains, and he likes to look at the Thomas the Tank catalogs and make up stories about what is happening in each picture.

Feeling Strange...

2010-02-15T08:41:00.000-08:00

The weather says it should rain for a good part of the day today. The house smells like stale ash from the fireplace. The house is dark, and cool. Laundry is all washed and dried and needs to be put away, dishes are drying in the dishwasher, will soon need to be put away. Tomorrow is trash and recycling day, must remember to take it out to the curb. We found a meal moth last night, so today I have to tear apart the kitchen and find the source.

A few things to look forward to, though: just ordered new prescription sunglasses, and got them for about $15 apiece with shipping, should get some supplies I need to make a special order for friend's wedding, have lost a good amount of weight and clothes are fitting a little better (still have about 5 lbs to go to be pre-pregnancy weight). A few other things too. Just feeling a little strange today.

My Valentine

2010-02-14T09:49:00.000-08:00

E Update!

2010-02-10T17:09:00.000-08:00

Words he says (that we understand!): mama, dada, dog (doggem), baby (baba), yogurt (goga), water (wawa), sock (ock), Dora, bye bye, truck (uck), apple (papuh), duck, banana (bana). He also imitates a few sounds now, mostly animal sounds, including monkey, cow, dog, horse, tiger, lion and duck. He can identify when a truck is driving by from inside the house and makes a guttural rumbling noise and makes a siren noise when you ask what sound a fire truck makes and is now learning what sound a train makes.

Another new thing that he's gotten really good at is finding all the animals of a certain type, no matter their shape or size. So if you ask him where the elephant is, he will point to it in a book, and then find an elephant stuffed animal and a plastic elephant.

He does a million things now, it's amazing how much he's learned without any help from us! Our baby is now a toddler, running, throwing balls, coloring, patting baby dolls on the back, eating his own food with a spoon. It's so fascinating and incredible! He brings so much joy to our lives.

Am I Cursed?

2010-02-01T16:58:00.001-08:00

Is it bad karma? Is it that 2010 just isn't our year? Is it just how life is? Can't seem to have a good thing happen for us so far this year. Between illness, car problems, money being stolen from our bank account, injuries and stress from Andy's work and MBA schedule, I feel like we are running a marathon that we can't win.

Currently E is sick with some stomach virus, the dog has an injured leg, my wisdom tooth is coming in and causing the worst headache and as if that weren't enough, we are iced-in. Not even snowed-in. Our street is solid ice. I did at least get out and take some photos and get some sunshine the last couple of days, but this is also really hurting my weight loss effort!

I know these negative entries are a blast to read, but sometimes you just have to get it out there. I'm accepting donations of sugarless, butterless, calorie-free cookies if any of you are in a baking mood :)

Boo.

2010-01-18T08:58:00.000-08:00

So, it all started with a rash. E had it on his legs and arms. Then he got a runny nose and a cough, sneezing. So we took him to the doctor and she confirmed that he had a virus that was manifesting in a rash and cold symptoms. Now hubby and I both have sore throats, runny noses, headaches, sneezing, cough. The works. So today I'm taking the path of least resistance and letting E watch Dora and eat cereal and a banana and hoping he is quiet and entertained without much interaction from me. We sat for about half an hour watching videos of sheep on YouTube, and now E officially says "baa" for sheep. It's pretty cute :)

Anyway, this is a big rambling post, possibly due to the cold meds. When I told my friend Mandy that I was a bad mommy today, she says, "That's not being a bad mommy, that's being a smart mommy, you can't always have a bloggable life." So good to have friends to help you keep things in perspective!

Treasuries!

2010-01-10T11:15:00.000-08:00

I've been featured in two treasuries! My first ever! Please visit and click all the little pictures :D

Homage to Alfred

and

Cool Vintage

Dinosaur Rawr!

2010-01-10T10:00:00.000-08:00

Gramma Whalen bought these fleece dino jammies for E. They are so snuggly and easy - and he loves them!

Things E Does.

2010-01-04T09:04:00.000-08:00

Feeds the dogs - we ask him to carry the dog food cup, and after we distribute he takes it back to the closet and closes the door.

Eats edamame, hummus and grapefruit.

Points to his mouth when he wants water (from our teaching him the sign for water).

