So what have I been up to?

I spend a lot of my days reading cnn.com. Silly me went back to work on the downside of the real estate market and just in time for the holidays to boot. So, I really do have time to catch up on my blog. No more excuses for me.

I do love cnn.com, I think it's the Entertainment page that keeps me going. The highlight today is that Britney Spears has been nominated as the most controversial celeb of 2006. No, I'm no joking, amazing isn't it!?!

I also enjoyed a question that was asked to viewers several days ago. The question was: (I may not be getting this verbatum-I can't seem to find it in the archives)

Q:"Do you think Barack Obama is a threat to the U.S?"

A large amount of the people who were asked this question responded, "YES", when asked why, one man replied, "because he is still out there plotting...".

I leave you with that this holiday season. Please, somebody please send me back to France.

Dear Blog, I have not forgotten you

Life has been really busy adjusting to waking up and scrambling out the door in the morning to have Marley in daycare by 8:20. Breakfast is served at 8:30 and a perfect way for Marley to start her day with all of her friends. It's been an adjustment for all of us, Marley the most. Growing up is a hard thing to do! This is week number 4 and I really feel that she has finally adjusted. She's had more good days than bad and so far this week they have been all good, better than good they have been great.

That is my update for now. It's after 10:00. I just came home from my book club. The book this month was Best Friends by Martha Moody. I'm still on the second chapter (told ya life has been hectic), so far the book has not impressed me nor did it impress my fellow book clubbers. I may not read any further. Nonetheless, it's a great group of women and we have a really great time talking about more than just the books that the group has chosen. I am meeting some great people. For example, tonight, I met a woman who lived in Breckenridge for 10 years. She and her husband left 2 years after hubby and I had moved there. We had a good time reminiscing and yes we discovered we knew some of the same people. On the way home I was singing, "It's a small world after all.....".

Good night my dear Blog. I think of you often even though I don't write as often as I would like.

Marley's off to college or so that's how it feels

Marley started daycare today and I went back to work. I worked for 3 hours today and Marley was at the daycare for about 4 hours.

I dropped her off about 8:15 a.m. They serve breakfast at 8:30 a.m. and I wanted Marley to be there for breakfast. I had a few things to go over with the daycare owner and I wanted to set up Marley's cubby hole with diapers, wipes, etc. Marley jumped right into playing. She was a woman on a mission, she knew exactly what to do and where to do it. When it was time for me to go I felt a lump form in my throat. There was no way I was going to show Marley I was a little sad, so I found the strength to swallow that lump. I hugged her and kissed her goodbye and I out the door I went. I have to say I had a few tears roll down my cheek as I was pulling out of the driveway. Marley on the other hand was so happy. She was having way too much fun to even realize that I was gone. Hubby stopped by to see our little girl and she was too busy to give him the time of day. Yes, he told me he could relate to the lump in the throat. I called around 10:30 and the owner said all the kids were on the playground and Marley was having the time of her life! I can't tell you how relieved I am. I don't know if I could have handled it if Marley started crying as I walked out the door or if the owner said she was inconsolable. She's such a big girl now. My little miss independant.

When I picked her up at noon, she had just finished her lunch. When I walked through the door she was happy to see me, yeah. They all said that she was great and what an easy going child she is. She did sit down and have a cry at one point but one of the employees comforted her and then she was fine. The other kids would steal toys from her and Marley didn't care, she would let them have it and then she'd move on to the next toy.

I couldn't be more proud of my baby girl. She's always going to be my baby girl even when she does start college. I'm thrilled that she was happy and I am actually happy to be back at work.

Funny bumper sticker

I saw a funny bumper sticker yesterday:

Democrats are sexy!!!!

You've never heard of a great piece of elephant have you?

It's official...

I'm going back to work. After a lot of thinking, conversations with family and friends and crunching numbers over and over I have decided it's worth going back. My main concern of course is Marley. Will she be happy? Will she adjust well? If she doesn't then all bets are off.

I received a phone call last week from one of the daycares that I thought would be best for Marley. They called to say they have an opening starting November 6th. We decided to visit again that afternoon. Marley made herself at home. She was having so much fun playing. We were there for close to an hour and Marley pitched a fit when it was time to leave. It certainly made me feel better that Marley enjoyed being there. Now, I have not dropped her off and left. My heart is going to break if she cries when I leave. Then again my heart might break if she doesn't cry when I leave. Monday is going to be a tough day. I have worked it so that I am only working 3 hours Monday and Tuesday. Four hours Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. I will only be working 6 hours 5 times a week, so we will begin the final schedule the following Monday.

Today we will be visiting again, this time for their Halloween party. We will go back on Friday so I can make sure I have all my ducks in a row and another period of time where Marley can get used to te surroundings.

It will be an adjustment. One that I feel will be good in the long run. If that changes then all bets are off and I stay home again. The daycare is 15 minutes from my home and work. I will miss her terribly. Then again I feel a little guilty for really looking forward being back in an office, using a part of my brain that is in need of a fine tune up and talking to grown ups for a straight 6 hour period. I am looking forward to not changing diapers in a 6 1/2 hour period. Let's see that would be about 3-4 diapers a day. Oh my goodness, that's 15-20 diapers a week! Those are great perks but I will miss her terribly.

Wish me luck and stay tuned to the updates next week.

