school year starts

Josephine loves "school".  Her day-care is at a Christian elementary school and she is the only 2 year old there, the rest of the kids are kindergartners that are there the other half of their half-day.  You wouldn't know she was so much younger than the rest by looking at her though, she is tall, and maybe some of the other kids are a little short.  She goes three days a week and stays with my mom two days.  I had no idea she's like going so much, on the days she stays home she asks if maybe we can just go to my school right now? The school gets out early on Fridays and many of the older kids hang out in the day-care/after school care then.  Josephine doesn't like big kids, only little kids.
I really am enjoying picking her up in the afternoons and watching her try to explain the art project she's done that day.
Something she may have learned at school (or maybe on TV?) is hide-and-seek.  There is something about summer ending that makes being outside the most important thing in the whole world and we have played about six million games of hide-and-seek.

Love

Mama: I love you
Josephine: I love you too
Mama: Do you know what that means? I love you?
Josephine: Yeah.
Mama: What does "I love you" mean?
Josephine: It means "I'm so happy"
Mama: Yes, yes it does... I'm so happy I have you.
Josephine: I love you too mama.

ouch

Josephine has slipped stepping out of the bathtub before, she has stumbled off the step stool that is by the toilet.  Josephine has fallen down the carpeted stairs a handful of times and has tripped and skinned her knee so often that it's odd if she doesn't have a scab on one or the other. 
The other day my dad and I took Josephine to the elementary school down the road to go on the Swings and Slides Right Now! She is very brave on the swings, always wanting to go faster, but this time she got a little cocky. 
She was slowing down, I sat on the sing beside her and soon she felt safe enough to let go with one hand and try to reach over to me.  As soon as I noticed what she was doing I started to tell her to please hold on with both hands but in typical disaster slow-motion I didn't get the words out before seeing her papa move like he was going to give her a big push.  All I could get out was NOOOOO! as I leaped off only fast enough to trip and skid under my swing as Josephine did a full back flip landing face first in the wood chips. 
I immediately pictured a bloody face covered in splinters.  Would this be her first emergency room visit? Have you ever see a lanky two year old flip off a swing like a trapeze artist, a bad trapeze artist, and skid to a stop on her face like Wile E. Coyote? 
Her face is fine, I picked the pieces of wood out of her hair and socks and told her she could push papa off the swing now, it's only fair.  Watching papa fall off the swing is pretty hilarious it turns out.
My right shin, the one I landed on trying to scramble off the swing in time to save my baby, is full of splinters and scratches... so there's that.

joey bologna

Josephine starts daycare Monday.  She's scared to go to "school" and I'm sad she is scared.  She picked out a new lunch box yesterday.

Joey calls all juice apple juice unless it's the carton in the fridge that my sister buys for herself, that one is called pineapple juice.
She likes to tell you exactly when she'd like to do something.  Later. Right Now. Usually, Right Now!
The sleeping in her own bed thing is slow going but I'm OK with that. 
We went to an aviary last weekend and it was better than Disney World for Josephine.  She would like to go back there Right Now!
Other magically wonderful places she'd like to go to Right Now!:

• The "swings and slides" at the playground of the new elementary school down the road.
• The grocery store
• Outside to play baseball
• Down stairs to watch Mickey Mouse
• The garage to get some "apple" juice (usually the V8 fusion juices)
• The beach

I've been writing my Life List. Please write one too and share it with me, I'd love to be inspired by the things you want to do. I'm putting my up in a tab that you can click on if you wish.

to sleep

Remember when I spent a night in Denver a month back? I went out with my girlfriend that night and when we got back to the hotel I saw Josephine was sleeping in the giant comfortable bed with my parents and the teeny tiny lumpy pull-out couch was all set up for my friend and I.  I decided that I'd let Josephine stay in her luxurious sleeping arrangements rather than have her kick me and my friend in the head all night. That night was the first night she has ever slept without me in bed with her. 
Sure, she's fallen asleep with other people before, she's even woken up with my sister a couple of times when I had an early morning class one semester, but she had never spent the entire night without pressing her head on my shoulder for a snuggle and then flipping around and rabbit kicking me in the gut or back of the head.
Josephine has her own bed, a beautiful wooden bed that my grandfather made for me when I was that little.  She naps in her own bed wonderfully but when I bring up spending the night in her own bed she gets sad and I love my snuggles.
Last night the idea of earning a treat was enough to try sleeping in her own bed all night.  She made it to 5:30.
I got much less sleep because I was constantly checking to see if her door was open or if she was wondering around confused and tired.  Also, I missed my snuggles.

training

Want to start running again after a looooooooong time away? 
 Try running with a jogging stroller up and down the hills of your neighborhood.
 Give up and just walk as fast as you can while still answering all the important questions from the extra 28lbs you are pushing around.  What's that? Where are we going? Who's that guy?
Finally, after the sun has gone down enough that it is no longer a million degrees outside, find a babysitter and leave the stroller in the garage, bring only your ipod.
Run! It's so easy now!

