so maybe it's not so bad

Being sick with my little nina has actually been kinda fun. My baby is everything wonderful, but she has never been much of a cuddler. With this, her worst cold yet, she seems to cling to me. She couldn't sleep last night unless I was snuggling her, and she's been laying her head down on my shoulder nearly every time I pick her up. I can't lie, I'm enjoying her sick. I really prefer her healthy, but this isn't so bad. Oh, look at those teeth!!!! 8 teeth and counting!

Not so much

So remember in my last post where I said that I sounded worse than I was? Well, it turns out I am as sick as I sound. Here's what I learned today: you can get a strep infection in your throat and your knee. I have both. Yay. Seriously, I knew I'd been sick, and I knew my knees were bugging me yesterday--and I don't really have knee problems. Then, I woke up this morning and I, literally, could not walk. Naturally, I went to the walk-in clinic aka to visit my extended family. Anyway, I knew something was wrong because a. I couldn't walk b. my knee was really swollen and c. it was hot to the touch...all classic signs of infection. The doc thought she'd do a strep test on my throat since I've been sick and sound terrible, but I wasn't really sure what that would have to do with my knee. Well apparently strep can spread throughout your body and manifest in different ways. She also thinks that I have gout in my knee--I'm not sure when I turned into an 80 year old man, but I was pretty sure that next I was going to be told I had gallstones and an enlarged prostate. Seriously, I expected to leave the clinic with some rubber tubing and a handout for knee stretches, but I left with much more than that (including instructions to keep my leg elevated as much as possible). Overall, I would say it was a day hypochondriacs dream about--a day that I would have dreamed about before I had a baby. Now that I've got my girl I don't have the luxury of elevating my leg--I just gotta suck it up. Well, speaking of Maizey, she got re-sick. She's miserable and I feel pretty awful too. I'm going to go join her in our humid, menthol-y bedroom now for a night that I can only imagine will be pretty long and painful.

Minibreak

My quarter is finally over!!! I have a week off and then it's back to do it again! Winter to Spring quarter is the most difficult since all we get is 1 week off. It's hardly enough to shake off the intensity of the previous quarter. I feel so worn out. I just have to get through the next couple of months and then it will be smooth sailing until the program starts next winter--assuming I get in. Anyway, I literally don't know what to do with myself. The last few months have been non-stop and I am not really sure what I will do with a week of nothing. Probably nothing.

Let me just start by saying that I got an A on my final. Yes! I was one of only 3 in the class to accomplish this. But, it was too little too late, I ended up with a B+ in the class. I was .5% shy of an A. Oh well. It was an extremely intense class, a TON of material, and so little time. Plus, I really had to learn how to manage life with a baby and school, so there was a bit of a learning curve. Anyway, mostly I am pretty satisfied. I start Phys with most of the same people on the 30th. We have a really amazing group and I get a lot out of our study sessions. We celebrated after the final at Lombardi's and had a really great time.

Today we went down the Beth and Josh's place and then all went together to Pt. Defiance Zoo. It's a pretty great zoo for kids. Not a ton of people and a lot of places to play. There aren't as many animals as at Woodland Park, but it's fun in other ways. This was our first trip to the zoo where I feel like Maizey was starting to understand and get excited about what was going on, which made it extra exciting for us.

Maizey is recovering from, what I can only assume is the first of many ear infections. Between my eustachian tubes (I'm showing off my mad anatomy skillz!) and Ryan's, it's amazing she went this long. Ryan is recovering from a cold, and I'm in the last 3/4s (or so) of mine. It's one of those "it sounds worse than it really is" kind of colds, but it made finals slightly worse then they needed to be.

Okay, I gotta run. I feel like I always have to give an abbreviated update, but Twilight and dessert are awaiting. And let's be honest, those 2 things will always take precedence--over almost everything.

The Fam at the Zoo. If you are wondering if I got fat and pale over the last quarter, the answer is--yes, yes I did.

Meerkats! I want one!

Babies in matching fleece at the zoo. Ooh! Beluga!

When I saw this Canadian Linx I thought "ooh Maizey would LOVE to pet it!" When Josh bolted with Harper because he was worried the wild cat would attack, I thought "is it weird that my first reaction was 'ooh kitty!" and not 'RUN!' ?" I guess I'm still working on sharpening up my protective instincts.

Love.
Visiting the Red Wolf.
Beth and Josh. They look like movie stars I'm paparazzing in this photo.
Look how she looks at her daddy.
Look at the teeth on this shark!

Mama and Maize.
Tapir. One of God's more unfortunate looking animals. I think he must of made the Tapir on, like, the first or second day--before he had practice.
Walking.

Getting ready to start our tour.
My silly girl getting ready for her shower.

Auntie Erika came up and took Maizey for a swim last week.

This is moments after going under for the first time. I'd been dreading this moment and then it happened and it was no big deal. It turns out that, unlike daddy, Maizey doesn't have holes in her eardrum :-)
She had such a fun time with auntie. This is the only picture I have that proves she has top teeth. She's up to 7 teeth now (some are just starting to peek out).

My guilty pleasure--tainted.