Why do these things happen to me? Just in time for Halloween.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am petrified of snakes, lizards and frogs. Although I do not like spiders I do not have the same fear as the 3 previously mentioned. I have stories that will make your skin crawl and yes these have happened to me. I don't know anyone else who has as many creepy crawly experiences except for maybe the late Steve Irwin.

Story #1- One of Jocelyn's most embarrassing moments. I was hiking on the Appalachian trail one day, by myself. It was a beautiful Indian summer day in October/November. I had on a pair of shorts, a t-shirt, and a flannel button down shirt. As I was hiking I got hot so I took the flannel shirt off and wrapped it around my waist. I was about half way to my destination, a small lodge for the Appalachian Trail hikers, when I happened to look down and I saw a snake and this snake was not black, the first thing that went through my mind was it's a copperhead. I panicked and started running. I then heard something behind me a sound that resembled a snake slithering at an amazing speed. I started screaming for help. Ok, I'm in the woods several miles at this point from any road and probably anything human. I am panicking like I have never panicked before in my life. Finally, reality set in and I remembered a nature show that I once saw about snakes. There is only one snake in the whole world that will chase you and I believe it lives only in Australia. So what could be chasing me I looked behind me and in the midst of my delerioum I got a stick stuck to the bottom of my stupid flannel shirt. What I heard was the stick dragging on the ground. I took that stick off my shirt and threw it as far as I could, uttering a few curse words, and was very thankful there were no humans around.

Story #2- I lived in Jacksonville, FL for a summer with my Father when I was in college. The apartment that my Father was renting was right next to a stream. Beautiful, yes, but that stream attracted frogs of all kinds. I worked as a hostess at a chain restaraunt so I came home late many, many nights. My Father was nice enough to turn on the outside light before he went to bed. I appreciated it except for the fact that the light attracted bugs and the bugs attracted frogs. I came home one night and there were literally a hundred frogs stuck to the door, the door handle, etc. I promply left, found a pay phone and called my Father. I felt bad that I woke him up but he was happy to save me. The next day he bought me a flash light and we never turned on the outside light again.

Story #3-Last year I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Marley. Every parent knows how wonderful, yet trying the first few weeks can be and Mother's know that raging hormones, lack of sleep is a terrible combination. For me, my life also threw in a lizard. I was sitting on the couch nursing Marley one afternoon and noticed that Cherise was very interested in something in the dining room. My first thought was, it's a mouse or a spider. Then Cherise darted into the living room and was just going nuts over an end table. I realized what ever it was it had moved into the living room in an attempt to get away. The next thing I know both Rubin and Cherise are pouncing on something in the middle of the living room floor. Marley had finished nursing, so I put her down on the couch and walked over to see what it was. It was a LIZARD!!!!!! It was injured but it was still trying to save himself, he darted towards the couch. I shrieked, and ran half way up the steps. Now this lizard was between me and my daughter. What to do, what to do!? I jumped off the stairs, ran into the laundry room and found a bucket and placed it over the lizard. Marley and I spent the rest of the day in the bedroom, with the door closed until hubby came home.
The next day I was sitting on the couch on the phone with my brother telling him the story. At this point I was laughing about it and really happy the previous day was over. I had not been off the phone with my brother for even a minute when I saw another lizard climbing up the side of the couch. I called hubby and asked him if he could come home. Thankfully he was 2 minutes from the house. Needless to say he saved his girls from the icky, creepy lizard.

Story #4-Today. Yes today. Our house, as cute as it is it has a few architcural querks. The front door is a sliding glass door that does not lock. We put a shower curtain rod down between the door jam and the glass so no one can come in when we are not home. This means we have to walk behind the house and enter through the back door. No big deal until today. Marley and I just came home from our playgroup. As I was walking towards the back door I noticed something moving towards my feet and moving very quickly. It was a black snake!!!!!!!! If I had not moved the damn thing would have slithered over my foot, and I have flip flops on. How am I supposed to go to the grocery store later. I have to lock up the house but that means I have to walk around the side of the house again. Somehow I am going to have to find the courage. I can say that NEVER will I walk to the back of the house again in the dark.

Happy Halloween!

decisions...desicions

This past year has been the most incredible time in my life. I gave birth to a fabulous little girl and have had the joy of being able (barely) to stay home with her this past year. I was planning on taking my 3 month maternity leave from work and put Marley in daycare. The area where I live has a shortage in daycare facilities and, I say thankfully, I never found an opening anywhere. Not that I would have put my beautiful daughter in any place just because they had an opening. So, now a year has gone by and I am contemplating reentering the work force and becoming the American working Mom. My old employer is hiring for a part time position which will turn to full time once the real estate market turns. It is not an easy decision. There are pros and cons on both sides.

The pros:

-Marley will have an amazing amount of socialization, she gets so excited when she sees other kids. Daycare will provide her the socialization that I can't even with our once a week Mommy & Me group.
-Financially-Yes we do need the extra cash. Money is very tight and the savings are dwindling.
-My career- I have not really lost the edge yet.
-I will be able to have adult conversation almost all day long! (Not a real priority on the pros).
-The job is only 6 hours a day 5 times a week.

The cons:

-Marley will be in daycare all day and not with me. This tears at my heart strings.
-I will have to dish out $145/week for someone else to look after my child.
-It's 30 hours a week that I will not be with Marley.


