So much to tell!

I've been out of commission for awhile, but now I'm back again. Merry late Christmas! It was a fun one for us, even though Anne Marie got some kind of stomach bug, and threw up several times, dirtying four outfits, two that said "Baby's First Christmas." Anne Marie absolutely loved the mirror/sound system thingy we got her. She just sits in front of it and bops for as long as we let her. She can move in time to the music too! Here's the thingy:


She can move in time to the music too. Today we were in Burger King, and she was dancing to the background music, and this guy was laughing. She turned her head, waved and gave him a wink. Her winks are hilarious. She closes both eyes really tight, then opens one. I haven't been able to get the whole thing on camera, but here's what it looks like pre-wink. The horrible scratch on her chest was inflicted by her mother trying to take her coat off in the dark at day care. It looks awful!


Also for Christmas, Anne Marie got totally decked out for snow fun. She got two pairs of mittens, two hats, goggles, scarf, snow boots, and, best of all, a sled. We're planning on snowshoeing this week to try it out, and we've taken it for a few spins in the backyard.

From Christmas and...

From Christmas and...

Happy birthday, Matt!

32 Reasons why I love Matt (an idea stolen from Jeni)

1. He's a strong man. I love how safe and secure he makes me feel in any situation.

2. He's understanding. It doesn't matter how many mistakes I make in life, he's there for me.

3. He's funny. Everybody knows this. :)

4. He loves his family. He is good and kind to his brothers, sisters, parents, aunts and uncles. He would do anything for them.

5. He loves history and trivia. Matt is the Trivial Pursuit master.

6. He loves animals, even cats, and he doesn't mind if I sometimes my heart gets a little too big, and we end up with one or two too many.

7. He loves to read. It's a trait I hope he passes on to Anne Marie.

8. He'll try anything. When we first started dating, he went on a run with me, and, even though I know he was dying, he finished strong. He skis because he knows I love it.

9. He cares about people.

10. He fights for justice. At work and in life, Matt always speaks up when something isn't right, even if it's hard to do.

11. He stuck by me even when I postponed our engagement. This makes me dang lucky!

12. He eats my cooking. Whether it's something tasty or disgusting pumpkin soup, he always makes me feel like I've done a good job.

13. He comes with me to church, even though he isn't Catholic.

14. He is respectful towards women, and there isn't even a hint of mysogeny in his body. This is incredibly important now that we have a daughter.

15. He supports me in everything I do, or think about doing.

16. He's willing to take classes. We've taken premarital classes, Bradley birth classes and baptism classes. Not all men go for that.

17. He's my advocate. He never left my side during a difficult labor, and he stood up for my needs and wishes in the face of a pushy doctor.

18. He's a great father.

19. He's not afraid to be silly sometimes.

20. He's handy with tools and such.

21. He often rocks the baby so I can sleep.

22. He works hard so his family is taken care of.

23. We agree politically- most of the time.

24. When he finds something he enjoys, he really loves it.

25. He came to my family reunion, endured a bit of abuse, and still married me. :)

26. He is still going to school, even though he doesn't like it and it's taking forever, because he knows a degree is important.

27. He has a wonderful voice.

28. He is wonderfully cozy to hug.

29. He's the proudest papa I have ever seen.

30. He's a great beer-maker.

31. He appreciates good theater.

32. He would do anything for Anne Marie and me.

A post about boobs

I'll start by saying I'm not, by any means, a breastfeeding fanatic. I don't plan on breastfeeding Anne Marie until she's 5 or anything like that. I think it's fine to breastfeed in public, but I don't really do it (if people are at my house, I've been known to nurse in front of them, but I refrain from restaurants, malls, etc, and I always cover up.). Anne Marie has had formula when I haven't pumped enough for day care, and I don't think it's going to kill her.

But recently, I've heard some comments that just make me shiver a bit. I was talking to a woman recently who asked me if I was still breastfeeding. When I told her I was, she said, "That's good for you, I guess."

