American's Funniest Home Video's... I wish!

I know we all have those moments where we say 'Awww man! I wish I had that on video!'

Today we had one of those days. Nick and I had just finished cooking breakfast. I was carrying my plate and water into the living room while he layed on the ground in the dining room messing with me and Lacey as we walked by. He grabbed my ankle and said "Woman, gimme my water." I told him to wait until I got our plates into the living room and I would. I sat the water down on the coffee table and went back to get the other plate. Lacey stayed there. I walked back out of the kitchen and he grabbed my ankle again, with the same (silly) demand. Lacey walks over, holding this HUMONGOUS Taco Bell cup of ice water, and pours it on his face saying "HERE DADDY!!!!" She was OH so proud of herself for succeeding where mommy could not (in bringing him the water, and pouring it on his face. I'm not that brave). We laughed for like 30 minutes (and still are laughing). She of course thought she was hilarious because we were laughing and sat there saying "Lacey pour water on daddy!" Over and over. I called from work this evening and I could here her in the background saying 'Wanna talk to mommy.' She got on the phone and I asked her what she was doing and she said 'Playing daddy. Lacey pour water on daddy!' I laughed and said yes, indeed you did.

So even though she might resemble him... she sides with me.

We also took her swimming today in the 'bubble (pool with bubble over it)' where Nick works. She had a blast, but I froze (pretty cold inside, unlike the YMCA bubble). She was shivering and shaking, her hands were freezing, and her knees were blue, and she still screamed bloody murder when I removed her from the pool. I said "Lacey, do you want to turn into an icecicle?" And she cried 'Yesssss.' And I said 'No Lacey, we need to go take a warm shower before you freeze to death.' And she replied 'No, LACEY freeze.' (As in, if I tell her I need to do something, she says no, Lacey do it!) Survival of the fittest sounds applicable in this situation.

And then she ran around the locker room screaming 'Nakey baby' and climbing into lockers and popping out and 'scaring' me. Silly, silly girl.

Sleep has never felt so good!

I'm going to begin with this: my best friend has a son who, since birth, has just been put in his crib for naps and night time, and falls asleep. He even prefers it that way. And for almost 2 years, I have complained that my child would NEVER fall asleep on her own in her own bed. I have been so jealous. We tried every method there was, and nothing worked. I finally gave up and actually enjoy her falling asleep on me (if I have no chores or homework), and sleeping with me some at night. But although I enjoy it sometimes, it does get old. Like, it was taking her an hour, sometimes an hour and a half, to fall asleep in my lap or in bed with me. Ridiculous.

So last Friday, Nick was going out of town and asked me to try and put her in her bed that night and see what happened. She has a big girl twin bed, so I assumed it would be like on SuperNanny where I return her to her bed with a 'It's bed time' 50 million times. Which has happened before, and I've given up after an hour (I don't have a lot of patience). I said what the heck, and tried it. On the way home from my friend's house (you know, the one with the perfect sleeper who actually has time to get housework done!) I explained it to her. She kept insisting that she was sleeping in 'Mommy's bed.' And I would correct her. And so on. So, I did put a tiny tv in her room (I know, bad mommy, but we'll break that habit later). I turned on Oswald, gave her a sippy of water, turned on her night light lamp, gave her her polar bear, and sat on the end of the bed. For a minute she tried to get up and get me. I layed her back down. I sat there for about 10 minutes and then said I was going to get a drink of water. She didn't say a word. I was gone for about 10 minutes (and usually she would have had a fit the second I got up off the bed). I walked back past to go to my room and she cried out my name. I walked in and explained to her like I was talking to a 4 year old. "It's night night time Lacey. You have to sleep in your bed, and mommy in hers. Mommy will be right there (pointing across the hall), RIGHT THERE. Don't worry. I can hear you if you need me." I walked out to my room, and she started fussing. She fussed on and off like 5 times, and then I heard nothing. I was on the edge of my bed waiting for her to waltz into my room, which is what usually happens when she is in her room and quiet. Nothing. I walked to the door, and she was quietly watching Oswald. I finished up online, and she was asleep in 15 minutes. Success!! I thought it might be a quirk because she was tired, and we had been out playing hard.

Saturday night went almost the same, except I put her pjs on, turned on Oswald, layed her down with her animals, and she said 'Lacey sleep in Lacey's bed, night night mommy, bye bye.' And I walked out, and she went to sleep. Same on Sunday!!!

And the ultimate test was today at nap time. We'd been out all weekend during nap time so she grabbed catnaps during the day. So today I took her shoes off, walked her into her room, turned on Oswald, told her it was nap time, and layed her down. No fuss, she grabbed her bear, rolled over, and said bye mommy.

Some of you are probably like 'Okay, whatever, my kid has done that since birth.'

But for you ones who know what I'm talking about..... it is the BEST feeling as a parent! It's one of my proudest moments, to have a normal, going to sleep on her own in her own bed kid! Yayyyyy Lacey! My best friend's sone has FINALLY rubbed off on her! Man is she stubborn!

Oh what a day it has been!

On the car note, the shop lied, when we took it to get another estimate they saw nothing that has to be fixed now, just one thing cosmetic, and it's fine. PHEW I swear God must have fixed that car over night because when they put it up on the rack not once, but 2 times, it was gone! Praise Him!

I started my new job on Monday, along with my best friend Mel! The first 2 days I absolutely hated. When I left on Tuesday I was almost in tears wanting to go back to my old job, my old friends. I missed Lacey a TON working during the day. You parents that do work days, are much stronger than me. I can't handle it. I hate not being with her, and not being able to really go outside during daylight. But yesterday was better. I was hoping it would get better once I learned more and felt more comfortable, and it did. Plus, yesterday and today I liked the nurses better. This morning I was on my own because the morning secretary is on vacation until Tuesday. I felt good being by myself and not having someone watch over my shoulder (although the other secretaries are great). I did well and didn't make any life threatening mistakes (just ordered a test on the wrong person, but fixed it before it was done!). We have this doctor that everyone told me to stay away from, that he would get you fired in a heartbeat. For example, something didn't get done on a night shift for one of his patients (not sure when this happened). The day shift nurse came in and he came in right after she got done taking her reports on her patients. He started yelling at her about it, and all she said was I'm so sorry, I wasn't here last night but I will take care of it now. He cussed her out, and she was gone the next day. So I'm trying to stay out of his way, but of course it was his patient I ordered the wrong test on! OOPS! At least I know I have a job to go back to if I ever get fired! LOL

But today was good, it was just me and Robin, the other secretary, and it was actually sorta fun. I miss all the patient interaction from the ER though, the fun crazyness, and the fun people. It's a lot more boring upstairs, and the nurses aren't as nuts (which is a bummer). But hey, I wanted something slower paced, and I got it. We'll see how it goes. I know I'll get the hang of it, but I still would rather be back at my old job. The grass is always greener! I remember that I couldn't wait to start my new job (I think because it is more hours so I need the money mostly) and that it would be slower. Oh well, I'm glad I got it because I do need the money, and it is MUCH closer to home! I think the best thing about my new job is flexibility. The nurses on 3-11p have been wtihout a secretary for so long, if I call in it's not that big of a problem (not that I will). One of our secretaries (who works 6a-2p) is gone from today until Tues. No one has to work for him, the morning shift (before I get there at 7) just does their own! Just like night shift, they do their own stuff. They are pretty self sufficient and told me that seriously, if I will just answer the phone and call light, they will be so happy. So the holiday issues I was worried about (since I work till 11p on Friday nights, it's not like I can leave to go out of town on Fridays) is sorta a non issue bc I can just call in or work during the day. My boss was right when she said they are super flexible! Yayyyyy.

I think Lacey has had night terrors the past 2 nights. She has woken up screaming, and acts posessed for about an hour. It really is scary. She hasn't napped either day, so we're thinking that may be it. She just fell asleep, so even though at 5 I was supposed to go to my personal trainer, I canceled! I don't want to wake her.

Yesterday she cracked me UP! She was lifting the dog's tail and trying to insert my CAR KEYS into his butt! I said "Lacey, NOOOO!" And she looked at me, grinned, and said "Wanna drive Bent Bent! VROOOOM." I went in the other room to roll around on the floor and laugh my head off!!!!

