Fortune Cookie Say

Nathan's Fortune: Adventure is coming, try a new look.

Eliza's Fortune: The best way to know a man's mind is to listen to his words.


Eliza, listen to your father.




And yes, I'm going to cut my hair.

Remember, Remember

Last year, Ashley, Becca, and I burned little paper men in honor of Guy Fawkes Day. 

These men were twisted out of a list of negative things in our lives. For instance, my said: 

 These were the things I wanted to “burn” out of my life. I am ashamed that "Mafia Wars" was on that list. Haha. There is NO excuse for that!

 

Well, I am happy to report that a year later, nearly all of these negative things are gone. The burning worked! 

Eliza doesn’t have colic or scream. I have a great job that allows me to work from home when needed and another part time job that allows me to work from home completely and tutor students. Nathan is also gainfully employed and our debt is quickly evaporating. I am also proud to report that I definitely do not play Mafia Wars or have time for vanity.  Additionally, my love for chocolate is nearing extinction. Who would have thought!?

As for the sleeplessness and zombie nightmares….we are still working on those :)

How a 14 Month Old Shows Love

Eliza inaugurated her 14 month marker by biting and hitting me. I suppose I had it coming. I tried to do something really horrible…like take her away from Nathan when he was holding her. They looked so cute cuddling, and I must say I was jealous of their cuddle time. I reached my arms out to Eliza and she smacked my hands, as if to say: “Go away!” Thinking she was playing, I reached for her again, where my hands were instantly slapped away, and a scream ensued. Nathan laughed. I cried.

She wasn’t messing around. She wanted to be with her daddy. How cute.

The next day, I had to tell her “no” after she repeatedly turned the television off . She looked at my hand holding hers, then leaned over and bit my arm. I guess she is getting a little personality! I hope she doesn’t become the child who bites everyone. If she does become that child, she is certainly just like her mother in one sense at least.

This little girl always has a mischievous grin on her face as she runs throughout the house.

And she has absolutely no concept of how her body is subject to the laws of gravity. She bumps into tables, falls on the floor, and staggers around our house as if she can never quite reach a state of equilibrium. There is no slow moving for Eliza. There is only fast and faster. Please note the bruise on her forehead.

Most notably, at 14 months, Eliza has formed obvious attachments to toys, books, her favorite blanket, and people. She expresses outright sadness when her friends Tina, Samuel, and Joseph leave after playing or when Nathan gets dressed to leave for work.

And although I am somewhat jealous Eliza prefers Nathan's company over mine, I think it is precious how much she and her daddy love each other. She squeals with delight every night when he gets home, she looks for him in rooms when he is gone, she runs to him when I vacuum and she gets scared, she takes him all of her books so he can read to her, and she expects to see his face most nights when she wakes up wanting a bottle (the weekends are my night shifts!). I’ve learned parenting is much different than I originally anticipated, especially with our current situation with working/school. I expected I would stay home and do all the mothering, while Nathan worked and provided for our family. Instead, Nathan and I have done a tag-team routine for the past few months, where we both work full time and parent full time. We’ve sacrificed having our days together in order to be with Eliza.

Look at that cute face concentrating! You can tell we think it has totally been worth it.  However, I am excited for us to be together more often in the not too distant future. The end is in sight!

Eliza and the Snail

A few weeks ago, my friend Tina and I found this rocking snail at a yard sale.

It was in perfect condition and only $5.00! When I got home and saw the item retailed for $80.00, I was tempted to sell it.

But after seeing this happy face:

And then remembering this lovely creature from one of my all time favorite childhood movies: 

 ....I didn't have the heart to part with it. The rocker stays, and Eliza loves her racing snail.

500 Days of Summer

Two years ago, I had tickets to see this movie at Sundance. Unfortunately, Nathan came down with meningitis (how could he!?), and I gave my tickets away. Sadly, I missed the opportunity to see some pretty awesome celebrities (including Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon Levitt). I was a little bitter. Well, maybe a lot bitter. I then heard the movie was about a couple's relationship and subsequent break-up. Having been dumped a couple of times, I decided I didn't want to watch a depressing movie. I like happy endings!

Then last week, my dear friend Amalia convinced me I had to watch the movie. I finally gave in because I trust her opinion. AND....I loved it! It wasn't sad or depressing (to me at least).

Here is my favorite scene:


I loved the soundtrack. How can this NOT make you smile? Brilliant.

So Maybe I Should Stop Watching Scary Movies

For the past few nights, I have had horrible nightmares. Vampires, scary children, ghosts, and zombies have been visiting me in my sleep. I have no clue how this happened. I'm sure it is completely unrelated to the fact I went on a horror movie binge. AMC and the Chill Network were showing edited horror movies in honor of Halloween. This is one of the only chances I get to see so many classics! These are some of the movies (and a television show) that I watched last week:

The zombie baby and zombie little girl are terrifying.

