Thumbsucker

Alex has recently discovered her thumbs and the holes in her nose.  It's pretty funny when she finds them at the same time.

Ojo a Ojo

Alex is finally big enough for her EXERSAUCER!  

She went "ojo a ojo" with the green frog.  It was so close to her face she had to go cross-eyed to see him.

3 month birthday!

Dear Alex,

Wow.  You've never been this old in your entire life.  It's been 3 months since this picture was taken.  And by the way, this is how you came into this world.  First your head came out, then your right arm, and you took a minute to just look around while giving us the power solute.

Welcome baby Hulk! 

You have grown up soooooo much Alex.  

Just in the last three days, you've started reaching for stuff and putting it in your mouth.  And you are real chatty, especially in the mornings.  It's like you have to fill me in on what happened in our 8 hours away from each other.  You are so serious when you explain all of this to me.

"Playtime" has taken on a whole new meaning for you.  You love making faces at your mommy and me.  Thankfully we are still your favorite toys.  

You are cool with taking a nap as long as it is in the comfort of our arms.  Sometimes I try and put you down for the rest of your nap.  But when you go to sleep in one place and wake up in another, it scares the poo out of you (literally).  You've reached new heights up your back.  I'm guessing it comes out 400-500 psi.    

On another note, I was thinking, you should totally enter some burping contests in college. (Sometimes I wonder if God screwed up and made my breastmilk carbonated.) 

You are very independent already.  You rarely cry to be held or comforted.  Mostly you cry for your freedom.  If I've held you too long and loved you too close.  You need your alone time and you're not afraid to let us know.  You also cry when you've been fighting to keep your eyes open for too long because you don't want to miss anything fun.  

Oh yeah, and when you get hungry, it hits you in like a nanosecond.  

3 months was supposed to mark the time when I was going to start piecing my life back together.  I talked about how I was going to start riding my bike again, and maybe get in a few ski days.  I bragged that I was going to be excited to get back to work, and that I would probably want some time away.  I was going to start working spicy foods back into my diet, and drinking my bodyweight in beer, BECAUSE I CAN.  

The truth is, I love my time with you.  I don't want to ride my own bike, I want to teach you how to ride yours.  And I want to stick your little paws in the snow, and talk about how we're going to go skiing together someday.  When I arrived at my first day at work, it looked like I had been socked in both of my eyes.  24 hours away?!!...what if I miss something?  Or worse, what if you DON'T miss me?  But we both made it, and we are still in love.  

Actually I do still miss beer.  

Alex, BFF really wants to get you a dog that you can grow up with.  I would like to propose a different idea.  How about a Sea Turtle or a Parrot?  I hear they can live up to 100 years.  That way you would never have to experience the loss of a love.  Genius I think.

As much as I want to keep you in a safety bubble, I know you'll never learn to crawl if I don't put you down every now and then.  So keep on growing, I can take it Alex.  

Happy 12 weeks!

Love,

Mama 

 

Hulk is growing so fast

1 week
1 month
2 months
3 months

Do you have a piece of tape for Alex?

Alex wants to know if any of the Readers can give her a piece of tape.

"Why" you ask?

BECAUSE SHE IS RIPPED (as shown in photo).

family night

Day 1 at work for Mama was a fairly easy transition.  It was family night at the firehouse.  BFF brought Alex to see me at work for a couple of hours.  She wore her Christmas dress again.

Strong Wyatt

A and I have been real busy with play dates lately.  Here we are with Dave, baby Wyatt, Jes and Diesel the dog.  Wyatt is a big and strong boy.  He totally plays in his exersaucer.  He has smelly feet though.  

New trick for the readers

She is like way advanced.

LUCKY

So I had to actually be a Mom today.  This picture is not from today.  You can tell because it doesn't look like I've been punched in both of my eyes.  That's how I looked today after Alex got 2 shots.  She took it like a brave, brave warrior.  I took it like a little sissy girl.  

Then she sat in my lap the rest of the afternoon and cried and wimpered cuz she was so uncomfortable.  It absolutely broke my heart.  

