Beautiful Weather = The Park!!

I was just too tired to blog last night but if I don't do it tonight my Mom is going to drive over here and hurt me, so, here we go!

Yesterday was a beautiful day with a high in the upper 50's. The unfortunate thing was I had a headache all morning and part of the afternoon, but, thankfully it went away just in time to enjoy some time outside with Alaina in the evening! We also got some pics taken for Easter. If you read all the way through I will give you a spoiler picture at the end! I still have a lot of editing to do, so, not time to post them yet! Let me tell you though...it is getting harder and harder to take pics of this kid! She was "afraid" to sit on the backdrop and she kept wanting to come sit on my lap instead of sitting in front of me. And how can you be mad when they come up and put their arms around your neck to hug you?? At the same time, I want to be like "Just sit down and smile!!" Let's just say, it was a challenge! So be grateful for every good picture you see because for every one of those there at least 15 outtakes!! It is days like yesterday that I am like "This is why you would never want to be a photographer!" which usually outweigh the times where I am like "This is so much fun, I wish I could just do this all the time!"

We did NOT go to the gym yesterday. #1 I had the headache. #2 They do not have daycare on Sunday and #3 I couldn't walk. Too much weight lifting!! While I am thinking about it, I need to tell my funny story from when we went last Tuesday. So, I get on this weight machine where you release this bar and it pushes your legs apart in a v-shape and to build the muscles in your inner thighs, you squeeze your legs back together. I put it on 30 pounds and did three reps of 10 and decided that was good and I would move on to the next machine. To get off, you pull on the lever and it pushes the leg rests back together so you can get off. One small problem...I can't get the bar to release... Not wanting to look stupid, I decide I will just do another 10 reps while I fumble with the bar to see if I can get it to pop out of the current position. No luck. I rest a little bit and contemplate what to do. Attempt to get off the machine with my legs spread apart? Doesn't look promising... Ask for help? How humiliating!! By this time a lady comes up and gets on a machine next to me. I do another 10 reps while trying to decide if I should throw my pride out and ask for some help. She has her iPod on...I would have to tap her on the shoulder. That is probably against the weight lifting code of conduct... I do another 10 reps. By this time, my legs are shaking. Who should walk up? Teddy! I said "Help! I can't get this lever to release and pull this back together." He kind of looks it over and says "Hmm...I don't know. Never used that one before..." and then turns and walks away!! (With his headphones on, mind you, so he doesn't hear me HISSING his name!) I turn around, the lady next to me is gone. Another 10 reps. How much more of this can I take? I am seriously thinking about abandoning this thing. My shaky legs are seriously outweighing my pride at this point! I relax my legs all the way out and basically look like I am ready to give birth at this point, try the lever one more time, and what do you know, it releases. I stand up as best I can and use the spray to wipe my machine down and stand up straight to walk to an ARM machine like I totally meant to do about 12 reps the whole time!! Needless to say...I wasn't squeezing my legs together until about Friday. Few more weeks, I may be able to crush a pop can, who knows. Although I don't know why I would, they are terrible hard to redeem when they are crushed... Anyway, that is my story. Had to share. It can't beat the Miss Piggy underwear incident of last Spring, but, it's up there.

So back to Sunday, we took Alaina outside in the afternoon. Of course the first thing she wants to do is swing.

Attempting to get in the swing herself... Ballerina??

And we tried a little of this...

I finally lifted her up and we swung for awhile. No need to post another pic of her swinging. It is much more fun to see her try to get in herself. Notice the fact my child has no junk in her trunk so her pants are always falling down. She can thank her Dad for that one! There is definitely junk in my trunk! Trying to give a little of that junk away!
So after swinging we went out in the backyard because Daddy had got most of the Duncan "bombs" cleaned up. We played on our play set for awhile.

Duncan came over to say hello! Hi Duncan!

She did go down the slide a couple times but she preferred to hold my hand as she went down. We went inside after this so we could start dinner and finish laundry. Alaina was not happy about this. After dinner she got down from her highchair and went to stand by the front door. A few minutes later she was freaking out and I went over to investigate. Skylar, the neighbor girl about 2 months older than Alaina was outside playing. So, we went outside for another half an hour to see Skylar and then it was time for a bath and bed! Mommy didn't stay up very late either!

