Monday, August 29, 2011

Twenty Dollars Well Spent

Good buys. We all make them. I probably make more than the average person - but only because I make more purchases all together!

Anyway...Around Christmas last year I found a Leap Frog Zippity for $20. Those suckers retail for $80, so I snatched up. I love Leap Frog.

Anyway...the suggested age on it is 3. Carly is almost 2 1/2. The plan was to save the Zippity for a Christmas gift.

I didn't make it. We busted it out last week and it was a HIT! You would have thought the real, live Mickey Mouse was in our house. Carly was acting more excited than I did when I saw 98 Degrees in concert on 1998 - front row!


Thursday, August 25, 2011

It ROCKS Our World

Newborn Carly had colic. For eight weeks. For eight weeks she screamed through the night for1.5 - 4 hour stretches. As hard as this mommy and daddy tried, she could not be comforted. Her nighttime sleep came in tiny little 1-2 hour windows. Hence, so did ours. I was lucky enough to get 12 weeks off from work, so I was on colic duty during the week.

"Sleep when the baby sleeps"  - I heard it a million times. And so I did. I slept  napped all the day long. I even sacrificed showers just to catch a few z's (unless, of course, we were expecting guests - you're welcome, guests). I barely left the house. I barely functioned. My hair straightener rusted and my makeup molded, but my pajamas - those beauties were worn thin.

Now when I see new moms showing off their newborn babies mere days or just a week or two (or three or ten) after giving birth, I want to throw something at them. And if their is fixed, their makeup perfectly applied and they're actually wearing an outfit that is coordinated - with accessories - I want to throw something at their head.

But I digress...

After eight weeks of colic, Carly suddenly, magically, miraculously slept through the night. Nine hours! Over the next three or four days she worked herself up to 12 hours. And there she stayed, solidly at 11-13 hours per night. God bless her. This was her sweet gift to us. Tie a red ribbon on it and re-gift it every holiday from now until the end of my life! It was glorious! It still is glorious. Until...

Until those crazy one-off nights where she actually wakes up. Freddy and I hear the cries come across the monitor and it ROCKS. OUR. WORLD. We don't know who we are, where we are, what to do, what that noise is...We are completely out of it. Lucky for us our flailing arms a legs smack the other one and we're up.

Getting her back to sleep is simple enough. Hold her, lay her with us for a few minutes until she falls back asleep and then plunk her back down in her crib. Done.

But the other night we experienced something different, something a tad more pleasant. We woke around 3 am to hear our sweet girl not crying, but talking and playing. She was saying hello to Mimi (Minnie Mouse) and PeePee (Mickey Mouse) and jibber-jabbering up a storm. She was having a play date in her crib at 3 am.

Freddy: Carly's awake
Me: She's not crying. Go back to sleep

Later that morning, we were getting ready and Freddy says to me: I think we need to take her "friends" out of her bed at night.

I'm okay with stuffed animal play date. I will take it ANY DAY over 1.5 - 4 hour screaming sprees.

Monday, August 15, 2011

August To-Do's

I guess the key to completing my monthly to-do's is "think small".
Last month I only had two to-do's:

1. Make bolognese sauce from scratch - Check
It was alright - but it was no Coalvine's Bolognese pizza!

2. See a movie by myself - Check
 
I saw Crazy Stupid Love and LOVED it.
Check out the release date of July 29 - nothing like waiting til the last minute.

As for this month -
1. Put my first year of blogging in to a blog book and actually order it!
2. Take Carly to get her first snow cone.

So, there you have it. My to-do's for this month. What is everyone else doing this month?

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Happy 3 month anniversary, Hagamans!

Anyone can post about a wedding right after it happens.
I am not just anybody.

I had to make the Hagaman wedding post special by:
1. accidentally deleting a bunch of great pics from my camera, including some really great shots from their wedding weekend.
2. posting this on their 3 month anniversary as a sort-of gift.

A good friend will always speak kindly about another friend's wedding.
My kind words? They are not an exaggeration.
This wedding was SPECTACULAR!

It had all the traditional elements with modern twists here and there.
Every detail was perfect - and there were a lot of details!

There was a surprise dance tribute that shocked and awed the bride and guests alike.

Lots of friends were present - mostly because we had to personally witness John Hagaman settling down.



Freddy was really nervous about his speech, but he did great! His friendship with Hag means the world to him, so I know that it was a challenge for him to put his emotions in to words.  We are just so grateful to have such great friends in Hag and Brittany.



Of course, there were more dance tributes as the evening went on.

At the end of the evening, everyone left well-fed, entertained, and full of happiness for the new couple -
John and Brittany Hagaman.

Thank you both for including us in your special day.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Carly's latest addictions

Yogurt. Yogurt in a cup. Yogurt smoothies. On-the-go Go-Gurt yogurt. Princess yogurt. Low-fat yogurt. Small yogurts. Big yogurts. Carly loves yogurt. I wouldn't be surprised if she turned  into a live culture.



Sunglasses. Mommy's sunglasses. Daddy's sunglasses. Any one of her 5 pair of sunglasses.
I knew if I just kept putting them on her she would eventually grow to love them - and she has!

Monday, August 8, 2011

Warning: Mamarazzi at her finest

I just couldn't resist posting these adorable pictures of Carly trying to stay cool in this SCORCHING  heat.





Saturday, August 6, 2011

Busted!

In Carly's World, ranch dressing is an entre, not a condiment.
I totally busted her licking the ranch dressing off of her plate!