I LOVE Jon and Kate Plus 8. I just think it's fun and easy and I really enjoy the real-life, totally uninteresting drama that takes place--especially now as a mom. I think we can all see a little bit of ourselves in Jon and Kate and that is really comforting. But, I started seeing less and less of myself in them. Vow renewals in Hawaii for a family of 10? Um, no, I won't be doing that anytime soon. Then, the new house, the mansion on hundreds of acres. Again, not quite as easy to relate to. But, I thought, good for them. If I had the resources I wouldn't be living in 1500sq ft of mostly-remodeled house in the most depressing and culture free city (unless you call Red Robin and Azteca culture) in the state, except for maybe Kent (I guess we're just the Kent of the north). Anyway, I digress, I was watching the show tonight and they played a preview for next week where they glimpsed the couple talking about how they're marriage was in "trouble." I'd also been hearing rumors of this, so I decided to get online. I discovered 2 things. 1. People are ridiculous. They're posting pictures of Jon posing with 2 women and using it for proof that he cheated. 2. Jon and Kate are HATED. I mean hated. I decided to see what all the fuss was about and came across this article: http://www.phillymag.com/articles/jon_and_kate_gosselin/page1
Okay. Probably most of you won't read that article--it's 6 pages long, but it's thought provoking (I can't believe I just said that about something so ridiculous). I know that it's so easy to target people in the spotlight and judge them really unfairly and without considering their feelings or their reality, but this article struck a chord. Maybe it's not all so fun and sweet and charming. Which sucks, because now watching this show is not a better, less ridiculous option than the Real Housewives of New York. They're now equally ridiculous and equally fake. Although, at least RHNY doesn't claim to be something it's not, except none of them are actually housewives. Whatever. I can't believe how feeble this is making me sound. Listen, I work really hard in school and at being a mom, sometimes you just need an escape. My escape is watching a woman who has a lot less time and a lot more children than me--it just makes me feel a little better about my situation.

Why am I fascinated by this garbajsh (that's French BTW)????

Fun Day

Hey all. Today was a great day. I woke up and bolted out the door to meet with my study group at lab. We kicked ass and I learned a ton, 4 hours flew by like it was nothing and now I feel uber prepared for my final lab practical on Monday. Then Ricky came up and we watched reality tv and chit-chated while Maizey napped. Once Maize woke up we took some photos, but she was pretty cranky so she didn't make the best subject, but we still got some pretty great photos out of it. Then Erika, Maize, and I went to our club and Erika took Maizey swimming. It was kind of a big event since this was the first time that Maizey went all the way under and, needless to say, mama had a few mini heart attacks during the process. But, she didn't seem phased at all. By the end of the session she'd gone under probably 10 times and was handling it like a pro. It's really amazing what babies are up for, especially her. After that we took Maizey home and put her to bed in about 5 seconds, then Erika and I headed out for Qdoba and Trader Joes goodies. There's not a lot better than just hanging out with your sister. I'm just winding down down. I'm getting ready to go watch some Real Housewives of New York in bed, and hopefully I'll be asleep by 10pm. My, how my idea of a great Saturday has changed over the last couple of years.

Here are some of the photos that my ultra-talented sister took today. I took some too at the pool, but I'm too lazy to post them right now, so you'll have to wait!

Congrats to Georgia, who is now an auntie to little Noah Feinberg. I don't think I'm ever going to be an auntie, so I'll just have to live vicariously through her.

Dog Food

Well, let me just say that due to a miscommunication between Ryan and I, Ms. Maizey had her first piece of dog food tonight. I came into the living room to see her holding the dog's food bowl with all the food poured all over the place. I grabbed her and took her to wash her hands, relieved that she didn't appear to have eaten any, then she started gagging. I put my finger in her mouth and found a perfectly intact bit of kibble. So, maybe she didn't eat it, but she still sucked on it--and that's almost as disgusting...

I'll update this week with photos and stories from our adventure this weekend. I have tons of homework and finals next week, but I'll try to find some time!

A day in the life...

So it's not really whole day in the life, just a quick glimpse at what it's like to be with Maizey for awhile. I pretty much just follow her around. When I leave her for a second, I come back to find her knee-deep in mischief.

Here are some photos of me following her around with the camera today.

She is instantly aware of "decorative" type items and quickly pulls them off/knocks them over.Waving "hi" to Porter in the backyard.

I went to the kitchen for a minute and came back out to find Maizey had gotten into my school bag and pulled out some papers.
What do you do with paper? Eat it of course!
We're learning to close the toilet lid around here, since the toilet is Maizey's favorite place to be. She bangs on it like a drum, but if lid is up she LOVES to play in the water. What's worse is we're of the "if it's yellow, let it mellow" school of thought--well we used to be before all of this...
Playing the toilet drum.

This is what we spend most of our day doing. Maizey is to content to stare in the mirror all day in laugh and scream.

Umm, sorry about the sideways thing, I'm still learning that you can't turn the camera long-ways when you're taping. I figure it out about half way through.

Tatum's 7th Birthday

Today was Tatum's 7th birthday party! Tatum is the daughter of our friends Josh and Lacey. The party was at Jump Planet in Lynnwood, and even though Maizey is still too little to really appreciate jumping on giant, bouncy toys, I knew she'd love the energy and being around other kids. And, SHE DID! It was really cute to watch her experience this crazy, colorful place. I think my favorite part of being a mom is watching Maizey experience this stuff for the first time. Everyone had a good time, and mom and dad were wiped out. You forget how tiring jumping can be. Josh and Lacey also have a son (Jack) who is just a few weeks older than Maize, so it was fun to get them together, from the photos/video below, you can see they enjoyed each other's company--which is good, ya know, because they're betrothed and all...

I am working like a mad woman to try and get an A on an exam I have tomorrow. School has been crazy lately and I can't wait for my break at the end of this month. I REALLY need it! Okay, on that note, I gotta go study!

Maizey playing in the obstacle course Waiting in line for the slide.

Future husband and wife. Look at Jack's grin, these two are going to have beautiful children (I know they're a little young to be discussing this, but I thought I'd better start pressuring Maizey to have kids now, since it seems to be the thing that mothers do to their daughters).

Adorable.

The fam.
Maizey's new sweatshirt.

Videos of me being bossy...

I saved the best for last...

Look at these two adorable children...