Eliana Tuesday #6
I have a head cold and a new puppy and I didn’t take very many pictures this week. So very unlike me. But here are a few.
Playing with the outlets. And yes, that IS the largest binky ever.
Keeping Easter alive all year long.
Notice how the tank top accentuates the enormity of her head.
But what a cute head it is. Bed hair and all.
What am I getting myself into?
This is Sam.
She’s half Plott Hound, half Lab. And now she’s ours. We didn’t go looking for a dog (because I am not crazy). But she found us anyway and now she’s here to stay. Basically, she got away from her owners (who live right around the corner) and found her way to our house. We planned on putting up fliers and calling the vets on Monday, but a kid was looking for the dog. I went to return her and the owner gave her to us. Her husband wouldn’t let her get another dog unless she got rid of this one first. It’s really not as bad as that sounds though. They have a ranch and she really needed a border collie. And they did search the neighborhood for her to make sure she was ok. Good people.
Tony immediately fell in love with her. That’s saying something since he’s never been a “dog person”. I’ve been begging for a dog for years and he always said no. After getting permission from the home owners (we rent), she’s here to stay.
I’m a little. Hmmm. Ambivalent. Sorta. On one hand, she’s so cute!! But on the other, if she doesn’t stop that yelping at night I will lose my damn mind. I fully realize the responsibility of a dog. I know how hard it’s going to be. I can see her being a really great dog if we can just get her out of this puppy phase. It’s a work in progress. House training is already going better than I expected. She has accidents, of course, but it’s not as bad as I thought. My biggest problem right now is the nighttime noise. But tonight we moved the gates in the garage. And we’re keeping her awake for a while before bed. (Seriously, I have never seen a dog sleep this much in my life. And I’ve had lots of dogs. According to Google, it’s a hound thing. At least this type.) And I have ear plugs. I’m good.
(And for those of you worried about me not hearing Eliana, don’t. I never hear her. Tony always wakes up for her. I know, I’m damn lucky. It helps that she sleeps through and the only time he has to get up is in the morning. And then I wake up while he’s changing her. It all works out.)
Speaking of Eliana. She likes the dog. Sorta. She likes to look at her and maybe pet (slap) Sam on her own terms, but she doesn’t like it when Sam gets too playful. It’s already almost impossible for me to keep my eyes on both of them throughout the day. I get very tired. I’m told it’ll be nice for them to grow up together. So far, I’m just trying to keep them both intact.
Not so easy.
I once was blind, but now..nothing’s changed
I lost my glasses. I’ve been lens-less for at least a month and it kinda sucks.
Not that my sight is terrible. It’s really just a slight astigmatism and far or near I don’t know which one sighted. But just a little. I can see. I can even read blogs if I increase the text size at least twice. I don’t know how big that is, but probably big. Far away things are kinda blurry. I have to squint and raise my eyebrows a lot.
I’ve only been wearing glasses since just before I got pregnant. I’ve only had one eye exam and one pair of glasses (2 if you count my prescription sunglasses that I haven’t lost). And I loved my glasses. They actually looked OK on me. They were cute. And they cost a fortune. And now they’re gone. Lost somewhere in the house. We called off the search after about 2 hours and made an appointment. For tomorrow.
And then I’ll have to get new glasses. Probably glasses that are not cute. If I post a pic, please reassure me that I look great and they’re the best glasses ever. Please.
Obviously not superwoman
I believe I’ve mentioned once or twice that I sometimes stay in my pj’s all day. Sexy. Let me paint you a picture.
Me, in my pj bottoms, random black top, no bra, jiggly boobs and belly.
My living room, covered in toys and possibly dirty socks.
My umm..other living room?, with both the couch and love seat COVERED in clean clothes waiting to be folded.
My kitchen full of dirty dishes, bottles and sippy cups.
My dining room table, covered with plastic bags, dirty bibs, and toys.
You with me so far? Good.
There’s a knock on the door. It’s one of Tony’s coworkers who is also kinda a friend. He’s locked himself out of his house and would like to use the phone to call his wife. I couldn’t NOT let him in. So I begged forgiveness and offered coffee (I totally had fresh coffee! Am awesome hostess in pj’s.) I *tried* to clean up the living room and keep him out of everywhere else, but was unsuccessful. He followed me for coffee. To the dirty kitchen. Past the piles of laundry. Damn.
