my dishwasher

tonight i had a dishwasher that did all of my dishes.




and boy was he lookin' fine.

diagnose my child: part two

want to play a game?  it's called, name that spot.

don't want to play that game?  why don't you try another one.  it's called, what's wrong with my child?

last night i told honey i'd noticed some spots on baby and thought they were increasing.  his response?  "maybe it's chicken pox!"

well, the spots increased.  so after we ate lunch i called the doctor and talked to a phone nurse.  she said it sounded like chicken pox.  she talked to my doctor.  they both wanted me to bring baby in.  appointment scheduled for two hours later.

the appointment was held outside of the building in case my baby was contagious.  i was told to park in the urgent care parking so i wouldn't have to ride the elevator.  they told me to use an outside door so we wouldn't have to go through the building at all.  i rang the doorbell on the door.  they asked me if we could wait in our car since the "rash room" was currently occupied.  parking was sparse so i'd parked clear on the other side of the building.  i told them i'd just wait outside and they could come get me.  

the whole appointment was conducted outside while my baby sat in her carseat!  the nurse and baby's doctor came out to meet us and we undressed her, took her temp, talked details, etc.  all outside of the building.  like where people wait for their rides, except not at an entrance because heaven forbid should someone walk by my baby and pick up the pox.  not gonna lie, it felt just a little ghetto.  luckily the weather today was GORGEOUS.  like the epitome of perfect.

well, the spot placement is off for chicken pox.  that begins on the chest/face and branches out from there.  baby's spots started on her arms and have now spread to her chest and legs.  no back, no face.  they think it's hand, foot, and mouth.  or something else like that.  apparently the back of her throat is really red.  not sure how that fits in.

all day i kept wondering what nurse amanda would think about this and how nice it would be to have her here.  nurse amanda, are you out there?  what do you think about these spots?

today while i was doing a google image search for these spots, i gave my computer a virus.  not that i love my computer more than my child, but the computer virus was much scarier than the baby virus.  it was terrible and my christopher spent much of the afternoon fixing it.  i couldn't even do anything because it was stressing me out too much but thank goodness he talked with some stanford it guy and got things sorted out (HOPEFULLY).  

this is the second time this has happened recently.  does anyone have any suggestions to avoid this?  i use google chrome if that even matters.  are there any sort of settings i can do so that it won't allow me to go to sketchy websites?!?!  i NEED to be able to google.

a quick update

we are back home!  just got in tonight and although i'm excited to sleep in my own bed, i'm mostly excited for baby girl to sleep in her own bed.  let's cross our fingers tonight will be better than what we've been having these last two weeks!

baby's face rash thing cleared up after several days of diligently smothering her with aquaphor.  not that she wasn't pretty before, but she looks much less abused now and i like that.

the house hunt was very successful.  i want to be a realtor because those four days of looking at house after house after house.  HEAVEN.  we didn't find "the one" but we found several that we would be really really really happy with.  one of the houses i'm lusting after has a main floor master.  would anyone care to give their two cents about what they think about having small kids upstairs and having a main floor master bedroom?  am i going to be falling down the stairs after a groggy midnight feeding?  i just want to hear some opinions... even though it probably won't sway me.  ; )

i woke up to snow this morning but in true colorado fashion, it was melted and gorgeous by noon.

the INSANE fussiness of last week is mostly all over i think.  saturday it started getting better (my mother in law said "oh my goodness!  did you know your baby can smile?!?!") and sunday was even better and today i think was almost back to normal.  i'm positive it's teething.

tomorrow, my goal is to tackle everything to get things into a livable condition again.  dishes in the sink and suitcases of dirty laundry are going to drive me nuts real fast.  i'm so excited to be back home and not living out of a suitcase.  two weeks with a baby is a long time time to do that.

i need to childproof.  the extent of my childproofing has been relocating the bleach spray bottle from the bathroom floor to on top of the toilet.  from an interior designer standpoint the purpose is definitely two fold in that it also really enhances the bathroom decor.

oh, anyone want to recommend a good baby gate for the stairs?  give me the amazon link if you have one you love.

this is what i made today

here are some phone pictures to show what i did today.

i sewed some ribbons and tags to a piece of fleece.

and i admired the finished product.

the rest of the day was spent holding and comforting my child.

i think today was just as bad as yesterday.  my child has never fussed and cried this much in her whole life.  combined.  so in all seriousness, please pray for her.  i'm guessing it's teething but really i have no idea what's wrong with her.  a complete 180 from my normal baby girl.  it's like i don't even know this kid anymore and i just want her to be happy again.

what's wrong in this picture?

saturday night, the first time baby crawled

can someone please help me out and tell me what's wrong with my baby's face? she developped this splotchy rash on her face on friday night/saturday morning and my christopher and i assumed it was just a reaction to the sunscreen we'd been putting on her all week. or maybe even something i ate since we were eating out all week.

but it's tuesday and it hasn't gone away.

her whole face got suuuuuper super dry and crusty, especially where it was splotchy, so i've put aquaphor and/or frangrance free special lotion on her face. finally, this morning the parts around her eyes looked a lot better but the part around her mouth looks worse. raw almost from the dry skin.

so does anyone have any ideas about what this is? should i just give it a few more days?

