Milwaukee Zoo

For Christmas, our landlord buys us a zoo pass. It is the best thing ever! Our zoo has a lot of walking between inside exhibits, so it's not the most fun to go in the winter but yesterday it warmed up a bit and was a perfect day to go to the zoo. I wish I could say it was my idea, but I was invited by one of the other wives to meet up there.

I love how close we live to the zoo. It is only a 15 minute drive from our house, and since we have a zoo pass it isn't a big deal if we only stay for an hour and then take off. I am anxiously awaiting warmer weather so we can go a couple times a week. Lacey loves looking at all the animals, and she knows that sound that a lot of them make. It is so fun to see her connect the dots as she learns new things.

Every time she saw an animal she would lean towards them and say "kiss." I don't know what it is with her and kissing, but we might have a problem when she starts dating, haha.

Maybe I'm am okay mom

Today I took Lacey to the zoo. I'm just beat so I will spill the details tomorrow.

How is January already coming to a close?

I feel like ever since Lacey was born that time has gone by so quickly. Maybe it is from the lack of sleep. Maybe it is because 90% of the time I love doing what I do. Maybe it is because Lacey keeps me busy almost all of the time. Whatever it is, time sure has flown by. I can't believe that our trip to Utah was a month ago. It feels like we are still getting back into the rhythm of being home.

It's weird, some days drag, but then looking back on the week I can't believe that I have already made it to another weekend. As always, I have high hopes for this weekend. Not because we have anything special planned, but just because I love being able to spend time with both Scott and Lacey.

I love having another adult around to have a normal conversation with. I love having another adult around to help out with the ins and outs of Lacey's life. I love being with the guy I get to spend the rest of my life with. I am really liking my life right now, time just seems to keep going by quicker.

I bring out her needy side

I don't know what it is, but Lacey is so much more needy around me then she is around Scott. We are slowly figuring out the whole sleeping through the night thing, but she still usually wakes up at least once. If I go in she wants to be held and rocked and then she wants to play. If Scott goes in, then she will take her binky, lay back down and let him rub her back until she falls back asleep. Thankfully Scott is a great sport and he is more than happy to get up and help in the middle of the night. For the first 13ish months of her life I always nursed her back to sleep when she woke up in the middle of the night, so Scott wasn't every really able to help me late at night. I guess now is his time to shine because it takes him 5 minutes or me 20 minutes to get her to go back to sleep.

I'm not huge on the whole cry-it-out thing. First of all, we share a wall with Lacey so if she is crying it isn't like I can sleep. Secondly, it just scares me. What if she is in pain or needs me? I don't want to just ignore her. That being said, I don't usually go in until she is full on crying, no need to bother her when she is just a little fussy and working on falling back to sleep.

Did I teach her this whole needy thing? Or is it just because I am the person who is home all day with her? I am the one to comfort her, feed her, play with her the majority of the time. Is that why she acts so much more needy around me? I just haven't been able to figure it out.

New Project

I once saw a really cute stop-motion animation and since then I have always wanted to give it a try. I have finally come up with an idea, and now I just need to put the idea into motion. I bet it is going to take me a lot longer to do than I am thinking it will. I am hoping to have it done in a couple of weeks. Once I finish it, I will post it. Now I just need to find as many tips as I can before I start.

This is my life

Lacey entertained herself for almost 30 minutes just doing this over and over again. Suprisingly she didn't even get hurt. (You can also view the video here if it didn't load)

Girl Scout Cookies

So... every year around this time of year my landlord puts in an order for girl scout cookies. He seriously is the nicest guy ever. Last year I looked up a list of girl scout cookies and put in our order. I wanted the lemon cookies, but what I got was not what I was expecting. I learned the hard way that different regions have different cookies available. I was so sad when I opened the box (or two) of the lemon cookies that I had been dreaming of just to find out that they are not the same cookies you can get in Utah.

I even looked into buying some online.... they were $13.00 a box. Seriously? The worst part was I was actually considering buying a box.

I now officially have both my mom and sister on the lookout for girl scouts selling Savannah Smiles. I can't get them here, and it's almost girl scout cookie season. I just have to remind myself that in a couple years we will be back in Utah and I can buy all the lemon cookies I want.

ps... the Somoa cookies (they are called caramel delights here) are also so much better in Utah.

