Deep breath in.......and out.........

Whew. It's over.

Today Maizey was such a diva. I can't help but laugh. She is so high maintenance it's funny. If only you could've seen me trying to put mascara on this morning; it's like a circus act. She is non-stop, and by non-stop I mean non-stop. The only time there is peace is when she is sleeping, she's lovely then. I went to the mall today to get a break. Yes, I took Maizey and went to the mall so that I could relax. It's funny because that used to be the opposite of what I would do with her. But, now she needs constant entertainment. I was watching videos of my younger baby and I think that 4-6 months was the perfect combo of personality and ease. She had enough personality that she was really fun, but she was still really easy to manage. I remember thinking how she was so fun and I felt so lucky that she was so bubbly. Oh, what I would give for a quiet, introspective baby. But she's my crazy Maizey and I love her.

Yesterday we went to Gymboree. I took her once before when she was like 3 months old and it was no big deal. But, I figured now that she is older it might be more interesting for her. And, it was! She loved it, she crawled all over everything--and everyone. She practiced walking on this cool ball they had, she laughed, and even learned to clap (we'd been practicing for a while and then something just clicked). What I learned about Maizey is something I pretty much already knew, she knows NO stranger anxiety whatsoever! There were 3 other moms there, and while we were under the parachute, or singing songs, or whatever, she just crawled right up to them and climbed up to them. She was pulling one lady's hair, and she even sat on another lady's lap. It was hysterical, and slightly awkward. The ladies were really great with her, but I know they wanted to play with their own children, but then I didn't want to seem like it weirded me out by pulling her away. Oh, my girl is crazy.

Here are a couple of pics. Tahtah.

All dressed up for the mall. Diva? Who me?

The girl is a waving machine these days.

Lately, this is a face we see often. Poor baby.

Tip to mothers: ice in one of these mesh bags is a lifesaver! It's wet, but worth it.

Just when you think she's miserable she breaks out with this. Clap on...

Clap off! The clapper!

Private

Okay. I'm going private. Sorry to my friends and family for changing this blog from a happy, family place to a place of judgement and idiocracy.

There was one guy in particular, a guy with a major superiority complex, who linked to my blog from his and ridiculed me at length for my feelings about Obama. I'm not going to mention his blog here because I know that he wants the exposure, well you're not going to get it.

OMG, I'm so ready for this to be over.

Disappointed in Humanity

Hey there. So, yes, as my title states, I'm disappointed in humanity--not hugely disappointed, just slightly. It's akin to a teacher leaving her classroom for a moment, only to return and find that all hell has broken loose. I'm sure she could've anticipated the outcome, but it's disappointing nonetheless.

Mostly, being a Blog of Note has been really fun. I love hearing from all different people and from all over the world. It seems no matter who, or where, you are there are some universal commonalities when it comes to raising children and having hope in new leadership.

Then, there are the others. The reasons I feel disappointed. My blog was never intended to be a political forum, I just had an overwhelming moment of gratitude for President Obama yesterday and I wanted to express it. I don't care if you disagree, I don't care if you think I'm an "F-ing liberal" as one person put it. Don't read my blog. And, most certainly, if you're here to post a link to your pornographic blog-LEAVE. I'm not sure how anyone can think it's appropriate to come to my family blog and post porn links, I'm sickened by it. But it's also not a place to come and be hateful.

I thought for a few hours this morning on what to do about this. I wanted to go private, but I think it's important for mothers to have a place to go to see that this is everyone's struggle, and parenting is just hard. For everyone. So, in lieu of that, I came up with what I feel is a good compromise. Comments have to be approved before posting. I don't like having to police my blog, so hopefully this will save me from that.

My little nina is working on her 3rd hour of napping, laying beside me with bright, red cheeks. My family is sacred and I will protect it at all costs. It's not that I'm ungrateful, just protective.

To everyone else, thanks for the car advice, the Volvo it is. Thanks for the parenting support, and thanks for having faith that there is hope for our country. You're fabulous.

Barack Obama, you're my hero.

His first full day in office and he closes Guantanamo Bay Prison. Something tells me we're into something good.

BTW, if you google Barack Obama, the 3rd most common search is for his birth certificate?? Really?

