The last days

I've been understandably nostalgic the last few days with Leigha's birthday coming up on Tuesday.  Tonight especially.  On July 22nd last year, at about 7:00 my best friend came over because she wanted to try her hand at taking some maternity pics.  I love her pics and I wasn't about to turn down more maternity pics since I had loved the last ones so much that another friend had taken a couple days prior. 

Kristy is more into the artistic pictures, and I love those.  I have shown lots of her pics on this blog, she is AMAZING.  She is a new photographer and I have been begging her for years to open her own photography business she is that good, and she is finally in the process of making it happen!  Anyways, if you are in the Nashville area and looking for a photographer, let me know, I am sure she would love the business! 

She had me lie down on the ground on my back, lie on my side, sit up, stand up, twist this way and that way.  Basically everything short of bending over and touching my toes (although if she thought it would make for a good picture, I'm sure she would have asked me to do that too LOL) 

I wasn't uncomfortable at the time.  Her and Richard both kept asking if I was OK.  Looking back I think I maybe had what felt like a little heart burn, but nothing I hadn't had before.  She didn't stay long because it was late and didn't take many pictures, but I love them all.  (I posted a few of my favorites.  I don't think that I have ever shared them before.)  After she left, Richard and I were both super tired so we went right to bed about 10:00. 

July 23rd at about 3:00 am (less than 5 hours after our photo shoot ended), my first contraction hit and our lives were never the same again. 

If I can get around to posting these next couple days, be prepared for some pretty sappy ones as there isn't a day that goes by without me crying at some point that my baby is turning 1!.

Take a look at Kristy's pictures, the pics that put me into labor.

I think this picture with the L is probably my all time favorite picture that I have, maternity wise.

 Richard just loves to be goofy, but I think I had him beat!

This is a pretty good one too.  Probably a second favorite of hers.

 

I hope that everyone has had a great weekend!!

Video bomb!

I have no idea if I have posted this video yet. The girl loves to dance.  I took this about a month ago and the dancing hasn't stopped, if anything its probably increased in amount.  Commercials, TV theme songs, the chime on the fridge that tells me its open....she will dance for anything.

She has recently outgrown size 3 diapers...of course she did this 3 diapers into the economy pack for 200 diapers, but whatever.  I had them all boxed up nice and neat to put up in the attic to save for babies later down the road.  One night while I was working and Richard was out, she was being super quiet.  When I went to investigate, this is what I found. (And just in case you were wondering, I didn't leave her to wander the house, the box was outside my office in the hall.  I had her blocked off to the rest of the house except for her room).

We knew that Leigha loves dogs, she tries to play with Espn and Allie all the time but unfortunately they don't care much for her and run and hide whenever she comes in the room.  We went over to a friend's house for the fourth and their dog LOVES kids, and so this is Leigha getting to know him.  And in one of those videos, it looks like he kicks her, he did, but it didn't leave a mark or phase her, she kept going back for more.

This girl LOVES strawberries and whipped cream.  My mom was eating a bowl of strawberries, and called her over.  When Leigha saw what it was, I have NEVER seen her crawl so fast to get food.  She is such a food hog.  She's already eating me out of house and home.  She eats a jar and a half of food at each sitting, (which is more than what her doctor recommends at this age) and a snack in the afternoon and drinks constantly, but she NEVER seems to get full!.

Just some cute recent updates.  We're in FULL ON party planning mode around here. 11 days till her birthday and 15 days till her party.  I'm running around town like a mad woman, poor Leigha won't know what to do with herself once all this running around is over and she can start naps in her own bed rather than the back seat of the car.  LOL.

The countdown is on!

I think that I need to title every single post "A bunch of random stuff" because that's what they all end up being. LOL

In 26 days, it will be Leigha's Birthday (and Richard's too).  I have been in party planning mode for the last 6 months.  I know what party decorations we are going to use, I know what her theme is (Hugs and stitches) I know what people I want to invite, I know what food we are going to serve, I know what my plans for that day are going to be, but I am in NO WAY prepared for this, but then I wonder if any parent really is.

