NMM 7/11/11

Today's edition is one of my favorites!

There is nothing quite as sweet as baby toes.  Kiss them often!

I have nothing to say besides I seriously may kiss Kayla's toes a bit too often!  (Sorry this edition is a little late...I got caught up on our road trip how yesterday with entertaining my daughter and falling asleep.)

I'll try to post about our trip later today...maybe I'll post in segments!

Baby toes:

Trying hard to crawl...likes to push into plank position

Lauren's List of 101 Things To Do In 1,001 Days

1. Get a tattoo

2. Kiss in the rain

3. Don't complain about anything for a week

4. Get a massage

5. Go on a road trip

6. Ride in a hot air balloon

7. No fast food for a month

8. Go horseback riding

9. See 10 classic movies I've never seen

10. Do some volunteer work

11. Complete a coloring book

12. Go skydiving

13. Run a half marathon

14. See a drive-in movie

15. Host a dinner party

16. Go to Las Vegas

17. Take a Yoga class

18. Go to 5 different museums

19. Make a custom recipe book

20. Make ice cream from scratch

21. Read all the books currently on my shelf

22. Take a dance class

23. Identify 100 things that make me happy

24. Visit the Grand Canyon

25. Get a facial

26. Go rock climbing

27. Go to a concert

28. Read at least 10 books from the Modern Library 100 Best Novels

29. Make myself a dress

30. Give a 100% tip

31. Go without TV for a week

32. Visit a foreign country

33. Learn to surf

34. Get rid of 100 things

35. Buy a Wreck This Journal and finish it

36. Learn to pole dance

37. Make a list of the 100 best experiences of my life

38. Visit Miami

39. Go to Brookfield Zoo

40. Go speed dating

41. Play hide and seek in Ikea

42. Build a snow fort

43. Learn how to snowboard

44. Find the perfect pair of jeans

45. Say yes to 100 things I want to say no to

46. Learn to shoot a gun

47. See every film on IMDB's Top 250 movies

48. Climb a tree

49. Go to a theme park

50. Learn to make crepes and perfect them

51. Make a blanket fort and play in it

52. Hike the Appalachian Trail

53. Get scuba certified

54. Donate blood

55. Take a cooking class

56. Take a girls trip

57. Try 10 new foods

58. Go skinny dipping

59. Go on 5 different brewery tours

60. Go to a costume party

61. Find the perfect LBD

62. Take a pottery class

63. Go paintballing

64. Play lazer tag

65. Take a picture of each letter of the alphabet (each must be unique)

66. Buy a sewing machine and Learn to use it

67. Make regular trips to the park with Layla and Kayla (2/month)

68. Take Layla to the dog park at least twice a month

69. Splash in puddles barefoot with my mom, sisters, and Kayla

70. Visit my friends from Dayton

71. Visit my first roomie, Ashley Wallace

72. Write 5 letters to 5 people who have impacted my life

73. Participate in 5 races

74. Ride a Segway

75. Go through a corn maze

76. Learn the alphabet in sign language

77. Go to a movie by myself

78. Bathe under a waterfall

79. Spend an afternoon reading at the park

80. Buy flowers and hand them to strangers

81. Use my fondue set

82. Learn how to write with my left hand

83. Buy a piece of artwork

84. Go one week without swearing

85. Bake an apple pie

86. Do 50 consecutive push-ups

87. Spend an entire night out with friends and don't return home until daylight

88. Throw away all my underwear and start again

89. Sleep in a hammock

90. Take a mud bath

91. Complete a 1000 piece puzzle

92. Get a psychic reading done

93. Host a games night with friends

94. Buy a new bed and Tempur-pedic mattress

95. Throw a message in a bottle into the ocean

96. Find a poem that means something to me

97. Stay in a haunted hotel

98. Go to a rodeo

99. Go to a Packer game at Lambeau Field

100. Ride a mechanical bull

101. Take a self-defense class

Soreness by Baby...

...or SBB as we can call it for short.  It's a diagnosis for any bodily soreness caused by something baby related.

For example, while staying with my grandparents, Kayla slept in the port-a-crib that all 8 of their grandchildren slept in 14+ years ago.  And since we are on vacation, sleeping is sort of like driving blind.  Who knows when it will happen or how long.  Therefore, I spent a large portion of my last couple days in Glen Ellyn standing over the port-a-crib, patting Kayla's butt to get her to just, for the love of God, fall asleep.  