Cannot be Contained

Holy Schmegaygee! I think I have said (more than once) "it's not that hard being a parent, I don't know what all the fuss is about." And, I'm sure that comment was offensive to many people. But, let me assure you--I officially know what all the fuss is about. Before, it was never that Maizey was hard, it's that I was lazy and scattered. Now, it's her. Well, it's a combo of her being crazy and me being lazy. Okay, if you are a parent to a child who isn't yet mobile, look away. Here I go: crawling changed my life, it took something joyous and turned it into something joyous/chaotic. Now, to add insult to injury, Maizey is getting all 4 of her top teeth at once. She doesn't sleep, she doesn't sit still, and she screams if you try to contain her. Wanna take a shower? Yeah right. I can't leave her while I shower because her naps are so unpredictable lately and she won't sleep in her crib for more than 20 mins, so I have to leave her on the bed. I have a video monitor that I can watch, but let me tell you from experience, watching her wake up while you are lathered in the shower and having to bolt out soapy and wet sucks. I used to take her little bathtub into the shower with me and she'd peacefully hang out in her tub while I hygienated (I doubt this is a word), she even sometimes fell asleep in her bathtub (I know that is a crazy combo of bizarre and dangerous, but it worked). Now, if I take her in the shower with me she climbs out of her tub, and if I just let her sit on the floor of the shower she is OBSESSED with licking/chewing the shower curtain, which is disgusting on an infinite number of levels.

Today was the melting point for me. She nevers goes to sleep without serious drama--and this morning was about to be drama free. Today, after a leaky diaper (which NEVER happens when she is wearing a cloth diaper, but she was in a disposable this morning) a morning shower was necessary because last nights' dinner was smooshed all up her back. So we took a shower, had her 3rd outfit change, a bottle, and she was asleep--EASY! Well, she was asleep for a minute. Approximately one minute after she drifted off, someone came to the door, and my a-hole dog went berserk. She woke up and then I went crazy! I was so mad I was kicking the air around Porter, then he moved and I actually, accidentally, kicked him. I went from mad to devastated. I felt so bad for kicking my poor, cancer-ridden, loyal and protective dog. It was an accident, but it was such an example of the state of meltdown I am living in. School is totally kicking my ass, the baby doesn't sleep (but does scream), and changing the kitty litter was my top priority for the last 2 days (but I didn't get it done until today), and Ryan is getting dressed out of the laundry basket--at least it's clean laundry.

Okay, now that you all think I am an abusive animal owner, let me assure you, I am staying positive (with the help of a pep talk from Ryan). My baby is the cutest/silliest thing in the world, I have the most supportive family, and I'm going to be getting my dream car in the not-too-distant future (yes, the Volvo won out for a long list of reasons that I will get to in another post). This part of parenthood is really hard, but really rewarding. She can stand on her own for like 10-15 seconds at a time, and she balances herself with her arms like she is on a surf board, all with this giant, proud grin. It makes all of it worthwhile.

Oh, she weighed in at 17.5lbs and 28.5inches at her doc's visit last week. She's 10inches longer than she was when she was born. She's really growing up!

I don't really have any new photos to post. Here are a few and a video of her enjoying her Xmas gift from her great grammy (I can't get the video to post, but I will try again later).

This is a picture I took of Maizey while I was pondering how to remove a poop-soaked onesie. Onesies go over the head, and there was a lot of prep to be sure that Maize didn't end up with excrement in her hair.

I may have posted these photos already, I can't remember. Anyway, I thought that they were so cute it wouldn't matter. Ryan with Maizey and Jack at Jessica's Christmas party.

This was pre-crawling. She crawled the next day.

Oh, as you may see, the title of my blog changed again. As Good as it Gets is one of my favorite movies, and the quote is from the movie. I've always loved that quote and I say it all the time, that movie packed full of great one-liners.

Okay, I got it finally! She loves this car and it's

exhausting!

Superficial Dilemma

We are looking at new vehicles for me. We need something with more space. I'm torn between a Toyota Highlander and my dream vehicle, are you ready? a Volvo XC90. Both are ridiculously affordable (when purchased used), due to our current market situation. It seems easy--you choose the dream vehicle, but it's not that easy. I am a mom now and I have to be responsible. The Highlander is rated much higher for reliability and the Volvo is rated much higher for safety--though the Highlander does okay in this category. The Volvo is beautiful and sporty and has a better layout, but the Highlander is a Toyota, nuff said. Look at the photos below and give me your feedback. The little voice in my head keeps saying "what good is a safe car if it doesn't start?" Then the littler voice says "shut-up the Volvo is better and you've wanted it since the moment you laid eyes on it."

