Wednesday 28 January 2009

Mommy needs a nap part 2

But atleast this time it's not b/c I'm grouchy. It's more because I stayed up too late last night and Hazel woke up too early. She must have been sleeping lightly b/c I think Brett's alarm woke her up. YAWN. Now the trick will be keeping her up until atleast 1pm or it'll throw our whole day off.

Come to think of it, if we go lay down now, she's acting sleepy, and she naps now for about 2 hours, we won't be too out of shape. She just won't nap this afternoon. I'll try here in a minute.

Hazel got her bangs trimmed last night. It was about time, too. They were thick and in her eyes, and driving me crazy. Dear Lord, I've become a mom. "Get your hair out of your eyes."
And I cut the rattail out of the back of her curls. That really broke my heart. Occasionally it curls up and looks even with the rest of her curls. But most of the time it just hangs there looking rattailish. So it got cut. And I stared longingly at the little curls in my hand. I know now that I won't be cutting her hair for a long time. That little tail was about 3/4 inch of hair and only 3 little curls. You'd never know they were gone...and it still broke my heart.

We're venturing into the wide world of Potty Training...duhn duhn duuuuuuuuuuuuuuh. I'm still hunting for a potty. I don't know what I have in mind, but I'm sure I'll find one on Friday or this weekend. Michelle and I went to Tesco on Monday to buy one so Hazel and I could have tackled it this week, but Tesco didn't have any and Argos has been closed every day by the time Brett gets home from work. We talked about ordering one online, but I just feel like I want to see it and touch it before I commit to one. I know, I know, it's just a potty, but this is a big deal, folks! We have the potty movie, the feel n learn diapers, and the Kandoo wipes, all we need now is training pants and a potty. This will have to be our project next week. This week we've just been talking about it and going to the potty with mommy and watching the movie. We'll see! Here's to hopeing!

Well, we're off to take a nap....chat later!

Tuesday 27 January 2009

It's a new year!

and I'm behind. But what else is new?
Christmas was out of control crazy. We landed in Chicago an hour and a half late on Monday the 22nd. And the lateness was because of immigration on the Dublin end of things. Sigh. Hazel was not happy that we weren't going anywhere and she was forced to sit in my lap. What do you do. But we were seated in the bassinette row next to nicest little family. Hazel was completely fascinated by their 3 month old son. She wanted to touch him and reacted whenever he cried. She is going to be the coolest big sister. (One day...don't get excited)

We landed in the absolutely FRIDGED city of Chicago safely, and Grandpa Harger and Mom (aka Granny) were there to greet us. I was not prepared to have Hazel in the single digit weather. She had her fluffy down coat and hat and gloves, but the poor little thing needed a scarf over her face. We did our best to keep her out of the wind, but even standing in shelter the cold was biting. But we got settled in the car quickly and on our way. It was a very long drive through Chicago traffic (although it was after 6 when we left) and crummy weather roads. But we got to Mom and Dad's a little after 11. It was awesome to have Dad/Matt/Adam/Lindsay all there to greet us.

Our (slightly less than) 2 weeks went as follows:

Tuesday- Errands with Aunt Lindsay. Saw Santa. Screamed bloody murder/ hack saw slasher movie terror at Santa. She didn't when we went to Glenarm. Best we can figure, the Kokomo Santa was scary. He DID have a freaky beard. Snow/Ice Storm started while we were out. Took ages to get home.

Wednesday- Christmas at the Harger's. Very relaxing and fun. We had Candle Light Service at Mom and Dad's church that night. Got Hazel all gussied up in her Christmas dress. She was entertained for all of 3 minutes, so we took turns playing in the hallway with her.

Thursday- Christmas at the Davis's. Got to Brett's parents around 9:30 that morning had a great morning and day with his family.

Friday- Ice storm in Mishawaka. Roads were closed, it was crazy. Beth (Brett's stepmom) and I went to a toy store in Mishawaka that evening when things started to thaw a bit. Just so you know, I have a weakness for learning toys for Hazel. She-needs-all-of-them. ALL OF THEM. And I tried to buy them all. For the record, the kid NEEDS no more toys. Unless you ask me. or her dad. Or her grandparents.