I finally ordered her invitations from Shutterfly the other day.  I am super happy with them.  I want to post them here but I can't figure out how to save the image and block out the address and stuff ;)  I kept hoping that if I delayed ordering them long enough then I wouldn't have to send them of and then I wouldn't have my baby turn 1.  No such luck I think.  

And how in the world have I not caught onto Shutterfly before?!  I not only ordered her invites, but also about 50 pictures (to fill most of the empty picture frames that we have around the house LOL) and have recently ordered a photo book, all free....well except for shipping, but still, not a bad deal to get a really nice photo book for $8.  (To see it, just click on the link, I can't figure out how to get it on the blog, if you know how, please let me know)

Leigha's Book 

We were going to do lunch and grill out hamburgers, but Richard mentioned that someone will have to spend all that time outside in the heat grilling those hamburgers, which of course isn't fair to the person who has to do it (either him or his dad since the party is at his parent's house since our AC is out) so I am making everything.  I think I am pretty well set on the food.  I am planning on little smokies, meatballs, chips and dips, fruit...probably watermelon and cantaloupe, and pineapple, and of course the cake.  I think that should be plenty of food.  I have no clue how many people will be attending, I guess if lots of them don't come, I can adjust the amount.

I have also contacted a lady that I found online through Craigslist who has extras of the plates and cups and tablecloths that are in the design that I want to decorate with.  Problem is she lives over an hour away, and I really don't know if its worth driving that far to spend $20 to save $40.  She has lots more stuff than I will need, especially tablecloths and such, but I can always bunch them up and use them as banners or put under her highchair when she does her smash cake or whatever, or make a photo booth kinda thing with them.

All-in-all I guess, I'm pretty excited about it, she is 1, we get to see friends, I get to cook.  I just wish it didn't have to get here so FAST!

Weaning

The subject of weaning Leigha has been coming up a lot lately.  By me, by Richard, by my Mom.  I always knew that I wanted to make it a year, which I will.  After that, I am fine with weaning Leigha.  Although if you go further, that's fantastic!  Its just not for me. 

I have managed to get her down to 2 feedings a day.  Once before she goes to bed and once when she wakes up.  I am hoping to sometime in the next month get that down to one feeding a day.  However, I'm not entirely sure which one to cut out first.  I'm kinda leaning more towards the morning feeding and then leaving the bedtime one for after she turns one.   

Mom tells me just to stop.  Just don't offer it anymore, that she will get used to it, but I just can't do it.  I don't want to go cold turkey (which is what my mom suggested) because with me not being always very emotionally strong at the moment, I don't want to add that stress to my life, which of course, mom doesn't understand.  Now, the question is....exactly how do I do it.  With cutting out the other feedings in the past they have slowly been replaced by eating baby food and an occasional sippy cup and sometimes a stronger interest in playing with toys, but I don't know if that will work with these 2 feedings.  She doesn't take a bottle, so I don't know if I should just suck it up and go cold turkey, or if there is a better way. 

I have tried giving her a little sip of whole milk about a week ago which she immediately threw back up just seconds after swallowing it, so I'm also afraid of some sort of an allergy, and I haven't tried giving her any since.  I'm thinking almond or goats milk may be another way to go. 

Looks like I have some research to do. Or if anyone has any suggestions.

43 days till she's 1.

Random stuff

This afternoon it hit me....Next month, I'm going to have a 1 year old!!!  Holy heck, how is that possible?  Yes, yes, I know that she is only 10 months old, so technically she has 2 more months, but seriously at the end of July she will be 1.  I don't understand how time goes so stinkin FAST! 

This past week she has learned to clap, and now she doesn't stop.  No matter what she is doing she thinks she needs to stop in the middle and clap.  This includes playing, eating, diaper changes, getting dressed, taking a bath, etc.  We have to stop and clap for her. 