So as you see the pros are greater than the cons or maybe I am trying to be too optimistic about this decision. My heart will ache now or when she's 5 and goes off to Kindergarten. I do need to make sure that it is ultimatley the right decision for Marley. So here is how it stands. The daycare I really wanted for Marley last year has 2 openings coming up. No, they can not tell me when. It could be 2 weeks it could be 2 months+. My previous employer said that they can hold the position open for me for awhile. Very nice of them to do that but I do not expect them to hold it open forever. I have decided to pursue this as we do need the money but I have decided to keep all my options open and if for any reason Marley is miserable at daycare or things just are not working out I can quit right? Right.

The funny thing about all of this is that one day I am very excited about going back to work and the next day I am terrified of leaving Marley. There doesn't really seem to be a right decision just a decision that needs to be made in light of the circumstance. So, we will see. If it's meant to be than it will happen and everyone will be happy. If it's not meant to be then well....we'll reach that road of it ever come up.

Catching up- Starting with the big trip

Life has been very busy in deed. I am going to back track and begin with my wonderful vacation with Marley and my Mother.

My Mother came down to spend a couple of days at the beach at the end of July. We wanted to go to the beach but the temperature was 113 degrees and no one wanted to be outside so we spent the time inside playing with Marley. On Saturday July 29th we left for Virginia, spent the night on the farm, woke up the next morning and headed for Pennsylvania to visit my Grandmother.

My Grandmother is approaching her 96th birthday. She is the most amazing woman I have ever known. Unfortunately, a few weeks prior, she fell and broke her hip. Now this usually marks the end for people of that age but not for my Grandmother. She had to leave her apartment and stay in an assisted living area of her retirement home. She had a roommate that she could not stand and made it absolutely clear that she was ready to get out of there and back to her apartment. Amazingly the Dr's felt that she was well on her way to making a full recovery and did for awhile contemplate her living on her own again. Since then she has made an incredible recovery and although she is not back in her apartment, she is in another area of the retirement home that allows her some freedom and thankfully no roommates. I only hope that I will have the will of iron that she embraces.

Now, as you can imagine Marley was a delight in the retirement facility. She especially loved the long corridors and crawled and crawled to her hearts delight. This amazed and warmed the hearts of all who passed her. Marley took no time to warm up to her Great Grandmother. She stared at her at first and then spent the rest of the visit showing her silly face. Marley went through a stage of puckering her lips and drawing in air through her nose making a loud and long sniffing sound. When ever she made this face we all would laugh which made her do it even more, my little ham.

On a hot Monday morning we left Pennsylvania to proceed with our trip. We said goodbye to my Grandmother who was on her way to the hospital for her triweekly dialysis treatment. Marley gave my Grandmother another shot of her silly face. For a woman who spends three days a week hooked up to a dialysis machine and who had recently broken her hip she looked absolutely amazing and remarkably happy.

The three of us headed to Massachusetts that day. What an amazing drive. I have never spent a lot of time in New England and I have heard it's beautiful but words can not describe the scenery that I witnessed. I can understand why people move there and never want to leave. We drove through the mountains of Connecticut into Massachusetts and landed at our final destination, my Uncle Tom and Aunt Jane's house. They were more than anxious to meet Marley. One thing I have discovered with being a new Mother is the zealous attitude of visits. People are very happy to see the Mother because the Mother is the transporter of the "star", the baby. It's a reason why I have named my blog...All About Marley. This zealous attitude fills my heart with great joy and pride.

The next morning we woke up and lazily began the day. This was the day that Marley was going to meet a good friend of her Mommy's, Vikingzen and her daughter Snicker. Vikingzen and I had not seen each other in many, many, many years. We are good friends from highschool. All I can say is that it was an amazing afternoon. We met at Vikingzen's beautiful home and had a great visit. Our daughter's played while we caught up on the last...ok I'm not going to say how many years had gone by but I will say even after all these years our friendship has stood the test of time. I truly feel it's the definition of true friendship. It was wonderful seeing you Vikingzen and meeting Snicker and I hope another, undisclosed amount of time does not pass us by again.

The next day was Wednesday. Our itinerary noted another long drive this time to Cape Cod to see my cousin in the circus then to New York. Yes, my cousin joined the circus. Not just any circus though, this is the one and only Circus Smirkus. It is a troupe of highly talented teenagers that spend their summer touring New England performing just about every day. What an amazing show. For anyone who is reading and who ever has the opportunity to see this group you will be astounded. For information on the next tour visit www.circussmirkus.org.

It was oppressively hot even on the Cape. I was a little worried about Marley and the heat. I made sure that she had plenty of water and I placed an ice pack between the two of us although the ice pack did not help us from constantly sweating. Marley was absolutely mesmerized by the performance. There was a loud bang in the first act that scared her and I had to take her out to console her. As soon as she calmed down she was eager to get back to the show and she spent the rest of the time in my lap watching, her eyes glued and her mouth open.

After the show we said goodbye to my Aunt, Uncle and cousin and headed to New York to spend the night with my Uncle Steve and Aunt D. We arrived late to find the electricity out. In fact you could here transformers popping all over the neighborhood. Why? THE HEAT. The use of air conditioning was more than the town could handle. It was late when we arrived so we had a quick visit with my Uncle and Aunt and then off to bed we went. Marley did not seem to care about the heat, she was very happy to be out of the car and in her pack n play for a nights rest. I eventually fell asleep despite the fact I was pouring sweat. We woke the next morning and had another brief visit with my Uncle and Aunt and we were off again this time back to my Mom's farm in Virginia.

