Harry Potter?

I can't sleep again, so of course I'm spending my time on the internet. I just saw this link on my google homepage. When did he grow up? Where was I? Were you hiding this from me? I definitely did not see that coming.

Who says this blog isn't about me?

I saw this a little while back at Erica's, Alicia's, and Lidsey's, so I decided to do it tonight since I can't sleep. Enjoy.




1. Name one person who made you smile today? Aeralyn
2. What were you doing at 8 this morning? Probably begging Aeralyn for just five more minutes of sleep
3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago? laying in bed trying to go to sleep
4. What is something that happened in 1994? I went to Disney World for the first time
5. What is the last thing you said out loud? "I can't go to sleep" to Aaron.
6. How many different things did you drink today? Three: Water, Caffiene free coke, apple juice
7. What color is your hairbrush? one is black and red, the other one is wooden
8. What was the last thing you bought? something for Alicia. I'm sending it in the mail tomorrow hopefully!
9. What was the last gift you received? Let me see...the last gift I got was Christmas, and I got alot of gifts. I'll just say my cedar chest that Aaron got me.
10. What color is your front door? white
11. Where do you keep your change? in a big water jug
12. What was the weather like today? cold but sunny
13. What’s the best ice cream flavor? strawberry
14. Do you have a sister? yep, the lovely Anita that you all see comment every day. She needs to start her own blog so you can all know her too.
15. Are you very random? have you read my blog lately? yes.
16. Do you want to cut your hair? YESS!!
17. Are you over the age of 25? No not yet
18. Do you talk a lot? It depends on what mood I'm in. Generally, no.
19. Do you watch the OC? Nope
20. Does your screen name have an ‘x’ in it? No
21. Do you know anyone called Steve? yep
22. Do you make up your own words? only all the time
23. Are you ticklish? not at all. I think it's all in your head.
24. Are you typically a jealous person? jealousy is one of my many faults.
25. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘C’. CJ
26. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘D’? David
27. Who’s the 1st person on your dialed calls list? Aaron
28. What did the last text messages you received say? "Sometimes I want to kill you" I'm not even kidding.
29. Do you have curly, frizzy hair? yes unfortunately
30. What is the next show/concert your going to? yeah, right. I don't think those are in the budget.
31. Who is the worst person in your life? Wow, um...I don't think I have one of those.
32. Who is the coolest person in your life? Aeralyn. ( for the record, Aaron wanted me to put him and say that "he's so cool that he craps ice cubes".)
33. What is something you type a lot? tatertot
34. What is the last thing you ate? a bowl of Smacks cereal. Yes, that is a part of Healthy Living. Shut up.
35. Have you seen the movie ‘Donnie Darko’? Can't say that I have
36. Do you have work tomorrow? Mom's never get a day off.
37. Are you a fighter or a lover? I'm a little bit of both. Mostly a fighter I guess.
38. When was the last time you said ‘I love you’ to someone? earlier
39. What should you be doing right now? sleeping
40. Do you have a nickname? only about a million. Sweet Pea is the one I hear most often.
41. Are you a heavy sleeper? no
42. When was the last time you used a skateboard? never. I'm not the least bit graceful enough to try skateboarding.
43. What is the best movie you’ve seen in the past two weeks? I haven't seen a movie in the past two weeks....*sigh*
44. Do you think you’re going to follow through with your new years resolution? I hope so. So far I'm not doing so well though.
45. Where do you want to go most in the world? I'd love to go to Australia
46. Which chat program do you use? I don't chat.
47. Are you tired today? obviously not if I can't sleep
48. Who is your current favorite band? Blue October
49. What is your favorite item of clothing? my black yoga capris
50. Do you wear designer labels? I don't think those are in the budget either.

Tatertot Tuesday #20: "Rubber ducky, you're the one..."

Bath time is Aeralyn's favorite part of the day. She outgrew her infant bathtub a while ago, so thanks to Alicia and Kira, we got this lovely ducky bathtub. Aeralyn thinks it's the best thing ever and has a blast every night taking a bath in it.

How fun it is to be married to a hunter.

There is a dead duck in my refrigerator.

Are you jealous? I thought so.

So, about that tattoo...

Remember a long LONG time ago when we all had a nice little chat about my tattoo? Like, months ago? And I kinda just left you hanging? Yeah, sorry about that one.