today was a little rocky

i think today was baby's roughest day ever.  poor kid.  i hope tomorrow's better.

i, on the other hand, had a fabulous day hanging out with my mother in law.  we're working on a little crafty project and i'm excited to finish it tomorrow.

and my sweet christopher had a good day too, in minnesota.  he rode a roller coaster at the great mall.  i guess that's what you do when you go on a business trip with your dad and brother.

we're in colorado

today, tomorrow, and wednesday i'll just be kicking it with my baby and my mother in law.  then house hunting til we leave on monday.

apparently that's all i have to say right now.  maybe i'll get through pictures this week to put them on facebook or write blog posts!

just so you know

my baby crawled today.

not army crawl,

not backwards slide,

actual, hands and knees, belly off the ground, forward motion crawling.

she's super wobbly and insanely slow but she's doing it.

my baby can crawl.

and what about this?

because it's pretty cute.

grrr

can you see the pictures in this post? what about in the previous two posts?

i'm too tired to upload new pictures. we're headed home tomorrow so if you love me you'll send me lots of texts while i'm in the car for a million hours.

goodnight!

day four: to LA

hermosa beach

redondo beach

warm ups at the LA kings game

cheering the kings on in our team colors

day three: san diego to anaheim

day two: the scenic drive

my life is better than a bachelor date

6:00 on friday

today and yesterday i watched her,

and him,

and him,

and now i have the migraine of a lifetime.  

but at least i made it.  thank goodness for the weekend.

hating on california (part 572)

perfect time for us to take a road trip down the coast huh?

this is yet another reason we'll be leaving california for colorado.

i bought gas three days ago for $3.95.  today, the cheapest i could find was $3.99.

yikes.

houdini

this is why the miracle blanket and double swaddling are necessary. we've taken a couple of steps back temporarily while baby isn't feeling well. so i've occasionally been letting her have a pacifier and/or swaddleme to sleep if she's having a particularly rough time.

yesterday she wasn't awake for very long before she seemed really really tired, so i put her down for a nap. but she seemed overtired and couldn't settle herself so i wrapped her up and gave her the pacifier. she slept and slept and slept.

a week ago we lowered baby's crib. this was really really sad for me because i'm in the habit of giving her a kiss every time i walk past her room or go upstairs. but now her crib is so low i can't reach her. to resist the temptation, i've stopped going in her room during naps. i'll just look at her from the hallway (i always leave her door propped).

so lately her morning naps have been right at an hour an a half but yesterday she went right past that. and then longer and longer. finally i got in the shower because i knew that would wake her up. when i got out and what putting on lotion etc, she was just babbling away. super super happy. i finally went in there and saw that she had managed not only to bust out of her swaddle but to completely remove it!

there she was, just holding her swaddle blanket in her arms. my precious little houdini.

it's a sad day

my baby is sick.

she officially has her first cold.

it sounds like she's breathing snot.

my poor baby girl.

;-(

picking daisys

or rather, picnicking with daisy.  and baby.

yesterday i went with daisy to finish up her last bit of shopping before her baby boy arrives later this month.  and today we celebrated by having a picnic in my courtyard/backyard.  daisy brought over two of the most delicious southwestern salads ever.  loaded with tons of shaved chicken, corn, and tortilla chips.  it was heavenly.  i wish i knew where she got them.  i ate almost the whole thing.  which is why i don't eat out... or order in.  but this was a special occasion.  anyways, we set up a blanket and lounged in the sun.  after we finished eating though, we got to work on all things baby.  daisy is from china (she and her husband are just here for school, same as me and honey) and she has no siblings, cousins, nieces or nephews, etc.  and neither does her husband.  this results in a severe lack of childcare experience opportunities.  so i told her she could practice on my baby.  if she can change a diaper on a squirmy baby like abigail, then she'll have no problem with her tiny little newborn.

anyways, today daisy learned...

• how to pickup and hold a newborn
• how to dress a baby
• the difference between a onesie and a sleeper
• how to swaddle using a blanket or a swaddleme
• how to change a diaper and roll it up to throw it away
• ways to keep a newborn awake while breastfeeding
• how to administer vitamin drops
• how to apply diaper rash cream
• techniques to calm an upset baby

i'm so excited for her to be a mom.  i think it's the greatest thing in the world.

still grateful

that i don't have to deal with this anymore. it is faaaaabulous.

let's have a picnik

sometimes i like to edit the crap out of a picture until it's hardly recognizable.  for some reason it just really seems to make me happy.

take a normal picture with bad lighting and a boring background like this

 add some glow

add some blur

adjust highlights and shadows

add some more blur    (i love the blur)

make it black and white

crop it    (look at me!  i'm using the rule of thirds!)

and add your favorite cliche, but exceptionally meaningful, mormon phrase.

voila!  now your kid's picture looks like something straight out of deseret book.

have some time to kill?

just pick a few pictures and try out picasa and picnik.

they're free and strangely addicting.

simon says

my baby does anything i want her to.

just watch.


smile!

sit still.

touch your toes.

correct your posture!

look out the window.

get on your hands and knees.

give me ten pushups.

and be happy about it!

look awkward.

get into a strangely modified downward dog.

see?  i told you.  shame on you for being skeptical.


okay, stretch out and smile again!

i love this kid.