This marks the end of our wonderful vacation. I was so impressed with Marley. She was great on the long car rides and really didn't have any problems sleeping in new places. She is so easy going. I am really lucky to have such a great daughter. I love you Bugalicious.

It's been awhile now hasn't it!

Every day for the last few weeks I've been trying to get back to this page. I have so much to tell! You guessed it my life has been busy. Busy with things I need to write and no time to sit and write because the things I want to write just keep happening. The Brits would say "bugger". I'm not a Brit so I say it's mostly because of a certain Bugalicious. How is she you ask?! Oh my goodness what's a Mother to do when your first born is walking and needless to say becoming a very good toddler. She had a melt down in the grocery store the other day despite the baggy of Arrowroot cookies. I was in line checking out when the little volcano inside of her exploded. People have always said how embarrassing a melt down can be. Embarrassing?! She's not even one. I simply looked at the people behind me in line and said "what's she's really saying is excuse me but I'm having toddler moment". If you're a parent, you'll get it.

So enough for now. I have so much more to write but it's Labor Day weekend and I must make a goody for a BBQ tomorrow.

Rubin & Cherise

I realized yesterday that I have never written anything about Rubin & Cherise, my fur children. They have been great with Marley.In the first few months all my attention and energy was spent on Marley. I really didn't have much to give them and I have felt so guilty about this. It's easier these days now that Marley does not require as much attention. The four of us have a great relationship.
I think, as with all babies and children, pets are a little apprehensive. When Cherise sees Marley coming, she bolts. She wants nothing to do with her unless she has food stuck to her then Cherise is all over her. Rubin on the other hand is a lot more patient. He will tolerate the ear pulling, eye gouging to a point. When he's done he gets up and walks away. Another tidbit about Rubin is his foot fetish. He loves to lick people's feet! And yes Marley's little tootsies have been attacked by the beagle tongue. Her favorite is when she is kicked back in her bouncy seat, with a bottle watching her Baby Einstein DVD and getting a slobbery beagle foot massage.
Now of course Marley is in LOVE with Rubin & Cherise. It doesn't matter what's going on or what mood she may be in. She stops stares and talks to them. The noises she makes are amazing she refers to them as zaza and da-da.
Now off the subject of Marley and her fur siblings. I was feeding Marley breakfast yesterday morning and heard strange noises in the backyard (The kitchen window faces the backyard). I looked out and could not believe what I saw! Rubin & Cherise climbed the tree! Ok, the tree is small but not that small and they were almost to the top. I had to stop feeding Marley because the first thought I had was "Oh my goodness what if they fall!". Thankfully they didn't, then I started thinking what am I going to tell the vet, "my beagle fell from a tree?" Now this thought sent me into a fit of laughter, it still does. In a fit of laughter telling the story to hubby, this is what I imagined the dialogue would be in the vet's office.

The Vet walks into the examining room and yells at the technician:

Vet: Where's the cat? Am I in the wrong examining room?

Technician: No sir, I told you it's a dog.

Vet: I thought a cat had fallen out of a tree?!

Jocelyn: No sir, it was my dog

Vet has a huge look of bewilderment on his face and says to Jocelyn

Vet: What was your dog doing in the tree?

Jocelyn: I'm not sure, but could you please examine my dog?

Vet examines dog,bewildered and muttering under his breath..."What the...How?!...what the...A dog fell out of a tree, now I've seen everything..."

Continuing with my fit of laughter... by this time I'm convinced my sides are going to split. I imagined the dogs not falling from the tree but not being able to get down from the tree. What would I do? I haven't climbed a tree since I was a kid! Who would I call? The Fire Department! Yes, the Fire Department they get cats out of the tree all the time, right?! And again we are not talking about a cat we are talking about a dog!!!! Now I have to stop, I have tears rolling down my face from laughing so hard, never mind the fact that my sides hurt. I can only imagine what the fire fighter would say. Probably something similar to the vet and then he would tell me to keep my dogs out of the tree. Like that's going to happen. Beagles have a mind of their own. Unlike labs they are self pleasers and they do as they wish.

So, I had to take a picture. Unfortunately the sun was shining through the tree so I couldn't get a really good picture. I have named the picture "find the beagle" and you can see it on Marley's shutterfly website.

Words of Wisdom 7/17/06

I have a few new Words of Wisdom seen by a few friends. Enjoy.

On a billboard:
Don't make me come down there- God

Bumper Sticker:
Jesus, please protect the U.S from your followers

Sign on a Cathlic Church in Houston, TX"
Staying in bed and shouting "Oh God" does not constitute going to Church.

A Priest's parking spot in Maine:
Thou shalt not park here

Location unknown:
Don't let your worries kill you, let the church help

Infant to toddler?

I was on the phone with my Mother a few minutes ago when hubby starts waving his arm to get my attention. So, I walked over to the couch where he was sitting and saw Marley. She was standing with one hand on her push walker and the other hand on the couch. She took her hand off the couch and put it on the push walker and started walking!!!!! She was smiling and giggling then she fell. She got up brushed herself off and with out the help of the couch did it again. I stood there with my jaw to the floor which quickly turned to a huge smile. I am so proud of her. I just can't find the words to express my joy.

