First Hibachi Experience

I'm not quite a food adventurist... I generally order the same thing at familiar restaurants and don't venture out too far from my "norm". I'm sure all of you are sighing a sad sigh. I know. I know. So when we were in Fargo a few weeks ago and my SIL LJ decided we were going to try the new Japanese restaurant I was a tid bit leary. BUT, I'm so glad we went! It's called Kobe and if at least two people are ordering from the hibachi menu, you get to sit at the hibachi. It was so much fun. First of all, we got served some mushroom soup. (which I didn't touch at all... ick!) But, I'm glad my cutie pie nephew BJ doesn't share my taste, because we may have missed this situation: B finished his soup and darted around the table to mommy (LJ) to exclaimed, "The toup is touper touper good!!" : )

Then came the "show"! Of course I did miss some of it due to a certain baby who seems to only get hungry when it's time for mommy and daddy to eat! But, parts I didn't miss were niecey LJ getting scared out of her mind at the fire parts of the show. As SIL LJ put it later, she was not just scared she was pissed at them for having the nerve to have fire there. She started on a chair next to LJ. Then, inched off the chair to behind mommy LJ. Then, the next thing we knew, she was against the wall with her hands over her eyes! (JJ has this picture on his cellphone!)

Another part of the show was when the hibachi griller (?) cut vegetables and attempted to throw them into people's mouths. It took BIL AJ a few tries and then the griller practically drowned him in what he called sake. Next up was nephew BJ. He didn't quite get the concept and the griller did his best to get a veggie in there, throwing three at a time a few times. heehee Next up was yours truly, and, ahem, I hate to gloat, but I caught mine on the first try! I guess I just have a big mouth? We'll say a good throw plus good coordination. heehee... yeah... that's what we'll say.

At one point the griller had a fire going... I think it was the volcano fire at this time (stacks of onion), and he had to put out the fire. He had this little water bottle in the shape of a little boy... and the boy "peed" out the water. He "put out" the fire and then went to fill up nephew BJ's mouth...

So, all in all, the restaurant was very entertaining and I quite enjoyed my hibachied (is that a word?) veggies.

Oh no you didn't!

Today I was talking to MVJ and all of a sudden she lifted up her hand and covered my mouth!!

Baby Watch!

My good friend CLJ is due TODAY! Yesterday was her brother's wedding. Boo for the timing, but congratulations to A and JA! : ) C's hubby JPJ went to the wedding, along with her mom of course (her top two birthing coaches), so I was priveledged to be able to hang out with her for the day just in case little Mr. J decided to make his appearance. What do women do the day before their due date? I can't answer that personally, but for CLJ, it was BAKE! Yay! The house is cleaned from when her Mom was here the week before... baby boy J's room is totally set up and just waiting for its owner... she did a bunch of cooking with her Mom (chili, chicken and rice, etc)... her thank you notes are in the mail... yup -- it sounded like baking was definitely the thing to do!


We baked and decorated over 100 cookies so she can be all ready to celebrate this new little guy! (Ooh, and check out her new mixer! So fun!) Little miss MVJ was pretty good... but did need some attention of course and we also took a supper break (mmmm.... Blue Moose!), but this is basically what we did all evening! Towards the end, I started running out of ideas and made a few that I wasn't exactly happy with. So... I ended up taking one for the team and being a super duper taste tester. . . and the result? Delish! You can see the two hearts at the bottom right -- those were our taster cookies -- I didn't like the way my heart (the bottom one) turned out and CLJ knew she was ready to try one so she made hers say "EAT ME!"

So now even the cookies are baked! C'mon little J! Mommy and Daddy (and a ton of other family and friends) are ready to meet you!!

Current Complaints

When I was an RA, the first part of our staff meetings was devoted to "thorn, rose and bud". We shared with each other one bad thing from the week, one good thing and one goal or thing we were working on. I looked forward to this time of sharing and adapted to my staff when I was a hall director. Heck, I even used it in my classroom and with my summer kiddos last summer. My bud usually centered around some cleaning project (funny how some things don't change!).

If I were to play thorn, rose, and bud today, I would be hard pressed to choose a thorn. Not because I don't have any, but because I have too many to choose from right now! Let's see, there's the yucky cold that is plaguing not only me but my beautiful baby girl. Oh, and the fact that my little monthly buddy decided to show up after a blessed year long retreat. Hmmm, and then there's my whole losing hair complaint. Grrrrr... we actually had to put in one of those covers over our bathtub drain and I literally have to clean it out after every shower. YUCK! What about the stress of choosing a new doctor? Apparently a ton of doctors aren't taking new patients!