Sleeps in a big boy bed. He actually loves it now!

Calls for the dogs when he wants to give them food he doesn't want to eat. "Doggem!"

Visit

2009-12-29T06:57:00.001-08:00

Yesterday G'ma and G'pa from Greensboro came to visit. We had a blast! Elliott really loves his Grandpa! E's Aunt Jennifer sent along the cutest chef hat and apron and Aunt Michele sent this awesome light up drum that basically has a big button on the top. If you know anything about E you know he loves buttons, so this is the perfect toy for him! Video to follow!

Clothing Recon

2009-12-25T18:45:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I got this beautiful merino wool cream cardigan at a clothing swap. I tried it on while we were there, loved it and brought it home gleefully. A free Banana Republic cardi? Yes please! Upon seeing it in the light of day I realize there's a yellow stain on the front of it, and the collar was frayed and falling off. As I can't stand to give/throw away clothes, and can sew a little, I figured I could fix the collar and sew on some cream lace to cover the yellow that didn't wash out. Here are the results.

Gingerbread Men

2009-12-25T15:02:00.000-08:00

Today we made gingerbread men! For some reason I thought it would be pretty laborious and a sticky mess to roll out the dough and cut out the men, but it was actually a piece of cake and was a relatively neat procedure. After E woke up from his nap we sat him down at the table with a cookie and a cup of milk. He was mostly interested in the royal icing we were using to adhere our buttons, eyes, etc. It was a fun rainy day activity and was the first time I've ever made them from scratch. Now who wants to come help me decorate the other 30 cookies?

Outside

2009-12-25T12:05:00.000-08:00

E loves going outside, even when it's super cold. Yesterday was gorgeous, despite the chill in the air, so we indulged him. Perfect opportunity for a photo op!

Oh my...

2009-12-23T07:51:00.000-08:00

Has it really been NINE MONTHS since I last posted?! Is this how it will be with me and blogging? Posting once a year? I'm so sorry, dear followers!

I had hoped to keep this blog updated to help remind me of all the new and funny things that E is doing, but have been too busy chasing him to keep up with it. (Bad excuse, I know, even busy mommies have five minutes a day to sit down and post a picture or two!) I hope you will accept this video as an offering of my sincere apologies.

Yes...

2009-03-14T18:52:00.000-07:00

I realize it has been a miserably long time since I've posted here - but it occurred to me that this is a great way to keep track of Elliott's milestones.

So - some new things about E: he has a new tooth poking through on top, he can sit unassisted, but still falls over sometimes, he loves the dogs and laughs at them with a big belly laugh, he has learned to lick, he uses the pincer grasp and picks up cheerios and (almost always) gets them in his mouth, he eats pretty much everything we give him, including a wide range of fruits and vegetables (and the occasional yogurt and cheese), he can roll onto his belly from both directions, and can sometimes roll back to his back, he is figuring out how to crawl, and will sometimes be in a totally different place from where you left him, he has become quite a snuggler, and is learning to reach for things and (more excitingly) people that he wants, at night he falls asleep holding a small stuffed hippo.

These are just a few things that my little man can do. He is such an incredible little baby person and we are so happy to have him in our lives!

Chomp.

2009-01-05T10:05:00.001-08:00

I can't believe it! Elliott has two tiny little teeth on the bottom! I think they just showed up overnight - and would explain his fussiness last night and why he slept from 10pm-9:30am! Wow!

Ooh...don't eat the duck sauce...

2008-12-25T17:08:00.000-08:00

I have what I think is food poisoning. Possibly from some 6 year old duck sauce. It is quite miserable.

At least I don't have a cold anymore.

Sore throat.

2008-12-20T13:56:00.000-08:00

I have a sore throat. My nose is running and I'm sneezing. I've been up since 5:30 this morning. It's raining outside too. Tonight is Ele, Will and Finn's chili and beer party. We were all going to go, but I decided it would be better if I go alone, Andy stays home and watches Elliott and I come home when I start feeling too rotten. That way we don't go to all the trouble of packing everyone in the car just for me to decide an hour later that I've had enough.

I'm pretty upset about it though. I really wanted Andy to meet Will because I think they'd get along well. I really wanted to eat some chili, drink a little too much beer and have a fun evening. How is it I stay healthy for over a year and a half and only get sick right before something I've been looking forward to?