Marley's favorite recipes

So, I have yet to buy a good baby food book. Why? Well, the area where I live is a beach town full of bookstores packed with Judith Krantz novels. I did find one bookstore that actually has good books and a great variety but they were out of all their baby food books and I have not had a chance to go back. Why not order it online you ask? Because I'm too cheap to pay for the shipping. I have spent a lot of time online finding recipes, suggestions, charts, etc. Here are some great websites:

www.wholesomebabyfood.com

www.babycenter.com (of course!)

www.homemade-baby-food-recipes.com

The one thing I am not fond of is the suggestions to mix fruit with vegetables. Fruit is great but it's sugar so I only feed her fruit in the morning. There are plenty of veggies (sweet potato and corn) that contain sugar.

Using these resources and my own imagination I have come up with some very tasty meals to please my baby's palette.

I have nothing against feeding Marley the jarred stuff if it's one ingredient like squash, sweet potato, peas, etc. or the fruits because it is just water and the veggie or fruit. I have in a pinch bought stage 3 beef and vegetables, which I will not do again the stuff smelled like Chef Boyardee. Marley loved it but all the ingredients on the label made me wince. Marley loves chicken but will not eat the jarred chicken. I don't blame her, dog food smells better.

Here are some of Marley's favorite foods:

Breakfast: Fruit and yogurt or oatmeal (YUM). I use Gerber baby oatmeal for the iron and an organic whole fat yogurt such as Stoneyfield. I buy Gerber or Beechnut fruit except for bananas, canteloupe and apple sauce.
I was amazed to find in the yogurts for babies all the added sugar and the God awful ingredient high fructose corn syrup.

Lunch/Dinner:

Chicken with broccoli and a little cheddar (organic of course) and a small side of squash

Une melange de legume- Corn, peas, grean beans and lima beans-boy was Marley happy, good thing too because Mom came up with this one cleaning out the fridge.

Black beans and rice sometimes mixed with some corn and a side of carrots, sweet potato or squash

Lentils and rice with a side squash

Beef and vegetables. I bought ground sirloin, browned it added a little water and put it through the food processor. Oh my! It looked and smelled terrible. I mixed it with a lot of peas and Marley LOVED it!

More recipes to come! We are doing cauliflower this week.

Words of Wisdom 7/8/06

On a sign in front of a church in Manteo, North Carolina:

The real Superman died for you

On a sign in front of a church in Salvo, North Carolina:

Remember that God sees you on vacation too

A bumper sticker on a car seen in the parking lot of our local grocery store:

Surfin' for Jesus!

A bumper sticker that has been seen several times:

3 nails + 1 cross = 4given

A billboard seen in Harbinger, North Carolina:

Freedom paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ


More to come........

Living in the south

I call myself a full blooded Yankee wilfully transplanted in the south. I have always been intrigued with the American southern culture. Originally being from Northern Virginia, which is still south of the Mason Dixon line, I am considered a Yankee here in North Carolina.
I do love the south. There is a lot to say about southern hospitality. There have been many locals that have made us feel completely welcome. The one thing that does not go over very well is when I am asked what church I belong to. I tell them I was raised Catholic but do not practice. It doesn't go over very well partly because of being raised Catholic and mostly because I do not belong to a church. To truly fit in I should belong to a church...oh well. I have my own views on religion. I have my values, I believe in the 10 commandments yet I don't feel that I need to belong to a church to be whole. I will always be "different" when it comes to religion.
The reason I am bringing this up is that Hubby and I are in a competition. We have been noticing a lot of signs in front of Churches and bumper stickers that we find absolutley hysterical. I certainly do not want to offend anyone but I decided to post these on my blogger page so that I had one place to write these "words of wisdom". At the end of each month Hubby and I are going to vote on which one is the most clever. If you read please help us vote! The title will be "Words of Wisdom".
Enjoy.

Babyproofing!?

Marely is crawling and a whole new world has opened to her. It has opened a whole new world for Mom and Dad too. It certainly has become a challenge. The days of being able to walk out of the room to switch a load of laundry or to walk out to the mail box for a quick second are GONE. It's wonderful to see her find something in the house that is fascinating to her. A whole world of discovery! But, it's time to set the boundaries in place. She loves the knobs on the stereo, she loves the dirt in the plants and her all time favorite is the toilet. All of which are NOs. I hate seeing her little face fall when she discovers something thrilling and we have to say NO. I do take the time and show her that NO item but also explain that it belongs to Mommy and Daddy and when she is older she will be able play with it too but for now it's a NO then I redirect her to a YES. I have been struggling with these NO items but I have come to realize that life is about boundaries. I, as a parent must set boundaries for her the rest of her life! This is just the beginning.
It's also about keeping my Bugalicious safe. I have discovered that no matter how much you baby proof there are still dangers that lurk. We discovered one that sent us racing to the Dr's office one day with a bloody mouth. I felt awful, the guilt was overwhelming. Marley was fine. I, probably over reacted a little but when it's your child and blood is gushing from her mouth....
I always said I would never use a play pen, well now her pack n play is set up between the kitchen and the living room. It follows a growing list of things that I said I would never do BEFORE I became a parent. I now live by the words "Never say never".
So in light of these new challenges I had to write a song. I am borrowing the tune and have changed the lyrics to "Janie's Got a Gun" by Aerosmith.

