October in a Pictoral Nutshell.

This is going to be a post of few words and many pictures. Many of these pictures aren't even mine. Thank Scarlet and Ouiser and whomever else I may have stolen from via Facebook. The words are mine, though, I swear. That may, however, be nothing to brag about.

Buffalo. Wonderland's wedding reception. Heartwarming.












Austin (including Eagles and Norah Jones at ACL. Though clearly not pictured here.).





Sacramento. And Cocoa.



And Wawa.



Gentry Farms. Pumpkins. Sheep. Corn. Hayrides with no hay.






Halloween! That bag lit up from the inside with glow sticks. The phenomenon did not photograph well, but it was cool.




Third birthday sneak preview.




Random. Because, really...70s gym shorts, rainbow striped knee high socks, and a Colgate hoodie. I don't think I need another reason.

Giraffe

I'm not sure I've ever felt so much like I'm talking to an empty room.

So...remember those few months I needed to take off? The little break I wanted? When was that? A year and a half ago?

Oops.

I'm not going to say I'm back because I really don't know. I want to be back. I may be back. But I may bail again for another six months after this post, who knows?

I do know that I'm not going to attempt any sort of recap of the lapsed time. I'm not going to wax poetic about how fast she's growing up, how busy life gets, how time flies. We all know how true those things are, that's why they're so trite.

So let's keep it simple today. Here's a teaser/preview of the Liliputian's Halloween costume this year:

Big Girl

I've been sick this week. Just a virus, I'm fine, but I was up in bed resting last night after the Husband put the Liliputian to bed and went out to help Mr. Ouiser with the new-house demo. I was watching my eleventy-hudredth episode of Weeds on Netflix when I heard a squeaky doorknob over the baby monitor. So, I knew she was up, but she wasn't saying anything...usually she'll call for us if she needs anything...another song, "cover me up," "I need to go potty," etc. But I just heard her walking around, banging things, and repeatedly rattling the doorknob (thank goodness for old houses with antique crystal doorknobs that are tricky to open).
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She's been getting more independent lately. Like, all at once. We were at the lake last weekend (pictures, I know, I know, don't nag!) and she was All. Over. The place. All the time. Up and down the stairs, into and out of every room, opening and closing drawers, cabinets, the fridge, the doors to outside. It's like when she started walking at, what?, three months old? and didn't have the sense to keep up with her motor skills. She has no business getting out of the big girl bed upon waking in the morning, coming out of her room, turning on the tv downstairs, walking upstairs, getting a yogurt drink out of the fridge, coming into our bedroom, and scaring the bejeezus out of me when she's suddenly in my face saying, "Open it, Mommy." Nor does she have any business getting milk and eggs out of the fridge to feed the dog. But I digress.
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After about 15 minutes of her clearly being Up last night, I figured I'd better actually do some parenting, so I went downstairs to investigate. Her light was on. F*ck. I open the door. She's sitting in the rocking chair pulling panties on.

L: I wear panties. I a big girl.

Me: Uh...Yes, honey, yes, you are a big girl. But you need to wear your pull-ups to sleep. Did you take them off?

L: Yes, I a big girl. I wear panties. I go play with S [as in little Ouiser]. *she's going to get her shoes at this point*

Me: Dear lord, child, do you realize what time it is? It's dark out. Everyone's asleep!

L: No they not!

Me: Yes! Yes, they are! Here, look outside. *curses! Daylight savings! Dusk is not nearly as convincing as pitch blackness.*

L: I wear panties.

Me: Okay, fine. Panties over pull-ups. Done.

I told her she could stay up and read for a while, but she had to stay in her room. She was agreeable to this and about two minutes later called for me to come tuck her in, which I did, amused. I love this kid.

Pew!

The Husband has just regaled me with a story of about five minutes ago, when he went on to check on the Lilliputian who was supposed to be sleeping but was instead up and calling out for us.

The Husband: What do you need Baby Girl?
Lilliputian: I need my blankie.
TH: But you have a blanket...?
L: No, I need to HOLD a blanket.
TH: Oh, well, here...here's your pink blanket.
L: No! It's dirty! It has *****
TH: It has...trash? No, it doesn't, baby...?
L: No, it has gas.
TH: Your blanket has...gas?!?
L: Yes. It's dirty.