Ferberized.

2008-12-18T06:49:00.000-08:00

Last night we began our 'Ferberization' of Elliott. I love this baby, and he's so warm and snuggly, but I simply cannot sleep with him in my bed another night!

Things actually went surprisingly well! First off, Andy bought a sound screen for the room, and I think that helped immensely. I put E down at 10:30, and he whimpered and cried for about an hour off and on. With the Ferber method you go in after 3 minutes to let them know you are there, and to also assure yourself that they are okay - but you do not pick them up! You stay in the room for no more than 2 minutes. I stay in there long enough to replace his woobie and pat his hands, but then leave him again after a few sweet words. The next time he starts to fuss you give it 5 minutes before going in the room. After that it's 10 minutes for the rest of the night.

What's hard in the middle of the night is if he wakes up determining if you should start the process over again, or let him have the opportunity to self-soothe. I learned this the hard way - but as long as they're awake it's a good idea to at least peak in on them. At one point Elliott was laying on one end of the crib and was now perpendicular to it. So the alarm on our sensor pad went off. This began a whole series of rolling over and getting fussy about it. The first time I rolled him back over and repositioned him in the center of his crib. The second time I could just tell his cries seemed muffled. Sure enough, he was on his tummy, but this time he was up against the side of the crib with one arm between the bars outside the crib, the other underneath his body and face down. This really freaked me out. Since both of his arms were indisposed he couldn't get the leverage he needed to get off his face. I rolled him over again, gave him his woobie and he promptly relaxed, rolled to his side and fell back asleep. At this point he slept for a solid two hours and woke us all up at 7:15. This is way earlier than we normally wake up, but according to the book when they wake after 6 am it's time to get up. So we did! Elliott woke up happy and smiling. I gave him a bath, he ate and he's taken a couple of cat naps this morning.

I am really excited by this. I will start putting him to bed a little earlier every night until his bedtime is around 9. This will leave me with a couple of hours to have some me time, or for Andy and me to have some us time! The Ferber method isn't nearly as harsh as previously thought, I think it will really work for us. Of course, I'll update you tomorrow!

Mmm..

2008-12-15T19:03:00.000-08:00

Today Elliott and I went to the post office at Crabtree Mall. Big mistake. It was so congested with holiday shoppers, and for some reason everyone was going in reverse. I literally got behind THREE different people who backed up in front of me. One person even had the gall to wave their hand out of their window for ME to back up. What the heck? I'm not the one who missed the parking space because I was on my cell phone! (Mom and dad - no comments about how I have road rage!)

Later Elliott and I went to the park where we watched a 4 year old little boy being chased and caught by his mother (against his will) and a 7 year old boy who kept jumping from the swings. All I could think about is how rambunctious the little boys were, and how OH MY GOD I have one of those little things and that's going to be me chasing my son in a couple of years!

Tonight we went to get Chinese food. I had forgotten to eat all day, and Andy only had a muffin so we were both starved. Elliott is SO good when we take him out. I take him places without fear that he's going to freak out and pitch a fit. I let him taste my pineapple, and he made a series of funny faces, none of which looked too disgusted. When we got home Elliott ate an entire bowl of cereal.

My fortune: "It is better to have a hen tomorrow than an egg today." My thoughts exactly.

First trip to the playground.

2008-12-12T12:07:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know it's sideways. If anyone (Mom?) can tell me how to turn it around I'd be eternally grateful!

Elliott actually didn't seem to think this was that fun - but he was very relaxed. He did giggle and laugh though when we met a five year old boy named Matthew and when we sat on the big kid swing together and I tickled his belly. It was really nice outside, a balmy 72 degrees and overcast. I can't wait to go again!

Rolly Poley.

2008-12-12T09:53:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving.

2008-12-11T11:49:00.001-08:00

Elliott reading.

Michele (SIL) and Aisling.

Elliott and Grampa.

David (BIL).

Debi (Gramma).

First food (take two).

2008-12-11T11:37:00.000-08:00

We're trying again...

So far so good...

"Do I want to get mad again?"

