Update

Just a quick update:

1. The clinic is ours as of Tuesday
2. We're moving on Sunday
3. We're no where near ready to move
4. Instead of getting shorter, our to-do list keeps growing
5. I'm ready for a vacation

Total eclipse

Itchy informed me yesterday that there was going to be a total lunar eclipse tomorrow night. The last one was over 3 years ago. We watched that one on the hood of of car on The Island. We'll probably be watching this one inside. It's a little colder here in MN than it was on The Island.

The article also gave the dates for the next few lunar eclipses. There are two of them next year. Amazingly, one is on Itchy's birthday (the big 3-0) and the second one is on my birthday! What are the odds? It's not like total lunar eclipses happen all the time. So having two in one year is pretty cool. But for them to be on our birthdays? That's gotta be some kind of sign!

Some of her new amazing skills

Stowa is busy being a one year old. She is officially walking all over the place. Running if she has something to hold on to (like her doll stroller or rocking chair). She can say a bunch of words that are easily understood by all (mama, dada, cat, kitty, 'See (cat's real name), moo moo, meow, no, fish, book, night-night, num-num, bye bye, etc). She can say even more words that only I can understand. She tried to say "not that one" (seriously I told her "not that one" and she tried to repeat it, it sounded more like no da on, but whatever). Speaking of the rocking chair, she likes to stand on it. Fun for her, scary for mommy.

Her ability to understand what we tell her surprises me for some reason. It's normal for her age. But if we tell her to go get her pacifier, she goes and gets it. If you ask her to wash her hands, she starts rubbing her hands together. Ask her if she's hungry and she points to her mouth. If you give her a brush (hers or the cat's) she will brush her hair.

Let's see, she also gives hugs and kisses now. It's pretty awesome. She also likes to "get" people. She thinks that she's tickling but it's more slapping. Funny little kid.

She is in love with dolls. She walks around carrying her dolls (or stuffed animals depending on her mood). She covers them with blankies and pats them, rocks them, and dances with them. Freaking adorable. One of the dolls she got for her birthday came with a bottle so she's been feeding her babies too.

Perhaps her most favorite thing in the whole world in Itchy's Iphone. She likes to pretend to talk on it. She must be a very busy person though. She needs both hands free so she holds the phone in place with a good old shoulder shrug and head tilt. Only thing is she then holds her arm out straight to help keep it in place. Then she walks around like that. Carrying on quite the conversation. Her "friends" must be funny because she laughs a lot when she's on the phone.

We've got our troubles too. She's not always sweet and innocent. I can't leave the room without her freaking out. She's very demanding. Hates the word "no". Oh the tantrums she throws when you don't give her the Iphone. She's a beast when she's hungry. She's also a very slow teether. She still only has 4 teeth. She's teething again now. It sucks. I think there are 4 more teeth trying to break through all at the same time.

Itchy has a job (AKA: I'm moving again)

Nothing has been signed and it's not quite official yet, but it looks like Itchy and I are buying a vet clinic. Obviously, Itchy will have a job there. Yay! He finally has a job.

It all happened really fast. We went out there to look at the place and Itchy fell in love. It was his ideal clinic. Everything he wanted. Well, the location isn't, but the clinic itself is. Great staff, great equipment, etc. We talked about it and did some research. Started talking to bankers. Then we made an offer. The seller accepted the offer the same day.

So we have a verbal agreement to buy this place. The papers should be signed by next week and we should close by the end of the month.

This has all taken about one month. It seems really fast. Especially with all the birthday hoopla thrown in there.

It's about 1 hour and 45 minutes from where we live right now. Which means we have to move. Again. You all know how much I hate moving*. We're probably going to look at places next week.

The town is small. Like really small. It has no Target. In fact the closest one is 45 minutes away. Oh the horrors. But it's a lake town. We'll be able to (eventually) have a house on the lake. That's something we've both always wanted. Itchy will die happy if he can fish everyday.

So that's why I haven't been around. That and because I live with a very short and demanding person. Constant attention with that one. If not, she's sticking things in outlets and counting the cat's teeth. It gets ugly.

*Moving: We've moved a lot in the last year and a half. April 2009 we moved off The Island to College Town (international moves should count as double). We half-moved to Itchy's parent's house in January 2010 (we were there for 7 weeks with a newborn, we had to pack a lot of stuff) and then back to College Town. We moved in with FIL in August 2010. We moved to our current apartment in September 2010. Now we're moving again. December 2010: Moving to Super Small Town. The really *great* part is that because we're putting everything into the clinic, we won't be able to buy a house right away. We'll have to rent. I think we all know what that means.

Itchy is dying

He has a sore throat and the sniffles. Someone call the WHAmbulance. I need to start planning the funeral.

Birthday Shenanigans Final Edition

Well the party is over. It was as annoying as I thought it would be. It was also more fun than I thought it would be.

When we arrived at FIL's house, 30 minutes late, FIL wasn't home. 2 of his friends were there decorating. A few other people were arriving (no idea who they were, I had met at least one of them before but no clue who she is or what her name might be) so I let them in and pretended to be happy to see them. We changed Stowa into her Indian outfit and I helped put up decorations. The decorations were a mixture of birthday and baby shower.

FIL showed up and told Itchy to go buy beverages. Yep, he invited 50 people to his house and had NOTHING to offer them except tap water. He easily could have picked up sodas or something since he was at the grocery store picking up the cake. Whatever. Itchy went to get soda. Leaving me with all of them. Thankfully, my Itchy's brother and his wife showed up. Sister in law (SIL) and I teamed up.

Itchy's other brother and his wife and their brand new baby also showed up. That took away a lot of the attention. People love new babies.

FIL only commented on my clothes once. He asked if I wanted to go change. I guess that means he didn't like what I was wearing. Oh well.

One of the relatives was disappointed with Stowa's outfit. She was mad that it didn't fit her properly and that I didn't have the whole outfit on her.

Another relative (maybe?) informed me that I needed to get her into daycare ASAP so that she'd "grow up". I'm still not sure what that means.

When SIL and I were getting food, an old lady told us not to eat the food. She thought it would be too spicy for us. The food wasn't spicy at all.

After we ate, FIL gathered everyone into the kitchen for cake cutting. He asked Itchy for a knife. Itchy hands him the knife and then he GAVE IT TO STOWA. Yup, hands a huge knife to my kid. Good decision. I was standing right there and took it from her though.

I gave her a homemade little cake to smash and that was that. FIL wanted to give her a taste of the other cake but someone asked him something about New Grandbaby and he got distracted.

A lot of people left after that. SIL wanted to open gifts so we went to the living room to open gifts. She got a lot of stuff. Cute stuff.

After most everyone had left, just some of FIL's friends were still there. We were sitting around chatting. FIL started his "grandfather of the year" junk. He has apparently taught her everything she knows. Clapping, dancing, waving, high fiving, meowing, etc. All from FIL. Good thing he's around otherwise my kid would still be learning to breathe.

We left soon after that.

All in all, it was ok.

Happy Birthday

One year ago today I had a baby. A little girl. Well, not so little at 8 lbs 2 oz and 22 inches, but she still felt so tiny when I first held her. I may have mentioned her here a few times. I call her Stowa. She is my little Stowaway from The Island.

Birthday Shenanigans Part 4

Last week Itchy's brother (the middle son) and his wife had a baby. Beautiful little boy. If FIL and Itchy's brother got along AT ALL, Stowa would be chopped liver. FIL would be done with her. Life would be so much easier. Alas, Itchy's brother and FIL do not get along. FIL will not be spending much time with New Baby.

On Friday night we got to go over and meet the new little guy. Itchy's oldest brother, his wife, their son, and FIL also went over. Don't worry, the new parents ok'd this. Besides we didn't stay long. Everything is going well. FIL is behaving. I suppose it's because he hadn't talked to Itchy's brother (middle) for months. FIL was on his best behavior.

Itchy and I were mentally playing a drinking game. Take a mental shot every time FIL says "That's how you can tell he's a LASTNAME". He said it ALL THE FREAKING TIME when Stowa was born. Everything single thing she did. Every face she would make. "Look, she blinks! That's how you can tell she's a LASTNAME". It was obnoxious. I wanted to punch him in the throat. He didn't say it once. Not even once. I was shocked. But again, he was on his best behavior.

How does this relate to Stowa's party? Well, I overheard him inviting Itchy's brother to the party. This isn't just a birthday party. This is some Muslim prayer thing for MIL. FIL is trying to pretend that it's been a year since she died. Traditionally, you would have a prayer get together (not sure what the proper term is, but it's a bunch of people getting together to pray) on the anniversary of someone's death. I knew this and I was expecting this to happen in January. On the anniversary of MIL's death.

I suppose I come off as a selfish bitch by having a problem with this. FIL is throwing the party, he can do what he wants. It's a nice gesture. People loved MIL and want to say prayers for her. What's wrong with that? Why am I bothered by this? First of all, a birthday is suppose to be happy and fun. Having all of MIL's friends there praying for her, on the "anniversary" of her death is beyond sad and depressing.