She finally has her second bottom tooth in.  Thank goodness, it poked through a couple of days ago.  Hmm, she has 2 teeth and I still have yet to learn what her teething symptoms are.  Yikes.

She has also learned how to 'dance' at some point.  She will stand (or kneel) at something and if music comes on, whether its from a toy or on the TV she will start to bounce.  Its so stinkin cute!  I can't hardly stand it.  of course when I try to get her to do it on video, she becomes more interested in the camera than dancing.  Oh well, one day I will.

She is starting to creep around the furniture.  She will also walk holding anyone elses hands but my own.  If she knows that its me holding her hand, she immediately lifts her legs in the air and hangs.  Apparently Mommies aren't supposed to help you walk.  I didn't know that ;)  But she is pretty good at walking too.  Its just a matter of time I'm sure.  I'm sure I will get in shape pretty quickly at that point because if its any indication of her crawling EVERYWHERE, she will take off running and never stop.

Overall, Its been hard.  It still is hard.  I know its going to continue to be hard.  I have recently come to the realization that I believe that I have PPD.  I denied it for so long because whenever I would go back to see my doctor and tell him about it and try to get him to help me, he just kinda blew me off and told me to take Leigha to her Grandparents house and get a good nights sleep.  I figured that since he's a doctor, he knew what he was talking about more than I did.  I know that's not the case.  But deep down I knew it wasn't a chronic lack of sleep.  I knew that something else was wrong.  I had to try too hard to be happy and it was exhausting, and oh the mood swings.  And I really feel that I have missed out on the first part of Leigha's life because I've been so unhappy.  I know I was there, I have the pics to prove it, but if I didn't there was no way that you could convince me that some of the things happened, I just clear don't remember them....at all....But since Richard's insurance has now taken effect (long story don't get me started) I have made an appointment to go talk to someone.  Hopefully this will all make me feel a lot better.  Hopefully I will be more in control of my life, and hopefully I will get back to normal again.

My Leigha

Dear little Leigha,

One day you will learn exactly how scatterbrained and forgetful your mother is (I started this post over a month ago).  You will realize that I say that I am going to do things and procrastinate until the last minute and then rush to get through them.  But you will grow up that way, so maybe you won't mind....too much.  Hopefully you will think its normal, but I HOPE that you won't take after me in that respect LOL.

(Such a happy girl in the mornings)

I haven't written your letter and update in a couple of months, and this technically isn't one now, but I thought that I would update the blog at least to have a reminder of what you are up to these days?

I took you to the doctor last week because you were super cranky and not acting like yourself.  Turns out you had a double ear infection so you are currently on antibiotics.  Thankfully you have returned to my normal little girl.  You are crawling up a STORM.  There is no where in this house that you don't love to be.  You will even try to run away if you know that you are headed for something that you aren't supposed to have, like the dog's water bowls for instance.  I can't tell you how many times I have had to mop up water off the floor because you want to use the bowls for drums.  At least its just water.

(She just looks so mischievous in this pic)

You are also now 20 pounds and 29 inches long.  You have about tripled your weight and grown 8 inches since you were born.  Holy COW!!!!

You also have your first tooth.  Dr. M says that the other one is right under the surface and should break through any day now, you are just taking your time with growing teeth apparently. (Its down there on the bottom right)

You love to wave and have been doing it for a while now, and you are just now getting the hang of bending your wrist to do it.  I'm gonna miss that whole arm wave, its pretty cute.  You were saying bye bye (ba-ba) for a while when you would do it, but you have stopped, but its OK.  You now have started telling me when you are done with something by saying 'all done' (ah-duh or duh) You say it after eating with a wave and after nursing you tell me you are ah-duh.  You are also pretty good at asking who'/what's that (oo-dat/ uh-dat)  Now of course this may all be in my mind, but I know that's what you are saying.  You're a GENIUS little girl, a GENIUS!  You may make your Dad and I proud and go to Vanderbilt after all...although you need to probably get a scholarship because there is no way we would be able to afford it in 18 years I'm sure.