The "I guess" kind of took me off guard. To her it seemed strange that someone with a 10 month old would still be breastfeeding. No matter what I've heard from other people, I've always just assumed that most people, if they can, want to breastfeed their children for one year. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's heard of the health benefits. I know some people don't breastfeed for a year, but I can't imagine anyone thinking it wasn't a decent idea.

Breastfeeding was super-hard for Anne Marie and me. Without the support of people who just assumed I would be breastfeeding, I probably wouldn't have ever been able to do it. Anne Marie was born at 12:53 a.m. and by 6 a.m. there was a lactation consultant in my room, double-action mechanical pump in hand. I sat there like a cow for 15 minutes, and presented exactly 2 drops to send to the nicu. We went on like that every three hours, day and night, until finally I had enough to feed my daughter without supplementing formula.

But, being so small, she still couldn't latch on. The lactation consultant gave me a plastic nipple to wear so it would be easier for her. One or two times a day we would try breastfeeding, then give her a bottle. It went on like that for weeks. I was pretty sure I would be pumping milk, then feeding it through a bottle for a year. I wasn't excited.

Finally, Anne Marie got the hang of it, but she still wouldn't nurse without the fake nipple. So I took it everywhere. We couldn't go on a trip without two fake nipples packed into the diaper bag. Four months later, she finally gave up the plastic nipple, and we were off, just like a normal mother and baby. In all, it took 6 months of sometimes bizarre, always inconvenient maneuvering before we were nursing normally.

It took awhile to get to my point, but my point is that now it's finally easy. We don't have to wash bottles, and we don't have to carry formula. Probably best of all, breastmilk is free.

I know some women aren't lucky enough to have the support I had, and when it gets tough, they don't see another option besides quitting. And I know there are some women who just can't nurse at all. But I think many more women would continue to nurse if they had nothing more than someone telling them that's it's important, and that it will get easier. And more women would definitely continue to nurse if there weren't people out there who made them feel weird for doing so.

Anne Marie is 10 months old now, so in a few months, she and the boob will part ways. Regardless of what our society thinks, I feel satisfied that I've given her the best start I can, and I'm really glad that, in the beginning, I had people around me who didn't expect any less.

Happy turkey day!

Happy Thanksgiving! We're on our way to Missoula. Last year, we were in Twin Falls. Here's the highlights:

Alex and his granddad are like twins:


The dinner table:


The turkey:


The dog. She was very bad and rolled in poop. This is post-bath.

Go Griz!

Yay Grizzlies! They pretty much rule. What a great game!

Losing my religion...

I was listening to NPR on my way home from work the other day, and I heard some talk about the American Council of Catholic Bishops and their discussions of Catholics and voting.

At first, I agreed with them. They said that Catholics need to think about their moral stance when they vote, and that both parties have things that agree with, and disagree with Catholic teaching.

I've always voted based on my morals, and my faith. When I look at candidates, I look at how they treat the poor and less fortunate. I look at their polices dealing with low-income families and children. I think about how they treat the environment, because I believe God gave us the earth, and made us stewards over the animals and land. I look at their stance on the death penalty (if they are in a position to affect policy), because my faith tells me we don't have a right to kill people. It shows a disrespect for life.

The Council of Catholic Bishops did discuss some of these issues, but they focused on two they felt were the most important- abortion and same-sex marriage.

I do believe abortion is wrong. I don't think there is anyone who has been in a nicu and seen babies born that were only in the womb 27 weeks, struggling to survive, could say that life hasn't begun. But it isn't a voting issue to me. It's something to be discussed, but there is little a politician can or should do.

On the issue of same sex marriage, the church and I simply disagree. To me, being opposed to same-sex marriage is no different than being opposed to a bi-racial marriage. It's not our place to tell people who to love, and it shouldn't be our place to tell them who to marry.

I know the Catholic Church disagrees with me about same sex marriage, and I still go to church every week. Why? Because I see a church as an institution, trying its best to know what is right, but sometimes tripping along the way. Faith and prayer are unfailing.

