Monday, February 22, 2010

Helping Mama

I spent Saturday morning putting away Mount Olympus of laundry. Stasa, of course, was free ranging it and decided to reorganize my closet floor. She is obsessed with my shoe trees and loves pulling the shoes off. Well, Saturday she decided that a few things were missing from my closet: a shoebox, a winter hat, slippers and an electronic game.


She tried putting her own shoe (in her hand) on the shoe tree, but was unsuccessful.

So instead she played with the hangers.

I was putting together a bag of shoes that need to be repaired and Stasa decided to help me.



Check out what she added to my bag: Tom's work pants, a cat toy, her shoebox and 2 shoes that don't need to be fixed.

And yesterday I decided I was tired of my blah hair and went in for a haircut and highlights. I feel 200% better and the stylist taught me how to properly blow out the back of my head. Ever since I gave birth, the back of my head has become Curl City. It's a mess.

BEFORE:

AFTER

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Today, on the Stasa Channel...

Lu's Grand Mary & Grandpa, Lu and Garrett dancing to Gummy Bear:


More dancing:






Now, for Stasa's new trick! She learned how to stack the Mega Blocks. So now she's BUILDING instead of DESTROYING creations. She's like the anti-Stitch.





And I gave her some new bows for her box of bows. If you plan to give her a gift in the near future, make it a box of bows. She will love you forever.






Monday, February 15, 2010

Lu's First Birthday Party

Saturday morning Stasa and I packed up our overnight bags to head over to Lesli's house for Lu's birthday party and a slumber party. We (the moms) had a ton of fun and the kids LOVED playing with each other. It was especially cute seeing them "find" each other on Sunday morning. I took Lu's official 1 year pictures on Sunday, but haven't finished editing them yet.

Here are some pictures from Lu's party.


And a couple of videos that Lesli took.



Thursday, February 11, 2010

Too much snow and other happenings

Tom working his way to the shed to get the fryer equipment for the Super Bowl party



And then digging in the snow to find the frying pot



A newly acquired skill



Another party trick, just for Aunt Kelly



You thought it was going to be blowing kisses, didn't you? We're still working on that one.


More blizzard footage



Stasa's new words, "bay gurl"



And what she sounds like after a nap before we go in to get her

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

1 Year Anniversary

A year ago yesterday, Stasa and I met Amy and Hernry for the first time. I couldn't imagine our life now without our friends; these women are the first I turn to when I need advice, support or just a virtual hug. I look forward to our daily emails and watching our kids grow up together. Friends since diapers!

Friends Anniversary Storyboard 1
Friends Anniversary Storyboard 2

Buried


You can't really tell from these pictures, but Stas and I are pretty much buried in the snow. It came up to my thigh as I waded out to the middle of our front yard and we sunk down when we sat. Stasa is still not a fan of the snow, especially when she has to sit in it alone. She calmed down after about 5 minutes, but wasn't enjoying herself. Third time's a charm?

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

More baby wearing

Stasa's becoming a pro at wearing her baby. She definitely prefers carrying her on her back; much less intrusive to her space.

FauxbyFauxby

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Amputated




"Hey honey, just want you to know to be careful with the cat's tail, I think it got hurt."

Our cat loves attention and loves rubbing up on our legs and especially loves to get in our way. This is exactly what happened when Tom was trying to shoo Stasa and the cat out of our bedroom so he could close the door. Only the door caught the cat's tail and she instinctively ran, causing more damage to her tail.

I got Tom's text when I landed in Dulles around midnight and immediately texted back, but assumed that her tail had been stepped on or pulled by Stasa. I saw her when I got home and immediately realized it was worse than that when I saw the blood. So I took her up to the bathroom and cleaned the wound with hydrogen peroxide and tried to see how bad it was, but with all of the matted fur it was near impossible.

Tom made an appointment at the vet in the morning and Stasa, kitty and I headed out to see what, if anything, could be done for her tail. The vet checked her over and told me the possibilities. She'd have to put the cat under to clip and clean the tail to see how much damage there was. I was told that it might just be an abrasion or could need just a couple of stitches if there was a flap of skin to pull over. And then the worst case scenario was amputating part of the tail, but I really didn't think that was going to happen. I signed all of the paperwork, bade the cat goodbye and then left to go home.

The vet called about an hour later to say that the wound was much worse and that she had to amputate part of the cat's tail, but that the cat was doing okay and waking up. So now our poor cat is a little lighter in the rear. We're supposed to go back on Sunday to have the bandage removed and her stitches checked. She's been spending the day doped up and passed out on her favorite chair.

