Baby it's cold outside

Name the movie: "(She) looked like a tick about to pop."

He's Here!!!

My beautiful new nephew, Elijah Kent, was born this afternoon!
Congratulations Michael and Jenni - we love you three!!!


Madeleine LOVED her new little cousin - she kept staring at him and wanting to hold him.
Happy Birthday Eli!!!!

Awesome milk-free pudding

Seriously, you'll love this even if you're lucky enough to be able to eat dairy products. We've made it about 5 times in 10 days, and last night Ken said I'm not allowed to make it for a while :)

2 cups soymilk (I use vanilla)
3 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 Cup sugar
1/3 Cup cocoa powder
1 Tablespoon vanilla

Whisk the soymilk and cornstarch together until the cornstarch dissolves. Add the sugar and cocoa powder, put it on medium heat, and whisk constantly until it gets thick. It seems like it takes a while but once it starts bubbling, it gets thick really quickly. Then you take it off the heat, add the vanilla and stir. Pour it in bowls and chill for at least an hour - depending on how cold you like it. I like it really cold. It's supposed to be 4 servings but Ken and I can finish this whole recipe off. I won't say who eats the most :)

Try it! It's delicious!

On a MUCH happier note...

My brother and sister in law went to the hospital this morning - looks like my nephew will be born today!!!!!

Random things

We went to the 5:30 mass on Sunday, which was a big mistake. Usually we go to 8am, and she's still just drowsy enough to behave herself. 5:30 - 6:45 at night is not a good time for her. She wasn't BAD, per se. But she yapped and yapped and yapped. The kind of loud yap where you're not sure if she's going to be quiet soon or keep going. So I spent most of mass thinking to myself, "Should I take her out or try to wait and see if she quiets down?" She just learned a new word, Ball, and she was practicing. Here's how it went:

Father: "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit..."

Madeleine, very loudly, "Ball! Ball! Ball! Ball! Ball!"

Everyone, "I confess to almighty God, and to you my brothers and sisters..."

Madeleine, "Ball! Ball! Ball! Ball! Ball!"

I finally did end up taking her out, and sat in the narthex on the floor in front of a huge picture of Pope Benedict. As soon as she saw the picture, she was enthralled, and kept reaching both arms up to it like she wanted him to pick her up. I told her that was Papa, and she started saying that. "Papa! Papa! Papa!" She's a loud one. I think we're sticking with 8am from now on.

Yesterday, Ken had practice with Sarah. We joined them for dinner (thanks Sarah!) Madeleine likes to flirt with the bass player. She smiles and waves at him, does "So Big" and everything else she can think of to impress him. He was telling us that his 26 year old sister has cancer, and the doctors just told them that they couldn't do anything. Chemo won't work because it's in her liver, and they can't do radiation because it's in all the lymph nodes surrounding her heart. So please pray for their family! When he was talking about this, Madeleine reached up and gave him a hug! She is the sweetest baby ever. Ken and I later thought that she could tell he was sad.

And pray for Ken too. And if anyone knows any attorney jobs around here..... let us know!

Sorry this turned into a depressing post! I'll do better next time!

Peekaboo!

Cute baby with new tricks

Finally!

A night time cloth diaper situation I like! (If you don't care about cloth diapers you can just skip over this post!)

Most of the time I use disposables at night. I tried a bunch of cotton under a wool cover, and it worked, but there were some problems with it. First of all, I don't like her skin feeling wet all night. Second, If she has all of that on, I can't fit pajamas over it, so I end up just putting her in a long sleeved shirt and long socks. This doesn't work now because she pulls her socks off.

So, I ordered some new BumGenius 3.0s with the new Hemp Babies Inserts. Expensive, I know. So I tried it for the first time last night - I used the BumGenius with both inserts it came with (now it comes with an infant insert for up to 10 lbs in addition to the regular one) plus the hemp. She was totally dry this morning and even her skin felt dry! I think we found a winner. I also like that it comes with the smaller infant insert, because I didn't really use these on her until she was about 2 months old - I didn't like the way it was so bulky between her legs. I think this will take care of that and I can use it for a doubler now. And they didn't raise the price - I'm pretty impressed. So now I really have enough diapers to go 3 days and 3 nights without washing. Before I was stretching it. NOW the money saving can begin, Ken (Until I decide I need some more!) :)

Bliss

She slept. From 7:15. TO 5:45!!!!