I'm not ready to call it yet but it's not looking good for Utah.

I debated bringing books to read on this road trip.  I usually don't get around to reading much in the car, but this is a nearly 10 hour each way drive and surely I'll have time.  I ended up shoving a couple of books in the back seat and of course never cracked them open.  No matter how long of a drive it is, if it's through these mountains every moment I'm looking out the window I feel like I'm missing something awesome.  And I am. I feel so lucky to be living in this part of the country. 
All weekend Colorado was teasing me about Utah.  Colorado, a lovely state for sure, started by showing me how she is just as aesthetically pleasing as Utah.  It's true, the Rockies are amazing, but I had to remind Colorado that I've driven through her eastern half, her kinda boring looks like Nebraska half.  So what Colorado?  I have awesome hiking trails in my back yard too and I don't do any winter sports anymore so I don't care about your ski hills.
We stayed our first night in Denver where I know some awesome people that I got to meet up with.  Colorado was all look at me, filled with your friends already, don't you love me more than Utah now?
I'm not sure why Colorado has this grudge against Utah.
Anyway yes, Colorado you have a point, but I have friends in Utah that I'd miss if I was in Colorado so again it's a draw.
My friends and I got a beer at Chipotle and sat on their patio to catch up.  We didn't order any food because it was late and we'd already eaten, and then Chipotle closed before we had finished but didn't care than we stayed.  Colorado gave me a knowing look.  Utah law says you can't order alcohol without ordering food first unless you are at a bar.  I'm sure there are some nice bars in the state, but the ones I've seen in Ogden don't look like my style.  OK Friday night gives one point to Colorado but only one because how hard is it to order an appetizer right?
The next day was my aunts birthday party and it was lovely.  Josephine charmed everyone with her stories and dancing and fell in love with one of her older cousins by the end of the night.
Finally, Sunday we headed for home by driving though the tiny town of Leadville because we had lived there 15 years ago and it's always fun to travel through time.  We had lunch in the cute town of Basalt and the people that owned the cafe we stopped at had a three year old boy, Jack, that was their PR person.  He sat with us while we waited for our food and played with Josephine, it was cute.  Colorado gave me a wink.
We got back home around 8:30 last night, got some tacos and drove around to look for a place to watch the fireworks.  We eventually found the leftover signs the city put out yesterday to keep people out of the cemetery because it's a fireworks drop zone.  OK, Utah, minus 100 points for you.  Independence day cannot be shared with the more important Sunday holiday, church. 
I don't have the means to pick up and move right now, but if I did...

sometimes i want a fast-forward button

I get it, really, Joey is learning something important. 
Her brain is so busy working on whatever it's working on that she is having a hard time remembering words and paying attention when I'm talking. 
It is frustrating for me to have to repeat everything a million times and then watch to see if she is actually doing what I asked her to do...but it must be one hundred times worse for her to spend 10 seconds trying to remember that it's called a fork right after I handed one to her and said "here's your fork". 

also, her answer to "what's for dinner?"

When something happens here that would typically get a "dang!" or "what the hell?" Josephine says "Cheese and Crackers!"
It's pretty awesome.

the birds don't hate her

So here's my problem.  I plan on posting here but I have pictures that go along with the post I have in mind and I am only getting worse at finding my camera's cord and uploading the pictures to my computer...so then I don't post anything thinking I'll get to it soon but obviously I don't.  I'm gonna try something new, something crazy, something you've never seen before, I'm gonna post when I have something to say and leave the picture uploading to Flickr when I get around it.  WOW! I am a blogging genius!


We are back from Yellowstone and no one got mauled by a bison or scalded by a geyser.  Success!  Josephine played nicely with her cousins she met for the first time which was fantastic.  I made tote bags for everyone, well, I screen printed on pre-made bags, and filled them with cowboy hats, cowboy boot shaped can coozies, and jerky. We ordered M&Ms with my grandmother's face on them and I made fortune cookies and stuffed them with Wyoming fun facts.  The cookies were yummy, not pretty, but still worth making.

I got my last haircut with "my" stylist because she is moving and even though I loved it I took the scissors to it a few days ago and while it's not fabulous it's not bad either...