Saturday- Christmas at Brett's Aunt and Uncle's. The whole Davis clan. It's so fun. We have lots of food, we play ping pong, we played on Colin and Ryan's Wii. It was a great day.

Sunday- Hung out at Brett's parents', went shopping and to dinner, then headed back to my mom and dad's.

Monday- Got up with plans to see friends, but plans got changed. It ended up being a good thing, though, as Hazel's dr's appointment got changed that morning from the next day to later that afternoon. We rushed around trying to get ready for the dr's. Shots in Lafayette...fun. Family time later that night.
Tuesday- got up early. Stressed about whether to go to Lafayette for errands. Had a nervous breakdown on mom and dad's lazyboy. Tired. Been in the car EVERY DAY since last monday. Mom decides I need to stay home and take it easy. Get ready later on for Brett and my date. Mmmmm...Melting Pot. It was yummy. And the weather was weirdly warm. Like, upper 50s. Weird.

Wednesday- Brett and I got to go on another date :) :) :) :) We went to Carmel in the morning, ran a couple of errands, we ate at Kona Grill (Brett got an enormous plate of sushi) and then ran a few more errand before heading home for New Year's Eve! Theresa, Eric, and the girls came over and my family fled to various NYE parties. We made FAR too much food. Brett and I ordered Papa Murphey's pizza while we were out and by the time I got a couple pieces in my belly, I was stuffed. The Crowells stayed until a little after 9. We said fairwell, put Hazel to bed, and sat and stared blankly at the TV. It was nice. We rang in the New Year with Dick Clark (he's so sad...good for him doing the ball drop in his condition, but it broke my heart to watch him struggle to talk) and each other.

Thursday- spent the whole day packing, and re-packing and relaxing. We let Hazel run her little legs off before the day of traveling. We decided before our trip to take it easy this day just so we're not lunatics on Friday.

Friday- flew out of Indy, The new airport is really nice. HUGE. But nice. We got chosen by the computer for random searching through security. Fun. And barely made our flight to Chicago. But we got to Chicago just fine. Had all kinds of disasters that I would prefer not to relive, in Chicago, and then got on the world's longest flight EVER to Dublin. Again, not really something I wanna think about...it makes me angry.
It was a good trip home, but quick and extremely busy.

Here's a few pictures from the trip!

Friday 23 January 2009

The concert

For all you New Kids on The Block fans....
So I picked Jenn up at her house and were on the road about 6:15p. The weather was really crummy, rain and sleet, but the traffic was very minimal, so we got to The Oddessey Arena (where the concert was) at 7. Since neither of us had eaten, we grabbed a quick sandwich nearby and headed in. We were main floor and easy to get to, so we first went to get a t-shirt and a drink. The only available drinks there were beer, smirnoff ice, wine, and water. So I got a pint and a bottle of water. They were both gone prior to the concert (I was thirsty...and stupid). WE went in, found our seats (on the aisle 4th row back). The arena was so empty. And it didn't get any better when the opener Shontelle came on.
We were pleased, Shontelle was entertaining and a good singer, but I started having to go to the bathroom around her performance. And I didn't stop. She started around 7:55 and ended about 8:30. Then they came on and changed mics and moved stuff around.

Then the NKOTB concert started. There was music and lights...but no boys. And the security was clearing the aisle next to us, so we were hoping they would get to the stage via that aisle. But we kept watching the aisle and the stage...no boys.

Then......
Cue the ridiculous screaming. (I have to admit I was amoung them)

They played all the new stuff, which I have to admit is pretty good, actually. And they threw in an old tune or two. It was hard not to scream and sing along.

They're just pretty. And you can tell they're all 40 or pushing 40 b/c a lot of their flipping and jumping wore them out pretty quick. But they were in shape and having fun. Someone threw their bra on stage. That was funny b/c she threw it right at Donnie, and he was surprised. The even funnier thing was that the bra wasn't lacy and pretty. It was white and looked slightly browned from wear. YUCK. He picked it up, showed the other guys (all still singing), and hung it on the keyboard stand. It was funny. They all (especially Donnie) were flirting with someone in the front row, and we kept trying to see who it was. Then we saw her. She was probably 60 ish and just the cutest little lady. It was so cool to see them interacting with her. They never called her out or anything, but whenever they would do some dance moves that might be a little risk-ay, they'd all motion to her to cover her eyes. So cute.

