What's New . . .

Not Much. I am just procrastinating doing any of the things that I really should be doing, so I thought I would publish a few pics from Thanksgiving weekend.

For some time, Maggie has been showering Joe and I with kisses. Lately, those kisses have extended to other babies . . . okay, we don't let her slobber all over other people's children, but everytime she sees herself in a mirror, she leans forward and gives herself a big wet one. . . open mouth and lots of tongue; I now have lots of smudgy mirrors around my house and I love it.

I can't get enough of that face. Sometimes when she is sleeping I want to go and wake her up because I miss her.

Adventures in ER Nursing

When people find out that I am an ER nurse, they are always asking me for funny and/or interesting stories and happenings from work. Aside from the time that I watched a SWAT team with assault rifles at the ready storm through the department (at the time more frightening than funny), I can rarely remember a good story. However, this is not because crazy things and crazy people don't happen, so I decided that I need to start occasionally recording some ER happenings.

So, the other day . . . .

Patient A was totally drunk.
Patient B was laying in bed, not drunk, and sick.
Patient A wandered into Patient B's room and proceeded to empty his bladder onto Patient B's coat and chair.

Patient B rang the call light and said, "Some dude just peed all over my chair."

Patient A said, "Oh, I was just looking for the bathroom."

ER staff was actually not that surprised . . . this is just another day at work.

6 Months

My little Winky baby,

I cannot believe that you are six months old! My time with you as a little baby is going by far too quickly. I realized the other day, that at six months, you are practically half way done being a baby, and that makes me a little sad.

You are growing so quickly. This month you weighed 16lbs 14oz (75%) and measured 26" long (50-75%).

You have all kinds of new talents. You can sit by yourself (although I have to watch you carefully because you are still likely to tip). You can roll really well from your tummy to your back. You haven't figured out how to roll the other way yet, but I think you are really close. You recently sprouted your first two little teeth, and they are sooo cute! They are also razor sharp. I know this because you LOVE to chew on things (including my fingers!).

You still love being outside and going for walks. Recently, we have been running a lot; you are very interested for the first half of the run, but by the time we make it home you are often sound asleep. You have really started to take interest in whatever your Dad and I are using--I think that your favorite toy right now might be my blue water bottle. You squeal with delight whenever your Daddy walks into the room. I think he might be your favorite person in the world. You also have started eating solid foods. You LOVE sweet potatoes and butternut squash. You also love putting your fingers into your mouth after every bite, and then smearing the food that you find all over your chair and yourself. Sometimes when I am holding you, you grab my face and give me sweet, slobbery kisses. Every kiss warms my heart. Sometimes I still rock you to sleep. I know I am probably spoiling you, but I just don't want to miss a single minute that I can spend holding my little sleeping angel. You coo and squeal and babble all day long. Sometimes when you are sad, if I just sing to you, then you are happy. The joke still lingers in our ward that you are the baby that never cries. When I am feeding you, your free hand wanders all over. You grab my nose, my lips, my chin, my shirt, my glasses (and you leave your dirty little finger prints). The finger prints make me smile.

I am having so much fun being your mother. Thanks for being my little angel baby.

Love,

Your Mommy

Cousins

It was so fun to get these girls together. Lydia is actually 4 months older than Maggie. While they appear nearly exactly the same size, Maggie clearly outweighs Lydia. I think she has bones of steel.

I predict a lot of fun in the coming years.

El Matador Beach

My sister, her husband and their baby came to visit us in sunny Southern Cali and all they got was rain. We braved the beach anyway. The beach is so foreboding on a stormy day. It makes me shiver and smile.

Joe and Dustin got pounded by huge waves, breaking in shallow water. See Joe, tiny black speck in picture, about to get smashed by huge wave. The waves were acutally the biggest that I have seen since living here. I am not sure that the picture does them justice.

Webb Weekend Part 2: Beach Day

The second half of the weekend with the Webbs was just as fun as the first. Maggie had her first real beach day and she LOVED it. She tasted her first mouthful of sand (I swear, if you turn your head for 0.5 sec . . . it is amazing what those little grubby hands can grab).

Whenever I would start walking away from the water Maggie would start squawking and trying to climb over my shoulder to get back to the waves. If I walked back towards the water she was perfectly happy. . . away from the water and she would start squawking. What a funny baby.

Arcade Fire and the Webb Weekend

Yay! Our last weekend was super fun. Joe's brothers Brett and Tristan and their wives Amy and Keri came and stayed with us. The special occasion was an Arcade Fire concert in LA. The Webb boys grew up with Win and Will Butler, so this is the third concert we have attended.

Some members of the band play basketball before each concert after the sound check (Win said it helps warm up his voice), so at each show we have attended, the Webbs have joined in the game. The concert was AMAZING! So, the Butlers do treat us super special, but even if you take away the all-access passes, catered food, bubbly water, and posh box that we watched the concert from (reserved for special people like band member wives and movie stars), the concert would still have been amazing. They are so talented! If you are not familiar with the band, you should check this out: http://thewildernessdowntown.com/ At the post concert party, we actually met the guy who designed this for the band. Talk about a bunch of incredibly talented and creative people all at one party.