Josephine has been growing ridiculously fast lately.  Physically, she's been mostly napping and eating for about a week, but mentally she seems to be putting so much together in her head that she hadn't done before.  Unfortunately she is also repeating all the awful things she's heard in the past two years that everyone thought she was ignoring...  I want to go back in time and glue everyone's mouth shut.  It's odd to hear here say "dang it!" which isn't bad, but she's called me a jerk, said she hates me and also that the birds hate her...The jerk one was easy to figure out where she got it (sister) and I've probably said it in front of her too, but the hate one really threw me for a loop.  I never say I hate things and I'm especially careful to never say I hate any person.  Hearing someone say they hate another person makes me super uncomfortable.  My heart broke for a little bit with that one.

While I'm on the topic of annoying things my 2 year old does...She is obsessed with driving... I made a car out of a cardboard box but that was only good enough for about a day.  Every day, all day, for the past few weeks Joey asks, begs, demands that I let her "drive" which means sitting in the driver's seat in whatever car is in the garage and pretending to go to the beach or on a hiking trip.  I don't know how to type out how annoying it is because I know right now it sounds pretty tame but oh my gosh she won't shut up!

Joey, my parents and I are driving to Colorado this weekend for my great aunt's 90th birthday.  Wish me luck.

A Love Story

Josephine totally loves me, I know, but lately there has been a new leading lady in her life.
Billie Jean, named for the Michael Jackson song, not the tennis player, is my brother's pit bull puppy and Josephine's BFF.
My brother got the puppy as the result of a recent break-up so he didn't have any plan as to what to do with her when he leaves for work so we are watching her until he figures something else out.  He's brought her over several times before when he came for Sunday dinner and every time Josephine's heart nearly exploded with joy.
The days Billie is not here Josephine pretends to call her on my old cell phones all day. 

These pictures are all from a few weeks ago but the love is still the same.

Snowball fight!

She's trying to roll her over.

Josephine's hair can get pretty out-of-control.

i have some dessert and update my shit-list

Lots to catch up on eh? Let's get this going.

Remember the Superbowl? Way back then...well, I have no comment on the game.  We had it on and my dad watched it but the rest of us just went on with our day like any other sunday.  Just before the game started we were all in the kitchen when someone walked in the front door.  Usually when someone lets themselves in it's my brother visiting or maybe my sister parked in the driveway instead of the garage.  Out of habit someone yelled "YAY" when we heard the door open but when the guest walked around the corner we saw it was an old man.  An old man that we've never seen before.  But he had wine so we welcomed him.  It tookabout 5 seconds for him to notice he was in the wrong house.  Oops. It's ok though, we had plenty of beer in the fridge.

I made the most delicious cupcakes a long while ago.  S'more cupcakes.  I ate most of them myself, like two or three a day.  I couldn't help it! They were easy too, here is the recipe I used: KAPOW!  Just spend 5 minutes on that blog's archives and then go find your apron.  You will be a hero.

The weather is warming up but every once in a while we still have a cool day and a morning of new snow to remind us that we live in the Rockies.  One morning about a week or so ago we had one of those cooler snow-dusting days.  Late morning Josephine stripped out of her pajamas and diaper and was being a typical toddler, relishing the freedom of being naked in her own house.  She loves that she knows how to open the back sliding-glass door to let the dog and cat in and out.  Such a good helper. 
Now, a few years ago this house had a semi-private back yard.  But in the last two years where there used to be trees there are now houses.  Houses so close that when the trees in our yard are bare (as they are now) you can see everything that goes on in the other houses if the blinds are up.  We can hear everything that goes on when they are in thier back yard because it is no different than if they were in our yard. 
This is going somewhere, I promise.
One of these newly super-close neighbors hadn't been home all winter, or so I thought.  I hadn't seen or heard anything from that house since last summer when we heard them moving in, with two little kids running around.  We never got the chance to meet them.
So back to naked Josephine.  After stripping down she opens the back door to let the cat out.  I call to her to hurry up and close the door since it's so cold out.  She is two.  She steps out onto the porch and shakes her butt.  I grabbed my camera and get a 20 sec video of her assuring me it isn't cold out and then jumping back into the house because her toes are cold.   There was no snow on the porch.  She never took more than one step away from the house. The door never closed behind her.  I'd show you the video to prove that she wasn't out there more than 30 seconds tops but, she's naked and this is the internet...so, no.  I tell you all this because about 4 hours later the cops stop by to let me know a concerned neighbor called to report a naked baby in the back yard.  He tells me it was the mystery neighbor house that I thought was empty.
So many things wrong with this.
Why didn't they come over themselves if they thought Joey had let herself out without my knowing?
They must have told the police that she was safely back in the house or else it wouldn't have taken 4 hours for them to come check-up on me. 
I still haven't see any movement from that house, I guess I can't be 100% certain that the cop pointed to the right house.  Or maybe they just don't like playing outside.
I am mostly calmed down from that day now, but I was quite upset for the rest of the day and the next day even. 
I know that I'm a good mom.  I don't doubt that.  I HATE that I am no longer comfortable playing with Josephine in our own backyard. 