The classics.

 

The little boy is terrifying. So is Jack Nicholson.

Lame.

 

 I love Cillian Murphy.

 This show is brilliant! Nathan doesn't like any kind of scary movie and still enjoyed this series premiere. My friend Becca has a full explanation. 

And finally, there is Beetlejuice. After watching this movie for the first time in ten years, I am slightly disturbed this was one of my favorite movies as a child. It is creepy! I also can't get over how skinny Alec Baldwin was or how weird Michael Keaton became. I still love the dancing scene at the dinner table.

Catherine O'Hara is awesome.

Late Nights

When I am up late working, I watch this and it makes me happy.


I can't stop watching it!

Plesae Don't Eat That!

Eliza is determined to feed herself whatever she wants. She continues to find small pieces of lint, leaves, and hair on the floor and eat them. It is disgusting. However, she now knows she shouldn't eat these sorts of things because everytime I catch her with something gross in her mouth, she immediately spits it out as soon as I say her name or even look at her.

Her love for eating random items has moved on to encompass her blanket, the hair of her stuff animals, and the loose threads from her clothing. Her favorite new chew toy, though, is this:

 The foot scrubber!!

I bet you are wondering why I had enough time to take a picture of her with this in her mouth rather than immediately snatching it and putting it away. Well, this little princess absolutely loses it when she has to part with the delicious foot scrubber. Really.

On top of this, Eliza has decided that raisins are her new favorite food. RAISINS! I have gone my entire life without ever eating a whole raisin (I have nibbled on a raisin once or twice and have always found that they remain unedible. Raisinets are an exception to this rule, though, and remain delicious). I will need to post a video of a raisin feeding frenzy.

I was almost certain Eliza could be no child of mine (with her raisin love and all) until this weekend. She totally redeemed herself when she showed outright love for Bombay House's tikka masala and naan. I was proud.

It's the Small Things

For those of you who spend any amount of time with me, you can attest to the fact that I constantly lose my personal items. This includes (but is not limited to): keys, cell phone, camera, clothes, remote control, shoes, retainer, make up, wallet, etc. The questions most commonly heard at our house begin with the phrase, "Have you seen...?"

Just to give an example, last month, I was at Walmart with my friend Julie. I went back to the car to look for a receipt and, in the process, lost my wallet. As I went to pay for my groceries, I realized the wallet that was recently inside of my purse was nowhere to be found. Frantic, I ran outside to the car and found my wallet in the PARKING LOT. It had been laying by my car for almost an hour and no one had stolen it. Thank you, kind Utahns of Springville. Well, the absentmindedness continued that day. An hour after returning home safely with the wallet, I realized it was missing again. As I was looking for the item, my brother in law walked in the door, holding my wallet and my keys. He said: "The trunk of the car was open, the wallet was in the driveway, and your keys were left in the door."

How does that happen!?  Nathan insists that my chronic loss of items is due to the fact that I am constantly going, always thinking of the next step and never thinking of what I am actually doing...like placing my wallet behind the couch (so Eliza can't get it) or hiding my keys under the cushions (so Eliza can't find them).

Regardless, I hate losing things and when I can't find a particular object, I will tear the house apart until I find it. Lost objects cause me serious anxiety, which is very unfortunate seeing how I always am losing something. Sadly, this anxiety has carried over to Eliza and her toys. For her birthday, she received very nice (and expensive) Melissa and Doug sound puzzles from my sister. After a week of looking for the "V" from the alphabet puzzle and an hour long search for the missing cow from the farm puzzle, I retired those toys until Eliza was older (and I could handle them being lost).

Then, on Thursday night, Eliza lost the purple triangle from her Playskool Shape Sorter. I bought the toy at a yard sale for 25 cents, so it really wasn't the end of the world if the triangle was lost. However, I couldn't stop thinking about it! My friend Tina was over and said: "Don't worry. You'll find it when you aren't looking" (which is always true, by the way).

Well, just a few minutes ago, I opened up the tupperware drawer and pulled out a container.  Inside lay the purple triangle. I have no idea how Eliza managed that.  I can tell you, though, that this small discovery completely made my day. I love finding joy in the small things!

I was going to include a picture of Eliza with her Shape Sorter, but cannot find the camera. I will update the post if I ever find the camera. Ahh!

Baby Hurricane

Eliza is 13 months old today and I can hardly believe how much she has changed over the past month. She is walking everywhere, has more hair, constantly chats words of nonsense, and enjoys exploring everything in our house. She even runs and tries to jump. Eliza is the cutest thing on two feet, however, she is also the smallest terror known to man (or just Nathan and me).

