Simple Fun

A stretchy string of beads can be so much fun.

(These are not my floors, but I wish they were.)

(I bet you wish they were yours too, unless of course, they are your floors.)

This girl is keeping me hopping.

I feel like I am so far behind...

...in everything...

...cleaning, blogging, mostly cleaning, but blogging sounds like more fun.

I'm hoping to get caught up this week,

just in time for the long holiday weekend,

family and food,

and so I can do it all over again next week.

If you see me here more often this week,

you'll know I chose blogging over cleaning.

If you don't hear from me,

you can assume I decided to run away from both.

Happy (Belated) Fathers' Day

Day One

When I married Ryan, I thought that someday, he'd be a good dad.  He was good with his niece and liked kids, and I just figured being a dad would come to him naturally.  But, I didn't know what kind of good dad he'd be until our sweet little girl came rushing into the world.  I didn't know how much help he would be to me, or how devoted he would be to our baby, or how hard he would work to make us all happy, or how happy I would be to see him at the end of each (sometimes long) day.  To say the least, he has exceeded all of my expectations.

April 2010

Despite the fact that he has changed only a handful of dirty diapers, he is a very devoted daddy.  Watching him change a diaper has actually become very amusing for me as it usually involves quite a bit of gagging and complaining.  Ok, a LOT of gagging.  A LOT.  But, he is the first to hold Laci's hand and walk laps around the house, the first to tell her to "be careful" when she's getting too brave, and the first to kiss her goodnight.  His patience holds up when mine is spent at the end of the day and he works his tail-end off so I can enjoy staying home with our girl.  I really couldn't ask for more.

May 2010

Happy Fathers' Day to you Ryan, just a little late, and to all the other Fathers out there doing the best they can for their families.

June 2010

We love you very much.

xoxo,

Tonya & Laci

She's walking and I'm tired

This week is already exhausting me, and it's only Tuesday.  Well, at least it's Tuesday evening, which means today is officially "over."  Now, on to Wednesday.

Yesterday was a big day for Laci.  First, she went for her 10 month checkup.  She weighs 17 pounds now and measures 26 1/2" tall.  She is very petite and I love it.  She's like a little peanut, but much softer.

Yesterday was also a big day for her because she officially "walked."  Not just one or two steps this time, it was like four or five steps, and she did it a whole bunch of times.  She got so excited and was obviously very proud of herself.  I have to admit, it was pretty exciting for me too.   Do I have any pictures of it?  No.  Do I have video of it?  Not in my possession.  We were visiting my mom at her office when we decided to see if Laci would walk.  She's been so close, but is too cautious to just let go.  Well, she did it.  And I wasn't prepared.  My camera was out in the car and I don't even own a video camera.  Whitney took a quick video of her for me, so hopefully I'll get the file from her.

I've been so terrible with photos lately anyway.  The picture above is from about a month ago.  It isn't that I haven't taken any pictures, because, trust me, I've taken plenty of them.  The problem is getting them from the camera to the computer.  This is not a new problem for me.  In fact, I may have even mentioned it before, but I can't remember, so I'll talk about it some more anyway.  My computer time as of late has been reduced to only when Laci is sleeping.  She just won't tolerate me sitting at my desk anymore.  If you could see my shelf of computer supplies you would understand.  In the few minutes I've tried to sneak on the computer, she has managed to empty and re-empty all paper, folders, binders, and other such nonsense from every shelf in her sight.  As a result, my shelves are now empty and my desk is cluttered - to the point that I have to look over a stack of papers just to see the monitor.  One might think that I would find an alternative location for such things, but no, I prefer to leave it on my desk and complain about it.  Since she only takes two one hour naps a day, and that's on a good day, my computer time feels like no time.  Especially if I need to accomplish something purposeful while she is napping, like say, cleaning something, then my computer time completely disappears.  The fact that I'm blogging right now is actually a shock to me.  Maybe that's why I seem to have writing diarrhea.  Sorry for the gross analogy, it just came pouring out of me.  Sorry, gross again.

