Monday, October 24, 2011

Finally out of her Funk

Before I even begin telling you the tales of our tot, I might mention that I’m writing this as I watch a disgusting display of football. I hope my poor attitude does not show through in this post….but it might be kind of hard considering that this week has been a challenging one in the parenting department….and the Sooner fan department too it turns out. Although I am quite surprised by my ability to watch without crying or throwing things....progress. I guess motherhood puts your priorities in line. ;)

 I am relieved to share that we are through this tough week of teething and it seems like she’s out of the woods for now. Two monster teeth broke through on Thursday and she has been progressively happier since then. We took a trip back down memory lane this week and had the pleasure of reliving the days of having a newborn. Screaming all through the night, needing diaper changes at midnight, Tylenol in the wee hours of the morning and cranky all day long. My baby was not even impressed with food which told me the enormity of her pain. My chubby munchkin ate like a mouse for four days straight. She was not a fan of the high chair in general and was more content banging her head against the wall or chewing violently on any object she could get her hands on. By Friday morning she was exhausted and it showed as she was not waking up for nothin'. She usually wakes at the drop of a pin but I turned the light on, talked to her and she didn't budge. I ended up doing a little work from home while she caught some extra shut-eye. I couldn't help but be tempted to go back to bed myself. She awoke a happy girl and ready to start a Friday at Nanny's house.
She wasn't budgin'

Nanny had her hands full on Friday....literally. Two babies. Both Hallie and Carmen kept her very busy. Katie and I got plenty of updates via video messages of the cousins coexisting peacefully together. I hear that Hallie tried to feed her two and a half month old friend and gave her friendly pats on the belly. They continued there bonding time by joining Nanny, Katie and I for some shopping at the craft fair after Katie and I got off work. I can just imagine the conversations they were having via baby language as we walked into the fair building.....

"Carmen, can you believe that our mom's make us wear these stupid bows?!"
"Hallie, how do you rip your bow off so easily? Teach me everything you know."




"Here, I'll help you out a little bit"

We had a good time Friday night but I somehow managed to come away with no crafty goodies. It might have something to do with the fact that I've got to start some major saving to furnish our new digs. Katie and Carmen joined Hallie and I for a girls' night and some tacos for dinner. The girls gave us a run for our money and began what would turn into a thirty minute screaming session. It sounded like a choir of sleepy babies. ;) Carmen quietly fell asleep on her belly on my bed while a certain one-year-old continued to wail....and throw her cup across the room. We were finally able to enjoy dinner and some quiet mommy time. Riley joined in on our evening when he returned from hunting. Katie and Carmen headed home with plans to meet us in the morning to come check out the new house. I was hoping and praying for a turnaround to the week's new teething routine. Praise the Lord, she slept all night long and then some. We woke up to a pleasant banging of her cup against the crib at 8:00. Hey, we will take it!! I went and snatched up a giddy girl and brought her to our bed. She was in heaven jumping around and giving the dogs plenty of kisses and hugs. Poor Emmi was not loving this attention in the least. Hallie uses her for a pillow usually. Grumpy Puggle alert! Our usually starving babe was able to forget about her grumbling belly for longer than usual this morning as she hung out in the big people room. I loved every second of it. But alas, it was time for that "nana" and some milk. We ate breakfast, got dressed and hit up the grocery store to get some stuff for dinner and dessert that night. She was plenty of entertainment at the store for me...and for everybody around us. She was extremely friendly and calling out unrecognizable greetings to those passing by. She helped as always while I paid and did her favorite "grab mom's debit card and eat it" trick. That's a favorite for sure. We took a quick little jog after returning home until she squawked enough that I turned the rig around and we parked it in the chair for some cartoons and some milk. The morning flew by, Riley returned home from his regular Saturday morning at work and it was time to get ready to meet the realtor at our house. We met Nanny, Papa and Katie at the house to fall in love all over again. And that's just what we did. I was so excited showing off each room. It is still so hard to believe that it's our house. I told Riley I feel like I'm having one of those dreams where you discover a new room or area in your house and then you wake up thinking "dangit!" Well I was literally living a dream the other day when I stopped by the house and magically discovered a side patio coming off of the kitchen that I must've missed while in my daydream the first time we saw the house. The "extra room" dream continued on Saturday morning when we discovered another half bath in the laundry room. Followed by coming across a fan out on the back patio, a generous sized closet in the hallway, an entire wall of built in storage in the garage and the surprise of all surprises.........DOUBLE OVENS!!! This is sort of a joke with Riley and I that has been ongoing. The story goes like this.....not too long ago we made a wishlist and named things that we wanted in a home. We thought this would help us know what our expectations were. He named a few things (mostly having to do with outdoors or the garage) and then the first thing I named was "double ovens." He must've thought this was funny because he's been making fun of me about it ever since. Anytime house hunting is mentioned he immediately begins his mockery about my "double ovens." Joke no more, my good man! Granted they need to be updated badly and scrubbed for a good day or two or five, but double ovens nonetheless.