Playing with the panorama function on my camera.

Josephine, as I mentioned before, askes to watch a movie when she wakes up.  I usually allow it if we have nothing going on, I get about a half hour of uninterupted time to plan, do homework, clean, or whatever before she's bored with it.  Usually she wants Robots, Tinkerbell, or Cars, but I got her to start asking for Cry Baby on some mornings.  Small victories.
I'm sending Josephine to Disney on Ice this week.  With her aunt and her nana, not her mama...I am missing 'baby's first ice show' but I am getting a evening to myself.  Fair trade.

She's got a honey+olive oil hair treatment in. 

She knows how to relax

finding my marbles

NOT A BABY

Still just two, but oh what a much more pleasant two than just weeks ago. She entered two with a crash and continued her Hulk Smash attitude for weeks, scaring the crap out of her mother.


How was I supposed to survive months of this? Would it end, ever? Would she transition from tantrums over M&M's to tantrums over homework? And then curfew? Then coming home from college? Would she ever shut up?

Then we had a day of quiet. It stood out so much that my mind bounced back and forth between enjoying the peaceful happy day and scrambling to figure out how this happened so that it could be repeated.

Now she regularly says (and signs) “thank you” without prompting, as well as “pease” and “you’re helcome”.

She pretends to be a robot for about half the day. It probably has nothing to do with the fact she wants to (and usually gets to) watch Robots every morning. She also wants at least one random episode of Blue’s Clues which is followed by a request for a specific episode of Yo Gabba Gabba. Yes, I let her watch them. She doesn’t actually sit through all of it.

She’s been a kick butt sleeper at night lately too. Took her long enough, but she’s finally there. After months of trying to get her to take a normal nap at a normal time she just up and started to tell me that she is “seepy, mama” at the same time every afternoon and takes my hand to lead me to the bedroom. She still doesn’t always stay napping long enough.

I’ve heard 2 year olds with better verbal skills than Josephine’s, but I’ve also heard worse. She is definitely catching on to new words and sounds at super speed now though. Kinda freaky. The best is that on one of her Yo Gabba Gabba episodes the “cool trick” is a beat-box demonstration by Rahzel and she tries to make the sounds along with him. She’s getting good.

So, she is pretty radical as of late, I hope it lasts.

HOMEMADE

I made some homemade ketchup a while back and it was really good. Except I don’t eat ketchup normally anyway so I spent the next few weeks making food that I could use ketchup with, I ate a lot of french-fries and burgers . No one else liked it much which was a bummer but whatever. It didn’t taste like normal store-bought ketchup but I thought it was better (and healthier!)

Last night I made yogurt. When I announced that I was going to attempt this, my family all made a stink face and asked if that was even safe, they think I’m trying to poison them. Whatever, it’s not difficult but I suspect it takes a few attempts to get it to the taste and texture you personally want. So far mine is a good taste but I’d like it to be thicker so I’m trying to drain it a little this morning. I’m still considering it a success.

Next up is homemade mayonnaise. I’ve been meaning to do this for a long while now but I guess I was putting it off thinking I shouldn’t be eating mayo anyway. Whatever, I eat lots of mayonnaise and I like it, so there.

2 years

*oops, forgot that I had this saved and hadn't published it yet...*

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Josephine, Jojo, Joey,

Several days ago you had your second birthday. Turning two was pretty fun for you, you practiced holding up two fingers for weeks leading up to the day and you answer "2" to any question where an amount is appropriate.

How old are you? TWO!

How much is it going to snow today? TWO!

Do you want some more rice? TWO!

You are finally old enough to understand how to open up presents and even fake excitement when it's just socks. Actually you are probably genuinely excited to get socks. Your birthday this year was a car theme. I didn't plan on that ahead of time but every time we'd walk through the toy aisles you'd loose your mind trying to reach for all the cars and trucks. I told your aunts and your Nana that if they weren't sure which gifts to give you for your birthday and which to save for Christmas that they should give any car or truck gift on your birthday. Then you saw a few minutes of the Cars movie on TV one day and proceeded to loose your mind all over again for the next week asking to watch it again but we didn't own it and it wasn't on TV anymore. So you got the Cars movie, and a million different kinds of cars and trucks as well as other nice non-car things for your birthday. I even molded candy into shapes of cars on pretzel sticks for you. Blue candy, your favorite color.

