A Very Barfy Christmas

We’re back from our trip to Maryland! We got to see aunts and uncles and grandmommies and cousins and great aunts and second cousins and all sorts of folks that we get to see all too rarely. I got some cute pictures and videos that I’ll put up on the blog later tonight for you all to enjoy.

The good: Spending time with family. Watching Greta and Romelie play side by side (though Romelie is so sensitive, she cried whenever Greta tried to hug her!). Warm weather – we were able to take Romelie for a walk outside, something we definitely cannot do in MN (it’s -8 degrees right now). Delicious food (too…many…cookies!). A new forward-facing car seat for our growing toddler. Victory for the Vikings (NFC North champions – suck it, Chicago!) And plenty of time for rest and relaxation. Ahhhh.

The not-so-good: An evil stomach bug came to visit on Christmas day and slowly worked its way through everyone but Chason and me. So I guess we can count ourselves lucky (I got sick with something for one day, but I didn’t barf so maybe it was psychosomatic) – but alas, Romelie was not spared. Puked all over herself around 2 o’clock in the morning halfway through our visit. Went to take her to the bathroom, only to discover that they were all full with Bronwyn, Shane, Torin, and Roy! Bad night all around. So that put the kibosh on any sightseeing for our trip. Which is okay – we’ll do it next time around. But then, for some unfair reason, Romelie got it again two days later on our flight home to Mpls. She blurped on herself during our layover at the Philadelphia airport, so we changed her into her back-up outfit, then she lost it again just as we were about to board the plane. So she had to ride home in her diaper until we could pick up our checked luggage. Poor baby. I must say, though, instead of gagging or being disgusted, people are very kind and helpful when you have a puking baby. Folks were offering wipes and sympathetic faces all over the terminal.

Now we’re getting back into the swing of things at home. Romelie’s back in daycare after the barfs were all gone. Our fantastic friend Crystal is in town and staying with us for the week, so I’m getting out of the house a bit. The weather sucks – Minnesota has apparently forgotten how to plow / salt the roads, because they are icy and slick and it keeps on snowing – but it’s good to be home. Romelie’s going to spend the night with Grandpa Dan so Chason and I can do a bit of New Year’s Eve celebrating (not all crazy-like, just trying to actually make it to midnight this year). I’ll have to work on some New Year’s resolutions so I have some goals to neglect in 2009. Take more pictures, maybe? I’ll think on it and get back to you.

Addition 1/19/09: Finally! The camera's been found, so here are the videos. Video number one - Romelie the musician:

And video number two - Romelie talks:

A very scary day

Well, we had an interesting weekend. Let me say, "interesting" is definitely NOT the right word. But I don't have a good word right now, so we'll stick with that one anyway.

Friday, my mom and I drove out to Milwaukee to have Christmas with Paul and see his show, "A Christmas Carol" (Romelie stayed at home with Chason). Despite the foot of snow that was dumped on Milwaukee in the previous 24 hours, the drive out there was not too bad. The show was great and it was fun to see Paul for a short while at least. The drive back was a bit snowier - we saw dozens of cars in the ditch - but we made it back safely.

Then yesterday I aged about 5 years.

I borrowed my mom's car - which has 4-wheel drive - to drive to AM church. I left Romelie at home, something I never do, because it was really cold out and my mom offered to watch her. I got on the highway and drove less than a mile when I lost control of the car. I don't think I hit a patch of ice; I think it was the wind trying to push me off the road. But I swerved nearly off the road, then back on, then off, then back on, and then I spun out and started going sideways. I spun over 180 degrees, crossed into the other lane, and finally stopped - facing the wrong direction - maybe a foot away from the guard rail. Still can't believe I didn't hit it. Then, what's more amazing, no one hit me. Cars went around me (some slipping and sliding past) until both lanes of traffic were finally able to stop and I did a 3-point turn around and continued on my way, shaking and thanking my car angels.

Then, after making it safely home (via side roads), I went to feed Romelie her lunch. Pieces of meatball, pieces of bread, and fruit. And my little tiny toddler got a piece of meatball stuck in the back of her throat and couldn't get it out. She wasn't choking (I could see the food), but she was gagging and turning red, and then she got scared and started crying and gasping and I was so so scared she was going to suck it back into her windpipe. I grabbed her out of her chair and ran outside and screamed for Chason. We had her in the kitchen, holding her horizontally with her face down, and Chason was trying to sweep her mouth. Finally, after this had gone on for what was probably a minute but felt lots longer, she threw it up.

And we're fine. I'm fine, she's fine, everyone's okay. But it took a long time for me to calm down yesterday. I don't know why we had two horrible, ultimate fear moments happen less than 6 hours apart, but I'm very thankful neither turned out worse than they did. But I do feel about 5 years older today.

Believe it or not, the day did end up alright. We got to celebrate early Christmas with my mom, which was fun. And just to clear your mind of some of yesterday's trauma, here are some cute pictures for you to enjoy. And pray for good weather for the 24th, both for my brother's travels home and our trip to D.C. via Chicago.

Mr. Pinkeye and other ailments

I just had a bit of inspiration. Through zwaggle.com, an awesome website that I think I've mentioned before (check it out for more information), we obtained a few Dr. Seuss books and an old classic, Mr. Silly. You remember those books, right? The Mr. Men and Little Miss books. Anyway, they're awesome. Well, I don't know if someone has already done this, but I think I would like to author a series of Mr. and Little Miss Ailment books to teach kids about common illnesses. The main character contracts the illness and learns about what causes it, what it feels like, how to treat it, etc. They'd be things like Mr. Common Cold, Little Miss Stomach Flu, and Mr. Pinkeye. I think it's brilliant.

The reason for this inspiration comes from this past week when Romelie was visited by Mr. Pinkeye. That bastard.

It started off as Mr. Common Cold - she had a little cough (still does, sadly), and a runny eye. Unfortunately, two other kids in her daycare were found to have pinkeye, so Jen asked me to bring her to the doctor on Tuesday. Well, it wasn't pinkeye...and to be fair, her eye wasn't actually pink yet. But by Wednesday, the left eye was pink; Thursday morning she woke up with both eyes glued shut; and when the same thing happened on Friday and the right eye was starting to show a little pink, it seemed like she must have gotten it. I called the doctor's office and they didn't make me bring her back in, just prescribed some medicine. So she stayed home from daycare on Friday (and I stayed home from work) and we picked up the prescription from the pharmacy.