It's the simple things

When we moved out to Wisconsin we didn't have a microwave. We got by pretty well without one for an entire summer. Then at the end of the summer we helped a couple move into their place, which happened to have a microwave and they offered to give us theirs. It was so nice of them to give us the microwave, we had forgotten how much we were missing out on. Fast forward a year, the same couple moved again but into a bigger place. The new place didn't have a microwave, and they asked for the one we were using back.

After a day or two without having a microwave we thought we were going to die and bought our own microwave. We picked the smallest, cheapest one at Target. Well, I guess you get what you pay for, but about a year ago (when the microwave was only about 6 months old) it started to spark when you used it. It only started to spark maybe one out of twenty times that we would use it. So we just kept on using it and would just stop it when it would start to spark. (We'll probably end up with cancer or something from doing this) Well, a week or two ago it really started to spark. It was so bad we thought that we had caught our microwave on fire. That was the last time we used that microwave.

I only had to go a couple days without a microwave, but it was HARD.  I had to heat up our left overs on the stove, or in the oven, it was so slow, and a lot more work. I didn't know if I could survive without a microwave so we went ahead and invested in a nicer one. Okay by nice I mean we chose a very midline model. Let's just hope that this one will last longer than the last one we bought did.

Getting out all her energy

I feel like it is so cold here, so the only time we ever really get out of the house is when we go nanny. I think Lacey is starting to feel a little cooped up from being indoors all day long.

Our friends invited us over for dinner tonight. After dinner we set Lacey down while the grown-ups all talked. She went crazy. Their apartment isn't any bigger than ours, but she was running from the kitchen to the hallway, back to the kitchen over and over again. She was cracking up and screaming and just having a blast while she was running around. She seriously makes our lives so much more fun.

Then as she was running she bumped into something and fell. She bumped her mouth pretty good on Scott's knee  on the way down and there was a little bit of blood and some crying involved. She's a trooper though, after a couple minutes and a quick mouth examination she was ready to do a few more sprints. These are the moments that I wonder what I ever did to deserve such a fun little girl. Can you tell that she has me wrapped around her little finger?

Making New Friends

A few months ago, when it wasn't too cold to go outside, I met someone at the park across the street from where we live. She had a little boy just a couple weeks older than Lacey. We spent a good hour watching our kids run around while we talked.

Today, we decided to get the kids together for a play date. It was actually a lot fun. We have quite a bit in common and there wasn't any awkward lulls in conversation. I've  never just struck up a friendship in the middle of a park before... but it's kind of cool. I definitely plan on doing some more play dates in the future.

Maybe I can do the whole being social thing.

Where did all of this stuff come from?

We have SO much stuff... I don't know where it all came from. After having Lacey we bought a bunch of baby stuff, crib, changing table, rocking chair, toys... and our 2 bedroom apartment started feeling too small. We moved into a 3 bedroom apartment and it felt so roomy. We had more space, more places to store things, it was great.

Lately, I have been having a harder and harder time figuring out where to put things. I feel like we have run out of space. I can't believe how much we have collected over the last 7 months since we moved into this apartment. Some of the "stuff" is craft supplies, which I don't use ALL the time, but I use often enough that I don't want to get rid of any of it. I don't feel like a hoarder (I throw too many things away to be a hoarder) but when I look around I see a lot of stuff I don't really use, but I don't want to give it away or throw it out either.

I keep thinking that one day we will have a house and I will have plenty of space to put all of our stuff. Do you eventually grow out of homes too? Or will I finally learn just to get rid of the stuff that we don't need even if I think I will need it someday? All I know is right now we have way too much stuff. I need to box some of it up and put it in storage.

Who is this girl

I feel like iquite the same posts over and over again. Mostly my life revolves around Lacey, Scott,  and sleep.
Lacey has been so great at going to bed.  She still wakes up multiple times at night,  but she goes to bed without any complaints. From the day she was born she needed to be nursed to sleep. For the last week or so I just lay her down in her crib with her binky and she goes right to sleep.  It's incredible!

Blogging... and slacking off

I really do enjoy blogging and writing and having a place to get my thoughts out on paper. A couple months ago I started a not personal blog, a crafty-mommy-diy thing. I was so gung-ho about getting that all set up, but ever since coming back to Wisconsin I haven't spent more than 10 minutes working on that blog. 