At which point he apparently gave up and offered her a different blanket. The offending blanket will get a stern talking to about manners in the morning.

Happy Easter!

This was the first Easter the Liliputian actually had any clue what was going on. She had no idea what the big fuss was with the eggs until I pulled the first one out. Then she was all in. Including for the eating of the hard-boiled colored eggs.

Saturday we went to the local botanical gardens for an egg hunt, face-painting, balloon animals, crafts, children's concerts, and sno-cones. We also stopped by the toy store to pet and hold some live bunnies.







Sunday we had lunch and another egg hunt with the Ouisers and their family. I swear, we did not coordinate the dresses. Great minds just can't help but think alike.

The Other Benjamin

The other night, the Liliputian was in bed for the night, but woke up yelling that she had to go potty. This happens frequently as she becomes more aware of needing to go, even when sleeping, and as we continue not to cut off the milk consumption at night (she's had it just before sleep her entire life! I'm just not ready to tear her away from that routine).

The thing is, I was watching LOST, and the Husband was in his office with his headphones on, so I don't think we heard her for a while. This is a suspicion given more veracity by the fact that, when I finally heard her and went in there, she said, "Mommy, I use my voice SO loud, but you not hear with your ears!" I said, "I know, honey, I'm sorry. I was watching tv and I didn't hear you." "Ohhhhh!" she says, in that voice that implies that I've just explained the mystery of the universe. "Mommy, you watching Benjamin Bunny?" *heart melty* "No, honey. Not exactly."

Random Friday Afternoon Happy

Kitchen Remodel Part 2

We're on day 2 of potty-training. Her record yesterday was 4-2. We've pulled out the big motivational guns: She's getting M&Ms for each successful attempt. Five successful number 1s in the potty get her a cupcake party. Five successful number 2s will get her a bike. She was getting the bike anyway, which is the Ouisers' old tricycle that S is too big for, but the Lilliputian doesn't know that... She WANTS that bike BAAAAD!!! We actually had a hard time getting her off the potty yesterday because she was so focused on earning that bike. I'll keep you posted.

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The kitchen is plugging along and has made some HUGE progress. The slate floor is in:


The walls and ceiling are painted, the hickory cabinets are in:


The cabinetry was custom-made by a local small business. Those are little, tiny mahogany in-laid squares in the corners of the doors. The two cabinets with the glass doors need to have the shelves swapped out for glass...we forgot to ask for that. The Husband installed lights inside them, and also task lighting under the cabinets.





Technically, the granite countertops are in now, too. The sink is installed, though the Husband is still working on the plumbing. He's also working on tiling the backsplash, so none of the appliances are back in yet (pictures of all that soon), but it's coming. It's coming.

Spring

It was about 60 degrees out yesterday. We aborted a plan for the science museum in lieu of brunch in Nashville followed by an afternoon in Dragon Park.


We had bacon, toast, and eggs....


...we conquered fears...


...we slid down slides...

...conquered big girl swings...



...choo-chooed through tunnels...

Hope spring comes your way, too, soon.

Kitchen Remodel, Part 1

This was our kitchen before the great dishwasher breakdown/kitchen-basement flood of '09.
(You can tell how old this photo is by the presence of the exersaucer! It goes without saying that you must excuse the mess.)


This is after the Husband ripped out everything, EVERYTHING, down to the studs. The water had seeped up into some of the cabinets and, because the original cabinets were custom-made, and because of the way they were installed, none of them could be salvaged. We have been completely sans kitchen since October 2009. The refrigerator and oven are in the dining room. The mircrowave is on the dining room table. The toaster oven and coffee maker are on top of the oven. We have not had use of the oven. We have had only our little bathroom pedestal sink for washing dishes (well, that, and occasionally the Ouisers' dishwasher). We didn't even have the microwave, toaster oven, or coffee maker at first. It took a while to get the dining room serviceable as a mini kitchen. During the serious demo, we didn't even have that, as it was closed off from the rest of the house to try to contain the dust. I think I've gained maybe two pounds after five months of eating out. I think that is a MAJOR success!