First, I must tell you - this is Romelie's SECOND prescription in less than a week. When I brought her to the doctor for her false alarm - well, early alarm - I also took advantage of the fact that we were already there and showed the doctor these weird bumps that have developed on her leg. It started as eczema, then turned into these four weird bumps after Dr. Mitchell recommended treating it with Cortaid. Even after we stopped the Cortaid, the bumps kept getting bigger and purpler and weirder. Apparently it was so odd, the doctor went and got three other doctors to look at it (including Dr. Mitchell, her regular doctor). So anyway, they prescribed this cream which seems to be working really well, but still - her first prescription medicine ever, followed by another one three days later.

But back to the pinkeye. Now, I must preface by saying that Dr. Mitchell is awesome. He got a baby out of me safely and successfully, so I love that man to death. But I owe him a hard time the next time I see him (which will be on Wednesday when Romelie goes back to the doctor for a weight check), because rather than prescribing drops for Romelie's pinkeye, he prescribed a gel. Here's how it works: you pull the lower eyelid down to expose the inside of the lid. You then take 1/2 inch of the gel and wipe it onto the inside of the lid. In both eyes. SIX times a day. Ever tried to poke your finger inside a one year old's eyelids once, let alone six times a day? In both eyes? She's finally gotten used to it and puts up little fuss, but the first 6-7 applications involved me, Chason, and a screaming, screaming kid. It truly sucked for everyone.

Hence my book, Mr. Pinkeye. He has a comically pink eye, prompting the reader to find humor in the situation, and even though he doesn't like wiping gel into his eyeball every 2-1/2 hours, he knows that by doing so, his eye will go back to normal and he'll feel much better. And the one year old reader will think, "Huh. I guess this isn't so bad after all. I mean, if Mr. Pinkeye can deal with it, then gosh darnit, so can I." And the orders will pour in and I'll be a millionare. Everybody wins.

The best weekend ever

Romelie just had her best weekend so far. Only one fit all weekend, and it was a little one. Of course, it was in public, but for the most part, she was happy and playful all weekend long.

Before I brag about what an angel she was, I promised I’d mention these fits she’s been throwing. Sometimes they’re brought on by something obvious – she doesn’t want her diaper changed, she doesn’t want me to stick my finger in her nose, she doesn’t want to go in the car seat…you get the idea. But sometimes, out of nowhere, she just starts screaming. Her whole body arcs and stiffens, she cries and screams and writhes. It looks like she’s in pain, and for a while I figured it was teething-related, but she hasn’t had a new tooth in a few weeks, so I don’t think that’s it. It’s pretty tough to deal with, because you can’t really calm her down; you just have to wait until she’s done. I read on my favorite website, babycenter.com, that babies/toddlers throw tantrums like this because they’re frustrated but don’t know how to express themselves or control their emotions, and the best thing to do is to let it pass (either by ignoring it or by holding the kid until it’s over) and then talk about it after they’ve calmed down so they know that the behavior is unacceptable. So that’s what we do. But it’s tough when she’s throwing these fits off and on all evening – it makes it not so fun to spend time with her (sorry, but it does).

So that’s why this weekend was so amazing. Starting Friday when I picked her up from daycare, she was giggly and playful and attentive and happy all weekend. She cried a few times, but as I said, she only threw one fit, and it only lasted for less than a minute.

We did some fun stuff this weekend, too. Saturday we went to Baby Storytime at the library. It was our third Saturday going to this, and it’s a pretty great activity – one of the few events actually geared towards babies. We sing songs and read books and then they pull out a bin of toys for the babies to play with. Romelie actually played catch with me this time! She threw the ball in my general direction; I rolled it back. Afterwards, Chason and I took her to the MN Zoo. I’ve never been there in the winter (and haven’t been there at all in years), so it was pretty fun to look around. Romelie sat through the World of Birds show and didn’t make a peep; she was fascinated. Then Sunday we went to morning church to work in the nursery, and I only had to hold her about half the time – a huge improvement, since normally I have to hold her from the moment the first kid shows up until the last child leaves, anywhere from 1-2.5 hours. Then she sat through evening church with me and only got upset towards the end (that was when she threw her fit). But I stood up with her and bounced her and she calmed down pretty quickly.

I know that babies/toddlers throw tantrums, and I’m sure they’ll be plenty more to come in the future, but it was awfully nice to have a fun and pleasant weekend with my husband and kid.

No new pictures, but I do have a new video to share. This was at the nursery on Sunday. We get there at 9:00, but we don’t get our first kid until 9:30 (and sometimes not until closer to 10:30, when church starts), so Romelie has time to play and explore on her own. She’s a big fan of puzzles; she likes to pull all the pieces out and play with them. Well, last week, she figured out how to put one of the pieces – a ball – back into the puzzle. She’d take it out and put it back in and I’d clap and say ‘yay’ and then she’d do it again. So I got a video of her accomplishment. Enjoy!

My brilliant child

Sometimes I have “it’s hard to be a mom” days (especially since Romelie started throwing fits a few weeks ago), and at other times I have “it’s great to be a mom” days. Yesterday it was great. So we’ll focus on that and save the tantrum info for the next blog entry.

Before I get to the heart of this, I just want to mention that we had a very nice four day weekend for Thanksgiving. We had fun at my dad’s house and got to meet my cousin Brandon’s baby boy, Chase. We had lots of yummy food (and yummy leftovers!) and then spent the next three days relaxing. Good times.

Back to the yay-for-being-a-mom. Yesterday, Romelie said a new word. I haven’t really talked about her speech habits yet on this blog, but I’m pretty sure she’s now up to five words – mama, dada, yeah, hi and bye. She’s said these words out of context a thousand times, but she’s also said them appropriately on a number of different occasions, so I have to assume she at least has a general idea of what they mean. If we’re getting picky, I think ‘dada’ was her first word – she’s been saying it the longest.

Well, yesterday her new word was ‘bye.’ We were leaving daycare and I set her on the floor so I could get my shoes on. She crawled over to the door and peeked through its window at one of the boys from the daycare who had just left.

“Bye.”

Oh, that’s cute. She just made a sound like she was saying goodbye.

“Bye.”

Pause. “Romelie, are you saying ‘bye’ to Raiden?”

She waves at Raiden. “Bye.”

Too cute. Then later we went home and she started in on her favorite thing: finding tiny fuzzies on the floor and putting them in her mouth. Normally, we have to force our fingers through her clamped-shut jaws to extract the fuzzy. But yesterday:

“Romelie, open your mouth.” She does – and promptly shuts it. “Open it again, please.” She does – and I get the fuzzy.

