Hello again. It's been too long. too long. Hello again

Hi. Not going to bore you with empty promises to update more.. Just going to update. 

A list. Because I'm a woman and a mom and lists are the only way that I can organize my thoughts anymore. 

1. Harper is growing like a weed. She's 9.5 months, just started to get her first tooth and is getting into everything. 

2. I'm still doing The Mommy Movement. I'm enjoying it a great deal. Had class this morning and it felt good to be active. 

3. Started a food journal to look into what's going into my body. I'm counting calories, recording thoughts, and thinking about what I'm eating. 

4. Rob got me a Nike+ Sportband for our anniversary so I'm able to see how many calories my workouts are burning.  

5. I'm discovering that tech-wear for working out is expensive. 

6. I just bought my first pair of rollerblades. Wrong time of year to fall in love with this activity, but I'm going to try to get back out there a few more times before it is too cold. 

7. Harper just dumped her entire snackball full of puffs out on the floor. Fun! 

8. Buying baby clothes is way more fun that buying adult clothing. Little outfits for little prices. 

9. I'm currently addicted to Doctor Who. We watch a couple episodes each night on DVD. 

10.  I just finished knitting my first sweater for Harper. It's the first thing I've knitted that wasn't flat. It isn't perfect, but I'm still proud. 

Another random update entry accomplished! 

this is a test for kim!

Watching the numbers get bigger...

There is nothing scarier than the first time your child has a fever. How do I know this? Because it is 10:53pm and Harper has a fever. She hasn't been herself today, and tonight the numbers on the thermometer crept up and up before our very eyes.

There are a million things that could be causing this little body to be burning up. The tamest is teething. The worst is probably some undiscovered disease caused by breathing air in a new grocery store. (Did I mention we went to the opening of the new Whole Foods today?)

I have learned many things as a parent in these few months. Tonight I learned that watching your baby suffer because of a fever is very scary... and that the difference between vomit and spit-up is a.) the smell and b.) the horrid convulsions that go with throwing up. Watching your infant throw up is second on the scary scale for the evening.

I have been absent from blogging lately, but have been here reading. It's hard to write daily or even weekly when you have a very curious little girl. She isn't content just to sit. She wants to explore and touch everything.. and promptly put it in her mouth.

As I mentioned above, today was the grand opening of a new Whole Foods. This made me very happy as this one is HUGE and closer to my house. This means that shopping there on a regular basis is a reality. Harper will be eating organically and I will be making the majority of her baby food for her. The nearby Whole Foods will make that much easier. Today I purchased some avocados, black beans, and garbanzo beans for myself and mangoes, peaches, misc babyfood for Harper. I am purchasing the organic (Earth's Best) baby food that I don't think I could make myself. This means peas and pears. Peas because I hate them and pears because they are the ninjas of the fruit world when it comes to ripening. They always seem to go from under ripe to over ripe under my care. No stopping at just right in between.

On my way home from Whole Foods today, I started to experience aura. This, to put it simply, completely sucked. I raced home as quickly as I could and started to treat. My mom came over and watched Harper while I took a heavily medicated nap.

Today was an exciting day. Not the type of excitement I'd like, but eventful to say the least. I'm hoping that Harper has a good night and is fairly comfortable. Even better would be if her fever would break and she would be better from here on out. If this is all caused by teething, then we can expect to go through this another 20 or so more times. FUN!

An Executive List for an Executive Transvestite

1. It is Eddie Izzard Day!
2. There is a cute, squirmy infant strapped to my chest.
3. I'm listening to the Blast! Soundtrack. Love Simple Gifts and Appalachian Spring.
4. DMB is 8 days away.
5. Bestie Kim is awesome and moving to England. I am both excited and sad about this.
6. Rob is kicking ass on Operation: Rip All CDs owned.
7. Kiddo hasn't been sleeping 100% lately. I'm thinking it's either teething or a growth spurt/mental development time. Co-Sleeping has been the only thing that has been working.
8. I don't know what I'm going to wear to Eddie Izzard tonight.
9. Staying at home is awesome. I love it.
10. Picking strawberries on Tuesday. Looking forward to it very much.
11. This list goes all the way up to 11.

Where am I? Why am I here?

Hi. Remember me? I sure as hell hardly remember you, ol' blog. What have you been doing while I have been away?

Nothing?

You're lazy.

I have been raising a wonderful little girl. She's sleeping 10 hours a night and growing like a weed. She smiles and laughs and grabs for toys and daddy's face. She doesn't fuss much and when she does, she's fairly easy to calm down.

I've been doing quite a bit of reading. I've been sucked (har-dee-har-har) into Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter books. I'm on book 6, and there are about 16 books. I'm averaging one book every 2 days. I'll be done in no time.