I'm proud I'm Catholic, even though I don't always agree with my church's stances. It's the community that taught me how to be a good person, how to pray and how to live. It isn't the occasional discussion that makes up the church. It's 2,000 years of tradition and, more importantly, it's God. It's comforting to know that when I'm praying at Mass, there are millions of others around the world, praying in the same way.

And, at the end of the day, members and leaders of the church will still be debating issues like gay marriage and women priests, just like they were debating whether or not the world was round earlier in the church's history. But they won't be debating the important things.

And, God-willing, they will never debate the most important thing:
"And if I have the gift of prophecy, and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing."

Good friends are hard to find

I absolutely cherish those few friends I have who, even if I haven't seen them for months, can just pick up right where we left off as if we weren't apart at all. Denise and Greg are those people.

This week, I was thrilled to hear they got a crazy hair and decided to drive 13 hours to visit for the long weekend. We met them at 5th Street Bagelry, and, even though it's been several months, it felt like they'd just called from a few blocks away and decided to get together, just like we use to. I've never had a more comfortable breakfast.

Good friends like that are hard to find, and I'm so blessed to have them. They are people who will do anything for me, and I'd do anything for them. It was a good feeling and an awesome weekend. I'm excited for the next one!

Baby jail

Go Grizzlies!

I went to Missoula this weekend for a Griz game. It was awesome! The game was really close- 31-34, but my Grizzlies still conquered. I never really cared about football in high school, but it's impossible to go to the University of Montana and not become a rabid fan.

I also love that town. I love Pocatello, but Missoula has some sort of magic about it. Downtown is quaint and fun, the scenery is beautiful, and it's where a lot of pivotal life-moments happened for me. Matt's parents live almost against a mountain. You don't really have to leave town to ski, hike or bike. In fact, it's exactly like Pocatello, only with a different personality.

I feel so incredibly lucky to live in the West. I know I've spent my entire life in Idaho and Montana, but I've never even visited anywhere else where I could imagine living. We really do have it all here. The mountains are beautiful, the people are friendly and the weather is perfect for me.

Happy Halloween (early)!

From Halloween

Who knew Halloween could be so eventful for a nine month old? It all began yesterday with her day care Halloween "party." We got a little invitation in her cubby that said the party was from 10:45- 11:30 and parents were welcome. I was way curious to see how babies ages 6 weeks to 12 months partied.

I got there a little late (of course), and Matt and I were the only parents there. THe babies were all stripped down to their diapers (the party had already gotten pretty wild), and they were eating paint. The teachers assured me the paint was edible, and that there was a chance some of it would end up on the pumpkins they were painting. The activity went well for about two minutes, then there was an 8-baby meltdown. As each child melted down, their pumpkin was replaced with orange jello. Then, as the fun of jello grew old (about one minute for babies who didn't realize they could eat it, 3 or 4 minutes for the ones who stuck the jello in their mouths), they got arrowroot cookies. Wild. Here's the finished pumpkin.



Today, Anne Marie donned her bear costume for Book Babies at the library. Along with the usual fun, they went trick or treating to the librarians. So Anne Marie earned me a bag of candy with her cuteness.

It would probably be seen as a blatant attempt at candy for mama if I took her trick-or-treating tomorrow, but I think she'll want to wear the costume to Home Depot and the Journal.
Tomorrow, Rosa will get the chance to wear her angel costume and Bubba and Freddy will be magicians. Stay tuned for photos.

Back to the land of the living

After two rough days of puking, pooping and sleeping, Anne Marie magically woke up this afternoon back to her old self. What a crappy experience her first stomach bug was, for both of us. I was sure it was something beyond serious when she was erupting every 10 minutes or so. I called the pediatrician in the middle of the night, who talked me down a bit, and it turns out, he was right. She did survive.

She's eating solids again as well, as shown in the photo below.