I got to thinking again just how truly blessed we are to have a healthy child.  She is strong.  She is healthy.  WE ARE LUCKY.  

I just can't imagine the parents who have to really buck up and be strong for their kids who face much bigger challenges.  

Just counting my blessings that's all.  

Merry Christmas readers.

What's up Jennifer?

We're looking for an interview with Anne Curry, and we've just sent the tie to David Letterman.

The Talent

If Alex's hair were longer...

deli crew '97

Alex got to meet Christine today.  Christine, BFF and I all worked at Alfalfa's together circa 1997.  We were the best damn deli crew that natural hippie store has ever seen.  They've never made profits like they did when we worked there.

Chris was a dancer.  She claims that she never ate cotton balls though.  

Christmas dress

Alex's Great Mimi sent her this Christmas dress, just in time for a Christmas dinner.

Smartwool

The end of the night.  I couldn't stand to see her suffer any more in those tights...so I put on her smartwool socks and she fell asleep in BFF's arms.

SHAKE FACE

Big bro, the inventor of SHAKE FACE during his first attempt.

You shake your head back and forth, real fast, and make your jowells slap your face, then you snap the photo.  I decided that boys are very good at this skill.  

We suck at SHAKE FACE

The girls attempting SHAKE FACE.  We decided that it hurt our brains.  And since Joyce has to use her brain to get into college, we didn't make another attempt.  

the winner!

My facebook friend was the winner of the SHAKE FACE contest.  Look at his glasses flying off.  

He was the only one who said it didn't hurt his brain.

I am not loving this weather...

Just chillaxin in our slippers.  It's been East Coast cold outside and that really bums me out. 

We made the best of it by reading books, taking baths, watching "Charlie Brown Christmas Special", and making funny faces at each other.

By the way, I keep hoping every year that Charlie will stand up for himself.  That kid is a whipping post for all of his friends, except for Linus.  And Lucy...Charlie is totally her bee-ach.

drama alert

We had a "drama alert" last night.  The power went out, and therefore so did our heat, and it was below zero...BFF and I walked around in circles with our headlamps on before we realized that it may not come back on.  

As you can see, we packed a suitcase and headed to Mel and Tiff's.  They were super hostesses. 

Mel even offered me string cheese at 11:00.  Alex did not want to close her eyes last night because she loves sleepovers.

I was real proud of the chicken.  It was the first time that she didn't sleep in her own bed, and she did great.  

I think we're gonna pull that card at least once a month and head to M & T's.

cross your legs

We were still getting our sleep on throughout the morning.

TEAM AMERICA

We started the morning off right with TEAM AMERICA.  I totally have the AIDS song stuck in my head now.

super sleeper...

Alex Action Pants lived up to her name and pooped through her pj's this morning.  And since she is such a super sleeper, she woke up with a grown man's hunger.  I didn't have time to put clothes on her in such a stressful moment, so I fed her naked (Alex was naked, not me).  After eating, I wrapped her up in this fuzzy pink blanket so that I could make coffee.  And this is how I found her...sound asleep for the next hour.  

front pack and french toast

I was teaching the chicken how to make french toast this morning.  

We have so much to do together, I hope she takes her time growing up just so we can fit it all in.

I freakin' love this kid

football and tummy time

We hunkered down this weekend on a counta the weather outside was bone chillin cold.  ONE of us really loves watching football with Alex.  As you can see, our little Angel is getting some quality tummy time watching the Donkeys.

baby Sam and Alex

Meet Sam.  He's waaaaaay older than Alex.  He rolls over AND he sleeps in his own room!  We went for a hike in Sobo (South Boulder) with him and his mommy.  

Don't tell baby Lucy that Alex is "working her corner".  They REALLY hit it off, BIG TIME.

Sweet hiking outfit

BFF is home now!  She wanted me to be sure to tell all of my Virtual Friends that she was sleep deprived when she picked this "hiking" outfit for Alex.  And yes, they still make turtle necks.