(Mmmmmm....oranges)

I'm getting pretty sad/happy about planning your first birthday party.  Its going to be a joint party with your Dad, You'll probably get lots of those while you are still little and don't know the difference, You'll just be excited to see more and more people.  We are going to have hamburgers and hot dogs and a mini pool for the kids (it will be end of July here so we need something to cool off)  But other than that I'm not sure what we will do.  We are just going to have family and a few close friends over.  I'm happy because I get to plan a fun party and have people over to the house, which is something that I LOVE doing, but I'm sad because you are growing up.

You are getting to be a pretty odd character lately.  When you wake up from a nap you are pretty pleasant most of the time, and usually 75% of the time when I come in the room you are standing in your crib jumping up and down...OK well its more like bouncing, but its still pretty cute.  I need to try to capture that on video.  Also the other day you were in my office while I was working and you were playing and rolling around and squealing as usual and I look over at you and you are laying face down on the carpet with your nose to the floor and arms and legs spread SQUEALING at the top of your lungs for no reason other than to make noise I guess.  That for sure put a smile on my face and made me laugh super hard.

You are getting so big I can't hardly stand it.  You are definitely a stubborn little girl like your Dad ;)  But you have a sweet side too.  

I love you, I promise I always will.

Mommy.  (Just learn that really fast OK, ;)  I want you to learn those words now LOL)

I can't read (or spell)

So I was just bored while working, and decided I would go on my blog to read a few posts.  Yes, I'm weird like that LOL.  Anyway, when I was reading the about me section, right over there to the left under my picture (which I need to update if I could remember how to do it) I saw it.  The misspelling of Daddy where it says "happens to be her Daddly's birthday"  OMG.  I think I need to go back to 1st grade.  Maybe, when do they learn spelling?

The funny thing is with as many times as I have come on here to read this blog over and over and over again and edit and move things around and stuff you would think that I would have seen it.  I love that little paragraph letting you know who I am and what my blog is about and so I usually read that often as well.

Oh me.  Well, I'm off to attempt to make a pattern to sew Leigha's Easter dress.  Yes, I'm certifiable!

*I left the misspelling there so that you can laugh at me.  Its OK, feel free, if Leigha wasn't in the next room, I would be rolling about it LOL  :D

Just because

Just because I am in a crazy good mood, and  because Leigha has been crawling to me to give me kisses and just crawling up a storm in general, I am going to do this tagged survey thingy that has been flying around the blogs that I read just for kicks even though I wasn't tagged LOL. One good thing though is I don't have to entirely follow the rules that way either ;)  And because most of the blogs that I read have been tagged by Laura and I dont know of any others who would do it.

So I thought this would be fun.  Here it goes.
11 Random facts about me:

1) I won a patriotic art contest in High School and won $100 bucks for a drawing that I did of the Statue of Liberty with Ellis Island in the background.  I can't really stand the drawing now because I see all of the flaws, but I still think its pretty cool that I won.  I can't remember what I did with the money. 

2) I love cooking.  Not just regular ole dinners, although I do love doing that too, but I really love making complicated things that I make at least just once to see if I can do it.  In another life I would probably have become a chef, but I don't like a lot of foods.

3) I am a night owl.  I don't like waking up in the mornings AT ALL.  When I was in school and we were out on summer break I would stay up until 3-4 in the morning and then sleep all day.  I loved it.   I wish I could do that now! 

4) I love infomercials.  There is just something so over the top stupid about the "real life scenarios" that they show that makes me laugh.  I mean seriously do people really have that much of a hard time painting, or grilling a hamburger or weeding? LOL.

5)  I still think of myself as a girl as in a young girl.  I may be closing in quickly on 31, but I can't think of myself as a woman.  its super weird and I just can't do it.  It weird for me to hear people call me a woman.  I guess to me it just sounds old, and I definitely am NOT old!!  LOL.

6)  I always said that I was going to marry a rich man and have a maid who would clean up after me and someone to cook my meals so that all I would have to do is take care of the kids all day.  Obviously that never happened LOL.