Good thing I have a loving baby, husband and family or I might just want to hide for a few days!!

*Warning!*Warning!*Warning!*

They grow up SO fast!

I have heard that warning again and again and again, but I swear I've been trying to cherish every moment and pay attention to when she's growing and changing. But, yesterday it just hit me. She's not a new little baby. It all started when we got to meet our newest little nephew, Mr. AHJ, all of three days old! He is just the cutest, sweetest thing by the way! But holding him. It's just like nothing. There's no weight there! He's SO tiny! AND he was two pounds more than MVJ. When was she like that??! JJ and I reasoned that she always had to be bundled up, and that seemed to bulk her up a bit. But, still, I just can't even remember holding such a tiny little thing! And his new baby coloring! MVJ looked dark like him in the beginning and now she's a whitey Mcwhiteson just like her mommy! And the neck control! I had to be ever so careful, because now I can pretty much leave MVJ's head to its own devices - she's got it pretty well under control. Oh, and those baby noises! The teeny little baby noises! Oh my goodness --- SO much has changed! And she's only four months old! YUP, that's right! She just celebrated the big four months on Tuesday! We were in Bismarck for my friend's wedding, so we dragged along the big carebear we use for our monthly photoshoots!

The Poopertraitor Vs. The Wedding

...duh duh duuuuuh...

My friend KKL asked me to be a reader and cake cutter in her wedding and JJ to be their videographer. We were honored -- especially since she planned on having a very small wedding. They got married June 7th, a Sunday, because they wanted to get married outside at a park that was only available (around the time they were looking anyways) on a Sunday. Well, Mother Nature had other ideas for their wedding with SNOW coming that day! Their wedding had to be moved inside, but KKL did SO well. She was so calm and easy going. I was very proud of her! KKL was absolutely radiant. Seriously. BEAUTIFUL bride! Her dress (think Jenna Bush with a slightly lower back v) was stunning!

We get to the Church about a half-hour before the ceremony is supposed to begin. MVJ is so cute in a green polka dot dress, JJ so handsome in his light blue dress shirt and goldish tie, and me, well, I don't know about cute or handsome, but I was wearing a turquoise blue shirt with a skirt my bff TAF got me from Thailand. We were chatting with KKL's soon to be BIL (WA), and he asked us if MVJ had had her first blow-out diaper yet. Yes, yes, we assured him. Right about that time MVJ did the business and then got all smiley. WA was like, yup, that's how I feel after a good poop. We laughed and rushed off to change MVJ. We came to realize that she had gone through: 1 diaper, 1 onesie, 1 pair of tights, 1 pair of bloomers, 1 dress, oh yeah, AND Mommy's shirt! This would normally not be a problem, but I WAS THE READER! And now I had a big poo stain right on my top and a little on my skirt band! That little stinker!! I frantically called my parents to bring a different shirt, but they were already at the Church, and the service was just about to begin. Sooooo... we cleaned it as best we could with a diapey wipe and laughed. What could we do? KKL's program was made like a fan (for that hot summer day she had planned!!), so it did double duty as a fan to dry my shirt!

I don't think anyone noticed, but of course MVJ just had to leave her mark on the day.

In the end, I'm sure this is not the detail KKLA will remember, but I sure will! : ) Blessings to the new A family as they embark on their honeymoon to Sweden today and when things settle down to "normal" married life!

Ways to waste time

I know you DON'T need ideas on how to waste time... you're already reading my blog! (hehe) But, here are a few sites I've checked out recently that have been huge time wasters for me:

texts from last night: there are some REALLY naughty things, so beware. But some are just HILARIOUS. The tagline of the site is "Remember that text you shouldn't have sent last night? We do."

AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com: I just laughed out loud several times just going to the site to get the link.

