She Holds My Heart

I wanted to do a “Happy 4 Month” post about Abrielle, but she’s going to be 5 months old in a couple weeks, so it’s a little late for that. My little girl has such a grip on my heart and I so don’t want to forget this special time when she is still so little. Of course, many more fun years lie ahead of us, but this time strikes me as particularly noteworthy.

At the pumpkin patch

All About Abrielle:

-She has become so interactive–when we’re out in public, she picks a random person out of the crowd to grin at.

-After she smiles at someone, she likes to bury her head in my shoulder and hide.

-She loves standing and can actually stand by herself if I stand her next to a short chair or table.

-We moved her out of our room and into her room to sleep in her crib at night. It has been great! That way I can keep it a little warmer in her room and generally she sleeps from about 10:30pm to 7:30 or 8am.
-She loves playing and jumping in the jumper.
-She rolled over for the first time on November 8th and has done so several times since. She’s not real consistent about it though–I think her cloth diaper gets in the way.
-She enjoys playing with and grasping toys now…especially Baldue the cat. I don’t think Baldue likes her very much, but has so far been very good.
-She has a hard time focusing when she’s nursing now. She stops frequently to look around and smile at me.
-Now she actually seems to enjoy taking a walk out in the stroller. Sadly, the weather prevents much walking.

-She gives her daddy a special smile when he gets home from work.

Standing with Daddy

Hanging with Daddy

At Cedar’s restaurant in Detroit Lake

Showing off her sitting by herself skills

 

 

 

 

Something Diabolical

If you clicked on this post hoping to read something about Halloween, you will be disappointed. This is actually about a cat. I really should preface this by apologizing to cat lovers everywhere. I’m sure that YOUR cat is a sweetie, but let me assure you, the one I am about to describe is not.

Sitting in a non-approved location

When I married my husband a few years ago, the cat came with him. Her name is Baldue. Baldue the cat. Often (okay, frequently), I tell my husband that his cat is stupid and proceed to explain the bad things that happened while he was at work. But the truth is, his cat is not stupid. She is very, very smart. Somehow though, calling her “stupid” seems better than calling her maniacally evil. Or diabolical.

Please choose which of the following Baldue the cat is guilty of:

a) sleeping on and shedding on the laptop

b) sitting on my book and tooting poop onto it

c) sleeping in my daughter’s bouncer

d) climbing on and shedding on the kitchen stove

e) blocking the space heater when it’s on

 

Please choose “all of the above.” The worst part is, aside from (e), she does all of these things while I’m not looking. I told my husband she was sleeping on the laptop and he didn’t believe me. “If she was,”  he said, “Then you would see xdlkdjkldk all over.” I had proof though–some long, long cat hairs imbedded in the keyboard. This morning, at dark o’ thirty, I finally caught her on the laptop (actually, I saw her on the laptop and caught her in the act of sneaking off of it).

As my father in law says, Baldue is in the “dog house.” At least for the next couple weeks.

Neurotic

Or nesting? Who knows…

At the present time, I’m enjoying blaming all my shortcomings/weird behaviors on being pregnant. Forgot to pay that bill? Well, it’s because baby is taking all my brain cells.

At almost 32 weeks pregnant, I find myself in a neurotic state of nesting where EVERYTHING seems so DIRTY. I’m barely working, I spend lots of time cleaning, yet find myself appalled at the state of my apartment. You can decide what categories this morning’s activities fall into:

• washing out the inside of the garbage can
• getting on my hands and knees to spot clean the carpet in the baby room
• getting on my hands and knees to scrub the silver casing around our sliding glass door. Why…? (it was pretty dirty though)
• vacuuming the hair off the cat (okay, I made that one up)

And that’s just today. The other day I decided that after three years of living in our apartment, the inside of our kitchen cupboard doors needed to be washed. RIGHT NOW.

At the risk of being repetitive since I’ve posted a similar image, here’s another one.

 

Addictions

I didn’t grow up with cats, so having Carson’s cat, Baldue, has definitely been an adjustment (click here to learn more). I learned that I could not leave out any type of bread….three loaves of bread, one package of bagels, and one bag of tortillas later. I learned that I could not leave butter uncovered…after seeing the butter “mysteriously” disappear. I have also learned that there are two foods she will come running for: doughnuts and Smartfood popcorn.

Witness…Exhibit #1.

She senses the presence of the popcorn

Exhibit #2

Sheer desperation

Exhibit #3

Gimmee

This is what happens when she doesn’t get popcorn. They should make a new game called “Angry Kitty.”

 

A Housewifey Day

I just felt “housewifey” today and had to share. Since I spent last Thursday, Friday, and Saturday laid up with a migraine, none of the housework or laundry got done. I rested Sunday since I was feeling a little better, and then today, rolled up my sleeves and got to work. The Housewifey Successes of today:

• Went to Office Depot because of a coupon deal I had read about, and actually scored these cool labels for FREE!

• Made a trip to Fred Meyer with a coupon, got a great deal from their 40% clothing clearance AND scored 4 bags of Tillamook Cheese ($1 each).
• Ran into Winco for a couple things. Got home to realize my cinnamon got rung up as bacon bits. I think I got a good deal on that cinnamon bacon bits.
• Dusted and cleaned the floors! (very important because Baldue the cat leaves behind a heinous amount of cat hair in the summer) It’s amazing what a difference that small amount of cleaning makes.
• Now I’m going to take a nap. And hey, I don’t even need a coupon–it’s free!