Is this thing on?

Hello! I'm not dead! It's not that I haven't tried to post this week, becaus OH, I have tried! But I haven't been able to because I've had a little person clinging to my body every waking moment of the day every single day this week. It's hard to think with a little person attached to you, just so you know.

Last week wasn't a great one either. Aeralyn started with the crankies early last week because her nose decided to turn on her. She had that runny, crusty, icky nose that was also stopped up at the same time. She wasn't happy about it, and rightfully so. I had the same problem along with a sinus headache from hell, so you can imagine the good times we were having. I took her to the pediatrician on Monday, and she was diagnosed with allergies. Big surprise considering the terrible allergies that both Aaron and I suffer from. The prescription of Claritin seems to be working wonders, so I'm hoping things will be back to normal next week.

Please let her be back to her happy self next week!!!!

The highlight of our week was when Alicia and Kyra came to visit yesterday. It was great to catch up with Alicia after all this time of not seeing eachother. And Kyra is even more adorable in person, if you can imagine that. Now you are all jealous because you didn't get to see them too.

Well, Aeralyn just woke up from her cat nap, so I have to go rescue her. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Tatertot Tuesday #28: The time has come...

to lower the crib mattress.







And yes, that big red thing you see on the side of her head is a goose egg. She fell over while playing on the floor on Sunday, and she hit a wooden foot stool. It looks much worse today than it did yesterday, but she doesn't seem to mind it. She's a tough little girl. I cried more than she did, as usual.

A Music Meme

Erica tagged me for a meme, and I am embarrassed to admit that I was extrememly excited because I haven't done one of these in a while. Here are the rules:

List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what they are. They must be songs you are presently enjoying. Then tag seven other people to see what they’re listening to.

If you click on each song, it will send you to a link so you can listen to them and watch the video. You're welcome.

1.Into the Ocean by Blue October - I love this song. I don't really have a profound reason, I just love it.

2.Better than Me by Hinder - They are my current obsession. Check that: his voice is my current obsession. It is sexy. 'Nuff said.

3.My Love by Justin Timberlake ft. T.I. - this is my ringtone for when Aaron calls me. It has been one of my favorite songs for a while now. And I love the video.

4. Sweet Child O Mine by Guns N' Roses - long time favorite, but I've recently just started listening to it again. Alot.

5.Wasted by Carrie Underwood - the newest by her and my favorite of hers so far.

6. Waterfall by Griffin House - you all know this song, you just may not know that you do. You know that Rembrandt commercial with the kissing couple? That's this song.

7. Tell me Bout it by Joss Stone- It's really catchy and I like it.

I'm supposed to tag 7 people, but everybody is pretty much already tagged. So, if you read this and you haven't done it yet? Consider yourself tagged. Let me know if you do it so I can come and see!

Tatertot Tuesday #27: "You can call me flower if you want to." *

In honor of today, the first day of spring, I present to you a little photoshoot.

Please excuse my crazy flash....my lovely husband used my camera last night and changed my settings. I didn't realize it until halfway through the photoshoot, but the pictures still turned out pretty good.













And lastly, please get this stupid thing off of my head!


Happy Spring everyone!

*Bambi

Da-da-da-da-da-da-daaaaaddddyyyyyy!!

I forgot that I actually do have something to tell you all today. Aeralyn has just started babbling a little more lately. She's been very vocal for months now, but she was mostly just yelling "ahhhhhhh" all the time, in different pitches. She is also very fond of growling and clenching her gums together to make different sounds. We've been talking to her ever since she was born and telling her things like "bye bye", "mama", "dada" or "daddy", "Lola", "doggie", "night night", "uh oh", "Gammie", "Papa"....etc. in hopes that one day soon she will pick up on the words that we use repeatedly. I think all our hard work may be starting to show.

Last weekend, she woke up and immediately started saying "ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba" over and over. Aaron and I were so suprised because it was literally an over night change from her usual "ahhhhhhhh" that she had been yelling for months. She repeated it all day long, and she even threw a few "pa-pa-pa-pa"s in there too. We had somewhere to go that day, so while I was getting her dressed I asked her if she was ready to go "bye bye".