My other issue with this is that FIL never said anything to me about this. Not a word. It's not like he just thought of this. It was his plan the whole time. I guess it wouldn't really change anything. But let's say I hadn't over heard this. I show up to this very somber prayer thing with my birthday girl. I bring her highchair and a fun cake for her to smash. And balloons! She loves balloons. Then I look like an ass. Because what asshole brings balloons to a funeral (essentially the same thing). I don't understand why he didn't just tell me.

Birthday Shenanigans Part 3 Clothing Edition

Things seemed to have been toned down quite a bit. A couple of MIL's best friends talked FIL out of renting the reception site. He thankfully listened to them. Still a ton of people but it'll be at FIL's house.

The last time we were over at his house he mentioned to me that I needed to wear traditional Indian clothes. Yeah. He asked if I had any. I don't. I have a few of MIL's saris* but none of the other stuff. No pants or cholis*. But honestly, I don't want to wear that stuff. I'm already uncomfortable being around all FIL's friends. They speak a language I don't understand. I'd like to at least be in comfortable clothes. It's not like I'm going to wear jeans. I can put on nice clothes. Anyway, FIL tells me that he has an outfit I can wear. I tell him that I'd rather wear my own clothes. FIL is annoyed with me.

Stowa will be wearing a little Indian outfit. One of MIL's friends gave her an outfit so she'll wear that. It's not a sari, but I'm not sure what the heck it's called. If our stupid computer would let me upload pictures I'd totally post a pic of it. It's a long sleeved shirt and pants. The pants are HUGE. I think she'll have to wear other pants (jeans! that would really piss FIL off) but she'll wear the shirt.

*No freaking clue if that is the correct spelling!

Stara

Hey Stara if you are reading this, you need to email me.

Kitten Costume

Stowa's kitten costume is done! It's not even the night before Halloween, so way ahead of schedule. I think it turned out super cute. I had Stowa try it on last night and she was smiling and laughing so I guess she likes it too.

Birthday Shenanigans Part 2

Last night we were over at FIL's house for our weekly visit. He was updating us on the birthday plans. He has now invited 50 freaking people. 50 people to a ONE YEAR OLD'S birthday party. 50 people that I do not know. I think I've met about 10 of them.

FIL now thinks that this is too many people to have at the house. He's right. That's a lot of people. So FIL is going to need to rent a reception site. The same one that Itchy's brother had his wedding reception at.

Seriously. We're renting a reception site for a one year old's birthday. This is freaking insane.

Itchy keeps reminding me that it's FIL's money and he can spend it however he wants. This is true. Itchy and I are not paying for this nonsense.

Birthday Shenanigans Part 1

We were over at FIL's house for his birthday about 2 weeks ago and he mentioned to someone that was there that they needed to remember Stowa's birthday. I overheard this and mentioned it to Itchy on our drive home. We decided that we needed to ask what he was planning. We knew it couldn't be good.

Then last week when we were there (Yep, we have weekly visits. It's like the Gilmore Girls but not as fun.) he informed us that he was planning a party for Stowa. It was to be held the weekend before her birthday. He was inviting about 25 people.

This was the beginning of the chaos. First of all, I didn't want a party before her birthday. I know how FIL can be. I could totally see FIL trying to sneak her off and let her smash her cake without us there to see it. It's one of the birthday moments that I'd like to see. Nope. The first cake she smashes will be with me damn it. Or he'd do something else equally annoying. He likes to play grandfather of the year when other people are around. So him with a large crowd of his friends just spells disaster.

We tried telling him that Stowa isn't going to have fun with that many strangers around but he insists that all of these people WANT to see Stowa. I'll give him that one. MIL had a lot of friends. She told them all about Stowa. These people miss MIL. It's understandable that they'd like to see the little girl that MIL loved so much. So we agreed to invite all these people that Itchy and I do not know. Whatever. Stowa will be extra clingy with me but whatever.

He tells us that he will take care of everything (which means he'll order Indian food) and I can come with him to order the cake. Great. Then we break the news that I will be making Stowa's cake. This pisses him off. He wants to order her a cake. We explain that he can order the cake the all of the guests will eat. But the cake that Stowa gets to smash and eat? Yeah, I'm making that. He doesn't understand why. He can afford to buy her a cake. Itchy explains (again) that we don't want her to eat a bunch of sugary food. I will make her a yummy and healthy cake. FIL pouts.

New series

Stowa's birthday is a mere 31 days away! Scary right? Yep. Our original plan was to keep it small. Do one party with Itchy's family and one party with my family. We'd do something small, just the 3 of us, for her on her actual birthday.

It's not exactly working out that way. We'll have out of town guests on her actual birthday and they want to see her smash her cake. Ok fine, they can come over for dinner and cake. No biggie. It'll still be laid back and simple.

My mom, sisters, and nieces are coming down the weekend of Thanksgiving to celebrate her birthday. We'll go somewhere fun, have some cake, open presents, etc. It'll be fun. Stowa is even going to go swimming for the first time!

Then we have Itchy's family. FIL has taken over. I wanted Itchy's brothers and their families and Itchy's dad to meet up at FIL's house (since no one will come to our place because of the beasts we call cats). We'd eat some Indian food (since that's all we ever eat when we all get together), have some cake and open a couple presents. Done and done. This does not work for FIL. Not at all. He wants to do more.

This has inspired me. If I have to suffer through this I might as well blog about it. I give you the new blog series : Birthday Shenanigans.

11 months old

Dude I don't know how it happened but I've got an 11 month old. 11 months! That's practically a year old. She's almost a toddler! ACK!

She's pretty awesome. I love her sense of humor. She cracks me up. She loves playing peek-a-boo. She dances anytime she hears music. She'll sit and "read" books forever. She's convinced that sitting ON Patches is better then sitting next to her. Patches will go ahead and disagree with her on that one. She's standing all by herself which means that steps are right around the corner.

Of course, I could really do without the teething. So could she. She just got a top tooth and it's been a bitch. Lots of tears.

Life without the internet

is really boring. And I don't care for it.

We've been in the new apartment for about 2 weeks now. It's a lot better than FIL's basement. It already feels like "home". Now that we have (limited) cable and internet (wireless at that) it's even better.

We've been busy getting things unpacked and getting the place furnished. By the way, if you are in the market for new furniture, check out HOM furniture. Their customer service rocks. Our couch had a small tear in the fabric. I called them to see if they could suggest a way to fix it, but instead they offered to come out and exchange it. For free. It was awesome.

Itchy is now a licensed vet. He passed his test and everything this week and he can officially be a vet now. All he needs now is somewhere to practice medicine. Very proud of him!

Stowa is doing all sorts of fun stuff. Things are starting to click for her and she is becoming more and more verbal. She totally knows that I'm mama and Itchy is dada. You say bye-bye and she waves. Tell her to clap and she does. Hand her a phone and she puts it up to her neck and says huho. She also says book (as she takes all the books off the shelf). Grandma got her a See n' Say and it sings "Old MacDonald", and she totally tries to sing along with the eieio part. Her Aunt and Uncle gave her a ride on airplane and we've spent hours pushing her around on it. She's standing but not walking. I think we have a little while before she'll walk. She's a little wobbly.

She's also been extra cranky these days. She's teething. The move hasn't been easy on her (lots of changes in a short period of time). She's been staying up really late and then sleeping until noon. I think we turned her into a nocturnal baby. We're working on changing that, but damn, it is exhausting. She's also testing her boundaries. She can throw a tantrum at a 2 year old level. Quite gifted that one. She broke my glasses in one of her fits.

It's a good thing she's cute.

Shake your tiny booty

Stowa can dance!

Evicted?

So we've been living with FIL for over a month now. It's gone about as well as can be expected. There haven't been any big incidents, just the usual annoyances. The annoyances go both ways. He wants to control us and we won't let him. He hates that we recycle. He also really hates our cats. Poor Cuddles and Patches.

FIL pretends to be allergic to the cats. He shows no visible symptoms but he claims that he is suffering. Maybe he is. I don't know. But he has evicted the cats. He told Itchy last week that we can stay, but the cats have to go. Itchy told him that if the cats go, we go.

I'm taking it as a group eviction. I think he's using the cats as an excuse to get us to leave. I think we're cramping his style. He wants people to feel bad for him because he's all alone and with us here, he's not exactly alone. He wants things done his way, even if our way is easier.

So we're leaving. We're moving into an apartment this weekend. I'll let some of you know our new address when I know it. We have already found the apartment but I'm not sure exactly what the address is.

Baby's 1st Halloween

Do you have any idea how much fun a baby's 1st Halloween is? There are so many cute outfits and pajamas. It helps that cats are a traditional symbol for Halloween. We might be forced to have Halloween week at our house.

I think I may make Stowa's costume. I'm 99% sure she's going to be a kitten. And if she is a kitten, I shall go as the crazy cat lady. Itchy can be Animal Control.

Animal Crossing City Folk

Anyone play Animal Crossing? I need a friend with different fruit. I have oranges that I can send! I can even send a coconut, if you don't have one of those yet.