Tidbits of Advice: Bedtime "Stuff"

So I can FINALLY post this! MVJ has seemed to finally settle into a routine. Yay! Here are a few things I try to remember to do before MVJ falls asleep for the *night* (hopefully) -- they are in no particular order:

*No overhead lights (I only use the side lamp)
*Breastfeeding as late as possible, for as long as possible!
*Diaper change as late as possible, with "butt cream" (I don't know if it actually works, but I feel like it helps protect her bumbum when she wets herself in the middle of the night but before she's ready for her morning meal)
*Classical music -- we have two Baby Einstein CDs (which are amazing!) -- I just start it out really low as soon as we go into her room for sleepytime
*PJs -- I had been using gowns exclusively, but now she kicks them off and only has her top covered. Now, I use sleepers, with one blankie. She has this blanket sleeper that doesn't have legs cut out, so she can still kick around inside of it, but is still zipped in. This is my current fav.
*A little rocking -- this is mostly accomplished during the breastfeeding
*A little story -- I started out reading a daily devotional outloud. I figured it was as good material as any and she wasn't comprehending words so the story didn't need to be at her level. Now I've started reading some of her board books. Who knows when she'll be ready, but at least it'll have just "always been" that way.

OH MY crafts!

On Saturday morning I got an email from Oh My Crafts! saying they were having a sale. I had a few minutes before I was supposed to pick up a friend to hit up a BIG indoor rummage sale, so I hopped on over to the Oh My Crafts! site to take a quick look-see. I was AMAZED to find out everything was 100% off!!! WHAT?! I thought this must be a mistake... but WHAT if?! A few scenarios went through my head... maybe I was the thousandth customer or something! So, I did what any normal obsessed crafter would do..... I LOADED my cart with anything and everything. 100% off?! My total was $31.35 (for shipping) -- I printed the screen just in case and hit submit! It took a long time and that was my first clue. I reloaded it and hit submit again. Nothing. I headed out the door to meet CAJ and checked my email ASAP after the big rummage sale. Yup, my orders were "denied". hehehe Hey, it was worth a shot! : )

Scrapbooking Dilemmas

Tonight I am invited by friend JA, a science teacher at my school, to scrapbook at Culvers! A friend of hers reserved the back room from 3-9 for our pure scrapbooking enjoyment! I can't wait! Not only does it allow for some M-Daddy time, but I can get some pages done! Woohoo! I organized some of the pictures I had printed a long time ago (Thanksgiving, Christmas, baby showers, etc.). THEN I got to February. What happened to a few pictures here and there? MVJ has single-handedly taken over our photo directory. So here-in lies the dilemmas. I am making her her own scrapbook, so how many photos of her should be in the "family" album? I mean, she is the center of our universe right now, but I printed 115 pictures at Sam's yesterday. I don't think ALL of them should be in our family album... should they? They ARE so cute. . . . . And then in her album, I need ideas. Should I stick with chronological order, like I'm used to doing in my other albums? Or should I try some themed pages (think "friends!", "bathtime!", "new outfits"!)?? I can tell you one thing... I'm excited to try out my new cricut for some perfect titles! (It always takes me a few tries to merge new "toys" in with my scrapbooking!)

Googled

JJ and I took a trip out west to the J Ranch to visit for the first time since miss MVJ made her appearance in the world. We had a fabulous visit (as always), even if CPJ didn't let me play his wii fit. On the way home, JJ wouldn't let me put on the radio, and it was fabulous. We had conversation after conversation. I don't know if I've chatted that much with him in a long time! : ) We also got into singing some of our favorite songs. When we got home, this is what I googled, as a result of our conversations/song lyric-forgetting:

*The Highwayman Lyrics --- we had bits of pieces of the first three stanzas, but could not remember what the fourth person's occupation was.

*Info on the Highwayman --- we had three of the four singers, but who was that fourth one? Kris Kristopherson, that's who, according to wikipedia. Did you know the person who wrote it, Jimmy Web, wrote it after a dream? Oh, and it's supposed to be about a soul with four different incarnations in different places in time and history.

*Oh My Crafts --- they were having a Memorial Weekend sale, and of course I couldn't pass on that! JJ ok'd me for two new cartridges and I can't wait for my BIG PROJECT... I'll let you know more about it if it's successful! : )