The "Blizzard" of 2010

The snow started yesterday morning, but it was really light and wasn't sticking, just annoying like a drizzling rain. I started taking pictures of the accumulation around 5:30 last night and again when we got up this morning.

We have what looks like a couple of feet already and they're calling for at least 6-10 more inches of snow. Too bad we couldn't be snowed in with friends.










Thursday, February 4, 2010

Bedtime Goof

What a goofball. I took these on Monday night after her bath.


She loves playing with her daddy while he's trying to get her dressed.

"What? I'm busy here."

It's a...MOLAR!



I thought this was appropriate since her PJs say LOVE on them.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Stranded

Yesterday marked my first night away from Stasa. I'm traveling for work and am spending a couple of days in San Diego for meetings. I decided to fly out early on Tuesday to be here in time for a team dinner last night. Well thanks to mother nature and United, I didn't arrive until much much later.

It began with a 30 minute delay in Dulles. The United pilots told us our connecting flights would also be delayed so we shouldn't worry. I missed my connection by 10 minutes when we arrived in Chicago. I was told to go to Customer Service to get a new flight and stood in line for 30-45 minutes thanks to the very slow agents at the desk. Once at the desk I learned that I had already been rebooked on a 10:16 AM flight that had also already left. The only available flight was a 5:30 PM arriving in San Diego after 8:00 PM. Luckily as the agent was booking me, a spot opened on the 3:30 PM flight, so I was only stranded in O'Hare for 5 hours.

The flight to San Diego was PACKED and the flight attendant wouldn't let me stow my camera bag and laptop bag in the overhead compartment, so I was stuck sitting with them between my legs for the entire trip. Oh, and the lady next to me? Yeah, she decided to take the opportunity to tell me all about her cancer and how she's refusing chemo and going to San Diego for a special tonic treatment. And of course she was also a Jehovah's Witness and just happened to have a copy of the Watch Tower on her and suggested I read the "Should you always tell the truth?" and the "Till Death Do Us Part" articles. What an enjoyable flight.

So it should come as no surprise that once I arrived at the hotel, I didn't leave. I should have just ordered room service, but opted to take my book down to the restaurant, which was closed so I was stuck at the bar, next to a very chatty older man, who annoyed the hell out of me. Needless to say, I was in bed asleep by 9:00 PM PST and woke up wiiiiiiiiide awake this morning at 5:00 AM PST (8:00 AM EST).

I miss Stasa terribly and cried a few times at the airports and on the planes. It just felt weird to wake up and not see her. And a small part of me fears that she won't remember me when I get home. I hate being away from her. : (

Anyway, since I was stuck at O'Hare for what felt like for-ev-er, I got to take a few pictures. Here's part of my late morning snack.

A view of the terminal

Proof that my new flight was still on time

Annnnnnnnnd there was a DINOSAUR (well dino replica) in the terminal.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Cultural Stasa

Tom's friend Alex and his girlfriend, Judith, came to visit this weekend. Unfortunately it snowed all day on Saturday, much like the last time Alex stayed with us. This time we were determined to get out of the house, so we went to the Dulles Air and Space Museum for the day. I thought it would be fun(ny) to get as many pictures as possible of Stasa in her stroller in front of the exhibits. So...

Here's Stasa ready to see the planes, helicopters and other flying devices. She's so excited.

Here's Stasa in front of the Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird annnnnnnd with a bunch of rockets. One of our partners, Tom Fuhrman, flew the Blackbird while he was with the Air Force and his name is printed on the side of the beast.


Here's Stasa with a flight suit and having a snack.


And here's another flight suit and her goofing off with her daddy.


Stasa needed to take a break to just sit around for a minute and then really needed some water.


Watch your head! Stasa barely fit under this overhang and here she is with a bunch of planes.


She passed out around the last hour we were there, but I still managed to get her picture with some exhibits.


Another flight suit and Amelia Earhart's clothes.


Stasa and some sort of robot thing and here she is still sleeping while Tom looks at an exhibit.


Stas woke up on Friday with a slight rash on her belly that kept spreading all morning. TOm came home and took her to the doctor with a list of questions and things that could have possibly caused the rash. It turns out Stasa is allergic to her antibiotic, Cefdinir and all cephalosporins. Look at her poor little rash. It didn't seem to really bother and the Benedryl really helped clear it up. Hopefully it'll all be gone by tonight.


And while we waited for Daddy to come home, Stasa decided to clean our office bookcase. She's so thoughtful.


Friday night Alex and I buried her in a bin of balls.

And just a couple of shots from yesterday and last night.