And today I got a call from Nick at work telling me that she had gotten a pea stuck up her nose! He said during lunch she said 'Daddy, carrot up Lacey's nose.' He looked and saw nothing. Then a little bit later she said 'Daddy, pea up Lacey's nose.' He looked and sure enough, it was! They tried blowing it out but it was too far. So he got the tweezers and she let him get it out! He said he felt a little like he was playing that game Operation! LOL I'm thinking that she tried to put a carrot up there, and it fell out, so she put the pea in there for daddy to retrieve.

She really is my crazy, mixed up, wonderful daughter. I stuck a Trix up my nose when I was little. The only reason my mom found it was because I threw my head back to laugh and she saw a glint of blue. I had to go to the pediatrician to get it out! And I hadn't had Trix in 3 DAYS! Which means it was in there awhile! I love my crazy baby.

Now that I'm working like a normal human being (weekly) I get off this weekend! Yay I can finally say 'TGIF!" For the longest time it's been Thank God it's Sunday! Because I worked Monday to Sunday.

This weekend we are going to the state cross country meet. We figured Lacey would love running around in the open space and seeing other people run. I think she'll have fun. Then we're going to see my grandmother, who is home from the hospital and doing wonderfully! After that we're going to run up to my old hospital since it's close to my grandparents house, and see my friends!!! I can't wait, I've missed them so much this week! I love them.

Last Saturday my sister watched Lacey and Nick and I went and saw Zach and Miri make a Porno! It was hilarious, if totally un-PC. I laughed the whole time! I think I embarassed Nick, but whatever!

The other shoe

So, like I said, there was another shoe. And it dropped this evening!

Nick had his car in the shop getting the tire fixed. We thought all was well until we went to pick it up and they said to bring it back tomorrow, it needs a bit more work. I get to work and get this text message that says 'bad news'. So I immediately call to find out what happened. Apparently when he ran off the road, it did a bunch more damage to the underside of the car that we couldn't see. As in, fuel lines jammed up into the engine, and power steering messed up and leaking fluid and needing to be fixed, and a pin for the axle messed up. Since it's a '98 Jeep, to fix all that would be more than it's worth, so in technical terms, it's totaled. Crap.

Like he (or I) have the money to buy a new car? Even though I wouldn't be directly buying it, that's still less money he can afford to give me for awhile. I feel so bad. I hate it that his dad kept putting so much money into it with maintanence (seriously, he's probably spent like 2,000 dollars more than the car is even worth fixing things the past two years.) I kept telling his dad that it would probably be cheaper now and in the long run to just buy him a good used car, like a Honda or something. But no, he had to keep throwing money away. They have terrible luck with cars. And now this happens, and instead of having that money to put to a new car, there's nothing.

Hopefully he'll have a new car by Monday, and hopefully his parents will help him out. Because the Lord knows we can't afford this at ALL right now. I have no savings account anymore! Ahhh!

Anyways... in other news, we had the epitomy of a terrible two year old today to boot. Hopefully she'll be better tomorrow, we get to go visit my grandmother and she gets to play with my niece and my mom tomorrow night!

Here's to hoping our bad luck doesn't have 4 feet...

What. A. Day...

Oh gosh has it been one of those days! You know, where bad things come in three's, only, I'm waiting for the 3rd thing, the other shoe to drop.

Today wasn't bad, it was this afternoon where it went downhill. Lacey and I went and met my mom for lunch while Nick was in class, and then we went to Sam's. They had this awesome Osh Kosh winter jacket that we got for her. It's made like a North Face or Columbia, with the puffy outer shell and a zip in liner. AND the liner was reversible, fleece on one side and windbreaker on the other. With a detachable hood. In pretty purple. I was pretty excited. She also bought us some diapers and wipes, and a little Christmas outfit. She got Lacey a Christmas present, one of those doll sets with the pack n play, stroller, swing, play gym, bouncer, and doll. Pretty neat!!! I can't wait for her to open it. Oh and there were these big animals that stood up and had a steel frame (held 140 pounds!). Of course my mom couldn't pass it up, they were so cute, so she got a lion! Lacey was in love. So then we go back home for me to get ready for work, and Nick to come get Lacey.

Nick gets to my house and calls me, telling me that he needs my help because he blew out a tire. Apparently he was on the wind-y road that comes to my house, and a dualie truck was over the line so rather than hit the truck, Nick ran off the road. It just happened to be a part where the concrete dropped off rather dramatically, and punctured his right front tire. Luckily it wasn't worse, he said he almost flipped. So we change his tire. I notice that the spare looks underinflated. We didn't have far to go so I told him to back it out and test it. As soon as the car rolls, it goes completely flat. OH NO! And, I had about 10 minutes until I had to leave for work. So we sit around trying to find out what to do for about an hour. Finally we get everything worked out and a tow truck is on its way. Well, I open the door and Bentley escapes to go play with his pretty weimeraner lady friend down the way. I'm outside, and my phone rings. It's my grandfather, asking me if I'm at work. I tell him no, I'm going to be late. And he proceeds to tell my that he thinks my grandmother is having a stroke, and do I mind if he brings her to my hospital. So I curse, burst into tears, and go find Nick and Lacey, who is pitching a humongo fit (Lacey, not him). I tell him that his mom is going to have to come get him, I have to go to work. My grandfather tells me that she was unresponsive for a minute, and then when she started talking again it was really slurred and she couldn't move her left arm. So I say yes, it sounds like a stroke. He had already called 911.

I'm on my way to work and I get a call from my mom saying they were going to Trinity, per the EMS recommendation. Which was good, because it turns out that they have all of the TPA (clot busting) capabilities and medicines. So do we, but they are better equipped. Luckily around 9:00pm I got a phone call from my mom, letting me know that they gave her the TPA (which was a surprise, usually they don't do it in such elderly people because it is so dangerous. But I told my mom that it was probably because my grandmother would rather die than live unable to move one side or talk right. She's the one who had the back surgery, and she wouldn't be able to do her therapy without the use of her left side, therefore she'd be miserable and has already told us she wants to die at home). It WORKED!!! They did another CT and it showed that the medicine had worked, and she already was talking better and had the use of her left hand back! Yay Praise the Lord!!!!

The funny thing through it all (I know nothing is funny, but you have to cope somehow) is that my grandfather said she kept insisting that she wasn't having a stroke when she was at home. She really didn't want to go back into the hospital. So he said well, if you aren't having a stroke, then lift your left arm. She promptly lifted her right arm above her head and said, slurring terribly, "See, I haven't had a stroke." She's such a crotchety old woman, she can find humor in everything. I'm just so glad she's okay, I don't know what I'd do if she died.

And when I got to work it was crazy. I walked in, got confused, and stayed that way until about 9. I was totally there, but not there.

Anyways, hopefully tomorrow will be uneventful and she'll go home. I have to take Nick to get his newly tired car, and hopefully it won't rain and we can go to the park. Or library.

It's been an outside kind of day.

Today was so much fun! We got to play outside almost ALL day (until I had to go to work). This morning Lacey and I went to see our best friends Mel and Carson. We walked around downtown Homewood and went in the kids shoe/clothing store. Then Nick called and had gotten out of class (or skipped, I'm not sure which and I wasn't asking) and met us down there! We went into a couple more places and then Andrew (Mel's hubby) called and was done with his classes and picking up lunch. So we decided to get lunch and go eat at the park! Lacey passed out in the car, but woke up when lunch was over and it was time to play! We played until I had to leave for work. So all in all, we were pretty much outside from about 10:30 until 2:30! Great fun! I love fall (but hate winter).

The only problem with fall is the yellow jackets come out. But the mosquitoes sorta go away, so that's nice. I swear, the yellow jackets wouldn't leave us alone during lunch! I just knew someone would get stung, and I think it was poor Mel. Later on, Lacey kept saying 'Go WAY bug!'

Work wasn't too eventful. Same ole same ole. My going away party is on Saturday, how sad/happy! I'm nervous to leave, but excited about it being closer to home and more hours. We'll see!

Tomorrow (well, actually later on today since it's 2:30am) Lacey and I will meet my mom up at Sams Club to look at Christmas stuff that my mom has picked out for her. Fun! I also need to pick up diapers, that reminds me. I'm sure we'll also go to the park. I want to go to a pumpkin patch and the zoo soon before it gets too cold, so hopefully we'll have some pictures up from that soon. Sorry about the lack, my computer is still messed up and I'm afraid to lose any pictures by taking them off of my full camera!

Been awhile!

I feel like it's been forever since I posted last. I guess I've just been too lazy to type, so I've just been getting on and browsing other people's blogs. Until I realized that I needed to write again.