I've been looking for a picture of the tattoo, and I absolutely cannot find one. And then you all collectively ask: "But why don't you just take another picture for us to see?" And I scream "HECK NO INTERNET! Don't you know I just had a baby for crying out loud?!" Geez.

So no, you will not be seeing a picture of the tattoo. Not right now. But I will tell you all about it. I know, you are so excited.

In March of 2004 Aaron and I went to Ft. Lauderdale for spring break. Our friend Michelle also went with us. It was supposed to be a couple's trip with Aaron and I, Michelle and her fiance, Nick, but he ended up not being able to make it. Anyway, it was us three, Ft. Lauderdale, and the typical college spring break fever.

I had always wanted a tattoo, but I never really knew what I wanted. I didn't wat to get a tattoo just to get it. I wanted my tattoo to have a story, to mean something to me. After all, it was something I was going to have to live with for the rest of my life.

I got a butterfly tattooed on the front of my right hip. Okay, I know exactly what you're thinking, so I'm going to explain why my butterfly is different than your average "tramp stamp". Don't look at me like that, you know you were thinking it.

2003 was a rough year for me. I was in my second and third semesters of college, away from home, Aaron and I had just gotten our first apartment together, and I was working at a job that rarely allowed me weekends off to come home. You know how they always say that the first year of marriage is the hardest? Well, I'm pretty much covinced that saying is from the "old school" days of when couples didn't move in together until they got married. I think the saying should be changed to say that the first year of living together is the hardest. Hard is not even a word that begins to describe it, but I think you are getting the picture.

During that year I did alot of things I am not proud of. I look back on those months and I am so ashamed. I hurt alot of people, I lost several friends, I made too many mistakes, and I almost screwed up my life so bad that I would have doomed myself to a life of misery. I know that sounds completely dramatic, but trust me, it is the absolute truth. I know I'm being vague, but please forgive me. Only a very small handful of people know the details of what I am talking about, and frankly, I want to keep it that way. No, I was not addicted to drugs or anything like that, just to clarify.

Somewhere around January of 2004, I started to be myself again. Thank goodness because if I would have waited just a little bit longer, it would have been too late. We started making our spring break plans, and I started thinking about my tattoo. I chose to get a butterfly because it is a symbol for change. All that I went through definitely changed me as a person, and now I can look back on that time and be somewhat grateful because I am who I am today. I am a firm believer that we should have no regrets, and as hard as it is not to, I don't regret that time in my life. I'm certainly not proud of it, but I don't regret it.

Now I have a butterfly to remind me everyday of how I overcame those hardships. Do any of you have a tattoo that means something special?

Holy Cow I got a Question!

Remember this post where I asked you all to ask me questions? Well, you didn't. That is, no one did except Alicia. Thank you Alicia! Here is the question:

What is one of the most surprising things you've seen, done, and learned since becoming a mother? Explain why it was surprising to you.

This is a great question, and for some reason I'm having a hard time coming up with an equally great answer. I don't want to do a total cop-out answer and say "everything", even though that is completely true. I'll answer it in three parts:

♦ I would have to say the most surprising things I've seen since having Aeralyn are the changes in myself and Aaron. Before I became a mom, everything I did was all about me. I'd have to say it was the same for Aaron too. Now everything we do is somehow for her. We have to think about the consequences of everything we want to do now instead of just jumping into decisions. Her needs come before ours now, where before her, nothing really came before our needs and wants. The thing that was so surprising about this is how fast it happened. It was pretty much an over night change in both of us, and now I think we are better people than we've ever been.

♦ The most surprising thing I've done since becoming a mother is an easy one. I don't have a prolific answer for this one, so don't get your hopes up. I've wiped poop, snot, and spit up with my bare hands, and I didn't even gag or bat an eye. Infact, I think I've lost the gag reflex all together. I never thought I would be able to do disgusting things like that, so I would say that I'm pretty surprised that I can.

♦ Now on to the most surprising thing I've learned. I've learned that, in my opinion, there is nothing more important than being a mom. I want nothing more than to watch her grow, make her feel loved unconditionally, and watch her become her own person. I never knew that spending all day with a little person who can't even carry on a conversation with me yet would be so much fun. Even though it gets hard sometimes, seeing her smile is worth everything in the world.