The second time around went MUCH better. The first time he was already hungry, so trying something new, coupled with being in a hard and uncomfortable chair put him over the edge! Now he eats really well, opens his mouth when the spoon comes near, and hardly spits any out at all!

First food.

2008-12-11T11:33:00.001-08:00

"Hm...what's this?"

"Buhhh..."

"Why did you DO that to me?"

How I wanted to spend the afternoon...

2008-12-07T12:17:00.000-08:00

After bead shopping with Susannah for gifts for her coworkers and Sebastian's assistants I wanted to spend the afternoon doing laundry, cleaning the library spic and span, getting all the food from Sam's Club put away and then possibly starting making jewelry.

How I did NOT want to spend the afternoon: cleaning frozen dried egg and egg shells off Andy's car and my car in gusty 40 degree weather.

He rolled over!

2008-12-06T17:47:00.000-08:00

That's right! He rolled over from back to tummy. I laid him on his play mat on his back, he rolled over to his side and was reaching down to grab his feet (his new favorite thing of interest besides daddy's hair) and I literally stepped away for ONE minute and when I came back in he was on his tummy. I was so upset that I missed it! I was also in shock about it, Susannah had come over and I pretty much yelled in her face, "HE ROLLED OVER! AND I MISSED IT!" I was so rambunctious about it that Andy came running downstairs thinking that the commotion was that someone had gotten hurt. I was a little over-zealous in my excitement, but I think it was also partially trying to not be upset in front of company that I missed this first.

Pictures really are to follow (a whole lot!), I just need to upload them. Look for: thanksgiving, playgroup, sleeping and first cereal!

Okay, okay.

2008-12-03T16:18:00.000-08:00

Yes. I know it's been almost a month since I've last posted. To be honest, I have sat in front of the laptop with the 'new post' page up several times, and just haven't been able to figure out what to type. A bit of writer's block, if you will. I can no longer put it off. So, what has been going on lately? Let's see, first, Elliott is getting a tooth, despite what our 130 year old pediatrician says ("Teething gets blamed for anything and everything.") It's small and white, and he's drooling and chewing like crazy. He also can officially hold is head up and loves playing airplane with daddy, and bouncing in his doorway chair thing. He also is giggling a LOT. Mostly with daddy, especially when he rubs daddy's hair (which is apparently very funny looking/feeling), or when daddy tickles his neck with his beard. It is so funny - we love it! We had his four month appointment yesterday and while his percentile for weight dropped to the 50th from 75th, he is still up there for height at 26" and has a big old noggin in the 90th percentile. Wonder who he gets all this from? (Have you met Andy?) Daddy's new favorite thing to call him is squirt, while I've started calling him string bean or punkin head.

What else? We have a new washer and dryer! I am so terribly excited by this, I can't stand it. It was delivered last night, and I think I've done 4 loads of wash, including washing some things that were already clean. I can't help myself. It also plays a chipper song for you when it's done and that only validates the fact that, WEE, laundry is FUN! Elliott wore his first fluffed diaper today - which was a huge improvement from the air-dried, stiff things he had been wearing before. I got to dry off with a towel that wasn't hard and scratchy and covered in dog fur. How have we gotten by this far without a dryer? It's crazy.

My Etsy is being featured in a blog online. I have gotten TONS of views from the feature, but not a single sale. It is very frustrating and disheartening when you put so much work into something and it feels like you are the only one who appreciates the efforts. My mom pointed out that my jewelry is very personal, and people aren't shopping for themselves right now. I hope that's the case.

Friday we go to Ele and Finn's house for our first play date with multiple babies. I can't wait to see how Elliott responds to all this. Last time he was very interested by Finn, and is showing a lot more interest in his surroundings in general. This includes stuffing toys in his mouth, actually bouncing and spinning in the doorway chair, watching the dogs eat, trying to grab my glass when I take a drink, playing with his 'boy parts' in the bathtub, staring out the window when he's in the car and smiling and laughing when we interact with him. I hope he isn't too overwhelmed and that we'll get the chance to enjoy some company, and maybe meet some new people!

Speaking of that, we also joined a meetup.com group called 'Parenting Beyond Belief'. This is a group of people who have chosen to have and raise their kids without any sort of religious dogma. This doesn't mean that our kids won't be exposed to it, but hopefully they will have the opportunity to decide what's right for themselves without any sort of indoctrination. We can't attend the December event because it's on a Sunday night and I'm working, but hopefully we'll be able to get together and meet everyone soon!