At first I needed to recover from vacation. I needed to get back into a schedule. Then I added in a couple nanny jobs. I have been so exhausted lately and have really been slacking off. I still have yet to write any new year resolutions and it's almost the end of January. So here is my goal for this week. I want to finish editing all the posts that I have already written (most of them were supposed to have been posted in Dec) and get them all up on my blog. 

This blog, my personal blog, takes a lot less effort. I don't have to plan ahead or take quality pictures, although I will be adding more pictures soon. I want to remember as much as I can about my fun little life. 

We're so glad when daddy is home!

When Scott is at school all day Lacey tends to prefer me over him. Then over the weekend she warms back up to Scott. I feel like right when she really starts wanting to hang out with him he has to go back to school. this last weekend he got three days off instead of his usual two.

Lacey was loving having both her parents home to play with her. She loves giving her daddy kisses and is starting to snuggle more than she ever has. Both Scott and I are enjoying her snuggles. She loves to come up and sit on our laps. Her new thing is holding out her hand, asking for our hand and then leading us around the house. Sometimes she has a specific place in mind that she wants to take us to ask for something, other times she just likes to wander around and point at things. She loves pointing at books and having us tell her what she is pointing at. She will throw both of her hands up by her shoulders and and shake them like "I don't know."

Yesterday was a great day... until I got sick and started throwing up... I'll post twice today to make up for it :)

I guess I'm just a little anti-social

I can't decide if I am okay being somewhat anti-social. If it is convenient to hang out with someone I am always all in, but if it takes very much effort I am not so enthused with the idea. Once I get out of the house I always enjoy myself, but I also really enjoy being a homebody sometimes. Does that make me sound lazy?

Lately, the whole subject of friends has been on my mind. We have a couple of really great friends out here that we love doing things with. Then there are others that I wish we had better relationships with. I can't help but wonder if I'm not good friends with some of the others because my inclination to be kind of anti-social. Somedays I am glad that I don't have to always work around a million different schedules, but then there are days that I wonder if I'm missing out by not being willing to put more effort into my social life. Maybe it's one of those the grass is always greener on the other side kind of things. You always want what you don't have.

I feel old... I look old

I know that 27 isn't really THAT old, but somedays I feel like I'm just getting old. Mentally I don't feel like I am as old as I really am. I still think that I am in my early 20's, but in reality that was a long time ago. Every once in a while it hits me that I'm not as young as I once was.

The other day I sent this picture to Scott as a joke when I was having a rough morning. After I sent it, I took a closer look and saw how wrinkled/baggy my eyes look in the picture... When did that happen?

I ordered some Mary Kay products about a year ago and the person sent me a bunch of their aging skin samples along with my order. When I first looked at them I thought it was some kind of mistake. Now that I think about it, I guess I am getting to the age where I could consider starting to take care of my skin in a way that I don't age as quickly. When did I get so old, and why didn't I see it coming?

A pretty perfect day

Lacey woke up this morning at 6:00 which usually means that I have to get up and play with her. I was still pretty tired so I gave her some milk and laid her back in her crib. Something amazing happened... she went back to bed for an extra two and a half hours. When she woke up, I was well rested and she was well rested. This is the first time in a while that she has woken up happy instead of grumpy and clingy. 

Then I got to spend the morning just hanging out, reading books, playing with toys, and running around with Lacey. It was a lot of fun, and I think that both of us really enjoyed it. After playing our hearts out, I put her down in her crib and she took a nap. No fussing, no crying, she just gave me a kiss and laid down for a two and a half hour nap. It is usually an ordeal getting her to nap and I was really worried about how things would go once I stopped nursing. It was wonderful. 

She woke up, we ate lunch and then we went to pick up the kids that I nanny for. It really was such a wonderful day. Lacey hardly cried or complained at all today. I actually felt like a good mom today. I felt like she really appreciated me today. It was a good day, a great day, a pretty perfect day!

Weaning

I haven't nursed Lacey in the past 24 hours... This is about the hundredth time that I have decided to wean Lacey. Every time that I have tried before she would pull on my shirt and ask for milk. After enough tugging and crying I would eventually give in.

