So

Two days ago Wednesday Kris and i went to Valleyfair. It was really fun. He bought for my birthday/mother's day two season passes to there, so we went for the first time in two years. It was so fun! We got good exercise, sun, and fun while we were there, plus we packed a lunch so we hardly spent any money while we were there (quite an accomplishment.) We picked up a season parking pass too. So now we can go there any time someone will watch David. We're already planning on going again Sunday. It's wonderful to be able to go there with Kris and just hold hands and not have David and walk around.
After we were pretty tired, Kris took me to see a movie (Waitress) that he'd promised to take me to for weeks. So the dialogue was super cute, and i really enjoyed the awkward kind of relationships in the movie, but pretty much everyone was cheating on their spouses, and it got really annoying, and towards the end i was just tired of trying to enjoy it despite unfaithfulness, which i hate. Thankfully, all the cheating relationships ended up unhappily, so at least it was true to life, but it was just too much. It was like the movie "Closer" which had a great cast and writing, but it turned my stomach over because of all the darned unfaithfulness. i was pretty disappointed with it.
David is having a rough time. That kid has been teething for like 2 weeks. i'm beginning to think a tooth is stuck, because he's been drooling like a faucet for days and has been so fussy, but not a tooth yet, though i can feel where one is on his poor little gum:( Can a tooth get stuck?

Friday Five 06.29.07

1. What’s something you wear only on special occasions, and when was the last time? i only wear dresses, generally, on special occasions. And the last time i wore one was to the wedding last weekend in WI. i'm a bit shy when it comes to dresses right now though, because none of mine fit quite right anymore, except the one i bought at Kohls a couple months ago (for $14, love that store) in the women's department. Juniors clothes, well, they don't fit really anymore.
   
2. What’s something you consume only on special occasions, and when was the last time? i don't know. i'd say wine, but i drink wine pretty much whenever i get an extra $5-6 and run and buy a bottle. Having wine in the house is a special occasion i guess:) i'm lucky there is some because Devin came over and i bought a bottle with cash i squirreled away and so i've got some really fruity white zin in the refrigerator right now. It's so fruity, it's almost like juice. i almost want to add ice to it!
   
3. Who’s someone you see only on special occasions, and when was the last time? My favorite professor from Bethel, my piano teacher when i went there has come over to my residences the last two years on Thanksgiving. His wife lives in Ohio but he can't go see her most holidays because he is the organist at a church, and churches are big into their holiday services. So he comes to my house on Thanksgiving. i'm a BIG fan of his.
   
4. From now on, you will commemorate every year on this date something that happened to you in the past twenty-four hours! What will it be? i guess i didn't know there would be a commitment like this in this week's Friday 5. i went to Valleyfair this week, but not sure i'm going to celebrate it every year. This Friday 5 is strange.
   
5. What’s a unique special occasion you share with just a few people you know? June 6th will always be celebrated, pretty sure, with Kris and David, labeling the day we found out about David's existence! (6.6.6.)
   

Almost forgot...

i finally mastered the art of soft chocolate chip cookies! It's taken in the 20's of batches until i finally got it right, but Kris finally could say "These taste better than the Keebler Soft Batch cookies!" i'm very proud.

Last friday i made this for lunch, subbing havarti for the brie because who can afford brie? Yum. You'll notice, though, that the recipe says it takes 10 minutes to prep. This was written by Tyler Florence who must have forgotten that he has an entire prep staff. It took a while, but it was very good. i LOVE cooking. And food. Food is good. i feel better about myself when i cook, too, better than when we just stick pizzas in the oven. Anyway, i'm beginning to become a bit of a gourmet, adding fresh basil from my plant in the living room to my salads and lasagnas, whatnot. Cilantro in turkey sandwiches? You bet! 

Update-ish

How's it going folks? i just put the D-man in his exersaucer, and since Kris is at work, it looks like i have bought myself some time to blog.

The wedding went well, though everything went wrong that day. First i got up, fed David, put him in his exersaucer (man i love that thing) and took my shower, etc. Got all of our stuff together. Kris was complaining because his goatee trimmer freaked out and almost lobbed off the whole thing, so it was very short, almost not there. Then he said "The day is starting off badly" and i thought he was crazy and i laughed at him. So we needed to pick up my mom in Bloomington at about 9:00, so we decided to leave at 8:30. Surprise of all surprises, we were ready on time!! Then the carbon monoxide detector went off. So we called my mom and let her know, then waited AN HOUR for Centerpoint to come out for us, a false alarm. So the wedding was to start at 3, and leaving at 9 was going to give us this huge pillow of time. So then we left Bloomington at 10:30, in quite a bit of a hurry. i joked and said "David and i were praying for a safe trip, but we forgot to pray for a problem-free morning!" Well, then we got to a gas station right outside of Green Bay to change, and i realised i had forgotten David's pants. i had brought two choices of dress outfits for him, but had forgotten to go downstairs to the laundry room and get his pants out of the dryer. And Kris wonders why i'm so anal about bringing clothes up from down there instead of going down there every morning, the way he does. So here's this adorable boy at this wedding, button-down shirt, denim shorts. i felt like a bad mommy again. But the wedding was fun, though we were late by 8 minutes and had already missed more than half the service. (How do you feel about shortie weddings? They are nicer than uber-long weddings, but under 15 minutes seems a bit anti-climactic to me.) The reception was a good time. Bride and Groom had chosen pizza as their main course, and i appreciated it. It wasn't as cool as Kris' and my hot dog and karaoke reception, but what could be? Outside of David screaming about 1/2 the ride home, the rest went very smoothly.