Marley's on the Run

Marley's on the run

Moms world has come undone

What did that baby do

She fell down and went boom

They say that Marley was a wanderin'

Mom found her cryin' on the floor

Marley says Mom I'm crawlin'

I'm headed for the bathroom door

Baby proofin' works but not for everythin'

Marley's on the run

Moms world has come undone

What did that baby do

She fell down and went boom

Ok I know it's terrible. Marley has a serious goof ball for a Mother but it's my blogger page and I can do whatever I want.

Marley is 9 months old today

I just can't believe how time is flying! I never understood why parents were so infatuated with their children until the day Marley was born. I have also realized that I have never loved like I love her. Of course I love my husband, my parents, my friends but the love that I have for my daughter consumes every cell in my body and it just grows more intense with each day.

She started crawling the last Friday in May. She has discovered a whole new world now that she is very mobile. Although it is challenging for both Mom and Dad it is fascinating to watch her become consumed at a wall or a closed door or even a dog hair that is lying on the living room carpet. One of her favorite areas is the sliding glass door. She loves to look outside and play with the curtain that hangs. When she started crawling some rules had to come into place. The stereo and the tv are a NO. The remote, the phone and the plants are a NO. It's tough to watch that happy face when she discovers a No thing just fall. We redirect her to something that is a YES and her face lights up again. She understands the word NO now. She is so amazing, when Mom or Dad tell her NO she gives us that sad look but will more times than not crawl away and find YES. She is so smart and I am so proud of her!

A typical day in this world with Marley begins between 6-7 a.m. I hear her little wake up noises and get her. There is a single bed in the nursery and I lay down with her and we snuggle as she slowly wakes up. We kiss, hug, play itsy bitsy spider then she sits up and crawls across the bed and I catch her right before she topples onto the floor. Hubby and I had a cold a couple of weeks ago and spent 2 weeks coughing. Marley decided that coughing is a fun thing to imitate. One morning as I was lying in bed with her I had a cough attack. She looked at me very seriously and coughed. She had her head on one pillow and mine was on the other. We stared at each other, she would cough and I would cough. This little game must have gone on for 5 minutes. Between coughs we laughed and laughed. I had joyful tears streaming down my face.

When we are finished with our snuggle session. I take her downstairs put her in her play pen and proceed to make her bottle and my coffee. When both drinks are ready I take her to the couch and help her with her bottle. She's very good with feeding herself a bottle but she prefers that I hold her morning and evening bottles. I sip my coffee, she drinks her bottle and we watch the news together.

When Marley was about 5 months old I took her to her changing table to change her diaper. She looked at me square in the face and said "OWWWW". It was the first time she had ever made a noise like that. I laughed and said "OWWWW" back to her. She looked at me with a puzzled look on her face and then did it again, "OWWWW". It is still our game. I can look at her and say "Marley can you say "OWWW"? Nine times out of ten she'll do it and we will go back and forth. There are times that she will stare down customers in a store and when they look her way she'll say "OWWWW". It makes the other customer laugh. No doubt. I've had people come up to me and say that she is the cutest baby they have ever seen. My response is, "I know".

We have a 3 foot deep inflatable pool that we set up in our back yard. We introduced the pool to Marley last weekend. She had a look of bewilderment on her face. Although the water temp was 83 degrees it felt a little chilly. Once she got used to the temperature and the toy frogs and toy skate fish she had a blast! Last night Dad took her into the pool with him. A friend of ours bought Marley an infant inner tube. We put her inside of the tube and with Dad's guidance she floated and floated for 1/2 an hour. The two of them had so much fun. Dad had a great time swimming under Marley and popping up right in front of her. Marley thought the game was great! Dad also showed her how much fun it is to put your face in the water and blow bubbles. Marley, as well as she could with the inner tube, put the side of her face in. We have decided that the next swim session we will start with the inner tube then take her out and see if she may be interested in putting her own face in. Pictures of last nights swim session will be posted very soon to Marley's website.

Wow! Today is a day for blogging for me. I guess I had a lot to get out. I should cut myself off and get on with my day. More Marley updates soon.

Children and nutrition

My friend, Vikingzen blogged about a fabulous topic. The title is Political Fluff. She discusses the junk that is served to our children in schools. She comes from a similar background that I do, junk food was not a staple in our homes growing up.

It astounds me how many parents buy into the junk food commercials aimed at children and think that if they buy the crap it's actually healthy for their kids. For example a brand name lemon-lime soda's commercial shows people harvesting plants that resemble carrots but instead of the carrot at the end of the plant it has a can of this brand of soda. It's great marketing but a terrible image, one that is sending a very bad message.

When I found out I was pregnant last year I started reading labels. I decided that everything I put in my body was going to be something that was beneficial to my baby. I was astounded with the crap that is put in our foods! One of my pregnancy cravings was peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. As I was choosing which brand of jam/jelly I discovered that all the jam/jellies out there have high fructose corn syrup! I realized that there is nothing beneficial about high fructose corn syrup. Thankfully I found a brand of jam that was all natural. On the same grocery trip I decided that I needed granola bars. A pregnant woman must eat! I was shocked as I was reading the label to find that darn ingredient again, high fructose corn syrup. So I decided to wage a war against that ingredient. I did some research and found that high fructose corn syrup may be one of the causes of obesity in our country. What I discovered is fructose releases the hormone leptin. Leptin regulates our storage of fat and regulates our metabolism. So, obese people have built up a resistance to leptin. A very informative article about high fructose corn syrup can be found http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12058364/.

