i'm all nostalgic tonight. i don't really know why. i've been on myspace looking up old classmates from high school and on facebook looking up college classmates and i really miss...well, everyone. even those i wasn't so fond of.
what i'd really like to know is when did we grow up? everyone is married and everyone has kids and i still feel like i should be playing 3 ninjas with my best friend from childhood and breaking the glass out of her curio cabinet. that was just yesterday (ish). instead i'm worried about my child who has been running a fever for 2 or 3 days and how am i going to pay for weight watchers classes b/c darn it--i'm going!! i will not let the fat take me over! i just don't feel like we should be thinking up baby names and posting our wedding pictures (not necessarily in that order). i found out (via myspace) that another one of my high school friends is having a baby and was shocked. why was i shocked though? i have a baby...why can't everyone else?

little bit has picked up several new tricks this past week (despite her mystery fever)--she can now say "uh-oh" although it comes out "uh-uh" and she can shake her head no. what's really funny is when she puts something in her mouth that isn't s'posed to be there. all i have to say is "*little bit..." and she starts shaking her head no :) so cute! God love the cute little thing!

and yes, i really am doing weight watchers. i went tonight for the 1st time. i need accountability. i need someone to tell me to get off my lazy butt and walk around the block (although i have been doing really really good with that the last 2 weeks). i need someone to weigh me every week and say--"you did it!" and give me a big hug (well, they won't do that but i'm sure b will). i need some guidelines b/c Heaven knows i'll eat everything in sight otherwise! i'm pretty motivated about it right now so i'm excited. i officially start tomorrow (and yes, i had my celebratory last dinner--chicken fingers, homemade french fries, and chocolate chip cookies). i only need to lose about 25-30lbs (i say "only" like that will be an easy thing--ha!) but i really just don't want to gain weight now that i'm barely nursing. fyi: dropping from 4 nursings/day to 3 will REALLY cut down on the calorie burn due to milk production. trust me and all my wobbly bits!

a new picture from my photo edits for you to contemplate:



and go to labellapictures.blogspot.com for more! and if you see some that look normal (no edits), i put them there so people could see the originals.

thoughts:

*does anyone know why my comments are registering? my page says i have "0" but i have 2!
*my comments have picked up lately. am i more interesting now?
*why do people hate mommy bloggers? what'd we do to anyone?
*is blogging really for "power"? is there really a "junior league" in the blogging world (read about midway down)?
*has feminism really failed b/c some of us choose to stay home as opposed to working a 40 hour a week job?
*isn't feminism being able to have a choice about what we WANT to do as opposed to being dictated by someone else (i.e. men or OTHER WOMEN for that matter)?
*and why would people who don't have kids sit around and listen to people who do have kids talk? pick another table!
*UPDATE*
i have now downloaded a photo editing software (which i am CLUEless about) and have played with it for 2 hours and here is what i have come up with:

it doesn't look like much but that little booger was TOUGH. i'm used to point and click things and this is definitely not point and click!! i'm loving it though!
maybe one day i'll be good enough to create my own banner (that's my goal)! i'd be so excited

wanna hear something sad me whine?

it isn't nearly as sad as my last post but a close 5th maybe (behind world hunger, the war in the middle east, poverty, orphans, etc)--i have no clothes. absolutely no clothes. i have things that cover my body that 11 year olds might call clothes but that's it. nothing nice. i have to borrow all of my "nice" stuff from a friend of mine who i LOVE for lending me things but I NEED MY OWN STUFF!! everyday...every single day...i wear some form of a navy blue or black tshirt and shorts. every. single. day. the bras i have, i have been wearing throughout my whole pregnancy/nursing experience. my underwear...it is too sad to even discuss!!! the clothes i'm wearing right now--navy blue tshirt that i've had for...about 4 years and has a hole under the arm (i didn't know this until yesterday so i wonder how long that's been there) and plaid boxer shorts that were my stepsister's when i was in 9th grade (i've had them since then--about 8 years) that have holes EVERYWHERE. how sad? i would love to lose about 20lbs and buy a new wardrobe but at this point in my life, i just don't want to go try on clothes. i lost all my prepregnancy weight (not that i was happy with that weight) but my body is SO different. *sigh*