Needless to say, she was heaped with praise about being a good listener. To be fair, later in the evening when a new fuzzy found its way into her mouth, it was business as usual, but for that one glorious moment, she followed directions. Twice.

Romelie's First Birthday

Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve written, but the trade off (to those who like reading) is lots of news to share.

Starting with…Romelie’s first birthday! It was a low-key event. I did end up getting a free cake from Lunds thanks to the nice lady working who was willing to accept Romelie’s social security card in the absence of a birth certificate. My dad came over earlier in the day to cut up a tree branch that had fallen in our front yard, so he got to see her on her birthday, and then my mom came into town. We went to church where they sang happy birthday to Romelie, and then went home for the eating of the cake. Romelie chowed that cake – I probably gave her too large a piece, so I kept subtly stealing some of the frosting away when she wasn’t paying attention so she was on less of a sugar high, but still – lots of cake was consumed. She got a few cute gifts, including a winter coat, so she should be set for the cold which has officially arrived here in Minnesota. All in all, it was a nice day.

Monday was her one-year doctor appointment, and I’m sorry to say that although she appears healthy in most every other way, she’s pretty significantly underweight. She’s 30 ½ inches long, but she only weighs 19 lbs 12 ounces. If they weighed her correctly at her 9-month appointment, that means she’s only gained 4 ounces in three months. Ouch. So we’re trying something new – feed her silly. Because Romelie doesn’t seem to have a “full” signal, I have pretty much fed her a set amount that seems reasonable for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Now I feed her and feed her and feed her until it seems like she’s eaten a ridiculous amount of food – and then I breastfeed her until she decides she’s done. She usually ends up spitting up a little; hopefully that’ll ease up once her body adjusts to this new system of eating nearly to excess. Last night, for example, she had some breastmilk, then cheerios, then 3.5 ounces of green beans baby food, then almost an entire burrito, then two ounces of whole milk. That’s almost more than I can eat.

And finally, Romelie has three teeth now. Her two lower middle teeth have been in for a little while, but we just discovered a third tooth on Saturday. It’s the top right one, but oddly enough it’s not the middle one; it’s the next one over (if I knew more about teeth I could name it, but that’s as descriptive as I can be). So we didn’t even know she was teething when she was acting fussy and had a runny nose all week because the tooth that came in wasn’t one we were expecting. Ah well – we’re new parents and we’re learning something new every day, right? Right.

Almost time for a birthday...

Romelie has a little bit of a temperature. She doesn’t seem to be sick, but she’s been sleeping more than usual. Two nights ago, she went to bed at 7:15 – and she would have fallen asleep on the floor earlier, but we had to keep her awake for dinner! So I don’t know if she’s coming down with something, or if it’s teething, or a growth spurt, or what. Hopefully it doesn’t get any worse.

As far as recent events go, Romelie got her picture taken with Santa last Thursday! I know, it’s a bit early for Santa, but we had an opportunity through our friend Erin to get a free picture taken at the Mall of America, and I’m cheap, so I took it. And I’m super glad I did because the picture is awesome! She was a bit fussy and I didn’t think she could handle sitting on his lap, but it was a professional photography studio that was hosting the Santa pictures, so they had all these props and tricks to getting the perfect shot. They got her all comfy in a little chair and got her laughing and smiling and then Santa just snuck into the shot behind her – she never even knew he was there! Pretty cute.

By the way, in case anyone was counting, only three more days until Romelie’s first birthday! We’re not having a party (technically she already had one in Texas, so she doesn’t need two), but my mom is coming into town and I’ll probably make her a little cake. I was going to get a free one from Lunds, which again, cheap-o that I am, I was really revved about, but you need to show a copy of her birth certificate and I have only just realized – we either never got one or accidently threw it away! Which stinks. We can get a new one (which I’ll probably take care of next week), but not in time for her birthday, obviously. Ah well. Homemade cake equals love, right? Right. Look for a new blog with loads of pictures after Romelie is one year old!!

Election Day

Romelie encourages you to get out and vote. She is not ashamed to publicly endorse her candidate. Yes, ladies and gentlemen…Romelie is hoping you vote Grover for President.

(I love this shirt. It was mine when I was a baby.)

Romelie and I had a fun weekend up at Gramma Carol and Grandpa John’s. They did a haunted house at Huntersville (local bar/restaurant) and had some local high school students, friends, etc. hand out candy and cheerios and stuff. It was pretty fun, and Romelie wasn’t scared at all. In fact, she helped hand out little stuffed animals to kids at the end of the path.

Other fun things. We went to see "High School Musical 3" (judge all you want, it was awesome). We spent time with the duckies and puppies and etc. And my camera batteries were dead, so I didn’t get any pictures of this, but we went to a pumpkin patch that had all these kid-friendly activities, and one of them was a corn maze. We seriously couldn’t get through it. It took, like, 30 minutes. I finally had to cheat and go back out the entrance and come in through the exit to see where I had gone wrong. Very ridiculous.

The weather, by the way, has been gorgeous. 70 degrees and sunny. I haven’t had to bundle Romelie up in her winter gear, nor have I had to force socks on her (since she takes them off anyway). This picture, however, was taken just last week when it was 30 degrees and snowing. Love that Minnesota.

Happy Halloween (almost)!

Romelie has finally sprouted her first tooth! (Insert fanfare.) I know, I know, most babies already have, like, six teeth by now, but that’s why it’s all the more exciting for my little one. And I will treat this like an accomplishment, thank you very much. She was actually very good for Paul and Carrie and Gramma Carol on Thursday and Friday, but she did cry for about an hour both on Saturday and Sunday. No problems yesterday, though, and you can finally feel the little jagged thing in there (it’s the bottom right tooth, for posterity purposes). Now we just have to wait for the rest of them to come through. Poor little babies having to go through this torture over and over again…

Speaking of torture – I dressed Romelie up for Halloween! We went to my cousin Sheila’s home with Paul and Carrie this weekend and Romelie got dressed in her costume, and just LOOK how stinkin’ CUTE she is!! Aww. Adorable. Sheila’s house was crazy decked out for the holidays, and there were quite a few kids roaming about, but Romelie was a bit young for the games. She did enjoy picking at the piñata, though, so I got a pic of her and her Uncle Paul. We have two more Halloween celebrations to attend this week, and I’m very excited to dress her up some more. The best part is that she doesn’t seem to mind the costume. Put a hat on her, and she pulls it off immediately (or socks, or shoes, or mittens…), but she left her little ears alone. The feet didn’t stay on long, but that’s okay.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Whirlwind weekend

We're back from our whirlwind trip to Houston. It was good to see everyone, and I definitely didn't take enough pictures (my camera was acting a little funky), but I think I've got some good highlights to post.