She looked up at me and said "ba-ba".

I was so excited. Now, I do realize that she has no idea what she is saying and she is just repeating what I say, but it is still the first step in learning.

She stuck with "ba-ba" all week, saying it almost constantly. This weekend she woke up with a new "word".

"Da-da". She said it Saturday morning for the first time while all three of us were laying on the bed playing. Aaron was so excited. It was the cutest thing ever because she was whispering it. She continued whispering it all through the weekend, never once yelling it with such force as her beloved "ba-ba".

Until today. I have heard nothing but "da-da" all day long. Loudly. One time she even yelled "Da-da-da-da-da-daaaaaddddyyyyy!" It is very cute, but I can't help but wish that it was "ma-ma" that she was yelling so excitedly, even though she doesn't know what she's saying.

Here's hoping that this weekend will bring a new "word" again. And maybe, just maybe, it will be "ma-ma"

Avoidance

You may have noticed that I didn't give you an update on Healthy Living on Friday. Well, that's because I did terribly last week, and on Friday when I weighed in I hadn't lost any weight. I weighed in again this morning, and I gained back two pounds.

It's my fault totally, so I can't be mad at anyone other than myself. But, once again, it's a new week. I'm getting ready to take Aeralyn for a walk now to the post office since it is so nice outside. Sorry I don't have anything for you right now. I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Healthy Conversation

This is what you would have heard if you would have been in my kitchen yesterday afternoon:

Him: What the heck is this crap?

Me: What crap?

Him: This health crap! *gestures wildly towards the counter where the bread is*

Me: uh, I'm assuming you're talking about the wheat bread?

Him: Yeah! And the sliced cheese made from skim milk, and the fat free mayonnaise, and the fat free BUTTER!! Who ever heard of fat. Free. BUTTER??!!

Me: :::::crickets::::::

Him: Whatever happened to just buying normal food from the grocery store? Since when are we health freaks?

Me: Since we have both gained about 100lbs between us since we graduated high school 5 years ago.

Him: :::::crickets::::::

Me: God forbid we try to be healthy. *rolls eyes*

Him: I just want to be fat and happy. Why can't you just let me be fat and happy? *pouty face*

I'm too tired to think of a title.

Yesterday Aeralyn had her six month well check. She weighed 16lbs 1.5oz and was 25 inches long. She is still in the 50th percentile for everything, so about as average as it gets. She had her last round of shots until she is a year old, thank goodness. Istead of her ususal reaction of crying hysterically when the nurse sticks her with the needle, she decided to hold her breath. And then she turned blue and almost passed out, scaring the heck out of both me and the nurse. Then when I picked her up, she was having a hard time catching her breath. Talk about freaking me out! I wouldn't have been as worried if the nurse wasn't having a mini panic attack about the situation. She kept exclaiming that she had never seen a baby act like that before, and asking me if that was normal for her. Well, no, it was not anything close to her normal reaction. So the nurse ran out to get the doctor, and they decided to give her some Benadryl just incase it was a reaction to the shots. She calmed down pretty quickly, and all was well. She slept off her Benadryl hangover for 3 hours when we got home and was back to her cheerful self when she got up.

But last night was a different story. I put her to bed around 9pm, as usual. She was due for another dose of Tylenol at 12am, so I knew that she would be up around that time anyway. I planned on giving her the dose when she woke up so we could hopefully keep the fever that she always gets after shots away.

I'm assuming she woke up at her normal time, between 12am and 2am, but I have absolutely no recollection of getting out of bed, turning off the monitor, walking down the hall to get her and bringing her back to bed with me. I know I did becuase she woke up again at 5:30am, in bed with me. I touched her arm to bring her closer to me so she could nurse, and I noticed that she was burning up. I looked at the clock and noticed it was 5:30am and I was so confused for the few minutes it took me to come out of my sleepy fog. How in the heck did she get in bed with me?

I took her temperature and it was 102.3. Poor baby! After I dosed her with Tylenol, it only took a little over an hour for the fever to break. We went back to sleep around 7:30 this morning, and slept until almost 10am. Now my day is completely thrown out of whack because we slept 2 hours later than usual.