From 9 months

Tonight, we leave her with Alex for a date night! That's the price you pay for living in our basement.

An ode to Angel

Today, my kitty Angel died. I took her to the vet yesterday because she has lost a bunch of weight after a horrid cold that didn't leave her for months. They did a bunch of tests (I was supposed to find out about it today), and sent her home.

By evening, she was looking rough, drooling and throwing up, hollow eyes, but still purring, in Angel-fashion. I was actually kind of relieved she died in the night so I wouldn't have to take her to be put down in the morning. The poor thing was only 5 years old. It was just like the vet said to Angel yesterday: "You're such a sweet kitty. A pitiful life form, but a sweet kitty."

Angel came to me about four years ago when my grandma finally caught her in the backyard. She had been living there since she was about 6 weeks old without a mama, eating stale bread my grandma threw out for the birds (she was too skittish to come up to the porch for cat food).

It wasn't very hard to tame her, and she warmed right up to Freddy, my other cat at the time, and to me. In fact, she warmed up to everyone.

We had some crazy times. I had to stop buying the cat litter with crystals in it because she kept eating them (gross!), and she ran away three days before my wedding, sauntering under the crawlspace in our apartment. I was so worried she wouldn't come back, or that she would come out when the neighbors would see her (the place didn't allow pets)that I slept by the crawlspace. In the morning, when she still hadn't returned, I was sitting in the living room, calling Animal Control to see if she had somehow gotten out and been picked up, when I felt her rubbing my leg. She was absolutely filthy, but totally unharmed.

She spent her whole life sick, and lots of times her eye was goopy and her nose snotty, but she was still loving, and never seemed to mind much. She liked to sleep under the covers.

I know she's just a cat, but I'm going to miss her a lot. BEfore Anne Marie, she was one of my babies.

Here she is:


And, I can't forget about the other family member we lost this year. We found Duncan in a Dumpster outside my apartment. HE was about 5 million years old, but he hung on like a trooper. He had some senile moments in his old age, but when he was younger, he used to love to quietly walk up and paw people so he could get pets. He also prefered to drink running water, and would accept no substitutes.

Here's Duncan:


This is when we had them all. It was disturbing for some people to walk in the house and see four cats, all together.

Stealing Jeni's blog, and a poll

Anne Marie has now been asleep for nearly 3 hours! I've finished my office work I brought home and done dishes. Now to blog:

I'd like to steal Jeni's blog idea. I loved it!

What I was doing 10 years ago: I was 19, in Missoula, and head over heels for a good-looking, but beyond cocky and tempermental guy. I go back and forth on whether I regret that relationship. It ended pretty painfully, but I don't think I'd be who I am now without it. Plus, we did have a whole ton of fun while we were having fun. I had no idea what my life would actually be.

5 years ago: I was 24, and had been living in Pocatello two years, I think in the apartment on Hayes Street. I can't remember how many cats I had, but I did have some. I was having a great time with the single (in the non-married, not the unattached) way of life, working long hours, then playing pretty hard with my good friend Aimee. It was about that time that Matt and I "re-engaged." I was starting to feel more comfortable with the idea of dedicating my life to someone else. Things have been pretty awesome ever since.

1 year ago: I spent most of my days throwing up, although by October, it was ever-so-slightly better. I was already absolutely in love with the little puke-maker, and soon I would find out she was a girl. Then, I finally had a reason to buy every pink thing I saw. On the social front, Matt and I had finally found friends that both of us loved (we've always liked each other's friends, but with Denise and Greg, we both loved them), and we were loving life.

Yesterday: Yesterday I dropped Anne Marie off at day care, worked two hours, then got a call to come pick up my pink-eyed daughter. I left without really thinking. I still enjoy writing and editing, but for the first time ever, my life is not at all defined by my job or my schoolwork. I'm still getting used to it, but it's kind of nice.