There are my answers. Does anyone else have any more questions they want me to answer?

I spoke too soon.

Remember what I said yesterday about Aeralyn sleeping in her bed like a big girl...blah, blah, blah? Yeah, scratch that.

She did go to sleep last night in her crib. But it only lasted about 2 hours. I went to get her, and instead of bringing her back to bed with me like I usually do, I rocked her back to sleep and put her back in the crib. No. She was not having that. So we will see how tonight goes. I'm sure that she won't be cooperative tonight simply because it's Thursday, and we all know that on Thursday's we watch Grey's Anatomy. That is, we try to watch Grey's Anatomy. Sometime's it is hard to concentrate while listening to a crying baby. We do the best we can.

Yeah, so, um....you were probably expecting this one weren't you?

No, I did not make it to the gym today. I am a horrible worker-outer. I really did plan to go, but a series of unforseeable events happened, and it just wasn't possible. If all goes well, I am going tomorrow. And hopefully we will even make it out of the house in time for me to go to Cardio Dance. You should be proud of me though because I did walk on the treadmill for 30 minutes. It's better than nothing, right?

For the past month, I have been trying to get Aeralyn to sleep in her crib. She takes naps in her swing, and at night she would sleep with me and Aaron. You can have your opinions about that, but unless you have a child, you may want to keep them to yourself because your words may come back and bite you right on the butt one day. I know this from experience. I ALWAYS said I would never let my child sleep in the bed with me and my husband. She has slept with us from day one. Well, that's not entirely true considering I slept with her in the recliner for the first month, but after that she has been with us.

It was working out okay for a while, but she has become quite the wiggle worm. I was getting tired of getting kicked, slapped and head-butted all night long, so I decided it was time to move her to her own bed.

I knew it wouldn't be easy, but I didn't realize how hard it would really be.

You see, I don't believe in letting her "cry it out" in her crib. I just cannot ignore my child's cries, her one and only form of communication, so crying herself to sleep was not an option for me.

We have gone through almost a solid month of rocking her to sleep, laying her down in the crib, her waking up immediately, picking her back up and starting the process all over again. Sometimes I would do it for 2 hours straight, and then give up and take her back to bed with me. Maybe once a week we would be successful, but that was it.

I'm not going to lie, it got very frustating. I would think "Why don't I have one of those babies that goes to sleep in her crib by herself at 8pm and wakes bright eyed every morning a 8am?" It was getting to where the only time I had to myself was when she would take a nap, and it was becoming very hard. We were both waking eachother up 4 to 5 times a night, and each time she wanted to be nursed back to sleep. Needless to say, I was starting to lose my mind.

Sunday night, we started the routine of rocking and laying her in the crib. First try didn't work, so I picked her back up and started over. Second try laying her down, she started wimpering. Aaron and I looked at eachother and he said "Take off your shirt and put it in there with her." I did it and immeditately she grabbed it and went to sleep.

Jackpot!

Tuesday night, I layed her in her crib while she was still awake. She grabbed my shirt and layed quietly in her crib, listening to the music playing, and went to sleep on her own about 20 minutes later. We couldn't believe it!

Later that night Aaron and I were laying in bed and we both looked at eachother and said "I miss her." I debated back and forth wether or not I was going to go and get her. We talked about flipping a coin, heads we go get her, tails we don't. Then Aaron said the all important words: "She's only going to be this little one time." I went and got her and she spent the rest of the night right between us.

Isn't it funny how we tried so hard to get her to sleep in her own bed, and then as soon as she does we decide we miss her and bring her right back? In some ways I want to cherish these moments while I have them. Then again, I feel like I need to break the habit before it goes on any longer. It will just get harder the older she gets.

She is laying in her crib right now, awake. I'm sure she'll be asleep before long. I'm going to leave her there.

She's growing up so fast, and there's nothing I can do but watch.

I'm gonna do it.

I'm going to the gym tomorrow. No, I'm really going to the gym tomorrow. I'm telling you all this so that you will ask me later if I actually did go to the gym, and since I don't want to sound like a big loser, I will have to go so I can tell you I went.