I made a dump cake for your birthday, with mixed berries. Last year I made a berry pie but didn't let you have any because you were in a white dress, this year you just plain didn't like the cake. Sorry.

Christmas, two(!) days later was just as fantastic for you. I'm really really impressed at how well you did during your three day party. Opening presents, saying thank you, and you didn't have a melt down at all which is awesome since you melt into the floor pretty regularly these days.

Sorry but it's true baby, you are like the wicked witch and sometimes when I talk to you my words are like water. I tell you it's bed time and the next thing I know I'm standing in a puddle, and it's screaming at me. You cannot have as much chocolate as you can hold in your lap, you may have one piece. Boom, splash, screaming puddle.

This year was pretty awesome.

You are getting good at posing for pictures. (duck face)

You perfected the somersault.

You have become a much better eater, trying more things, eating more at meal times, and using a fork like a pro. (Scrambled eggs in an ice cube tray?)

We took lots of walks this summer. You were finally brave enough to sit in the swings and then absolutely refused to get back out. You were nearly passed on from exhaustion and heat but if I stopped pushing you all of your energy would come back and your head would spin and other kids at the playground would suddenly burst into flames. You like the swings.

We were outside a lot this year but nothing is as fun for you as playing in the snow.

I even built a sledding hill in the back yard for you. You LOVE it. Is loving snow something all kids do?

You finally met a big chunk of your extended family this year and refused to acknowledge any of them. For the last year and a half you have ignored all strangers by clinging to me as tight as you can and then looking off into the distance like What? I don't see anyone? Do you hear someone? Oh let's look at this blade of grass for a minute.

You also danced your butt off this year. I don't have a suitable video of you dancing to share here but you have to believe me, you are a dancing maniac. Every commercial with a catchy jingle must be re-wound ten times (thank goodness for DVR's) and you regularly ask for us to put on a music channel and dance with you. Your dance moves are incomparable. They are probably my most favorite memory of your second year, your fancy dance moves.

Finally, you decided you'd like to use the potty this year. Mostly. I had just bought a huge supply of flushable diaper liners and ordered a travel potty that I was going to give you for your birthday but before it even arrived you were wearing undies all day and sitting on the big potty. You refused to sit on the potty with the small seat adapter thingy once it came...whatever. You still have accidents when I forget that you are still just two years old and I have to ask you to sit on the potty a few times a day. You have so much fun playing that there is no time to stop and pee.

Your favorite food is Papa's dirty rice and Costco's rotisserie chicken. Your favorite color is blue; I have to prove to you that your clothes have blue on them or you won't get dressed. You sing Yo Gabba Gabba songs all day. Someone taught you to say shut-up and you say that more than any other word, though I don't think you know what you are saying really. Your aunt Sarah tries to teach you a bad habit every day ( when asked what you are doing you answer "nothing", on Sarah's prompting you tell me I am crazy or stinky, and if I'm not carefully watching, your aunt will tell you to go ahead and wipe your hands on your shirt...)

Mostly though, you have been the most powerful motivation for me to work hard and be a better person. You have made me laugh so hard I cried on many occasions and love so hard that I cried on even more.

half a thought

Josephine's birthday is tomorrow.
So I'll be working on the long mushy post in the next few days, with pictures!
until then......
I cooked a lot of my Christmas gifts this year, I haven't done that before. I made meatballs and tomato sauce, candied nuts, truffles, and herbed oils and vinegars. Everything turned out really well. Mostly. Sorry to those of you that got the nuts because I had never done that before and I tried several different recipes and last night I finally found the perfect one...so you got the "good enough" version and my family here got the "oh my freaking goodness" version.
Two nights ago I decided to make some of the recipes from the Hanukkah section of the website I use and it was absolutely the best dinner I've ever had. Kugle, matzo ball soup, latkes...mmmmm. Have you ever had kugle? I was skeptical but I ended up hogging all the left-overs. Except I did share with Josephine, she insisted on eating it with chopsticks, I wish I had a picture. I'll be making matzo ball soup again tomorrow night since Jose like it so much (and so did the rest of us).
I have a hair person now. I've gone back to the same girl 4 times now and have my next appointment already scheduled. This is kind of a big deal for me, I've been to a million other stylist in town and hated every one of them. Well, no, not hated, but I've never cared enough to schedule my next cut right away. I feel fancy. Also, I have super short hair now.
Going to see Avatar in about half an hour. In 3D. I've never sat through a whole 3D movie as far as I can remember. I saw a 3D nature film at a museum last year but it was kinda boring so I didn't have my glasses on the whole time. And I think I took some kids I babysat for to a 3D under the sea movie but they weren't the best behaved kids and half the movie was spent telling them to sit down and shut it.
I know I sat down because I had a story for you but now I'm drawing a blank- oh well.

oh right, I have a blog

You'd think having someone else link to me in their fantastic blog would get be to post something new already... gah, it's like I can only be one thing at a time. Or maybe two things. But that's it.