This isn't really that crazy right?

Geez it's been forever. My free time just isn't what it use to be.

We're still here in FIL's house. He was in India for the first 12 days that we were here. It was nice. We had the house to ourselves. He got back on Monday and he's driving us crazy. He's mad because we won't let him do anything with Stowa. And we are constantly telling him what not to do with her. Sorry dude but seriously, if you'd listen the first time I ask you not to do something (like holding her 3 inches away from the tv) it wouldn't feel like we're always correcting you. FIL is like a toddler. You have to tell him about 1,395 times before he gets it. It's frustrating. We need to get out of here.

On that note, Itchy has an interview lined up for next week that seems very promising. Details to be shared when there is something worth sharing. We're both pretty excited about the prospsect though. Not just because it means getting out of here either. It seems like this may be a really good job for Itchy.

Now on to my own brand of crazy. I ordered new bedding for Stowa. For her big girl bed. Which she should move to in oh about 1.5 to 2 years. Yep. I couldn't help it. I saw the accessories (picture frames, growth chart, etc) when I was pregnant with her. I wanted them. I waited patiently until they were on clearance. And I had a coupon. But my local store didn't have one of the pieces. I was forced to order online. As I was searching for all of the pieces I discovered that these accessories were actually accessories to an entire bed set. I just thought that they were a set of really cute frames. The bedding wasn't on sale though. I ordered all of the accessories. This was back in May people. Probably a year after seeing them for the first time.

I have been stalking the bedding ever since. I didn't want to pay full price. I'm too cheap for that. I saw sales come and go. It never got to a price I was comfortable paying. Until last week.

It's perfect and awesome. If they made it in a queen I'd get it for my own bed. In 2 years when Stowa moves into a big girl bed she is going to have the most perfect bedding her mother could ever want.

Seriously guys, it has kittens on it. It's purple and teal with kittens on it.

A few things

Itchy is now officially Dr. Itchy! Yay! I really couldn't be happier for him or more proud of him. He's going to be an amazing vet. Once he finds a job...

We moved. We're currently living with FIL. We decided on the 4th that we were going to move on the 7th. Nothing quite like packing and moving everything you own in 3 days! The reason for the sudden move? FIL decided to go to India. He left on the 9th and Dr. Itchy wanted to see him before he left. There was a little fear that he may not come back (willing staying there or being detained). So we packed like crazy people and were able to move on the 8th. Of course now I can't find anything.

We'll be here until Itchy finds a job and then we'll move to where ever the job is. Moving again in a couple of weeks makes me want to vomit.

Almost done

Itchy is officially almost done with school. He has to finish up a few things but he finished his last scheduled shift this morning at 4 am.

Tiny arms

Stowa learned how to wave last night. She flails her tiny little chubby arm around and smiles as though she's never been happier to see you. The first person she waved at? Dwight from "The Office".

This morning she has been waving at the cats every time she sees them. She wouldn't do it so that Itchy could see it though.

Busy, busy

In the last two days Stowa has figured out the fine art of crawling and a tooth finally popped through!

The crawling is still a little slow but the cats better watch out.

Photo storage HELP

I need photo storage help. I do not know what to do with all the pictures. My crazy anxiety ridden mind says that we need them on the computer, backed up on an external drive, a back up for the back up, perhaps on a CD, and printed out and neatly put into photo albums. Of course, my anxiety is battling with my laziness and none of that has happened.

Seriously though, what the hell do I do with all the pictures? I don't want to lose them. Our computer is dying and I've had nightmares about losing all of these pictures.

What are you doing with all your pictures?

Hodge Podge

Sorry for the lack of stories. It's due to a perfect storm of events. First being that the computer is in the office. I've been online a lot less these days. Second, Itchy is working these dreadful 4 pm to 3 am shifts. It pretty much sucks. Without him around, it's hard to get "computer time". The third part of this is Stowa. She takes up so much time. And the constant supervision. My god. The best I can do is offer up a pile randomness.

Stowa is now 8 months old. She's really close to getting her first tooth. Really close. She still hates solid food. Well, she does like these puff things, but anything else is blah. Whatever. She'll catch on sooner or later. She is rolling and scooting backwards. Fast. She can get across the room and into trouble in no time. She can also get from laying on her belly into a sitting position. Itchy swears that she's been doing this for over a month. How did I miss this? I just noticed this a couple of days ago. Weird. She also pulled herself up onto two feet for the first time (that we noticed) today. I happened to catch it with the camera too. She looks like such a big kid standing.

Itchy still has no job. We're moving in 3 weeks and we still don't know where. Ok, I take that back. Obviously since Itchy still doesn't have a job, we'll be moving in with FIL. But after that. We don't know where we're going.

Speaking of moving, I still haven't started packing. I'm still not sure what we're taking and what we're trying to sell. I need to start setting some realistic goals and get going.

1st 4th of July

It was Stowa's first 4th of July! We took her to see the fireworks, of course. If she hadn't been so damn tired she would have had a great time. She seemed very interested in them but the poor kid was so hot and so tired that she couldn't make it until the end.

Back Home

Stowa and I made it home. It was a hell of a two weeks. Lots of time spent at the hospital. It's not all that easy to entertain a 7 month old at a hospital.

A few highlights:
1. You know the stereotypical baby that cries during the entire flight? Yep, that's my kid. Good times.

2. To the lady that wouldn't give up her window seat: Karma is a bitch. I don't make the rules. The car seat HAS to go in the window seat. Don't like it? Talk to the FAA. Perhaps the reason you got sick during the turbulence is because you acted like a bitch. Karma dude, karma. Also, that flight was the one flight that my kid wasn't crying. She was sleeping the whole time.

3. Took Stowa to another zoo. The butterfly tent was her absolute favorite. It was everyone's favorite.

4. Cousin time. Stowa loves her cousins and her cousins love her. It was fun to see them together.

5. Staying with FIL wasn't THAT bad. He was pulling out all the stops to make sure I felt guilty about not spending more time with him though. He only offered to babysit Stowa about 10 times each morning before we left the house. Same old, same old. Lots of talk about why Stowa's clothes don't match and her lack of developmental milestones.

6. Lugging a baby and all the things a baby needs through an airport sucks.

Therapy dogs

You know how there are people that bring dogs to hopitals and nursing homes as a type of therapy for the patients? I feel like I have a therapy baby.

We've met a lot of people. Stowa has been in a wonderful mood. Lots of smilles. She's been cheering everyone up. Well, not the ICU people. They kicked us out. But we are the unofficial 7th floor ambassadors.

Stowa and the cats

Before Stowa arrived on the scene Itchy and I talked about how we thought the cats would react to her. We thought Cuddles would be the tolerate one. He'd come find us if she's crying and then worry until we got her calmed down.

We thought Patches would want nothing to do with the baby. Didn't think she ever come near her and if she did, it would only be to steal her seat.

We were wrong.

Cuddles wants nothing to do with her. He avoids her as much as he can. When it's just not possible, he tolerates her but isn't happy about it.

Patches, on the other hand, seems to like the baby. The hair pulling, ear biting, cat wrestling, screaming baby. Patches will actively seek out the baby. When Stowa is playing on the floor, Patches comes and plops down next to her. I move her and she moves right back. When Stowa goes to take a nap, Patches also goes into the bedroom to nap. Last night while I was making dinner Stowa was in her jumperoo (aka the Neglect-a-roo) and started crying. When I didn't go get her right away Patches came into the kitchen and stared at me. Stowa had her in a head lock the other day and Patches was purring. Freaking weirdo cat.

Every single time

It's like she can hear me typing. Every single time I start to type, the kid wakes up. That is my excuse for the lack of blogging. Not that much has been happening.

The last year and a half has gone by faster than I ever thought imaginable. It's like time sped up when we left The Island. It's been nothing short of a whirlwind since that day in April 2009.

Stowa is 7 months old. Dude. SEVEN months old. She's an incredible little person. Not just because she's mine, but because she just is. She's got a little separation anxiety these days and does not like when I leave her side. I can't blame her though. I am pretty damn awesome. She's also got the "ma" sound down. Totally sounds like she's saying mama, but I know at this point it's babble. We're working on the "da" sound next. Or cat. Her love of the cats knows no bounds.

Itchy also had a birthday this week. He has entered the last year of his twenties. We didn't do much of anything but he did get a super shooty Wii game. He's had fun with that (once he figured out how to run).

In other news, my dad is having surgery as I type this. Hopefully he will get some relief from the back pain. Next week Stowa and I will travel to MN to help him get home from the hospital (the surgery is being done about 5 hours away from where he lives). Once we get him home we get to stay and visit for a while. Stowa gets to see her cousins. And Aunties. And grandparents. Should be fun.

And now Stowa is up from her nap. I should learn to type quieter.

Internet vacation

Well, our internet is back. Sort of. The issue was partly their problem and partly our problem. They fixed their part. I fixed our part. Now we can get online and it's back to normal. Except for the wireless part. We can not get our wireless router to work anymore.