He asked if I happened to have his wife’s cell number since he had it in the car. Sure I do! It’s programmed in my cell phone! Now where did I put that thing? Last time I remember seeing it, it was in my jeans pocket. The jeans that are currently in the washing machine. Clean. And wet. Uhhhh. Crap.
Wife was 30 minutes away. Awkward conversation. In a messy house. In my pj’s.
You should totally come over to my house. I have fresh coffee.
Eliana Tuesday #5
I think Eliana Tuesday is just going to be pics from now on. Otherwise, I’ll have nothing to say on her monthly updates. And we’re off!
This is where we read in the evenings.
While we’re reading, Eliana plays in her PNP.
And sometimes has a bottle.
Would you just look at that face!
Sometimes she plays in the grass.
Carnival
Every year our town has a fair. There are rides and games and food and crafts and music. You get it. I’m sure everyone’s been to at least one. When we lived here before, Tony volunteered us to work. That was the year they had a petting zoo, but I never went over there. It smelled. Last year I was pregnant. So I spent the entire time waddling around and eating.
This year we took Eliana. I’ve been looking forward to it for a while, although I don’t know why. She’s too young to ride rides. Her mother is a meany who won’t let her eat carnival food. She can’t play any games, and even if she could, no one ever wins those things. But still, I was excited about it. I crave the “normal, family outing”.
So we went.
Mostly we just walked around, trying to figure out what to do. About 15 minutes after we got there, we had made a circuit and seen everything. By that time, Eliana needed a bottle, so we made our way over to the dining tent. It was basically a canopy FILLED with tables pushed too close together. We sat in the shade, but at the edge so there would be room for the stroller. Eliana had her bottle and I sent Tony out in the wild for food. He brought back something in a pita pocket that was stuffed too full and impossible to eat. So I had fries. After that we did more walking. We searched for something for Eliana. I thought she needed a souvenir. Not a lot of baby stuff though, so we got her a blow-up bat thing. Then we caught a gunfighters show. At the first shot, I was surprised by how loud it was. I immediately turned toward Eliana in case she started to cry, but it was like she didn’t even notice it.
And yes, she can hear. My sister got it in her heard that she must be deaf. But no, she’s just fearless.
After that was over, we walked around a little more and decided to leave. It was kinda boring. I suppose if we had been into riding rides (or that rubber band jumpy thing…that looked awesome!) it would have been more fun. I remember going to these when I was younger and I LOVED them. I never wanted to leave and I rode rides the whole time. When Tony and I were dating we went to one and rode 1 ride and both decided we could never do that again. I have no idea what changed, but my old body just can’t handle it anymore.
Once Eliana is interested, I might try again. We’ll see.
And, of course, pictures.
9 months old
9 months seems like a big deal or something. I’ve noticed there are some months that just sound better than others. 9 sounds older. I think most people feel that way about the big O-9.
I don’t think this last month has been particularly exciting in the development area. She hasn’t learned any new tricks, but we’re working hard on a few. There’s the walking thing, but I don’t think that’s gonna happen quite yet. I’ve been trying to teach her to clap. She waves (sometimes), but no clapping. Maybe next month I’ll be able to say she’s there. No new teeth, but hell, she’s got 7. That’s quite enough for now. I thought #8 was on the way, but I guess not.
We did celebrate Tony’s birthday. The first since Eliana was born. I think everything “first” is special. She celebrated her first Easter. I started posting a weekly Eliana blog. Eliana got sick and had to have a bunch of crappy stuff done to her. But she got better.
Eliana had her 9 months well baby appointment today. Tony does the scheduling and when they say “she needs to come in at 9 months”, he takes it VERY SERIOUSLY. If he can get her in on the actual date, he does. Better not do that at 1 year though.
The appointment went so so great. She had to get a shot because she missed one somewhere and, yeah, that sucked. And she has some kinda scalp issue. Both Tony and I have similar stuff, so I’m not really shocked. We’re just treating it like cradle cap for now and if it doesn’t help, we’ll get a referral. I don’t really want to put chemicals on my kid’s head anyway. She’s met and exceeded most of her milestones (Must work on patty-cake.)