Sunday was very fun. Any day i get to play piano is a good day, but playing outside is very fun, as well as having lots of hidden "adventures" like your music having to be tethered due to winds. Sidenote: my friend Lars plays the cello and he and i have done several weddings, me on violin, him on cello, and one outdoor wedding we did, we forgot paper clips, and my music kept flying off the stand. Luckily, it was all cliche Canon in D crap so i could play it in my sleep. Then a bee flew onto his hand (he's allergic) as the bride was walking down the aisle and Lars stopped playing and it was a problem. The bride had no clue, though. She said when i got married that i wouldn't notice the music while walking down the aisle. She lied. Outside of looking at Kris and being excited, most of what i was doing while walking down the aisle was noticing that my oboe d'amores were out of tune with each other and also did not do their tonguing and slurring as i had discussed with them. They were the most expensive part of my wedding, for the 45 seconds they played, and i'm still mad when i listen to the video. Back to Sunday. It was very good, and the little baby girls were baptised with much success and minimal crying, unlike David's where he was crying as if diapers had been discontinued or something. After the service, Kris and i went back to Bloomington Baptist to see everyone and pick up a gift (maracas, how perfect!) for David. It was good to see them. It's also good to no longer be going there. 

Had a slight preggo scare Sunday. Don't worry, i'm not going to be a mommy again anytime soon, thankfully. But what if i were? It would be REALLY BAD TIMING. Worse timing, even, than last year, when i had just moved in with my parents to save money and Kris and i were going to be getting married this following summer. Anyway, i'm not, thank God. And i mean it. Sorry about the TMI post, but man that was quite a scare. Phew.

Monday was pretty uneventful. Listened to some great music, though. Lately i can't stop listening to the album "Cloudburst" by the composer Eric Whitacre. If you haven't heard him, you gotta. He blows my mind. He's on tour with an electronica opera right now, Paradise Lost, and i'm anxiously awaiting its release onto cd.

Tuesday, that's today! Went to the dr, got the shot that will make me preggo-free till at least three months from now. Kris and David and i went on a long walk to try to shed some poundage. Kris and i, cumulatively, weigh 50 lbs more than we did when we got married last August. Ugh. That's gotta change. i weigh more now than i did in my 7th month of pregnancy. We're trying to get in the habit of walking every day. i'm also trying to stop drinking soda, which is like 200-400 calories/day of sheer delight that i could live without. Anyone know how many calories wine has? i'd give up Dr. Pepper as long as i could have a glass of white zin or chard every day or so. Wine's more expensive than soda, even though i buy cheapo wine because, well, i'm no wine snob and it tastes the same to me. Plus we're broke.

OK. David is getting unhappy all over there by himself. Poor teething baby:)

Wedding

So my mom and Kris and David and i are attending my cousin's wedding in Green Bay, WI today. It will be David's first car ride longer than 45 minutes or so. That should be interesting. It'll be about 4 1/2 hours, give or take stopping for lunch, changing his diaper, etc. The bad part is he HATES his car seat, and he's going to be in it for like 9 hours today, poor buddy. The wedding should be fun, and i'm looking forward to spending the time with my mom and Kris. Thankfully David is now on formula, or we'd have to stop every two hours so i could feed him. But now i'll be sitting back there next to him, book in one hand, bottle in the other. Seriously, formula is so gosh darn convenient!
i hope ya'll have a great day!
Tomorrow at church the service will be held outdoors, at Staring Lake ampitheatre in Eden Prairie. i think it'll be so fun! The music we're doing is great. Plus, there will be a couple baptisms, which will be SO cool. Baptisms outside? It'll be like Bible times! Except it'll be babies being baptised, not adults. But the pictures will be great. i almost wish we hadn't yet gotten my little Mr. baptised already so he could be with the cool kids and be baptised outside, though i daresay the Great Pastor Dodge did a great job:)
Night kids.

Friday Five, 06.22.07

1. If you get the first choice of Monopoly tokens, which do you
   choose? If someone else chooses it first, which is your second choice? Um, i like the dog. Otherwise i tend to choose the iron. Not sure why.
   