Saturday night we went to see Crystal's show. It was fun to get to meet a few of her students and see her classroom and give congrats on all her hard work. Finally, she'll be able to relax a bit; well deserved. Then on Sunday, Steve and Angel hosted an early birthday party for Romelie! She had her first taste of birthday cake - cried when we took it away - and got to open her first presents. I stink at sending thank you cards, but really - to everyone - thank you!! BTW, this picture of her at her party - tell me she doesn't look JUST like me in this picture. First time I've ever really seen myself in her; very exciting. Then on Monday we went to the zoo with Bronwyn and family. Romelie liked the goats and the monkeys and the leopard (or was it a cheetah?), but I think her favorite part of the day was when I gave her a few slurps of my ice cream cone. I know, I know, but hey - it's dairy, right? And she only had a taste. And then home again Tuesday morning, back at work Tuesday afternoon. I was sleepy.

Now it seems that Romelie may or may not be ready to finally cut her first tooth. Apparently she scream-cried for an hour at daycare yesterday - something she never does. Jen thought she felt a tooth just starting to poke through, so she figured that was why Romelie was so upset. Now she's up at my mom's house for the next couple of days to spend time with her and Uncle Paul and Carrie while they're in town, and she seems fine. So who knows. Honestly, I thought the kid was teething back when she was five months old or so, and I've just about given up on predictions. When I can see a tooth, I'll acknowledge that she's teething.

Finally, one more cute picture taken before we left for Houston of her napping - I love when she curls up to sleep like this, and it's even cuter when she clutches her Winnie the Pooh and Tigger in each hand. Love the baby. Love her.

Here's what's occupying my thoughts today...

I am a C...
I am a C-H...
I am a C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N.
And I have C-H-R-I-S-T in my H-E-A-R-T
And I will L-I-V-E E-T-E-R-N-A-L-L-Y!

At Corner Church, they always start out the service with a kids' song. This past Sunday, they sang the above song, which I had never heard before. It has been running through my head ever since. Like, ALL DAY LONG. I can't get it to go away. It's a cute song and all, but it's starting to drive me nutty.

Volleyball season is over! Yay! I mean, my team was great and all, but I'm ready to go back to a normal work week. We lost our last game of the season, which is too bad - always nice to end on a good note - but for fun, Romelie and I went to the Varsity game last night. Last season, one of the girls on my team got me a hooded sweatshirt that says "Little Red Knight" on it, so I got Romelie all dressed up and we cheered on the players. It was fun, she was well-behaved (Cheerios helped), but it went long so we had to leave before everything was done. Not before I got this super cute picture of us in our Red Knights gear, though!

Three more days to Houston...yay again! I'm in a yay kind of mood this morning. Perhaps it's the coffee. I'm excited to see everyone and to have an excuse to take lots of pictures - the picture-taking slows down when I don't have an event to take pictures during. And Angel, I got pictures printed up and they should arrive at my house tomorrow, so hopefully they won't get lost in the mail or anything!

What else...ooh, I know...I got Romelie a Halloween costume! Also will be arriving in the mail. I got it on zwaggle.com - if you haven't been to the site before, you should check it out. People put their gently used family items on their that they don't need anymore (kids clothes, DVDs, furniture, etc.) and you can get "zoints" for every item you "sell." Then you use your zoints to buy other stuff. I got rid of most of my maternity clothes on this site, and I've used my zoints to buy Baby Einstein DVDs and some cute clothes for Romelie and now, a Halloween costume! I won't spoil the fun and tell you what it is - I'll wait until I have an excuse to take pictures. Romelie's too young for trick-or-treating, but she is going to a pumpkin carving party at a co-worker's house and a Halloween party at my cousin Sheila's house and she may go up to visit Gramma Carol and check out a haunted house. So plenty of opportunities to wear the costume - hope she likes it!

Look for a Houston happenings blog entry later next week!

Immunities, Houston, and style

Romelie puts everything in her mouth. Everything. Toys, cat fur, almost a dead bug yesterday, and last night at church, she put these blocks in her mouth that must be covered in germs (they’re these political build-a-sentence wooden blocks, and she put at least six of the eight right in her mouth). Gross. Building up immunities, building up immunities…

We just had a good weekend with our little germ eater. We went on a walk on Saturday (got to get those in before it gets too cold), watched some football, went to church(es), and – oh yeah – booked flights to Houston!! That’s right, baby, we’re going to Houston in less than two weeks! It was a bit impromptu, but there were reasonably-priced direct flights available. So we’re going from the Oct. 18-21, and we’ll get to see Steve and Angel and Crystal (and her play!) and Bronwyn/Shane/Greta/Torin and it’ll be awesome! And I hear from Crystal that the air conditioners are still running in Houston (whereas we just turned on our heat in good ol’ MN) so Romelie will have one last opportunity to sport her summer gear.

Speaking of clothing (random segue, but I’m all over the place this morning), Romelie got some new duds finally. I got her a plethora of size 12 month fall/winter clothes, including some footy pajamas, fuzzy sweatpants, and other cute outfits at Children’s Place. Man, that store is overpriced considering how quickly she’ll grow out of these clothes, but I had a gift card, so everything I bought only cost me $4. And Grandma Carol got her a few outfits last week (including some Vikings onesies and a few Halloween outfits), so Romelie will be looking stylish for the fall. I now have three bins labeled “outgrown clothes.” I don’t want to get rid of anything yet since we plan on having another baby eventually, but I can see this getting ridiculous by the time baby #2 comes along.

I think that covers the last week or so.

Ready for another Vikings season!

I’m back from Indianapolis. The Colts lost while I was there, while the Vikings won while I was away. Then of course yesterday, they lost again. The Vikings seem to lose when I watch the games – maybe I should just stop watching now. I have cute pictures of Romelie in her new Vikings hat to post – I’ll get them up ASAP.

My teeth don’t hurt any more; thanks for the concerns! I did end up going back to the dentist but there wasn’t anything unusual going on and they said to try giving it a few more weeks. I get a little twinge every now and then, but I think I’m good to go.