And since I went to bed at 10pm, I got almost a full 8 hours. That seriously has not happened once in at least a year. Oh my goodness it was wonderful. Especially since she's been adding a midnight wake up call to her regular 4 am lately.

Thank you God for a good night's sleep!

Better

Thank God.

We did go to work yesterday, she took good naps and was up bright and early this morning. So early, in fact, that we very easily made it to 8am Mass and Confession, so that was good. Then she took an hour and a half nap at Barnes and Nobles - so we actually got to read!

She took a good nap in the afternoon, and Ken watched her so I could go shopping for fabric. I am thinking I'm going to open a shop at www.etsy.com and try to sell some of my stuff. I just learned how to make great baby quilts, and actually sold one to Ava's mom for her friend this week. She always tells me I should sell my stuff. I can knit some baby sweaters and hats too. Can anything think of a good name for the shop?

Then, luxury of luxuries - I got to get a haircut BY MYSELF! YAY! It was long overdue and I went shorter than usual. In fact, my hair has gotten shorter and shorter since the kiddo was born. I think it looks pretty good!

Sick

Sorry I've been absent. Madeleine is still sick. I took her back to the doctor yesterday because she just had a really weird cough and looked like she was having trouble getting her breath. Also her voice is so hoarse! It sounds funny. The doc said she just has a nasty virus and basically we have to wait it out. I did work yesterday but this morning I picked her up out of her crib and she coughed so hard that she threw up all over both of us. That was fun. So I am staying home again today. Pray she gets better soon!

She is still the sweetest little thing - hardly cries and just wants me to hold her and rock her. No problem there :)

The Mobile

I kept it on the crib WAY too long. It said it could be used up to 5 months, but I stretched it to 10. See, if I took it down that would be admitting that she is growing up, and it's gone way too fast for me. The other night I laid in bed listening to her through the monitor. She started turning the monitor on and off, on and off, and finally she left it on, listening to it scroll through Bach, Beethoven and Mozart as she drifted off to sleep. I was drifting off to sleep too when it hit me that this could very well be the last time I heard that mobile, and I was sad. I thought about the very moment that I put that mobile on her crib, a few months before she was born. It was the very last thing I did before the nursery was complete. Then I sat down in the rocking chair and thought about the little person kicking me, and wondered what she would be like. And since she was about 3 months old, I turned it on for her when she went to bed. The familiar songs lulled her to sleep, and it was part of our bedtime routine. But now she is too big, she is pulling up and grabbing it, so I had to take it down. How did she get so big so fast?

Before

After

We didn't make it.

Yesterday after the shower, I thought Madeleine felt a little warm. I took her temperature (tip - if you're taking a baby's temperature and you don't have one of those new ear thermometers, give the baby a REALLY good toy - like a remote control, cell phone, or breakable glass thing) and her temp was 102! Poor little thing. She was exhausted too, since she missed her afternoon nap. But she was a trooper. I gave her some tylenol, and she went to bed early. She was up about every 4 hours though, but she slept until 8am.

She still had a temp today even though I was giving her tylenol every 4 hours. So I think I'm going to call the doctor tomorrow. Ava was sick all last week and this morning my mom and I woke up with a sore throat and headache. That kid is spreading the love.

So, I didn't get to go to the other shower, and I was sad. She is a good friend of mine since kindergarten, and she's having a girl. I love girl gifts :) I made her some burp cloths, a quilt, and gave her a little 6-9 month dress. I hope she likes it!

Confession: I did make a little hat, but then I tried it on Madeleine and it looked SO CUTE that I decided to keep it! It was too big for that little baby anyway, and I have enough yarn to make a smaller version. So I will make her one and give it to her when she is born. Then they can match! They're going to be good friends, after all.

Baby Shower Weekend

This weekend we are going to two baby showers. The first one is today, and is for my sister in law Jenni. She's having a baby boy and is due in February. This is Madeleine's first baby shower, not counting her own, of course!

What we're wearing

What we're giving.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Thanks for always reading to me giving the best hugs...
celebrating with me and making me laugh....
and feeding me my very first chocolate cake!!
I love you Grandma! Love, Madeleine

Things they don't tell you in parenting class

Not that we went to a parenting class - we're winging it over here - but if we did, I'm sure this subject would not be covered.