7)  I love building things.  Growing up, my parents would get the "some assembly required" things for around the house and I would always beg to put them together, but they would always give the task to my brother.  I hated it.  The only thing that I remember ever putting together is a bookcase that they bought me, and I'm pretty sure that they only let me do that because they brought my brother an identical one.  I guess its a good thing that I married a man who would let me build almost anything I wanted.

8)  I can't do any kind of math without a calculator.  Well, except for super simple basics, but the rest, forget it.  I hated it in school, and never could understand why we had to learn it if they made calculators.  Seemed like a waste of my time.

9)  My husband is the first real boyfriend that I ever had.  I had gone on a couple of dates with literally a couple of different guys, but he's the only one I ever dated.

10)  I never liked any kind of sports until I met Richard.  He taught me to like them.  My favorite now is basketball.

11)  I had back surgery when I was 22.  I had a hunch back and it was starting to really hurt not to mention I was EXTREMELY self conscious about it.  I went to a doctor who suggested a surgery where they put metal hooks and screws in your spine which supported 2 metal rods that run the length of my spine from my neck to my tailbone.  Recovery was 3 weeks of pure hell, but its the best thing that I have ever done.  I'm convinced that if I hadn't done it, I wouldn't have gotten married to Richard when I did because it was when I was having surgery that he realized that he couldn't live without me and had to marry me.  Oh and I gained 3 inches of height!  That's how bad the curve was!  :(


1) What are your top five all-time favorite bands?
I was talking to my Dad the other night and realized that I have only ever been to 5 concerts in my lifetime, and those are really the only bands that I can remember at this point in the day, and I wouldn't go to a concert for a band that I didn't love, so....

• Garth Brooks ~ Saw him December 2010 at a benefit concert for the victims of the May 2010 floods here in Nashville.  It was an AMAZING performance and the whole time Richard was worried that the baby's developing ears would be damaged by the loud music, and needless to say I didn't care at all....I was watching Garth Brooks IN CONCERT!  Weeee!!!  :D
• Matchbox 20 ~ This was the first concert that I had ever gone to.  I went with my SIL at the time (although then it was just my boyfriend's sister LOL).  I had a BLAST!  It was so much fun, and they are one of the few bands/singers that I know most of the words to their songs.  
• Elton John ~ Need I say more?  He's awesome,  I love his songs, He's one of the few that I can pick out on the radio every single time (I am horrible with bands/songs/lyrics) 
• Kid Rock ~ Crazy pick, yes, I know.  But his concert was really cool actually.  There is something about his singing that I like.  I think its the whole bad boy image that I am attracted to.  
• Aerosmith ~ No, I never saw Aerosmith in concert, BUT they are one of my favs.  Even though Steven Tyler is a little odd looking.  I really like his voice.  :) 

Oh and just for a random fact, the 5th concert that I have seen was for Earth Wind and Fire with Chicago.  Richard took me on my Birthday the year after we were married because our song is "your My Inspiration" by Chicago.  We were both very much disappointed, not a good concert at all, but still a nice birthday date with the hubby.

2) What are your top five all-time favorite books?

• Lucky Man / Michael J. Fox   ~ Its a great story about him finding out that he had Parkinson's and his life with it.
• Love Greg and Laura ~ A story about a woman who was injured in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and her Husband's emails to friends and family about her recovery.  I think I cried during the entire book.
• I can't for the life of me remember the title but it is the autobiography of Christopher Reeves.  Another amazing story. 
• Hunger Games ~ Honestly, I never even really wanted to read the book once I figured out what it was about (after I won it from Laura's giveaway) But then I told myself that I would only read a couple of chapters.  I ended up finishing it is less than 24 hours and it took me that long because I had to sleep.  And then I had to immediately go out and buy the other 2 books in the series.  Laura, you created a monster! LOL  (Thanks! :D )
• Black Heels to Tractor Wheels. ~ I'm a sucker for a romantic book, and since I am almost finished with it, its becoming one of my favorites :)

 3) What is the craziest thing you have ever done?
Riding on the back of Richard's motorcycle without a helmet.  We went to Daytona back a long time ago when we were still dating and they have an optional helmet law down there, so I didn't wear one and we rode that thing all over the place.  Still makes me shudder whenever I think about it.  At least nothing happened except maybe the occasional bug in the face..Eww!