Everyone Poops

... but especially MVJ

RETURN of the Poopetraitor. Ugh. I know you don't want to read about MVJ's bm's day after day, but seriously. Such is the life of a new momma I guess. Last night at like 4:30 (M's first wake-up -- I'll take it! We're getting oh so much closer to that target of sleeping through the night.), when Mommy was a bit bleary-eyed, M ate like a champ. Then that familiar sound of her filling her pants. Uncle CPJ knows what I'm talking about now! I waited a while. It's a tricky balance -- enough time for her to empty in her diaper, but not too much time that her bum gets diaper rash OR that the diaper spills over. I got up to change her. She has basically fallen asleep in my arms (little tricky kiddo), so I gently lay her down and start my diaper changing routine. As the cloth hits her bare skin, she squirms to life. I clean her up and as I swap out dirty diaper for clean, she poops. A lot. On the changing pad. I lift her up to clean her again and try to wipe the pad enough to get by until I can grab the stain stick. I put a receiving blanket under her so I could put the new diaper on without it getting smeared in poo on the outside. She poops again. I start getting frustrated. I fold over the receiving blanket and clean her off. She poops again. UGH. I could only laugh. What else was there? I get her cleaned and the diaper ON, finish nursing and put her to bed. Praise the Lord that she fell back asleep as I stain sticked the receiving blanket and her pj's (innocent bystander). Don't let me start in on what happened when we went to school on Tuesday -- just let me say that I RAN OUT of wipes... Oh, and check out the SUPERcute pics from school on facebook!!

Tidbits of Advice: The Cons

Having a baby is seriously the best thing ever in the world. When I think of that day all I can do is smile. I feel like Wonder Woman and it resulted in this absolutely perfect little thing! Buuuut, it isn't ALL roses and sunshine. Let me tell you the MOST annoying thing about childbirth I have found thus far. I am losing all my hair!!! It is coming out in clumps! SO disgusting! I honestly have to go through my hair before I shower because our drain gets clogged like none other. I could spend ten minutes combing through it with my fingers and still come back with loose strands. ICK! I sleep with my hair tied back because it gets all over my pillow and bedding. I have even found hair strands on my little girl! : ( I sometimes have to pull them out of grip if she's been up to my shoulder because hair strands have fallen on my shoulder/back. I really hope this phase gets over SOOOOON.

Oh J-y-J

Our good friend JBP spent a few days with us visiting. He is an air traffic controller, so his "weekend" is Tuesday and Wednesday. We went to Star Trek (and, gasp, had our first babysitter!). Here are a few fun quotes of J's time with us:

1) JBP on my cricut: "A scissors costs $5."

2) JJ on JBP's Guitar Hero abilities: "That's not the way I remember the song..."

3) JBP reminiscing on a get together with M and TAF: "FIVE TA, FIVE!"

4) JJ in the middle of a slew of Chuck Norris jokes: "Did you know CN is a big conservative?" (JBP: No... why??? --- waiting for the punch line.) "Yup, he is. That's it. It wasn't a joke."

5) JBP on our nickname for MVJ: "Did you know that Chi-chi is slang for boobs in Spanish?" JJ: "Well, I guess it still works. She likes boobs."

Tidbits of Advice: Nursing

Now again I can only use the disclaimer that this is my experience. I know not everyone is able to be home all day or produce milk or even not everyone's baby takes to nursing. Ok, with that said, here are my tips on nursing:

*Try to get that baby hooked up as soon as possible. Miss MVJ was a natural and took to it right away, which probably aided in my milk coming in shortly thereafter.
*Use your lactation consultant! She taught me different holds (what?!), how often I should be nursing, what was normal, etc. She also gave me some samples of lansinoh cream.
*I used lansinoh cream quite a bit in the first few weeks, and now only occasionally because I'm not usually sore very much anymore. (Oh -- that was another thing on our list from our first shopping trip!)
*Prepare to pump -- even in the first few days. I felt just miserable because I was so full all the time. Pumping not only took away the pressure, but also stored up some milk for MVJ's first bottle experience and for when Mommy is out of the house.
*Get a good nursing cover (or two) -- my Mom made mine! They are perfect for feeding on the go or for when company is over. It took me a few tries to get comfortable with it, but now I feel somewhat like an old pro... : )
*So I don't know if this is normal or not, but every time I nurse, the other side starts leaking. So whenever I nurse, I always have to have a burp cloth on the other side.
*There is some debate over this, but I've found that I just nurse on one side until she's done. Sometimes after burping, she'll go to the other side, but sometimes it's just one side at a feeding. You can also do like 5 minutes on one side, switch and keep going like that. Whatever works for you!
*Chi-chi is just getting into a routine, but before she would go two hours at a time up to like five hours at a time in between feedings. It was quite convenient that I could be with her all the time to just be on her schedule.
*Nursing pads : there are the convenient disposable ones or economical/"green" reusable ones -- I have both -- the reusables are easy to just throw in the washer to clean. I use the disposables when I travel. Also, for the first probably two months I had to wear my nursing bras/pads to bed because I was still trying to get in sync with MVJ's needs.