New pics to follow...

Goings-on

2008-11-07T09:01:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I'm excited. Over the course of the next few days, I'm doing stuff. Not just, laundry, dishes, baby-stuff. Stuff OUTSIDE the house. With PEOPLE. On Saturday I begin working a part-time job at Tookie's Toys. This might seem kinda lame to some people, but first off, I love Tookie's. The owners are super, nice people who support the local community. I love toys! Who doesn't? It's like being able to be a kid again. I love kids - it's so funny to see all the things they do while in a toy store. I'm kind of (read: very) excited to have a few hours of 'me' time. I know, I know, it'll be consumed by insane customers and wild kids, but I'm still counting it as me time. Also - I'm excited for Andy to spend time with Elliott, without me. He's only spent 2 maybe 3 hours (once) alone with him. It should be interesting to see how it goes. Also, it'll be good for Andy to not be thinking about work for a few hours.

Saturday is The Handmade Market in downtown Raleigh. I won't be able to stay for very long, but I just want to go check it out. This is the first year that I've been able to make plans to go to things like this, and actually get to go without having to ask off from work. I can't wait.

Next Wednesday Ele and I made plans to go out together. I think we both have a tendency to get a little down when we're on a stint of being home-bodies (correct me if I'm wrong!). It'll be nice for both of us to get out, have a glass of wine and just socialize. Lately I feel like days are just flying by. I seem to be getting bored with the daily in-and-out of my life. My Etsy is a nice distraction from boredom, but I have a bad habit of letting my chores be the last thing I do in the day, instead of the first. Then I spend most of the day thinking, "Oh, I really should be hanging laundry...". It kind of keeps me in a state muted anxiety. It's something I have to work on. So, I better stop blogging and go hang that laundry!

Milestones

2008-11-06T14:49:00.000-08:00

Elliott did two (almost three) things today that surprised me and made me so excited!

First off, he fell asleep on his own at about midnight and slept until 2:45. This is a 45 minute improvement over the last time, when I found him upside down in his crib. Also - it didn't require much intervention from me.

Second, he rolled over from tummy to back on his own! We've been having a lot more tummy time lately and he's been rolling back and forth with a little help. Usually being on his tummy makes him so cranky and he ends up crying and drooling all over the place until I flip him on his back. This time he just sort of got it in his head that he was tired of tummy time, and rolled over on his own. I was so excited I was clapping and laughing and he was grinning ear to ear!

Third, today while on his play mat, I looked over and Elliott was laying on his side and throwing his hand on top forward and was pushing with the foot that was on top - trying to roll over on his tummy! Over the course of about half an hour he managed to spin his whole body around almost completely 360 degrees. Any day now he'll be rolling over on his own! How exciting!

New prez

2008-11-05T17:26:00.000-08:00

Okay, so we elected Obama into office yesterday. I'll spare you a lot of what I'm thinking, and just say that I'm really happy with the outcome of the election.

Today Andy went to Sam's Club and bought a ton of food. Mostly meat and bread products. We're really going to have to eat a lot of buns, rolls and bread over the course of the next couple of weeks. I'm not really sure what he thinks when he goes there. I think he just walks through and thinks, "Mmm, that sounds good, I'll get that!", but he does it to everything in the store. Sometimes he comes back with really strange things too. One time it was a wipe board and assorted dry erase markers. Today it was hamburger meat in a long tube.

I made two new necklaces today and a new pair of earrings. I really love them. I feel like my shop looks great, and is really coming together nicely. Now all I need is a spot in a treasury that makes it to the front page and I'll be golden!

As promised, a pic of my bead store loot. Click on the picture and enlarge it to see what everything is.

Frenzy!

2008-11-04T13:08:00.000-08:00

Okay, I have a TON to say. Let's see if I can keep it somewhat short and sweet.