I can be a toddler wrangler and a student...but not both and a blogger! Who do I look like? Someone who has their act together?

Anyway, I've been given an award.

So there's that.

Several years ago I spent one year at a small private conservative baptist college in Minnesota. I'm much too liberal now for you to ever believe that I chose to attend that school...but I did..and I met some of the most ridiculous people there. But, I also met a few really amazing women. One young lady in my dorm was Jillian and she was so fun and cool that she really didn't belong at that school either. I met most of her friends as she was more-or-less a local and I had only been in the city about a year, and I soon call many of them my friends as well. Jillian had some really great friends, like, I was flattered that she liked me because she obviously had good taste in friends.

Jillian doesn't have a blog. But! One of her friends that I got to know, Jill, does!! Lucky us! Jill is one of those people that even if you only spend a few hours with her you don't forget her when you leave. I never had to say, "oh that one girl, what was her name?" I'm glad she has a blog.

So...I'm supposed to lay out 10 honest things about myself now- here goes-

1. Candy Cane Hershey kisses will be the death of me. Of if not death, they'll put me back into my maternity pants by the new year.

2. My daughter has just potty trained herself- in about a week. Don't hate me. She's even had dry nights the last two nights, as well as dry naps the last three days. I planned on getting her a potty for her 2nd birthday (in one month!!!) but that's out the window now. It converts to a travel potty so it's not a loss. I lucked out on this one, I know.

3. The best thing in the whole world first thing in the morning is hot coffee with a little cream. I am super picky about my morning routine and it can really set the tone for my whole day (and yours if we cross paths). I need to have a hot cup of coffee first, maybe while I'm checking some blogs and watching the news, then I can have some breakfast. If my breakfast is cold I can have another cup of coffee, if it's hot I have to have something cold to drink. I cannot have a hot drink and hot food at the same meal, especially breakfast.

4. I dressed Josephine up as Bessie Colman for Halloween. Never heard of her? Yeah, well, Josephine isn't two yet so she gets no say in her Halloween costume yet. Anyway, click over to read about her, she was the first African-American to have a pilots license. I have my grandfather's old flight cap that he wore in WWII and beyond so it was pretty neat to see my baby in it.

5. Josephine can say a lot of words but "Josephine" isn't one of them. She started calling herself Jojo and every one else picked it right up as well. Tonight I proposed to her that she go by Joey. It's been long enough since Dawson's creek has been on the air right? So anyway, she tries to say Joey and says JoLo. Nice, but maybe she should wait for a record deal before taking that one. Then JoLo turns to Jello, so most of tonight I've called her Jello. Mmmmmm.

6. I am not a huge fan of Thanksgiving, or most holidays I guess, but anyway, Thanksgiving, right. I don't really like turkey, or stuffing, or anything with mushrooms, or those Pillsbury crescent rolls. And I can't convince anyone to stray from the "traditional". I try to contribute one dish to dinner so that I know I'll have at least one thing I like on my plate, this year I made this. You need to click over to that recipe, it was FABULOUS. Even better this morning for breakfast (after my coffee of course).

7. I squealed, out loud, like I was 15, when I saw the commercial for Scrubs coming back on Tuesday.

8. All I want for Christmas is to go swimming with Josephine. We had so much fun this summer at the pool.

9. Some of my fuzziest memories are from when I was in Jr High and High School. Like, entire holidays, vacations, even years are missing. I never did drugs so that's not to blame...

10. Number 8 is a lie, I also want a whole day of no obligations, including no toddler (except for select moments) so that I can spend all day playing Mario Kart, drinking diet Big K, and eating the tin of Christmas cookies from Costco in my pajamas.

I'm not giving this award to anyone. The people who I would've given it to just got it from someone else and most of the blogs I read are by people that would never read my blog...I should change that.