The trip was fine, and I missed my family (of course). Romelie was a very good baby while I was gone. She got to spend a couple days up with Grandma Carol and loved watching the ducks and geese and puppies and the entire menagerie. I got special searched on the way there AND on the way back, and while I was permitted to transport my cooler o’ breastmilk, they insisted on taking every single bag of it out, laying on the counter, and testing it with some wand-looking device. So that was a little embarrassing, but at least they didn’t make me throw any of it away.

New Romelie news – three times now, she’s pulled herself up to standing! It happened twice a couple Thursdays ago (9/18) when she pulled herself up using the couch so she could get a better look at the cat who was sitting there. Both times, she freaked out when she realized that she didn’t know how to get back down – the second time, she seemed resigned to just freefall sideways, so I had to catch her. Then she did it late last week in daycare. So apparently, she’s planning on skipping right over sitting up and crawling (two things she has yet to even attempt) and go straight to standing. Brilliant.

I’ll get those pictures up tonight, hopefully. Still waiting on the pictures from visiting Uncle Paul in Wisconsin (my mom brought them down, but I forgot to ask for them, so I don’t know if they’re in my house somewhere or what). I’m a slacker, we all know that.

**Update 10/2 - Pics are up! And I got the ones from Wisconsin, so I'll try to get those up tonight or tomorrow.

Teeth

No, not Romelie’s teeth. Mine. Romelie, though she turned 10 months old yesterday, has yet to sprout a single tooth. I, on the other hand, had my first dentist appointment in I’m-not-telling how long, and had four cavities. They have since been taken care of, and now I have horrible, horrible pain on the entire lower right side of my mouth. I don’t know if something went wrong or it’s just being overly sensitive, but I’m giving it another week and then I’m going back in to get it checked out. Boo teeth problems. Better believe I’ve been a professional flosser lately, though.

Romelie has started finger foods. To be fair, she started finger foods a couple weeks ago, but I’m just remembering to blog about it now. She eats cheerios and pasta like a champ. I tried banana last night, and I don’t know what genius thinks bananas are good finger foods since they’re too slippery for her to hold on to them. I ended up just feeding them to her. But she’s improving daily at the whole hand-eye coordination thing.

Unfortunately, I’ll be leaving my family for a few days coming up here. I’m going to Indianapolis for a work conference – I leave Sunday morning and don’t come back until Wednesday night. My mom’s coming down to help Chason with Romelie so he doesn’t get completely exhausted. I’ll miss everyone, but I’m most worried right now about pumping while I’m gone. My boss arranged so I’ll have a fridge in my hotel room, but I need to transport it all back through airport security. The TSA website says a mom, even a mom traveling without a child, can transport breastmilk through security, but it specifies that it must be “in reasonable quantities for the duration of your itinerary.” Does 60 ounces (since that’s about what I’ll get in 3-1/2 days) count as reasonable?

Wish me luck…sorry, no new pictures to share.

Kung Fu baby

Apparently Romelie is determined to be a fighter. Here's a long and dark but still awfully cute video of Romelie kicking Joe repeatedly and finding this to be the most hilarious thing ever. Enjoy.

A visit to Wisconsin and a fight

For Labor Day weekend, my mom, Romelie and I went to Spring Green, WI, to visit my brother and his girlfriend Carrie and see their shows at American Players Theatre. Romelie was very well behaved for the 4.5 hour drive (closer to 5.5 on the way out there – traffic was not our friend), and she was generally pretty good for everyone. Paul found a couple of babysitters from the company to watch her so mom and I could see the plays, and she was reportedly very well behaved for them, which was a relief. Other than her grandparents and Crystal, she’s never really had a babysitter before.

We had a great time in Wisconsin. Romelie’s big into separation anxiety, so she cried nearly every time Paul picked her up (sorry!!), but she had a lot of fun with him, too, and it was great to get to know Carrie a little bit better. They were fantastic in the shows (we saw “Henry IV,” “Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “The Belle’s Stratagem”) and we ate really well – quiche and ribs and s’mores and banana bread and all sorts of home-cooked treats. I remember when I used to cook…now Chason and I eat pizza three nights a week. Sorry, hubby. Anyway, Paul took lots of pictures but I forgot to get them from my mom before she went home so I don’t have any to post yet – but I’ll get them up later, don’t worry.

Also, yesterday Romelie got into her very first fight. Yup, you heard me right. One of the girls in her daycare tried to steal her bottle yesterday while Jen was changing the diaper of another little one (the girl is about 13 months, so she wasn’t being mean or anything…just saw a bottle and decided she wanted it!). Well, Romelie wasn’t about to give up her bottle and fought for it, so they ended up scratching at each other. Romelie’s smaller, so she got the worse of it. Jen felt really bad, but I understand she can’t be there every second. And it could’ve been worse but it wasn’t, and Romelie’s fine, so what can you do? My little Rocky…getting in fights…

Finally, Romelie has been doing this spitting thing for months now, but I finally managed to get a video of it yesterday. It's really cute except when she does it with a mouthful of food.

General updates

Romelie had her 9-month well-baby check-up (do all those words need to be hyphenated? It seems excessive…). She is 29.5 inches long and 19 lbs. 10 oz. So she’s still long and lean. She also has some funky skin patches that may be eczema or may be ringworm (ew, fungus). We’re treating it as eczema for now and we’ll see what happens. No major concerns, otherwise. She didn’t have to have any immunizations, either, so she was moderately pleasant for Dr. Mitchell (and she got to see Dr. Dukinfield, technically her pediatrician but hard to schedule appointments with, as well).

Volleyball is in full swing. Everyone’s working hard, I’m exhausted and don’t have to do all the work that I’m making my players do (not that my job isn’t tough, too), and I think it’s gonna be a long season. But a good one. Kudos to Chason who’s taking on his extra daddy-and-baby time while I’m at practice without complaint.

And Crystal is officially in Houston. Sad Danni. Now she gets to read the blog for updates, too! We love you, Crystal. Say “hi” to Houston for us.

Slacking on the picture taking. I’ll get on it, I promise.

Change is in the air

Cousin Jessica is pregnant! More babies in the family; hope people can stand all the cute!

Speaking of the cute, Romelie got a gift in the mail yesterday from our friends Scott and Ellen who’ve been touring with Up With People for the last year. This dress came from Thailand, and even though it’s a bit large for her, I couldn’t resist taking a photo. Check out their amazing stories at http://www.schmenebojourney.blogspot.com/.