Not much has been going on lately, just getting the new job and all. My transfer date is Nov 2nd! I'm happy and sad at the same time. Apparently, I just found out tonight, one of the doctors likes me. Now there's a happy thought! And of course, it's right when I'm leaving. Boo. Oh well, if it's meant to be it's meant to be. ;o)

Lacey has been pretty good lately. She talks like crazy, like I said in one of my other posts. Her favorite thing to do now is shut (and lock sometimes) doors. When she gets mad she flails her arms and tries to hit, and if you tell her 'No, don't hit mommy' she'll rub my leg (or arm or chest) and say 'Nice Mommy.' I feel like a dog! First she tells me to 'moosh' when she wants me to move, she pats me and says 'good girl mommy' when I do something she likes (like bring her breakfast) and now she rubs me and says 'nice mommy'. Yep, that's about everything I say to my dog. Oh well, at least I'm a well loved dog.

She also has started coming in in the mornings and patting me (or slapping, whose judging) and yelling "WAKE UP MOMMY". Daddy tried to teach her the nice way to do it when he came over today. He rubbed my arm gently and whispered 'wake up mommy'. Lacey imitated him, only she rubbed my arm, whispered 'Mommy' and then yelled 'WAKE UP!' If I don't get up when she wants me to (which is every morning, considering it's around 6) she grabs my finger and pulls her hardest, and says 'Mommy, need OUT.' If I still continue to lay there (geez, I'm lazy) she pulls even harder and says 'MOMMY, get OUT!' At this point it's usually to a whiney yelling pitch, and I can't resist any longer. And then we go, get her breakfast, and I plop onto the couch while she is happily contained in her high chair!

We had a cold front come in last night, and I can already tell this winter is not going to be fun. Not only do we go to the park everyday, but now that it's been cooler and not cold until today, we've been leaving the sliding glass door open so she can go in and out to the balcony. Not today. At which she was very upset. And we didn't have time to go to the park, so it was even worse. About every 15 minutes I heard 'Mommy, go play park!' It breaks my heart to tell her no. Hopefully she will start enjoying the library (and not pulling every book off the shelf) so we can go be indoors but still have fun. I'm so not a cold weather person, unless I am skiing. Especially when I have a small person in a large coat that can't move her arms, and is very unhappy.

Nick bought her halloween costume the other day, she will be a penguin. I was going to make her an Oswald costume but she has recently become obsessed with anything penguin. Which is fine with me, because I love them too. She LOVES the movie Happy Feet, and will routinely start to dance and tell me "Mommy, get your happy feet!" Cause that's what I tell her when we start to tap dance.

She also now works out with me. She is quite the workout Nazi. Randomly throughout the day she will say 'Mommy, work OUT!' It really helps when this tiny person with a beer (okay, milk) belly starts telling me to work out. Last Saturday my best friend and I ran the Race for the Cure 5k. It was awesome! And it made me remember why I liked to run. So we are training for the Mercedes Half Marathon (God help us) so Lacey has become my training buddy (sorta). She LOVES to do push ups, and is actually pretty good. She will lay on her back and do leg raises, and it is so cute! She tries to do sit ups, but that belly just gets in the way. Soon baby, soon.

I guess that's all as of late. Lots of playing at the park, working, and talking. I think she talks so much because I am a single mom. I'm a big talker, and to be honest, I don't speak to adults all that often outside of work. So I talk to her. I carry on full, long conversations with my tiny person. And lately, she answers. Which is so nice! I remember carrying on conversations with my little ball of baby and her looking at me like I was crazy. I'm still crazy, but at least she talks back. Nick's grandparents are coming in town from Memphis tomorrow to see Lacey. And by to see Lacey, I mean JUST to see Lacey. Nick is out of town for a swim meet, and his sister is staying in Auburn. I love it! Granted, she hasn't seen them since May. They were supposed to come last weekend but remembered a last minute commitment. It was for Nick's birthday. So they'll be here tomorrow and Sunday, I'm thrilled!

I'm also going to get a new tattoo tomorrow. I'll let it be surprise and post a picture!

And sorry for the lack of pictures, I just got this new computer and the DVD drive doesn't work. I need to clear my memory card off but I'm afraid to put them on here and have to send it back and get a new one, and lose my pictures. Soon!

New job!

So I had my interview on Monday, which went really well. They told me I was what they are looking for and that HR would call me on Tuesday with an offer.

So I wait, and wait, and wait today. I figured ok, she was busy, she'll call me Wednesday. But at work, around 6:00pm, she called and offered me the job!!! And I accepted! Since it's in the same health system (transferring from St. Vincent's East to St. Vincent's Birmingham) and it's an equal transfer, everything stays the same. All of my benefits, everything I've paid into the system, and even all of my logon information for their computer programs carries over. I'm so excited! I don't have to go through orientation, I just start work on my floor. I'm going from ER to a medical floor. I'm sad about leaving my good friends, and I like working in the ER sometimes cause cool stuff comes in, but I am SO ready to not deal with patient registration and mean people that don't even pay. The nurse supervisor was super nice, so I'm happy about that. The new hospital also has child care if I wanted to switch to days eventually.

The schedule is M-F 3p-11p. I'm thrilled about that because currently I work 7 on 7 off. Which means I work 56 hours a pay period, and also get paid 8 hours vacation time. So I'll be going from about 64 hours to 80. Plus it's a LOT closer to home. I'm so happy, but sad to leave. Gotta do what's best though.

The next transfer date is Oct 19th, but since that would mean that this week would be my last week, and we are SOOOO short in the ER, I have a feeling my boss won't let me transfer until the next one on November 2nd. Which is fine, I'll have another week with my friends.

Praise the Lord!

Singing along

So now Lacey has begun to learn words to songs. Like, the real words and not just her usual made up gibberish! It is SO cute and funny to see which words she mixes up or replaces with words that sound alike. Most songs you have to sing first so she can remember, or coax her along, but she does pretty well! Twinkle twinkle (or tinkle tinkle) she loves to sing a lot, and will say "Mommy sing!!"

She can do some of her abc's. She does Aay Bee Chee Dee Eee Esh Gee, Aash Eye Day Kay Elm Minnow Pee. Then she skips some and does Tee You Bee. Then she skips the end and says Sing With ME!

Twinkle twinkle little star goes something like this: Tinkle tinkle yittle star, how wonder what oo are. Up bove world so high, ike diamond inna sky, tinkle tinkle yittle star, how wonder what oo are. Sometimes she leaves off the end if she's too lazy!

She does Jesus loves me: Jeesus yoves me dis I know, da Bible tells me sho, yittle ones himbe yong, dey are weak he is stwong. Yes, Jeesus yoves me. The end.

She's been huge on imitating so she will try to imitate you if you sing any songs. The only other one she knows when she hears it is that country song that goes "Oo oo oo oo oo, a woo oo oo oo oo, a woo oo oo oo oo, a woo oo. If she hears even a mention of that song she starts doing the "OOO" parts. It's so funny!

So in other news, I'm FINALLY out of my old apartment! Handed the keys over yesterday, and I'm so happy to not have to worry about moving stuff anymore. I had to move some more stuff yesterday morning which my mom and my sister helped with, then they kept Lacey while I primed her old room (since I had painted it) all by by myself. I never want to see another paintbrush again! The walls are textured so you can make like one roll and then have to get more paint. I am SO sore today! Especially doing the tops of the walls, since I'm so short, I had to climb up and down a stepstool like 50 times. Then I dropped a drip of paint in my left eye! I opened my eye in the bathroom and it was all white. I ran it under the faucet for about 5 minutes and it seemed fine, but I woke up this morning and it's red and swollen. Luckily I work tonight so I can ask about it!

I also had to clean everything, scrub the bathrooms (my least favorite thing to do) and the kitchen, under where the washer and dryer were (not fun), and sweep the porch. Since I haven't lived there in almost a month, and I was on the bottom floor, everytime they cut the grass the porch gets disgusting. I was having to stick my head back in the house to get some fresh air, it was that bad! The worst part besides the painting was taking out all the trash. I had a ton of boxes and stuff I had cleaned out of my pantry and fridge, and no car to put it in to drive it to the dumpster. I took 9 trips from my apartment to the dumpster. 5 miles uphill both ways! Not really, but it takes about 5 minutes to walk to the dumpster, 4 back because I wasn't carrying anything. So it took me more than an hour to walk back and forth carrying crap. I was so hot, sweaty, and tired after that! Luckily I saved it for last so I could pour myself in the car and drop off the keys, and go!