I usually only nurse her right before I put her down for a nap. It is the easiest way to get her to calm down enough to fall asleep. Today, I gave her a sippy cup of milk and then laid her down in her crib. She took a great nap. She didn't ask to nurse at all, which is HUGE... maybe this time we will actually wean her!

It's how cold?

In the afternoon I have to go an pick up two kids from the elementary school and take them home. Unfortunately it isn't one of those, pull up to the school, the kids jump in the car kind of situations. I have to park a couple blocks away and then wait outside the school for them to come out. The last couple days it has been absolutely miserable. The weather says it is a 9 degrees out, but with the windchill it feels like -27 (seriously, that's what weather.com said)... let me tell you how much I love winter.

I am an Arizona girl at heart, and if it were up to me I wouldn't go outside any days that are below 40  degrees out. I am so ready for winter be over!

So what's the problem?

Scott and I get along really well. We don't argue too often. We still love hanging out together. We make each other laugh. We both love Lacey more than we ever knew that we could. We still try to read each other's minds to make the other one happy.

All of those things may seem great, but the last one is really not working out for us. Scott and I always have the best of intentions, but we should really stop trying to do what we think the other person wants. We have had so many nights that we do something or go to a certain restaurant just to have both of us disappointed because we only went because it was what we thought the other person wanted. We have wasted a lot of money and time doing things that neither of us really wanted to do in the first place, all because we wanted the other person to be happy.

Tonight it was pizza. He ordered a certain pizza because he thought it was what I wanted, I only listed it as an option for him because he had said that it sounded good to him. We ended up with the pizza I didn't really want and one for him that he thought sounded the best... total failure (for me)! We just aren't very good at communicating what we actually want. For the next week we are going to try a little experiment, maybe it will blow up in our faces, we are going to be totally honest about what we really want. Not leave any room for mind reading or guessing from the other person.

I'm interested to see if things get better or worse.

Kiss?

Lacey cracks me up sometimes. She has always been a social butterfly (as long as I am close by). When we are at the store she will wave at every person that walks by us. She will continue to wave even if the person isn't looking at her. She has started to act a little more shy recently with her waves, she will wave really quick and then fold her arms. It is so much fun seeing her little personality develop.

Lacey has always been really good about giving me kisses until recently. Now any time I ask her to give momma a kiss she will turn to the closest person, say kiss, then pucker up and lean in. Most of the time the closest person is Scott but occasionally it will be a stranger standing in line behind us, or the neighbor.

Today we came inside from our car just as the mailman was dropping off a package at our door. She leans towards him and said "kiss." Luckily, I know what she is saying but it probably isn't super clear to anyone who doesn't hear her talk all day. I mean, why in the world would she want to give our mailman a kiss? She is such a weirdo sometimes!

Well that was quick

I can't believe it is already Sunday night. I spent the entire week waiting for the weekend to show up and it is now already over. It wasn't that I had any special plans for the weekend, I just was ready to have a break and relax. As if the weekend actually changes anything for me, I still have to do all the motherly things whether I want to or not.

 Lacey and I love having Scott around the house on the weekends. I love having another adult to talk to, and Lacey loves having another parent to ask when I say no to her requests. Then on Mondays life goes back to normal and I am home by myself with Lacey again just waiting for the weekend.

Other than having Scott home, the weekends really aren't that different than any other day of the week. I should take the time to enjoy everyday instead of counting down the days until the weekend. That will be my goal this week, to stop focusing on the weekend and just enjoy my daily routine with Lace.

Grateful

I don't think I tell Scott enough how grateful I am for him. Since I started nannying this past week Scott has really helped me with all the things I haven't been able to do. Every night this last week he has done the dishes after dinner and made sure the kitchen was clean. I love waking up to a clean kitchen. I feel like that makes my day go so much smoother. He has changed almost all of Lacey's diapers when he is home. It is so nice to say, "Ewww, Lacey you stink" and then have him jump up and take care of it. He has helped me give Lacey baths. He has played with Lacey while I have done other things on my to-do list. He even helped me come up with our weekly meal plan so I wouldn't have to do it by myself. Tonight he cooked me dinner. I don't know what has gotten into him, maybe he made some new year resolutions. Whatever it is, I love it! I am so grateful for all of his extra help on top of all the things he always has done for me.