Now for the poll: I ask you, my three, maybe four readers: Ian (boss) called me today and asked me if I wanted to take Biz Pulse back and move up to 30 hours a week. Right now I work 25. I told him that I would need to get back my health insurance I lost from going part-time. He usually says no when I say that, but this time he said OK. Should I add the hours? Anne Marie now has two days a week at daycare, so it's doable, but it might be kind of tough some weeks. What do you guys think?


Update: Anne Marie woke up, and I found her with two nuks. Here she is:

We be jammin'

Here is evidence of my jam-making experience. I have no idea how it turned out yet,
and I didn't follow the recipe like I was supposed to, but hopefully it worked anyway. I guess you're supposed to cook the fruit first, then add pectin, cook, then sugar. I added everything at once and stirred. Hopefully it will be spectacular. I'll know tomorrow, I think.

Also, we did a 2.062 mile run today. I wish I would have taken a picture of Anne Marie. She was completely in pink, including onesie, socks, pants, hat and coat. I put a blue Nuk in her mouth for variety.

Also, completely off-topic, here's a photo of my mom's harvest bounty.

Lack of sleep

This weekend, Anne Marie got her first bad cold. She's had the sniffles before, but nothing like this. She was up all night long, literally. Friday night we put her to bed at about 10 p.m., and we were in her room soothing her every 10 minutes until 7:30 a.m. Finally, we put her in our bed at 7:30 a.m., where she slept for two hours. She was absolutely miserable.

All night long, I was dreading that cry I knew I would hear. When she first came home, I dreaded that cry too, but mostly because I wasn't getting any sleep. This time, I never thought about my missed sleep. Instead, I was just heartbroken over my stuffy-nosed baby.

In the end, Anne Marie is just fine. She missed a day of Water Babies, but she was just fine in time for her day at college today. It's amazing, though, how much you can hurt when someone else hurts.

Life at work

On weeks like this, I miss being in the office full time. It's not because I miss the adult contact. In fact, at work, I rarely get real adult contact anyway. :)

Today, my morning started off fairly normally, with a meeting that was supposed to be about the next day's paper, but rapidly went downhill until it was all jokes that only reporters and photographers who have seen plenty of destruction would understand. It ended when someone walks by and says, "It's birthday cake day in the breakroom."

Later in the day, a reporter comes up and asks me if we can use the word "vaginally" in the paper, as in a baby was delivered vaginally. I told him I thought it was fine, but my cubicle friend and city editor said vagina was a dirty word, and he should say "delivered naturally." The reporter then started singing "vagina, vagina, vagina, vagina" to help desensitize his co-workers to the word. As I left, ad people were trying to explain to one of our copy editors that he couldn't say he was a 10th degree black belt in his employee of the month ad because he definitely wasn't, and he couldn't just add the words, "self-taught" and make it OK.

It's weird, but I kind of thrive on it. It's amazing, but a lot of work gets done in that place. My co-workers are some of the hardest-working people I know. I do miss them when I'm working from home. And I definitely miss the people who've left recently. And, because these blogs look so much better with pictures, here's a photo of my former cubicle-buddy Greg on the first day I got my camera.

run

Anne Marie and I finally got out for a run today. 1.6066 miles. Unlucky? Perhaps.

The problem with both parents parenting

Let me start by saying I absolutely love how much Matt parents his daughter (as all dads should, but many don't). But on many days, like yesterday, her life is split. SHe gets day care on Mondays. On Tuesdays, it's Matt all morning, me all afternoon and evening. Wednesdays she gets me, Thursdays and Fridays are split, then Saturday and Sunday, it's "mama day." Matt and I really never see each other, but Anne Marie gets to see plenty of us both, and we can still work and go to school. Most of the time, it works like a charm. We see each other, swap kisses, tell each other what's happening, then head off.