But, I'm done! And I have my interview for my new job on Monday, so hopefully all will go well and it will be enough hours that I need. Nick is in Gulf Shores at a coach's meeting (yeah right, beach meeting is more like it). So Lacey and I are resting and relaxing today. Probably go play on the playground since it's so nice.

Lotsa posts!

Saw this on a friend's blog and I'm trying to get sleepy, so here goes!

One word challenge

I’m challenging all of my blogging friends to play along. This is not as easy as it looks!

Your hair? annoying

Your mother? perfect

Your father? silly

Your favorite thing (not including people)? sleep

Your dream last night? forgettable

Your dream/goal? mother


Your favorite drink? lemonade

The room you're in? bedroom

Your ex? friend

Your hobby? outdoors

Your fear? abandonment

Where do you want to be in 6 year? married

Where were you last night? home

What you're not? boy

Muffins? blueberry

One of your wish list items? kayak

Time? lots

Where you grew up? Oak Mountain (sorry, 2 words)

The last thing you did? worked

Favorite weather? 70degrees

What are you wearing? PJs

Favorite book? Harry Potter

Your TV? old

Your pet? diaper-eater

Your computer? new

Your mood? zoned

Missing someone? grandparents

Your car? pt cruiser

Something you're not wearing? shoes

Favorite store? ebay

Love someone? lots

Favorite color/shade? blue

Last thing you ate? pizza

Your life? busy

Your friends? few

What are you thinking right now? sleep

What are you doing at this moment? survey

Your summer? short

Your relationship status? single?

What do you do when you can't sleep? computer

Last time you laughed? today

Last time you cried? Monday (watching Night's in Rodanthe)

Job change

So I recently applied to 2 different places closer to home for a new job. One would be an internal transfer, and one would not be.

I got a call Friday to set up an interview for the internal job (in the health system I currently work for) and am meeting with the Nurse supervisor on Monday! Wish me luck! It would still be 3-11pm, but it would be a Unit Secretary position on a floor, instead of in the ER. I think it will be a little different, not seeing as much stuff, but maybe a less stressful and nice change of pace for a little while. Although I think I will always be an ER personality. I also believe that the new position is more hours, which will be REALLY nice on the paychecks. It's something about rotating days, I guess you work when they need you, but it is full time. I work 7on/7off right now, which is considered full time, but I think the new job is 40 hours a week which I desperately need. Silly me didn't ask, but I"ll interview anyways because even if it isn't, it's a good opportunity to get my name and resume out there if something better does turn up.

We'll see! Fingers crossed! I know God will give me the position I need, I just have to be patient! I'm definitely sad to soon be leaving all my friend's where I work now. I mean, Monday 2 of the nurses, me, and one of my clerk friends went to see a movie! I'm finally making friends to do things outside of the hospital and I have to leave. But I need somewhere closer to home, and hopefully we will all still stay in touch. I still want to be PRN at my old hospital, because I know they will need me. We are about to be short 3 clerks, if I leave it will be 4. And that's not good at all!!

Ready to be done with Diapers!

What is it with dogs and underwear or diapers?

My dog has always loved to eat underwear. And I don't think it's a male dog thing, because his sister does too.

Anyways, I always try and throw away all of our diapers immediately after they have been changed. But lately, Lacey likes to 'throw di-per way' herself. So I let her, who am I to stop her from helping.

But apparently today she figured that the trash can was too far away, and hid the poopy diaper behind the chair. Where mommy couldn't see it, but Bentley could smell it.

I got home from my 9 hour shift and there it was, in all it's smelly glory, strewn across my floor.

All I can say is Ewwww. Why would you chew apart a diaper? At least I trust that it's safe on Lacey's bottom... because it's been in his stomach for 3 hours now and he's having no problems.

On another note, Lacey did not have one wet diaper today, except the poopy one. She peed every time on the potty! She has a little potty that plays music when liquid hits the sensor. But she loves to flush, and it doesn't flush. I saw that she had solved that today when she peed in her little potty, and then went and flushed the big potty. Hey, at least she's solving her own problems! What's a little water wasted? It had paper in it anyways.

Potty Training Continuing

Lacey peed on the potty today for the first time in a public place! She usually seems to ask to go when it's convenient for her... ie when mommy's going, when we're near a potty, or when we ask if she needs to. But today we were eating lunch with my mom at Milo's and she put her chicken down and says 'Mommy, need go potty.' So of course I get her up and go to the bathroom, fully expecting her to be bored by the time we get there and ready to go back and eat. But she goes into the stall and starts to pull her pants down, and tells me to put her up on the potty. And she pees! Yayyy Lacey! There was an older lady in there who clapped for her and said yay, and Lacey clapped for herself! It was so cute! I was so proud, when she asked her age and I told her she was so impressed.

This is one child-rearing thing that I'm glad she's got an independent personality for. She definitely doesn't like to be poopy anymore (most of the time). And she seems to enjoy being a 'big girl,' even if mommy gets sad about it. She is loving her 'big girl' bed also. *Tear*

4 more months

I was just thinking, it sounds SO weird to say but, in reality, we only have about 4 1/2 more months until our little baby turns 2 YEARS OLD!!! I can't believe how ridiculous that sounds! I swear we had her 1 year birthday party a month ago. It feels so recent I can still taste the cake! But alas, it's true. In 4 1/2 months my little baby will be a 2 year old.

Where did the time go??? I never believed people when they said that your kids will grow up before you know it. I always thought my mom was exaggerating when she said that we were just 5 yesterday. But now, I know. I bet my mom couldn't wait until I had one of my own, so I would know how she felt about time just disappearing. Well, now I know. And I know I will annoy Lacey saying that she was just my baby yesterday, until she has one of her own, and learns that mothers do in fact speak the truth. I think it happens to every parent. And you will never fully realize or appreciate anything your parents do or say until you have one of your own. I have grown to love and respect my parents so much more now that I have Lacey. All of their mess ups, their triumphs, and their hurts, I have come to understand a little more of how they have felt. And I've been able to forgive them for some of their mistakes, because as a parent you try to do what's best, and even though it's sometimes wrong, it's still done out of love for your child no matter what. I'm so happy I was able to have a child, to show me to be more forgiving of people's mistakes, because we all make mistakes. I realize my parents tried their hardest to provide us with things that they never had, tried not to make the same mistakes their parents made, and just love us unconditionally. I think every new generation strives to not make the same mistakes as their parents, but we make mistakes of our own that our own children will try not to make. That's just it. There is no perfect parent, or way to raise children.

I thank the Lord everyday for my parents, and for my daughter, who helped me appreciate the gift God gave me in my parents. I only hope that one day Lacey will have a child and she will appreciate and recognize all that I've gone through, forgive me my mistakes, and love me as she would want her child to love her.

Moved!

So I'm not technically out of my old apartment, but we are living in the new one! I'm so happy and Lacey seems to be as well. I still have some random stuff at my old apartment but hopefully soon it will be over here. It's funny, I went down in size about 300 square feet, but it seems bigger because it has a bigger living and dining room. It's really nice because now Nick stops by on his way home from work to hang out, and we can see each other any time. He only lives like 4 minutes away as compared to 20! It's great.

Lacey got a 'big girl' bed. A really big girl bed. She has my twin bed from when I was little, which was also my mom's when she was little. Kinda neat to pass down to Lacey. She's loving it SO much more than the crib.

She's getting to be soo smart! She sometimes even says 5-6 word sentences! Mostly around 4 words in a row, but she can say 6 haltingly! We were at the grocery store the other day and she can't stand to hear a baby cry or she gets upset too. I kept telling her that we can't take that baby home. She goes, "Mommy, I need take THAT baby home." It was SO funny and cute!

Today the little booger locked me out of the house. The lock is REALLY easy to turn. I went outside to get Bentley's leash and she says 'bye bye mommy' and shuts the door. I think nothing of it until I go to open the door and it's locked!! I stood there for about 5 minutes trying to get her to open the door. I'm saying "Lacey, can you unlock the door?" And she goes "YEAH!!!" and continues to wiggle the door knob back and forth. Not very helpful. It was very comical though because here I am, standing outside my door, yelling for my 1 1/2 year old to unlock the door please and let mommy inside. Then I hear her take her little shopping cart and say 'Bent Bent, come on' and she walks off. I can't get her to come back to the door because she's playing! She could care less that mommy is locked outside. Finally I go to the main office which is right across from my building and get a key and run to open the door (funny how it took me 5 minutes to think of that solution). I unlock it and go in and she's sitting in the floor of her room reading a book. I said 'well hey Lacey bug'. And without even looking up from her book, she waves her hand behind her and says 'hey mommy' and continues to flip the flaps. See how much she cares!?

