All About Me (the mama)

I got tagged, so here we go....

I AM: a bit neurotic in a nice way

I WANT: more babies (one please oh please be a boy to make Jason happy)

I HATE: cleaning out the litter box

I LOVE: Maddy's open mouth slobber kisses

I MISS: my husband when he works a 48 hour shift

I FEAR: popsicle sticks touching my teeth

I HEAR: Maddy breathing while she sleeps behind me and I try to type quietly

I WONDER: why irresponsible, selfish women can get pregnant if a loser so much as sneezes on them and so many of my wonderfully-loving-want-more-than-anything-to-be-a-mama friends can't

I REGRET: a lot of the things I have said in my life that I wish I could take back

I DANCE: badly, but with a lot of enthusiasm

I SING: all the time, especially Maddy's special song

I CRY: when I think about how Maddy was born, but not as much as I used to

I AM NOT ALWAYS: good at hiding how I feel

I MAKE WITH MY HANDS: huh?

I WRITE: lists of anything and everything, I have even been known to make lists just for the joy of checking things off

I CONFUSE: myself continually - what am I doing? where am I going? where are my keys to get me there?

I NEED: to get a grip!

I SHOULD: be cleaning instead of blogging

I START: to speak before I engage my brain

I FINISH: my ice cream a lot faster than Jason does

OK, so now I am supposed to tag people to pass this on...Krista and Deb are the only people I know who blog and also read mine, so tag you are both it!

My Favorite Things

Now that Maddy is super mobile and into everything I have put together a list of her newly discovered loves:

1. Dog toys, the nastier the better
2. Electrical cords and plug ins
3. Telephone
4. Remote control
5. Tupperware and plastic containers, especially yogurt cups
6. PAPER! (This should be listed as #1 because it rocks her world)
7. Strings
8. Zippers
9. Buttons and things inside shirt pockets
10. Cat whiskers and dog ears (sorry Micah and Edward, you are irresistible)

I totally appreciate all the wonderful toys people have bought for Maddy, but it seems that the more off-limits something is, the more she wants to put it in her mouth. I shudder to think of all the gross stuff she has encountered. So all her toys remain stacked up crying out to be played with and loved. Sorry, nothing in the toybox competes with a chewed up dog bone. And nothing is funnier than the total diva scream she lets out when I redirect her or tell her no. She is a livewire and totally keeps me on my toes.... Grandma says it is paybacks.

Steps For Life

Saturday we participated in Steps For Life to raise money for Pregnancy Resource Center . It was a beautiful day for a 2 mile walk around downtown Portland. It was nice to catch up with some of the ladies (and guys too) I used to work with and show off Maddy to everyone. I stepped down from a staff position when Madeline was born, but resumed volunteering at the Gresham center a few months ago. It is a wonderful ministry that we are proud to be part of, check out the website for more info. So a great big thank you to everyone who sponsored us, you are supporting an agency that truly changes the lives of women every day.

Messy Me

I love avocado!

Aha!

I finally figured out what is happening to all those missing socks.... mama's little helper has been helping herself!

Pool Party

Since Maddy loved swimming in the pool at Eagle Crest so much, we bought her one for here at home. She had a blast yesterday cooling off outside while the air conditioner guy installed our new air conditioner to cool it off inside. It felt great when we went back in.... how did I ever make it throught last summer pregnant without one?

Eagle Crest

This past weekend we went on a family vacation to Eagle Crest, a resort community in Eastern Oregon outside of Redmond. It was a great time! The main event was Jason's cousin Sheila's wedding on Saturday. We stayed at a chalet with Jason's immediate family and had a good time catching up with them and being entertained by Abigail Grace, Maddy's 18 month old cousin. They are about 10 or 11 months apart and it is fun to see what we have to look forward to.... she is talking up a storm and cute as can be. She has a lovely sweet spirit and I think she will be a great big sister to BabyGirlFoster expected the very end of July. We will actually be camping at Trinity Lake in Northern California then and if we time it right we will see the bambino on our way back home. The wedding was a nice ceremony at a Baptist church, simple and straight to the point. It was a gorgeous day for a celebration, not a cloud in the sky. Jason was most impressed with the enormous piece of beef they were carving at the reception. The reception started about 3:30 and they had been cooking it since 9 pm the evening before. That is a serious piece of meat! Between runs to Dairy Queen (mama is addicted to mint oreo blizzards), we spent some time swimming with Maddy. She was a natural and absolutely LOVED kicking and splashing in the water. She really went to town! There is nothing cuter than a chubby baby in a swimming suit and swim diaper - she turns my heart into whipped cream every time I look at her. She is the best present I could ever ask for, a beautiful baby perfect in every way who has made my life more rich and full than I could have ever dreamed. Happy Mother's Day to me!