   
2. What’s a board game you are especially bad at? Clue.
   
   
3. What board game are you particularly good at? Um, scrabble, usually. i tend to win.
   
   
4. How competitive do you get while playing board games or party games? i try to hide it, but am pretty competitive and take winning/losing board games pretty seriously. It's hard for me not to sulk if i lose:)
   
   
5. What’s your favorite board game? What’s a board game you can’t stand? My favorite is Monopoly by far. i love that game. i HATE Risk. It freaks me out. It's so confrontational!
   
   

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The result of David's 4-month checkup

He is a healthy little boy! The Dr. was glad to see he gained weight normally this time, (4 lbs in 2 months!) and he's growing a good amount, too. He's now in the 90 percentile for length, 50% for head size, and 50% for weight. Last time he was 95% for length and only 25% for weight. God bless formula.

We also got the green light for feeding him rice cereal, so we can't wait to start him on that today! Once Kris wakes up, we're going to try it! We're going to get lots of video. i can't wait to see that face! Well, David is grunting in his exersaucer, and concentrating, so i think i've got a diaper to change here soon. Have a great day!

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Five for 6.15.07

1. What’s something you were into before it became popular? Not sure. i certainly am no fashion pioneer. Maybe wide-leg pants.
2. What’s something you were reluctant to jump on the bandwagon with, but now are totally into? Gaucho pants. Actually, i was nervous to try them, because they get made fun of in "Never Been Kissed", but i don't get why more people didn't wear them before. They're sooo comfy! i wore the same pair while i was preggo that i do now!
3. What’s a current trend or fad you just don’t get? Skinny jeans on guys. Ugh.
4. If you could turn any current fondness of yours into a popular trend, what would it be? Um, i wish the comfy and warm clothes could be popular. You know, the ones Stacy and Clinton hate. T shirts and sweatpants and your husband's button-down shirts.
   
5. What’s something that’s totally uncool that you love anyway? Not gonna lie. Glitter/shimmery eye shadow. i try not to, but sometimes my favourite blue shimmer eye pencil is in my hand before i can stop it!

This week's five i got from friday5.org. Last week's sucked because i got it off some livejournal pretending to be the Friday 5. i like this one way better! Thanks Kristine!

Sad but good

So last night was David's last night wearing my favourite of his sleepers. It just really doesn't fit anymore! Kris was putting it on him, and said "Hey buddy, it looks like this will be the last time you'll be able to wear this." So of course i burst into tears. i got it from the second baby shower i had, and it's white with a teddy bear on it, and the feet are made of light brown suede, and i actually cried when i received it, because it was that cute. The pics of him with Kris and him in his chair are from when he was itty, and the one of him on the blue is today. He used to just swim in it, and now he can't stretch out all the way in it:( Actually, i used to put it on him when he was first born, even though it's a size 3 months, just because i liked it so much. At least he got a lot of use out of it.

He's feeling better, now. The cold is gone, but he's been a very clingy boy lately. He just likes to be rocked and held, which is fine with me, but different for him. He's been kind of independent mostly. So now that he's Mr. Snuggly, it's been nice for me, but it's a bit harder to get things done. Oh well. Things will get done eventually.

He has his four-month checkup next Tuesday. i'm so excited to see how much he weighs and how long he is, compared to his 2-month checkup before we started him on acid reflux meds and formula. Ever since we've done that, he's like this whole other baby that doesn't seem to hate life the way he was before. It was really sad that breastfeeding didn't work out for him. However, it is so nice to have other people be able to feed him, and also that when he needs to eat in public, i don't have to cover up or anything. It's wonderful. After his checkup, we should be able to start him on rice cereal, and i can't wait to see his face with that first spoonful. Can you imagine what it's gotta be like, having a liquid-only diet your whole life, then all of a sudden having textures on your tongue? It'll probably blow his little mind! And it'll all go on tape:)

poor David

My little one is sick today. It's very sad. It's his first cold. You know how awful you feel when you have a cold? Well he doesn't know that it'll get better! He is just sitting there, and probably thinks that he will be miserable and tired and moist the rest of his existence, poor thing. He's sleeping now, but when he's awake he just screams. It's so sad. i keep trying to get him to drink more fluids, so i've been giving him formula all day, whenever he wants it. i've been cutting the amount of formula/water ratio, like one scoop-4 oz water instead of two scoops. He's been drinking so much that i know he's getting enough calories, and should be getting pretty well-hydrated. There isn't much else to do with babies at this point, though, except a bit of baby Tylenol. Anyway, Kris is already away at work tonight, and will probably be there till about 1 AM, so please pray that David will have a good night since i'm here all alone with him.
Oh, David's pictures are up online, check out his new photo album! David

Friday Five

Surprisingly, i beat Kristine to the punch on this one!