4) What is your favorite treat?
Anything chocolate really.  I will not pass up anything that has chocolate.  Although my favorite non-chocolate treat is the Raspberry Lemon Cheesecake from the Cheesecake factory.  To me it tastes like summer.

5) What are you the proudest of?
I recently learned how to sew, and I am super proud that I have even made Leigha some clothes that she has worn out in public and has even gotten comments on it without knowing that they were homemade!  I'm too afraid to try to make something for myself though.

6) What are you the most ashamed of?
That I dropped out of college, that I don't have a degree in anything.  I had once wanted to be a doctor.  Even took a bunch of pre-med courses, I just couldn't handle being away from home.  I just wish that I had stuck with it and gotten a degree in SOMETHING so that I could contribute more to our family finances.

 7) What is your guilty pleasure?
Buying clothes for myself.  I have to force myself to do it.  I have lots of gift certificates that I need to use, but I feel bad buying things for me when Richard and Leigha need things too.

8) What are you really, really good at?
At this moment in time, I have to say sewing.

9) What does your handwriting look like? (post a pic!!!)

Nothing fancy.  This is a shopping list I wrote a couple of weeks ago for a mug cheesecake I found on pinterest.  Its not all that. 

10) Which chores do you refuse to do (or do your best to get out of)
Any of them.  I don't like cleaning, but If I had to say one of them that I hate doing more than anything is moping.  I just don't like it.  The dirty water, whats in it, etc.  I just can't stand it.  Oh and dusting.  I hate them equally.  I like things, nicknacks and stuff, but I hate to clean around them.

11) Do you have any tattoos, body piercings, etc.?
I have my ears pierced but that's it.  I was going to have my belly button pierced a long time ago, but never did and now that I have had Leigha and my stomach looks all flabby and disgusting and looks like I was attacked by a tiger from all the stretch marks, I'm super glad that I didn't.  BUT I do plan on someday getting a tattoo with my Children's names incorporated in it somehow.  I just haven't figured out any of the details of it, but I think its a super sweet thing to do.

Look at what my Leigha can do!

For the past month or so Leigha has been one crabby little kid LOL.  She had been trying to learn how to crawl and sit up and all that kind of stuff, and when she doesn't get what she wants right away, or when she thinks that she can't do something she gets frustrated and crabby.  Well last week, my mom showed her how she could sit up by herself, and she has been doing that ever since.  She has started to learn how to wave hello and good bye, and just this morning she started crawling.

She has had the turning part down for a while, and she would slowly inch her way forward, but she would never crawl.  Last night she crawled 4 steps once, but never would do it again.  This morning however I set her on the floor to let the dogs out and when I had come back inside, she had crawled about 10 feet to get a hold of a plastic bag that I had on the floor from going shopping.

She wouldn't crawl for anything else, so of course like any good mother would I put the bag back on the floor and let her crawl to it and have a field day waving it around.  (Don't worry, she was supervised the whole time, and I never once let her put it near her face)

Of course this means that we have to quickly finish the kitchen floor (the last major thing left in our remodel) and start to really be serious about baby proofing and keeping things off the floor.  This is not a milestone that I was prepared for.  She totally needs to go back and be the cute little baby that I can lay somewhere and when I come back she is still in the same place....I'm not ready for this to go so fast!!!

And of course for your viewing pleasure, I took some videos.

 

 

  

 I know that they are all pretty much the same thing, but hey, I was here with her by myself and I had to take some videos so Richard could see his baby girl crawl for the first time!  :)

Day in the Life ~ Winter 2012 ~ Feb 14. 2012

Laura from Navigating the Mothership is doing her quarterly "Day in the Life" project again.  I had so much fun doing it last October that I am doing it again this time too.