We took out the wall between the kitchen and the dining room. We're remodeling the adjacent mud room at the same time. The Husband did all the plumbing and electrical himself. We hired someone to take out that wall, and to put down the sub-flooring. We had another guy do the tiling. The Husband did all the sheetrocking with the help of his brother, Mr. Ouiser, and Ouiser's brother. It took FOREVER since everyone involved has, you know, a full-time job. And OMG, I think the Husband could have written his own blog on the trials and tribulations of home remodeling, especially in a 1930s home.





There's more, but I'm out of time. The Husband is at the lake, studying for a work-related test, and the Liliputian and I are on our way to Monkey's Treehouse. More to follow...at least it's a start!

As Reported to Me this Morning

the Husband: Liliputian, you need help with that sticker? *reaches for sticker*
Liliputian: No, Swiper! No swiping! *turns back on the Husband*
(Only those of you fluent in Dora the Explorer are gonna get that one.)

Liliputian: Humpy Dumpy sat on wall. Humpy Dumpy have great fall.
the Husband: Something, something, couldn't put Humpty together again.
Liliputian: *stares at the Husband* .....Need Mommy help. *nods*

Liliputian: Daddy's gonna buy you a billy goat... If that billy goat not pull, Daddy's gonna buy you a billy goat. And if that billy goat not pull, Daddy's gonna buy you a billy goat. And if that billy goat not pull, Daddy's gonna buy you a billy goat. And if that billy goat not pull, Daddy's gonna buy you a
the Husband: CART AND BULL!!!
Together: And if that cart and bull fall over, Daddy's gonna buy you a
Lilliputian: Billy goat. And if that billy goat not pull.. *continue ad nauseum*

She's just awesome. :)

You'll All Know the Cause When I Finally Go Postal

Many of you know that the Papoose's surgery scheduled for last Wednesday was rescheduled for the next day, then canceled and rescheduled for today, and that today didn't happen either.

We got up at 4:45 am, as planned, got on the road with the poor, sleepy, whimpering girl at 5, arrived at the surgery center at 6:05, only to be told that they couldn't "find her on the schedule." The receptionist made a bunch of phone calls while we sat in the waiting room for nearly and hour with our daughter crying and screaming for mum-mums, until the receptionist told us she'd called the surgeon's office and they didn't have us on the schedule. She sent us home and said we'd have to reschedule. There was much breaking down on the way home on my part. The Papoose was just happy to drink her milk, finally.

After we got home, before we got her off to school, the liaison from the surgeon's office (not the surgery center) called the Husband and was like, "Um...did you forget something?" And he was all, 'Um...NO, did YOU?!?' and explained what happened. So, the woman from the surgeon's office was like, "WHAT?!?! Dr. Christoferson's standing in the operating room right now, scrubbed in, and the anesthesiologist's team is all geared up."

Somewhat satisfyingly, she was all kinds of indignant on our behalf, made some phone calls and called us back. She said it was very much on the schedule everywhere EXCEPT at the surgery center, for some reason, and someone there must have somehow deleted it from their schedule. So, it somewhat soothes me that it's not the fault of the surgeon's office again (though, seriously, how many clowns are involved in this procedure?), but I am IRATE that as the woman at the surgery center obviously LIED to me about having spoken to someone at the doctor's office and told me it was their fault, I teared up, saying something about this being the FOURTH time and WTF happened?, and she was all sweetly, "I'm sorry, hon" and I was all, "No, it's NOT YOUR FAULT." BUT IT TOTALLY WAS!!!

FML.

Anyway, we're rescheduled for tomorrow morning. Send every positive thought you have, please! My nerves are shot.

It's Like a Greek Tragedy over Here with the Knees

So, every day's not working thus far. In my defense, I've worked all three days that the Papoose has been at day care this week. And I REALLY need to be cleaning house in preparation of my brother-in-law's arrival tomorrow morning. He's flying in for the weekend to help the Husband with the kitchen remodeling. Is that sweet or what? We like him.

In the meantime, we seem to have triggered mass hysteria with our overly brief mentions via Facebook and email of the Papoosekin's pending knee surgery, so let me lay it all out with some bullet points lest our friends and family make their way here to lynch us on the grounds of incomplete detail-sharing.