She's obsessed with Mickey Mouse, Pooh and Tigger, and Oswald. I think we're going to try and take her to Disney on Ice in October, I think she would love it. Hopefully we can get tickets when Nick and I are both off work!

That's all for now, I have to get up and be over where I used to live at 8am for class! Time to get some sleep!

Almost moving day!

One more full day until we MOVE! I cannot wait. Now instead of 20 minutes from Nick (with no traffic) we will only be like 5 minutes away! I'm so excited.

I hate packing and moving though. I can't wait to be at the new place and be FINISHED. Good news is that I talked to the complex today and we are still moving Wednesday and the prorated rent rate is about 100 dollars cheaper than I thought it would be. And they can split the pet fee up over a couple of months, because there is no way I could afford it all right now.

Work is going okay, this will be my 3rd week of working 9 days in a row for 9 hour shifts. I can't wait until it's over. I work Wednesday and Friday of my week off as well. I need the money, but at this point I'm trying to balance out need of money with need to be with Lacey. She's been having fun with Nick, and now that I'm moving over there I can see her every single day again on my work week and I'm thrilled. Oh the things we sacrifice for our kids!

I'm about to go make up a test that I slept through (bad mommy). I need to get a new alarm clock!

I also feel better because I went through mine and Lacey's things and I am finally giving away stuff that we don't need. I have so many clothes and shoes that just take up space, but have never given them away. But now I have no excuse, Hannah Home is coming today (hopefully) to pick up 2 couches, a broken big screen tv, a regular tv, 3 bags of clothes and shoes, and some other odds and ends dishes and such. YAYYY for cleaning! I'm such a pack rat and I don't want to take things I don't need to yet another house.

I may not have an internet connection for a few days, but I'll be back before long!

Surprise!!

My dad bought a motorcycle! A street bike, to be correct. I'm so happy for him. He's been pretty lonely and I know this brings him back to the good ole days of when he rode and raced dirt bikes. Hopefully he'll make some new friends, and who knows, a girlfriend maybe? He met a lady that also rides motorcycles... so we'll see. He let me ride with him and drive it, it was so much fun!

My off week at home with Lacey went great. I only hate that it had to end. She was such a good girl, and we went to play at the park so much that now whenever we get into the car she starts going 'Yayyyy goin play park!' Now she's spending most of the week with Nick. I miss her, but it's good for them. I still see her everyday, just not all day like I would like. She has FINALLY attached to a Lovey. I'm so excited. Although, now I'm about to go buy another one because I'm afraid we'll lose it somewhere. I've been waiting for this to happen for awhile. Why? Because she has nothing to settle her down when she's upset, or sleepy. Now she will cuddle it and go to sleep in her own bed. She has actually started to let me lay her down in her crib and sit in her room until she falls asleep. Sometimes. Although I still like to hold her! Bad mommy. She's still waking randomly and needing to see my face, but it's ok. I need to see her face a lot too!

Here's some pictures of our 'Papa's bike' adventures!

Wearing Papa's helmet

The whole bike!

Hangin around with Aunt Melissa

I'm such a nice cousin to Emma! She loves it when I pour water on her head.

Come on mom, I had an itch, Okay?
The girls and Papa (whose motorcycle it is)

My sweet little bug!

Gosh it's funny how you never get over how adorably stinkin cute your own child is. She does something even more adorably stinkin cute everyday (well, except on her bad days, but we all have those don't we).

She's such a big help around the house lately. She will clean up her toys (it's still 'fun'), help me with laundry, etc. Her favorite thing is to 'bacuum'. She 'needs bacuum' about 5 times a day. My carpets are spotless! She has a lawnmower that makes noise and plays music and she will push it around the house just like me. When I vacuum she gets right in front of me to 'get it' before I do. It's so cute! We cleaned out her drawers yesterday and she helped me pull everything out, sort it (kinda) and put the stuff back in that fits. It's a little haphazard, but who cares?! She LOVES to do laundry too. Although she doesn't realize that when we put wet things in the dryer, we leave them in there and THEN take them out when they are dry. She likes to pull the wet stuff back out. But again, who cares. She loves to help mommy bathe, and brush my hair and my teeth. She is just so much fun! We'll see how long this helpfulness lasts, as long as its fun I guess. But for now, I love it.

And she's back to 'needing' everything ('need book', 'need kick bent bent' our dog.. etc). But she also 'needs' to 'hab it'. It's so funny. She's learning that things belong to people (mommy's phone, daddy's chair) and she was talking to my sister the other day and Kelly pulled out her phone. Lacey goes 'need hab ke-yee's phone'. See, so stinkin cute, right? LOL

She's definitely gotten even more vocal in the past week or two. She tells you she's 'hungeee' and 'need juice.' She asks to go potty (most of the time just for fun) and she asks to brush hair. She needs to 'put on mommy's sooooes'. She also has started using 'I' for things. And she drags it out, which is funny. She'll go IIII need monkey.. etc. She loves her monkey 'pack pack.'

I could go on and on. She also, as of right now, knows the sounds for: dog, cat, horse, cow, pig, sheep, donkey, frog, duck, bird, monkey, and lion. Want to know how she learned them so well? Our TV went out so I've been SINGING her to sleep (until I realized that I could put music on her CD player... DUH). And you can only sing songs she knows or she yells 'nonono momma, my moosic.' So you can guess how many times I've sung Old MacDonald in the past 2 weeks. Old MacDonald had an entire Ark, Farm, Zoo, and Wildlife preserve. It was fun and ridiculous. She also loves to go 'eeiieeiiooooo'. Silly girl.

I guess I'm done for now, I'm sure I'll think of something else stinking cute that I'll have to put on here so I don't forget later!

Pictures

Ok since it takes waaay too long to upload pictures to this website, I am going to put the links for my pictures on facebook. Feel free to browse at your leisure!!!

http://tinyurl.com/5sypvk

http://tinyurl.com/5e7svp

http://tinyurl.com/6eqo9v

http://tinyurl.com/5aevku

Enjoy!

Munchkin wants me to move off the couch and she's pushing my leg saying 'mooosshhhh'. What do I look like, a husky???!

Beach Trip 08!

We just got home from our beach trip today! We had an entire week there, starting last Saturday, and it was wonderful. It was a great getaway for Nick and I, we got to spend some quality time away together as a family.

Lacey wasn't too sure about the ocean the first couple of days, but was thrilled by about Wednesday. She'd be playing under the tent in the sand and all of a sudden shout out 'ocean!' and start heading towards it. It was red flag and she was so happy to hold our hands and let the waves wash her all over the place. She loved the sand but didn't quite understand that you shouldn't wipe your eyes after playing in it. And, our child who doesn't put anything in her mouth, ate a handful of sand the first day. Of course much gagging and coughing ensued. She has the worst gag reflex so it was hilarious and sorta pitiful at the same time. Too bad we didn't have it on tape! We got to go shopping and buy mommy some much needed clothes, and got great deals at the outlets on jeans and pants for this fall for Lacey. I found myself a pair of 8 dollar chino's from Gap and was very happy. Also got a bunch of cute Polo shirts for way cheap.

It rained for 2 days in the mornings, which made for nice afternoons on the beach. It wasn't too hot and it was very windy the first 4 days, so it was great! Our tent did get demolished one night, but Nick's dad was pretty handy with some tools and had it rigged to work.

We went out to eat at Lulu's, which is Jimmy Buffett's sister's place. It was really fun, they have a band and a huge sand area for the kids (and water... luckily we kept Lacey from seeing it. There was a little boy who got INTO the water tub while his mom wasn't watching. I laughed, because it was the same mom who came SPRINTING over when I handed her little boy a shovel. I guess to make sure I wasn't going to steal him or something? She needn't worry because I also saw her negotiate (with an 18 month old, no doubt) about leaving the sand and going to eat. She sat there for like 20 minutes and told the rest of her party that she would be a little while. You know what I did? "Lacey, we are going to eat. Let's go!!" 1, 2, 3 pick up my child, go eat.

