2011-08-31

Back In The Saddle....

The crafty saddle that is. I felt half decent yesterday (hurray!!) so instead of doing the right thing, cleaning, I got my craft on. It felt so good to do something creative again.
Aubrey has been asking for a headband for a while, something I find quite hilarious because she absolutely hates having things in her hair. But I thought, what the hey, might as well make her one and see if she actually keeps it in.
Well she actually does and has not taken the head band off but to sleep since I made it, victory!
I used elastic lace for the headband part and made a simple yo-yo flower with a fabric covered button to hide the seem I had sewn. Aubrey picked the fabric(or fagric as she calls it) and loved that I involved her! The elastic lace makes it super comfortable to wear, I'm assuming that's why she actually keeps it on:)
As usual the photo shoot got a little crazy....
I'm just thankful that she was cooperative this time, better than her usual hide-my-head-behind-something-until-I-know-the-camera's-put-away. I'll take it!
{side note, I'm pretty sure the owner of this house planted weeds instead of grass, because there is nothing but weeds in the back yard. Just turn a blind eye 'mkay? Or even better yet, pretend they are lovely flowers that I lovingly planted...thanks}
ummm yeah. She's my daughter through and through :)
And this morning she thought she was extra cool and put the headband on herself. She wont let me do it, so this is going to be her cool look for the day. Awesome.
The rats-nest, I mean back view.
And to further prove that my child's a genius (no, I'm not biased at all)....
She's working on her letters....by herself. She's all self motivated 'n stuff, so not from me--that would be Zach. But seriously, she's writing her name already. She gets the letters all out of order when she does it on her own, but when she has reference point to work from? She nails it!
~~~~~~
I'm going to be linking up here....

2011-08-30

Dreaming....

Aside from family and friends, the thing that I CAN NOT stop thinking about in relation to our upcoming Canada trip, is the food. I'm so excited for a few things, and now I will give you a list...in no particular order.
1. Wings from Earls. Thai wings to be exact...in my book, there are no other kind. Period. The end.
2. the "#1 without the beef fried rice" (as I like to call it) from Dragon Fort. Now this place is kind of a dive, but I can't help myself. It's just the best Chinese I've ever had (probably has something to do with it being a childhood memory, family lunches there after church were a rare treat! I'm assuming because it was/is so cheap and my parents weren't exactly flush with cash with 5 kids and one income. No matter what the reason, I thank them for introducing me!). mmmmmm sweet and sour pork 'n chow main! Soooo good. And at $5 for a GIANT plate of food?? SOLD.
3. Sushi. It is the west coast people and West Coast=best. sushi. ever. Now I'm not hard core so I don't eat the raw stuff, but Zach does so I'm cool by association, 'mkay? I'm a California roll and dynamite roll kinda gal....oh and chicken teriyaki! mmmm ok, now I'm drooling. I'm partial to Akasaka or Junction Sushi (in Mission BC), just so you know.
4. Quiznos.....now I know they have them in the States, but I have yet to have an Original Turkey like I've had at the Mt.Lehman Rd Quiznos in Abbotsford, so I must go and fill my face.
5. White Spot. For breakfast...oh who am I kidding?! Any time of day! Oh man, the triple O sauce?!? Are you kidding me?? Simply the best.
6. Oh and slushes!! I LOVE slushes and they have the best ones at a random Shell gas station in my home town!
I. Can't. Wait.
Now I just have to figure out how I'm going to fund this out-of-control-pregnant-woman feasting....sucks being poor.

2011-08-29

My Morning....

consisted of watching Aubrey gather every single pillow in the house and create this. Not quite sure what it is, but I will tell you that she has been happily drawing in it all day.

I'm loving the look of concentration on her face, that doodle pro thingy takes a lot of attention.
Showing me her creation :) No matter what she's working on, it always involves an A and an E. Not quite sure why, but it does. She'll be drawing a picture of a flower and somehow those letters will slip in.
And this is where it took a little turn for the crazy. I mean, she is the daughter of Zach and Jen so things tend to take a turn for the weird...just sayin'.

Yup, she is so cool.
I can't for the life of me get her to stop pointing with her middle finger! Seriously, how do I do it with out pointing out why it's bad form?!?