I'm going a little of track from Vikingzen's blog. I agree with her 2 cents that parents should be held accountable of the foods their children eat. I recently discovered a statistic that is astonishing, 25-30% of toddlers in our country do not eat a single fruit or vegetable in 1 day. My question is, what are they eating? All I can think of is that there has to be a lack of education in this country. There is a frame of mind out there that Vikingzen and I will never understand.

So there it is. I could blog for hours on this subject but have decided to stop here.

Freegan

I came across the term Freegan yesterday and was intrigued. The word comes from free and vegan. Freegans spend their time dumpster hopping for other people's trash. It's amazing what they have found, laptops, muffins still in their wrappers, shoes, expensive watches that were not broken, the list goes on and on. More information about Freegans can be found at www.freegan.info. They state that it is a site that is dedictated to revealing human over consumption and waste.

Although I believe in their concept I also feel that they are radical. There needs to be more of an education. A concept that we can sell to the American public. Our society makes me ill with all the trash we produce. For years I have been calling the U.S. The Swiffer Wet Jet Society, just use it and throw it away! Convenient yes but a WRONG attitude. Every time I walk into a Walmart I look at all the shelves that are packed with stuff and am horrified with the reality that all that stuff will end up in a landfill one day. Where did our society go wrong?

This Swiffer Wet Jet mentality has not been around that long. As I was growing up my Grandmother would always talk about waste not want not. I live by those words. I truly believe that our current gas crisis is just the beginning of having to revert back to the days and the values of our grandparents. Conservation is the key to continue a good standard of living.

The Freegans have a great movement and great ideas. I feel that they are fanatical which really won't help their cause. I honestly don't think I could go dumpster diving but would be all for trying to figure out a way to distribute the goods that do not need to be thrown away. So before you toss something into your trash can, stop and think...think if you could wash it and reuse it or see if someone else may be able to use it. There are plenty of ways to keep waste out of our landfills. Sell it at a yardsale, donate it to the Salvation Army, Yahoo Groups has Freecycle, see if there is a Freecycle Group in your area.

Let's keep our planet at a standard that our children will be able to enjoy!

What a week!

Last Monday started a week of an emotional roller coaster. Monday we received horrible news that hubby's Aunt and Cousin were killed in a car accident. This news came a few days after the Indonesian earthquake. Hubby's brother and wife decided to move there for a year and thankfully are fine but a little shaken (no pun intended) although their hotel is uninhabitable. The rest of the week was spent feeling numb and offering many condolensces to all hubby's family. The only shining star was our little Bugalicious. We e-mailed happy baby Bug pictures to hubby's Dad, who lost his sister and his neice. I believe the pictures did make him smile a bit. It's hard not to have your heart melt when you see a super happy baby. There is something about a baby that makes the world feel right even though the world is crashing down all around you.
On Saturday a miracle happened, Bugalicious' cousin was born. Although she is in the NICU and her parents are sleep deprived and on edge, she is going to be fine and will be home with her Mommy and Daddy this weekend.
Just as I was getting the feeling that the world was going back to normal our van broke down on our way to the southern beaches on Sunday. My only thought was "oh geez, here we go again". There we are broken down on the side of the road with our Bugalicious. Thankfully we called some friends that lived a few minutes away who rescued the Bug and her Mom. Poor Dad spent the day on the phone with insurance company trying to get the van towed. No thanks to the insurance company the van was finally towed back to our house 5 hours later! The plus side, Mom and Bug spent the day on the beach with friends, the bad side, poor Dad spent the day stranded on the side of the road waiting for a tow truck.
Today is 6-6-06. The Devil's day and to top it off it is also Bugalicious' Dad's 36th birthday. Although I am only slightly supersticious, I do have an uneasy feeling. Where is Dad today? On a boat fishing for flounder (Yum!). What could go wrong today, besides the fact I woke up with a nasty head cold? Who knows. My thoughts of course are that I married and had a child with the devil (our joke today, teehee) or my devil won't catch any flounder. Time will tell.

Marley has a cousin! Maya Grace, she was born at 4:20 a.m. I can't get over my excitement that I am an Aunt and my brother is a Dad!

The man under the sea

My Dad and his girlfriend were visiting last week. We decided to spend an afternoon at the local aquarium. I love this aquarium! For a small town aquarium they do a fabulous job. Marley loves seeing the fishies and her favorite, the Otter room, she recognizes them thanks to her Baby Einstein dvd.
This visit to the aquarium was spectacular as usual. As with all aquariums there is a big monstrous fish tank with the sharks-Yikes! We arrived in time to witness the end of feeding time. I strolled Marley to the big tank just as the men with the food, all dolled up in their scuba gear were swimming towards the exit. One caught sight of Marley and swam to the front and waved at her. My little bugalicious had a look of awe, I'm sure she was thinking, now that's the wierdest fish I've ever seen or maybe Sponge Bob really does exist!

They grow up so fast!

My father was in town with his girlfriend Carole this past week. As they were getting ready to leave little miss bugalicious began to crawl! What a major milestone and I am so glad that her Grandfather and Carole were able to witness the major event. Maybe Mom will be able to finally lose those few extra pounds chasing her Bug around the house!!!!

