Not Me Monday... on Tuesday (Again)

:)

Since my last post...

...I did NOT receive a call from the repair shop informing us that they discovered $700 more of damage to my Jeep Liberty after they had already made the initial $500 spark plug repair.

...My husband did NOT then decide himself that perhaps I indeed was right about it being time to test drive a Honda Odyssey...

... we did NOT pat ourselves on the back for successfully negotiating our van down to a price $7,000 below the asking despite being the two most incompetent hagglers known to man.

...I did NOT smile inwardly to myself after totally getting my way despite my husband initially telling me that the only Odyssey I would be driving in the near future was one that operated like Fred Flinstone's car.

Not Me.... Tuesdays?

Several blogs I frequent have begun this blogging trend called "Not Me Mondays". The idea is to list random things that they have done... or "not" done throughout the week leading up to that particular Monday. It is all written in somewhat of a sarcastic manner... and since I've been told that every once in awhile my humor carries a "sarcastic undertone", I'm considering jumping on board. You can see I've already missed the boat this week, but since it's my blog and I make the rules... I think I'll go ahead and designate it "Not Me Tuesday" - at least for today. It has most definitely NOT been an eventful week around here - so here goes nothing!

...3 weeks after I definitely did NOT back into my DAD's car sitting in our driveway, I did NOT wake up to learn that my husband had backed into my MOM's car while it sat in our same driveway.

...I did NOT ponder giving Ella a *small* dose of Benadryl to *help* her sleep when I came home after working all night and had to function as a Mommy without baby back-up. I did NOT instead force my child to watch some 3 hours of Baby Einstein while Mommy slept on the couch with one eye open.

...While browsing through Marshalls and allowing Ella to play with a small toy from the baby section, I did NOT put the toy back despite noticing that my daughter had managed to chew half of the price tag off. I did NOT then drag her all the way out to Babies R Us and spend over $125 on formula and various flavors of baby food that the dog probably wouldn't eat.

...On our way home from shopping I did NOT hear a sudden loud grinding sound when I hit the breaks and mutter to myself that Eric was SO buying me that Honda Odyssey this week!

...Upon arriving home I most certainly did NOT find Max cowering in the corner of his small crate with poop, diarrhea, and vomit covering him, his bedding, and the carpet surrounding him.

...At this point I definitely did NOT curse my husband who was gone on the Men's retreat for the weekend enjoying what was NOT his SECOND "Man-cation" in 4 weeks.

...I did NOT listen and watch my daughter grunt and moan, beet-faced, and blood vessals rupturing while she fought a losing battle over the evil formula monster that raged in her colon.

...After looking forward to what was going to be my first relaxing weekend in quite awhile of having the "place to myself", I did NOT spend my entire Saturday cleaning up the diarrhea that my dog had christened the carpet with in the middle of the night, and shoving suppositories and rectal thermometers in places poor Ella did not know existed. Consequently I did NOT wind up getting up EVERY 2 hours in the middle of the night to let my poor sick dog outside in a feeble attempt to keep my carpets clean.

...I did NOT stay home from church Sunday morning after agorantly announcing to the Lord that the only fellowship I was in need of that day was with my pillow, and any lessons He felt I needed to learn that day would be well received and acknowledged in my dreams.

...I did NOT then get called into work that night after being told I was going to be called off and opting to watch football rather than take a nap of any kind.

...And finally... I most certainly did NOT happily announce to my husband before leaving for work that night that the car had miraculously cured itself of any issues. That same car did NOT then completely DIE on me while I was stopped at an extremely busy intersection 1 mile from work. I did NOT then call my husband from the back of a police car while my useless vehicle was being loaded onto the $99-flat-fee-plus-$3/mile tow truck and announce that he indeed was going to have to buy me my Honda Odyssey this week. I was NOT then escorted to my job like a criminal by Joe the Policeman.

...I did NOT learn just this evening that not only would I NOT be driving to work in my tricked out Honda Odyssey next week, but instead I would be working a night of overtime to pay for a couple spark plugs in the Jeep Liberty that refuses to die with dignity! And I did NOT write this post at WORK!

"I'd Like to Thank the Academy..."

...or maybe just Kim, for my very first blog award! Thank you so much for this incredible honor!

In keeping with it's tradition I'd like to tag the following blogs with this very same award for being one of MY favorites! Congratulations!:

Melissa

Marylea

Adrienne

Lisa

Nevermind

Scratch that last post. My poor baby is pooping rocks again. *sigh*

All backed up...

So, a few weeks ago Ella decided she was old enough to begin putting her "free will" to practice, and began opting for the bottle rather than nursing. I was really surprised, since from day one she has been an excellant breast-feeder! She has been getting bottles with breast milk whenever I am away at work, and I guess she just decided to start taking the easy way out all the time, instead of working for it. I thought I would be more O.K. with transitioning her to formula when the time came... but it's been tougher than I expected. I've spent the last 5 weeks or so trying to coax her back to nursing, but it seems to be a losing battle. Once, after several minutes of "gently" forcing her face into my boob while she bounced and kicked on my lap, arched back to try and see the TV, and reached for imaginary things in the sky, she finally got fed up with my pathetic desperation. She pulled her head back, slapped my boob with her hand, looked me straight in the eye and screamed.

