3 Things I Love About My Daughter:

1. The way she snuggles up to me in the middle of the night (like a tiny spoon)

2. The way she always asks to read her favorite book (Baby Loves), EVERY bed time and nap time, no matter how tired she is or how many times we've read it that day

3. How she helps me fold the laundry by handing me items piece by piece. And then when we're finished, how she knocks over the pile of folded laundry so we can do it over again.

Kisa has a nasty cold and has been ridiculously grumpy lately (yesterday evening and this morning). I don't know if tylenol would help, but it's a moot point since I'm out of it anyway.

Great gifts come in small packages

Well, I had a great birthday this year. It was probably one of my favorite birthdays so far. The only thing that could have improved my day would have been if Matt was not bedridden/in a wheelchair, but overall I couldn't have asked for more. I love that Kisa and I share a birth weekend. I'm sure in a few years she will loathe that fact, but for now she is blissfully unaware that the world does not orbit her, which is how we like it.


I received many beautiful gifts this year, but perhaps my favorite was this locket (Matt bought it for me off of a fellow Etsy seller). It is one of my little quirks that I have always had a fascination with lockets, since I rarely wear any jewelry besides my wedding ring. But I have wanted one since I was a little girl, and I finally have one! How perfect that I have exactly two family members.

It was a great weekend, but I would be lying if I said I felt anything other than completely exhausted this morning. We had to get up and going early today to take Matt to his physical therapy appointment. (Sidenote: Kisa stayed in daycare at the hospital during the appointment- her first time EVER being babysat by anyone other than close friends or family- and she did GREAT. I think she must have wooed the employees, because they were actually sad to see her leave. What a pleasant surprise; I was expecting a total meltdown. I'll chalk it up to her love of the spotlight and fascination with other kids.)

We have another appointment with the knee doctor this week, and I am starting to stress a little about that one, because we aren't sure what will happen. Matt will get another x-ray, and hopefully (!) his bone hasn't shifted. If it has, we may be looking at surgery after all. I think this is really unlikely, but it doesn't stop me from worrying about it a little. I will be glad to get Wednesday over with either way, because I really hate the pressure of the unknown.

Well, it is naptime for Kisa which means... time to pick up the house! So much laundry and so little time!

Thanks to everyone who celebrated with us yesterday, your presence (and your presents!) were much appreciated. ;)

Ciara Hartzell and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

My feelings exactly, Alexander.

Last night at 10:45 Kisa woke up and decided it was play time. It took me an hour and 45 minutes to get her back to sleep, and then another half hour to fall asleep myself. After which, I was promptly awakened by the cat tipping over the glass of water on Matt's nightstand. Ugh...

What followed was actually a glorious night of sleep, but this morning I woke up in a puddle of infant pee. Yes, Kisa wet the bed- and by THE bed, I mean MY bed*. So I had to wake her up and change her diaper and clothes. She refused to go back to sleep, so I came out to the kitchen to get her started on breakfast. Lo and behold, on my way to the kitchen I stepped in a MONSTER pile of cat puke (thanks Zeus)! By the time I had stripped the sheets and cleaned up the cat mess, Kisa had just finished a nice mess of her own in her diaper. And thus, my day begins.

I had already pre-determined that today was going to be amazing, but I guess I need to communicate that plan to the rest of the world, because we don't seem to be on the same page.

In other- happy!- news, my friends and my dad are coming over tonight to help me do some baby proofing and pick up my house, and I am really grateful for their help. It will be a huge weight off my mind to know my bookcases aren't going to tip over on my child (sidenote: I am a highly imaginative, high-anxiety person, and as a parent this has been expressed by dreaming up ridiculous ways that my child might get severely maimed or killed. Terrible, I know, but a part of motherhood nonetheless. My nightmares for this week included choking on a chunk of hot dog at her birthday party, throwing herself out of her crib and sustaining a massive head injury, and falling off the zoo train. Keep in mind that it is only Tuesday morning. At least I can chuckle at my own insanity, right?). Also, I would be lying if I told you I have completed anything but the most basic housework in the last week. I scrubbed one tub and mopped our small kitchen floor. That's it. Other than that I have contented myself with the fact that there are usually not too many toys on the floor by the time everyone is in bed, and that, for the most part, we are all wearing clean(ish) clothes and our last shower or bath has taken place some time in the last 24-48 hours.

Anyway: I am off to tackle this glorious day. Probably starting with a cold shower since I used the hot water to wash our pee-sheets.




*Fine, I lied. It was Matt who wet the bed. I just didn't want to embarrass him.

Summer Birthday Fest 2010

I am getting pretty excited for this weekend.

For those of you who DON'T know, this weekend will be my daughter's first birthday (and my 23rd) and we are having a huge BBQ in the park to celebrate us (and my birthday twins, Steph and Jason).

It is fun, as a parent, any time you are about to introduce your child to something that you KNOW they will love. This weekend Kisa will get to taste her first cake, open her first ever presents from Mommy and Daddy, and also get to go to the zoo for the first time.

Let it be known that Matt and I are not ones to spoil our child. We don't buy her presents. I think I have bought her a handful of things since she has been born, most of which were clothes and socks. So we only bought her two presents for her birthday, one from me and one from Matt. However, they are carefully selected gifts that I'm pretty sure she'll love, and I am excited to see her open them and play with them.

Also, chief among my excitements is the first zoo trip. I have been waiting for this day since she was born, and I hope she is finally old enough to enjoy it. She pretty much loves animals so I feel like this is probably a home run.


In other news, Matt and I recently found almost $100 in unclaimed gift cards from our wedding (oops), and I used one of them to buy myself this lovely birthday present:

I have been wanting a teapot since I got married. Turns out I could have had one all along, but I'm thinking God timed this so it would be a nice little pick-me-up after a week of nonstop parenting/caretaker-ing.