So here are a few pics: The girls and guys waiting for the band to finish the sound check so that the basketball game could begin. I think it is funny because we are dressed up and the guys are SCRUBBY!

Some sweaty boys and sweaty rock stars. Check out how tall Win Butler is--I am wearing 3 inch heels!

And finally, our sweet view during the concert.

Someone loves her peas

What a Slacker

That's me . . . I am the slacker because it has been a REALLY long time since I posted anything. In my defense, life suddenly got CRAZY. How crazy? Well, the very abbreviated version is this: in the couple months I accepted not one, but two new jobs; we moved; also we went on vacation; also we had friends come and visit. Joe worked ALOT and we took care of our now 5 month old baby, and holy cow . . . those babies really do grow up fast!

Also, SOMEONE made the mistake of telling me that they didn't know what my baby looked like because I don't post enough pictures (you know who you are Jen :) so watch out because this blog is about to turn into baby picture city.

So, anyway . . .

I accepted a job as an ER nurse; I am pretty nervous to go back since it has been over a year since I worked as a nurse at all, but the opportunity is pretty ideal. It is just a per diem assignment, so it will be just enough to keep my skills up and my license current and not enough to take me away from my most important and most awesome job of being Winky's mother. Also, I interviewed for this job last November . . . WHAT? . . . I know! That is a slow hiring process, and a very long story for a very different day.

Secondly, Joe and I accepted a job as apartment managers (which is why we moved). This opportunity came with a little chaos because we didn't know until very last minute that we were selected for the position (i.e. "how soon can you move?" I believe were the actual words used to offer us the job), so we accepted the job and moved about a week later. We still have a few boxes sitting around, but I am happy to say that our apartment is FINALLY coming together.

In the mean time, we went on a super fun trip to Mammoth with our friends Sarah and Ryan, and found just about every other excuse possible to put off unpacking.

If you are still reading I am impressed. Now, onto my favorite part of keeping a blog . . . here are a few recent pictures (first, a few from Mammoth) and lots of little Maggie, so that no one can tell me that they don't know what my baby looks like :)

To my sweet baby,

My Sweet Little Winky,

You are now five months old and these months have gone by sooo fast. I am having so much fun being your mother. Because of you, I tell everyone I meet that motherhood is awesome. There is a rumor at our church that you might just be the best baby of all time (and I think it might actually be true). You smile and laugh so easily; you hardly ever cry. Yesterday I set you down to play with your toys. You didn't want me to set you down, but instead of crying you let out the quietest, sweetest little whimper just to let me know how you felt. Of course it melted my heart and I HAD to pick you back up. You love to play with your Daddy (he can make you smile and wiggle with excitement just by walking in the room). When he is in the room while you are eating, if he says ANYTHING you immediately stop eating and look around until you have found him and have made sure that he sees you too.

You are very talkative, and you especially love to practice making all kinds of funny noises. Your favorite sound to make right now is a grunting noise, making me constantly wonder if you are filling your diaper. You also LOVE sticking out your tongue. When you get tired you start yelling and kicking your legs because of course, you DON'T want to fall asleep. When I am burping you, you throw your arms out to the sides. It looks like you are getting ready to take off. You are learning new things everyday. You can roll from your tummy to your back, stick your toes in your mouth, and you are especially good at getting my hair into your mouth.

We love you so much! Thank you for being our little girl.

Laundry Machines

Today I hauled my laundry down two flights of stairs and across the parking garage to the coin-op machines in my apartment building. Usually I try to squeeze in this task while Maggie is napping, but I rarely get it all done before she wakes up wanting to eat. This time, as I was leaving my apartment to manage my laundry, Maggie woke up even earlier than she normally does from her nap. Earlier in the day she had to have a vaccine, making her temperament a little unpredictable, so I also carried her in her HUGE car seat down two flights of stairs and across the parking garage. The whole way I was cursing apartment living and pining over the washer and dryer that we sold when we moved to Santa Monica; I was remembering how laundry didn't used to hardly count as a chore. I could toss in dirty laundry just before going to bed and have clean clothes by morning. I didn't need to babysit my laundry and I definitely didn't need to plan my whole day around it.

As I was cursing and cursing my laundry situation, I remembered an experience that I had when Joe and I were in Ghana a few years ago. We were living in apartments on the temple grounds. Ghanaians would travel from their villages and stay in the apartments when they were able to visit the temple (for many a once in a life time experience). One day when I was putting a load of laundry in the coin-op machines in the building, a young Ghanaian mom stood shyly watching me. As I finished, she asked me if I would show her how to use the machines. I helped her get her wash started, and by the time I finished explaining how to move her clothes to the dryer, start the machine, etc. she was almost jumping up and down with excitement. She had never seen anything so amazingly convenient in her whole life. I remember feeling so humbled by all the things I take for granted in my life--things like washing machines.