We've given up. It won this round. We accept our defeat and come into the office when we need to use the computer. Much less convenient.

Cute baby

My apologies for not sharing our *fun* weekend with Itchy's dad. Our internet is on vacation. I've had several conversations with my ISP and they know I am NOT happy. At this rate it won't be fixed until the 9th. Fun stories will have to wait.

Also on vacation right now is the electricity in my living room. Fantastic. Why would I want lights in my living room? We're cave people now. I'm convinced it's all happening because we were suppose to out of here by this point. If Itchy had not taken time off for his mom and for the baby (both of which he HAD to do, I'm not saying he shouldn't have taken time off), we wouldn't be here right now. Not sure where we would be, but I know it wouldn't be here.

Anyway, I have been surrounded by cute babies today. My own little one is as adorable as always, but while we were outside today we saw baby bunnies, baby geese, and a kitten. All totally adorable. Which reminded me of a website that I wanted to share with you. http://www.zooborns.com/zooborns/

I love it. I totally need a job raising zoo babies. If anyone knows of such a job, email me.

And that reminds me of a picture that I wanted to share with you.


I need a baby hippo. One that will stay that tiny forever. I love baby hippos.

In the time that it took me to write this post, my internet has connected and disconnected at least 30 times. Way to suck Comcast!

FIL Follies Memorial Day Weekend

FIL was here over the weekend. That man drives me crazy (if you didn't know that already). He started the weekend off with a bang. He showed up a day early. He wanted to surprise us. Surprise is an understatement. I was annoyed. Itchy was pissed. It just so happened that I had our truck on Thursday, but I didn't tell FIL that when he called. I just told him we'd see him when Itchy got done with school. We had a late dinner with him and then had to leave because Itchy had work to do. He seemed annoyed that we weren't happy with his surprise.

On Friday I drove Itchy to school so that the baby and I could go see FIL at the hotel. It was either that or he was going to come here and we'd have to sit outside in the hot, hot sun so he could see Stowa. I have no interest in sitting in the parking lot in 90 degree weather. Not that hanging out at the ghetto hotel was more fun, but at least it had A/C.

When Stowa and I got there, I had a my hands full. I had Stowa in her car seat, her diaper bag, a big blanket, a bag of toys, and a tote bag with some other stuff in it. It was heavy. FIL was waiting in the lobby for us. Instead of offering to help, he was trying to get us to go outside and take pictures. Because it wouldn't make more sense to go put the stuff down and then go take the pictures? Logic people, that's all I'm looking for. Not to mention that it was hot outside.

He was once again on my case about Stowa's development. Shouldn't she be crawling? Why doesn't she have teeth yet? She still doesn't eat solid food? Why can't she clap her hands? Is she talking yet? Why are you letting her play on the floor? What if she falls? Why are you sitting on the floor with her? Why don't her clothes match?

It NEVER freaking ends with him. He doesn't believe me when I tell him that her development is on par. He freaked out because I put her on a blanket on the floor. He was so worried about her falling over. Yet he didn't want me to sit with her either.

We also had to discuss our upcoming move again. He's bound and determined to help us move. How bad would it be to just not tell him when or where we move? For some reason he thinks it will be cheaper to buy all new stuff when we get to our new place than to rent a moving truck for a weekend.

It was a long afternoon. He really wanted to go shopping but I didn't want to go through that again. I just kept "not hearing" him when he said stuff about going shopping.

On Saturday we went to the zoo in Capital City. I could tell FIL didn't want to go, but since he didn't flat out say so, we went anyway. It was a pretty hot day. Over 90 degrees. What does FIL decide to wear? Dress pants and a long sleeved dress shirt. It was no wonder he was hot all day. He behaved himself very well though. I'm pretty sure it was because Itchy was with. He behaves much differently around Itchy.

Sunday we went back to his new favorite restaurant, IHOP, for lunch and then he left.

Overall this was a much better weekend. Had he not showed up a day early, it wouldn't have really been that bad. Sure he would still be incredibly annoying, but his annoyingness isn't going to go away. His bad habits (like chewing with his mouth open - I swear he has no manners at all when it comes to eating) are there to stay and I just have to do my best to ignore them.

Wii

So we got a Wii today. I've been saving up my Swagbucks with the hope that I could use those to buy a Wii. Itchy laughed at me and my idea because at the rate I was going it would take over a year to save enough. Whatever. Now I'm saving up Swagbucks to buy a super cool and fun game.

It's hooked up and the remotes are charging. It's very shiny.

We got two controllers, two nun-chucks, the console, a charging base for the controllers, and it came with the basic sports game and sports resort.

What else do I need? What games are super cool and fun?

Again?

FIL is coming back. Again. Memorial Day Weekend. It's just too soon. My brain is just starting to heal from the last visit. I'm still annoyed that I can't go to see my family that weekend. One of my nieces has her 5th grade graduation, a cousin is graduating from high school (I babysat him! I feel old), and another cousin (I babysat her too! Goodness gracious, I am old) is having a baby shower. It sucks that I can't go.

It was easier to deal with this stuff when we were on The Island. There was no chance that I could go. It was too expensive. It was too far away. The hassle of visas and international travel made it impossible. Now that we're here, we're so close and yet still so far. The disappointment is much greater.

My irrational side is also very annoyed that FIL gets to come and see the baby again and my family doesn't. It's not fair. Where's that whiny font when I need it?

A new bunch of firsts

We took Stowa fishing for the very first time! Big girl helped her mama catch a fish!! Nothing worth keeping but it was the only fish caught that day.

Itchy got Stowa her very first set of blocks for her half birthday. She seems to enjoy chewing on them and throwing them at Itchy. Which makes me laugh. Baby is kind of a bully.

Stowa is also the proud new owner of a highchair. I can't say that she likes it all that much as it does restrict her movement quite a bit. She would prefer that it allowed her to jump. She can't get enough of the jumperoo.

A first of a different sort: You know how when you stop at a red light and you glance in the rear view mirror? Sometimes you see weird stuff. The other day I saw a woman using a monocle. Now maybe only one of her eyes needed correction. Maybe only one of her eyes was even real. But seriously, I've never seen anyone use a monocle before. Let alone using a monocle well driving. Apparently she did not need to keep both hands on the wheel.

6 months

My baby is 6 months old today. Everyone says it goes by too quickly. It really, really does.

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Baby's first trip to the zoo

Itchy had a job interview on Saturday morning in the big windy city. Stowa and I tagged along. We went up there on Friday night so that we wouldn't have to get up way too early on Saturday morning. It was kind of late when we got there so we didn't really do much on Friday night. We did go get dinner though. Itchy has been craving sushi forever so we found a sushi place. The food was freaking awesome. Soft shell blue crab? Delicious. Now I do not care for sushi. I've tried it a few times, but yuck. The rice is too vinegary and hello, it's raw fish. However, Itchy told me to try it (because he always wants me to try it) so I did. It made me rethink my stance on sushi. Whatever it was that I tried was really good.

Anyway, Saturday morning we dropped Itchy off at his interview and then Stowa and I went to kill time. We did a little shopping, people watched at the local coffee shop, etc. Nothing too exciting. When Itchy was finally done with his interview we decided to go to the zoo.

It was Stowa's first trip to the zoo. I think she liked it. She certainly laughed a lot while we were there. The seals and fish were a big hit. Itchy thinks it's because the aquariums look like giant tvs. She also liked the rhino and the aardvark. Basically it any animal that was close enough to see and that was moving. The sleepy lions are pretty, but boring. A great big seal that swims right up to the glass? Awesome! Also, Stowa loves people. She paid more attention to people at the zoo than the animals (not a bug surprise). She loves people watching. Even better when they smile at and talk to her.

After the zoo we went to the What You Talking About Willis Tower (FKA the Sears Tower). It was pretty cool. Great views and all of that. We went out on the recently installed glass floor balconies. It was cool but it made my head spin. It's crazy to be up that high and be standing on the glass floor. We did get some really cool photos of the baby on the balcony.

We got there at the perfect time too. Just before the sunset. We got to see everything in daylight, watch the sunset, and then see the city light up. Good times.

Finally

We finally have a dude here to fix the dryer.

It's about freaking time. I like dry clothes. I am tired of the makeshift clothesline in my bathroom.

ETA: Two hours later and the dryer works!

Let's talk about moving

Moving. No one likes it. Sure going to a new place is fun, but getting there isn't. It's a giant headache for all involved. The purging, the packing, the moving of the boxes, the unpacking, more purging, etc. Not so much fun. Not to mention that you need to find a new place to move all your stuff to.

The fact that Itchy and I will be moving again in a few months has not escaped my attention. Once again, we don't know where we'll be moving but we know that we can't stay here. This time we'll be moving with a baby in tow. That makes things a bit more...exciting? No, that's not the right word. Hectic? Fun? No, I believe hellish is a more correct term. Babies have lots of stuff and they demand attention. And supervision. It's going to make the process take a lot longer.