All this leads me back to where I started - exhausted. Laci now wants to walk all over the place, but still wants to hold your hand. Not both hands anymore - no just ONE hand. And she means ONLY one hand. If you try to offer the other hand, she just pushes you away. Then we cruise around the house, her holding one finger, stopping every few feet to pick up anything and everything she sees along the way. Very entertaining for her - not so much for me. To top it off, Ryan has been working 12 hour shifts the past...week? Two weeks? I can't remember, but long enough to make me feel the strain. He leaves before we wake up and gets home about 45 minutes before Laci mentally checks out and goes into crazyland where the only solution is a bath and bedtime. I think I'll actually be grateful when he switches to the swing shift because at least then he'll only be working 8 hours and we'll get to spend mornings together. And to think, I'm this tired with only one baby. How do people do it with twins?

I know I need to shake myself right now and realize that it really isn't that hard.  Someday, I'll have more than one baby to take care of and I'll be dreaming of the days when it was just Laci & me.  But for now, I'll be thankful for the few minutes of peace I was just able to enjoy and hope for more blogging and photo time tomorrow.

...ten months...

Laci is ten months old today.

Where is the time going?  

I can't believe she is so close to being a year old.

She took another step for her Auntie Beth today.

Why didn't time pass this quickly when I was little?

For my mom, I'm sure it did.

Yesterday, Laci and I sat on the picnic table in the yard,

ate graham crackers,

and watched the cars drive by. 

She loves to watch cars, especially the loud ones.

She loves grahams crackers and can make a royal mess with them.

She wanted the whole cracker,

not cracker pieces,

and for once, she didn't choke herself on giant chunks of food.

She didn't want her picture taken.

She was spinning around in circles on her butt to avoid me, a new skill she practices often.

Mostly in the bathtub, but also when she thinks she has something awesome that no one else should have.

Such as, a graham cracker.

I was having problems focusing the camera.

Partially because my subject would

Not. Hold. Still.

But also because there was a giant smear of gooey graham cracker across the lens,

which I didn't find until later when I put my lens cap back on.

Graham crackers are awesome.

I know she won't remember this day.

But I will.

Because graham crackers are awesome

(especially with cream cheese).

And because I wrote it down.

Blogs are awesome too.

Her First Step

I am wishing I were here right now

- in a pool, with my baby.

Instead, I am sitting at my desk, in my moderately cool house,

thinking about all the things I should be doing,

but am obviously not.

It's Monday - enough said.

The latest Laci news:

She officially took a step on her own today,

and did not have to be coerced into doing it.

She's taken a bit of a cautious turn lately, so I figured walking would be further off than I originally anticipated.  Well, this morning, she let go of the couch, turned around, and took a step toward me on her own.  She had the hugest grin on her face as she dove for my arms.  It was too cute.  You could tell how proud she was of herself.  We had a busy weekend of birthday parties and family time - I am thinking all that time spent with walking kids made her want to walk too.

Cutting Teeth & Being Silly

The little lady is cutting two front teeth right now.  One has made its way through, the other is still just a big bump under the gum.  Needless to say, she's been a little cranky lately and not sleeping much.  Not that she sleeps much anyway, but it is worse than usual.  Thank goodness for Tylenol or we might not be sleeping at all.

It's amazing how one minute she's pushing me over the edge of sanity with all of her whiny crankiness, and then the next minute, she has me cracking up.

Like how she shakes her toys, all of them, even the ones that don't make noise.  And when she shakes something with one hand, the other hand has to shake too.

Or like when she saw Beth's dog Roxy today and got so excited that she was physically shaking.  And of course, started yelling at the top of her lungs.

Or like the way she was so excited in the grocery store today, yelling at the food on the shelves, yelling at the other customers, yelling at the courtesy clerk who helped us out to the car.  Nice yelling, of course, but still very loud.

Or like the way she says, "Mama" now, even though she has no idea what it means, and it really comes out more like, "Ma ma ma ma ma."  The cutest part is that she has to practice the "mmm" shape silently with her mouth a few times before she actually says anything out loud.

She's such a sweetie, really.  And I love her so much. 

But I'm positive she'll be sweeter once these teeth come through.

Our Anniversary

Two years ago today, we said "I Do."

It seems so much longer than that, in a good way.

We went out to dinner on Saturday to celebrate.

We ate Hula's and were back home in bed by nine.

No need to party on the town when everything I need is at home with me.