Resolutions

Before I left for Utah I had all these big plans about setting new goals for this year and getting organized. Do you want to know how many goals I have actually written down? None, haha. I had it planned out how I would organize my goals, I had written down the different categories that my goals would fall into, too bad all of that thought has gone to waste so far. 

I think I am still recovering from being on vacation, at least I hope that I am still just recovering. Then again, I might just be being lazy. That's much more likely, I'm sure that I'm just being lazy. Over the last year I have used my lack of sleep as an excuse not to be productive. In all honesty though, I am just as unproductive on days that I get an adequate amount of sleep. 

Maybe on Monday I will turn over a new leaf, write down some of my goals and make a game plan. Maybe on Monday I will have a productive day. Maybe on Monday I will get all of the laundry done that I have procrastinated doing since Utah. Maybe on Monday I will eat start eating healthier... it's a lot of maybes but for right now maybe is good enough for me. 

SLEEP

We have had a couple of really rough nights with Lacey. She has been waking up 3-4 times a night and it has been really difficult to get her back down.  She hasn't been a perfect sleeper, but ever since we stopped giving her cows milk throughout the day and before bed she has been a much better sleeper. I realized that the last few days we have been eating a lot of dairy during dinner. 

Last night we were super careful not to give Lacey anything with milk in it before bed. She slept ALL night. I was pretty tired so I went to bed at a reasonable hour and I got 9.5 hours of sleep. I was awesome! I'm too afraid to get my hopes up, but wouldn't it just be lovely if she made sleeping a habit?

It really isn't that hard

Right before we left to come to Utah I was offered a nannying job, actually two of them. It has been a long time since we have had an income and  I thought it was a great idea since it is something I can do with Lacey.

It has only been 3 days and I haven't even started the second job. I'm just not used to having to work around any schedule other than Lacey's nap schedule. Now I am trying to get everything done, get Lacey down for a nap, and make it to the school to pick up the kids I am watching. Writing it out makes me realize that it isn't really that much, but right now it's a little overwhelming. I'm sure that I will figure it all out eventually and it will become easier.

I just keep telling myself that I am lucky enough to be able to be with Lacey all day. It's true, I wouldn't want it any other way. I know that this is a wonderful opportunity for. I just have been spoiled over the last 14 months not needing to do anything other than hang out with Lacey and do the occasional grocery shopping (and food prep, and house cleaning).

Having the extra money will definitely be worth it, I just need to buck up and stop being lazy.

Adjusting

I feel like Lacey and I usually bounce right back into our groove when Scott goes back to school but for some reason this time we seem to be having a harder time adjusting. Before we went to Utah Lacey and I followed a pretty good schedule. I knew what time she would be ready for a nap, when she would want a snack and I feel like we are all over the place right now.

While we were in Utah, Lacey started sleeping through the night... which was AMAZING! I cannot tell you how much I missed having a good nights sleep over the last 14 months. She was on a one nap a day schedule (different than our two naps in Wisconsin), she took a great nap and woke up happy. Since being back to to Wisconsin, she has yet to sleep through the night or take a decent nap... what's up with that?

Hopefully in the next week or so I can figure out what the magic formula is so both Lacey and I can get the sleep we need. 

My little helper

Making dinner every night has become more and more difficult as Lacey has gotten older. Recently, she has decided that she is a momma's girl and if she knows that I am around then she doesn't want anyone else. Sometimes I love that she is a momma's girl. I get the most kisses and hugs, and I get snuggles when nobody else does.

While I am making dinner she wants nothing to do with Scott. She will stand at my feet crying and tugging on my pants until I pick her up. Depending on what I am making it isn't always an option to hold her while I make dinner. Just a couple days ago I decided to pull up a chair and let her play with a mixing bowl and spoon on the counter while I was chopping up vegetables. When I had something she could help me stir or mix she would happily do whatever she could. She loved it. She was so happy to be helping me with dinner. Dinner prep is a little more messy now, but it is less frustrating than a crying toddler pulling on my leg.

I have been planning on building some kind of stool for her to stand on that will keep her enclosed so she can't fall off, but I haven't done it yet. Until then, I guess I just have to watch her carefully while she helps me prepare dinner.

Missing Home

While we were out in Utah I was curious if Lacey missed being home. I am always curious about how much she understands and remembers. I wasn't sure if she would be happy about being back in our small apartment or sad that she didn't have the space to run around like she did at my in-laws house.