Today was work and daycare as usual. When I got off work I couldn't believe it was 70!! It was gorgeous out! I went to get Alaina and we headed home. As soon as we pulled in the drive she was ready to go out but I told her we had to wait for Daddy to get home. So we read some books and played with her CD player and sang "Itsy Bitsy Spider" about 50 times. Finally daddy came home and we made dinner and then it was outside time! We set off for the park with Duncan who was also VERY excited to be outside and headed for the park!

Happy as a clam swinging!!

Trying out the playground equipment!

She wasn't sure about the slide...

Or the sand... It was squishy to walk on!!

All in all we had a very fun time at the park! Surprisingly there was not a fit when we got back in the stroller for the ride back home, however, there was a fit at home when she realized we were going in!! Sorry Lainey! Time for a bath and jammies!!

Okay, So I promised a spoiler and I am true to my word!! Hmmm...which on should I choose?? Maybe this one...

This is a rough one! Still working my photoshop magic! Be patient!

Be On the Lookout...

Whew! What a day! I need to be going to bed so I will keep this short and sweet. :o) This morning we took my car in to get the oil changed and while that was being done we went to the gym to work out. I managed to get 25 minutes in on the treadmill for cardio and then did weight lifting for about 30 minutes. By the time we picked Alaina up from the children's room, I could hardly lift her! We came home and had lunch and then Alaina and I played for awhile before I put her down for her nap. When she got up I took a shower and gave her a bath and we got ready to go out and run some errands. We went to Best Buy and Walmart and ended up having dinner before heading back home. Alaina got a lot of attention at dinner from the people around us, which she loved! She is such a ham sometimes...
When we got home we had to put our purchases away and get a few things done. Daddy decided to unload the dishwasher, and Alaina decided she would help!

I will get this one for you dad! (Daddy said no!)

She manages to run off with some Gladware...

We take a time-out for a snack of Strawberry Yogurt bites

There was a crash on Family Room Drive when a large "feline" ran out in to oncoming traffic.
Alaina surveyed the damage to her vehicle...

The vehicle was in good working condition following the crash so it was turned upright and Alaina continued on her way. Be on the lookout for a large orange feline in the area...

Answers to: Samson, Sam, Sammy, Sambo, Sam the Man, Fatty, and Fubu
Consider him fat and extremely lazy

A Hippo, A Blanket, and A Duck... (Sounds like the start of a bad joke?)

Another long day at work, but, it is the weekend now! Hooray! Alaina was upset that we could not swing tonight. The wind was just too cool! She sat by the front door for about 10 minutes with her coat before I convinced her to come in and play with some of her toys in the family room. When Daddy got home we were trying to decide what to have for dinner. We decided on picking up some KFC and just bringing it back to the house. Sooo bad for you but it was so yummy! When I was pregnant with Alaina I craved the mashed potatoes and gravy mixed with their cole slaw on top of a biscuit. Had to hold myself back from eating that too much, I don't know how I didn't end up gaining 300 lbs, or at least, with extremely high cholesterol... Alaina ate all of her chicken, mashed potatoes and biscuit and most of her cole slaw. I am sure she was thinking "Mmmm...I think I have had this before..." Ha ha! Probably not...

I think a lot of last nights crankiness had to do with some more teething. The bad diaper rash is back and as you will see in the pics below, she is back to being a drooly mess! Poor girl! She is just getting tooth after tooth right now and they are big molars! I suppose that would make anyone cranky!!
When Teddy went upstairs to change tonight, Alaina wanted to follow him up. She likes to go in our room and take things that look like fun. Like, the bottle of tums that makes noise when it shakes, my flashlight off my nightstand, and usually, my hot pink hippo Teddy got me for Valentine's day a few years back. It is a really cute hippo that talks when you squeeze it (Sounds a little like Queen Latifah...) and it's little ears flutter. I was a little offended at first when it talked to me and the first thing it said was "There's a lot of me to love!" Uh...Teddy?? Are you trying to tell me something?? Ha ha! He wasn't, but, I still like to give him a hard time about it... Anyway, Alaina has taken a liking to this stuffed hippo so we had to bring it downstairs for the evening.