The Highlander

The Highlander interior. The one we purchase won't have a nav system. I am a navigation system.The Volvo XC90. Purr....

The Vovlo interior. Very European looking, aka very early 90s and boxy, but I love it.
OPINIONS?

Title change

Hey friends and family and whomever else may have stumbled upon this blog. I got an email from my friend at Google yesterday, she told me she'd like to make my blog a "Blog of Note," which is cool, but not a big deal. Anyway, my mom has been on my case lately about putting too much private information on my blog, and now with this development it is time to change the title of my blog--for obvious reasons. The temporary title--the Maizey Diaries, is okay but not edgy, or whimsical, or ironic, or anything aside from obvious. I will be working on coming up with something that is one (or all) of those things, but if you have any suggestions I will gladly accept them.
On a side note, my mom being all worried about private info on the web prompted me to do a search on myself. I found my address, my relatives' addresses, all the cities I've lived in, and perhaps the weirdest/scariest is the street photos of my house. Literally photos of the front of my house--not the aerial photos that have been available for a long time. I guess in this day and age you just hope that the boogeyman doesn't have internet access.

Optional

Well, let's get right to it. You can see in my title that this post is going to be about options. Whose options? Maizey's options. So, probably in the last week, Maizey has learned that she has options. Diaper change: optional. Going to bed: optional. Sitting nicely in the bathtub: optional. In the last week I've become an expert in infant wrestling. Does that sound bad? Well, you try putting a diaper on the wiggliest, little girl in the world--these days it takes two adults to one baby. I'm hoping it's just another phase. She's also teething pretty intensely again. Those top teeth have got to be just around the corner.

The other big news? Maizey waves hi and bu-bye. Actually she waves anytime she's happy or sees an animal, in addition to hi and bu-bye. She spent the weekend at Gma and Gpa Gebow's house and came home knowing how to wave. Maybe I'll send her there to learn to sleep in her crib! Anyway, it's the cutest thing in the world, and it brought me more joy than I could've possibly anticipated! We'll walk out into the living room and she'll see the kitty and wave at her with a huge smile on her face. I want to eat her up! The thing is that her "wave" looks more like a weird cultish salute than a wave. But, I know what she means, and that is all that matters!

Okay, I have to go now because I have to read 20 pages and then take a quiz online before I go to bed! When I tell you that I can't make plans it's true. I won't be able to see anyone until April, so don't take it personally. But, I'd rather be with you then learning all the bony prominences. Seriously.

Auntie Erika bought Maizey a whole new wardrobe! You'll see this hat often. I know it's borderline ridiculous, but I love it.

Maizey got a new table and chairs in her playroom!Mostly, she is just happy to have something to chew on at mouth height.
Maizey and Daddy playing at her new table.

Hi. Hi. Hi.

HI!

She was excited to get her first real solid food.

Baby gnome.

Jessica's 30th birthday! Yowza!?

Looking cute in another auntie outfit (but the vest is from grammy).

Auntie outfit.

Speaking of auntie...

What can I say? She loves ice cream(or even better, stracciatella gelato). The apple never falls far from the tree.

The top 10 reasons I love my Mom

10. When I was pregnant and miserable I called my mom crying because I wanted to take a bath but I couldn't because the tub needed cleaning. My mom came straight up from Seattle and cleaned my tub. She never made me feel like this was a ridiculous or immature request, even though in hindsight it was both of those things!

9. The bran muffins she makes from scratch are insane!

8. She has never once complained about having to go through chemo, even though I know it's been extremely difficult and emotional.

7. She laughs so hard she cries at least 5 times a day.

6. She still makes me call her whenever I get home to make sure I'm safe--even though I'm 28 years old!

5. Anytime she makes dinner, there is always a separate, special, meatless option for me.

4. All she wanted to do for her 60th birthday was go out dancing.

3. She told me when I was 16 to watch out for men under your car that will try to cut your Achilles tendon when you are getting in so that they can rape you. For a long time after that I stood at least 3 feet from my car door when I was unlocking it and then climbed in from 3 feet away.

2. She loves my daughter as much as I do.

1. She's amazing, beautiful, fun, silly, oblivious, bad with technology, kind, generous, selfless, and the most loving woman in the world.

Thanks for all your help mom. I love you.

The happiest sick baby ever!