We also went to eat at Lambert's Cafe, home of the throwed rolls and Lacey Lambert's namesake. It was really fun, I caught a few rolls and Lacey loved watching them throw them. She also got a balloon, which she was proud of until today when she popped it in the car.

We are about to leave to go see a friend, so I'll add a teaser of a picture until I can do more. Possibly tonight, but I work a double tomorrow and work Monday night, so it may be Monday before the rest are added.

I wish we could go to the beach EVERY week!

Wet dogs, happy baby!

We just got done giving the dogs a bath, and munchkin is eating diced peaches by the handful so I can post quickly!

White water rafting was TONS of fun, I'm still waiting on pictures from my dad and as soon as I get them I will post them.

This Saturday we leave for the BEACH for a week! I'm so excited, but I haven't even started packing yet. I'm such a last minute person. We're going to the mall to eat with my mom so I'm going to have to see what kind of deals I can find, even though I'm broke.

Time to go shopping, more later!

18 month stats

I gotta post quickly, I need to leave for work!

Height: 33 1/4 inches (90th %)
Weight: 26lbs 1oz (75th %)
HC: about 47 cm
Shoe size: 5
Diaper size: 4
Clothes: 18months-2T

Talking like crazy, doc said she was ahead of her age (don't they all though). She's finally slimming down and getting taller! She said Hey Doctor when our pedi walked in, it was so cute! With only a little coaching from mama. 3 shots and hopefully she won't run a fever!!!

Finally, some pictures!

While she's in the other room watching 'Oswald' and blowing her nose repeatedly into a baby wipe, I'll add some pictures!

This is the other day before work!

Lacey pushing cousin Emma in our doll stroller! It was HILARIOUS! In her squeaky shoes, no doubt. She always has to have them on!

That's all I can do for today, Oswald is over and someone wants to type with me!

Whitewater rafting was a blast, more on that later! And Lacey is a hoot!

Toddler!

She is growing way too fast! I can't believe in a few days she will be 18 months old. Gosh. And she's been peeing and pooing on the potty, it's so cute and crazy. She'll go 'mommy, pee pee' and I'll ask her if she needs to use the potty, and she'll do her body nod and say 'yeah' and then we'll go sit on the potty, and she pees! Same for poo. It's so cute and sad at the same time, because she's such a big little girl.

And we got a new puppy, a scottish terrier named Shelby. She's pretty cute but she's a handful. Especially the yapping. We've only had her a day though and she's used to being around 4 dogs, so I think she's lonely. Hopefully she'll get over that soon.

I'm going white water rafting with my dad and his small group this weekend to the Ocoee, so that should be lots of fun! The only thing is that it's my off weekend and I'd like to spend it with Lacey, but this is an opportunity I can't miss, plus my dad is paying. I'm really excited!

And our 'free' beach trip in August has been messed up. It was Nick's friend's grandparents condo and apparently the 'friend' made his grandparents mad and they got vindictive and said his friend couldn't use the condo. Meaning in 2 weeks when we go to the beach we would have no free condo. And we found out yesterday. Nick and I were SO angry. So Nick's dad found a place last night that looks really nice, but it still sucks. Instead of spending the money that we would save from a free condo on going out to eat and other fun novelty stuff at the beach, we have to spend it on a condo. I know, spoiled brat, but I was so excited to be able to buy Lacey all those cute shirts and go out to eat all the time and stuff. Oh well maybe next time.

My grandmother got out of the hospital last Friday! She's doing great and is having physical and occupational therapy at home. I'm thrilled!

Nick and I saw the new Batman movie on Tuesday night, and went to Buffalo Wild Wings with his good friend and his girlfriend on Wednesday. It's been a fun week. And I'm taking Lacey swimming with my sister this evening.

Lacey's new favorite food is red peppers. How weird! She LOVES them, especially in a little olive oil and pepper. Uncooked though. She is definitely her daddy's baby. I'm such a picky eater, and she likes the weird stuff. She is so silly. And she loves to spin in circles now until she falls down. She also is obsessed with the Oswald and Weeny show on Noggin. She always asks to watch 'owald' or 'weeeny.' She sits down on her mini-couch and vegges out. It's so cute! She is absolutely adorable and growing smarter and cuter everyday. It's amazing watching her learn. I love being a mom!

Busy Busy Busy

Whew it's been a crazy weekend. I worked last Thursday for a girl, and got asked to work Saturday night from 11pm to 7am! Wow.

Saturday Lacey and I met my dad and his friend Pam at the Pepper Place farmer's market. It was so much fun, but so hot! They had jazz bands playing, and my dad bought Lacey a whole bucket of blueberries that she happily shoved into her mouth for a few hours. They had some cool art on display and all sorts of food. We also bought her a small watermelon that she loves to just carry around. Who woulda thought?

Then we went and visited my friend Lauren and her boyfriend Alex. We haven't seen her in awhile and it was great to get to see her new condo and little doggie, and she got to see how much Lacey has grown. We went to Silverton Cafe (cool cafe that has pics of what it used to be, Silvertron TV Tube Repair, on the walls) and Lacey behaved herself. Well, as well as one could expect from an opinionated baby that hadn't had a nap all day.

And then we went to visit my grandmother at the hospital. She's doing very well, so it was a nice visit. Lacey kept wanting to eat her food. And she kept trying to kiss her boo boo's! She'd go 'boo boo' and lean down and kiss my grandmother. It was so cute and made my gmother laugh.

And of course she still hadn't had a nap. So I take fussy mcfusspot home and we play until about 7:30 and she passes out. I fall asleep for about 30 minutes around 10 and have to go to work. It was very weird working all night and then coming home when it was daylight and sleeping. But I'll tell you now, I thought I would have a hard time falling asleep when I got home at 7:30am, but I passed out on the couch still holding my purse! I had been up since 6:30 Sat morning! I got some good sleep and was okay Sunday night, but I'm feeling the aftereffects today. If I had napped Sat it might have been better I think.

Today wasn't bad, Lacey was fussy. I think her canines are coming in, who could blame her. We went swimming with daddy this morning. She loves to wear the goggles around the pool. She'll put them on and then she walks around all funny, like she knows she's absolutely hilarious. Which she is. We try not to tell her that though! She loves the jets in the pool and will sit down and poke her fingers in them. Sometimes she forgets that the water is there and will try to look in the jet, and she goes under. She always comes up smiling a big goofy smile. Silly baby. And the second her mouth hits that water unawares, she takes a gulp. I can't tell you why, I would think the instict should be to hold your breath, but not her. She still thinks it's funny though and will laugh/cough at the same time. That kid is completely fearless. Except for bugs. She will point at a bug in the pool like 50 feet away and refuse to get in because that 'buuug' is just too close for her liking. At which point mommy shoo's the bug away and she jumps in while I'm shoo'ing. She can kick her feet now and propel herself forwards, which is pretty cool. It's also pretty impressive, and she knows it.

I guess that's all. Nick conned me into meeting him at WalMart tonight after work so he could buy 'some ice cream.' Stupid me totally forgot NCAA 2009 was coming out. He was lonely and wanted me to wait in line with him. Luckily it didn't take too long and we bought some breakfast for Lacey, so that was nice.

Chuck E Cheese!

We went to Chuck E Cheese's tonight with my sister, neice Emma, mom, stepdad, stepbrother Cooper, my best friend Mel and her husband and son, Carson. It was great fun!

All Lacey wanted to do was ride with Chuck E in his car, or Barney in his car. It's cute but gets a little old after putting coin after coin into a machine to rock back and forth. I have a rocking chair at home that will do that, and I'll sing the Chuck E song! Of course mommy kept wanting to play 'big kid' things and Lacey wouldn't have it. She did love the tickets mommy won though, and then the bracelets and ball afterwards. Oh yea, and the fun dip. She did have fun dipping and licking it, and not sharing.

Her memory is SO good, it's scary. We haven't been to CEC since she turned a year old, and the second we walk through the door she runs to a table and starts shouting 'Peepa, Peepa.' For those who don't speak baby, that's Pizza. Which she loves. And at the swim meet the other day she did the same thing, right when we walked in she ran to the snack place and started yelling for Peepa. It wasn't even there yet and we had been to 1 swim meet like 2 months ago. Crazy. I wish they could bottle her memory and sell it in pills, we'd all be so lucky. She acts like she is deprived. Poor thing, doesn't get enough pizza!

