Snow baby!!!

Confession on a Sunday Evening

Brant has Claire today. I am at the office working on my copyediting project that is due on Wednesday (that will never be done by Wednesday). The heat is turned WAY down, and my hands are numb.

I have "my station" playing on Yahoo LaunchCast, which was painstakingly created over months and months of me listening to song after song and choosing my favorites.

Right now "Set the Night to Music" by Roberta Flack is playing. That's right, you read it. Go ahead, make fun of me. I don't care. You're just jealous that my coolness isn't contagious.

What a Wonderful World (ode to Nick and Rose)

I see trees of green........ red roses too




I see em bloom..... for me and for you




And I think to myself.... what a wonderful world.




I see skies of blue..... clouds of white




Bright blessed days...




dark sacred nights...




And I think to myself .....what a wonderful world.




The colors of a rainbow.....so pretty ..in the sky




Are also on the faces.....of people ..going by



I see friends shaking hands.....sayin.. how do you do




They're really sayin......i love you.




I hear babies cry...... I watch them grow




They'll learn much more.....than I'll never know




And I think to myself .....what a wonderful world

Bibs and a Promise

I LOVE these bibs but ugh, they're so expensive. Now if they were FOUR bibs for $16, then we'd have something to talk about.

Oh, and I promise to give the full story on the exquisitely beautiful wedding of the magnificent Nick and Rose just as soon as I can. I don't want to rush through it, and trust me, there's a lot to tell!!

UPDATE: Jess tells the Rose and Nick wedding caper much better than I, so I'm referring you to her blog for the Florida adventure!!

See you in the Sunshine State!

Nick and Rose are en route to Florida as I write this!

I hope those crazy kids enjoy their road trip and are fluent in Italian by the time I see them next!!!!

Books I Want

There are at least three books I still need to finish and haven't touched in months. However, this does not stop me from wanting MORE books. That's just the charm of Kara. Deal with it.

So my must-read list now includes:

Ask Supernanny: What Every Parent Wants to Know



Most of you know my obsession with Jo Frost, aka, Supernanny. I watch her show every Friday night and try to absorb a lot of her ideas.






Diving Bell and the Butterfly

I watched this French film this past weekend and was mesmerized. Now I MUST read the book. Jean-Dominique "Jean-Do" Bauby, French journalist and former editor of Elle magazine, lived a charmed life in the fast lane until one tragic day he experienced a massive cerebral hemorrhage, leaving him paralyzed from head to toe...this "locked-in" syndrome (i.e., mental faculties intact but unable to move) left him only able to move his left eye/eyelid. With the help of a very dedicated therapist, he learned a new way to convey language. I won't get into the alphabet system he used. Google it, it's worth it. But he managed to dictate a book of his life using this language, and this is the outcome. Tragically, he died ten days after its publication.

The "Barack" books





Yeah, I'm a little late. Last election I had the Kerry book dissected, highlighed, and worn out before the election. I also didn't have a one-year-old who likes to run around and get into everything she shouldn't. That doesn't mean I still don't want to read all of these books. I do. I will.

I'm not going to blog about the list of films I want to see. That would be way too long.

Basket Bingo

Apparently storing toys in the basket and pulling them out is boring. Playing IN the basket is much more fun!

The Sippy Cup Saga Continues

Well, it's day two. Apparently yesterday Claire refused the sippy cup at daycare. She took probably two swigs and wanted nothing more to do with it. Crap.

I decided to give her the sippy cup with milk at dinnertime instead of right before bed. She did drink a good bit of it then, but of course she doesn't drink it in the same way she drinks a bottle. With the bottle, she'd chug that milk down in one fell swoop. Now she drinks more like a regular person...little bit at a time. I just want to make sure she gets enough.

There was about half left when she went to bed. I gave it to her then and she drank it until there were two ounces left. So yesterday I'd say she had about 12 ounces of milk. My goal is 16 ounces a day. I've learned the trick is to keep offering it throughout the meal and then afterwards. I wrote this on my daycare sheet today, but I don't know if they're going to be able to comply because of course they have a whole bunch of kids to look after and it would be impossible to just sit there, like I do, and keep coaxing her to drink. We'll see.

This morning she took about 5 1/2 ounces. If she'd just take 5 ounces at daycare and then another five when she gets home, I would be happy with that.

On a mealtime note, the mashed potatoes with pureed spinach was NOT a hit!! lol She ate some, made the most hideous face, and then grabbed the lump of potatoes out of her mouth and threw it. All righty then!!! I'm not giving up on the spinach though...I think I'll just puree it into a scambled egg. I can pretty much blend anything in there and she'll eat it. I switched over to broccoli and she did eat some of that. It's all hit or miss!

I got my dress in the mail that I ordered for Rose's wedding. I LOVE the color. However, there is not one piece of clothing that looks good on me and it never will until I lose all of the 80 pounds I need to lose. I don't even know then though, because my body changed so drastically with the pregnancy...it's very weird. My upper stomach muscles still act as though I'm pregnant. They're rounded. I hate it. I've always been so bottom heavy, but I could still wear some cute T-shirts and look OK because my waist wasn't terrible. So frustrating. Anyway, the dress (love the pink!)...



the shoes (for the fab backyard garden wedding!)...



and the purse...



Can't wait for this amazing day!!

Cold Turkey

My eyes are wide open
Cant get to sleep
One thing Im sure of
Im in at the deep freeze
Cold turkey has got me on the run
---John Lennon

I'm Momzilla.