So Maizey has been pretty sick with a cold for the last few days. Yesterday was the worst. She was mostly just tired all day (several 2+ hour naps). Then as it was coming close to bedtime she got CRAZY! She was laughing non-stop at just about anything. In retrospect, I realize she was probably overtired and maybe getting a really sick baby hyper wasn't such a good idea because she slept awful last night. She is a baby who NEVER complains and she cried off and on all last night and would wake up and scream if I even moved an inch! Neither her or I slept very well. Anyway, to my point, I got a video of Ryan dancing her around. I didn't think to get the camera until the end of it all, so this is her after she had calmed down. It was so cute. I love my nutty, little baby. I'm so lucky.

Blogging is Boring

Normally I love to blog, but my feelings about it lately are as stated in the title: boring. Also, I've just been busy lately and, let me tell you, now that Maizey is so mobile, my free time went from a little to even less--what's smaller than a little? Whatever it is, it's all I have.


So, I wasn't even going to post more than that last paragraph, but I am realizing that I do have some to report. When I tell you that Maizey is mobile, I mean it. I was away for the weekend (which I will get to later), and when I came home Maizey was crawling all over the house, and fast! She used to just crawl around on the little area that we would setup, but now she immediately bolts--she'll go to the bathroom, or the kitchen, or the office. It's nuts. Miss Independence. Then, once she gets there she finds something to pull herself up with--a table, a chair, a shoe (well she tries to stand up using a shoe, but is rarely successful), an animal. If that animal happens to be the kitty things can get problematic. The other problem is that our house has ZERO carpeting, just tile and hardwoods, and Dolly Doodlebug aka Bolly Oobledug aka Maizey doesn't have super great balance yet, so what goes up nearly always comes down--and if we're not around she usually comes down on her head. We did apply to be on Oprah on a show titled "Burdened by Bare Floors," but apparently they don't think we're burdened enough. I can't wait to see who ends up on that show. Anyway, Maizey requires constant attention and/or jailing. We can't even let her sleep on our bed anymore, we wake up and she's crawled halfway down the bed, then she just turns and looks at us with her little Maggie Simpson suck suck on her pacifier looking incredibly guilty. The cutest little troublemaker you ever laid eyes on. Lastly, she is eating solids now like an old pro--thank God!


I spent last weekend in Tahuya at my 'rents place with my gal friends. We had a great time, it was the first time I was away from Maize for more than one night and it went shockingly well. I did just fine, and she did even better. It was the first time Ryan had her by himself overnight. I thought for sure that by the 2nd night she'd miss me so much that she'd be inconsolable and I'd be getting a phone call from Ryan and I'd have to rush home. Alas, that did not happen and I'm happy that she did okay without me, but only slightly more so than I am sad that she doesn't need me like I thought. Anyway, us ladies had a fabulous time and polished off some more alcohol than I'd care to admit. But don't worry mom and dad, the cabin was in good hands and we didn't do any ear candles. Nothing scarier than combining ear candles, alcohol, and the cabin.


Ryan, Maize, and I spent most all of last week on a mad furniture quest. We did really well and capitalized on some serious sales. The most exciting item was a table and chairs set for Dolly Doodle, they arrive on Wednesday and I'll post a picture then. They're ultra modern and oh-so-chic.


Also, last week auntie Aliya came to visit. It was so fun to see her, even though it was brief. Maizey hasn't stopped talking about her since. She still can't believe that Aliya has such perfect natural curl.

Ryan and I are back to real life. He went back to work today and I'm back to school. We found out that he doesn't have to travel to Qatar--which he was planning to do later this month, so I am feeling majorly relieved about that. I found out that my measly 6 credit class requires a minimum of 40 hours a week of my time, so I was NOT relieved about that. I'm just happy I don't have any other classes this quarter.


Here are the standard end-of-post photos. Enjoy!

Christmas morning with mama and daddy.

She couldn't have cared less what was inside the paper.

Christmas day at Gma and Gpa Nisbet's house. I'm seeing a theme...

Ryan and Maize are both rocking their British duds.
Gifts!

The "kids" at dinner.

Post-dinner recovery.

Boxing day, and a lot of toys!

I love dorky pics like this.
This is that Maggie Simpson face I was talking about.

Posing with her best bud.
Maizey under arrest.

Shopping with auntie Al and her new toy from auntie Erika.

Lunch with auntie.

Pretty girls.

"I can't put my arms down!"

Tubbing in Tahuya. Jill joined us the next day.
No, we hadn't been drinking.