I'm starting to cook almost every night. We plan our meals for two weeks out and actually make them happen! I bake on Sundays, meaning that we have fresh whole wheat bread at our house currently. There will be more goodies and experimentations as the weeks fly by. I hope to post about some of them.

Along with the current cooking, I'm going to begin exploring some vegan recipes. No, we're not going all vegan in this household, and I have a freezer full of meat to prove it. (Sorry, Liz.) I am looking for new ways to incorporate veggies into our meals. Vegan cooking tends to be more creative, so I'm looking into it.

Spring is here, so I'm starting to plant, and as per usual, failing at it. I'm hoping to buy fruits and veggies while they are in season this year and do some canning and freezing. I want to make my own baby food for Harper and I'd like to use the most flavorful fruits and veggies if possible... even if that means freezing. The flavor is still better than the shipped in stuff. (And I'll be supporting local farmers!)

I'm generally looking into making my life and home greener and more efficient. I'm using earth-friendly cleaners, still using the cloth diapers (and loving them!) and trying to consume less. It's a small start, but I hope to grow with it.

You see, Blog, while you've just been sitting here, I've been playing housewife and doing a fairly good job at it. I have big plans for the remainder of the year and I hope to be able to come here to talk about them. Will you be here, Blog?

Of course you will, lazy ass.

I swear I'm still alive!

I have a 2 month old now. She's 12lbs and cute as can be!

In other news, I need your opinions. I'm currently interested in one of 3 cases for my new cell phone. I'm getting a Samsung Blackjack II, which just happens to be the same size as an iPhone. This means that there are many more cute sleeves out there for me to choose from.

These are the three that I like best. All are from Etsy.com because I like to support crafters and buy handmade!

1. Cherry Blossoms from Janine King Designs.
Thoughts: I love the elegant and simple design of this one. Zipper closure, padded and has a clip for all my clipping needs.

2. Baby Duckles' Rock N Roll Part II
Thoughts: The main perk of this one, besides being kick ass green, is that it has a pocket that I could possibly use for my bluetooth headset. My only concern is magnetic closure - what?

3. Jasmine Flora from Oh My Guiles!
Thoughts: Cute fabric, padded, soft interior to prevent scratching and a clip. Doesn't close like the Janine King one - is just a sleeve.

Your opinions - I wants them.

On a side note - as my daughter is getting into some sort of routine, I hope to be appearing here more often. :)

Pay attention to the post time...

As you can probably see - It's approximately 3am as I'm writing this. My daughter from the time she was born, didn't want to sleep anywhere but in my arms. This trend has continued, and I believe that at this point, it's only 75% her doing. I have to admit that there is a part of me that loves having this tiny person snuggled into my chest each night.

But tonight is different. Tonight, I'm not tired. I've been up since I fed her at 1:30am, watching 30Rock on the Netflix streaming video. I've watched the clock and wondered when she's going to get hungry again. I'm sure it will be about 10 minutes after I finally fall asleep.

In the first week or so that she was home, she had her days and nights reversed. We have this straightened out, but I think it's me who has my days and nights reversed at this point.

I'm giving her (and myself) until she's a month old to continue with the current sleeping arrangement. After that, I will be trying to train her to sleep on her own in the cradle or the pack n play. I really think this is going to be just as difficult for me as it is for her. Every noise she makes, I want to check on her. Every time she hasn't made any noises for a while, I want to check on her. I'm sure you can see where this can be a problem.

I'm learning that being a parent is confusing at the very least. On one hand, I want nothing more for her to sleep on her own, but at the same time, I want to hold her every second of every day. Even if it isn't the best thing for either one of us.

It's amazing how much you can love something. This love started before she was even born. We knew we loved our daughter unbelievably. Now that she's here - well, you don't know how much you're willing to sacrifice yourself, or what you believed you were, for another person. The hours I've lost in sleep and time to breastfeeding, diapers, and comforting my daughter are nothing. Ask anyone if they want to be woken up every 2 hours (or every hour during a growth spurt) and have their body mangled and tugged on - I'd be willing to bet it's not high on their priority list. Ask a parent if they want that, and they don't seem to mind. At least I know I don't. It's an adjustment, but it's not impossible.

I'm sure I seem like I'm rambling or that I'm on some parenting soapbox, but it's not my intention. (C'mon! It's 3am for Christ's sake!) It's just me getting what I'm thinking down somewhere. I can't talk to anyone about it right now, because Harper is resting peacefully on my chest and Rob is lying in bed...snoring.

I'm just going to continue to get as comfortable as I can in my recliner and watch more 30Rock in hopes of drifting off to sleep. I'm sure someone will get hungry in about an hour anyhow.

Thanks for listening.