I cut my child off the bottle cold turkey. I thought a lot about this, and with IMMENSE anxiety and guilt, I decided this is the best way. Pull the band-aid off in one yank instead of slowly pulling and dragging out the pain.

My decision was made after I sent a sippy cup with her milk in it to daycare yesterday. She was not interested and took the bottle. If I keep giving her the bottle option, of course she's going to take it. And my core belief is in consistency, whether it be for bedtime or anything else. And keep in mind, this "sippy cup" is the closest thing to a bottle I've ever seen.



This did NOT make this decision any easier. Last evening we did her dinner and bath, and then I knew the time was coming. I took her into her room and shut the light off. Normally that means she's going to sit in the glide rocker with Mommy and have her bah-bah. This time I sat on the floor and held the sippy cup up for her. She started taking swigs, then she took off for the bedroom door, hoping to get some more fun in before she had to lay down for the night. I caught her and took her over to the glide rocker. She got in position for her bottle and I still handed her the sippy cup. That is when she realized this was taking the place of her bedtime bottle. She did not cry. She simply shoved it away over and over. Finally I lifted her up and placed her in her crib and gave her Mr. Binky.

The outcome? My daughter slept all night, as she always does, and I tossed and turned and had nightmares that Child Protective Services was coming after me for being so cruel and that my child's bones turned to mush because she never would take a sippy cup and get milk again. But I knew there was no going back.

Fast forward to this morning. I got her up at 7:45 a.m. I calmly took her over to the glide rocker and handed her the sippy cup again. She looked at it, looked at me, then grabbed it and drank 6 ounces without blinking an eye.

I think my child is really the most amazing person ever. She doesn't realize that Mommy looks at her with such awe and pride.

The sippy cup went to daycare with her today for her midday milk. I did not send a bottle. I said she drinks this or she doesn't have milk. I'm praying she accepts it and this transition continues to progress.

Claire gets a big high-five today!

Dawn after the Darkest Hour

The sun rises up, I climb the ladder
A new day breaks and… I’m working on a dream
---Bruce Springsteen

VOTE!

I need a hero
I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light
He's gotta be sure
And it's gotta be soon
And he's gotta be larger than life

Gobbledygook

This is a total mish-mash of the million thoughts buzzing around my noggin.

The leaves are in full-out color frenzy now, and it's insanely beautiful. Do you remember Bob Ross, the painter on PBS that always was painting "happy little trees"? If not, Google him. I loved him. The trees look like he painted them. Bob Ross trees.

My child ate so well this weekend...I am giving myself a hearty pat on the back for that feat. Organic baby oatmeal mixed w/Gerber fruit and a handful of Cheerios for breakfast both mornings. Saturday supper (she slept through lunch) was Claire's first fish...tilapia! She had that w/steamed broccoli. She LOVED the fish. I was happy about that because Mommy hates it. Then she had fresh blueberries for dessert. Sunday lunch was sauteed organic squash and zuccini...loved it. She had her beloved applesauce as well. Then on Sunday for supper she had Annie's organic mac 'n cheese to which I added a half cup of pureed cauliflower and some organic shredded sharp cheddar (I ate the leftovers, and I will just say yummy!!). For dessert, organic kiwi...loved it! She also has transitioned totally to whole milk, of which I shell out the $$ for organic. I don't necessarily think everything has to be organic, but I feel strongly about milk and meat/poultry. But I'll admit, even that I can't do all the time, because tonight she's having non-organic chicken breast. I just do my best and am not sweating that kind of stuff.

The rest of her weekend was happy as well. Her dad and I took her to Loch Raven Reservoir on Saturday afternoon, an unseasonably balmy day. Daddy got this...



...and Claire LOVED it. She smiled the whole time and was so chill in that thing! We walked through the beautiful woods and showed her the geese and seagulls in the reservoir. She squealed when she saw a little dachshund running around near the water (that's my girl!!).

Sunday her Daddy and I went to Starbucks and Claire sat, good as gold, in her booster seat while Mommy inhaled her (surprise) pumpkin scone. She was happy with her Gerber banana puffs and was even happier getting to stare at everyone in the place (she's a bit nosy). We also carted her around to do errands, and baby girl loooooooves being in that shopping cart.

Before bed last night, I cleared out the living room entirely, and let her run loose with her walker...



...and I swear she spent 1/2 hour to an hour just walking back and forth having a great time.

I can't wait to get her pictures back. She had her Christmas pictures at JcPenney on Saturday and did great! I'm so happy that my baby is such a sweet little girl.

My daughter is JOYFUL. Her joy is infectious. I love being around her just because she makes me feel silly. I have really, really loved absorbing some of Nie Nie (see Nie Nie's blog, and please pray for her recovery), because she is the most beautiful person and this incredible mother, and I like to have my Nie Nie moments where I just let Claire be Claire and let her "make a joyful noise unto the Lord!!" When she screams, I don't "shush" her. I scream right back. We dance and act silly and I love it.

Her dad and I were laughing like crazy last night. He was playing songs on his iTunes and we were listening. Suddenly "Combat Baby" by Metric comes on and she is dancing around the room. My child was grooving to Metric. That is AWESOME!! lol

Hmmm...other randomness? Watched a Norwegian film shot in French New Wave style. The title was Reprise...was good but of course a little above my head. Bought some others to watch that I'll probably "review" in an upcoming blog.

We're LESS than two weeks from Rose's wedding...I can't wait!!! The dress I bought is to arrive tomorrow, the shoes are waiting for me to pick up at my apartment complex's leasing office, and the purse is hopefully on its way. I'm really looking forward to this for so many reasons.

I think this is enough randomness for now. But as always...more to come!