"Sam can't wear turtle necks, because the thing is, he doesn't have a neck." - B. Fisk

Skull and Crossbones

I always know she's sleeping well when her arms are in this position.

Oh yeah, hey readers...does anyone know where I can purchase some FAT FREE FORMULA?

She's been really packing on the pounds with my breast milk, and if she's going to do well in that pageant...

4:30 am

Somebody wanted to play at 4:30 am this morning.

still employed

Today I had to do "stuff" and "things" in order to prove that I'm physically and mentally able to come back to work.  

After dropping the chicken off at the neighbor's house, I blew my nose, wiped my tears and pulled myself together for the next few hours.

Then I had to prove that my boobies still fit under all that gear.

I am pleased to say that I still have a job waiting for me.

9 months later...

The last time I climbed 100 feet in the air, I was 3 months pregnant.  As my Virtual Friends may remember, I had the baby flu real bad.  Oh, I so wish I would have thrown up during this particular training exercise.  How liberating...

6" of fresh snow

I went for a run today on the mesa.  Yeah readers, save your calf jokes...I've heard them all.  

Like this one:

Guy who thinks he's funny: "Did you call your lawyer yet?"

Me: "Lawyer?"

Guy who thinks he's funny: "Yeah, your lawyer."

Me: "I don't know what you're talking about."

Guy who thinks he's funny: "So you can sue your calves for lack of support."

O.K, back to my run...Today I thought I was being all hard core by going for a run when the temp was still below freezing.  I just assumed I would be cutting fresh tracks up the mesa.  This was sooooo not the case.  In fact, I followed the mountain bike tracks that were fresh.  6" of snow, and people are still mountain biking.  

Anywho, this run was a real milestone because I didn't "technically" pee my pants.  If I'm gonna be ballerina-I-won't-get-my-period-thin by Christmas I've got to hit it hard.

Stay tuned for my weight loss program...

Getting her fitness on

Move over Rocky, Alex is in town.

Eye of the Tiger

"So many times, it happens too fast, you trade your passion for glory. Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past...you must fight just to keep them alive."

This is what happens when BFF leaves town and I'm stuck at home on a snow day.

Roller City

The chicken and I went to Aunt Melanie and Uncle Tiffany's house today.  They played some Bon Jovi on Guitar Hero for us.  It brought us all back to our days at Skate City.  Turns out, Melanie used to work at Roller City.  She was the bad ass in the rink with the vest and the whistle.  I always wanted to be "that guy".

What's for breakfast?

Womanizer

Britney Spears' song "Womanizer" is the worst song ever made.  It makes my teeth hurt.

CURSE YOU FACEBOOK!

OH CURSE YOU FACEBOOK!

May I please have the last 24 hours of my life back?

Excuse me while I go make some new friends that are old.

What up Santa?

What up Santa?  

Can you bring my Mama some anti-anxiety pills for when she goes back to work?   

And Mommy would like a flat screen TV.  

And you smell like Jim Beam.

Happy Birthday Mama!

A smile for your birthday Mama!  

This has been the best birthday ever!  I got to spend the entire day with our little chicken.

Thanks Aunty L!

I brought my pocket pal with me to get my haircut yesterday.  

Alex fell asleep in my arms under my smock.  This kid really is perfect.

And then, imagine this...I went to pay him, and it had already been covered!  

THANKS AUNTY L!  Holy cow, what a surprise.  

Here she is with Matthew.  He is one of my non sexual life partners (NSLP).

pork chops and applesauce?

Billy Rae at her birthday dinner.  She ordered some sort of steak.  I thought it was a pork chop with a side of cream sauce, and I wanted to throw up in my mouth.  It triggered a horrific pork chop memory for me.  It's too painful to type...ask me sometime.

Happy Birfday Shaniqua

Oh Billy Rae.  We've sure had some fun times together...

Before you were 40, you were CRAZY!

Remember how fun skateboarding was?

We shouldn't have had those mojitos...

Now that's funny

You sure had a good attitude about your bloody lip.

Not so funny now

Ouch