The insanity of Motherhood

So, I am currently working part time for a catering company. We have2 uniforms 1)white polo/khakis for casual events 2)black pants and tuxedo shirt for formal. I have a pair of brown shoes to wear with the casual outfit and black for the formal.
I had a crazy hectic day today. About 10 minutes before I had to be out the door I got on mapquest to get directions to tonights catering gig. In the midst of trying to get the directions my 7month old started crying, well she left me a surprise in her diaper.At this point I have 3 minutes to run out the door and I still don't know how to get there. So, I am feeling a little frantic because I also had a couple of other things to do before I left. So, I figured that I would stop at a gas station and ask for directions. Finally I'm ready, I grab my wallet my cell and put on my shoes and run out the door.I was busy setting things up for the evenings catered event and my feet caught my eye. I stopped, I looked down and noticed I had 1 brown shoe and 1 black shoe on!

Baby and signing

Oh my goodness Marley understands! I am just so impressed with her. I have been using sign language with a few of our daily activities. Today, Marley and I had to go to Super Wally World to pick up some formula. When we got home I brought her inside and put her in her bouncy seat so I could bring in the purchases. She started wailing. I knew and she knew it was time for a bottle. So, I looked at her and said Marley, Mom's getting your formula so she can make your bottle and I did the sign for milk. She looked at my hand and giggled and settled down! There was no mistake that she understood. I am just so proud of my bugalicious!!!!!!!! What a smart cookie.

Solid Food

Rule of thumb:
- Always start with a single grain rice cereal. Marley ate rice cereal once for the first week, twice a day for the second week then three times a day for the third week. Mix the rice cereal with breast milk or formula. Not only will it taste better and be a familiar taste but it's a good way to add extra nutrients.

-Start with yellow solid foods. They have the least chance of an allergic reaction. Some experts recommend starting vegetables instead of fruit. Unfortunately there are more yellow fruits than vegetables. Stick with the one food for at least 4 days to see if they have an allergic reaction. Always introduce inthe morning so your not running to the ER in the middle of the night of there is an allergic reaction.

Marley's introduction to solids: (Introdced Saturday to Saturday so Dad could witness her reaction.

When I can I make her baby food. I have made organic peas and grean beans. In all my research I have discovered a coupe of pros and cons. Ready made baby food; the produce is selected from fields where the soil has very little nitrates. When you make your own even organic vegetables and fruits are not going to be tested for levels of nitrates. I still feel that organic is better because I believe that pesticides have to be much worse. It's a question that is still up in the air from all the experts, even Marley's doctor.
Whenyou make baby food. Use a food processor NOT a blender. It's so much faster and easier. Steam the hell out of the food (don't boil, boiling takes away alot of nutrients). I found you can get more peas than grean beans from a 10 oz. pack. I guess green beans naturally hold more water. The cost of using organic frozen vegetables vs. buying Gerber non-organic is the same, at least at my local grocery store.

Week 1-3- Rice cereal
Week 4- Pears (because she was constipated, which cleared up the constipation). She LOVED them.
Week 5-Peas. Not such a big fan, so I mixed a little in with some rice cereal so she could get used to the taste. They are still not her favorite but she'll eat them.
Week 6-Squash. She died and went to heaven! Loves them, loves them.
Week 7-Avocado. HATED IT. I would not recommend. I even tried mixing the avocados with rice cereal, it still did not work. So, I waited a couple of days and went to
Green beans- Same reaction as the squash. LOVED THEM.
Week 8-Apple sauce-YUM!!!!! I bought a jar from the health food store. Less expensive and I can enjoy some too!
Week 9-Sweet potatoes- YUM! Marley was given the go ahead by her Dr. to eat turkey or chicken! That should be fun. Her Dr. also said to start promoting self feeding and suggested a sippy cup with water and Gerber makes veggie or fruit puffs that dissolve in the mouth very quickly. I can't wait it will be fun!
Week 10-Bananas-Yummy!

Diapers: cloth vs disposable

We are all aware of the cost and the impact that disposable diapers has on the environment. Believe it or not cloth diapers are just as easy as disposable. When I found out I was pregnant I decided that I really wanted to use cloth diapers. I also knew that I hate doing laundry. So, I started my research. I was AMAZED at how many different types of cloth diapers are out there. I chose one that is an all-in-one diaper. It resembles a disposable and is easy to put on like a disposable. As for the extra laundry...I realized it wasn't doing laundry I hated, I hate folding! I keep a basket under the changing table and as soon as the diapers are dry I toss them into the basket. Voila! Easy to reach and very convenient. To find out about the wonderful world of cloth diapers type in "cloth diapers" into any search engine and you will find all the information and different types that are available.
After my daughter was born I realized that I could do one more step by saving money and the environment. So, I eliminated diaper wipes. I bought a large pack of wash cloths and store them, moistened, in a plastic disposable wipes container. I found that they work so much better than the wipes and I wash them with diapers.
Not only has this saved me in literally hundreds of dollars but I also never have to worry about running out of diapers. I love them.

Tips:

-Wash the cloth diapers twice. Once on the soak cycle and the second on the regular cycle.
-Use very little detergent but a lot of vinegar for both cycles . The vinegar eliminates all residual odor.
-Use fleece diapers. Very absorbent and easy to shake of the poopies so you won't have to dunk the diaper in the toilet.