After browsing every last inch of the house and planning with the girls a bit we were ready to go....but not before Hal took a stab at jumping on the trampoline with Aunt Katie. You want a good laugh??? Just watch a one-year-old try to walk on a trampoline. After surviving the jumpy device she didn't fare so well when navigating a six inch dropoff from the porch into the yard. I guess we can thank the seller's dogs for that. While we're at it we might as well thank them for all of the other holes and craters in the backyard too. I guess by now you are catching my drift that there is plenty of work to be done at this house. Oh but it will be so worth it. And we love a good project! I told Riley to other day that it must be his ultimate dream....to have endless amounts of man projects lined up for at least a couple years.

We ate lunch with Nanny and Papa at Mazzio's while the boys caught a bit of the OSU/Mizzou game. The boys left lunch with their muscles warmed up for some lifting out at the farm. They joined Uncle Tom to help move Grandma Ida to a new house. Munchkin was having a hard time staying awake at lunch after she stuffed her belly with her favorite buffet food. But that didn't keep her from giving cheery and oh so cute greetings to passersby. She has said the word "hi" a hand full of times but not on a regular basis and it doesn't come out the clearest. A man walked by headed towards his seat and Hallie looked up and gave him the sweetest, most distinct "hi" out of nowhere. I guess we can officially add "hi" to her list of words. ;) Miss chummy was asleep by the time we pulled out of the parking lot. She didn't move a muscle as I picked her up and put her in bed for what would turn out to be a very long nap. We missed cousin Corban’s birthday party that afternoon because unfortunately Hallie’s nap time did not get the memo. She slept for nearly three hours and awoke refreshed and in a chipper mood. I was convinced that she was using all of the smiles she’d been saving up over this past week.


Nanny stopped by to borrow a book for her trip to San Antonio this week....and to say one last goodbye to Hallie. She will be back to town just in time for her Hallie Days at the end of the week. We were expecting Gman to pop in after he left the birthday party that we missed but I knew he was most likely chatting it up like crazy with family. I had been bitten by the furniture shopping bug earlier that day while wandering through the house I now need to fill. Hal and I went over to meet Katie and Carmen and left from their house to do some browsing at the furniture store. It was a success and gave me lots of ideas. Carm was diggin' the shopping thing but Hal was more into being a free spirit which is probably not the best idea in a store full of breakable items. I got a call from Gman about the time she was in meltdown mode so we said "bye" to the girls and met Gman at the house. I told him to wait for us there and Riley ended up finding a lost biker man laying on our porch. ;) He looked pretty cool all dressed up in his leathers and such. That Gman, he's slowly but surely morphing into a bonified biker.
Testing out a couch..."this could work..."

Miss priss was definitely putting on a show for Gman as he kicked back to enjoy the show. The Hallie Show included a few minutes of watching her do a running in place type move. HILARIOUS!! The more we laughed, the more she kept going. She got a kick out of going outside on the porch with Riley and poking her head back in to look at Gman. She then entertained us by rolling herself up like a burrito in a blanket on the ground and standing up and walking with it wrapped around her.


Not lady-like

Probably telling him all about it

As if I hadn't stalked our new house enough for one day, we took Gman for a ride over to check it out. We settled for peeking in the windows and looking through the fence in the backyard. My sooner-ette wandered off when she spotted something much more exciting than straining to see through windows to see the inside of the house. She was discovering some of her own perks.....

"Does this come with the house?"

"Let's make sure we write this in the contract, k?"

She was pretty upset when it was time to go and she hadn't got to try out her other options.....


Gman had to leather up and hit the road soon after to make sure he got home before dark. His favorite girl helped him start up the bike and check his mirrors before leaving....


"Wait, you can see yourself Gman but I can't see myself..."


"That's much better....you're all set Gman"

I didn't know it was possible but the girl went and wrapped Gman around her pinky even tighter. The stinker realized he was leaving and said a sweet "uh ew" while she waved her chubby little hand. If you are wondering, "uh ew" happens to be her version of "love you" and this was the first time she'd shared these words with anyone umprompted. She says it every morning and night to daddy when I say it to her but she must've been feeling extra sentimental yesterday. So sweet!

I took advantage of Riley being home and ran to grab a drink at Sonic. I returned to find this.....

"Like my new look mom?"

They were both offended that I wasn't a huge fan of the outfit

Although it did start to grow on me a bit as the night went on. If tomboys eat lima beans and finish dinner then I'm all for overalls with no shirt and a headband....



Bathtime proved to bring out the silliness in her. Daddy made her a stunning mohawk while she chewed on her toy basket....

" How did I not know about this toy?!"

I feel giddy each time I relay a funny Hallie story to Riley. Her little mind is full of new ideas. I just sit back and wait for the Hallie Show to begin everytime she takes a bath. Tonight she entertained me by spreading out her wash cloth and making a pillow to rest her weary head on......

Looks comfy there darlin'

Once she discovered how funny this was to me, she repeated her sleeping trick over and over and over. My sweet girl was finally back to normal. She went to bed without a peep and all was well. Well, that was until the football game started......:( I watched in disgust and even began to laugh at the end. Riley came in and asked me if I was watching a movie. Yes, I was watching a comedy of interceptions, dropped passes and poor defense. I wasn't able to go to bed until 1:30 which didn't mix well with Sunday morning happenings.....