When and where we move is going to depend on Itchy's ability to get a job. The three situations that come to mind are that:

1. Itchy finds a job and they let him start a couple of weeks after graduation
2. Itchy finds a job and they demand that he start immediately after graduation
3. Itchy finds no job and we are forced to live with FIL

Ideally we end up with situation number 1. I can deal with number 2. It means I'll be doing all the moving by myself (well, not entirely as my mom has offered to come and help out). Number 3 makes me cry. Literally cry. And want to run away. With the baby and the cats. Itchy can fend for himself.

FIL thinks that he is going to come here and help us move. I'm not sure what exactly he thinks he is going to help with. He won't come in our apartment because the cats trigger his fake allergies. I guess he could sit in the moving truck and watch? He could cheer us on as we carry box after box down the stairs. Not exactly helpful, but how else can he help if he won't come in the apartment?

I know exactly how he WANTS to help. He wants to come here, take the baby to the hotel, and let us pack/load up trucks/clean/etc. Won't it be sooo much easier to get this stuff done without having to look after the baby?

Nope. It won't be easier. I'll be having panic attacks. We won't get any packing done because I'll be freaking out about my kid. There is no way in hell that I am going to let that scenario happen. I don't trust FIL. He makes poor decisions. If that is how he wants to help, then he can just stay home.

Quick updates

Stowa is taking a nap so I want to update a few things really quickly.

1. Our dryer is still broken. Taking a baby to the laundromat isn't fun.

2. The bird that was living in my vent is gone. So is her nest. Sad, but kind of nice not waking up to that racket everyday.

3. Gluing the computer keys back on sort of worked. The F key is working great. The enter key not so much. You have to hit it a few times to get it to work. But at least we still have an enter key!

4. Totally kidding about raising Stowa as a Scientologist. She'll be a heathen just like her parents.

FIL Follies Part 3

We told FIL that Stowa and I would come out the hotel on Monday to say goodbye. This means we have to get up at 5:30 am to drive Itchy to work. Stowa and I are not morning people. We like to sleep in. Of course, after dropping him off we came home and went back to bed until 9 am, but still, we were up early.

I call and tell FIL we are on our way. He says he's ready and can't wait to see us. Great. We get there 20 minutes later and he is still only half dressed. He runs off to the bathroom. Stowa and I sat there for another 20 minutes waiting for him to actually be ready. Why did I hurry to get us out the door? Once he is finally dressed he wants to hold Stowa and take more pictures. Ok. I make sure to take the picture from far enough away that you can see their whole body, not just their faces. He wants to take more pictures outside too. I tell him it's too windy outside. Stowa hates the wind and we won't get good pictures. Unless he wants pictures of her crying while he holds her. Stowa is cranky (getting up too early and teething) so she just wants mama. FIL is telling me how much he's going to miss us, how he's going to come back next month, and then again when we move (more on that later). Great! Just let us know when you want to come and we'll see what Itchy's schedule is like.

FIL tells me to call Itchy to see if he can go out to lunch. I don't need to call to find that out. The answer is no. I pretend to text him. After 20 minutes FIL tells me to text him again. I tell FIL that he's probably really busy. FIL doesn't care and starts to call him from his phone. I tell him I'll just text him again. So I send a real text. Surprise! Itchy is too busy to go to lunch. I tell FIL this and ask him where he wants to go for lunch. FIL wants to go to Perkins. We don't have Perkins. We have an IHOP. It's just like Perkins. Nope, FIL wants Perkins. Well, we don't have one. After a 15 minute discussion about how we don't have a freaking Perkins, he settles on IHOP. We wait until exactly noon to check out of the hotel and then FIL wants to take the pictures outside. It's way too windy. Stowa is already fussing about the wind in her face. I tell FIL that we'll have to do it next time. He pouts the whole way to IHOP. Does he really want pictures of Stowa crying while he is holding her? Not to mention that the wind would have totally messed up his comb-over!

Because of construction it is difficult to get into IHOP's parking lot. I decide to park at place next door to IHOP and we can just walk. It's a 2 minute walk. FIL is annoyed by this. Oh well. Walking is good for you and you're not the one lugging around the carseat and diaper bag. Suck it.

FIL again is trying to feed the baby. Why can't she just have a little maple syrup? Can she have omelet? I had to use my angry voice. She couldn't have it yesterday and she can't have it today. FIL tells her that next time he comes he'll give her anything to eat that she wants.

Then FIL changes the subject. He wants to know exactly what day Itchy is done with school. I do not think that FIL needs to know the exact details. I like to keep it a little vague. So I play dumb. I'm not sure when he gets done, it's sometime in early August. Then FIL tells me that we have to be at his house by August 5th. One of his friends is throwing a birthday party for their granddaughter and FIL wants to take Stowa and show her off. Umm no. I explain that if we have free time before Itchy gets a job, we'd both like to go see my family. FIL tells me that the birthday party is important. I tell him that MY FAMILY is important. FIL says "Well, this is more important. I'll take the Stowa to the party and then you can take her to see whoever". Seriously? I think my family is a little more important that going to a birthday party for a kid I've never met. I just told him we'd see.

We once again ate in silence. Fun times. Then FIL made a scene while trying to get the bill. Instead of just waving at the waitress or you know waiting for a few minutes, he yells at her from across the room. I swear everyone in the place was looking at us. Yeah, he's a fun one. He wants to go right now. I start getting the baby ready to go and he just gets up and walks away. He can't possibly wait for 2 minutes while I buckle her in the carseat.

Not much happened after that. I drove him back to his rental car and we said our goodbyes. He did call that night once he got home and then twice on Tuesday. And then again on Friday.

Here are some other things that didn't really fit in but are funny/annoying:
-He says turn over instead of roll over (in reference to Stowa rolling over)

-He calls pushups body lifts

-Squats are knee bends

-When he asks for a Coke, he really wants a Diet Pepsi

-When he says that he is going to say his prayers, it sounds like he is saying that he is going to do Lamaze (you know the thing pregnant women do to prepare for labor). I know he's speaking in Urdu, but I just keep picturing him breathing. Makes me laugh.

-He is afraid of baby drool. All weekend he kept trying to wipe drool off of Stowa. And he was disgusted that I let her chew on my hands. You should have seen his face when she spit up on my shirt!

-He kept telling Stowa to say her prayers and trying to get her to cross her hands. It gets old. I really don't want him spewing his stupid religious crap at her. I'll wait a while but if he keeps it up Itchy is going to have to tell him the truth. We're raising Stowa as a Scientologist.

I'll talk about the moving/graduating/etc stuff later. Stowa is up and demanding my attention. I guess I can't neglect her AND the laundry forever.

FIL Follies Part 2

Sunday morning we all get up freaking early to drop Itchy off at the hospital. Stowa and I get home and I work on my fitness while she goes back to bed. I had to wake her up at 9:30 to get her ready to go out to the hotel. She's grumpy.

We get out there and FIL is blow drying his hair. At least he has pants on this time. He's annoyed that Itchy isn't with us. He wanted him to just call in and say that he wasn't going in. Umm, Itchy doesn't get sick days. If they tell you to come in, you go in. FIL doesn't want to do anything until we talk to Itchy. Ok. So we sat around and played with the baby. He wanted to take some pictures with Stowa. Sure. I'm not the greatest photographer but I do alright. I get Stowa all smiley and snap a picture. It's cute. They are both looking at the camera, smiling, etc. FIL doesn't like it because it's only from the waist up. Seriously, why do you want a picture that is mostly background instead of a picture where you can actually see faces? Oh and FIL insisted on wearing his sunglasses in the picture. Why? Weirdo.

Itchy was finally able to meet up with us for lunch so we all get in the truck and go pick him up. On the way there FIL starts saying that it's too bad that this happened this weekend. I tell FIL that this kind of stuff happens ALL THE TIME. It's not just this weekend. We rarely make plans because we know that shit will come up. Stowa and I either do things on our own or we don't do them at all. Itchy works really, really hard. FIL doesn't get it. He says that Itchy should have just gone to med school and become a real doctor. I kind of lost my patience with that one. I told him that Itchy IS indeed a real doctor. He isn't busting his ass to become a fake doctor. He isn't going to pretend he is a doctor. They won't pay him in monopoly money. He is a real doctor. Stop insinuating that he isn't. Please don't say stuff like that to him. Have a little respect for your son.

We picked up Itchy and then FIL decides that he wants to eat Indian food. Sure, we'll find the place on campus. We eat and again, FIL just sits there and eats. Can't participate in the conversation. So it's like Itchy, Stowa, and I are having lunch and then some stranger comes and sits at our table. I just don't get it. Maybe I am just use to people talking too much?

We all go back to the hotel for a bit. Stowa takes a nap. Itchy takes a nap. FIL pretends to fall asleep so that he doesn't have to talk to me. Whatever. I watch TV. Itchy has to get back to his patient so he leaves. FIL wants to go back to the mall. He needs underwear. First of all, I do not want to go back to the mall with him. Second, I really don't want to shop for underwear with him. Third, it brings back all sorts of bad memories from when we were staying with him a few months ago and I had to do his laundry. Finally, why didn't he say something about this yesterday when we were at the freaking mall.