I told myself that paying for a gym membership would actually mean that I would make myself go. HAHAHAH!! And also, no. I lied. It has not made me go very often yet at all. I keep coming up with the most ridiculous excuses not to go. Let me just give you an example:

♦ Last week I had planned to go to the gym. I decided that this time I would take Aaron's MP3 player instead of lugging my dinosaur of a personal CD player because, believe it or not, getting looked at like I just crawled out from under a rock is not much fun. HI! Yes, I realize that there are such things as MP3 players these days, and also that personal CD players are just about obsolete, but give me a break here. Anyway, I couldn't find the MP3 player, and when I asked Aaron where it was, he told me he had left it at work. Darn, can't go to the gym without music now can I? I'll just have to go another day.

You see my dilemma? Give me a little credit, atleast I realize that I'm coming up with ridiculous excuses and not trying to justify them.

Tomorrow is the day. Wish me luck. Now, go have some pie. Make sure to have a little extra for me too, since the diet doesn't allow pie.

Tatertot Tuesday #19

I might wind up regretting this one.

I have avoided updating you all on how my Healthy Living is going. Yes, there is a reason for that. And, yes, the reason is that I did not do so well last week. The first two weeks were a breeze. I did very well with the dieting, not so well with the exercise, but all in all I was feeling pretty proud of myself. Last week was a completely different story. I did fairly well with the eating, absolutely horrible when it came to drinking ( I had either tea or coke every single day with only a few glasses of water), and I only exercised twice. I was dreading my Friday morning weigh in. I weighed myself every day for the first week, and that was just ridiculous. I was stressed and upset, and I decided I wouldn't weigh myself at all the following week, and that after that I would only weigh once a week, on Friday mornings. Much to my surprise, I had lost 6lbs. Even though I wasn't eating as well as I wanted or exercising much at all, I still had cut my calories drastically. Now that I saw that positive reinforcement, I'm confident that this week will be much better. So far, so good.

How are all of you doing with your resolutions?

Aeralyn has been enjoying her adventures with solid food. So far, she has had rice cereal, green beans, sweet potatoes, bananas, and garden peas. He favorite by far is the sweet potatoes, but unfortunately she can only have them in very small doses. They upset her tummy a good bit, and they give her diaper rash. Today we are going to try butternut squash, and I'm hoping it won't get spit back in my face like the garden peas.

Last week I recieved an email from a reader of this site. I get very few emails, but the ones I've gotten have always been nice and complimentary. This one? Not so much. This person wanted to let me know their opinion of my site, and their opinion was that it is "fluffy, boring, and has no real meaning." Also, no one wants to read about my baby all the time, I intentionally avoid stating my opinions, and I shouldn't have named my blog "Pieces of Me" if I was only going to talk about my baby.

This is the first negative email that I've gotten, so I'm not really concerned. I do want to put this out there though: I started this blog for family a friends. We have several people that we care about that we don't get to see on a regular basis, and this website is for them to come here and keep up with our family going-ons. I talk about Aeralyn, document milestones and other things I otherwise might not remember if I didn't write them down, and sometimes, I talk about me. I'm happy with it, and everyone else seems to be too. If you don't like it, you can stop reading.

It is true that I've never made any entries on this site that portray my political or religious opinions, and it's not that I'm avoiding them, it's just that I'm not a person that talks about those things in general. I do want to give all my readers an opportunity to ask me any questions that you want to know my answers to. You can ask me anything under the sun about politics, religion, world problems, parenting, etc., and I will answer them all with my honest opinion. They don't even have to be "serious" questions, they can be fun too. Anything you want to know. You can leave a question in the comments, and you can even comment anonymously if you want to so I won't know who you are. You can also email me questions at Momtotatertot [at] gmail [dot] com.

This is your chance to find out anything you want to know about me. Have fun with it, and don't be shy. I'll answer anything (within reason). Make me laugh, make me cry, make me answer your questions!

Can turtles climb?

Aaron and I are both big time animal lovers. So much so that both of us want to work at a veterinarians office so badly, but we know that we can't because we would bring home every single stray that was brought in. At one time we had a cat, a goffin cockatoo, a cockateil, a squirrel that Aaron rescued from his hunting club, and two sugar gliders. A small zoo to say the least. And that was all while we lived in our apartment that didn't allow pets. And you thought the cat was the only problem.