PLEASE HELP IF YOU CAN

hey guys! this website has really tugged at my heartstrings. please donate if you can. even if you can only spare a few dollars i know it will help. if you can't donate but want to help, repost this in your blog and maybe other people who can donate will see it (this totally sounds like a spam thing but it isn't). thanks in advance for all your help!!

http://www.wildanimalsanctuary.org/

this week has been a very mind draining week and it hasn't even gotten started. the house stuff is really beginning to wear on me. but i really don't want to talk about that.

by the way--i'm just in the process of getting this blogroll thing going so if i haven't added you yet, i'm working on it i promise!!

justice got a new toy for his birthday (one of those things with wheels that he can walk around and push) so when we had our play date the other day, i let little bit try it out and decided it might be beneficial to get her one. let me just insert here that i am WEAK when it comes to my daughter. i mean WEAK. i will go without clothes for the rest of my life as long as i can get her what she wants or what i think she wants/needs :) so to target we went and got her a walking thing. she loves it!! in the picture it looks like a little car but it converts between the two. so here's a video:


Video Hosting - Upload Video - Video Sharing

and here's a picture of her driving:



she really likes the cheap little thing :)

WOW!!

I MEAN WOW.

have you ever wondered

does anyone have a Blog Roll? i've never paid attention on other people's sites but man are those things nice! i can log onto my website and see if anyone has updated recently. it makes me happy! no longer do i have to go back and forth between my links and everyone's page that i'm just checking in on. haha!

have you ever wondered what makes us (as parents) go back on our word. man, i remember being pregnant "my child will NOT sleep with us in the bed. it just isn't going to happen." "my child will sleep through the night by 12 weeks b/c babywise said so and God knows they know everyone's individual children." "she's just going to have to cry it out." "she is NOT going to sit and watch tv...we will go outside and play!" the list really could go on but i'm sure you get the drift. when does it come to the point that you say "ok, i give up" and go back on your word? little bit hasn't really "slept with us" per se but she sure slept ON us for many weeks. it was the only way WE could get sleep. and anyone who reads my blog knows she's not sleeping through the night and she's WAY past that 12 week mark. and the tv thing--well, thankfully she doesn't really like the tv that much (my stuff is much more interesting) but i honestly would let her sit and watch it for a half an hour or so just so i could unload the dishwasher without worrying about her slicing her cute little fingers off! i really think it is just desperation. desperation for a little peace and quiet. desperation for a little time for ourselves. desperation to just feel like "ME" again (whatever that may be). i guess as long as we draw the line between letting tv time slide and letting them play with knives, we'll be ok. my sister (the 26 year old one) has a 3 year old. and honestly, i love my sister, but she's a bit lazy. so instead of just saying "no" and meaning "no" she says "no" and means "go ahead and do it b/c i'm too lazy to get up and actually stop you." i don't want to get to that point but i see how it would be easy! it is so easy to look at little bit climbing the baker's rack and think "she'll be fine and i'll tell her 'no' next time" when, in reality, i have to remember that consistency is what counts (even at 9 months) and you can't start disciplining when they're 16 (blah blah blah).

and since i said that--i heard my other sister (the 22 year old one with a 3 year old) tell her daughter today "i've already told you 'no' and don't ask me again" and it all of the sudden hit me that we're parents...PARENTS. that is such a BIG WORD! i'm not a parent. i'm still a child! how can a child raise a child?? i mean, i know i'm a mom but wow! i am molding and shaping this little being into what she will become. i feel like me and my 2 sisters and my brother should be jumping on the trampoline and making up "routines" and judging each other and sleeping in our bathing suits so that we can wake up and jump in the lake; not disciplining our kids and spending 25 hours a day raising them (yes, 25).

sorry i got deep there...doesn't happen much so just muddle through when it does!

does anyone scrapbook? do you watch the scrapbook show on diy? they have such good ideas. my stepdad was looking at my scrapbook yesterday (keep in mind he's a man with NO scrapbook experience) and said i should go in the business--ha! he has NO idea what these people can do and how much money they spend. i was looking at scrapbook stuff last week and b was with me and found some jolee stickers that said "my 1st bike" and made me buy them (he's into cycling for anyone who didn't know). he was afraid i wouldn't be able to find them when little bit gets her 1st bike. he's so silly! he doesn't really like scrapbooks b/c he says they take away from the picture but then he gets me to buy stuff for mine :) i don't use a lot of embellishments though so maybe that's why he likes mine.