I got the hint.

My pumping supply quickly diminished despite trying to keep it up... so we "succumbed" to formula. Not the end of the world by any means... but there was something about providing my baby with the "perfect food" that felt really good, and it's just kind of disappointing when it ends. To make things worse, she was really getting constipated from the formula. I was using Enfamil, then Similac... then the Costco brand because the Pediatrician reassured me it was identical to the popular brands and yet 70% cheaper!! With all... the poor kid could be found grunting and straining on the floor, so terribly I was worried my child would become the first 6 month old to have hemorrhoids! I pumped her full of prunes... but they didn't help much. After some research online, I decided to try some apple juice, and the formula pictured above. Nestle Good Start is sold alongside the other popular brands, but apparently they break down the proteins even more to aid in digestion. You can see a difference just by mixing it. Virtually NO air bubbles at all and a creamier consistency. Miss Ella pooped that night (effortlessly I might add)... and the next day.. and the next!! AND she hardly spits up anymore at all. I guess I should have known... Nestle makes great chocolate, why wouldn't that quality carry over into their infant formulas?!

I had to share... in case any of my readers have struggled with those dreaded gassy side effects of formula. Try this stuff... it's wonderful! The one downside: quite a bit more expensive than Costco's Kirkland formula... and RIDICULOUSLY more costly than breast milk. But the important thing is my baby is hemorrhoid free, Eric's back to having to change those poopy diapers, and mommy's nipples are no longer biter bisquits!! :)

Photo Op

Hey! Where is everybody?! Judging by the low comment numbers I think the blogging world must have fallen asleep!!

So... this past weekend we had the opportunity to hang with our dear and incredibly gifted friend Janet of oijoy photo. We had been anticipating some great fall family photo ops... but after several consecutive weekends of unseasonably gorgeous warm weather, winter decided to arrive. A few snowflakes were falling rather than leaves, but Ella was a trooper as we ran outside for quick shots and then back in to warm up. Janet also got some absolutely wonderful pics of our baby girl indoors - showing off her new skill of sitting up!

If having professional photos taken of your family has ever been something you have considered doing (or even if you haven't), I would really encourage you to do them. It is well worth the money... and as Janet mentioned to me, it's really an important thing to do for family. Check out a sample of Ella's shots here: on Janet's blog.

Ricky's Bench Dedication

Couldn't get this to download on blogger... so here it is in YouTube! Be sure to scroll down and pause the music player in the right column before playing this!

Blog Makeover

Those of you with blogs might be interested in knowing that Danielle is offering a chance to win a free blog makeover!! See her page here for instructions on entering, and here to see her work!! She has some fabulous templates to choose from and does an awesome job!!!

Thanksgiving

Well, tonight is Daylight Savings. In the past, I have looked forward to this night in the fall in which time stops for much of the country, and gifts us with one whole extra hour of sleep. This year however, I cannot appreciate it for the precious bonus that it used to be for 2 reasons:

#1) I have a baby - who for some reason chooses not to indulge in an extended night's sleep

#2) I am working the night shift

Working on the night when we fall back one hour has always been torture. You watch the clock progress to 2am... only to see it suddenly change all the way back to 1am, forcing you to pretend that one whole hour of work never happened at all... and you must do it all again. So since it is apparently still the same time right now that it was one hour ago... I figured I would pass the time with blogging. And since we have entered the month of Thanksgiving, I figured I would spend the extra hour pondering some of the things I am most thankful for these days.

... a wonderful vacation in Reno - and more priceless memories

... friends and family, who I do believe loved and miss Ricky almost as much as I do

... a beautiful memorial bench that represents a very short life that changed my own

... a husband who loves me - despite my love for shopping

... a baby girl who at 6 months, already gives hugs

... $1.97/gallon gas (did we ever think we'd see that again?!)

... Fall in Indiana

... "A child left by one human embraced by hundreds" (See Carrie's letter to Ricky written in her blog on October 26th)

... Gerber Organic Stage 1 Bananas (that stuff is delicious!!)

... a God of second chances... and thirds and fourths and fifths...

... better make that a God of patience

... Pumpkin spice candles

... McMuffin the Miracle Baby

... Football (yep, that's what I said)

... a baby who sleeps 10-11 straight hours each night (and somehow knows how to adapt to 3 hour time changes)

... people on airplanes who have patience for "happy" babies who think screeching and squealing at the top of her lungs is really really funny

... Yoplait Light Thick and Creamy Key Lime Pie Yogurt

... Cold water (do you know how hard it is to get ice in some countries??)

...blogs

... front load washer & dryers (I don't have one but my friend Stacey does, and using it made me happy)

... bareMinerals make-up

... Pomegranate! (I had my first one ever in Reno last week and it was SO yummy!)

... walking right past Tony Dungy in Target today!!!

... and even better then that... who can't be thankful for smiles like this:

There. That burned some time! :) How about joining me and leaving a comment about what you're all thankful for!! (And keep scrolling down for new pics!)

Little Punkin'