Lots of things have changed now that we have Aeralyn. We got rid of the cockatoo because we were afraid she would chomp off a curious toddler finger, our cockateil died =(, the squirrell was released back into the wild, and the sugar gliders were given away. We still have Coal (although he is outside now, and loving it by the way), and we have Lola, our Chihuahua, a beta, and two Red-eared slider turtles. That is plenty for now, although I would LOVE to get an outside doggie. Preferably a Springer Spaniel, but that is all beside the point that I'm trying to get to.

Two days after Christmas, I noticed that one of our turtles was not in the tank. They are in a tank with a cover, a filter, a light and a heater, the whole deal, so something that they are not supposed to be able to get out of. Well, one apparently is a little more adventurous than the other, and decided he wanted to explore. As soon as I realized he was out, roaming around my house, I proceeded to freak out. I like the turtles, they are nice to look at, but that's as far as it goes with me. I have no desire to touch them or have them touch me, and I certainly do not want them lost, GOD knows where, in my house.

I called Aaron, and this was our conversation:

Me: Um, one of the turtles is gone.
Him: What do you mean one of the turtles is gone?
Me: I mean one of them is GONE as in NOT IN THE TANK ANYMORE AND POSSIBLY WATING FOR US TO GO TO BED TONIGHT SO THAT IT CAN CRAWL INTO OUR BED WITH US AND CHEW ON US OR SOMETHING OH MY GOOOOODDD!!!
Him: Are you seriously freaking out over a little turtle? *hysterical laughter*
Me: AAARROOONNNN!!!
Him: Okay, have you tried looking for him?
Me: No.
Him: Well, you need to look for him, and if you don't find him, I'll help you when I get home.
Me: Okay, but what if I find him?
Him: Then you'll need to put him back in the tank.
Me: So, I'll have to touch him.
Him: Or you could just use that green net thing that we use for the fish.
Me: Okay. I hope I find him.
Him: Me too.

I did not find him. Aaron did not find him. The search went on for a week, and we thought surely that he was dead. We figured we would run across him one day, dried up, in a corner somewhere. It was a pretty sad thing because we don't like to think of any animals suffering.

Last night, I picked up a pillow off of the floor that I had laid down there the night before, and guess what was under that pillow? The turtle. AND HE WAS ALIVE!! We couldn't believe that he had survived this whole time without water or food. He is now happily swimming around the tank with his other turtle buddy. It was a little turtle miracle around our house last night.

I'm just gld that now I can get some sleep knowing that a turtle won't be climbing into my bed to chew on my ears.

You can't judge a book by it's cover.

I was tagged again by the lovely Erica. I am very excited because this is an easy meme! I don't really even have to use my brain that much, and that makes me happy.

You are supposed to grab the first book you see, flip to page 123, find the fifth sentence on that page and then blog the following three sentences.

Of course, the closest book to me was The Wheels on the Bus, and I'm sure I don't have to tell you that, in fact, it does not contain 123 pages. So I went to find another book. This is one of my favorite easy-reads. Be Happy or I'll Scream by the hilarious Sheri Lynch.

"Olivia wanted whatever wasn't on that days menu. She'd argue for pancakes if Mark made waffles, scrambled eggs if he served Cheerio's, milk if he poured orange juice - i.e., whatever option proved most inconvenient at the moment. Then there was the matter of choosing a toy to accompany her to school."

Now I have to tag three people. I'll tag:

Alicia

Lindsey

CJ

And as always, if you do it, let me know so I can come and take a look.

Tatertot Tuesday #18: Green Beans - Oh the drama!

Hi people! It's been a busy busy day, which is somewhat rare for us. We have actually been gone! As in out of the house! All day! That almost never happens, so we're excited. Or I am that is. Aeralyn wasn't too excited seeing as she really doesn't care for the car seat. But atleast we got some fresh air.

Here is the Tatertot fix you have all been waiting for. I promised you something about green beans a while ago, and I'm just now getting around to it. Here is a video of Aeralyn eating green beans for the first time. Now, before you get all excited, I need to tell you that the quality of the video is close to horrible. That's just what you get from a cell phone. It is also only 10 seconds long, but it is long enough for you to get the picture. One fine day I will figure out how to get videos from our camcorder on the computer, I promise.

Click and enjoy!