little bit had a rough night last night. i literally have no ideas left on how to get her to sleep through the night. we've done it all--routines, crying, solid food, i've even started supplementing some formula but none of it makes any difference. there are no teeth trying to come through, her ears were fine at her dr's appt, and if i go in there, she immediately stops crying. it is SO frustrating! she woke up 3 times last night. the 1st 2 times i was awake so it was just mildly frustrating but the 3rd time i had JUST fallen asleep. and the she cried forEVER. everyone said "let her cry it out; it'll only take a week or 2 and she'll be sleeping through the night." what a joke! i know there are plenty of people that it works for but i want to know what i'm doing wrong. everyone also said when we started solids it would rest heavier on her stomach to help her sleep...again--yeah right! she's been on solids for 3 months now and i've gotten about a week or week and a half worth of sleep. it is almost like she realizes that we're getting excited that she may be at that sleeping through the night point and decides that she needs to wake up and scream. she used to just fuss for 10 minutes or so and go right back to sleep but now it is bloody murder screaming. i think she's scared (separation anxiety maybe?). who knows...maybe she misses her friends. it has been awhile since she had a play date with anyone so maybe she is just bored with me and rebelling. i know she gets tired of being in the house all the time. b has been off of work all week and i'm REALLY going to miss him monday but maybe we can get back on our schedule and get our play dates going again. i miss the adult (female) contact too!

onto better little bit subjects--she is now eating cottage cheese, yogurt, cheerios, goldfish, and fruit puffs. the cottage cheese and yogurt are kinda hit and miss (depending on her mood) but she doesn't seem to dislike them--they just aren't her favorite. it is hard for me to realize how much she is growing and changing sometimes but my mom pointed out how different she looks now compared to some pictures from april and the difference is she's losing her puffy cheeks. i mean, she still has them but she's growing into them.

she keeps us on our toes! we caught her stealing a sip of b's drink the other day. he put it down next to the couch and we were getting her diaper bag together to leave and turned around to this:

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fyi: i've used snapfish and photoworks and am EXTREMELY pleased with the quality of my pictures. low shipping costs too and better quality than walmart or target. plus the pictures are shipped in record time! i have my prints in less than a week (2-4 business days). thus far i have found ways to get 105 free pictures and have around 120 more to upload for free :) it is a wonderful world!


little bit got a new stroller. i LOVE it! i feel like i got a good deal. it was $20 (babies r us) and has a shade and mesh bag on the back (my only 2 requirements). b and i both like it thus far. the only drawback is it is kinda hard to close. you have to be careful or you'll pinch yourself. but it is so pretty!

atlanta was fun. the hotel was nice. the 1st room we were in had hair on the bathroom floor (lots of it--like someone was shedding). don't know how the cleaning service missed that but i called the front desk and 2 managers came up and moved us to a corner room which basically just gave us a lot more space. it was such a blessing though b/c little bit needed that room to crawl around. it ended up being a life saver!! we had a lot of fun. i LOVE riding around in a big city (although compared to nyc, atlanta is teeny). it makes me want to move to a big city. we ate at the varsity. i don't know if you've ever been but honestly it leaves a bit to be desired if you ask me. it is just a bunch of people yelling and throwing around greasy food. we also went to the world of coca cola. it was a lot smaller than i remember but it was alright. we got to try coke from around the world and lilt is AWESOME!! i drank 2 cups of it (little 4 oz ish cups but still). i would LOVE to buy some and have it shipped here (it is from great britain) but the cheapest i can find is $1.35 per can plus shipping. i'm not sure it is that good!

little bit has her 1st swimming lesson tomorrow. we're only going to one lesson but i just want to learn what i need to do for her so i don't think 2 weeks worth of lessons is necessary. plus, this lesson is private. i'm excited.

she had her 9 mon. check up yesterday morning. she was great! 50th ish percentile on weight/height and 90th on head circumference!! i was surprised about that b/c i don't think she has a big head but i guess she does :) it just means she has a big brain.

she has started a new trick--she's walking on her hands and the bottom of her feet. but she only does it for a few seconds at a time so i can't get it on camera. busy week this week with b being on vacation. looking forward to it!