I think Carson enjoyed it, but I definitely know his mom did! We had fun playing Flamin Finger (sounds bad, but I promise it's a kids place) while the kids yelled at us to go ride Barney (JK). My sister Kelly was a ticket-winning fiend, and got mad when I spent my tokens to let my daughter ride Barney and she wanted me to play Jackpot. Oh how great it is to have a child. You get to go to all those places that they won't allow you to go in unless you have a little one, and you get to play! Not only is it the place where a kid can be a kid, but an adult can be a kid too! Plus, I'm glad she's still too young to go in those play area climbing things by herself, cause I get to play too! I pretend like I don't like it, but inside I'm 5 again! Luckily I'm small or I'd be out of luck.

Apartment hunting was successful, I'm so lucky Mel went with me or else I would have driven around completely lost and frustrated like last time, wasting gas. Poor Carson was such a good sport!! We drug him around and around, I know he was so happy to be out of that car!

I have to work tomorrow for a friend. Nick has a swim meet all day, so my friend Kat gets to keep Lacey and she is thrilled. He also will be in Tuscaloosa all weekend at a meet. Why can't he have this week-o-meets on my on week? Now I have to find something to do all weekend. Luckily I have friends I haven't seen in awhile (not lucky I haven't seen them, just lucky I have them) and hopefully we can get together!

New words!

The past few days Lacey has been running around saying 'hop-it-al' and I just wrote it off as babbling cause I couldn't catch her saying it clearly near me. But I finally figured out she's saying 'hospital'! Gosh, it took me long enough. It's because we play the 'where is every member of my family' game about a million times a day. She does it with everyone. She'll say a name and you tell her where that member of the family is, and on and on. It's hilarious. My mom said she asked her the other day where I was, and my mom said 'hospital' and then Lacey goes Mommy, hop-it-al! Yayy

Another new one is guitar. Or ' kit-ar.' If you ask her what a donkey says she'll say hee haw and then blow a raspberry on her arm (Nick's Nana taught her that) and it's hilarious.

She has a pair of those Squeaky Street Shoes (or 2 pair) and every morning and a few times throughout the day she'll bring them to me and say 'queak.' And then run around taking tiny steps and stomping so she can hear them squeak. Hilarious!

We're going to the last home swim meet tonight, so hopefully I can keep my little water rat out of the pool. Yeah, good luck with that. Hopefully they'll leave the baby pool open so I can dunk her a few times. Daddy doesn't know it yet, but the other day she did a flip. Oops! I was sitting on the side of the baby pool holding her facing me and I was dipping her backwards till her head touched the water and pulling her back up, at which she would cackle. One time she just throws her legs back over her head and flipped over! She came up laughing and luckily I had a hold on her so she didn't hit her head. I looked like a terrible mom but it was so funny! She loved it and kept trying to do it again. I wasn't up for another heart attack so I declined, and she got mad. They just don't know what's good for them yet!

And she's slept all night the past 2 nights (woo hoo!). I probably just jinxed it though. Oh well. Naptime today didn't go over so well though. She fell asleep on me (just about the only way she'll sleep) and I *think* she was sleeping weird, so she kept coughing. One time she coughed, and puked all over me (i.e on my chest up my neck into my hair onto the pillow...eww). I swear this child has the weakest gag reflex ever. If she gets a hair in her mouth, or thinks she has a hair in her mouth, she almost or does throw up. Ugh. And CIO doesn't work very well because she will get so upset that she will puke. I think she's like the little girl on Jon and Kate Plus 8 (my fave show) and uses her puke as a weapon. "Don't deny me snuggle time (or your cell phone, or markers, or school books) or I will puke all over the place. Muahahaha." Seriously, I'm not kidding. It's disgusting. And then she wanted to go back to sleep, on me, so I'm laying there with puke about thisfar from my mouth and nose, smelling it. I tried to roll her off and she woke up, so we got in the shower. So she's had about a 30 minute nap today... I can see the swim meet being unsuccessful. Hopefully our little friend Kirby will be there, she's 22 months and her and Lacey have fun eating each other's food and fighting over toys.

Apartment hunting is tomorrow and is going to be much more fun because my best friend is going with me (thanks Mel!). So hopefully it'll be a success.

Well it's time for me to lock up the store and go to the meet, so more later!

Need that!

Our new word for the week is 'need.' If she takes our stuff, we tell her we 'need that' back so she'll give it to us. So of course, she picked up on it. She points and says 'need that' or adds the name of the object (ex: 'need juice'). It's hilarious! She 'needs' everything. Yesterday she was pointing to the fridge because Nick's dad had just gotten something else, and she was 'needing' some fruit. She told him a few times 'need that' and he wasn't paying attention, and she yells 'need that, need that, need THAT!!!' Nick and I burst out laughing. She's such a little dictator.

Nick's parents took Lacey to see fireworks last night (I'm jealous). They said that she would look at them and go 'boom boom' but was much more interested in playing in the gravel. They said basically she watched the fireworks for 2 minutes, and picked up gravel and piled it on the blanket the rest of the time. I'm glad she got to go though, and secretly glad she didn't just LOVE the fireworks because I would be sad to miss her expressions.

Last night Nick kept her and she woke up around 5 and screamed for an hour before he finally brought her to me. It was bad because I stayed up late reading because I thought I was going to get to sleep late, but baby wanted only mommy. She was in a good mood today so that made up for it. She was way too cute! I hated that I had to leave her to go to work.

Tomorrow is my dad's birthday so we're going to church with him, then on a picnic and hopefully to take some pics of Lacey if she will behave. Hopefully it'll be nice! I'm sure it will. We're having a surprise party for him on Monday, I'm really excited. I think he will be surprised and happy. Hopefully we got the message out to his friends in time for them to come, but if not I know his best friend will be there and he would be just as happy if it was just me and my sisters. So yay.

I guess that's it. I get to go apartment hunting next week, and am not looking forward to it. Everything is so expensive and its depressing.

Oh and my grandmother is now in the rehab center. I saw her today for the first time since Monday and she looked GREAT! My mom and I bathed her and for the amount of surgery she had, she has surpisingly little bruising. She has two incisions on her back where they put in the rods, and one on her right side about 10 inches long from her ribs to her back where they did the bone graft, with staples in it. It looked great and healthy. I'm so happy! She still can't really stand up for long without getting dizzy and nauseous, but she's improving so it's great.

4th of July!!!

It's been a few days but you'll have to cut me some slack, it's my on week and I've been staying at Nick's.

We told our sitter that we wouldn't need her for July since Nick's school schedule is different, so his parents are keeping her some nights and it's just easier to stay at his house.

Not much has been going on... little bug has been very well behaved (except the tantrums). She is usually pretty demanding and whiny (just like her mom LOL) but she's been pretty pleasant lately. She went 2 nights without waking, but I'm not counting on anything to stay the same. As soon as you get used to it, it changes! Kids sure do keep you on your toes!

Nick and I did 'time out' chair today, it was hilarious. She was pitching a fit about it and we were dying laughing, I felt like the worst mom. It was just so funny seeing such a huge temper come from such a tiny cute thing. Silly girl. But she did sit there, so that was nice. It's more of a getting used to listening thing than it is her understanding time out. But eventually I want it to be like on Jon and Kate Plus 8 where their kids just know when they've been naughty and they go to time out, so I figure it's not too early to start!

She has also been trying to poop on the potty! Yay! Of course we got a pic, and again when I get it on this computer I'll post it. She's finally gotten the idea that you can't quit pushing when you get on the potty, and she's gotten it a couple times! But she doesn't yet understand you can't just get up and go running around the house before you are finished. She did that today and we had little turds all over. Of course she thought it was hilarious and proceeded to sit down. YUCK! We're working on it.

My grandmother is in the rehab center now! Yayyy grandmommy! They moved her yesterday, and when I talked to her she was sitting in a chair eating lunch. That's awesome for being just 6 days after major surgery. She's walked to the bedside commode as well. I'm so proud and happy. Now if I can just get over there to see her. It's been so crazy that I haven't made it since Monday and I miss her.

We're going fishing tomorrow morning with my dad and my sisters for the 4th. Of course, now that Lacey's old enough to watch fireworks (and probably be terrified) I have to work. Ugh. But we are going to buy her some of those little white popper things, so that should be fun. I'll get video!

I guess that's it, it's bedtime!