A letter to my wisdom teeth

Dear Teeth in my mouth that are of the wise variety,

First and foremost, I would like you to know that I hate you, all four of you. Yes even you, top ones, though you have yet to cause me any pain so far. I know you're just waiting for the right moment. And by "right moment" I mean the most inopportune moment possible. I hate you with my whole enitre being, but I'd have to say that my gums probably dislike you the most.

To the right bottom one, you started this whole mess almost two years ago, and you've been leading the torturous way ever since. It wasn't enough for you to plow through my gums and break a tooth on your way in. Oh no, that was not nearly enough! Now you've got your buddy, bottom left, in on the game too. Bottom left started moving in right after I had my tooth pulled last week, and now the left side of my mouth is in such a swollen mess I can barely eat. While this fact has been fabulous for my diet, it has not been so great in general.

I can't wait to get you removed! I hope you end up in the garbage can next to some dirty old man's rotten teeth. And then you'll see that residing in my jaw wasn't so bad after all.

Sincerely,
The one you're going to miss


*This is why you haven't heard from me in several days. I have been in a pain induced fog, so I thought that might not make for good posting. As you can tell, neither does a pain medicine induced fog.

Do you have room for just one more resolution?

I'm making room for one more resolution this year, and this time, it's a really good one. Beth at Playgroup Dropout has requested that we join her in touching the lives of a child in need each month. The more the better, and if we all do just something small for one child, this could turn out to be something amazing.

If you can do just one thing, no matter how small it seems, it could really make a bigger impact than you can possibly imagine. On her website, Beth has a list of websites you can visit to get ideas on what you can do to help. If you feel like this is something you would like to do, go sign up.

This is something that really touches my heart because I was once, a "child in need". So many people that didn't have to stepped up and did things for me and my family that were beyond generous, and I think it is time that I do as much as I can to return the favor.

Alright, I'll tell you.

I thought I would be able to get away with just telling you that I broke a tooth, got it pulled, and that was that. But apparently, you want to know more. I've already told this story to Alicia, and since she got a good laugh out of it, I will tell you too so you all can laugh with her. Except for maybe you're not that cruel, and for that I thank you.

It's all my own stupid fault that I broke a tooth, so really, you can laugh. Maybe I'll laugh one day too, but definitely not right now. I think it is safe to say that I have learned my lesson.

Almost two years ago, my wisdom teeth started bothering me. I went in for a consultation with an oral surgeon, and he decided that I needed to get them removed. Well, I didn't exactly have the $1,000 it takes to get them removed, so I didn't get it done.

When I was about three months pregnant with Aeralyn, my right wisdom tooth started coming in full force. It broke the skin, and also smashed my teeth together and consequently, broke one of my molars. It was only a small piece, and instead of going to get it fixed, I decided I would just take really good care of it and it wouldn't get a cavity. Are you laughing at my naievity? So did the dentist.

Here I am, almost a year later, and the tooth really started killing me. I will tell you this, it was the most intense pain that I have ever felt in my life. And need I remind you that my stomach was cut wide open in order to get a nearly 8lb baby out? Alrighty then.

I made an appointment with the dentist to get it filled. I honestly thought I would be able to go in there and just get it filled and be on my merry way. As you can see, I do not have much experience with dental matters. Please stop laughing, it really isn't nice.

The dentist took one look at it and said I would need a root canal. Also, please hand over $800 up front, and just for grins, throw in your left pinky toe and your first born child. Yep, that should cover it. Or, we could just pull it for the low low cost of $93.

Here I sit, drugged, broke, and snaggle-toothed. But there is some good news! Now my wisdom tooth has room to fit, and I'm hoping that it will just come right on in and close up the gaping hole that I now have in my mouth.

Hey, let me just live in my drug induced fantasy land for now. As soon as the health insurance kicks in, I will get the wisdom teeth removed. I promise. And then, like Alicia said, Aaron can take care of me, Aeralyn, and the house.

Could you please stop laughing already?

This week so far, in numbers.

Number of times I have put Aeralyn in her crib to take a nap: 24
Number of times I have retrieved screaming Aeralyn from her crib: 24
Number of naps Aeralyn has taken in her swing: 3
Number of naps Aeralyn has taken in her crib: 0
Number of broken teeth in my mouth as of this morning: 1
Number of times I have applied Orajel to broken tooth: 167
Number of dollars it costs to have a root canal on broken tooth: 800
Number of dollars I did not have for a root canal: 800
Number of teeth I got pulled today instead of having a root canal: 1
Number of teeth I ever want to get pulled again: 0

I can't believe it's only Tuesday. I hope the rest of this week is much better than these past two days have been. I do believe it is time for another pain pill.