Because of this, my hamstrings are killing me.  I wasn't sure they could hold me up any longer.  Because Lord knows I couldn't lean on the rail of the port-a-crib because inevitably, when I went to move my arm, the crib would creak as I carefully tried to remove it from the rail.  And, I know you other moms know what I'm talking about, the "slow pat" is a bitch when you are doing it for 10-15 minutes, leaning over a crib.  The "slow pat" is kinda like the "slow clap" except instead of getting faster and louder, the patting gets gentler and quieter.  Exactly like my favorite blogger put it (and I still laugh every time I read this):

"If you added it all up, I'm sure I spent a good two hours slumped over the railing of her crib with my eyes closed, patting her back and praying, for the love of God, that she wouldn't cry when I made the decision to finally withdraw my hand (gradually, of course, because any mom knows a full-on patting session must first decrease to a slower pat, then slower, then slow plus light, then lighter--until your fingertips are barely grazing their back. Then and only then can you quietly pull away with the chance they won't realize you've dismissed yourself)."

So between slow patting and leaning over, my body is physically tired.  Then add in the lack of consecutive hours of sleep causing my mind to be tired, I'm just plain old tired, more like exhausted.  

BUT, yesterday, Kayla got woken up by the extreme loudness of the grand finale of the fireworks in the park across the street from my grandparents house.  So when I got back my grandpa was holding her.  I took her to feed her and put her back to bed, and she was having a REALLY hard time falling asleep because kids across the street were setting off more fireworks in the middle of the street (read SUPER loud and I wanted to go outside and scream at them, "I HAVE A BABY SLEEPING INSIDE THIS HOUSE LESS THAN 30 YARDS FROM YOUR LAUNCH PAD!")  Well, I decided I'd hold her and rock a little and pat her back and eventually, she lowered her head to that position babies get in on your shoulder when sleeping where the side of their head is resting on your shoulder and you can feel their little breaths in the crook of your neck.  I love that, makes everything worth it.

Watching Aunt Megan and Aunt Lauren run the Freedom Four Miler

NMM 7/4/11

Happy Fourth of July!!  Here's this week's NNM advice:

Trust your instincts.  You will be an unbelievable mom.

I think this can be a hard one to swallow, but trust me, you can't imagine how natural everything feels once you get used to your baby.  And YOU know best, even if it doesn't feel like it at first.

I hope everyone is enjoying time with their families and friends on this holiday!  This morning, Megan and I went to scope out our spot on the Lake for the fireworks, my sisters ran the Freedom 4 Miler while Nanny, Kayla and I cheered them on, and now we are getting ready for a day full of red, white and blue.  Photos to come soon, for now here's another one from our weekend at the pool...one of my favorites before editing.

P.S. Do you like my new signature?

Gearing up

We are here gearing up for a busy holiday filled with close family and friends, and I'm so excited.

I love being here with my sisters and brother and my daughter.  For the first time we are all together!  (Pictures to come soon.)  Yesterday was a pretty laid back day since Meg and I didn't sleep all that well on Friday night.  (Our babies weren't so well behaved despite their lack of sleep on our trek up here.)  But we ended up going shopping in the afternoon/early evening.

Now, anyone that knows me well knows I love a good shopping excursion.  Well, my sisters are even worse more in love with shopping than I am...AND I'm pretty sure we get it from my Nanny.  Ever since we were old enough to walk practically, shopping with Nanny has been like a tradition.  Not any particular time, it's just that when we are with Nanny, it's a given we go shopping.  Plus, Megan wanted to go to the outlet mall.  So off we went with Kayla in tow.  3 hours and multiple bags later, we were on our way home.

Kayla was (as always) great on our little outing, but she obviously takes after her mom, aunts, GiGi and Nanny and loves shopping.  Just like her mommy loves shopping for her.  I did end up getting a couple things for myself, but more importantly, I got some SUPER cute fall outfits for my little girl...think corduroy purple dress and striped tights.  Yeah, I can't wait to dress her up.  She's like my little doll and I love it!!!  So glad I have a little girl.  (Not that I would be any less thrilled with a boy!)

Tata for now, I'll try to post some pictures tomorrow if I get a chance.  Happy Holiday Weekend everyone, it's one of my favorites!

This is from our first pool experience last weekend (pre-editing) 

taken by Daddy...he did a pretty good job!

Check off #44

So someone might have to remind me to update you on my 101 list...actually I think I need someone to keep me on task in general, but nevertheless...

This may be cheating a bit but I convinced Lauren to write a list about a week or so ago, so looks like I can check #44 off of my list.  I may have had to twist her arm...It was extremely easy to convince her, I think I wrote "So Megan and I are doing this thing you should do with us."  A few minutes later, she was writing a list.  I'm also still working on Justin writing a list.  Not only for himself but so that I can get to know him a little bit better than I already do.  I, however, am not holding my breath that he will write one.

You can see Megan's list here, and I tried to convince Aunt Lauren to post hers on my blog since she is one of the "contributors."  Hers is on facebook so if you are friends with her there you can see it in her notes.

I guess I should take out 20 bucks to save for completing one task, and I should probably get on creating my own "piggy bank" for my savings....hm....any ideas?

On the road again

Trying this email to blog post thing out. Megan, Samson, Kayla and I are on the road. It started out well but went downhill for awhile there. Here's a moment of peace for Meg and me.