**Remember the scene with Molly Ringwald putting lipstick on by holding it in her cleavage? Name one really bizarre thing you know how to do. No matter how small: i am very double-jointed and can do crazy things with my fingers, like bend them all at the top knuckle at the same time.
**What's your favourite way to pass the time? Outside of playing with David, i probably enjoy talking with friends in a quiet place. Maybe some wine with that.
**What's your favourite restaurant and why? Don Pablos. It is delicious and you get to eat BEFORE you eat. Plus they have the best guacomole you can find at any restaurant, though it's still not as good as mine or my mom's.
**Which TV/Radio show did you like that's not aired any more? i'm already going through withdrawal over Gilmore Girls. i cried at the finale!
**If you had a choice of learning another new language, what would you choose? what do you think that reflects about you? Italian i think. i think it means that i like musical languages.
This wasn't a particularly interesting five. Maybe next week's will be better.

*sigh*

so i fell in love with David just a little bit more tonight. i was rocking him, singing to him, and giving him his bedtime bottle just a little bit ago, and he was just staring into my eyes and having the softest cheeks ever, and i fell in love again. This whole motherhood thing? Totally worth it. i love that he woke up from his late afternoon nap a fussy baby, and by the time i put him to bed, he was a smily, gurgly baby with shining eyes and an easy laugh. i also love that i put him down awake, and he's just been talking to his mobile for a while, and is now probably sleeping, as he hasn't made a peep in 5 minutes. What a darling little gift.

6.4.07

So yesterday David rolled over for the first time!!! Kris caught the tail end of it: Kris heard him stirring after his morning nap and went to check on him, and David was just flipping onto his tummy, (and i'd laid him on his back!) So that's very exciting. He's also teething, we're pretty sure, so out of fear that we'll wake up one morning and his beautiful gummy smile will be gone and a toofer will be there, we took him to Proex with the gift card Kris gave me as a wedding gift almost 10 months ago, and David finally had his first professional pictures taken! i feel like a BAD mommy that we hadn't done that yet, but they turned out SO well. They'll send me a link to the pictures so i can have you all see them. They are GOOD. i mean, i didn't think he'd be good because he was pretty tired when we got there, but the photographer just got smile after smile out of him, and we entered him in a cute babies contest:) i just can't believe that he will be going to his 4 months checkup in 15 days. He'll start eating rice cereal, and i'll have to get tiny spoons, and it'll be cute but sad that he's so advanced! Remember when he was first born? i do.
i'm tired today, which doesn't make much sense because of how much sleep i got last night. Oh well. The weather is an easy thing to blame.
David and i are going to my parents' house tonight for dinner, as well as going grocery shopping in their basement:) They won a chest freezer last year, and it was sitting in storage because they already have one, so they gave it to us. Now we have lots of space for frozen food which is always cheaper when you buy in bulk. So this will hopefully improve our lives, though i can't imagine it will improve our waistlines:)
Have a wonderful evening ya'll.

Friday Five (belated)

i have a cool friend named Kristine who does this "Friday Five thing", and i decided to jump on the wagon and do it too, though it is Saturday. Here ya go!
**What’s your favorite goody at your favorite bakery? donuts. Glazed twists, to be exact. Or chocolate covered old-fashioned donuts.
**Someone’s visiting from out of town and craves something sweet: Where do you take him or her for an experience he or she can’t get at home? Izzy's in St Paul. It is so famous, actually, it was featured on Throwdown with Bobby Flay. i've been there once, they make all their ice cream on site, and they always have different flavors, and it's always good. Plus they give an "Izzy scoop" on top of every order, so you order your cone or whatever in whatever flavor, and then they say "What flavor do you want your izzy scoop to be?" and then you say another flavor that sounds good to you and they give you this cute little scoop right on top of your other ice cream, like a sample of ice cream for the next time you come or something. It's way cute and very much a Minnesotan place. i craved it a lot when i was preggo, but it was too far to go. That's probably good though. i gained just the right amount according to what the dr suggested.
**What’s your favorite order at your favorite ice creamery? The only creamery i've been to is Cold Stone, and my favorite is the birthday cake remix, that has the cake batter flavored ice cream, sprinkles, hot fudge, and a brownie mashed up into it. i order it with gummy bears, too, because they add a cool texture and taste to it. Yum. Coldstone is too expensive for me though, no matter how much i "love it". My parents take me there sometimes though.
**Oh no! You forgot to save room for dessert! What dessert item on the menu will you order anyway, because you can’t resist? i could eat the warm brownie ala mode anywhere, no matter how much food i've eaten.
**You’ve got a craving for sweets, but it’s so late at night that only the corner convenience store is open. What do you get? oreos and some milk? Or cookies and cream ice cream. i LOVE c+c ice cream.
i got fatter just doing this survey. Luckily i have no sweets in the house, or i'd be eating them all.