Tatertot Tuesday #17: Snuggling with Lola

Lola is finally starting to warm up to Aeralyn. I left Aeralyn in my bed the other morning while I went into the closet to get dressed, and when I came out, this is what I saw. If Lola looks a bit intoxicated, it is because these photos were taken several hours before 2pm, Lola's usual wake up time.

"First I was afraid, I was petrified..."

Let me just start by saying this: I don't do babies.

That is, I didn't do babies until I had one of my own.

I've been around kids all my life, and I've always known I wanted one of my own. But, Ive never really interacted much with babies. Once they are toddlers, kids are great and I'm good with them. Throw me a toddler who's pitching a royal fit over a toy being taken away or some other toddler travesty, and I'll handle it with ease and grace. Give me a school age child with an attitude the size of Texas, and I'll handle that just fine too. But give me a baby who is crying uncontrollably for some unknown reason, and I'll hand it back to it's mommy quicker than you can blink. But now? I'm the mommy that everyone hands the screaming baby to. And it honestly? FREAKS ME OUT!

I'm getting better about handling Aeralyn's crying fits, but it has not been an easy road getting to where I am today. Especially when I have a husband who knows absolutely nothing about babies and constantly looks at me in horror when she is crying and says "What in the world is wrong with her?" That question usually doesn't smooth the situation over really well, because obviously I don't know what is wrong with her or I might FIX IT! This is also coming from the man who would get a look of sheer terror on his face when newborn Aeralyn would sneeze, cough, burp, fart, yawn, grunt, etc. He honestly had no idea that babies "did all that stuff" and wow! "They're like little humans!"

He doesn't get out much.

But anyway, this was supposed to be about me conquering one of my biggest fears. Sometimes I lose my focus. I'll bet you might have noticed that already. Look! A ladybug!

I can handle the crying fits at home pretty easily, but in public? That is a whole different story my friend. Last Wednesday, I ventured out for the first time with Aeralyn by myself. Need I remind you that she is four months old?

Now, I've taken her to the pediatrician plenty of times alone, but I don't really count that as a public place since there are a number of other screaming children there at any given time, and it's pretty much acceptable. But everywhere else I went, I had my husband or mother-in-law in tow for backup support incase of a major baby meltdown. I was so afraid I wouldn't know what to do if I was by myself with her in a public place and she went into hysterics.

Her and I ventured out to Wal-Mart, and it was great! She didn't cry one time and neither did I. But if she had, it would have been fine. I've finally come to terms with the fact that babies cry sometimes, and that's okay. Life will go on! People might give me "the look" - you know the one that says "geez get your kid under control!", but that's fine too. And I've also realized that most of the time, that isn't what "the look" means anyway. It means, more often than not I'm convinced, that "I sure am glad it's you and not me!"

What was that I said about nagging?

Special thanks to Alicia for this post. Without her, I might not have updated you all on my progress until Monday, but since I asked for someone to nag me, she took on the job.

I'm glad she did because someone has to do it.

To tell you the truth, this week's dose of healthy living has not been easy. In fact, it's been down right hard. I will say this though: I have done EXCEPTIONALLY well with the eating part of the deal. I have substituted white bread for wheat bread, and I have had fruit, yogurt, or a 100 calorie pack for snacks and the ONLY beverage I have had all week (except for that one huge sweet tea) is water. I have to say I am very proud of myself.

When I decided to start out my healthy living lifestyle, I said I was going to have one day per week as my "cheat day". I would get to eat whatever I have deprived myself of all week, but I would save the indulgences for things that I really really wanted. The only catch is that I still have to work out, and if possible, do even a little bit extra just because of all the added calories. I've already used my cheat day this week, but, I woke up this morning and it just felt like another cheat day.

I know, I know.

And I have not worked out one time this week. Not. one. time.

Unless you count walking around Wal-Mart yesterday for about 45mins, but I don't think I burned many calories doing that.

