And that's because it was....
SHARKIE!!
Yet again, she passed out from all of the excitement!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Sharks Game March 12
We took Callie to another Sharks game over the weekend against the Stars. As we approached the ticket taker, she was a little apprehensive.
And that's because it was....
SHARKIE!!
Yet again, she passed out from all of the excitement!
And that's because it was....
SHARKIE!!
Yet again, she passed out from all of the excitement!
Blake's Birthday Party
On Sunday, Callie's friend Blake had a birthday party. Sadly, I did not get any pictures of the birthday boy. He was moving too fast!
Callie discovered her favorite new toy, a balloon. It is still in our living room:)
And we also discovered that guava cake does not agree with the little one! Pink spit up!
It was great to go to a 1st birthday to get some ideas rolling for Callie's big day. One of the smartest things I saw were strategically placed packages of baby wipes. Smart! Especially with so many little ones running around. There was also a phenomenal punch that we will have to try. Here is the recipe if you are interested:
1 pkg frozen strawberries
1 tin (19 oz) Dole crushed/tidbit pineapple with juice
1 sml tin Minute Maid frozen pink lemonade concentrate
1 fresh lemon (pre-slice whole lemon thinly as garnish)
2 litre btl. Canada Dry Gingerale
1 bag grocer's ice chunks or 2 large freezer size bags of home-made refrigerator ice
Blend frozen strawberries, crushed pineapple with juice and pink lemonade concentrate. Puree until well blended. Pour solution in a large jug and refrigerate until ready to use for punch. Just before guests arrive, pour punch solution into large punch bowl and add 1/4 bag of ice and gingerale. Stir gently. Punch will become frothy. Garnish with thin slices of fresh lemons just before guest arrive. One batch will serve about 25 people. The puree can be frozen for future use.
Callie and her flower
Callie was fussing the other night, so Bill went outside and got her a flower. Cuteness ensued.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Driving, Doctors, and Dudes on our lawn
Today was a weird day, to put it mildly. Last night Callie did not sleep well at all. She went to sleep at her normal time and woke up 2 hours later. I fed her again. She woke up 3 hours later. Bill changed her. Slept for an hour.
Finally I gave up and we went to the coffee shop and then to music class. Her St. Paddy's dress was a huge hit!
Then it was off to meet Melissa and Baby A to see a movie, Rango where I spent most of the movie chasing Callie around the movie theater. Up the stairs, across the top row, down the stairs. Repeat.
Although, while we were in the top row I got some pretty funny pictures of her.
God, what is it with this woman and shoes?
You want me to what? Sit down and watch a movie? Pashaw!
Melissa and I had planned to grab lunch after the movie before my chiropractor appt. But when I went to change Miss C in the bathroom I noticed a gnarly rash. I wasn't huge (yet) but definitely something was wrong. So lunch was out. I wanted Callie to sleep if she was fighting something off. And you know what that means! Driving time! Since that is pretty much the only way she will sleep during the day. In the time it took for me to buckle her into the carseat and start the car she was dead asleep. So she got about an hour of sleep before my appointment. By that time her rash had basically exploded. It was now all over her stomach, her back, her neck and parts of her face. In the 15 minutes my appointment took, the bumps were now raised and there were bumps all over her head and around her eyes and nose. I was officially nervous.
So when I got in the car I called our pediatrician's office. I was about 30 minutes until they closed, but maybe I could at least talk to the advice nurse. I was concerned it was a food allergy but she hadn't eaten anything new. There were mangoes in the soup last night, which can be a common allergen, but she had eaten mangoes plenty of times, which is not to be confused with her actually liking them. In the morning we had shared a breakfast burrito that had scrambled eggs in it. But again, she had that plenty of times before as well. Of course, when I was on the phone they gave me the whole "Well, we don't recommend they eat eggs until they are one." Oh you mean in 4 weeks? But I knew eggs can be a very dangerous allergen so I opted to bring her in. Especially since they kept asking if she was having respitory problems or if she was wheezing or coughing. By this point she was very uncomfortable and trying to scratch her belly. They said if I could get there in half an hour we could see a doctor. Not a problem! Away we went. And proceeded to wait for 20 minutes in the exam room. Mmmhmm. When the doctor saw her she was expecting to see welts or hives, which you would find with common food allergies but what she saw resembled something more like roseola which can be icky in its own way. But she didn't have any other symptoms. Usually you see fevers and swollen lymph nodes and that sort of thing, which she didn't have. Roseola usually resolves itself in a couple of days but it can result in seizures and meningitus, which would obviously be incredibly dangerous in an infant. Since Callie didn't have any other symptoms, we figure we are pretty much in the clear. The doctor said we can use liquid zyrtec to manage the itching since it is an antihistimine that won't sedate her.