• The Papoose's knees have snapped, crackled, and popped since she was a newborn. I seriously remember her being weeks old and us commenting on how her knees sounded like mine already - all loose cartilage and crap. We probably should have mentioned that to someone earlier, but we were dealing with other things that seemed more important at the time, like, you know, jaundice and feeding her through effing tubes and her lack of weight gain and my PPD and Hey! Let's move across the country! You know, that stuff.
• This past fall, we started hearing the popping more and kept catching her popping the knee herself, like, as a fidgeting motion, over and over and over. Luckily, the Husband's father is a retired pediatric orthopedic surgeon AND he happened to be visiting for Thanksgiving.
• He examined her while he was here and suspected a discoid meniscus. Now, for all of you who are reading the word "meniscus" and remembering my surgeries from almost ten years ago, yes, same part of the knee. Mine was torn. Hers has too much cartilage: instead of being c-shaped, hers is solid. This is preventing the bones from sitting properly in their little space and causing them to slide and twist and pop out of position.
• She had an MRI last week. It sucked. It's very scary to see your baby in a hospital gown. It's even scarier to see her with an IV in her hand. And oh! It's LOTS of fun to have her go limp and unconscious in your arms as they sedate her, and have to leave her tiny body on that huge MRI table, surrounded by half a dozen adults in white coats and have to exit the room for an hour and a half.
• I also realize that in the grand scheme of things, this is NOTHING. It's fixable. We are truly blessed if this is the biggest health challenge we have to face with her. I know that very well; I work in a hospital. But still. It's my baby.
• So, the MRI showed that there is now a tear in the meniscus, so it's going to get worse if they don't operate. Also, when it pops, she falls, and that's happening more and more, and resulting in secondary injuries (minor, but still, a busted lip here, a banged head there, it's no fun). We don't think she's in any pain.
• The surgery will be Wednesday. It will be arthroscopic, just like mine were. We expect to be stuck on the couch with her for about a week. Like with my surgeries, she will be weight-bearing, so it's just a matter of when she feels ready to walk on it. I can't find much online in terms of suggestions for dealing with post-op toddlers other than that now is not the time to worry about how much tv or sugar they're getting.
• The Husband will be granted some time off work, too, so it won't be me stuck with what's sure to be so much fun in dealing with toddler pain management and entertainment all week. Still. It's gonna blow.
• Please don't tell me that it's good that she's so young because she won't remember it. I remember having to have knee surgery. It wasn't traumatizing; I could talk her through the scary parts if she wasn't two. If you have any ideas on how to explain to a two-year-old why she can't run and jump and play and climb and get out of the g-d house for a week THAT would be information I'd be interested in hearing because THAT'S the major problem. That, and why she's in so much pain and why mommy can't fix it.
  

FML. I'm just sayin'.

In Which I Claim YET AGAIN to Be Back

Okay, so another two months have slipped by with no blogging. The holidays were busy, yo! I cannot seem to keep up with my life. Here is a list of excuses, in no particular order:

• kitchen remodel (you want pictures, I know. It's all still totally demoed, though. There's nothing new to see yet, but I should at least give you some before and during shots.)
• holidays
• purchased a vacation home
• Papoose's second birthday
• started working again: per diem for our local hospital, and in two weeks will start per diem for a Nashville hospital as well (it will be every Wednesday at the Nashville hospital, some Fridays, and then a more traditional as-needed basis at our local hospital)
• um, I have a two-year-old
• my house is a constant disaster due to kitchen remodel (have I mentioned that I have no sink? no food prep area? I'm lucky to have a working fridge, toaster oven, and microwave, but it's still not like I can cook anything because there's no way to wash any dishes or utensils. Except for the occasional bag of dirty dishes we cart over to Ouiser's house and sneak into her dishwasher when she's not looking.)

So, I'm not doing the whole New Year's resolution thing, but I'm going to make an effort to try to blog every day for the next month or so. Just to get back in the habit. I think I've just gotten into a routine of putting blogging behind all my other priorities so I never feel justified to spend the time to write these big long posts with lots of pictures, etc., like I used to. So be prepared for some Twitter-like posts as I try to get back on board with this whole blogging thing.