If you don't read Laura's blog, you really should.  She's one of the only blogs that I read right away when it appears in my reader and I really enjoy her wit and sense of humor and honesty. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 (I don't have many pictures till about 9am when I really start my day because before then I'm not very coherent and awake and don't think about it being my 'Day in the Life' day LOL).

12:00 am.  Since its a day in the life post my day starts with me watching some TV because as usual I can't sleep.   I'm watching  'My Wife and Kids'

Sometime between 12:30 and 1:30 I manage to fall asleep, even with the TV on. 

1:30 am  I wake up to hear Leigha complaining in her crib.  I grab the monitor and turn it down so it doesn't wake Richard up.  I wait to go get her because we are having issues with her sleeping through the night....she doesn't LOL, she usually tries to wake up about 2-3 times a night.  I'm so beyond exhausted I need to come up with a new word for it.

4:30 am She is up again.  She must have fallen back asleep because I did LOL.  So this time since it has now been about 9 hours since she last nursed and she is going nuts crying, and I am going to get up because Richards alarm is about to go off I get up and nurse her.  As I nurse her I think I'm probably sending her mixed messages, but her cries pretty much all sound the same to me in the middle of the night except for when she is complaining so I don't know when she is hungry and when she is just being cranky.

5:00 am She is finished and looking around.  Since I can't fall asleep when I go to bed like a normal person, I put her down in her crib and head to bed because I am SUPER exhausted.  I grab the monitor and crawl in and start to fall back asleep.

5:15 am Richard asks if I was able to transfer some recordings from his weekly meetings at work to the computer because he has another meeting this morning and they record them all because this job has been crazy and they need proof of things that were said in case anything were to happen.  Of course I had forgotten to do this last night, so I get up and head to the living room and start transferring the tapes.

5:30 am I'm finally finished transferring the files and Richard is getting ready to leave.  He wishes me a Happy Valentines Day and gives me a card and heads out the door.  I don't open the card because I want him to be around when I open them. (its a weird quirk, but it is what it is LOL) and I also haven't finished his present yet.  I head back to bed.

8:00 am.  Leigha starts to wake up again, but she isn't crying yet, so I quickly run to the bathroom and let Espn and Allie out and feed them, I turn on the kerosene heater because its kinda cold and then go get her change and nurse her.

8:18 am  Leigha is finished nursing and is starting to want to cuddle.  She doesn't wake up too well and DEFINITELY isn't a morning person, and who doesn't want baby cuddles.  

8:35 am  She is starting to get more active so I put her down on the ground to play a little and I notice that I am wet, she has peed through her diaper.  I strip her down and leave her to play and run and get some clothes.

8:38 am I heard some weird sounds coming from the living room and when I come back in I notice Leigha is not playing her music station with her hands or feet as she sometimes does, but she has started her new way of playing it which is with her mouth.  She has only started doing this and I didn't get a picture of it today, but I did yesterday (So I'm using that one because its SO CUTE!!!)  But this makes me laugh because she looks like she is trying to eat the thing, which of course gets her laughing.

9:00 am. I never did get Leigha dressed, I decided that I wanted to play with her on the floor.  Its really warm because of the heater and now we have carpet in the house (a new addition since last October) so I'm not worried about her getting cold. 

9:11 am.  While Leigha plays on the floor I check my facebook page because I can't live without facebook.  Wanna be my friend on facebook? I like 'meeting' new people, let me know and maybe I'll look you up  :D.  

9:20 am  I finish up my list of things that I need to get from the store and I get Leigha dressed.  I put her in a cute little heart outfit perfect for Valentines day with some warm fleece pants that I made her.  Very festive.

9:25 am  I set Leigha on the floor in my room so that I can get a load of laundry started and keep an eye on her.

9:45 am  I notice that Leigha is acting like she is tired.  I try and put her in her crib and of course she protests but is asleep within minutes. 