So off to Walgreens we went. Of course she fell asleep again from being so upset in the doctor's office, although she was pretty stoked to play with the tongue depressor. I let her nap a bit more in the car before going in the store. We got home and I finally got her settled down when I heard voices from the front yard. I thought it might be our next door neighbor with their new baby girl. So I opened the blinds and was quite surprised when I saw 6 dudes on my lawn! There was a black guy that was clearly being forced to sit down and 5 hispanic men hanging out smoking cigarettes. It definitely seemed odd. I wanted to walk outside and ask what the hell they were doing, but it was just me and Callie and it didn't seem safe or particularly smart. I thought about calling the police, but I wasn't totally sure of what was happening, plus Bill was due to be home in a few minutes. A few minutes later 2 police cars showed up and put the black guy in handcuffs on our lawn. He didn't resist at all, clearly he knew he was screwed. I overheard the cops ask the other guys "Do you want to press charges?" They replied with a big YES. They then said they would meet them back at the shop to talk about it, so I assumed this guy had stolen something from a shop on San Carlos and they had chased him down.
Now you would think if you arrested someone on someone else's property you might knock on the door and tell the homeowners what had just happened. But no. Oh well. I'm just thankful I didn't have to have an altercation with them and be worried about my baby inside. So that was our wacky day. I have never been so happy for it to be date night. Definitely needed a break tonight!
Finally I gave up and we went to the coffee shop and then to music class. Her St. Paddy's dress was a huge hit!
Then it was off to meet Melissa and Baby A to see a movie, Rango where I spent most of the movie chasing Callie around the movie theater. Up the stairs, across the top row, down the stairs. Repeat.
Although, while we were in the top row I got some pretty funny pictures of her.
God, what is it with this woman and shoes?
You want me to what? Sit down and watch a movie? Pashaw!
Melissa and I had planned to grab lunch after the movie before my chiropractor appt. But when I went to change Miss C in the bathroom I noticed a gnarly rash. I wasn't huge (yet) but definitely something was wrong. So lunch was out. I wanted Callie to sleep if she was fighting something off. And you know what that means! Driving time! Since that is pretty much the only way she will sleep during the day. In the time it took for me to buckle her into the carseat and start the car she was dead asleep. So she got about an hour of sleep before my appointment. By that time her rash had basically exploded. It was now all over her stomach, her back, her neck and parts of her face. In the 15 minutes my appointment took, the bumps were now raised and there were bumps all over her head and around her eyes and nose. I was officially nervous.
So when I got in the car I called our pediatrician's office. I was about 30 minutes until they closed, but maybe I could at least talk to the advice nurse. I was concerned it was a food allergy but she hadn't eaten anything new. There were mangoes in the soup last night, which can be a common allergen, but she had eaten mangoes plenty of times, which is not to be confused with her actually liking them. In the morning we had shared a breakfast burrito that had scrambled eggs in it. But again, she had that plenty of times before as well. Of course, when I was on the phone they gave me the whole "Well, we don't recommend they eat eggs until they are one." Oh you mean in 4 weeks? But I knew eggs can be a very dangerous allergen so I opted to bring her in. Especially since they kept asking if she was having respitory problems or if she was wheezing or coughing. By this point she was very uncomfortable and trying to scratch her belly. They said if I could get there in half an hour we could see a doctor. Not a problem! Away we went. And proceeded to wait for 20 minutes in the exam room. Mmmhmm. When the doctor saw her she was expecting to see welts or hives, which you would find with common food allergies but what she saw resembled something more like roseola which can be icky in its own way. But she didn't have any other symptoms. Usually you see fevers and swollen lymph nodes and that sort of thing, which she didn't have. Roseola usually resolves itself in a couple of days but it can result in seizures and meningitus, which would obviously be incredibly dangerous in an infant. Since Callie didn't have any other symptoms, we figure we are pretty much in the clear. The doctor said we can use liquid zyrtec to manage the itching since it is an antihistimine that won't sedate her.