Grandmommy updates

I got to go see my grandmother today (sans Lacey). I dropped Lacey off at the pool daycare and then Nick took her swimming while I went to the hospital. I wish she had the surgery at the hospital I work at just so I could see her everyday next week, but then I'm glad she had it where she did cause they are great.

I saw her about 10:45 this morning. She was still on the ventilator and really puffy from fluids. I've seen dead people and this was still the hardest thing I've seen. I guess cause it was family. It was hard for me to breathe! It was crazy. But she was nodding and shaking her head, so that was good. She nodded that she wasn't in pain, but the ventilator was bugging her badly. They were weaning her off slowly. So we left and let her get back to sleep, and went to eat lunch with my sister down the street. Then back to the hospital to see her around 1:30 in the afternoon. She was off the vent! Yay! Still puffy but sitting up more, off the ventilator and trying to talk. She was really raspy and was having a hard time breathing (very wheezy) but that's pretty much to be expected. She's old and the vent really aggravated her throat. My mom had a hard time with that, but I was just glad she was breathing on her own. The first question she asked was how my grandfather was doing (who is doing just fine, I might add). We had her smiling when we left, so that was great. I'm sure she's regretting the surgery, but hopefully in a few months time she'll be glad she had it.

Lacey had a good day with daddy swimming! He said she can now kick her feet enough to propel herself and seemed to understand that that's what they were for. Hopefully she'll do it for me on Sunday. Nick's grandparents are in town and are amazed at how Lacey has grown up in the short time they've been away from her.

I went through my stuff at my mom's house from when I was little and brought over some dolls, a doll bed, and a doll stroller and she went nuts. She pushed the stroller around for a few hours, put the dolls in and out of the bed and covered them up over and over, and was just generally content. It was nice and kinda weird seeing her act like a little girl with her dollies. She kept getting in the stroller (she won't ride in hers so it was funny) and wanting to 'ride' around. Silly girl!

Luckily she went to bed easily (no nap today and lots of excitement) so hopefully she'll sleep all night. Nick has a meet and I'm going kayaking, so his parents and grandparents get to have her tomorrow. They are going to a birthday party at 1 so that should be fun!

When I get my computer up and running again I can add more pictures and movie clips, so bear with me!

Day 1: Mommy vs Lacey

Score: Lacey: 1 Mommy: 0.5

So I am FINALLY doing CIO with her. I kept putting it off. 'Oh, I'll let her cry at 6 months,' 'Oh I'll let her cry at a year.' Etc. You know how it goes. I kept thinking that eventually she would understand, that she would just 'get it.' But no. And I've gotten so tired of the constant battle for sleep. With her waking up the past 2 nights and not being able to get back to sleep, ending in her sleeping on me, I'm ready.

So she fell asleep in the car this morning (big surprise, she was up all night) coming home from the gym. I tried to take her in and lay her down, that was a no go. So I puttered about her room, hoping she would calm down with me in there. I got the whole room clean while she watched in the dark. No such luck. I figured if I left she would climb out (just have a toddler rail) so I put the big rail back on. Ooo she was mad. But I was madder and more determined. I set the clock on my phone for 45 minutes later. I got a book, and went out and sat on the deck. I read for 45 minutes. She cried/moaned/screamed/yelled the WHOLE time. Ok. When I went in there to get her she had no tears or snot, she was just yelling. Annoying.

But luckily she was in a good mood (last time I tried this she was a meanie the rest of the day and I couldn't take it for a week). Then I get a text from daddy... she fell asleep while eating! So Lacey scored 1, but I get half a point for that. I guess.

Hopefully this won't take long. My sis did it with my neice and it took a week, but now she lays down and waves. It would have been soo much easier had I done it sooner, but I wasn't ready. Now I'm ready. If I can just get Nick to stay on board hopefully it won't be bad. Do you think if I start with naptime and not bedtime yet it will be okay? Only cause annoying stompy neighbors might not 'like it.' Not like I really care, but seriously after last night and today I wouldn't be surprised if child services showed up at my door for the screaming. They probably think I'm a horrible mom, but I don't care!

Oh, to get some sleep. And Nick's grandparents will be in town this weekend so hopefully she can play with them while I take a nap! I can't wait, they are awesome! I'm going kayaking Saturday so at least I get a break from 'no sleep fussy pants' child. Who I love with all my heart, I just wish would shut her eyes for a minute without having to lay on me!

First Day

So I am new to the whole blogging experience, although I read quite a few from time to time. Thanks to my best friend for kicking me into gear with it, I've wanted to start one for quite awhile but just haven't done it!

Lacey is at the pool with her daddy this morning so I can get some sleep. Yes, being on the internet counts as sleep apparently. I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to get online, since my little keyboard pounder is away. She hates it when I get on the computer. I really need to find an old one she can just tear away at. The only way I can get on is by turning on my camera and putting a video of her on. She will stand at the edge of the bed to watch the 'baby' for at least 30 minutes if I let her. And then she gets mad when it's over! So easy to please, and so vain.

Our new phase is waking up randomly and screaming for no reason until sleepyhead mommy comes to get her. I think I'm starting a really bad habit, but come on. 2 hours of screaming makes for some REALLY unhappy neighbors. New people moved in upstairs and all they do is stomp stomp stomp and complain. Urghh. Our old people never said a word about her crying, I thought they just didn't hear it. But apparently not. I really think I got a knock on my door last night, but I was too busy burying my head under the pillow to really notice. Last night's wake up was about 12:30am, and I finally brought her to sleep with me around 2:30pm. And the little stinker passed out immediately on my chest. The night before it was around 4, but she wasn't so content to fall asleep when I picked her up. She kept trying to kick me out of the bed, ungrateful little thing! I was so mad.

So needless to say come this morning I was exhausted. It's my off week (I work 7 on 7 off) and usually by about Tuesday I'm pretty recouperated and not too tired. But it's Thursday and I"m still exhausted and can hardly get up. She also has started taking either 2 naps or one long 4 hour nap (which is nice) and I pass out with her. It's crazy.

We had our first sentences the other day. 'I dropped it,' 'I got it,' and 'I wuv ou.' It was so cute! She says I wuv ou and will give me a big kiss. Finally! She better love me after all of my night duty lately.

Current favorite words: I wuv ou, outside(out tide), swimming(wimmin), rain, shoes(sooes), blueberries (bbbbb ba). She says pretty much anything you say but those are the ones we hear a LOT. Blueberries is funny because she says the first part like you are making a car noise (with a b) and follows it with ba. Weird.

10 teeth fully in, one bottom molar almost in, and the next one on it's way. I think we are also working on canines.

Yesterday she was playing outside in the baby pool and squatted and took a big poop on the sidewalk. She was so proud of herself and I couldn't stop snorting as I laughed. It was hilarious how happy she was. Oh how we love poop at our house. She loves to watch things go down the toilet, and always waves bye bye poo poo or pee pee. Gross, but hey she's learning.

Her new favorite thing to play with is money (moneeeeeee). She loves it. Dollars and cents. She will sit all day putting coins in a bank and dumping them out, sorting them into different containers, etc. Poor baby hardly has anything to play with at my house, I'm so broke. But nonnie and papa have TONS of change. She is in Scrooge heaven.

She also has 2 white mice (mouuuussss) that she loves. Except last night I think they woke her up, so they will be moving to my room for the time being. She loves to watch them on the wheel, and loves to pet them when I take them out. She will go 'nice mouuusss' and then poke him in the back. And mommy says 'be gentle' and she repeats 'gennnlll' and pokes him again. You get the picture. Surprisingly the mice don't bite her, and she's gotten better at being nice. She's pretty good about petting the dogs now. Except she wants to feed them their food, then take it back out and repeat the process. Bentley (our dog) is okay with it, but Nick's parents dog bit her yesterday (she went in there quickly and messed with Cady, we were watching her I promise! LOL) on the hand. She screamed 'NO cady' and hit her (good girl). And came and showed us her ouchie. Poor baby, I'm glad it didn't break the skin. I don't like that dog anyways.

I think that's all for today. My grandmother is having back surgery today (bone graft and 2 rods put in) because she has 3 collapsed vertebrae and one fractured. I'm really worried but am trusting God to bring her through. Pray for her to make it through, get out of ICU soon, and recover quickly. I want her to be able to enjoy her great grandkids for the rest of her life instead of being in pain and not being able to hold them. So prayers for her, I should find out how it goes in a few hours!