Here we are mesmerized by the Hippo...

And here we are loving the hippo

Ignore my mess in the background, I was gathering up things to put in the wash, but, had to stop to take some pics!! Laundry can wait... As we finished up playing with Hippo Alaina noticed something was hiding under the blanket.

It's a rubber duck! How did he get there??

Dad! Look what I found!

I don't see you duck!

Where did duck go?

Don't worry! I found him again!

Ahhh...all these nice toys and we spend 20 minutes playing with a hippo, a blanket and a duck!!

"Miss Independent, Miss Self-Sufficient..."

Ahhhh...Thursday. One more day until the weekend! Hooray! Today was a loooong day and I am glad it is finally drawing to a close.
Today, I am wondering if the "terrible two's" struck about 7 months too early. Please don't tell me it can get worse!?!? I am already dealing with "Miss Independent" and I am scared to think if this is 17 months...what the heck are two's and three's going to be like?!?
The morning started off with Teddy and I needing to leave the house at the same time. Usually I leave to go to work and Teddy and Alaina leave later. It has become part of their routine that Alaina gets to feed Duncan a biscuit in the morning when they leave. This morning, however, Teddy was rushing to get the morning routine done and did it himself. Alaina, melted into a screaming puddle on the floor. How dare daddy do her job!! In the time it took to distract her and calm her down, she could have fed the dog his biscuit and everyone could have gone on with their day!
Teddy was stuck in a training class all day and I was just super busy so I was relieved when I was able to leave and get home. When I got home Teddy had Alaina visiting the neighbor. I helped him walk her back up to the house and she threw a fit when we had to take her inside. We let her push the button to shut the garage door and that helped a little. I changed my clothes and decided to let her play outside for just a bit.

She wants to sit right HERE...

Swinging and watching the neighborhood kids play

It was a nice day but the wind was a bit chilly and I decided it was time we head inside and we needed to help Dad with dinner. Fit #2 closely followed by fits 3, 4, 5, and 6 every time Dad went out on the back patio to check the grill. Agh!! I decided maybe she was just hungry and she ate really well. She ate some steak, almost a whole single serving package of peas, and a container of pears. At that point it was time for a bath. She LOVES bath time. She enjoyed playing in the water with her toys and she now has to hang her washcloth over the spout when we are done washing up and then we clap because she did a good job. These are the times I LOVE!! After bath we had to have "diaper time" which consists of Alaina running around in her diaper, and, usually a pair of shoes. Tonight we added a hat to the mix...

My beautiful, crazy kid...You can't see the shoes, but, they are there!

Soon after this picture was taken she had a fit because Duncan laid on her blanket. #1 No-No = Duncan laying on anything of Alaina's. She was happier when Daddy got out a pudding cup and shared with her, however, when the pudding cup was gone it was nuclear meltdown time. Off and on fits all night. I am wondering if there is another tooth on it's way... Of course, as soon as it was approaching bedtime, she was happily playing with her kitchen set. Thankfully, no fit when it was time for bed! She kissed her daddy goodnight and we went up to her room. We put on her CD and did our bedtime dance and then it was time to get tucked in! Care bear blankie, check. Grover in one arm, check. Bunny in the other arm, check. We are cleared for bed time! Goodnight Alaina! We love you! *cough*and we are glad you are going to bed*cough*

Tomorrow is another day! :o)

"Mamarazzi" Strikes Again!!

Today was a good day! I only had to work half a day due to having a Dr Appointment at lunch time and asked to take the rest of the afternoon off. After a long day on Monday, it was nice to have a little time to get some things done! After the Dr I ended up stopping by Younkers because some people at work were talking about the great sales they were having for 'Goodwill Days.' They weren't kidding! I think 40% off was the lowest sale I saw! Of course, I ended up picking up a couple things. I will get back to this in a bit... After I left Younkers I grabbed a late lunch and stopped by home to change my shoes and call "Pony Tails and Buzzcuts" to see if they could squeeze Alaina in for a trim. They said they could get her in at 3:00 so I called the daycare to see if she was up from her nap and had snack yet. She was, so I went to pick her up and we went to get her hair cut. She mostly just needed her bangs trimmed up, but, they gave the rest of her hair a bit of a trim as well. After that we came home and Daddy got home soon after us. We had to put on a little fashion show for him. Ha ha!

