Tuesday, May 25, 2010

$5 bucks well spent

Since last summer, I have made it "tradition" to treat myself to a little something every week from the farmers market. Aside from benefiting from fresh fruits and veggies, I allow myself to spend $5 on a bouquet of flowers. Now in flower shops and grocery stores little cash flow wont get you much in terms of flowers, but our local FM has two tents that sell the most beautifully, vibrantly colored flowers I have ever seen. Last week I purchased a bouquet of gladiolus. There were about 7 already opened up and another 5 or so that were just waiting  to make a later appearance. To my surprise, they are still alive today.

I generally go for the same color palate. I really love Mexican folk art, being Mexican and all, so I tend to gravitate towards anything that is saturated in color. This week a bouquet of thistle-like flowers caught my eye. They are absolutely gorgeous! I would love to have flowers like this, or this color at least, at my wedding. I really hope to capture a something that resembles Mexican folk art, and I think these colors would be perfect.

Unfortunately, the pictures don't really do my fabulous bouquet justice because I took most of them when I was already indoors.... but trust me, they are breathtaking.



Monday, May 24, 2010

Art, Peas!!!!

In efforts to go a couple hours without Lola's meal on my shirts, we bit the bullet and spent the $35 on a high chair for the little one. Actually, we went with the cheaper one because it folds down so flat, and those of you who have visited our Sacramento apartment know it is literally the size of a shoebox. We used to feed her in the Bumbo, but she quickly outgrew that and, even quicker, she realized she could escape when we weren't watching. I have very much enjoyed the transition, and my 'clean' t-shirts have too!

We now have her eating 3 "big girl" meals and 3 snacks a day. This is in effort to ween her. So far it has been okay, but she is one tough cookie, like her mama! She has shown very little interest in cow's milk, but I'm determined to get her off of me! Lola has, however, shown a great interest in many fruits and vegetables that we hadn't introduced to her until recently. Among her many favorites we can now add beets, kiwi, blueberries, oranges, cherries, broccoli, and asparagus. She also likes tofu which is awesome because we have it a couple times a month.  

ygiu'jn999999999ooooooooooooooyttttttttttyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyhghhbvbh- (Lola writes, Hi friends and family!) 
I try to have her meals planned out in advance, and she has really taken a liking to the idea of eating in her high chair! 

Allowing her to spoon-feed herself is a different story. I know I need to get over it and just allow her to explore her hand-to-mouth coordination, but it really is like watching paint dry. It is really amusing, but not very amusing when there are errands that need running and little ones that need naps so a particular mom can get to the chores that are easiest done Lola-free. Nevertheless, I think she managed to get three, pretty much empty, spoons in her mouth. 

And then, being the classy 376 day old babe that she is, she decided not only to lick the bowl, but to wear it....


...and wear it well she did!!!!


*****

 So my "your baby is this old" email came the other day and said that Lola may be able to start doodling with crayons. So in effort to stay in the grid, we went to CVS, which has every random thing imaginable. I wasn't able to find the thick crayons and I was nervous to buy the skinny ones because I knew she would try to eat them. I did find some neat pens though, that only write on special paper and some non-toxic paint for my future artist extraordinaire. So we shimmied on home to get the party started. 


Surprisingly enough, she did better than I expected her to. She did try to eat the paint (SHOCKER), but I couldn't get upset because the mess was minimal and, well, she looked freaking adorable with paint all over her fat little fingers! ENJOY!


It's a great feeling knowing that our awesome Dunder Mifflin-Dwight K. Schrute magnets will be put to good use, and I am honored to show off the new, one-of-a-kind, works of art on our fridge!


MASTERPIECE!!!!