I wake the baby up and we go to the mall. Because you know, he has so much money he can't buy underwear at Target. He has to buy them from Macy's. Oh you're not impressed with that? Me either. I tried not to get involved. Just pick a pair and let's go. Oh no. He has to tell me what he doesn't like about his old pair, what color he wants, what size he needs, etc. There isn't enough brain bleach in the whole world to undo this. 45 minutes later he has found something that will suffice. It is not exactly what he wanted but it will do. We walk over to the register. He sees a pair of shoes. We looked at these shoes the day before but today he wants to try them on. He asks the sales lady if she has the shoes in his size, she asks which shoes, he gets all huffy that she doesn't know what he is talking about. I tell her and start walking over to show her. She has them in his size. The lady starts talking to Stowa and I. We're having a nice conversation. Stowa is all smiles with this lady. She just has a way about her. FIL gets pissed. Once he realizes that I'm talking to her, it suddenly becomes urgent that I watch him try on the shoes. Awesome. Stowa is getting antsy and is tired because she had a crappy nap. I make her try on the display shoes. I made a comment about how she's going to have big feet like her mommy. FIL tells me that I can't let her feet get bigger than a size 8. Sure ok, I'll just start binding her feet today! I wear a size 11. She might have big feet.

Anyway, he doesn't like how the size 8 feels. He asks if they have it a size smaller. She brings out a size 7. This makes sense to me. Size 7 is one size smaller than a size 8 right? Well not to FIL. He wanted a size 7 1/2. So he got all pissy with the lady. Seriously though, 7 1/2 is a half size smaller. She didn't have a 7 1/2 anyway. I tell him he should just try on the 7, since that is what he usually wears. For the next hour he went back and forth between the two sizes. One was too big, the other was too small. Good god, the shoes aren't going to change sizes just because you keep trying it on. If it doesn't fit the first time, it's not going to fit in 20 minutes. Let's move on! I ask him if he wants to go to one of the other stores. I saw the same shoes at two other stores, maybe they'll have your size. He doesn't want to though. He finally decides to give up. He goes to pay for his underwear. After all of that, he stops to look at a sport coat on the way out the door. He wants to know why it was $65 on Saturday but it is now $195. The lady explains it was because of the sale they were having. She offers to check the price for him. She grabs the brown jacket. He stops her and tells her to check the blue jacket. He is acting like he is actually interested in buying the jacket. She checks the price and it's no longer on sale. I thank her and tell her that we'll just watch for the next sale. Let's go. But oh no. FIL turns and tells her that "I wouldn't buy this anyway. It's junk". Why the hell did you just make her check the price then!? Seriously lets get the fuck out of here.

We go back to the hotel. I've had it with him. I want to go home but I know I can't. Once we get back to the hotel Stowa falls asleep. FIL and I are seriously just sitting there waiting for Itchy to call. It's awful. Itchy finally calls and is on his way out there. FIL wants to go to dinner. Great. I wake the baby up again and we go to dinner. FIL wants to give her pieces of food from his salad. I tell him no. I don't know why I have to explain to him 1,398 times that we aren't starting solid foods yet. Drives me crazy. Then he tells Stowa that next month (oh god no) when he comes back he's going to give her Coke, corn, and apple juice. NO, no, and no. I tell him that she'll have probably just have started getting food and it'll probably only be things like oatmeal, avocado, green beans, etc. Bland things. Nothing sweet. He tells me that she's not going to like those things and will just spit them out. I tell him that that is ok, if she spits them out it just means she wasn't ready to start solids yet and we'll just wait a bit before we try again. Itchy really doesn't even talk to him. He's so tired that he is spacing out.

He drive him back to the hotel and say goodnight. He wants Stowa and I to come back in the morning. Fine we'll see you then.

Stay tuned for part 3...

FIL Follies

FIL arrived very late on Friday night. He flew to an airport that is about 2 hours away (we don't have an airport here) and then rented a car and drove here. In order to save $50 he took one of the last flights of the day. He didn't get here until 1 am (so technically, Saturday morning). He wanted us to bring the baby out to the hotel to see him. Umm, HELL no. Itchy had to go out to the hotel to get him checked in because FIL is not capable of booking a hotel by himself and made us do it for him. Whatever.

Saturday morning we woke to this sound: BEEP BEEP BEEP. Yep, Itchy's pager was going off. There was an oncology emergency and he had to go in. Great. It was an intensive case and he knew he'd be there for a while. We got ready very quickly and got Itchy to school. Stowa and I came home got ourselves ready, called FIL to say we were on our way, and then went out to the hotel. FIL was just getting dressed when we got there and he answered the door in a t-shirt and underwear (Whiskey Tango Foxtrot- he knew we were on our way out there). Don't answer the door like that. Take a minute to throw some pants on. I'll gladly wait.

He was sad that Itchy wasn't with us and kept asking when he'd be done. Then FIL tried to sing happy birthday to Stowa (she turned 5 months on Friday). I don't know if he forgot the words or if it was some Indian version of the song but it made me laugh. He was SO SAD that he didn't get to see her on her "birthday". Hmm, if it really meant that much to you, you should have booked an earlier flight. You keep telling me that you have more money than you know what to do with. That $50 you saved is what prevented you from seeing her on her "birthday", not the fact that I wasn't bringing her out to the hotel at 1 am.

We sat around at the hotel letting the baby play. FIL was annoyed that Stowa was playing strange with him. He told me that I need to put her in daycare so that she gets use to having other people hold her. I'll get right on that.

FIL was telling me that arthritis is really bad and he isn't suppose to lift more than 10-15 lbs now. I jokingly said uh oh, that means you can't lift the baby! She weighs at least 16 pounds now. He argued with me and said that she only felt like she was 10 pounds. Umm, my kid was born at over 8 pounds. She hit 10 pounds by the time she was a month old. I have a scale at our house, and while it may not be all that accurate, I have a pretty good idea of how much she weighs. Yet he kept telling me that she couldn't weigh that much yet. This will come up again on Sunday.

Finally Itchy had a break. He patient was still very sick but he had a few hours to go get lunch. We go pick him up and go to eat lunch. FIL isn't the kind of guy that you invite to dinner parties. Aside from his gross eating habits, he does not talk in between bites. Most people can maintain some conversation while eating. You know, have a bite of food, swallow, participate in the conversation and so on. Not FIL. He doesn't say anything. It was awkward. Before long it was time to get Itchy back to the hospital.

FIL wanted to go look for new shoes. Ok. Itchy has told me over and over that "we don't take that kind of crazy to public places". I didn't want to do it, but I took him to the mall. We go to every shoe store in the mall and no one has his size (seriously, he can wear kid's shoes). It took hours and we left empty handed. FIL is like a 3 year old. He doesn't watch where he is walking. He touches everything. He thinks that everyone should get out of his way. He wouldn't ask the sales people to help him, he would only talk to them if they approached him first. We had to stop every 20 feet so that he could make faces at the baby. Flipping annoying.

The best part of this trip? When he called me fat. Yep. Thanks jackass. We were walking through a store and after he doused himself in women's perfume, he once again asked why I didn't bring the stroller. I told him that Stowa loves the carrier and she prefers it over the stroller. Then he says "Well maybe carrying her will help you lose weight. Are you exercising? You still look big." I was pissed. There was no mistaking the look on my face. So he added "It's ok though because you're still feeding the baby". As hard as it was, I just bit my tongue. He went on and on about how the baby will be done nursing soon and she can eat real, healthy food soon, and then I can lose the weight. I didn't say a single word. I was amazed by my self restraint. Anyone else would have gotten bitched out. And maybe punched.

After all that fun we went back to the hotel. The baby and I did our thing (reading books, counting, playing, etc). He sat in a chair and watched. He's too old to sit on the floor and play. He wants Stowa to be the little tiny newborn that is happy to be held in the rocking chair all day. She's not. She likes to play. She likes to roll around. She likes when people are silly and make her laugh. Every once and a while he would demand that she sit with him, but she wasn't having it. Finally at 9 pm, Itchy was done for the day. He came out to the hotel and we were going to get dinner, but FIL decided that he wanted us to go home and get rest so that we could all come out there early Sunday morning. Itchy told him that he had to go back to the hospital at 6 am since his patient was still there. I told FIL and the baby and I would come out there around 10 am.

Stayed tuned for FIL Follies part 2...

We survived

FIL is on his way back home. Alive. Itchy, Stowa, and I survived too. But let's just say that there isn't enough brain bleach in the entire world to make the new memories go away.

Stowa and I have a lot to get done today and tomorrow so the stories will have to wait for a day or two.

Maytag man!!!

I need the Maytag man to come to my house! Our dryer is broken. I need it fixed. Like yesterday.

I've already called the landlord. I guess we're on the list. No idea when they'll be around to fix it.

At first, it was kind of nice. I really hate laundry. It's like some kind of cruel joke. It's never, ever done. The bottom of the laundry basket is an oasis. You can see it and you really believe that it's there and you keep getting close, but damn it, you never quite get there! A broken dryer didn't seem so bad at first. I had a really good reason to not do laundry.