Back to my purchase at Younkers... I found this outfit that when I saw it just screamed something I could imagine my Grandma Carolyn picking out for Alaina. It is fun and "blingy" and since it was on sale, I had to have it. Plus it seems very trandy for my fashion conscious 17 month old... Ha ha! ;o)

The Whole Outfit - My Little Fashion Diva

The Coat and Our New Haircut

The Cute Pockets

The Shirt Under the Coat

As you can see, towards the end of me wanting to get pictures of this outfit, she decided it was more important to eat cheese nips. I decided eating cheese nips in white pants probably wasn't a great idea so we stripped off our new outfit for a snack...and ate it in our pink tights and onesie. Ok...I am thinking at this point we are little less fashion conscious...

The Onesie with Tights

Hmm...which one should I choose??

Elbow deep in the nips

What Mom? Quit taking my picture...

After snack Alaina wanted her "favorite" shoes on with her pink tights which happen to be navy blue mary janes with butterflies on them and then she threw a fit until we let her wear her new leopard jacket, hence this outfit... Fashion conscious has left the building!

All in all we had a fun evening playing "dress up" and letting mom play "Mammarazzi" with her camera. These will be great for high school graduation or her wedding some day... *tear* Not going to think about that just now!

TGI...Tuesday???

Is the week over yet?? Nope! It's only Tuesday... Is it just me or does it feel like an entire week was crammed in the last two days?? *sigh* Other than work the past two days have been relatively uneventful. Tonight, however, Alaina and I swung in the porch swing in front of our house and watched the neighborhood kids play until daddy got home. Then we went to the "Y" for about an hour. Alaina played in the childcare center while daddy and I worked our 'booties' off running and doing weights in the gym. I feel really good tonight! I will let you know how it is going later in the week... Ha ha! When we got home we made some dinner, ate, I gave Alaina a bath and we watched some Biggest Loser. I know...exciting.

Maybe I will have more to share another night?

In other news...still playing with the new camera. Surprised Duncan hasn't found a way to dispose of it yet! Ha ha!

This Little Piggy...

I am giving this one it's own post because I just love it... It occurred during our St. Patty's Day shoot but, it has a story all it's own to me! I hate when people think every picture has to be of the kid smiling and looking straight at the camera. Captured moments can be just as fun or more fun!


This is my captured moment...

Fun Collage

This is done in Sepia...

But I also love the Black & White

Not-so-Irish Eyes can smile too!

How can it be Sunday afternoon already?!? Where did my weekend go?!? They always go by far too fast... We had a nice weekend in Omaha. It snowed on Friday, but, fortunately it snowed during the day and it was far too warm for much to stick. It probably snowed a good 4-5 inches but in the end only about 1 inch stuck. FINE BY ME!! Saturday we had to take Teddy's car in to get the oil changed and we stopped by the YMCA. We have been members a few years but haven't been going much since we had Alaina. One of us could go, and the other had to stay home with the baby, etc. But, we found out they have childcare for you while you work out. It is pretty cheap too at less than $2 an hour! So we bought 24 hours of childcare so we can start going this next week. I am excited! I had been going to the gym during lunch at work but they took that away from us before the Holidays and I have REALLY missed it. We also looked in to classes for Alaina. In April we will be signing her up for "Shrimps" which is swimming class for babies! Mommy and/or Daddy get in the water with baby in these classes. If you know my husband, you know who is getting in the water... MOMMY! Saturday night we went to dinner with a friend whose wife is out of town this weekend. We went to a great Japanese restaurant called "Hiro" and I got to have SUSHI! I haven't had it for awhile and I was craving it! We had calamari as an appetizer and Alaina LOVED it. (If you do not know what calamari is, it is squid) Grammy NiNi wasn't too thrilled to hear about that but then, Grammy doesn't like seafood! Thankfully, Alaina hasn't met a food she didn't like!
After dinner I came home and worked on editing pictures from Alaina's St. Patty's Day Photo shoot. I am going to attach them here. People don't come here to see what I write anyway! Ha ha! Enjoy!