So off to Walgreens we went. Of course she fell asleep again from being so upset in the doctor's office, although she was pretty stoked to play with the tongue depressor. I let her nap a bit more in the car before going in the store. We got home and I finally got her settled down when I heard voices from the front yard. I thought it might be our next door neighbor with their new baby girl. So I opened the blinds and was quite surprised when I saw 6 dudes on my lawn! There was a black guy that was clearly being forced to sit down and 5 hispanic men hanging out smoking cigarettes. It definitely seemed odd. I wanted to walk outside and ask what the hell they were doing, but it was just me and Callie and it didn't seem safe or particularly smart. I thought about calling the police, but I wasn't totally sure of what was happening, plus Bill was due to be home in a few minutes. A few minutes later 2 police cars showed up and put the black guy in handcuffs on our lawn. He didn't resist at all, clearly he knew he was screwed. I overheard the cops ask the other guys "Do you want to press charges?" They replied with a big YES. They then said they would meet them back at the shop to talk about it, so I assumed this guy had stolen something from a shop on San Carlos and they had chased him down.
Now you would think if you arrested someone on someone else's property you might knock on the door and tell the homeowners what had just happened. But no. Oh well. I'm just thankful I didn't have to have an altercation with them and be worried about my baby inside. So that was our wacky day. I have never been so happy for it to be date night. Definitely needed a break tonight!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
The Magical One Year Mark: Saying Thank You
I absolutely cannot believe, as I look at the date, that in a few short weeks we will be celebrating Callie's first birthday. Thinking back to the early days (of what I remember) that day seemed an impossible destination. Those early days were so incredibly hard. Even just the physical nature of it. Healing from childbirth isn't easy, plus with an episiotemy on top of it, I was a mess.
I want to take a moment to call out the people that made it so that we will be celebrating Callie's year mark on April 23rd.
Bill and my Mom are at the very tip top of that list. I lost count of how many times I collapsed into tears and they always knew what to say to pick me back up and to make me feel like I didn't, well, suck at this whole mom thing.
My darkest time was when Bill was going back to work. I felt so alone and deserted. A great deal of it was self imposed. I was so jealous that he got to have another life outside of Callie. I was terrified of what my new life was about to become. I have always been afraid of failing. I associated asking for help with "I can't do this. What were we thinking having this baby? I can't do it."
I would count the hours until Mom was done at school and could send a pleading email or text message. That way she couldn't hear my tears and feelings of failure. I truly don't know how to thank her for everything she did for us. Thank you mom for the simple gift of warm food. It made such a difference in my body and mind set. Thank you for holding her and looking at her with such love. I made me think that I could too. Thank you for giving advice, gently. Thank you for taking care of Callie so Bill and I could reconnect in a small way, even if it was just to see Iron Man 2 and eat sushi. Thank you for watching her for a few hours each week so I can focus on my health and my marriage.
Thank you Bill for taking care of Callie when I couldn't. Thank you for putting Callie in the onesie that said "Mommy loves me" even when I wasn't sure if it was true. Thank you for not letting go of me. Thank you for loving her so much and for trying to figure out who we are as a family. Our world has changed and I feel so blessed to have you on this journey with me.
Thank you Bill for saying the words "I am worried about you." They were the words that sent me looking for Harmony.
My adjustment to motherhood group at Harmony was another life saver, literally. Specifically, Sharon, Courtney and Lauren. Courtney, your little nuggets of no-bullshit-truth kept me afloat and I still recite some of them to my friends that have little ones and we all nod and say, 'Ya!! So true!" It was so nice to have a place where I could cry and feel like I sucked and someone would tell me I was doing ok, that I wasn't totally screwing this kid up. They gave me a place to say "PPD" and not feel as bad about it. I knew I wasn't alone and that meant a great deal.
To Valerie, thank you for all of your advice and reminding me that "this too shall pass." Thank you for all the food and clothes and for time with your girls. It helped tremendously to see that they don't stay screaming, useless balls for too long. Thank you for dinner when Bill couldn't come home. It meant more to me than you can know that I had a place to be.
To Michelle, Kat and Viv for being my connection to the "real" world. For lunches and cocktails and a reminder that I wasn't lost for good.
Thank you Debbie and Stroller Hikes for getting me into the sunshine and the fresh air.
Thank you Megan for setting up Foodtidings. Thank you for giving us the gift of infant massage. It made dealing with Callie's colic a little easier.
To Tara and Bethany for giving us a beautiful, healthy little girl.
Tara, you were my rock and I can't imagine Callie's big day without you. Thank you for seeing my weakest moment and not judging me for it. Thank you for believing in me so much that I couldn't help but believe in my strength too. Thank you for some of my favorite pictures of all time. You captured the beauty and exhilaration of Callie's first moments. Thank you for coming over after she was home to help me with breastfeeding and reminding me to enjoy those newborn smells and snuggles.