She was asleep when we got home from the airport and she didn't even flinch when I moved her from her carseat to her crib. When she woke up in the morning she was back in her own crib, in her own room, with her own toys. She was so excited to be back! She ran to her toy box and pulled out each of her toys and came to show them to me. Then she just went out into the living room and looked around for a while like she couldn't actually believe we were home.

Lacey is so observant of all the things going on around her. I should have known that she wouldn't forget her home.

I Was "That" Lady on the Plane

Scott and I are so grateful that his parents paid to fly us back home so we could spend Christmas with them. Before our flight out I read a lot of articles on flying with a toddler and I got as prepared as I could for our trip. Lacey was perfect on both flights home. She didn't make a peep, she napped, she quietly played with the activities I brought for her. She seriously was PERFECT.

Then on the first leg of our flight back to Milwaukee she fell asleep as we were boarding and didn't wake up until after we landed in Denver. At this point I was pretty confident that I had everything under control. I had the whole traveling with a toddler thing down. Not too long into our second flight Lacey was screaming and everyone was turning around to see what all the fuss was about. I was frantically digging through the diaper bag trying to find something that would help settle her down while Scott was looking at me like, "Do something! Fix This! People are Staring at us!!!" Finally we were able to calm her down and people stopped staring.

With about an hour and a half left in the flight Lacey was sitting in my lap being a little fussy when she threw up all over the two of us. I was able to catch most of it in my hand and on the doll we were holding, but it also ended up getting in the diaper bag, on my shoes, on the floor, and all over Lacey's outfit and my jeans. It wasn't just a little bit on throw up either. It was a mess. One of those moments that you just want to forget even happened. Luckily, Scott was sitting with me and was able to pull out our wipes and help get the two of us a little cleaned up. We undressed Lacey, but I didn't want to put on a clean outfit yet just incase everything wasn't out of her system.

Once she threw up she was pretty calm, and just wanted to hang out and sit on my lap. I'm thinking she must not have been feeling very well and that was causing the screaming earlier on the flight. My story doesn't end there, though  I wish it did. Right after they announced we were starting our descent and turned on the seatbelt light Scott leans over and asks me in Lacey was poopy. I lifted her up to find that not only was she poopy, but I also had poop smeared on my jeans where she was hanging out. It was a bummer that we used all of our wipes during the vomit fiasco only an hour before. Luckily our neighbors were sitting behind us and they were willing to lend us a couple wipes to get us cleaned up.

Scott just kept telling me that he was glad it was me that was pooped on and thrown up on because he didn't know if he could handle it. (He definitely wouldn't have been able to handle it) All I could do was laugh. That's one thing I have learned. Life is much more manageable when you are willing to laugh through the most frustrating situations. I'm hoping this experience is something that I never have to deal with again, once is enough.

Happy New Year

Last week a family member invited me to join them in a daily blogging challenge. I thought it was a great idea at the time, but the more I think about it the more intimidated I am by the idea.  Most days I feel like I have a lot going on,  but how much of my daily life is really worth blogging about? I am just hoping that this gets me back in the groove of documenting our life.

Lacey is at such a fun age and I don't want to forget how fun she is right now. She is really starting to figure out how everything works. In just the last couple weeks she has gotten much better at communicating (or trying to communicate) what she is wanting. She can say a couple of words, but mostly she just will point and use the sign for either "please" or "help." I always wonder how much she really understands. I ask her  questions all day and she will respond with a yes or no but sometimes her answers don't always match her actions.

2015 really was a wonderful year. I learned that being a mom is hard pretty much all of the time. I learned that being a mom is one of the most wonderful things in the world. I learned what it feels like to be needed. I learned that I don't do as well with very little as I used to a few years ago. I learned that I can do hard things. I learned that I will always be worried about how well I am parenting Lacey. I learned how much a little human can change everything. I learned that you can love someone so much that you feel like you don't know what to do with it. I learned that it's financially hard to be married to a student and be a stay at home mom. I learned that being a stay at home mom is what I want to do. In 2015 I learned a lot of new things. I loved 2015, I love where we lived, I love the friends that we had, I love how much fun Lacey was during 2015.

Here's to 2016.

Here's to keeping a better record of our wonderful life.

Here's to making new memories.

Here's to learning new things.