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Lola- The Crash and Burn Energizer Bunny

Our days at the park are endless. We go just about everyday depending on the weather. Ever since last week, Lola has been exceptionally interactive. She has begun to jabber in her own little language, which is hilarious. Occasionally she will murmur something that sounds like "human words".... Today wasn't any different than our usual park visits, except there were no kids! So the two of us made the most of it. Lola LOVES playing in the wood chips. Normally I'm one of those hovering moms, but today I decided to step back and see what she would do. She walked, better yet waddled, around the park pointing and chatting to herself about God knows what.
Eventually I went over and took a seat on the floor alongside her.


She began handing woodchips to me, followed by a very polite (but mumbled) "Tantoo", which I'm assuming is a lose translation for "thank you" in Lola-sh.This continued and continued....


.....and continued....


....and continued....


until finally she found one she considered unsatisfactory!


Then it was time for her to move onto something else. Ever since she has gotten better at walking, she's had the shortest, and cutest, attention span. One minute it's one thing, the next, it's another. It is so funny. She went from playing on the floor to playing on this toy motorcycle that rocks back and forth, to walking up to the sidewalk, and eventually to the gate that holds kids captive...mom's like that!




Believe it or not, she then lost interest (or maybe she just gave up) at walking along the fence. Near by was a beautiful green leaf. She quickly scouped it up and began walking near the playground again. I'm not entirely sure if her jogging skills have gotten better or if it's just that she wants to move faster and her legs cant keep up. I quickly remembered that there is a small step before entering the woodchips, but apparently, I didnt remember fast enough because right after this..


...she fell face first. I think I do a great job of capturing her momentum, and a horrible job at keeping a "safe" eye on my child. Good thing she didn't cry!

We spent the next 20 minutes hanging out in the shade of the playground. She finally got tired...and I mean melt-down tired, and took almost a 2 hour nap when we got home!


It was a wonderful day! And I can't wait to see what Lola does tomorrow!


Saturday, May 08, 2010

The Day We Had Lola

I can't believe that the first year of my little Lola's life has almost finished. I remember the morning my contractions started and I remember telling Pieter not to be upset that I lost my mucus plug...clearly I was scared. I think "being funny" is my defense mechanism. I remember moving really slowly throughout the day, being really uncomfortable and alone. I imagine I watched lots of TV that day, I wish I would have remembered what. I remember not wanting to go into labor that night because it was the finale night for Lost and The Biggest Loser. I remember eating very little, half a peanut butter sandwich and a pomegranate smoothie, for fear of labor being "unnecessarily" messy- females reading this will know exactly what I'm talking about. I remember the outfit I wore, my red sweat pants and black V-neck. I remember the "BABY'S COMING" bags waiting by the door. I was well read- kept up on the development of the baby, took the birthing classes...but in that moment, at 6:30am, I knew, she would come that day. Well...I was wrong, but we did get the process started. I remember the concerned look on Pieters face when he was timing my contractions. He looks so cute when he's concerned. I remember getting to the hospital after hours so of course it took longer because we had to go in through the ER. Then they ended up losing my pre-registration, so while having what I thought at the moment was horrible contractions  I had to fill out paper work. Sure enough, Pieter stepped in and the only thing I had to do was sign.

There isn't much I remember from that night. I do remember being exhausted. I remember falling asleep between contractions at the wee hours of the morning. Nothing could have prepared me for what labor is. I realize now that it is called that for a reason. Your body works hard. Your mind works hard. You use all your strength, everything that is in you just to know that in a matter of seconds you'll be holding your little sweetness. One of the only things I remember about pushing was knowing that she was right there, knowing that I was the only thing keeping me from her. I felt energized. I felt like a different woman in that moment. I remembered not wanting to take breaks. Pieter says that I pushed for 2 hours. I don't remember it being that long.

Finally, at 11:19am, little Lola decided to grace us with her presence.

It was the most unreal feeling. It was the biggest high. It is pretty indescribable getting to hold your child for the first time. It is the moment when you, officially in a sense, become a parent.


This picture of Pieter makes me smile. I always knew he'd be a wonderful father!