Thank you Marti, Tiffany and Fran for making my body stronger and feeling like "me" again.
To the Las Madres mamas, especially Lorraine, Fran, Melissa, Krissy and Erica. Thank you for giving me reasons to get out of the house everyday. Thank you for making me feel like I'm not crazy, or at least we are all crazy together.
To the baristas at Barefoot, thanks for being our second home.
Thank you Callie for sticking around until I could get, at least some of this mom stuff figured out. Thank you for being you. In the end, I wouldn't have it any other way.
I want to take a moment to call out the people that made it so that we will be celebrating Callie's year mark on April 23rd.
Bill and my Mom are at the very tip top of that list. I lost count of how many times I collapsed into tears and they always knew what to say to pick me back up and to make me feel like I didn't, well, suck at this whole mom thing.
My darkest time was when Bill was going back to work. I felt so alone and deserted. A great deal of it was self imposed. I was so jealous that he got to have another life outside of Callie. I was terrified of what my new life was about to become. I have always been afraid of failing. I associated asking for help with "I can't do this. What were we thinking having this baby? I can't do it."
I would count the hours until Mom was done at school and could send a pleading email or text message. That way she couldn't hear my tears and feelings of failure. I truly don't know how to thank her for everything she did for us. Thank you mom for the simple gift of warm food. It made such a difference in my body and mind set. Thank you for holding her and looking at her with such love. I made me think that I could too. Thank you for giving advice, gently. Thank you for taking care of Callie so Bill and I could reconnect in a small way, even if it was just to see Iron Man 2 and eat sushi. Thank you for watching her for a few hours each week so I can focus on my health and my marriage.
Thank you Bill for taking care of Callie when I couldn't. Thank you for putting Callie in the onesie that said "Mommy loves me" even when I wasn't sure if it was true. Thank you for not letting go of me. Thank you for loving her so much and for trying to figure out who we are as a family. Our world has changed and I feel so blessed to have you on this journey with me.
Thank you Bill for saying the words "I am worried about you." They were the words that sent me looking for Harmony.
My adjustment to motherhood group at Harmony was another life saver, literally. Specifically, Sharon, Courtney and Lauren. Courtney, your little nuggets of no-bullshit-truth kept me afloat and I still recite some of them to my friends that have little ones and we all nod and say, 'Ya!! So true!" It was so nice to have a place where I could cry and feel like I sucked and someone would tell me I was doing ok, that I wasn't totally screwing this kid up. They gave me a place to say "PPD" and not feel as bad about it. I knew I wasn't alone and that meant a great deal.
To Valerie, thank you for all of your advice and reminding me that "this too shall pass." Thank you for all the food and clothes and for time with your girls. It helped tremendously to see that they don't stay screaming, useless balls for too long. Thank you for dinner when Bill couldn't come home. It meant more to me than you can know that I had a place to be.
To Michelle, Kat and Viv for being my connection to the "real" world. For lunches and cocktails and a reminder that I wasn't lost for good.
Thank you Debbie and Stroller Hikes for getting me into the sunshine and the fresh air.
Thank you Megan for setting up Foodtidings. Thank you for giving us the gift of infant massage. It made dealing with Callie's colic a little easier.
To Tara and Bethany for giving us a beautiful, healthy little girl.
Tara, you were my rock and I can't imagine Callie's big day without you. Thank you for seeing my weakest moment and not judging me for it. Thank you for believing in me so much that I couldn't help but believe in my strength too. Thank you for some of my favorite pictures of all time. You captured the beauty and exhilaration of Callie's first moments. Thank you for coming over after she was home to help me with breastfeeding and reminding me to enjoy those newborn smells and snuggles.
Thank you Marti, Tiffany and Fran for making my body stronger and feeling like "me" again.
To the Las Madres mamas, especially Lorraine, Fran, Melissa, Krissy and Erica. Thank you for giving me reasons to get out of the house everyday. Thank you for making me feel like I'm not crazy, or at least we are all crazy together.
To the baristas at Barefoot, thanks for being our second home.
Thank you Callie for sticking around until I could get, at least some of this mom stuff figured out. Thank you for being you. In the end, I wouldn't have it any other way.
Sweet Potato Soup Experiment
I did a little experimenting tonight, well, this afternoon actually. Last night's crock pot dinner was delicious, but was a little too acidic for the babe. So tonight I decided to do something with sweet potatoes, since she goes gaga for them and I'd been craving soup, so soup it was.