Thankfully she seems to be fine today. Right now she is on the floor in front of me, up on all fours, rocking back and forth. She is trying so hard to figure out this crawling thing, and I am terrified. I keep looking around the house at all the things I need to get rid of before she gets mobile. I need some baby proofing tips. I know the obvious....outlet covers, cabinet and toilet locks, and putting the chemicals out of reach. Is there anything else I need to know about baby proofing? What did your little ones get into costantly when they first got mobile? Help a sleep deprived first time mom out!

Tatertot Tueday #26: Messy Dinner

Sometimes it's fun to play with your dinner...

Clean House

**Updated 11:30am**
**Updated again at 12:44pm**
**Updated again at 2:51pm**
**Updated again at 7:00pm** Holy poop is it really 7pm already??!! I hate this time change! I guess this will be the last update for the evening because it's time to get Aeralyn ready for bed.



Hi my name is Heather. I have an aversion to cleaning my house.

*Hi Heather.*

It all started when I was just a wee little girl and my dad would make me clean up my room, and the problem just continued to grow from there. Now, I have an excuse not to have an immaculate house because I have a baby that keeps me too busy so I can't clean. Somtimes this is completely true because we either have one of those days where she will not let me put her down long enough to even go to the bathroom fortheloveofGOD! Or sometimes we have days where we just get so into playing and reading books and taking pictures that the housework is forgotten. But then there are other days, like today, where I just flat out don't want to do it, so I spend Aeralyn's nap time writing a blog entry and surfing the internet.

But soon, the aforementioned baby will be on the move. And that means that I will be forced to clean my house all the time because I have a feeling that spare change, dryer lint, and cat hair (yes we still have cat hair even though the cat has been outside for months now), would be lovely little treasures for her to find and promptly put in her mouth. I'm pretty sure if I let that happen, I would be the worst mother that ever walked planet Earth, and I'm not ready for that title just yet. Maybe when she's a teenager, but I've still got a long ways to go before that happens.

The best way for me to get things accomplished around here is to put it on paper and mark it off as I go along. Although, I have been known to just say to hell with everything and throw out the list and forget about it until another day, so this is where you come in. I'm going to post my to do list right here, right now, and as I complete my tasks today, I'm going to come back here and update the list. This will work out much better because then all of you will know whether or not I did what I said I was going to do today, and I don't want to run the risk of disappointing the entire internet by failing. HAHAHAHAHAHA!!

List of the competely disgusting and/or daunting variety:

1.) Take a shower. (yes, this has to actually be put on a list because it may or may not get done today) (don't you want to come over for a visit?) Yay! Now you can all come over for a visit and you won't have to smell me!
2.) Unload and re-load the dishwasher.
3.) Gather up trash from all rooms.
4.) Fold laundry that has piled up for two days.
5.)Wash and fold laundry that has piled up for God knows how long. 2 Loads down, 70,000 to go!
6.) Go to the grocery store. A three hour trip to 2 groceries stores. Ugh that totally threw off my day.
7.) Vacuum.
8.) Straighten up living room.

I think that souds like a good list for today. Check back for updates!

Stats

Hello! It's been a busy week around here, and I'm thanking my lucky stars because being busy has kept me from thinking about HOW MUCH I'M STARVING!!

Actually, the official diet of 2007 hasn't been too bad. Since I'm a nursing mother, I get to eat 12 extra "points" than most people so HAHAHA!! I get 12 more points than YOU do! And when I say "you", I really don't mean you because clearly, you do not need Weight Watchers. And I hate you.

Not really. I LOVE YOU! And your hair smells good. Have you been working out? I thought so.

Here are my stats as of this morning's weigh in:

Pounds lost since last weigh in: 5
Pounds lost since having Aeralyn: 43
Pounds lost since the start of Healthy Living: 13
Pounds left to lose until I'm back to pre-pregnancy weight: 7
Pounds to go until I reach my ultimate weight goal: 65 (holy heck!)

I weighed in on Monday of this week when I started weight watchers, so a total loss of 5lbs in 5 days is pretty dang good. I'm proud of myself.