They put on a really good show. I was pleased. Here are a few pictures for your viewing pleasure....

Thursday 22 January 2009

New Hazel stuff!

Sorry I'm so behind. I didn't post at all when I was home over the holidays. HEck, I didn't get anything I needed to done, but that's whole other story.

I know a lot of you are craving details of the NKOTB concert, but my camera died on me during the opening act, and (bless her sweet heart) Jenn offered to take pictures for both of us and burn me a copy. Brett says he has it and will bring it home with him after work. So, I'll do a NKOTB post tonight or tomorrow. Supposedly there's 120 pictures and videos on that CD so it may take a little time to get them on the computer :)

Anyway, back to the Nut. Nothing exciting to report...we're learning new words and animal sounds every day. Her new favorite word is "no" and banana which comes out "mamana". So we do a lot of banana eating. The no's I'm trying to deal with by "listening" when she says no. If I'm feeding her and she says "no" then we stop eating. If I ask her if she wants or needs something and she says "no" then she doesn't get it. I know she doesn't fully understand the meaning of "no", but I'm hoping by doing this, she'll understand what it means. That way when mommy says "no", she knows that mommy means it. It seems to be working (for the time being anyway) as whenever I say, "Look at mommy. No." she seems to stop whatever she was doing and usually doesn't go back to doing it. But we'll see how long it lasts.

We've also moved on from Weetabix for breakfast to cheerios. Well, generic Cheerios, but still. She LOVES them. As a matter of fact, we're sharing a bowl right now! She's started insisting on feeding herself, which is fantastic, but she doesn't do real well scooping or stabbing food, so it's mostly me filling up her toddler spoon or fork, handing it to her and letting her insert it in her mouth. Needless to say, we're using the high chair almost constantly now.

I'm doing fairly well on my exercising. I'm supposed to go tonight and I can't decide if I feel up to it. MAy not be a bad idea to just go walk for a bit, I don't think I'll feel well enough to work up a sweat, but atleast I'll be there and doing something. Now I just need to really start tackling my food. However, as most food here in NI is full of fat and butter, I'm trying to tackle cooking at home first, and THEN cooking healthy. I'm afraid if I take on exercising (which is new) and cooking (which is new) and cooking healthy (which is really new), I'll be taking on too many new things and give up. So, I do the exercising and the cooking at home. Once I get a little more used to what ingredients I can find and where I can find them, I'll feel a little more comfortable being picky at what I cook. Unfortunately it's not as easy as going to Wal-mart for anything you need. Sigh :)

Well, Hazel is enjoying a "mamana", so I should get going while she's content. Here's new pictures and a video!
Wearing my Payton Manning jersey! Go Colts!



Mommy wore me out at Cheeky Monkeys Monday (the 19th) morning. I slept through getting Daddy from work, getting out of my carseat to go into the video store, through the video store, back into the car, all the way home, out of the car, into the house, and laying me down. I was so tired that I didn't stir once.

This is what happens when mommy runs to the store and leave Daddy and me home alone...in other words, Mommy was ahir stylist, so obviously this isn't her bow work....

Reading a magazine in my fort. Go away, Mommy.
Enjoying chili that mommy made...
A video of Hazel going down the small slide at Cheeky Monkeys all by herself! And the second is her enjoying a popsicle last night after dinner.


Thursday 15 January 2009

A Pound for a Pound

So, tonight I went to the Leisure Center (or friendly neighborhood gym) to have a walk on the treadmill.

On the way in, there was a scale, so I decided to see what I weighed.

Now, for those of you who thought I was going to disclose my weight....don't hold your breath. It's not relavent. Just know that it really is scary. And not in a I'm-a-girl-and-I'm-being-modest-about-my-weight-so-you'll-have-pity-on-me scary. Truly scary.

Anywho.

I came home and made a deal with Brett. I'm a yarn addict, as most of you know. And my addiction has bled over onto Internet yarn purchases. So we came to a deal. Well, a self inflicted deal.

I've got tons of yarn in my stash, so I don't NEED yarn to be able to knit. And I have plenty of projects that need focused on anyway. But I still love my new yarn.

So, here's the deal. I get a Great Britian Pound for every weight pound I lose. And until I have enough money to buy yarn, I don't get any. And if I get to my goal, then I get to double my $$$. Yay! Skinny AND new yarn! I can't lose!