So here it is:
3 peeled, cut up sweet potatoes
3 small mangoes peeled, cut up (they don't have to be tiny, you're going to blend them anyway)
chicken broth
limeade (I was out of lime juice)
curry powder
cinnamon
minced ginger
allspice
If I hadn't intended on giving it to Callie, I probably would have made it spicier by adding some crushed red pepper and a ton more ginger or maybe even my favorite new ingredient, green curry paste.
Put on high for 4 hours. You could probably put it on low, but I pretty much forgot about making dinner until about 2pm, so high it was!
After the time was up, I put the delicious smelling chunks in the blender. It was good, but it was missing something. I thought some broiled toasts with melted gruyere or something like that would be good on top, but alas, neither ingredient was in my house. So I topped the soup with some crumbled goat cheese and some black pepper and voila! Bowl of awesome. That came off more Charlie Sheen than I anticipated...but there it is. Bill said it "smelled like fall."
It was a nice meal to enjoy while watching the Sharks beat the tar out of the Stars. A nice change from the previous night's meltdown against the 'Hawks. There, now this post is not just about food. Done.
I feel pretty good about my experiment. I always feel a little uneasy experimenting with the crock pot, because, well, if it doesn't work you've been cooking something for 4-8 hours for nothin'! Luckily it turned out.
Oh and if you're interested in what last night's dinner was, here it is.
Chicken breasts
can of fire roasted tomatoes
peppercinis
green olives
jar of grilled marinated artichokes
dry white wine
Crockpot on low for 7 hours. Amazing.
So here it is:
3 peeled, cut up sweet potatoes
3 small mangoes peeled, cut up (they don't have to be tiny, you're going to blend them anyway)
chicken broth
limeade (I was out of lime juice)
curry powder
cinnamon
minced ginger
allspice
If I hadn't intended on giving it to Callie, I probably would have made it spicier by adding some crushed red pepper and a ton more ginger or maybe even my favorite new ingredient, green curry paste.
Put on high for 4 hours. You could probably put it on low, but I pretty much forgot about making dinner until about 2pm, so high it was!
After the time was up, I put the delicious smelling chunks in the blender. It was good, but it was missing something. I thought some broiled toasts with melted gruyere or something like that would be good on top, but alas, neither ingredient was in my house. So I topped the soup with some crumbled goat cheese and some black pepper and voila! Bowl of awesome. That came off more Charlie Sheen than I anticipated...but there it is. Bill said it "smelled like fall."
It was a nice meal to enjoy while watching the Sharks beat the tar out of the Stars. A nice change from the previous night's meltdown against the 'Hawks. There, now this post is not just about food. Done.
I feel pretty good about my experiment. I always feel a little uneasy experimenting with the crock pot, because, well, if it doesn't work you've been cooking something for 4-8 hours for nothin'! Luckily it turned out.
Oh and if you're interested in what last night's dinner was, here it is.
Chicken breasts
can of fire roasted tomatoes
peppercinis
green olives
jar of grilled marinated artichokes
dry white wine
Crockpot on low for 7 hours. Amazing.
Baby needs a new pair of shoes!
Since Callie is walking so much now, I thought it was high time she got some proper footwear. I had heard that Stride Rite was still the place to go, so a friend from Las Madres and I set out for our adventure! We met at the store in the afternoon. They measured her feet while she was still in the ergo and said she was a 3 1/2 wide. So I picked out a couple of pairs to try. Thankfully most of the shoes are velcro. I certainly don't want to deal with laces yet! I was totally shocked when I looked at the prices! I thought to myself, "They won't be that expensive, they're little, right?" Wrong. $40!! That's as much as I spend on shoes for me, most of the time. Oh well. At least they were doing a buy one get one half off deal. I put one shoe on her and then she sort of hobbled/crawled away. It was hysterical!
Her crawling/walking movements got VERY exaggerated, like she was wearing shoes that were 2 feet high! I should have taken video. She kept crawling to Fran as if to say "Help me! Make her stop!"
"Yo! Where my toes at?!"
Oh well, at least I look good.
She is definitely still trying to get used to them, but its getting better. Growing up is so hard, isn't it?
Her crawling/walking movements got VERY exaggerated, like she was wearing shoes that were 2 feet high! I should have taken video. She kept crawling to Fran as if to say "Help me! Make her stop!"
"Yo! Where my toes at?!"
Oh well, at least I look good.
She is definitely still trying to get used to them, but its getting better. Growing up is so hard, isn't it?
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