10:00 am  Good Eats is on.  I'm set.

10:30 am  Leigha is still asleep so I run and take a shower.  I take the monitor in the bathroom with me and decide to take a good nice long showed and take advantage of not having to put Leigha in her jumper and play peek-a-boo throughout the entire shower.

11:15 am Leigha is starting to wake up so I get out of the shower, yup, I took a 45 minute shower and it felt wonderful.  I haven't done that in so long.  I hurry up and get dressed and go get the girl.

11:18 am I bring her back to my room and set her outside the bathroom door with some toys so that I can dry my hair.

11:30 am We head out to get the things we need for today.  I have to go to Hobby Lobby and Walmart.  But I of course forgot my camera.

1:30 pm.  I'm back from Walmart after spending entirely too much money and getting things I didn't need, and I had to get some lunch too, taco bell.

1:45 pm  I get everyone and everything out of the carseats and bags and get ready to start the dinner that I decided to make for tonight, spaghetti.

1:50 pm I chop the onions and bell peppers, put the oil in the pan and cut the sausages in half and take off the casings and start browning them. 

2:20 pm I start browning the onions and peppers and then add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, paste sugar and add the sausages back in.

2:45 pm Leigha is fussy and I can't get her to calm down, so I feed her some veggies, peas I think, and nurse her and into her crib she goes.  She is asleep within about 5 minutes.

3:10 pm I start melting butter and marshmallows and measure the rice krispies.

3:15 pm I burn my hand trying to get the rice krispie treats out of the pan and into a Hershey Kiss shape, and then I sprinkle some chocolate chips on them and wrap them in foil.  I made the super big because I thought they looked better, but one krispie fed us both, so if I go to make them again, I will probably make them a little smaller.

3:20 pm  One of the neighbor kids comes over and gives me a Valentines day present for Leigha.  Its the cutest little stuffed rabbit with a cute little and written card and cut out hearts that is signed by the whole family.  I promise to bring Leigha by later to say thank you since she is still napping.

3:30 pm  I start cutting and gluing the paper I bought at Hobby Lobby to fit inside the box that I am going to put Richard's Valentines gift in, and painting it silver.

4:00 pm.  Ugh, I have to start working.  I really wish I had a day shift or better yet, could afford to just be a stay at home Mom and concentrate on raising Leigha, but I am super thankful that I can work from home for a company that is super understanding of me being a new Mom.  I spend the next couple of hours working, stirring the sauce, and making Richard's present.  We are pretty busy at work, although they are all pretty long reports, so I don't make much money and just end up getting frustrated.

6:00 pm  Richard is finally home.  He takes a shower and then he takes over watching Leigha, she's super cranky so we fast track feeding, bathing and getting her in bed, which I work during the whole time :( so I didn't get any pictures.

7:30 pm He comes into my office with a sleeping Leigha in his arms.  I love how he can put her to sleep, but she always sleeps on his shoulder and wakes up when he tries to put her in her bed, so I help him get her into bed.

7:35 pm, Since I have taken a break to get Leigha into bed, I decide to grab a quick bowl of Spaghetti

7:45 pm back at work till 10.  I know, super exciting, I'm sorry.  But I do enjoy a small dessert of mini chocolate chips.

10:00 pm.  DONE!!!  LOL.  I love 10 pm :)  I can finally give Richard his present and card.  He opens the box says thanks and opens the card, and I finally get to open mine.

10:15 pm.  I'm exhausted.  A crying baby and nothing going right in the afternoon really took it out of me.  My evening plans after I got off work were to spend some quality time with Richard watching a couple TV shows, and just enjoying the evening, but instead we went straight to sleep.

11:30 pm.  Leigha starts whimpering, so I'm awake again.  She doesn't fully wake up, but it doesn't help me to go back to sleep, so up for a while I am, and I don't fall back to sleep till about 1 am.

Will my sleep habits ever be normal again? :(

Oh and since I forgot to take a picture of me doing things throughout the day, here is a quick one I snapped while I was working.  :D