You know what I've been meaning to ask? What the hell are the Roots doing on Jimmy Fallon?

mess, snow, and poop

sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...
yeah.
I haven't allowed myself much time to write lately. I've had time to complete homework (barely) and time to change diapers, and even time to take a few pictures (but not upload them). When I have a moment to either write or curl up in a ball on the couch and watch Ghost Whisperer, I've been choosing the latter.
My bedroom is on the main level of the house so when guest visit, guests who cannot go up and down stairs, guests like my grandmother, I have to move down stairs and give my room up as the guest bedroom. It's one thing to clean a room so that someone can peek into it or crash one night in it, it's a whole other thing to clean it up so someone can stay in it for a week...I'm in trouble. I am not neat. My grandmother arrives this afternoon.
I'm not dirty, some people are dirty, I'm not one of them. I don't have dishes or food wrappers laying around, I wash my clothes regularly etc. I don't unpack (stuff, I unpack dirty clothes right away) when I get home or put all my clean clothes in the closet right away though. I have piles of papers and half finished projects on every surface. I know where everything is of course, but it looks like a mess to anyone else...
I'm picking out colors to paint the walls in what will eventually be Josephine's room. Orange. I'll probably do most of the painting and decorating over winter break and it's going to be AWESOME!
It's snowing right now. It's snowed a little already this fall, but nothing worth talking about. This is looking like it'll stay for a while.
Josephine's birthday is 2 months...then I will have a 2 year old.
a few nights ago I was getting her ready for bed and she was fighting getting a new diaper on so I let her have a bare ass for a bit while I put some things away (I was putting things away, clothes even!). She came up to me and pointed to her butt and said her word for poop. Oh, crap, where is it?! There are clothes all over my floor and she's telling me she just pooped someone in here! I scooped her up and asked her where is it a few times while tip-toeing around. I checked her out, no "evidence" on her that she pooped and then it came to me. I leaped for the toilet and as I put her on the seat I asked her if she had to go poop. "Yes", or more like "Yesh" and as soon as her skin hit the porcelain it happened... my 22 month old pooped in the potty!!!!!!!
She was a little nervous but soon figured out that I was excited for her and she got excited too. We skipped to the living room to tell every one and stopped to get a sucker out of the Halloween basket on the way. We jumped and pumped our fists in the air, we sang Whoo Hoo with big smiles, I turned to see her slip and land hard on her bare bum and then crack her head on a wooden stool.
She's put in a good effort to go on the potty again a few times but so far nothing, also she is not interested in peeing on there. I hadn't even planned on actively potty training for a few more months anyway. She's getting a potty for her birthday (shh) but she hasn't quite mastered pulling her own pants down.
There is a lady in two of my classes that is just nuts. At first I thought she was just sarcastic and a little dramatic. She made every one laugh as she got worked up over different assignments and predicted her fantastic failures...then the drama kept increasing and the sarcasm faded out. She seems to genuinely believe that every professor should bend over for her every desire, like accept late work with out penalty and maybe get a new text book because she doesn't like this one and that assignment is too difficult it should be extra credit instead. At first I thought I was the only one who saw the crazy because everyone else still seemed charmed by her but then I got an eye roll last night. Yes! someone on my side! It's awkward to be the only one who doesn't like someone in the room, you start to think you are going crazy.
Apparently I've chosen to blog instead of shower before my class this morning...

A ball?

Foul moods are contagious aren't they? I don't know who started it, but there are a few SERIOUSLY FOUL moods in this house lately. It's like when you moved into your first dorm room and prayed your roommate(s) wouldn't be too difficult to get along with...I am living with my nightmare roommates and there are 4 of them, and they are family (Josephine doesn't count, she's still reasonably pleasant) I can't get away from them!
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This summer has been the summer of bubbles. Josephine can almost say bubbles, it sounds more like bubbas, and she has asked to go outside and blow bubbas almost every day for the last two months. We've also learned how to blow bubbles in water as well, we've had fun learning how to
"swim".
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My sister made me go to a AAA baseball game with her last weekend; she knows a player on the visiting team from high school or whatever. I didn't expect Josephine to last through a whole game that didn't start until 7pm, but she LOVED IT. She had her own seat and for most of the game she watched more intently than any TV show she's ever seen. She clapped and cheered with the crowd, participated in the wave, and when the players ran off the field at the end of the innings she would look up at me and say "more? more?" then she would motion throwing while saying "a ball?".
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She loves throwing things, which sucks when the thing is something breakable or hard and she is aiming at your face. She has good aim. When we go visit our friends who have two very energetic dogs she has the best time throwing their toys down the yard for them. Days and days after visiting them she will ask me "a ball?", complete with hand motions, every time we get in the car.
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The other day there was a football game on TV. It was the most important football game in the world (because to my father, every Auburn football game is the most important football game in the world) and Josephine woke up from her nap about 20 min into it and preceded to watch the hell out of that game.
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Some of the people who called to wish me a happy birthday asked me what Josephine had gotten me. I said she had gotten me some poopy diapers? She didn't spit her food on the floor? (she actually probably did, I don't remember, it happens about once a day, she's gross) BUT! She did give me something great later that night. She was dancing around and being silly for her audience and then she bent over and did a perfect somersault. She cannot do one when my camera is on though, sorry.