Love her---even if she took 2 months to potty train. Which, by the way, I think she finally is!! Not at night though....still in a diaper then, but I'll take what I can get! AND to test her out, we went out on Saturday for a few hours to run errands, and she was in her underwear the whole time...with NO accidents! About time ;)

2011-08-26

A Little Bit of Progress....

And by little, I mean little. I have my quilt all laid out in the spots I want, but I keep going in and changing things. So I decided to let it sit for a while longer, let it percolate a bit. And no, it's not because I'm not in the mood to sew it. Ok, maybe I'm not in the mood to sew it. BUT in my defence, it's really hot up in our office and when I get super hot, I feel sick... not a good thing when you live in Georgia. Because it's hot here....really hot here. Figured I'd remind you, just in case you forgot because I sure haven't ;)
I'm really loving how offensively bright these fabrics are though, they make me smile....even if I still feel nauseous under that smile. Ahhh the joys of pregnancy. My goal is to get it done before the baby comes...I figure a deadline of March is something I can handle, but at the pace I'm going?? Not gonna happen. I'm just praying that all this nausea stops at 12 weeks, but that's this Monday, so I'm not going to hold my breath!
In other news, I found the latest home of "the mask" the other day. I give Zach some serious bonus points for creativity on this one, it's just clever! Have I ever mentioned I love this guy?? Because I do. (that was for you Marcy)

2011-08-24

New Complexes and Other Things...

*I think I'm going to stick with random posts because that's just how my head works. Deal with it.
*Prepare yourself, this is going to get REALLY random...
*Aubrey told me that my legs felt prickly like a cactus....I think it's time to shave.
*I got my eyebrows threaded at the mall last week and the guy (yes, guy...?) threading them asked if I wanted my lip done as well.
*I now have a mustache complex.
*Aubrey is swimming with her head all the way under water now! From one end of the pool to the other....it may be in our tiny 6x10ft pool in the back yard, but it's leaps and bounds better than the beginning of summer. She's also too cool for her floaties, love it!
*We bought a BBQ(charcoal) last weekend and are addicted to grilling! mmmm steak...
*It looks as though I will be rocking maternity wear a lot earlier in this pregnancy.
*I don't feel like I was adequately prepared/warned for the second baby bump.
*The good news is I've been going through my maternity clothes and I still love most of it...even though it's mostly sweaters and they'll be moot here until December...
*I. Love. Pregnancy. Nails. (does that make sense? Should I clarify? They are super strong, so they don't break...aka, long nails for Jen for 9 months!)
*I forgot how wonderful big, sexy, full panelled maternity pants feel! Seriously, I'm all about the full panel, none of this tucked in below the waist business. I'm going all out.
*I forgot how hard it is to find nice maternity dresses...
*I've been on the hunt for Jordan's wedding and I think I finally found two to choose from.
*No, my bump is not at the maternity dress stage yet, but it sure will be in five weeks time. It's getting large and in charge.
*I've got an appointment with my old hairdresser from Canada and I'm so pumped! No one does foils like Tammy, she's a genius! Every time she touches my hair it's perfect.
*I have not had my hair cut/colored since early February...I hope she doesn't laugh...
*There was a frog in our pool yesterday morning....weird.
*I was so sick of caffeine headaches that I now choke through a cup of coffee in the morning because I feel it's better than mass amounts of Tylenol.
*I'm sick of being sick.
*It's still hot.
*The End.

2011-08-19

Things I'm Thinking...

*I miss living close NYC
*I think there might be light at the end of the potty training tunnel....I think it's finally sinking in....we'll see!
*Zach and I (and Aubrey) are headed for Canada in less than a month
*Zach's little brother is getting married(WEIRD!)
*the weather is cooling off at night! I went out the other morning around 7ish to bring out the garbage and it was "cool"!
*I could go for a gyro from this place in NYC....
*Pregnancy cravings are kicking my butt.
*Big Macs and Ramen Noodles do not a skinny woman make.
*I have wonderful "morning"(more like "all day") sickness. So excited for the 12 week mark, hoping it goes away then like it did when I was pregnant with Aubrey...we'll see.
*I want to fly to England and see my sister and her family. And I HATE to fly, so that tells you how bad I wanna go.
