Naturally Optimistic

So here we are on the last day of the year. How did that happen? Isn't supposed to only be August or something? I could've sworn we missed an entire season. Ah well. I suppose we didn't and time just moves quickly and here we are. I'm not going to lie. This year was tough. Having a new baby was something that I was prepared for and so totally unprepared for it's hard to explain. I fell in love with my daughter but I don't think I adjusted to motherhood well. I'm not used to sleepless nights and having to put someone else first 24 hours a day. While I consider myself to be fairly laid back, this new little person had me stressed out and discombobulated for most of the year! I think we're both learning though and figuring out our relationship and both of us are gaining some independence from each other, and I think that's a good thing. I love this little one so much. Her goofy crinkled up nose smiles, all of her "words" and noises, the way sh...

Whew! What a week it was last week... Tuesday - Lasagna Judgement - it actually went really well. Everyone was on their best behavior. The only thing that irked me is that my BIL (who also came) drove up to the backdoor and they entered there. Unfortunately this is exactly where I DIDN'T WANT them to be. All of our coats, bags, purses, etc were stashed there. The front door enters right by the Christmas tree & fireplace. Hmph. Oh well. So much for first impressions. Everything else went fine and like I said - they were on their best behavior and it was actually quite enjoyable. Who knew? Wednesday - Steve took the day off and we spent the day packing, making chex mix, raking the roof and getting ready for the trek to Austin. We pulled outta here around 2:30 - only 30 minutes behind schedule. Pretty good for us. We arrived in Austin to 3 babies having dinner and general chaos! haha! Dahlia jumped in on the dinner action. After getting all the babies fed & to bed, the adults ...

I just heard about this new program - which is offered in Duluth - and thought I would share it with you. It's pretty cool. Dolly Parton started the "Imagination Library" in 1996. She wanted to foster the love of books & reading in preschoolers in her Tennessee community. She decided to provide one new book a month to all preschoolers in that county! the program grew from there and she by 2000 she was doing this for Branson, MO and Myrtle Beach, SC - and then onwards! Now communities can join (and have to fund the books) but "Imagination Library" handles the admin of it. Here's what's in it for you! Kids from birth to age 5 can sign up (if your community participates. Check the website to see if yours does by typing in a zip code). Enroll your child and that's it! I'm really excited because I'm a nerd for reading and now Dahlia will get a free book a month until she's five!!! Anyway - I thought it was pretty cool and wanted to pass o...

Merry Christmas!

I can't believe Dahlia is ONE. How did this happen?? I was reliving the events yesterday & today. How crappy I felt the day before and how I had no clue that I was potentially (and was!) in labor. How quickly she came. How crazy & scary & wonderful it all was. And how then I had this teeny tiny baby. This year has been amazing. Watching her change. Watching her grow. Watching her learn. It's amazing. Her party today was "penguin" themed. I had snowflakes & "arctic ice cubes" (blue knox blox), mini snowballs (kix), meatballs & mashed potatoes. The blizzard certainly put a damper on the guest list but my folks, Steve's mom & Roger, Allison & baby Anders, Paul and MariAnna all made it through the fray. We enjoyed good food and Dahlia was a PEACH! She was in a great mood the whole time. She devoured her whole cupcake, she played with all the tissue & her new toys and was in the best mood all day. Now she's napping because ...

I know, I know - another video post - but here is the trailer for our latest film WHITE MAN'S WORLD! (um, it's probably 'rated R - the trailer that is...)

Kate posted a link to this and it's really cool. I wish I was so talented to pull this off on my house! That would ROCK! Maybe someday...

Well, we're on day 6 of pretty much no sleep here. It's awesome. Dahlia either has a cold or is teething or perhaps both. I don't know. I can't tell. She has had a runny nose since Thursday; Thursday & Friday she had a fever for a while; she's crabby as ALL HELL; she doesn't sleep for crap; and now she has a cough. Right now she's content watching Elmo which is about penguins (which is her birthday theme! Maybe she'll connect the two...hahaha). Anyway - I'm exhausted. I just want a solid uninterrupted chunk of sleep. Oh, I have a cold too which makes it all just awesome!

I think Dahlia's either teething or sick - she's got a bit of a fever and didn't sleep AT ALL last night. I was up from 11:15 til 12:30 - then from 1:30 til....4? Finally after some 3am tylenol she fell asleep on my chest and we stayed that way til about 6am...then we slept in fits & starts for 10 minutes at a time til 8. It was a long and short night. She was warmer this morning - temp of 101.9 - I gave her more tylenol, she seemed a little better, ate a good breakfast, had ALL SORTS of energy (where from?!?) and has been in a relatively *good* mood. Now her nose is runny, she's starting to feel warm again and she is alternately in a good mood & crabby. ...and she just banged her head on a chair - she hasn't quite gotten the crawling-sense-of-self thing yet. It could be a mighty long day.

Dahlia has taken to cruising around all over the office, which is another way to keep me on my toes. Most things are baby-proofed and the rest I just try to corral her with me to keep her out of harm's way. She loves to empty my recycle bin, play with shredded paper (packaging from our DVD order), 'read' magazines and of course play with her stash of toys which are here. I'm surprised, and not at all surprised by how fast she's gone from barely crawling to moving quite quickly! Today we are having our family portrait/holiday pictures/Dahlia's one-year-pictures taken. Hopefully we can all be not crabby & stain free by then. I'm changing Dahlia into her outfit MOMENTS before the photos. Just too risky otherwise. At work I'm trying to wrap up the books for the year. And I suck at it. My brain just doesn't seem to fire on all cylinders. I used to do this stuff daily for my job and now I feel just stupid. Inventory & taxes & 1099's and bl...

Dear Internet, You know, since NaBloPoMo has ended I am missing all you that participated and were posting daily. *sigh* Since I have SO MUCH time on my hands to sit around and read blogs (haha) I'm really feeling lonely these days. POST already! love me

Sometimes it's all just too exhausting...

I guess I'm kind of in the habit now with daily posting, so why stop? I have so much interesting drivel to put forth, right? Dahlia has come leaps & bounds in a week! Last week she: *started to crawl *did "so big" for the first time *we had to lower her crib mattress because she's about a minute away from pulling herself up (and over) the crib rail *she can now point to kitty cats in books, find her "duck" or book when we ask her She's exploring everything but she's very cautious which I'm happy about. She hasn't gotten too crazy yet and we can pretty much get her away from something in time that she's not supposed to be by or could be trouble. As I'm typing this =, she's just discovered a box of kleenex...doh! We haven't had hot water since Tuesday. Boy does that suck. yes it does! We've been bathing at my MIL's house which isn't necessarily convenient but at least its an option. We heated up Dahlia's bath...