You make everything more fun.

Well, I felt kindda bad about calling into work today, but I needed the extra rest. By late afternoon I felt much better. We decided to get a grocery list together and get out of the house. Shopping with Audrey is much more fun than going it alone. She also helps me remember items that I otherwise would forget, like cookies! Gotta have cookies! (Why am I lying? It was Tim that reminded me of those.)
And here's a sad confession: Today was the first day in a long time that we cooked all of our 3 meals at home with natural non-preserved ingredients. Remember those days? Uh, no. Not really. We're gonna see if we can make it 6 days in a row. Cookies count as a meal, right?

One down....several to go.

Now that BabyPooPoo seems to be feeling better, I'm not. I've been in bed all day warding off sickness. Keep your fingers crossed.
The good news is that our sewage leak got fixed today. Yay! We found us a skinny plumber and he did a bang-up job. AND it was cheaper than we thought it would be. Awesome.

The only thing I've had to eat today is Dunkin' Donuts coffee. I think I'm gonna barf.

Round Two

Audrey is sick again.
Wednesday after work, I tried to give her a little milk to put her to sleep. Yes, I was puked on again and so was Tim. She got sick again Thursday morning and also got her fever back.
I hate the stomack flu.
On top of all this sickness I really think her teeth are coming in this time. Her gums are very swollen and she's gnawing on everything. POOR GIRL!

On the homefront:
We have ants in our bathroom sink and we don't know for the life of us where they're coming from!
Our front window is duct-taped together from where a bird hit it and the glass broke in three different directions. (It's been this way for a month now)
There is a sewage leak under our house and not just anyone can fix it...it has to be a really really skinny plumber.
The drainage system out back is clogged somewhere (no we don't know where) and water is backing up outside the laundry room window. If it rains anymore, it will flood the basement.

I'm not complaining, I'm just feeling challenged at the moment.

Oh yeah, did I mention that I quit my job?

FU Stomach Flu!

Sunday night Tim and I put Audrey to bed as normal. She woke up at 10pm (which she never does) and we brought her into our bed (I don't remember why exactly). She was on Tim's tummy, about to fall asleep, when she gagged and vomitted all over him. He handed her to me and she vomitted again. I was silently freaking out. "What do I do?" Images of driving her to the hospital flashed through my head. I started a bath for her and then handed her over to Tim again so that I could change. Long story short: She puked every 2 hours thereafter. It was awful. I think Tim and I went through 4 outfit changes each. We changed the bed sheets only once (luckily). And Audrey, well, she soiled ALL of her clothes.
The strangest thing was that she didn't have a fever and she acted completely normal between yaks.
Of course, we called the doctor first thing and got an appointment right away. Tim stayed home from work to go with me. By the time we reached the office Audrey was burning up and lathargic. It was so terrifying to see her that way. She's never like that. She must have really felt bad. And on top of that, you should have seen her outfit. Poor girl. She had puked on EVERYTHING so we had to put the only outfit we had left on her...it looked like something Gallagher might wear.
The doctor couldn't do anything for her. She left us with, "It could last anywhere from 24 hours to 5 days." Great, thanks! "Try to feed her liquids when she'll take them and call us back if she continues to vomit."
I was thinking, "Why don't they have some magic shot to make her all better?" My heart just sunk to see her like that.
Hopefully, she'll be back to normal tomorrow. I don't know if I can take another day of this pitiful face.

9 Months Update

This is my favorite photo as of late. I was sitting cross-legged and she scaled up me and balanced herself standing. She held it for so long that I freaked out with excitement. She saw the look on my face and immediately started clapping! I caught it all on camera- excellent! Shortly thereafter, her knees buckled and she fell and rolled over on the floor. I got that on camera too, but it's not as pretty as this one.

RIGHT NOW...
My favorite thing about you is: Wow. It's hard to think of just one thing. I love to watch you chew. Your cheeks are like chipmunk's and you're still toothless! I love that you are experiencing separation anxiety. It's heart-warming and breaking at the same time to hear you pout when I leave the room or I'm out of your sight. I love that when we put you down in your crib now that you immediately roll over to your tummy and get comfy before sleeping. I love that you've exhibited a true belly laugh- and at the silliest thing! (Me slapping a pillow against the bed.) I love to watch you clap. AND my most favorite thing of all right now is watching you stand up and balance yourself. You're such a big girl!! Oh yeah, I also love that when you wake up from a nap you're a little sweaty and curls form in the hair on the back of your head.
The most frustrating thing about parenting is: Trying to feed you when you've decided that you've had enough and spit it out at me. What a mess. All you have to do, you know, is close your lips....that might work. Also, it's becoming a chore to watch you when you're crawling around. You have a knack for getting into things that you're not supposed to ie: the dogs' water bowl, the space heater, the toilet!!! You have T-O-Y-S ya know?
What I'm most looking forward to is: I'm probably going to regret typing this, but I look forward to you walking. I can't wait to see the little toothless, hairless giant on two wheels instead of four. I am also waiting to hear you say "Ma Ma"- When Audrey? When?
The biggest relief would be: If I could clean the house from top to bottom. I realize this has nothing to do with you, but it's driving me nuts and throwing my rhythm off! Also, I'm really really behind on the scrapbooking. I have a gazillion pictures of you and I've done nothing with them.