Yesterday Madeleine was crawling around on my newly vaccuumed carpet, playing with toys, getting into things, you know, the usual. Then I saw her start crawling unusually fast toward something. She grabbed it and stuck it in her mouth before I could get there. I tried to fish it out, but she had her jaws clamped shut as tight as they would go, and a little smile on her face like she had a treasure in there. I finally got it out, and it was a DEAD LADYBUG. Yes, you read that right. I fished a dead ladybug out of my daughter's mouth. EWWWW!!!

Vegan Cupcakes take over the world

That is the name of the book I just ordered off Amazon. I looked at it at Barnes and Nobles yesterday - 75 recipes for cupcakes without milk or eggs! They had ALL different kinds - including key lime and margarita, and they all looked delicious! And they had normal ingredients, nothing weird.

Gotta start those one year old birthday preparations, you know. :)

10 months old!

Double digits! Whew - what a month!! Madeleine went from just rolling, not crawling at all to crawling EVERYWHERE, and fast! She crawls, she pulls up to her knees, and a few times she's even pulled up to her feet for a second. She got her two bottom teeth, she started eating finger foods like Ezekiel bread, cooked carrots, peas and green beans, and little pieces of raw fruit like apples, bananas, and pears. She really enjoys picking up food and eating it.
I think she is really smart, because she can follow some directions, and point to things when I ask her. For example, I'll tell her to go play her little piano, and she'll crawl right over and play it. And I can ask her where is the kitty cat or duck in books, and she points right to them.

She says Mama and Dada, also duck and just yesterday she started saying "cat." She points to our cat and says something like "Kitty Cat." (And she gets really excited when she sees her!)

She loves to play "Peekaboo" and does "So Big" and gives high fives. Ken loves to show off her "tricks." :)

"So Big!"
Two little teeth.

One of her favorite things is feeding us - she tries to put something in our mouth (usually something really soggy!) and then she laughs and laughs! I can't believe how big she is getting. She is so sweet and loving and every day Ken and I just talk about how blessed we are to have such a beautiful, happy, fun girl. We love you Madeleine!

And another thing

We fed Madeleine chicken for the first time a few nights ago. I had been putting that off because Ken is allergic to chicken, but her doctor said that we could try it. I thought she was fine - although I kept a very close eye on her for a while after dinner. But unfortunately, yesterday she had a rash all over her arms, legs and tummy. *Sigh* I called her doctor and he said not to give her any more chicken and we'd talk about it at her one year appointment in March. I'm sure she'll have to see an allergist and get some testing.

Food allergies are something I never thought I'd have to deal with. But it's hard. I'm not doing bible study this year because I just can't leave her in the nursery. I've helped in there before, and I know they have goldfish for a snack every time. Even if they don't give her any, she would find one on the floor and put it in her mouth. And I'm even worried about leaving her with a babysitter (not that I'll be doing that anytime soon!) because I'd be worried about what they would feed her. Dairy is in everything, I've found out since I've had to give it up for about the last nine months. Am I going to have to worry about snacks and lunches at school? Are the kids going to make fun of her because she can't eat certain things? I hope not. And what the heck are we going to eat at our house? No pizza, mac and cheese, no chicken, and who knows what else? She got a rash after she had cinnamon one time and I suspect a possible allergy to corn - so we have not tried that yet. Poor little thing. I just hope she does not have a serious reaction to anything. That really scares me.

Hello!

Sorry I have not posted yet this year! My new job is keeping me busy - that is, the job of digging anything and everything out of my daughter's mouth. You see, now that she can move everywhere, she finds the smallest things you can imagine and sticks them right in her mouth. So far this week I've fished out coins, bolts, raisins, pretzels, and today a tiny shard of very sharp plastic - clear plastic! I don't really want to rush any of her stages - I try to make a conscious effort to enjoy whatever age she is. But I have to say, I'll be very happy when she outgrows this "putting everything in her mouth" stage!

Also, Grace has been home from school this week so the time I'm not spending digging stuff out of Madeleine's mouth, I'm trying to keep her busy so she'll be quiet while the girls take their naps! Thank God today is Friday.