Some sad news to announce – Crystal (affectionatly called Aunt Crystal) is moving to Texas in a week. She’s got a great job teaching theater in the CyFair schools near Houston, and I’m super happy for her, but I will miss her very very very much. She’s been a big part of Romelie’s life, and it’ll be hard not to see her every week, but the good news is – hey – Houston. We go there. So we’ll see plenty of her and hopefully will live not too far from her in the not-so-distant future. So Texans, treat her well and invite her over for dinner now and again!

Life’s about to get a little crazy ‘round here. I start volleyball on Monday, which means Chason is going to be on baby duty until I get home in the evenings for the next couple of months. I can’t believe I have three jobs again. Granted, one of them is only two hours on Sundays, and I can bring Romelie along – have I written about that? I work at a church daycare Sunday mornings. It’s a pretty easy job and the kids are sweet. But still – three jobs. Hope I have an awesome team of girls again this year – last year was a great season.

One more cute picture of Romelie just for the grandparents. Check back for more updates soon.

Cake walks and army crawling

Romelie crawls! Okay, well, she doesn't crawl, but she army crawls. She started Thursday night, just pushing herself around with her toes. Well, Friday at day care, she was apparently army crawling all over the place, and she continues to hone her skills today. She's becoming pretty good at it - check out the video of her crawling earlier today.

We got out some this week. Tuesday was our neighborhood carnival/party thing, so we went to check it out. We bought tickets for hot dogs but they were all sold out so we used our tickets to do the cake walk. Like, three times. No luck, unfortunately, but a good first cake walk experience.

Tomorrow night we're going to my dad's house to meet Great Uncle Bill and his family. They moved to Florida last summer and haven't met Romelie yet, so hopefully she'll put on her cute face. For those still uncertain, here are a few examples of what her cute face looks like:

Thomas family reunion

We just got back from St. Simons Island in Georgia. For those of you who have never been to Georgia…it’s hot there. Very hot.

We had a great time visiting with relatives. Romelie and I met lots of new people, while Chason had a chance to reconnect with family he hadn’t seen in some time. We arrived Friday evening and headed over to Duane and Carol’s (I hope I have the right spelling of Duane…someone correct me if I’m wrong!!). Carol is Chason’s second cousin (right? Mom’s cousin), and a fantastic cook. We went there Saturday night as well and had an amazing meal called a Low Country Boil which consisted of shrimp, sausage, corn, potatoes and onion. Delicious. I think I ate enough food in Georgia to feed at least two people. And we got to watch a video from about 20 years ago that was pretty fun – little Chason, aww…

Sunday was the big reunion, and we met lots of people. Lots. I remember some names, and I feel proud for that. Then great uncle Glenn took us on a tour of some Thomas family sites, including the house that he grew up in. It was pretty amazing, and Romelie was very well-behaved through the whole thing (thank goodness).

Most of the rest of the time was spent relaxing. We went to the pool a couple times and sat on the beach. Romelie loved playing in the dry sand, but she was scared of the crashing waves so we never actually made into the ocean (unlike her cousin Greta who played naked in the waves – super cute!). Monday we went on a boat ride with Duane and Carol and saw an alligator – well spotted, Chason – and ate more food.

All in all, good vacationing. Thanks so much to Diane and Roy for the gift of our accommodations – they were in a perfect location, and we had fun playing Spoons and Apples to Apples with the cousins. I’ll end this blog with an explanation of this video – Amanda, when she was about a year old in the video we watched Saturday, was asked the question, “How big is Amanda?” She responded by lifting both hands over her head, touchdown-style. Super cute. Well, Bronwyn starting asking the same question of Romelie, and Romelie did this:

Puppies and duckies and babies...oh, fer cute!

As promised:

and of course...

The puppies one didn't turn out so well. I was hoping to put her on her tummy and let the puppies crawl around her, but one of the puppies nipped her hand and she cried. So I figured it wasn't worth torturing her for a picture.

She comes home today! Romelie, we miss you!

And just for the record...I got no cleaning done. Chason and I went to dinner on Monday night and saw Iron Man last night. First movie in the theaters in a LONG time. Good stuff.

Fun times ahead

Just thought I'd send an update on our plans for the next couple of weeks. This weekend, we're headed up to my mom's place to see her baby puppies and baby ducklings. Many, many pictures involving babies, puppies, and ducklings will take place, so be sure to check back to see all the cuteness next week. Then the following weekend, we'll be heading down to Georgia for a Thomas reunion (that's Chason's mom's dad's family - I think that's right). So we'll get to see the cousins and aunts and grandmommy again as well as meet some new folks. Romelie's third vacation involving a plane ride...what a lucky baby.

We're also going to have our first few days without Romelie coming up. Jen (her daycare provider) is taking her one-week vacation next week, so my mom is going to watch Romelie. But she'll be watching her at HER home on Monday and Tuesday and at our home Wednesday and Thursday, which means...we'll be leaving her with her gramma for two nights. Sob. The "brighter-side-of-things" me is excited to get the house clean without interruption (I know, the brighter-side-of-things me is lame-o), but the rest of me is going to be super sad and a big worry wart while she's away. But this is good, right? It'll be a big step, but not a bad one, and it's only two days. She'll spend the whole time laughing at the puppies (that's what she does with our cats, anyways), she won't even notice that Chason and I aren't there. Maybe.

So that's it. Plus work and BBQs and baby food making and other merriment. Ooh, and working out. Started doing that last Monday. No dieting, though - I tried eating less and my milk supply went WAY down, so apparently my body won't accept anything less than tons of food. Thanks, body.

Look Who's Talking

Romelie has started talking. A lot. Friday afternoon, we picked her up from day care, and she was making the same vowel-heavy sounds she always makes (aaaaaah, hi-yaaaa, etc.), when all of a sudden, she busts out with "dada."

Chason looks at me. "Did she just say da-da?"

"No," I say, "of course not."

She looks at me. "Mama."

"Oh, my gosh - she said mama!"

She also got out lala, and blah blah blah - which she has now shown a preference for. But yes, ladies and gents, Romelie officially babbles. She doesn't know what she's saying yet, I know, but we have reached the babbling milestone, and it's super cute.

On a different note, allergies have taken over the household. Romelie's nose is forever crusty, I slept for 12 hours last night, and Chason and I both sneeze up a storm everywhere we go. The fun part is that we started summer camp yesterday at work, and it's proving difficult to keep a clear head with 27 little 6-8 year olds running around. There are lots of counselors this year, though, so plenty of people to step up in my feeling stinky-ness. Of course, I'll be outside for 3.5 hours tomorrow in the woods teaching girl scouts - let's see how I'm doing after that!