*I'm loving the rotation Zach's on right now, some days he gets home early...like 5pm early!! We actually get to see him!
*We tried our first church here last weekend, it's not quite the church for us, but it felt great to go.
*I started to do the lay out of the quilt I had posted about and I'm loving it so far :)
*I haven't sewn much since moving here, I need to get my crafty butt in gear.
*I'm excited for the weekend, even though Zach has to work on Saturday(booooo).
*I'm thinking a Big Mac is in my foreseeable future...
*And those Ramen Noodles I just had were gooooood....

2011-08-17

Wondering....

...if I've got myself a little Good Will Hunting??

What does it mean?!? And how did Aubrey make that pattern so perfect...down to the sizing of the letters and that backwards E?? Seriously....weird.
And just another one of her chalk board art pieces....

Loving the ginormous buck-teeth on her "guy" as she calls it :)
Love this kid.

2011-08-16

A Million And One Different Directions: A Look Inside This Head of Mine...

*Every time it rains Aubrey asks to go outside and play in the rain. I don't know how it doesn't get old for her, but it doesn't and she asks....every. time.
*I haven't blogged in forever. Sorry, but I just haven't been feelin' it, ya know? Call it writers block(hahaha, me. a writer...funny) or call it lazy, but I just didn't really have anything to blog about.
*When I did, it was a ginormous negative blog about my potty training woes. So I decided to spare you more of my pathetic attempts at blogging. You're welcome.
*I've found two cockroaches in my house so far....trying to not let this go negative....um....can't. EW! I keep telling myself, it's just the South, but we're calling the property manager today and getting him to call someone to exterminate.
*I've lived in Grenada with cockroaches, and not just cockroaches, but cockroaches that gave birth in my house---meaning baby cockroaches EVERYWHERE! That was/is something I was/am not willing to go through again! So bring in the cavalry!
*It's still hot here.
*When will it cool off??
*oh, right. Never.
*I can't get enough Big Macs (yup left field).
*Am I the only one that thinks they are quite possibly the best fast food burger in history??
*I am an unashamed McDonald's lover. I could go on and on about how I love it, right down to the creepy fries. You know, the ones that if you find them a month later in some hidden crevasse they still look and smell the same....like they've been Cryogenically frozen or something??! Yup, those...mmmmmm.
*Aubrey's potty training is still going on...."this is the song that neeeeverrrrrr ennnnds....."
*Aubrey is currently better at pooing in the potty than peeing....?!? HELP ME
*Zach had the weekend off! He even got off early on Friday so it felt like a full weekend, you know, like the normal people get :)
*Oh ya, almost forgot.... I'm pregnant :)

2011-08-09

I've Been Through A Lot In My Life Already....

....Moving three times in 6 years, to two different countries, three different places where we didn't know anyone....away from everyone and everything I knew. I've endured my husband going through medical school and now the start of residency, both keeping him away from us most hours of the day. I've even moved to a new country with a two week old, but potty training....
POTTY TRAINING,
is by FAR the worst thing so far. Seriously.
I hate everything about it.
I know not everyone goes through it as long and hard as this, actually most don't.
But I'm the lucky one that has a daughter who could not be bothered to do it.
One day it'll be all pee and even a poop in the potty, the next day...ALL in the underwear/diaper.
I can't seem to get ahead with it. She still screams if I try to do the 'set her on the potty every 20 minutes' thing, saying she's scared.
Then I feel awful, that I'm torturing her some how.
And then there's the fact that she's over three years old. Now I know you are not supposed to compare your child to others, and most days I don't. But I can't help but think that she's going to be that kid going to kindergarten in diapers.
What's hard is she's such a clever kid. And I know that she gets the potty training thing, she just doesn't care.
Grrrrrrrrr
I've tried everything.
Literally.
I guess all I can do is keep with it and pray one day it clicks.
I have to give myself grace in this situation and Aubrey too. We just moved and Daddy is at work a lot. I know that's a lot for a three year old to handle and I would not have started the potty training if she had not initiated it. But she did, handed me underwear on day and asked to wear them, and off we went.....that was a month ago and there has been progress, just very little.
All I ask is that you please, please not tell me your child was potty trained in a week, even a day(heard that before) because I might just scream.