It's been 5 days. I have piles and piles of laundry to do. Which makes me hate laundry even more. I really just want my jeans to be clean. And dry. But not all stiff and air dried.

Adventures with FIL

Itchy's dad is coming to visit us this weekend. Should make the weekend more interesting!

I'm trying to think of things that we can do with him. So far I've got nothing. I really need to come up with something though. We can't just sit in the hotel all weekend. I really don't want to hear him ramble on and on about where we should move, what we should and shouldn't be doing with Stowa, etc.

Too *unny!

You know on movies/tv some dopey dad (because all daddies are portrayed as dopey) will hold up a baby over their heads and then the baby will spit up. The spit up goes in dopey dad's mouth and hilarity ensues!

This just happened at our house. To me. GAG!

Stupid Acer

So the "letter between E and G" key and the Enter key have *allen o** o* the computer. We were *ine until the little rubber dome thingies *ell o** too. It makes typing a little weird.

Even though the internet said not to do it, I'm totally going to try super gluing them back on.

Teething

This teething business is for the birds!

We were up until 2 am. Stowa was grumpy. Her mouth hurt. She was busy chewing on everything (she may or may not have chewed on the cat's ear the other day-poor Patches). Nothing was making it better. I was tired. She was tired. But too uncomfortable to fall asleep. I drugged her up and she slept for all of 2 hours before she was up SCREAMING. I think she woke the new neighbors. What a fun night!

She's not as cranky today. I hope we don't have a repeat performance tonight.

She also hit another milestone today. She can now roll over from her back to her belly! She figured out how to get that pesky arm out of the way!

Had to share

In my never ending quest for great sandals, I came across these:



Awesome! They come in other colors too if orange isn't your thing (it's not my thing).

I like wildlife and everything

but not so much when it's living in my ceiling. I'm waiting on a call back from the landlord.

ETA: It appears as though a Grackle (or Red Winged Blackbird) has taken up residence in the vent that runs in the space above our ceiling. I'm pretty sure we'll hear baby birds squawking soon.

Greatest toy of all

I can't believe I forgot this. The cats. Seriously. Stowa loves them. Yes the other stuff is great and she likes it, but the kid will practically break her neck to see them. Her face lights up when she sees them. She loves when they meow. She giggles when they run up the cat tree. They are her greatest source of entertainment (aside from mom and dad).

And now for something entirely more fun

Baby updates! Yep, Stowa is doing all sorts of cute things. I think right now my favorite thing is her being bashful (which is a really weird word if you think about it too long, which I just did). She gets all excited to see Itchy or myself and she puts her hands together, shrugs her shoulders, and turns away with a huge smile. It's like she's so happy to see us that she just doesn't know what to do. I wish I could get it on camera. It melts my heart.

She got a new jumperoo last week. She hasn't quite figured out how to jump in it yet, but she does enjoy the toys on it. And being upright. She prefers being upright.

One thing that we all love is the Ergo. Stowa and I love the Sleepy Wrap. But Stowa was starting to feel a little restricted by it. We're all loving the new baby carrier though. I let Itchy pick the color since I wanted him to use it too. It was a splurge, but totally worth it.

ETA: The jumperoo, the Ergo, and the Sleepy Wrap were all purchased by me. None of those companies know who I am and they certainly didn't give them to me. Although, if they would like to share their profits with me I'd be happy to talk with them.

That's quite enough

Hey Anonymous! That's enough. Really. I like getting comments but seriously your last comment crossed the line. You can quit.

The reason I don't post pictures of Stowa is that I don't know everyone that reads my blog. It's a public blog. I have a stat tracker. I'm sure you know what that is. It's fun to see who came here and how they found me. I can usually figure out who the visitors are. Some of them are family. Some are friends. Some are other bloggers (I read theirs and they read mine- Hey guys!). Others found me through random internet searches and have stuck around. Over time we've gotten to know each other.

But then there are the other people. I don't know who they are. I don't want to prevent them from coming here by going private. They are welcome to stay, and so are you Anonymous, but I won't be sharing my social security number with you.

I won't be sharing pictures of Stowa here either. I'm ok with it. I think she's cute and would love to show her off. However, Itchy isn't comfortable with it. I have to respect that. I'm not sure why he is ok with me posting pictures of the cats. He probably just thinks I'm a weirdo and it's one fight that he just isn't going to fight. So to be completely honest with you, when people start demanding pictures of my kid, it makes me wonder why. While your intentions may be pure, the way in which you have behaved leads to me believe otherwise.

So Anonymous, I will assure you that Stowa is not ugly or deformed. She's a cute baby. I think she's adorable. One of the cutest babies I've ever seen. But I'm her mom. I do realize that my love for her makes me see her with special "mom glasses". Even when her horns are showing I think she's perfect!

Random pics

What a coincidence. Someone wants pictures and I finally found the camera cord. Let's see what I have...


Found this at Walgreens today. Totally made me smile. Love the movie. I was excited to see Willy Wonka candy. I'll let you know how it tastes.

ETA: It's pretty good. It's a really big candy bar. I'd buy it again. Itchy ruined my fun though. He lives in Nofunland.

We have this as well. It's Stowa's "nursery". I think it's cute.

Cuddles

Old man is turning 7 today. He's had a big year. We moved off The Island. We moved into a new apartment (that was chosen primarily because it had the most cat friendly views and a long hallway in which the cats can run). He got a new cat tree. He also got a new baby sister. He's taken it all very well.

Some days he looks old to me and other days he looks like a baby. Like today. He just brought me a ball of paper so I'll play fetch with him. Goofy boy. He's officially a mature cat now.

Happy birthday Cuddles!


ETA: A new picture of my boy. Taken this afternoon. It's currently my favorite picture.

4 months old

Yep, somehow 4 months has passed since Stowa made her dramatic entrance into the world.

So far married life...

We've been married (officially, by law) for a month now. All I have to say is that married life is wonderful. It really is a wonderful feeling that you've found that one special person that you get to annoy for the rest of your life.

Sharing? It's for chumps

I've said it before and I'll say it again, we don't like to share in this house. I guess as Stowa gets older that might have to change, but as of now, we don't like it.

The other day the cats (yes we still have them) Patches (the tank) was laying on top of Cuddles (who doesn't really like to cuddle) in his living room bed. I have a picture but I am too lazy to find the camera cord. Patches was as happy as could be but Cuddles was none to happy to be sharing his bed.

I had to go buy cat food anyway so I checked to see if there were any cheap cat beds. I had to. I feel guilty for neglecting the cats, so I was willing to buy them a new bed to ease my own guilt. Anyway, there were two cat beds on clearance. Both were already 60% off. I was trying to decide which to buy when a store employee told me that they had been ringing up at half the clearance price! It was a great deal. I bought both. Itchy looked at me like I was crazy. Whatever. I also have pictures of the cats in their new beds. But I'm still too lazy to find the camera cord. Trust me it's cute though.

Speaking of nightmares

Geez Louise, I swear I have so much to catch you guys up on, but 1.)I've been busy and 2.) I'm lazy! However, I'm currently ignoring laundry for you.

So we all know that I am scared to death of koalas right? Right. While we were at Itchy's parent's house we were going through Itchy's stuff, trying to clean up the house. There were a few things from his childhood that he wanted to keep. An old football jersey, a few stuffed animals, photos, just some random stuff. Great. Then Itchy decides that the one toy that he'd like to give to Stowa is his old stuffed koala. It was given to his mom at a baby shower that was thrown for Itchy. He even found a picture of his mom opening that gift. How am I suppose to say no?

So now we have this koala in our room and it freaks me out every time I see it out of the corner of my eye. Yes, a nearly 30 year old stuffed animal is freaking me out. Issues? I haz 'em!

Nightmares

Last Saturday, before we all got sick, we went to the neighboring state to visit a few friends. It was really fun!

On our drive back we saw a snowy owl! It was standing on the road. We swerved to avoid hitting it and as we did that it flew up. I swear it almost touched the truck. It looked right at me. It's face was ridiculously close to mine. It freaked me out.

I don't know how much you know about snowy owls but these things are huge. They stand about 2 feet tall and have a wingspan of about 55 inches. It's a really big bird. It's not a bird that you see everyday either.

Itchy thinks it's beyond cool that we saw it. I agree with him (why yes, we are nerds thankyouverymuch) but the damn thing has been invading my dreams ever since we saw it. The nightmares are not cool. Not cool at all.

Day 3

Stowa is still sick. Day 3 of this crap. Tuesday she was vomiting all day. Didn't want to eat. But when she did she'd start vomiting. Was clearly getting dehydrated which was why she had to go to the ER. A full day of no wet diapers = ER trip.