Next week I'm going to start my gym routine. I'm going to sit down with the aerobics calss schedule and figure out which classes I want to go to and I'm going to actually go to them. And I'm going to walk on the treadmill at home or either take Aeralyn out for a walk when it's nice.

I'm going to do this. I HAVE to do it. I want to feel good again. I want to feel comfortable in my clothes. I want to get back into my pre-pregnancy clothes. I want to be able to wear a swim suit by summertime. I want to be healthy.

This week was a rough start, but it's going to get better and easier. How are the rest of you doing?

I promise a story about green beans soon. Also one about one of my biggest fears that I finally conquered. Are you all intrigued now?

Confessions, resolutions, and HOLY CRAP is it January already??

Don't you just love the month of January? All the newness of resolutions to be a better you and everyone is generally happy because it's a new year and a time to start over. No matter how crappy 2006 was, we can resolve to make 2007 a better year. And when I say "we" I mean "me" because you are fabulous and have no reason to have any resolutions to be any better.

I personally? HATE the month of January. I have never, EVER kept a new years resolution, not once. But, hey! I'm only 22 years old. I still have plenty of time, right? This year is going to be different. I'm actually telling the whole entire internet my resolutions, so you can all feel free to nag me to keep up with them. Please nag me, I desperately need to be nagged and reminded that "HEY YOU! Didn't you resolve to get in shape and lose weight? Why are you eating that ginormous piece of chocolate cake? Put it down and get your heiny to the gym!!" To which I will respond "Shut up! It's my cheat day!!!" But seriously? I need help people! Yesterday was my third day of "healthy living" (the word diet and I don't particularly get along), and I already used it as my cheat day. On day THREE!! And boy did I blow the whole healthy living thing out of the water all together with a Big Mac, fries and a extra mega super huge sweet tea from the ever so lovely and subliminal message sending "Golden arches". I personally blame this because I cannot get that out of my head. I find myself "throwing that down" (seriously, how white am I?) all the time.

So day three didn't go so well, but I'm not giving up. My resolutions for 2007 are as follows:

1. Be healthier. I refuse to make a specific goal such as "Lose 50lbs" or something like that, but I do want to be healthier in general. This includes exercising, eating better and drinking more water. I would add getting more sleep in there, but that's not really in my control right now.

2. Be more patient. With everyone and everything in general, but especially Aaron.

3. Learn photoshop.

4. Journal more. That includes all my journals, even this blog.

5. Make it to the gym ATLEAST twice a week. And the other days that I don't make it to the gym, I need to walk on the treadmill or take Aeralyn out for a walk in the stroller.

I think that's enough with the resolutions. How many of you have resolutions for the new year? Lets all help each other out. I know I could use some motivation!

Tatertot Tuesday #16

Month Four

Dear Aeralyn:

Today you are four months old, and you are barely a glimpse of the baby that you were a couple of months ago. I had no idea that you would be growing so fast and changing drastically from day to day. Your daddy and I are enjoying you so much right now, and we know it's only going to get better from here.

You have turned into such a happy baby who smiles almost all the time. Also, you finally gave us that laugh we have been waiting on for so long, and let me tell you, we just can't get enough of it. We have recently discovered that you are tickilish, and I can't say that I won't be using that to my advantage later on.

I started feeding you rice cereal with a spoon this month, and I did it all on my own without any input from a doctor or a book. This whole time I have been parenting you, I have gotten all my advice from a book, the pediatrician and family and friends who have children of their own. I felt like I had to have someone or something tell me what to do with you, that I couldn't make the right decisions on my own, but I think that is finally over with. I have now become a real mom who really does know you better than anyone else. Thank you for giving me the time I needed to get used to that idea.

You roll over both ways now and you are trying your hardest to get moving. You can get your knees up under you, but you're not quite sure where to go from there. I know it won't be long before you are into everything, and I am slowly realizing that I need to get on with the baby-proofing.

In two days, on the third of January, I will be taking you for your four month checkup. Exactly one year ago on that same day, I had my first ultrasound and I got to hear your heartbeat. That is the moment that you became real to me. I found out I was pregnant with you on December 26th, 2005, but the idea of you did not become real until I heard your heartbeat and saw you on that screen. I can't believe that a year has passed since I found out about you, but I can honestly say that you are the best thing that has ever happened to me.

I love you sweet pea,
Mama