But the best news of all? My crappy eater gained over 2 pounds in a month! She weighs 19.4lbs! I think someone mis-measured because she apparently shrunk 3/4″ in a month. That part doesn’t bother me at all though because she has Tony and I for parents. She’s gonna be short. But OMG she’s huge! With her gaining tons of weight and being such a big girl and you have no idea how relieved and proud and excited this makes me! And really, she’s so not a crappy eater anymore. This is a pretty recent occurrence (maybe the last couple of weeks or so). I just needed to be clued in that she doesn’t love the purees and prefers thicker, chunkier foods. In fact, tonight was the very first time she ate an ENTIRE Gerber toddler container of cheese ravioli. Also, her first time having cheese. I’m so thrilled!
Sleep has been less than stellar lately. I’m thinking teething or working on a milestone or possibly a strong desire to keep me tired all the time. Probably all three. It’s not bad. I’m really the last person to complain about sleep. She’s been so so great at it and the slightest little hiccup and I’m all WAAAHHH! I’m not sure what’s going on, but she’s waking up at night and it’s taking her a LONG time to fall asleep for naps and I never know when to put her down anymore. I think we’re just going through a transitional period and it’s gonna take time to get it figured out.
All in all, excellent month.
9 months old with the bear
Stop taking my picture!
Boo!
At least the holes are gone
The gas people came yesterday to finish up the work and get rid of the holes. The knocked and let me know they’d be working and that they would have to turn the gas off for a while. I still didn’t like them back there, but I also did not want holes in my yard anymore. So I let them. Once they were done someone came in to light the pilot lights and was very nice and polite.
And then they killed my internet. They’re lucky I didn’t have a shovel.
The cable man came today to fix it (and my cable since they’re a package deal). He is my new hero.
I missed you Internet! Good to be back.
Eliana Tuesday #4
8 months, 4 weeks and 2 days old
Yes, I know it’s Wednesday. Tell that to my internet. It died yesterday and was revived today. Now I’m ready.
I’m outta here.
It was bound to happen sometime
Tony and I are on a diet. Today is day 3 or 4. My brain doesn’t have the energy to function properly since I don’t feed it. Woe is me. And mah belly.
In all seriousness, it’s not that bad. Tony needs to lose a little (like maybe 5 lbs) to be what the Navy says he should be. He actually wants to lose about 15 total I think to be happy. I need to lose a bajillion million pounds to be happy. But we don’t need to get into specific numbers. Lets just say I don’t weigh much less than I weighed the day I had Eliana.
Anyway
He called to say he didn’t pass something or other and he had to recheck on Monday (today) and if he didn’t pass bad bad bad. So thus the diet began. And it is a sucky sucky diet and I hate it already.
Back when Tony was deployed, he went on this diet. Basically, he went no carb (or low carb). All veggies, some meat as long as it wasn’t too fatty, as much fruit as he wanted, NO bread, NO pasta, NO rice. Except every day he would have one cookie. He said it was so he wouldn’t kill himself. He also worked out about an hour and a half every day except Sunday. In 2 months he lost almost 30 pounds.
Since it worked so well for him in the past, he decided that we would do the same thing. Only kinda different. After much whining, bitching, and threatening divorce and/or bodily harm (me) and judging and dirty looks (him) we decided to compromise.
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are no carb dinner days. Meat and veggies only. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday are low carb dinner days. I’m gonna have to search for some recipes, but this is do-able. Sunday is diet free days. Carb it up! (with-in reason) For lunch, until he reaches his goal weight, Tony will eat a salad only. Once he reaches the goal, he’ll eat whatever as long as it’s not terrible. I will eat whatever I damn well please for lunch. Today it was fettuccine alfredo. And it was yummy. Mostly this is because we have all this stuff in the house and don’t want to toss it, so I’ll make the huge sacrifice and eat it myself. If I eat breakfast, it’ll just be cheerios or something (gotta lower my cholesterol). Tony doesn’t eat breakfast. Go yell at him if you have a problem with it.
Yesterday was Sunday, but since today was his recheck, we ate healthy. It’s hard. I’m hungry again about an hour after dinner. And I eat a ton of veggies. So I eat half a bowl of frosted mini-wheats with organic fat free milk. It’s my cookie.
And it works. Tony passed today. It went even better than he expected. He did celebrate by having Chinese for lunch with a friend of his that just got back from Cuba, but I don’t hold it against him. Tomorrow we’re back on.
Wish us luck!