I just want to list a few things she did today:

- Pulled my makeup bag down from a shelf I thought was out of her reach, where she then proceeded to crack the container of my Bare Minerals face powder and pour it all over herself and the bathroom floor. She also licked the powder and attempted to eat it.
- Shredded a pair of headphones with her teeth and tried to eat one of the earbuds.
- Attempted to fling herself into the bathtub ( luckily, I caught her before she tumbled in head first)
- Turned the television off every time I tried to watch anything (even Yo Gabba Gabba!)
- Attempted to spray hair spray into her mouth
- Attempted to spray air freshener into her mouth
- Tried to put a plastic bag over her head

And of course, she made sure every toy was out on the carpet or under the couch, every piece of Tupperware was in the middle of the kitchen, and that every DVD was off the shelf in the middle of the living room.

I know, I know. You are thinking: "How does she have access to these things and where are you!?" Well, she is fast! And she can open anything! I can be two steps behind and she will be into something new as I am cleaning another disaster area. Also, I had to work from home today, which did not make things easier.

We really need to get those baby proof cabinet devices. I don't even know what they are called, but we need them. I can't be upset with Eliza too much because she is a baby and our house is so much fun to destroy. However, it is somewhat nerve wracking to discover your toddler eating makeup and chewing on headphones. Goodness.

Working from home with a toddler is much harder than working at home with an infant. Regardless of how destroyed my home is at the end of the day, I am ultimately very grateful I am able to be with my daughter for the majority of the day.

I Will Not Cry At Work

For the past few days, I have constantly been on the verge of tears. I work with Federal government agencies and library institutions whose fiscal year ends October 1. This means I have countless customers calling me with questions regarding their library software and billing statements before orders can be completed. If I somehow drop the ball, that means someone isn't going to be paid, which is not a good thing. I have worked 10-12 hour days and it still isn't enough. Someone always waits to the last minute, it seems. Needless to say, things have been crazy.

Then today, a government contractor proceeded to lecture me (when I was right) about the error of my ways and how he, as a librarian, knew "how to pay attention to details"...unlike me. So. I did the mature thing and was extremely courteous, even though I wanted to punch him in the face, and told him I would, of course, correct these errors of mine. I then sat at my desk and silently cried for 20 minutes. FUN. At least my coworkers are accustomed to my emotional outbursts by now, so I received no awkward stares or questions.

After willing myself to not have an anxiety attack, I left the office before this gentleman called back (as promised after he let me take a break to "think about things" AKA "how wrong I was") and headed home. Some things can wait, right?

As I drove home, the best feeling came over me as I realized Eliza would be waiting for me. She did not disappoint. I opened the door and she ran to me as fast as her wobbly legs would carry her. Motherhood is the best job I'll ever have.

I know many of you have seen this video, but I watched it when I came home and immediately had the spiritual, emotional boost I needed for the rest of the day. I love it.

So You'll Pay Me for My Garbage?

The past few weeks, Nathan and I have been decluttering. Parts of me blame the episodes of "Hoarders" and "Clean House" I have watched recently, but mostly, I just want to get rid of the things we aren't using. For instance, we had six leather armchairs (which were awesome) left over from the cafe days. They were outside getting ruined, so we decided just to get rid of them. This soon snowballed out of control as I began selling item after item on KSL (the online classified website in these parts that is far less sketchy than Craigslist).

X-box? Do we use you anymore? Do we play Rockband still? Sadly, no. SOLD.  Does Nathan need his old IKEA loft bed? I hope not. Suddenly, we're $200 dollars richer.

Dog cage (I found at DI for Toby for 5 bucks) sold for $45. Who knew those things were so expensive? My friend Julie. She told me: "Don't give that away! You can make 40 bucks!" So I did. Other dog kennel for flying sold for $20. Dog fence sold for $40. And it just gets better.

So, in two weeks, Nathan and I have sold over 30 items on the classified items. Our highest seller was Nathan's old Fender electric guitar.

It went for $200 in seven hours.

Second place goes to Nathan's bike I bought at a yard sale for $80. He was sadly too tall for it.

I sold it for $150 after some minor repairs.

But, my best sells were the stroller I found for free and sold for $20 and the IKEA highchair I bought for $5 and sold for $60.

I'm addicted. It's so much fun to get paid to get rid of old stuff and to make money garage sale-ing. Yes. That's a verb in my vocabulary.

Ruby, Ruby, Ruby!

Becca had her baby this week! Ruby was born on Tuesday, September 21st and is the most beautiful baby I have ever seen. Her skin is so smooth and she isn't red or blotchy at all! I LOVE Eliza, but she was not nearly as cute as little Ruby at day 1. I'm just being honest here.

I thought I couldn't love Becca any more than I already do, but seeing my dear friend as a mother made me just cry with love. Congratulations to Becca and Kyle!You two are going to be wonderful parents.