But sometimes, things get lost in the shuffle. Yesterday, I got home from work around 12:30 p.m. to make the switch (Matt works from 1-10). Alex was at the house, fresh from a job interview (which he got, by the way- Uncle Alex will soon be in Pocatello). Alex, Anne Marie and I went to lunch to celebrate, then went to look at apartments. Anne Marie got super fussy around 5 or so, but didn't seem to want to nap. I had no idea why my normally happy baby was so angry. Off and on, she was happy, but basically, it was a fuss-fest. About 9 p.m., I got her to sleep. When Matt got home at 10:30, I found out she didn't nap the entire day. Matt didn't worry about her morning nap, because he figured she'd sleep in the afternoon. I didn't think it was that weird that she didn't take a nap in the afternoon because I figured she'd slept in the morning.

She sure made up for the loss, though. She slept for more than 12 hours!

I know this story isn't too exciting, but I had nothing else. More excitement later!

My harvest

From harvest bounty

From harvest bounty

This is what I got out of my garden today. If you walked by it, you wouldn't think anything useful was growing there. I don't do anything with the weeds unless I can see them actively choking my vegetables. The tomatoes are all volunteers. I had tons of them last year, and the thought of eating them made me want to hurl (tomatoes were my worst pregnancy aversion), so I just let them go, then tilled them under. Now there are tons of tomaties again- I just hope they turn red soon. Time is running out.

The plums are from our tree. I'm dedicated to learning the art of jam-making.

Finally did it

I didn't get out yesterday- the monsoon didn't stop until I had to go to work. So this morning, I got up and went for it. Rosa and I ended up going 1.3259 miles (I pretty much love that gmaps website. You jcan't get any more exact). It's not much, but it's a good start. Perhaps tomorrow we'll go 1.42158 miles. I also saw lots of people with strollers walking around the park. Rosa has an excellent time, although she wished it was the mountains. Here's a photo of where she wanted to go:

It's been awhile

It's been awhile, but I'm back. Hopefully, I'll get better at blogging. I think I should add it to my list of daily routines.

Another thing I should add: exercise. It's been 9 months since I've exercised regularly. The end came with the required bedrest last January, and, although I've made some half-hearted attempts, my exercise has been limited to the occasional 11 p.m. workout and short Sunday hikes through the mountains. So last night I decided that today I would start running again. Then this morning I woke up to a monsoon. It's the weirdest thing I've ever seen. We just don't get rain that doesn't stop.

I used to always run in the rain before, but this time I'm not sure how Miss Priss will like it. But we're going to flip the cover on her stroller and go for it. Alex showed me a pretty awesome Web site awhile back, http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/, so I can map our route.

We're starting slow- 1.21 miles, but I'll let you know how it goes. Here's our route (we go around the park twice). http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1292475

First day of college

For a few minutes, I felt like I was taking her to jail, or more fitting, to one of those mental asylums you see on T.V.

It was Anne Marie's first day at college (in the Early Learning Center), and she was sleeping in her carrier, thankfully not seeing what was going on around her. Her classroom was at the end of a long hall. As I walked along, screaming filled the hallway from every angle. In one room, a child was pounding his fists against the door, with screams of "No! Don't leave me! Mommy, no!," coming from his tear-streaked face.

Finally, I got to Anne Marie's room, which was relatively peaceful. One baby was screaming, but the other three were happily playing. One little girl, probably about 8 or 9 months old, was using some plastic keys to pound on a 4-month old's head. He didn't seem to notice. By this time, Anne Marie was awake, and her eyes were huge.

One of the teachers tried to put the screaming baby down to take Anne Marie, but there was no way that baby was going anywhere. So I said, "Where should I put her?" She told me anywhere was fine. I set her down by some toys, and hoped for the best.

I told her Anne Marie was a pretty laid-back baby. "So's this one," the teacher said, pointing at the screaming child in her arms.

I could barely make it through the day. I kept wondering if she would survive. I left as soon as I could from work, and when I got there, things seemed a whole lot better. In the imprisoned boy's classroom, children were happily eating bananas. In the other rooms, babies were quietly playing.