Also? Those pre-pregnancy jeans that I have? I can get them on now! AND!!! Zip them! AND??!! BUTTON THEM!! Ohmygoodnessgracious! But actually wearing them for any length of time is out of the question. You know, because I might die from the lack of oxygen all that squeezing would cause. Also, me in those jeans is not a sexy sight, so I'll just leave it at that. But not much longer!!

Y'all should be proud of me. Actually, I'm demanding that you be proud of me. And in honor of my success, I suggest that you all go out and get yourself something deep fried and greasy, and then when you're done with that you can finish off with a delicious dessert. Preferably something of the chocolate variety. Just for me.

And while you're eating it, remember that I hate you and your chocolate smeared chinned self.

ENJOY!

Willpower

On Monday, I started an official diet. I really didn't want to do a structured diet, but as it turns out I really need some guide lines when it comes to food and portions. Who knew? HA! So I started Weight Watchers.

So far I have done really well, but it has been hard. On Monday, Aeralyn and I went to have lunch with Aaron's granny. She like's hamburgers from McDonald's, so that's what I went to get. Instead of getting my usual Big Mac, fries and a HUGE sweet tea, I got a grilled chicken caesar salad (without croutons....and y'all just don't know how much I LOVE croutons!!!) with a bottle of water. Once I got the food, I headed to granny's house which is about 10 minutes from McDonald's. The whole way there I was smelling the greasy goodness of those fries, and I'll be completely honest and say that the thought crossed my mind severaly times to eat JUST ONE...but I didn't! I was so proud of myself.

In the past two and a half days I have really learned how much food I eat. And it's not even because I'm hungry, it's because I'm bored. I've been trying to keep myself extra busy so that I won't eat mindlessly, and so far it's been working out great. I've just got to keep it up.

I'll see what the scale says on Friday.

Tatertot Tuesday #25: My little jumping bean.

This Tatertot Tuesday I decided to take a video of Aeralyn enjoying her new favorite toy. Beware, the video is not of great quality because I STILL have not figured out how to get videos from my camcorder onto the computer. This is a video from my still camera, but you get the picture. Enjoy!

Month Six

Dear Aeralyn,

Today, you turn six months old. It's hard to believe that we have already spent half a year with you. I can still remember being pregnant with you like it was yesterday.

Your personality has really blossomed this month, and we have learned so much about you. For instance, we have learned that you do not like to be strapped into things, such as your high chair, carseat, or swing. Also, you don't particularly like to have your face wiped. I have had to turn away from you several times lately while you are pitching a fit so that you won't see me laughing. It is already apparent that you will be quite a handful, little miss.

You love to laugh, especially at your daddy. You also like to imitate the faces that we make at you. Your favorite funny face is scrunching up your nose and snorting in and out. It is one of the funniest things we have ever seen, and you will pretty much do it on command.

Jumping has become your favorite past-time this month. We moved the swing out of the living room a while ago to make room for your jumperoo. The first night you had it, you jumped and jumped and laughed and jumped some more until you were so tired you could barely hold your head up. Then I picked you up to rock you and nurse you to sleep, and you kept turning your head and looking at it longingly until you finally gave up and went to sleep.

You can sit up by yourself now for a long time, and you are trying your hardest to crawl. You can get one knee under you, and then you'll push yourself towards whatever it is that you want. If that doesn't work fast enough, then you will just roll until you get close enough to grab the object you desire. When you do manage to get up on both knees, you can only go backwards. I'm sure it won't be long before you get going, and then? There will be no stopping you. There are major changes that need to take place around here before you get moving, so hold off just a little bit longer for me, okay?

You have doubled your birth weight now at 16lbs, and I'm sure I will be moving you into 6-9 months clothes any day now. So far you have been in the 50th percentile on the charts, which means that you are about as average as they come. Not big, not small, nothing extraordinary, just normal and average. I'm here to tell you right now that you are nothing short of amazing in mine and your daddy's eyes. We are in awe of you every single day, and we are amazed at how much more joyful and complete you have made our lives. Even when we feel bad or grumpy or just want to stay in bed all day, all it takes is one little smile from you and the world is alright again. Thank you for being so much more than average.

I love you sweet pea,

Mama