Yesterday her temp was at 99.? all day. I let it go. Her ped said that if it got to 100.0, then we load her up with Tylenol. So that's what I did. About 4 pm her temp was up to 100.4. She had been lethargic and puny all day. Gave her Tylenol and she took a nap. Around 7 when she woke up she looked like she was feeling better. She napped off and on until about 10. Temp was back up to 100.5. More Tylenol. She ate and then we were getting ready for bed. Which is when she promptly vomited all over the bed. Gave her some of the anti-nausea meds. Sat up with her until 1 am. She finally went to sleep.

Around 3:30 am she woke up to eat. While she was eating I noticed that she was hot. Temp 101.4. More Tylenol. Then she was just miserable. Restless, whiny, tired, etc. Poor kid. We sat up until 5:30 am. She passed out and the fever had gone down.

When we woke up this morning the fever was back (99.9) so she got more Tylenol. She's napping right now. She still doesn't feel good.

This sucks. I'm sick of cleaning up vomit. Yesterday the cats both decided to join in on the fun. I was vomiting again yesterday as well. Itchy didn't feel good yesterday either. This virus needs to go away.

*This post was not paid for by Tylenol, even though I mentioned them like 587 times.

ER Trip

Stowa still feels like crap. We had to take her to the ER last night. She's getting better, but man does she look sad.

House of horrors

We're currently living in a house of horrors. The horrors? Mostly vomiting. Some diarrhea. And a few stomach cramps. I'll spare you the details.

Off to hose down the apartment with bleach!

Almost

We're back home! The externships are over (they both went well- both places loved Itchy and gave him glowing reviews). It's nice to be back in our own little world. I'm almost finished unpacking. Stowa doesn't seem all that interested in unpacking. She has found that unpacking draws the attention away from her and that is not cool with her.

Itchy and I are the proud new owners of a stair master. Yay I guess. Itchy says we are too fat and we need to exercise. He also says that we need to eat better. I suppose that he is right. I'm back down to my pre-baby weight (which still means I need to lose weight) but the flab! It's got to go! I'll be looking for a good way to tone everything. I've heard a lot about this 30 day shred thing so I'll be looking for that.

Stowa turned a whole 3 months old the other day (16th). She's thisclose to rolling over. She's laughing a lot now too. Apparently, my pretend sneezing is hilarious. She's a really happy girl! We're going to get her pictures taken on Friday.

ETA: She rolled over last night. All by her little self! She looked pretty surprised by it!

Got her pics taken. Adorable!

250 things about me

Wow, this is my 250th post. I guess I should follow the tradition and post 250 things about me!

1. I'm totally kidding. It damn near killed me to think of 100 things for the 100th post. Not to mention that by oh, number 34 things would be getting mighty boring.

Anyway, here's something that's not boring. Itchy and I are getting married again. Legally this time. On Valentine's Day. We bought wedding bands and everything.

Like our first wedding, it's pretty last minute. We won't really have guests. Just us, Stowa, two witnesses, and the officiant (who just so happens to be a friend of ours).

Since we would at some point like to be able to celebrate this with all of our friends and family we are planning a "Third time's the charm" themed wedding and reception once Itchy is done with school. It was Itchy's idea and at first I wasn't sure about it, but now I totally want to run with it. We'll have to see what Itchy's job offers look like before we make any plans but it could be really fun!

A little update

So much has gone on lately. I've been a busy. The blog isn't the only thing I've neglected lately. So we'll start with an apology.

I'm so sorry Cuddles and Patches. I still love you guys but man, the baby takes up a lot of my time. Itchy is a deadbeat (in the most lovingly kind sense of the word) so we all know he isn't going to help with you two. It'll get better. And then worse (Stowa is surely going to torture you both). But then better again. I promise.

Other than that things around here are weird. Itchy's dad is still annoying. We get to spend so much time together these days. I feel bad for him because I can tell he's sad so I let a lot of things go. I keep telling him he needs to find a new hobby. Something to take up some of his time. Like golf. Old people like golf right? Plus if he takes up golf he'll probably buy a golf cart. And if he buys a golf cart I can drive it around when we come to visit. I've always wanted a golf cart. I think when I get old I'm going to live in one of those communities where everyone just drives around in golf carts all day.

There's a little off topic tangent for ya! Anyway, FIL has decided that I am his confidant. He tells me a lot of things and always adds a "Don't tell anyone else, especially the boys". MIL and FIL's friends have also told me a lot of crap. Apparently, I come across as a great secret keeper. But let's get this straight. I can keep a secret. In fact I was told a secret in 1986 and still haven't told anyone. But if you tell me something about Itchy or about Itchy's family, I'm going to tell him.

Stowa is doing great. Lots of talking and smiles. She's hitting the milestones the book says she is suppose to be hitting. As I suspected, the 6 hour stretch of sleep was a fluke. The very next night she was up every 2 hours. Last night she stayed up until 2 am. For no apparent reason. Not crabby at all. Just didn't want to sleep. I blame FIL for getting her all riled up when we went up to say goodnight.

I've got other big news to share but Stowa is hungry so it'll have to wait.

Big news

Itchy passed the boards!

Volume Control

Stowa has learned that she can control the volume of her voice. She's been talking for a while now but yesterday she figured out how to yell. It's pretty cute.

Yay

I have to tell someone and since no one around here cares, I'll tell you. Stowa slept for 6 straight hours last night!

It was amazing to get that much uninterrupted sleep. Unless you have been woken up every three to four hours for the last 20 weeks (ten of those weeks are just the result of being hugely pregnant) you have no idea how wonderful this is.

I'm in no way thinking that we'll get a repeat performance of this. I'm not getting my hopes up.

She's gone

Itchy's mom passed away yesterday after a long (10 months) and painful battle with cancer.

She was hospitalized last Tuesday with what they thought was pneumonia. By Friday the radiographs were showing lesions on the lung. The thought it might be fungal and began treating for that. Radiographs taken on Sunday showed that the lesions had spread. Without a biopsy they couldn't say for sure that it was cancer, but we all knew that it was.

We went out there with Stowa on Saturday and MIL got to hold her. Stowa gave her big smiles and was talking to her. By Sunday MIL was pretty out of it and probably wouldn't have been aware if we were there so it's a good thing we went when we did.

We all knew it was coming but I really didn't think it was going to happen this quickly. It's been really hard. As much as I complained about being here, MIL and I were getting pretty close. I really did like her a lot. I'm really glad that she and I spent the last few weeks together. It meant a lot to me and I know she loved every second she spent with Stowa.

We're back

Not sure I even said we were going, but we're back!

Stowa and I went to see my family last weekend. We had a lot of fun. Have I ever mentioned how much I love my nieces? I don't think that they could ever be more wonderful.

Fun was had but the stories will have to wait. Apparently Stowa has a fun hangover. Nothing but crankiness from her today.

I'm not sure why I even bother

Last night I made dinner for everyone. It wasn't anything fancy, just turkey burgers and sides, but I make a pretty good turkey burger. MIL said she liked it. Itchy said they were really good. FIL apparently didn't like it though. After he was done eating he asked me if I had ever eaten at Applebees. I said yes and then he asked if I had ever had a burger there. I again said yes. Then he told me that those burgers are better. I just stared at him. What am I suppose to say to that?

Spikes vs. No Spikes

It's an ongoing battle around here. Stowa's hair naturally spikes up in the back. I love those little spikes. Itchy loves those little spikes. We know that as her hair gets longer it will fall into place and those spikes will be gone. She looks cute with spiky hair.

FIL hates when her hair isn't lying flat. He is constantly smoothing her hair down. CONSTANTLY. He can not hold her without doing this.

Yesterday he was holding her and starting doing this. I, being stubborn, started to spike it back up every time he smoothed it down. He told me to stop. I asked why he hates her hair so much. I explained that I like the spikes and as long as Stowa doesn't have an opinion, my opinion is the one that matters. So spikes it is. MIL took my side. She said that she thought the spikes were cute too. I don't care if she was just trying to shut us both up or not, but damn it, she took my side. Take that FIL!

He did it again this afternoon. MIL had a friend visit and when he came downstairs he snatched the baby from me. Stowa was rocking a mohawk today and he got busy smoothing it down. He tried to get MIL's friend on his side. Wasn't happening. She agreed that the spikes are cute. MIL even said that she was the one to spike it up today. She wasn't, but I appreciate the support.

Anyway, it's a battle of wills. I'm stubborn. I could let it go and be the bigger person, but I don't want to. If I have to put up with him for 5 and a half more weeks I get to have this.

It makes me feel better about the other crap he pulls. Like this afternoon when he was purposely trying to wake Stowa up. Um, hello? You saw how crabby she got LAST NIGHT when you did the same freaking thing. Oh and the day before. Yeah. You do this everyday. And then you complain that she is crying and I'm the only one that can calm her down. Here's an idea, quit waking her up! Let her sleep. I promise you that she is a much happier girl when she's had a good nap. Damn straight I am going to get mad when you keep waking her up. I'm not going to sit back and let it happen. Just because everyone else lets you do what you want doesn't mean I have to.

By the way, you can quit telling me that she can hear you. We can all hear you. The neighbors can probably hear you. You are practically yelling. You are a loud talker. She's turning her head AWAY from you. It is because you are loud. Tone it down a little.