Well, I'm most likely bring Josephine to the wedding with me, mostly because everyone here refuses to change a diaper properly...it's ridiculous.



A great thing about being a parent: your kid is "the best" at something at some point. Maybe she was late to walk, or he was slow to roll over and maybe your child is behind in a million things that all the books say she should be doing, but there is at least one thing at one time that makes all the other mothers look on with envy.

Josephine is currently gifted in song. She is taking her sweet ass time talking, but sing a song once and she will remember the tune a week later and hum it to you on request. I've mentioned before how she will find a beat anywhere and move to it (the beeping of the security alarm at the store), but I'm really impressed with her singing.

Before she ever even made a noise other than a burp out of that pretty mouth I had decided that I was going to decorate her room in a musical theme...I'm prophetic, duh.



I can't go anywhere without someone commenting on Josephine's hair- It's so beautiful! I've even been asked a few times if her hair is naturally curly...really? You think I curl a baby's hair?

Her father is black, that's where the curl comes from. Funny thing, the top and sides of her hair is soft and smooth, while the back of her head is coarse and usually snarly...like the top is from me and the back is from him.

I've tried everything to get the back of her head a little less snarly and frizzy. Mostly I've been successful at making it look greasy. The winner is the conditioner I bought for myself because it matches my shampoo: Samy Pure. She has soft curls for most of the day when I use it, it's magical.
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I have classes on two different campuses this semester. One is five minutes down the street, the other is 20min into the next town. Through road construction. It's a little bit of a hassel, but my classes are going to be really great I can tell.

late night ramble

Sometimes Josephine puts something over her face, a hat that is too big or a sweater I've left out, and then she spins and walks around the living room until she crashes into the coffee table. I have no idea how she figured out to do this, but she thinks it is HILARIOUS. Sometimes I do too.

We've been extra whiny over here lately, extra cry-e and scream-y too. One particularly bad day had me putting Josephine on my bed a few times so she could have some time alone to calm down and selfish mama could watch Revolutionary Road in peace since Netflix sent it over a week ago(did not like it, but kinda liked, but not really, would not watch again). Anywho, Josephine finally figured out that she doesn't have to stay on the bed. She knows how to get down, but she never does...until now. Now she gets out immediately if she is awake. I'm not sure how I feel about this. Plus side: she doesn't cry for me to come get her anymore after a nap or in the morning, she just gets up and walks out to the living room. Negative side: no more quiet time on the bed when she is awake, and this hasn't happened yet, but what if I'm down stairs when she wakes up from a nap and she panics?

School starts Monday. I have a pretty full schedule, mostly night classes and one 7:30am class. I've conned my sister into watching Josephine those mornings...sucker.
I'm flying to Minnesota again in October to be in my best friend's wedding. I don't know if I'm going to take Josephine though...I'm very conflicted and if you want to chime in with some advice I'd love to hear it.

So, if I take the baby then I'd probably rent a car and car seat which would be a little more money than taking a shuttle from the airport but not much. I would have to pawn her off on someone while I stand up in the wedding (she HATES strangers) and I couldn't stay out too late at the reception because I'd have to go back to the hotel with a tired baby...also I'd have to stay pretty sober in that case.

If I don't bring her along my milk will likely (possibly?) dry up and she will have a few days (3-4) with no mama and no nursing for the first time in her short little life. The thought of climbing into bed without her makes me tear up a bit, but maybe it would be good for her to have to fall asleep without me there? I don't like the idea of forcing her to wean, but then again I *might* be able to pick up where I left off when I get home.

**she just woke up and walked out here...I think I like that she doesn't just sit in bed and cry for me.**

Does it sound like I'm deciding between being buzzed in a taxi vs. taking care of my daughter? Gah! It's just that the logistics of traveling with a baby are more complicated than without one...and how I enjoy the wedding reception will be different depending on whether or not I have a baby on my hip...and papa thinks everyone will be just fine if I leave Josephine with him and grandma...and I'll shut up now.

Change the subject already-

We've been swimming at a fantastic aquatic center in town lately. Josephine loves it and I do too. It is built with toddlers in mind, lots of shallow water and a few sprinklers and slides. There are things for bigger kids to play on too, but the best part is how much space is designed for babies. The aquatic center closes around labor day and thinking about how soon that is makes me a little sad.
I am going to try very hard to make sure that we get at least one more swim in this season and I'll hopefully remember my camera.