I haven't taken any pictures since Texas, sorry...I'll get on it soon, I promise :)

Gross. Ick. Blech.

So I was sorting Romelie's laundry, pre-treating stains (on clothes, not bibs...that's what they're for, right?), when I came across one of the bibs she'd worn late last week when bananas were her new food to try. They were mashed, with a bit of breastmilk added to thin them out. Smelled pretty gross when she urped a bit up, but she seemed to like it. Well, the banana that had landed on her bib had turned brown and really gross looking. Too bad, hope it doesn't get banana on the rest of the laundry. Then I come across another banana bib, also pretty brown, but wait - what's that? What's that GROWING on the bib? Oh my Lord...it's MOLD. A bib, and a washcloth I had used to clean her face afterwards, had both grown MOLD. In her laundry hamper.

And we now have one less washcloth and bib. Luckily we have thousands more, but still - gross. Ick. Blech.

Minneapolis...we've returned

The stars at night are big and bright (clap clap clap clap) deep in the heart of Texas! Also, it’s hot there. They forgot to put that into the song.

Texas trip was fantastic. Gotta start off with the flight, though. So we’re at the gate, waiting to board the plane, when Chason notices a guy who looks an awful lot like Brian Robison, football player for the MN Vikings. I couldn’t tell you who’s who on the team, so I’m not super helpful in figuring out if it’s really him or not, and Chason doesn’t want to ask in case it’s not him. So whatever, we board the flight, and who sits down directly in front of us? Robert Ferguson, also a MN Viking, and former high school classmate and teammate of Chason! So they got to chat and catch up, and it turns out the other guy was Brian Robison, also going home for the weekend to visit his family. So Chason was just being cool, hanging out with a couple of Vikings on the plane. Nice.

Romelie got a little sick during her vacation (coughing and stuff), so she was a bit fussy for the first day or so, but that cleared up by the time she went to meet her aunt and uncle and cousins. Greta is such a cutie! Big round cheeks, very strong baby, seems super coordinated compared to Romelie! And then on Sunday, Steve and Angel hosted the family for a big barbeque and swim party – which was awesome. She met her great grandma Nona and her great aunts and uncles and second cousins and lots of friends – she was pretty well-behaved for everyone, went swimming, bounced in a horsie-thing, and generally had fun. Mom and Dad had a lot of fun, too!

Since returning from Houston, we’ve been super busy. Crystal and I ran an activity tent this weekend at the International Children’s Festival in St. Paul, so there was a lot of prep work going on last week, and my mom came down so she could help Chason with Romelie while I was away all weekend. Have I mentioned that I started working at a church daycare on Sundays? If not – I’ve started working at a church daycare on Sundays. Just a couple hours in the morning, but it’s a little extra income to cover expenses. Between that, the activity tent, some palm reading gigs I’m doing at senior graduation parties this week, and our economic stimulus check – we’re raking in the dough! Yay…putting the money into savings. Thrilling.

Last note – Romelie wouldn’t sleep in her crib last night. Every time we laid her down, even if she was sound asleep, she wake up and start scream crying. Kept rolling onto her tummy and couldn’t figure out how to get back. This went on for over an hour until we finally just took her to bed with us for the night. So I’m a bit sleepy today. Every send good prayers that she doesn’t do this again tonight.

Houston, here we come!

Tonight…we fly. Is that from a movie? Whatever, doesn’t matter – we’re headed to Texas tonight! Steve and Angel are awesome and are flying us and Romelie down for a long weekend, so we leave tonight around 7:00 and come back Monday evening. Four day weekend in TX, woo-hoo!

Romelie is very excited to see her Nanny and Papa again (did I get that right?), and is looking forward to meeting all sorts of family members, including her great grandma, her great aunts and uncles, second cousins, and her Aunt Bronwyn, Uncle Shane, and her cousins. (And we’re looking forward to meeting our new niece Greta as well!) We do sincerely hope that she doesn’t spit up on any of these lovely people but apologize in advance for when she inevitably does. She’s been spitting up a lot more since she started solid foods. Anyone know what that’s all about? Is it just immature digestive system, or is she trying to tell me she’s allergic? That’s the problem with the ambiguous spit-up vs. throw-up – not knowing how much it takes to qualify as the latter.

We’ve also been working with her on consonants lately. She’s really good at making noise, but hasn’t gotten to babbling yet (ma-ma-ma-ma, ba-ba-ba-ba…you get the point). So Chason’s been trying to get her to say da-da. So far, no luck, but it’s pretty funny to watch – he says “da-da;” she shakes her head no. He says “da-da;” she shakes her head no and laughs. Cuteness.

I’ll be taking plenty of photos in Texas, so check the blog again after we return from our trip!

Who's a big girl?

Romelie had her 6-month check up yesterday and she is…drum roll, please…17 lbs 8 oz! Still 28 inches long (she may have grown a quarter inch or so), but 17.5 pounds…whoofda. So last night, she officially made the move to her big girl bed. No longer in her bassinet (which only is good up to 18 pounds), last night was her very first night sleeping in her crib. She apparently didn’t care, as she slept just fine. Of course, that means that I’m now trying to put a new system of organization into place in her room because we’ve just lost out on two major storage places – under the bassinet, where her toys were stored, and inside the crib, where blankets, snuglis, big stuffed animals, hats and mittens, childproofing devices, her car seat, and any random items that didn’t have a place to go were stored. I’ll be heading to good ol’ Target in the next few days, and I’ll be sure to post pictures once I get everything fixed up.

Also learned something new about Romelie yesterday – she has a heart murmur. Dr. Mitchell didn’t seem too concerned (we don’t have to give her antibiotics or go to a specialist or anything yet), but it’s there. Sigh. Since I wasn’t told to worry, I’m going to choose not to for the moment until I hear otherwise.

And we tried a new food last night – sweet potatoes. Yummy. She ate an entire ounce and was still hungry, so I gave her some rice cereal. We’ll stick with this for a few days to make sure she tolerates it well, and then we move on to either acorn squash or pears – whichever one I decide to make first (probably pears). Making baby food is super fun, by the way – and healthier and cheaper. That’s my mommy motto – healthy and cheap.

I haven’t taken any pics since Florida, but look for more updates soon!

Florida Fun!

Oh, it's been ages. Ages since I've written. Sorry.

The biggest news (a bit old now) is that Romelie and I went to Orlando! Yup, we went down to visit with my mom, who was there on vacation, and my brother, who was there for my cousin's wedding which I was unable to attend. My dad was down in FL, too, though we were at different times, so it was a big ol' Florida party.