First - we're trying to teach Elliott to sleep in his crib at night. The results so far range from okay to a complete fiasco. The first night was him screaming from 11pm-4am. The next night he slept from 10-12, but when he started to stir and I went in to get him he was completely upside-down from how I put him in his crib, crammed in the corner and on his side. This had me in a complete tizzy. I called mom and dad both and basically proceeded to deliver a sleep-deprived frantic rant. This also included each of my parents mentioning 1) a ghost 2) 'someone else' in the house, which lead to me breaking down into tears, then maniacal laughter. (Sorry dad!)

Last nights results weren't as traumatizing for me, but did involve me going into his room about 6 or 7 times between 10:30 and 12:30. Finally Elliott fell asleep and slept until 2:30, but again, when I went in to calm him he had scooted all the way to the top of his crib. He ended up coming back to bed with me both nights, but slept until 6am, which was great!

Yesterday was so much fun. Pretty much the most fun day I've had in a long time! First we went to Tookie's Toys (www.tookiestoys.com) and I looked over the POS system to make sure I remembered how to use it, which was pretty easy. We spent about 45 minutes visiting and looking around the store. After that we went to Ornamentea (www.ornamentea.com) and I filled my bead card and bought a little over $70 worth of beads and paid a little over $20 for them all. It was fantastic. Nevermind the fact that I had to spend $500 to get $50 free, it was still exciting! I'm going to take a picture of all the stuff I got and post it later!

I'm hoping to start making some things for Etsy, but it depends on how calm Elliott can be for how long. Also - I really need to do some chores and figure out dinner. The exciting life of being a grown-up!

Halloween!

2008-11-03T04:07:00.000-08:00

Susannah invited me to come along with her to a Halloween party at a co-worker's house. The boys were invited too, but they were both party poopers and stayed behind. I guess it worked out okay, though because Elliott probably would have had a meltdown. There were quite a few people there. Also, a baby bjorn doesn't really go with a witch's costume. I realize I don't look very witchy in this picture, but I promise the bottom half of my costume really pulled everything together. Complete with a spider web skirt, purple and black striped tights and pointy black boots. When we got home the boys had been barbequing and were watching "The Ring". We only caught the end of it, but I'm still expecting that little girl around every corner of the house!

Wow.

2008-11-02T09:24:00.000-08:00

I'm officially sleep deprived. Last night was the first night of trying to get Elliott to sleep in his crib. He went down a few minutes after 11, and he was already asleep - which is not really the way I wanted it to happen, but alas. At 4 am I finally decided that we had all had enough and brought him to bed with me. This is of course after trying the "Ferber method" and checking on him in increasing intervals of time. So. Going into this I've had three bad nights sleep because he was sleeping with me, and now a fourth because he wasn't. We slept in til 11:30 today (before I remembered to set the clocks back) but the sleep was terrible after a traumatic 5 hours of listening to the wee one so upset.

On a more fun note, Susannah and I went to a Halloween party last night and we both dressed as witches. I had a costume that I wore a few years ago that I made from this awesome sparkly fabric with iridescent spider webs on it, so we split it, and I wore the skirt and she wore the vest. The vest actually didn't come anywhere near closing on me, and fit Susannah perfectly - we looked quite awesome. Once Susannah sends pictures I'll post one.

YAY!

2008-10-30T08:49:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I woke up this morning to a sale! It was of a replica of my favorite necklace - the whale(n) necklace. I spent a LONG time last night on the forums in etsy and also posted on craigslist for the first time. I got about 60 views in an hour and a half!

We woke up really early this morning after a night of very fitful sleep on Elliott's part. So we went to bed around 10 - fell asleep around 10:30 and we were up again at 6:30. I am one tired mama. Elliott had no problem taking a 2 hour nap, but I couldn't because I had had a big latte!

I got a few chores done and am going to make bread today. We finished off the rest of the jalapeno cheddar bread last night with habenero meatloaf. That was one spicy meal, even for me!

I'll be posting some new jewels today - keep your eyes peeled!

Elliott is three months old!

2008-10-29T09:36:00.000-07:00

Elliott is three months old today! This morning we started out the day like everyday - with baby bath time, aka - tubby. Elliott did some extra kicking, splashing and smiling at daddy to celebrate. When he got out of tubby he shared some new words with me. They were precious. It's so incredible to watch him grow. Every day he reaches new milestones and amazes us with how clever he is. This is a picture of a new face he's been trying out to get his way. It makes me laugh, so I don't think that's the desired effect.