Now, lets see if this actually sticks....

Monday 12 January 2009

Be like her Part 2

I love staying at home with Hazel. I think I've mentioned that before. She's fun and I love watching her learn new things.

And I love seeing the things God chooses to teach me through her.

Today, we have absolutely fantastic weather. It's in the high 40's, blue skies and just gorgeous out. So Hazel and I decided to take a walk to the harbour. Now, we're still fighting jetlag a bit, and when the decision was made, we were both still in our jammies. So we went upstairs to change for our outting...

Hazel's getting to the point where she doesn't want to be carried upstairs unless she's sleepy. So, I flip on the hall light and she books it down our tiny hallway to the stairs and basically LEAPS onto the first stair. She's so excited about being able to climb the stairs that she cannot get there and up the first stair fast enough. And the rest of her climb up our stairs is met with the same enthusiasm. YAY for climbing stairs!!!!! She's getting pretty good at stair climbing and can scale them fairly fast, but she still has atleast one or two moments when she's going so fast that she misses the steps with her knee and slips. It doesn't phase her, though, because she knows I'm right behind her to right her again. Then, instead of letting the little slip hurt her feelings, she attacks the rest of the stairs with the same excitement that she had for all the previous steps. Finally, when she gets to the top, she runs down the hallway to attack the next challenge, never once looking back at her slips on the stairs behind her. She never gives up on what's ahead of her because she didn't scale those steps perfectly. She'll get them eventually, and if not, Mommy is right behind her to set her right again so she can continue forward. She never once thinks I'm a mean mommy b/c I let her set forth on climbing steps that she might "mess up" on. She's just glad I let her try and that I promise to be there when she does slip.

I wanna approach life like this. I wanna be SOOOOOOO excited about things that I have to learn or face, that I run to meet them. I wanna KNOW that whenever I slip on something that God is always one step ahead of me to clear the way and one step behind me to right me again so I can carry on, excited. Then, when I get through the task, I want to be able to barrel ahead ready for the next challenge. I don't want to look back at past imperfections and question my ability to tackle a future task.

I know she wants to be like me. And I hope that I'm enough like her, that she never changes.

Thursday 8 January 2009

Please Pray...

I know everyone misses us. I'm aware that people's hearts are aching because we're so far away. I know that we're in people's thoughts and prayers every day. I'm very thankful for all of you and all of your prayers that you send our way.

But it's time we have a talk.

This isn't meant to hurt anyone's feelings, and please know that I'm so thankful for everyone in my life.

We HAVE to stay here through the end of the year. It is necessary with the way the economy is going, and with the amount of lay-offs in companies everywhere...even within Brett's company. As long as we're here, Brett is guaranteed a job and a paycheck. I know that there are many many people out there who's jobs are on the line, and my heart aches for all of you. You all are in my prayers and thoughts. And I'm not asking for sympathy from anyone. What I am asking is that everyone understand that until further notice, we are staying until Christmas this year. 11 short months. FG Wilson (the company here in NI) just announced that they will be laying people off this spring. PM Alliance announced before christmas a cut in over 1/2 of Brett's same postions. I'm frightened. In a better economy, Brett, I believe, would have no problem finding another job. But in today's market, no one is hiring, quite the opposite, actually. And since so many are being let go, there are that many more people out there looking for the same jobs. In a market that isn't hiring.

Thank you for praying for us, for askiing that God keep us safe, and that he return us home quickly. But please, ask Him to keep us safe here in Larne through Christmas, and THEN move us close to home. Because in reality, wishing us home faster may only get us to the US faster...we may be in California for our next assignment, or some other state, and then we won't be any closer to home than we are now. And I'm trying not to be hurt that in the 16 mos that we lived in Peoria, most people did not come to see me. Our families did, but we made the 8 hour round trip once a month if not more to see everyone else...so, please, remember, I love you all very much, and I miss everyone, too, but when you pray for us to come home sooner than later, you're not considering our feelings.

I know this seems mean, and I really don't mean to. This isn't pointed at any one person or persons, just a general discussion that has been necessary for a while and I've avoided until these layoff announcements have been made. I would much rather be far away with a job then home and out of work.