Special Ed's new special needs

For those of you who don't know, we have a cat named Special Ed. He is very special indeed. I am not making this up, he has the feline form of cerebral palsy (yes, cats CAN have cerebral palsy, I am not kidding) and is just generally not the sharpest crayon in the box. So he marches along on legs that don't work quite right and falls over a lot and doesn't do much other than eat, sleep, and snuggle, but we love him. He is our sweet faced special little guy. He is the most loyal cat around, once he loves you he truly deeply completely loves you. And has absolutely no use for anyone else. Some people in our life have never even seen him and probably never will. He is definitely a one person kind of cat, except he has two people to divide his affections over. Change is hard for Edward, so of course, Maddy's entrance has been a tough adjustment. Especially now that she is moving around and getting in his business. He has started to act out and progressively it has gotten worse. Those of you with cats know exactly what I am talking about... his bathroom habits have really gotten out of control. So I took him to the vet to rule out any medical problems, although I was pretty sure it is a behavioral thing that HAS TO STOP! I love animals, almost as much as I love babies, but I draw the line at peeing on the carpet. My house is not a freaking litterbox and I have zero tolerance for this whole issue, especially with not getting a ton of sleep and not the hottest coping skills around. Ok, so we are at the vet and the whole thing annoys me because you know it is going to cost an arm and a leg but has to be done. The verdict comes back that he actually DOES have something biologically going on in addition to all the stress changing his behavior. And of course he now needs super expensive fancy pants cat food to avoid surgery or the possibility of having to put him down. In addition to the food change we need to address his stress level. We talked about putting him on anti-anxiety medication, but with his neurological issues he is at risk for seizures and not metabolizing the drugs as a normal cat would. Plus the thought of having to pill him twice a day just seems too annoying to even begin to deal with. I love him, but seriously.... So this is my favorite part of the whole ridiculous story, the vet recommended trying to treat it homeopathically with an air infusion similar to one of those Glade plug ins. Except our plug in has special kitty pheremones in it to make the house "happier" and more "pleasant" for Edward. Give me a break!!! But I can't believe it: all of these things put together are actually working. No more accidents for quite a few days now. I think we have soothed the savage beast and found a solution. I feel like one of those crazy cat people, having kitty pheremone air fresheners and special food dishes in my bedroom and litter in our master bathroom (which drives me NUTS!). Sigh. But if it saves us from having to get all new carpet or not having Edward any longer, then I am willing to acquiesce. I did have to throw several five alarm fits along the way while I got used to all these changes that are so frustrating and annoying. More money going out each month. Litter in the bathroom (did I mention that this drives me absolutely NUTS?!). But then Ed gazes at me adoringly and I guess it is all worth it. The food he'll be on for the rest of his life (which could be cut short if he sprays even one more time), and hopefully we'll be able to transition the food and litter back to their rightful places in the laundry room. The kitty pheremone air freshener is what really kills me in this whole scenario, but if it works then I will just have to get used to being one of those crazy cat people willing to do anything for their furry little feline friends. But I tell you, when Edward and Micah go, we are NEVER having another animal as long as I live. And I have instructed Jason to feel free to remind me of this when I start to renig on my deal and beg for just one cute sweet soft little kitty someday. Don't give in! Don't do it! Don't let me get myself into another mess! Babies are enough work all on their own, sometimes I feel like I have fourteen of them with trying to take care of so many creatures. So we will someday be done with animals and cross your fingers for us that we all survive until that day comes (and hopefully it won't be too soon because as much as I whine and complain, I really do love them both, honest I do).

Paparazzi

Here are Maddy's photos from her shoot last month. The photographer's lens was not working quite right so we didn't get too many close ups but the wide angle ones turned out fine. Maddy wasn't in a particularly smiley mood this day, I think she was too fascinated with the big black camera and us making all those silly noises and faces at her. Three adults acting like total morons trying to get a baby to smile, it was pretty funny to all of us grown ups. Our favorite shots are the firefighter ones and the ones where she is naked against the black backdrop. Go to Z and then Zollner and the password is Maddy.

Holy Crawling Batman!

Well she has gone and done it, she learned how to crawl! It is kind of a hop/crawl/drag/roll shuffle at this point, but man can she move! She is getting more coordinated every day and before I know it she'll be fluently crawling around the house. She is fast, too. Surprisingly fast. I love to watch her great big cloth diapered bottom scooting around the house. She is so curious and inquisitive, I love to watch how her mind works as she discovers her world. This is definitely the best stage yet, but then again I say that every month, so I'm sure the best is even yet to come! Here are some photos of Maddy crawling and in her new swing at home yesterday and at my friend Toni's house today. Check out Kenda in the background showing us how to act like a lady. She is quite a character! Having a toddler and a newborn is no small feat and Toni does it so well... she is a champ.