Sunday morning came a lil too early when Riley headed out the door to kick off black powder season. Hallie woke up around 6:30 and it took every last ounce of energy I could muster up to trudge down the hallway to grab her. After church this morning we played a bit in the backyard and in her room before until lunch time.  
Her imagination ran wild outdoors when she spotted Lucy's brush and put the medicine syringe in her hand to good use. Lucy was administered some shots and Hallie did some grooming while she was at it....

"This won't hurt a bit"



The playing combined with an already sleepy girl = this......

In case you are wondering...yes, that's one lone Teddy Graham up in the corner and a few dead Goldfish amongst her mac and cheese mess.


She fell asleep in her macaroni and cheese so I cleaned her up and put her down for a nap. I love it when she snuggles right up in the corner of her crib on her belly. I love even more to tuck her in with a nice fuzzy blanket and watch her sigh and let her binky fall from her mouth. The smart thing to do would've been for me to lay down at the same time but I'm sitting here blogging. Hallie soon woke up with a huge smile fixed on her face and Riley met us at the school playground down the road for some playtime. The weather was to die for and Hallie was going to take advantage of it if was the last thing she did.....

No teething grumpy bug here!

"Dad, there she is again with that camera....we'd better just look, smile and make her happy."

"See ya later kiddo"

Riley suggested that we head to the "real park" so we loaded up and drove over to the "real park." Hallie and I found out soon why he wanted to go there.....

My other child

Silly daddy, those are for kiddos. But all was well because it turns out that he turns into a big ol kiddo when he steps foot on the playground....


She was a brave little lady and took several solo trips down the longer slide. Hot stuff!! My two park friends had a nice little chat at the picnic table without me....

"Ok, I've got a plan. You tackle her and steal her camera and I'll tickle her to distract her."

I caught wind of their plan and gave up the camera to Riley....


"Ive got a brilliant idea! Let's stop taking pictures!"

Never gonna happen silly girl. Not in a million years will I stop taking pictures of this face....

That tongue looks like it's helping a lot


We took a short little walk down by the golf course (watching for any flying balls all the while).....
Sweet cheeks!

Wouldn't ya know it, we spotted a "dah" while walking past a yard....
"dah"

She really never got over seeing that Husky and continued to holler out to him and point while craning her neck as we kept walking. That was until she got to take a ride on daddy's shoulders......

"Those aren't handles!"

His shaved head was quite the hit.....
"You're missing quite a few hairs daddy"

We made the mistake again of letting Riley steal my camera and he began to take some not so flattering pictures of my backside and zoomed up on our faces....so we surprised it by jumping around as he snapped away. Someone thought this was hilarious. Enough to make her let out one of her big giggles.....

"GOTCHA!"

We headed home much to Hallie's dismay but there was much more fun to be had Sunday afternoon. The hunter headed back out into the woods while Hal and I got to work cleaning out a pumpkin. She left me in the dust and a minute later I turned around to find this......

"You underestimate me mom"

Excuse me?! She had time to climb in there and position herself?! How have we not had any bloodshed yet?!? The daredevil headed inside with me to get dinner in the oven. I forgot to mention that we are parenting two extra dogs this week while Nanny and Papa are out of town. Abby and Tzu joined in to form a parade of dogs in the kitchen. Oh and we can't forget about our fifth doggy that I caught several times on all fours or on her belly looking up at the dogs....
"Ruff, ruff!"

Uncle Luke had joined Riley out at the farm for some hunting so Katie and I decided to make it a girl's night with the babes. Carmen was loving the entertainment Hallie provided during dinner....

"And for my next trick I will perform the disappearing banana"

The sweet cousins somewhat posed for a picture together. Out of all the pictures I take, I had yet to take a picture of them sitting together. It had a lot to do with the fire power in my Hal gal and how squirmy and crazy she gets when I try to get her to sit still. That's just what happened but we somehow got a good one.....
"Hmmmm, she looks like a fun toy to play with"

It's always so nice to have the girls come over. We hung out while I did some treat baking and finished up our dinner in a pumpkin. Carmen kept us smiling with her sweet little giggles and coos....

Just chattin' it up with momma

Hal didn't slow down once the sun went down and her clothes came off for a bath. After a quick dip in the tub she entertained us with some dancing and spinning. So much energy released meant she went down for the night wihtout so much as a peep. Back to normal, out of her funk, HAL IS BACK!!! Riley didn't come home with a deer but he did have a great time with Luke. Now I've just got to come to terms with the fact that it's hunting season and I may not see my husband for awhile. ;)

Hallie never ceases to amaze me with the amount that she learns in the matter of a couple of days. We love watching her practice and perfect her new exciting words....hi, love you and bite. All in all it was a spectacular weekend!!! There is so much excitment swirling around with the anticipation of holidays coming up and the joy that moving into our new house brings! I feel like another piece of the puzzle has been put in place....still have a few more to go but we're almost at the end of this journey!

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