Puke on Mommy

Here's a funny video. Don't hold the baby over your head. Just a warning.

Six Degrees

Hi Everyone, this is Ryan. I've been spending the last few hours(?) checking out people's blogs and it reminds me of a game I used to play in college with some friends. Someone would give you two actors -- say, Jim Carrey and Jodie Foster. You had to connect those two actors through movies that they've been in with other actors. Jim Carrey was in Fun with Dick and Jane (2005) with Richard Jenkins, and Richard Jenkins was in Stealing Home (1988) with Jodie Foster. (NOTE: I was really bad at this game. For instance, I don't know who Richard Jenkins is and have never heard of the movie Stealing Home. I got some help on this one from this website.)

So anyway, I've spent the last little while clicking on the links to our friends' blogs, then clicking on the link to one of their friends' blogs, from there clicking on the link to one of their friends' blogs and so on to see if I get back to us. (I haven't yet.)

By doing this, I've observed a couple of things. First, we are super far behind the rest of the world in getting a blog. Second, almost everyone in the blogosphere went to BYU. Third, it may not be long before the prophet stops telling us to keep a journal and starts telling us to maintain a blog.

Fourth, and most importantly, everyone seems as happy with their lives as I am with mine which is exciting. So just like many of you, we are doing "life" -- loving each other, working, learning, having kids, trying to wake up on time, getting older, feeling older, and pursuing dreams. So maybe it is a little bit stalkerish, but it's fun to join the crowd.

Great Expectations

For lunch today, my cute husband took Madilyn and me to a little Italian restaurant. As I passed her across the table to Ryan, the people at the table behind him turned around to look at her. When he passed her back to me later on, one of the ladies nudged another and she turned around to get a good look at Madilyn. I'll paraphrase the conversation we had and in red I'll add what I was thinking.

"Oh, she's beautiful," she said. Now here is a woman with good taste.
"Yeah, thank you," I said smiling. I love when people notice how cute she is.

"They told me there was a pretty baby over at your table, but every time I looked back she was in her car seat or behind the bench where I couldn't see her. She really is lovely." These people obviously have their priorities straight. If you see a baby this cute, it's only right to make sure your friends get a good look as well.

"Yes, she is a lot of fun," I said, holding her up so everyone could get a better view.

"Her eyes are so pretty," she continues. I'm convinced this woman has excellent taste in babies. Her eyes are one of my favorite things on her as well.

Then the conversation fades and Ryan and I go back to lunch - and I am thoroughly pleased that people have stopped to look at how fabulous my kid is.

I know every parent is a little overly proud of their child. I go way beyond that though. I don't just appreciate it when people admire my daughter; I expect it. At Sam's Club, a couple of weeks ago, Madilyn was in the cart next to the cashier. She was cooing, smiling - even laughing. And the woman didn't say anything. She barely even looked at her. I could not believe it. What was wrong with that woman? She must have been having a very bad day, because I could not conceive of how anyone could be near a baby that CUTE and not say something and smile... not even notice her.

You can see I have a problem. And you're probably scared to meet my daughter since it seems I'll flip out if you don't go gaga over her the way I do. (And that is totally not true - I'll just silently think bad things about your taste in children. :)

The thing is, most of my world revolves around this perfect little girl. I quit my job, I went through pregnancy and labor (which merits so much more than the brief mention it is getting here), and I spend all my time with her. None of this is disappointing or sad. It is all totally worth it. But I'm so invested in her that I tend to forget that not everyone else has such strong feelings about her. And since a lot of people generally indulge me by at least mentioning her or smiling at her, I'm probably not going to change my ways.

So beware to all the strangers we run into during the day. I have some high expectations of you.

No more single mom

Today is the end of my week as a single mom. I don't know how anyone does it for more than a week at a time. Ryan came back from his business trip this afternoon and we were more than a little excited to see him. This is only the 3rd or 4th trip he's made, but they are usually for around a week. Whenever we pick him up, I put Madilyn in her"I love Daddy" onesie so he gets the message even if she isn't real chatty yet.

We go into a coping mode when Ryan leaves. Dinner comes from a box or some meshing of leftovers, Maddie gets the abbreviated version of her bath, and for her part she decides to alter her sleeping schedule to wake up at 4 in the morning just to make sure I don't get lonely sleeping in that big bed all by myself. Thoughtful kid, huh.

Speaking of how thoughtful she is, today I was sitting on the couch and holding her so she was facing me. Without warning she puked all over me. I'm talking puked on my face and then it ran all down the front of me. You should see her after she spits up... her face gives no indication that anything has just happened. I, on the other hand, am screeching about how gross this is and how I just took a shower, but for Madilyn it is a non-event. Luckily I have Ryan back to throw me a burp rag when this kind of thing happens.

Hall Pass

So I've started skipping my church meetings. Well, not the way it sounds really. I still get up, get dressed, make breakfast, get the baby ready... all for an 8:30 am meeting. And since said 8:30 meeting is during what would normally be Madilyn's nap time, my sacrament meetings aren't as long as they used to be. Today we were in the halls sometime during the first speaker. She slept through most of Sunday School, but had a reign of terror for Ryan during Priesthood meeting.
When I was 15 it seemed like it would be fun to sneak out into the hall during church meetings. Now I feel like I'm only sort of allowed to attend (as my smallest companion has taken to screaming lately.) Don't get me wrong, I'm all for people taking their kids out when they get fussy - but this event (my kid getting fussy) is what we plan all of our church schedule around these days.

• Make sure to get to church early enough to get a seat on the end of the row... you don't want to climb over anyone during the escape attempt when the wailing begins.
• Don't dawdle after sacrament either - the good seats near the door in Gospel Doctrine go fast.
• Getting out is an art form -not only do you balance the baby, but you need to grab the diaper bag and any other loose items you may need. The last thing you want is to have made your grand exit only to realize you really need the bottle or burp rag you left in the pew. Some women can maneuver all of this and do it in heels. I applaud those women, but I'm still a flats person.
• Trading off is always a good idea. Ryan takes her for one meeting, I take her for another, and with any luck she will sleep through the third.

It reminds me of when I was pregnant. Whenever I entered a room, I would locate the trashcan just in case things got rumbly and I wasn't going to make it out in time. Now I case the room for the seat with the quickest access to the exit.

Sometimes I do enjoy the hall though (don't tell!) since there are inevitably other moms out there chasing their own kids. And you get all kinds of mom-info during this time. Today's topics ranged from tummy-time (if you don't know what this is - ask someone with a baby) to crawling stages.

So if the nursery takes kids at 18 months... I've got a little more than a year of hall-roaming left. And once it's over I'm going to sit right up front in class with all the other people who come to class knowing they get to stay for the whole hour. Maybe I'll even wear heels...

Stalkerish?

Since my good friend Kassie's suggestion that I start a blog, I've been doing some research into other people's blogs. Some people are fantastic about keeping them up, others not so much. Some people have really elaborate ones and others are novice-ish (like this one.)

One interesting thing about these sites are the links to other people's blogs on the side. I started perusing through and found old friends I hadn't heard from in a while. After going through a few connections (from Jack's site to Jill's site etc.) I began to feel like I was peeking in other people's windows. There are the family vacation pictures, baby announcements, and other personal updates. Do these people know I'm on their site catching up on their lives? If we're friends, but haven't had contact in years - do they care? And even though the mormon world is even smaller than the regular world it was surprising to find so many people I know(knew?).

I guess all is fair once you post on the internet though and now that I'm putting my family's life online, we're now open for snooping as well.

Oh - someone has to tell me how to post those links on the side too.