So, I am grateful that I had that experience because it helps me keep things in perspective. How lucky am I, that all I have to do is carry my clothes down a two flights of stairs and toss them in a washing machine? How lucky am I, that I have so many clothes that I have to do several loads of laundry each week to keep up?

Instead of cursing, I should be counting my blessings, so today I am trying to be grateful for washing machines, even when they are two stair flights away.

Peacefully Sleeping

The other day I went to get Maggie out of her car seat. This is what I found.

Apparently her headband decided that it was time for her to take a nap and she agreed. Can anyone say sweet baby? She doesn't even quarrel with her headband.

I know it has been more than a month since I last posted anything because Winky is now more than 3 months old. She is up to 14 lbs--hanging in there at the 90th percentile. Her newest tricks include playing with toys, talking a lot, laughing (this is my favorite), and sticking her tongue out . . . this just started yesterday. Also, she rolled over once on accident, totally startling herself. It was funny.

Also, I am very sad to say that I lost my camera, so all the new posts and pictures will have to come later. Luckily (and strangely) I had downloaded all the pics onto my Mom's computer, so I will get around to telling about our trip to Idaho in a little while.

Smiley Girl

On Tuesday Maggie had her 2 month check-up. She is now weighs 12lbs 13 oz. and is 22 1/4 in. long. Her 6 month old cousin had her appointment the next day and guess how much she weighed . . . 12 lbs 13 oz. That's right. They weigh exactly the same amount.

We found snow . . . and other happenings

For the last three Tuesdays I played this sport.

Yay! I am so happy to be playing soccer again. Joe and I found an awesome group of people who play pick-up soccer every Tuesday night, so come next Tuesday (and every Tuesday) you know where to find me. Winky sleeps in her car seat in the dugout (we play on a softball field) where Joe and I can see/hear her if she needs us while we are playing, but she never does. Instead she just sleeps to the sweet, sweet sound of soccer playing. Did I mention that I love my baby?

Also, how happy am I that I can be working out again? I am really, really happy. My frequent attempts to exercise at 9 months pregnant were never very satisfying, but recently I have been able to work hard enough to relieve stress and get really sore. I have a long way to go before I resemble me pre-pregnant self (who would have guessed that I would want that body back?) and in fact I will probably never be able to go all the way back. Some women love pregnancy. I am NOT one of those women (I have to think that anyone who likes pregnancy did not throw up as many times as I did), but the other day as I was looking at my baby I was overwhelmed by the feeling that it was worth it . . . even the gaining weight, puking, giving up soccer and mountain biking, all the body changes, the difficult recovery, mastitis and plugged ducts. . . it is all worth it. Motherhood is unique and amazing. Even now I am typing this with one hand because I just don't want to stop cuddling my baby. I love being a mother.

I love my little family. Joe and I recently celebrated our five year anniversary. To celebrate, he planned our first family camping trip; we camped up in the Los Padres National Forest. Our little Winky baby slept like a baby (which ironically means that she slept well) all snuggled up in our tent.

In the morning we hiked to the summit of Mt. Pinos, and we found snow (in Southern California . . . in June!!) It was awesome; I have sorely missed the snow. I thought of doing a snow angel, but then I thought better of it. Maggie seemed to enjoy the hike; she is always happy when we are outside and moving. She must be my daughter.

The highest point on Mt Pinos (at least without climbing up the radio tower).

Recently we also attended a Dodger's game with our friends Jared and Kendra. We were planning on buying the cheapest nose bleed seats we could find. After an hour walk from our parking spot, we arrived at the stadium just to find out that the cheapest seats available were $35 per ticket (not $7 as listed online). Ugh. We were about to turn around and walk an hour back to our car when we found a scalper who was selling tickets for $15. After some fine negotiation by Joe we entered the stadium having paid $10 each. It was my first (and Winky's first) ever major league baseball game. The Dodgers made a dismal showing (final score 1-10) but it didn't spoil our evening. Because we saved on tickets and on parking (i.e. cheaper parking equals a one hour walk to the stadium) we even splurged on some Dodger Dogs. Next time it will be the famous garlic cheese fries which are not a heart attack waiting to happen. I can't wait.

Random Happenings

Guess who I just met . . .

This guy . . .

And guess who walked up to him and struck up a casual conversation . . .

This girl . . .

(that's me!)

Oh, it's true. And, it turns out that he is every bit as nice in real life as he is on TV. He had his 2 week old baby girl with him and we chatted about our new little angels--sleep habits, getting out of the house, all the craziness of being a new parent, etc etc.

There are only a handful of famous people that I would ever, ever recognize. Joe is always saying . . . oh look . . . there is blah blah blah. And my typical response is of course . . . who's that? You can't live in Santa Monica without ever seeing a famous person, so now, finally I have joined my fellow un-famous Santa Monica residents in the game of star watching.

In other news . . . mastitis . . . it sucks, but being a mom . . . I LOVE it. There is nothing more wonderful than having this little one reward me with a great big smile. I love her chubby little cheeks, her ham-hock legs, her beautiful blue eyes, and her delicious baby smell.

Doesn't that face just melt your heart?