As for today, we spent the morning rearranging some furniture in the dining room/kitchen to try to beat back the crazies that are trying to take over my head. We got the china cabinet out of the hallway and back in the dining room. Things are newly configured so that there is space for the Papoose's kitchen to go, whenever it gets finished. (He was this close to finishing it when our dishwasher went kaput in September and we had to start this whole remodel thing.) The Husband is working his fingers to the bone every. single. night. on this remodel. Seriously. He comes home from work and goes to work in the kitchen until midnight-ish or later. He spends all day, every weekend, on it. It's like a second full-time job, no exaggeration.

My plan this afternoon is to pack up the rest of the Christmas stuff. The tree is down, but not packed, and the stockings are still out. I'm vowing to get that done before Valentine's Day...

Cowgirl Vest

So, I got a request for further details on how I made the cowgirl vest for the Papoose's Halloween costume. There's really not much to say... I didn't use a pattern; I just sort of free-hand cut the fabric after looking at a fleece hoodie of hers in her current size. The fabric was from my stash, some kind of faux shearling-type stuff with a suede-look on one side and fleecy texture on the other. The fringe I picked up at JoAnn's a while ago, planning to do something with it for this costume, though I had no idea what at the time. I just topstitched that on before sewing the vest pieces together. And the stars are just felt, machine-appliqued on. Really, everything was just very free-hand and completely winged, which I NEVER do, but I'm very much glad I did this time. It's nice to step outside your comfort zone and have the results be so satisfying.

Anyway, hope that helps.

Howdy

Holy cow, November! Hi! So...I thought I was back in the blogging world, and then...well, October kind of got away from me. The way a raging bull on a shoestring leash would get away from me. There is so much I need to talk about here that I'm almost too intimidated to even start. So, let's just go with some distractingly cute pics of the Papoose from Halloween and call it a day.



She was a cowgirl, of course, since the Earth revolves around all things "horsie." No, I did not make the skirt, but I did make the vest. And I was extra proud of myself for totally winging it with the vest...no pattern, no plan, no trip to the fabric store. It fit perfectly and totally made the outfit. She wouldn't wear a cowgirl hat, but she was wearing cowgirl boots. And she had a horse, she just refused to carry it.



Oh, and the green frosting? Wasn't aware of it until I saw the pictures. The pink nose? Leftover face paint from a Halloween party at Verizon that morning where they painted her as a cat. Cute, but she later looked like she had a cold!

I'm pretty sure this was the only time she held Biscuit, the horse, all night. It mostly rode, inexplicably, inside Mr. Ouiser's shirt all night. Don't ask me; you'll have to take that one up with the Ouisers.

A good shot of the back of the vest.





Another good shot of the back.

We handed out candy across the street at our friends', Ouiser's aunt's, house for a while before trick-or-treating around our neighborhood with the Ouisers. The Papoose gave some candy out herself, after much pep-talking. She very clearly wanted to do it, but when confronted with a big kid right in her face...well, we were proud of her.

Our neighborhood is a MAD. HOUSE. on Halloween. It was last year, too. Like no place else I have ever seen in all my 31 years of Halloweening. It's probably the nicest, safest neighborhood in our area, so I understand why, but criminey. I bought even more candy than last year and we still ran out. The Papoose learned to say "Trick or treat" by the third or fourth house, and also said "Thank you" and "Bye-bye" with minimal prompting.

After we put the girls to bed, the Husband and I and Mr. Ouiser hung out by the fire pit at the aunt's house for a while, relaxing and talking. It was great. That fire pit is great. It has a chimney so you don't smell too much like campfire afterwards and it's just perfect for pulling some chairs up to, roasting some hot dogs, and having some drinks.

The only thing missing was costumes for me and the Husband. Dude, I just CANNOT get the Papoose's costume and birthday party AND costumes for us planned all at the same time. But after three years of no Halloween parties to go to and no costumes for us, I'm done. Mark my words, next year, I MAY throw my own party, and we WILL have costumes because I WILL start planning earlier. Consider that my Feast of Samhain resolution. (Is that the right feast for this time of year? Dad?)