Doing Laundry & Complaining

We're doing laundry today.  Well, at least one of us is. 

What else is there to do on a rainy June day? 

Rainy June day? 

Did I really just write that? 

Have I moved to a tropical island?  Let's see...

Warm temperatures and misty rain...check.

Humid and muggy...check.

Surrounded by greenery...check.

Sandy beach and beautiful ocean...no.

No, I have NOT moved to a tropical island.

Bummer, tropical island sounds so much better than anything else that would describe where I live.

Speaking of where I live, can you observe the beauty of my laundry room/kitchen above?

Yes, laundry room/kitchen.

Ok, they are two separate rooms, but they are right next to each other.

Who does this?

Do people really want dryer lint in their dinner?

Apparently people who designed mobile homes in the 70's did.

Oh, so many things I could criticize those designers for.

I could post for days about the flaws of this place.

Like the carpet in the dining room.

Who does that?

People who do not have kids.

People who do not feed their kids.

People who do not feed themselves.

People who put a table in the dining room, but never use it.

People who like to vacuum a lot.

I am sure any of these people would be pleased to have carpet in the dining room.

I am not one of these people.

I understand that in its "day", this mobile was probably very nice.

But its "day" was about the time I was born,

and I of all people should know that was way too long ago.

One of these days, I plan to fully document the double wide in all its

wood paneled, orange rusty carpet, decaying linoleum glory.

Why?

Because I'm sincerely hoping that by this time next year we are deep in the anxiety of building a new house and when I have had enough of making building decisions and I'm ready to strangle my husband's neck and ready to give up on the whole thing

(and yes, I'm positive all of these things WILL happen),

I will look back on this double wide and remember, it could be worse.

Country Wildlife

Lazy boy Holmes almost redeemed himself today.

I said ALMOST.

I look out the back door and see him coming up the steps with something in his mouth.

Oh boy, another gopher.

Good job, Holmes.

I go get my camera and he drops the thing on the patio for me to admire.

Sadly, the little critter is wounded, but not dead.

I go back inside for a second to set the camera down

and when I turn around, the gopher is gone, but the cat is still there.

Um, pretty sure Holmes didn't swallow the gopher whole.

No, he let another one go.

Nice going, Holmes.

On the other hand, one of the dogs (not sure which one) went for the kill.

See my little snake fairy dancing?

Don't worry, he's dead.

Really dead.

Not wounded.

Dead.

Good dog.

A Tuesday/Monday To Start June

Today was a Tuesday/Monday where the new week started on Tuesday and it left everyone feeling just a little out of sorts.  The good thing is, we are that much closer to the weekend again.

Memorial Day weekend for us was very nice, even though our out of town visitors opted to stay at home.  We had a family BBQ on Saturday and got some much needed yardwork accomplished.  On Monday, my mom, Beth, Laci and I walked around downtown Oroville and just soaked in the sights.  I've lived in this town my entire life and yesterday was the first time I actually just walked around looking at it.  I didn't take any pictures because I was pushing the stroller and wasn't in the "picture-taking" mood, but I had a good time and Laci was a breeze as usual.  She is so easy to take places, really easy, pretty much just goes with the flow.  She wanted to get down and crawl on the ground at Sank Park, but I bribed her with puffs and a sippy and she was once again a happy little baby.

Ryan came home from work early today, which was a nice surprise on this otherwise bumpy Tuesday/Monday.  Unfortunately, his surprise came with the news that mandatory overtime is starting as we anticipated, meaning ten hour workdays during the week and no more Saturdays together.  At least he'll only be working eight hours on Saturdays.  This isn't an unusual schedule for him, so you would think I'd be used to it by now.  Yet, every year, when the overtime starts, I feel a little sad.  Maybe this year will be different with my little Laci buddy.  I'm actually sort of looking forward to when "pack" starts and he goes to seven days a week, because he usually works the swing shift and then we'll at least have our mornings together.  He has a crazy work schedule in the summer, and we deal with it as best we can. 

On a brighter note, June has officially begun and I feel like Summer might actually happen for us...finally.  Despite the threat of rain later this week, I can definitely feel the heat in the sunshine and I'm looking forward to the changing season.  I think that June will be good.