Sunday Photo Shoot

Our lovely friend, Julie Wadlinger, offered to take our family portraits this weekend. I was thrilled with the results.

Eliza was not very cooperative throughout the shoot. She has been horribly cranky this past week due to teething. She was crying and irritable, so I was overjoyed when I saw there were at least a couple of pictures with her not looking miserable. Teething is nasty business. Hopefully, she will be a happier, toothier camper the next time we decide to have our pictures taken.

Busy, Busy

I love the sounds of my washing machine. Its constant hum reminds me I am accomplishing things even as I blog and take a break from cleaning.

I really need to get over this entire neurotic obsession with having a clean house. I am quickly learning toddlers do not like it when you put their toys immediately up after usage and that a messy living room may possibly become "normal."

Anxiety.

Eliza the Lollipop

After reporting Eliza's stats from her one year check up to Nathan, he affectionately referred to her as a little "lollipop"...like him. She is tall, skinny, and has a larger head. Nathan is convinced her proportions hindered her walking, stating: "I'd be really hard to balance if you were really tall, skinny, and had a big head."

Although she was in the 95th percentile for height and the 75th percentile for head circumference, Eliza's weight is only in the 50th percentile. However, our pediatrician wasn't concerned. It seems as though most doctor's appointments consist of making sure your child is safely cushioned somewhere in an average percentile and otherwise normal in outward appearance (but that is an entirely different post).

In other news, Eliza decided it was time to walk today. She woke up, I put her on the floor, and she just stood up as if to say: "I'm ready to do this now." And then the rest of the day, she was my little sidekick. I walked to the bathroom, she walked in behind me. I went to the fridge, she was almost hit by the door. I opened the washing machine door, and she was beside me, trying to get inside before I even knew it.

Hearing little baby feet on the floor is the cutest sound in the world....especially when it is followed by a happy giggle and not a thud, crash, or cry.

Party for Two

Throwing a party for a couple of one year olds was surprisingly stress free. Caitlin and I decided to keep things low key and had a few friends join us in the park for cake and ice cream.  

The children opened their gifts (the toothbrush was the biggest hit) 

and lovingly pushed each other around a little bit.

The cakes were free, courtesy of Macey's who gives away birthday cakes for first birthdays. However, please notice the abbreviation on our free cakes:

Eliza was less than happy to eat her cake wreck.

Little A dug into his piece with both hands and then covered his entire body with frosting.

 

Eliza, of course, thought this was funny...and remained remarkably clean.

Eliza is One

Eliza is a big kid today...well, a bigger kid at least. Her first birthday consisted of a trip to IKEA to purchase lovely gifts and a small joint party with her birthday buddy, friends, and family. It was pretty wonderful.

And then we came home. Eliza refuses to eat or sleep due to the discomfort of teething. Nathan just put her back into bed for the fifth time, and I believe she is finally sleeping. The past few nights have consisted of fevers, vomiting, constant chewing, and crying. Poor thing. I hope her second birthday brings less teeth (or no teeth at all).

On a positive note, I will post all the cute pictures and adorableness of today as soon as I have the energy. Must... sleep...now.

Notice the Curl

Eliza always looks as though she just woke up. I blame the tufts of curly hair that seemingly resemble bedhair.

It Feels Like Christmas!

I am now the owner of this beautiful item:

I love it. I didn't think spending 75 dollars could make me feel so happy.

As I rode around the neighborhood yesterday, I felt like I was ten years old again; I haven't had a bike since then. My first and only bike until now was hot pink with tassles and a white basket. Even more awesome was its radio and tape player, which constantly played my Jars of Clay and Celion Dion tapes.

Life is good. I love Nathan so much for thinking I "needed" this bike. I think bike rides are good for the soul.

Also, my automatic posts were not working. That is the reason why five of my posts have gone up today. Apparently, I am not as technologically savvy as I thought I was.

Farewell, Fellow Robbins!

Tod and Pamela Robbins, two of our closest friends, moved to Seattle this month. Although they are not technically related to us, they feel like family.

Before they left town, we had the chance to meet for ice cream and see their tiny new baby. 

Clara is perfection.

It's strange how holding a newborn baby makes you feel. I've forgotten what it was like to be around a baby so small and fragile. Eliza is much more durable these days. No longer is she a premature baby, unable to fit even into premie clothing; She is active and rowdy. And compared to Clara, she looks like a giant.

Kudos to all of those mothers who juggle toddlers and newborns. I don't know if I will ever be brave enough to join your ranks.

Eliza's Blanket

Eliza has become attached to her soft, green baby blanket.

I think there is nothing more adorable than her crawling around holding her blankie in one hand. She loves to burrow her face into its softness...

 and even attempts to eat it sometimes.

Ahh...the delicious taste of cotton.