Romelie had a lot of fun. She went swimming for the very first time, and she got to experience warm weather and actually spend time outside for once! She's still too young for sunscreen, so we had to keep her in the shade all the time, but it was still good for her to get outside. We went to Busch Gardens and Sea World - she really enjoyed the animal shows. We also went to Daytona Beach for a day and she got to play in the sand - not in the ocean, though...way too many waves, mom's not that coordinated to begin with. As you can imagine, Romelie did get a bit exhausted from all the partying. So she slept in some pretty odd places during the trip :)

Since we've been back (we were down a couple weeks ago and came back 4/24), we've had some other fun events. We attended the wedding of our friends and former roommates Kevin and Nicole - very beautiful wedding, lots of fun, adorable couple. Chason was a groomsman for the event, and he looked very handsome in his tux. Crystal got to be on baby duty for a couple nights in a row (both the rehearsal dinner and the wedding) but Romelie was apparently fairly well-behaved. So that was a relief. And I had a couple of beers for the first time in over a year! To be fair, I've had a beer here and there since Romelie was born, but never more than one - not allowed, unless you're not going to be breasfeeding for a while. So that was new.

What else - Romelie moved up a diaper size - she's now wearing size 3's. She's so big! And she's just as smart as ever - her favorite things to do are spit, pull hair, and stick her toes in her mouth. Good times.

Her 6-month checkup is on Monday, so I promise to update soon with the vital stats. Happy upcoming mom's day!

Happy birthday Chason!

I'm a bit late in typing this entry. It's been brewing.

Chason's birthday was April 10, and his mom and Aunt Karen came for a visit! We had a great time with these fun ladies, and Romelie Ann enjoyed meeting her Great Aunt for the first time. If you haven't already seen it, check out the video of them serenading Romelie during her breakfast. It's fabulous.

Also, on April 11, Romelie had a bonus well-baby checkup just to check her weight and height and see if she's now eating enough. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr (drum roll) rrrrrrrrr - 16 pounds, 2 ounces! And 28 inches long. So she's back up to 90% for weight, which is where she used to be and therefore where she's supposed to be. Yay, Metoclopram! And we'll be starting her on her first solids in about a week, which should be fun for all. Go, rice cereal and breastmilk. Appetizing.

I'm keeping it short cause she's been napping for about 25 minutes now, and her weekend naps usually only last about 30...so I will compensate by adding a new video - Romelie driving. And only 5 months old. I'm telling you, she's advanced.

Dinner Theater

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Remember the movie "A Perfect Storm?" That movie pissed me off. Because they said at the beginning that it was based on a true story. And then (spoiler alert) everyone on board the ship dies. So the only part of the story that was true was that a ship went out, there was a big storm, and it never came back. But all the crap about them catching tons of fish and then their ice maker breaks and that's why they come back despite the storm and all the other adventures are all made up. True story, my bottom.

Well, we had our own little perfect storm this weekend (having nothing to do with my tangent above). The plan was simple. On Saturday, I had to teach in St. Cloud (about 90 minutes away in the direction of my mom and John's place, for those non-Minnesotan readers), so I figured I'd bring Romelie along. My mom could watch her while I was teaching, then we could drive the last two hours to Menahga, spend the night at the cabin, and then return to Minneapolis sometime Sunday.

Here's what REALLY happened.

Saturday night, there was a huge snowstorm in Menahga. For the record, no snow fell in Minneapolis. None. By 10:00 pm, the power had been knocked out and I was changing Romelie's diapers and feeding her by candlelight. Good times. By Sunday morning, power was back, but Romelie was sick. Fever, cough, the works. She'd been a bit fussy Saturday, but now she was sick, and I hadn't thought to bring Infant Tylenol for a 24-hour trip. So my mom had to drive 20 miles through 2 feet of snow to get medicine from Walmart. Meanwhile, the snow kept falling - we were not going to be driving back that day. I called in to my boss and left a message saying that I'd be out Monday. Romelie kept whimpering all day cause she didn't feel well and didn't know how to cough the phlegm out of her lungs - pretty pitiful to see. But I took a picture anyway.

Monday morning, snow finally stops - and the van gets stuck in the mud for an hour. I call to check my cell phone messages to learn that my boss hadn't gotten my voicemail and no one at The Bakken knows where I am. Awesome.

We finally get on the road at 3:00 and are home by 6:30. The only blessing is that Romelie sleeps the whole way home. Oh, by the way...it's my mom's birthday. Which she spent digging a van out of the mud and driving 3-1/2 hours. Good times.

That was my series of unfortunate events. Now Romelie is mostly better, but she hasn't been sleeping well for the past 2 weeks, which means I haven't been sleeping well, which means every day I get crankier and crankier. It was totally understandable when she was sick, but now that she's mostly better - I just want her to stop waking up 3-4 times a night. Too much.

On a better note, we got to see some old friends last week - we visited CLIMB on Thursday and had lunch with Shad and James, and saw some former CLIMBers on Friday night at a coffee shop near Uptown.

Can't wait to see Gramma Diane and Great Aunt Karen tomorrow!! Be warned: it's supposed to snow this weekend. You may THINK you're leaving on Sunday...

Happy Easter! (yesterday)

Romelie’s last feeding was at about 11:00 last night. I woke up (well, she woke me up) at 6:30 this morning, and I was totally ENGORGED. So much milk was my body producing, it was literally painful. And I’m not complaining – I’m gloating. This Metoclopram has worked so much better than I ever hoped. It’s awesome not to have to worry about my milk supply, whether or not I’m underfeeding Romelie (especially since, apparently, I was), or feeling like I need to ration-feed her so we have some milk left for later. I now have an ABUNDANCE of milk. Take that, same time last week! In your face, 75% weight to 97% length! Look out, 3-6 month clothes, cause I’m about to fatten up my baby! (Insert inspirational Rocky-theme-like music here)

Enough of that craziness. With any luck, you won’t have to read about my breasts for a while, so hey – added bonus.

We had a fabulous Easter. Romelie got to do a little search for her Easter presents (see picture of her finding one of her presents), then we went to church, had lunch at my dad’s (and got to take home leftovers…yummy ham sandwiches for lunch…), and Chason and I went on two – count ‘em, TWO – dates this weekend! Saturday night we went out to dinner at a Middle Eastern place by our house called Shiraz, and Sunday night we saw “Jane Eyre” at the Guthrie (thank you, babysitting Gramma Carol). Don’t worry, we spent plenty of time playing with the baby, too.