Clapping. She claps when I get her food ready. She claps when I sing to her. She claps when I get her crackers out. She's a clapper.

At your last appointment the doctor weighed you (23lbs) and measured you (30 1/2") and said that you were the exact height and weight of a 14 month old. You're still a giant.
One of the funny things you've done lately: I was on the computer and looked over at you in your playpen. You had taken your pants off! "How in the world did you take your pants off?" I asked. Not a minute later, you looked at me playfully, picked up your recently shed pants, and threw them out of the playpen! I couldn't believe it. You made me laugh out loud.
Good God I hope you're not a stripper!

It's Here...

and it's just the beginning. Now you can view all of my high school and college crap...and guess what? It's all for sale!
My Artwork
I also added a link to the right in case you'd like to visit again.
I will hopefully be adding and updating. So, you'll never know what treasure you might find!
Have a looksy.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

You can totally see that I attached two semi-circles to a squarem, right? (Squarem...I had to leave that typo for humor.) Oh well, it's the thought that counts. I'm no Martha. It's damn hard to try to make those lines disappear! She makes it look so easy. I'm gonna tell Tim that Audrey made it.
Anyhoo, I hope that you all have a Happy Valentine's Day and that you do something special with or for The One You Love.
I was going to surprise Tim tonight and take him to Athens for dinner at The Last Resort and then to the 40 Watt to see The Detroit Cobras, but he'd rather stay home. I knew I should have just kidnapped him and surprised him. Maybe I can still talk him into it.
In other news, Audrey's 9 month update will be a day or two late. But stay tuned. It'll be a doozy! She's new and improved. Now with more nuts!
Oh yeah, I DID put the cake a little too close, and she DID stick her entire hand in it, and I DID cover it up (but you can't see that)!!
"All we need is love....All we need is love... "

Poop. For Real.

Today, we drove out to Marietta to hang with Kat and her Momma. Audrey hadn't seen her in so long that she planted a kiss on Kat not 5 minutes after we arrived! Good times were had by babies AND moms.

I have another story for you:
Yesterday, Audrey was in the tub for her morning bathy. I decided that this would be a good time to pluck my eyebrows, seeing as she was content and playing. I leaned over the vanity and began to pluck when Audrey started whimpering. She NEVER fusses in the tub. I turned back around thinking that she was just craving attention. I sat down on the edge of the tub and said, "Whatsa matter Piglet?"
I noticed the smell long before I noticed the small chunks foating around. "OH! BabyPooPoo!" "Oh my gawd (gag gag) you didn't!!"
I pulled a towel over my legs and then lifted her out. She shat so hard that when I emptied the water out of her little tub, there was a flattened butt-creased slab of poo sticking to the bottom of it. I tried running water over it to break it up. It didn't budge. The force with which that poo came out must have been something terrific. I had to dry Audrey off and diaper her, THEN clean out the tub and re-bathe her.
My sister Kelli asked, "Did you take a picture of the poo?"
"No."
I guess I'm not AS obsessed with baby poo as I used to be.

Good Times

So many great things have happened this week:

~Russ, a regular at the bar, brought me an otter on a stick! (from the GA aquarium)Surprise!
~A total stranger (I now know as Amy)came up to me and introduced herself and confessed to reading my blog! I was so floored. It was an awesome feeling.
~Another person (not a stranger) also admitted not only to reading, but to crying! I think it's awesome!! (It was a good cry not a bad one)
~I finally found out what's wrong with me: Chronic Sinusitis. I might have to have surgery. (At least I can smell again with the antibiotics I'm on.) I forgot what I was missing...poo! poo!
~We got a lot done on the house and I feel productive!
~Tim stayed home from work today and it was awesome to get to spend the whole day with him.
~Audrey had her first time ever on the swing!!
~Suzanne, Phillip and Kitely brought us presents including books for Audrey. I love them.
~Ran intoTony Balogna.


Do you think Audrey enjoyed herself? I can't believe we waited so long to try this out.
Tomorrow, Audrey gets dropped off at Grammy Georges's house...(is that how you do that? Georgeses, Georges') Anyway, then I'm off to take pictures of cute little Ethan.