Anne Marie was fast asleep, and had been for three hours, according to the little sheet detailing her day. The teacher said she had been good, but I'm pretty sure she told the screaming baby's mom the same thing.

I'm sure the Early Learning Center is a good place, but today definitely made me glad I made the decision to work part-time. Anne Marie could probably survive more than one day a week in day care, but I don't think I could.

Remembering the first day

This is Anne Marie and my first attempt at a slideshow. I was so glad my friends and family could be there that day- Greg did a wonderful job of creating a memory for us. That's a great benefit of working at a newspaper. You know all sorts of excellent photographers who do a lot better stuff than the typical studio shots.

This was our first day home, after 18 super-long days filled with trips back and forth to the hospital. It was amazing how quickly it happened. One day, she had a tube up her nose and nurses and doctors were saying they had no idea when she could come home and the next, she was ready to go.

The 11:20 workout

I think I'm going to become the master of the 11:20 p.m. workout.

I came home from work today about 2 p.m., and planned on going on a run/walk sometime this evening. I always plan it, but it never seems to happen anymore. Anne Marie took a 2 1/2 hour nap, throwing off plans for an early afternoon trip, and then I was making dinner, catching Matt on his dinner break, bathing the baby, and listening to my mom's story about getting attacked by a pit bull (another story for another blog).

So, it was 10 p.m. and Anne Marie had finally succombed to sleep. I decided to watch a Law and Order episode. Finally, it was 10:30, and I finally admitted to myself that those countless hours of Denise Austin that I have recorded were for times like these.

I got off the couch and did it. It wasn't as much fun as an outside event, but it was actually pretty nice. I'm going to take a shower and go to bed feeling a whole lot better than I would have if I would have left Denise for another day.

Speaking of Denise (McReynolds, not Austin), if you have found this, I miss you! Matt said he would take Anne Marie to his geeky friends for a few hours so I could go out and do something. Sadly, however, you and everyone else have left me in POcatello alone. :( Can't wait to see you in October!

You Are An ESFP

The Performer You are a natural performer and happiest when you're entertaining others. A great friend, you are generous, fun-loving and optimistic. You love to laugh - and you like almost all people equally. You accept life as it is, and you do your best to make each day fantastic. In love, you are a smooth talker and incorrigible flirt. While you get into relationships easily, you don't tend to stick around when times get tough. At work, you do well in groups. You keep everyone laughing through difficult tasks. You would make a good actor, designer, or counselor. How you see yourself: Capable, fair, and efficient When other people don't get you, they see you as: Incompetent, stubborn, and silly

What's Your Personality Type?

Ta Da!

Why yummy?

Why a blog title with the word yummy in it? It's because I got my inspiration while watching Rachel Ray, and the turkey chili burgers she's making sound absolutely awesome, even at 9 a.m.



So I've been wanting to start a blog for a long time, but I have no time. I was reading my dear friend Jeni's blog this morning, and the soothing music she had on it put Anne Marie to sleep, so here we go.



While Anne Marie was falling asleep, waking up a little each time her thumb fell out of her mouth, I started thinking about how continuously amazed I am that she's come this far in such a short amount of time. My little 4 pounder can now sit up and belly-laugh. Check this out:

Then...





... and now



She's pretty awesome, right? I'm incredibly lucky. This little girl wreaked havoc on me when she was in the womb, but since her arrival into the world, she's been nothing but a dream. She rarely cries, always smiles and seems to love life.



They say that when you have a child, things change, and they do, but I haven't really missed much from my previous life.



I still go hiking- Anne Marie enjoys it as well (although her attention span is significantly shorter than mine). We play together, we swim together and we eat together.



I know most people tell me the time goes too fast when you have a baby, but I'm excited for the future. I can't wait until Anne Marie can better enjoy the zoo, or talk to me about how much fun her swim lesson was. I can't wait until we can go to the park and slide down the slide. It's going to be a fun adventure.



Here's another photo of our most recent adventure. If there is anyone out there, I hope you enjoy it!