Look who moved in...

This is the face that Madeline has been giving us most recently. I pray that it is because of her final one year molar. It can not cut soon enough.

September 19

Anyone know anything about teeth? Madeline has her four front teeth and both first year molars on top. On the bottom she has three front teeth, one molar and is working on the second. There is no sign of her cuspids (i.e. fangs) on the top or bottom. Should I be concerned? I guess this rules out vampirism or becoming a werewolf, huh?

mg

Balloons

I am trying to catch up with some back logged photos. So the next few posts are a little dated.

I have always wanted to go to the Great Forest Park [hot air] balloon race's balloon glow. The night before the race they fill the balloons and light them with the gas burners usually meant to float them. Until this year there was always a reason I couldn't go. (Mainly that reason was forgetfulness.)

This year Kev and I found a sitter [aka. my parents] and headed to FoPo.

September 19-The organizers blow a huge horn about every 2 or 3 minutes so that all the balloons light at the same time. It is so much prettier in person. (That dark spot is a black balloon... not as pretty as the more colorful ones.)

My two favorite balloons:

I think we will go again. Next time I want to pack a picnic dinner so we can see them blow the balloons up. Very cool. I love StL.

mg

Fall Festival

Yesterday was our town's fall festival. It is a community event with barbeque, music, and some inflatables for the kiddos. We didn't go.

So why am I blogging about it? The festival is just down the street from our house and at 9pm they shoot off fireworks. Lots of fireworks. About 400 yards from Madeline's bedroom window. Did I mention they were loud? And aplenty?

So at 9pm when they began shooting them off Kevin and I prepared for the inevitable. Last year Madeline slept through the fireworks, but they were smaller in scale and she was only 5 months old. This year we knew that she would be up almost immediately.

But she wasn't. She, who wakes up if I go to the bathroom during a nap, slept right through it. Not even a peep, or a rustle or anything!

I think she is a super hero. Her magic powers are the power of sleeping and the power to make her mommy and daddy smile even when we don't want to.

mg

Have I told you lately...

That I love you.

My dear blog friends you are wonderful. I share my woes and you raise me up. Just like that Josh Groban song, but with more respect and less sap. I don't post the bad stuff so you can validate me and rub my head to make me feel better. But you do it anyway and I am oh so grateful. My heart is full of love for your kind words and know that I really truly appreciate it!

Madeline is still great. She spent most of the day with her Grandma and Grandpa at the park and visiting with G G. (Kevin's grandmother.) She is a total trooper in every sense. And adorable too.

One more thing: Although I feel guilt because of this elbow incident I am not laboring under the assumption that it makes me a bad mother overall. If anything it has proven to me just how good of a mother I really am. (And how good of a father Kevin is too.) I am proud of how we handled our first medical emergency. I think in this case we managed to avoid lifelong scaring. For now...

mg

I've been disqualified as mother of the year 2008*

Yep. It's official. I am out of the running.

Last night I was horsing around with Madeline before dinner and I swung her side to side by her arms. I was holding on to her wrists. She was smiling ear to ear but once I put her down she started crying. I had put her down because I thought to myself "I am going to hurt her I shouldn't swing her by her arms." Opps. I was too little to late.

I put her in her high chair because it was time for dinner anyway and that is when I noticed that she didn't want to use her arms. I called the Ped and they suggested waiting and watching but when I explained to them that she cried (like, CRIED) when I moved her arms, they suggested I take her to the ER.

At this point I had already been in tears. I hurt my baby girl! I was both sad and embarrassed. When they said 'ER' I lost it. Part of me doesn't even want to blog this story because of the embarrassment. I mean I feel like I totally should have known better. I felt as if I was going to get to the ER and the staff was going to report me to DFS- or have the hospital social worker in my room STAT. This is only exacerbated by the fact that my mother, in an attempt at humor, asked if they were going to hotline me. (I am smiling now Mom.)

So why do you ask am I blogging? I hope to save at least one other new (or experienced) mother the heartache of hurting their child like this.

So what happened? When we got to the ER the RN in triage (doesn't that word just make your skin crawl? Triage...) said it was most likely Nursemaid's elbow. The doctor confirmed that, but because she still wasn't using her arms after his exam he wanted to get some x-rays to rule out breaks. Three and a half hours, some tylonol and 6 x-rays later we got the answer that she had no visible breaks and that the nursemaid's elbow had likely resulted in elbow sprains. Yep, sprainS, it was both of her arms. Guilt, guilt, guilt.

She fell asleep in the car on the way home and slept through the night. As of this morning she is doing just fine. She is using both of her arms and I haven't noticed her in any pain or with restricted motion at all.

So after feeling totally guilty for hurting my little baby girl, I made her some promises. First, I would never swing her by her arms again. (I hope you all make this promise too.) Second, I would make her pancakes for breakfast. (Which I did and they were yummy. Mmmm... guilt pancakes...) And finally I think I may have promised her a puppy. (I think we might have to settle for a stuffed one though.)

*Alternate post title: My First... trip to the ER :(

mg

My First...

TOASTED RAVIOLI!

Toasted ravioli is a StL specialty. I can't believe it has taken us this long to introduce it to Madeline! She's had Ted Drewes, Gus', waffle cone, Gooey Butter Cake, pork steak and Imo's. And she's liked them all. (for the most part.) The only thing left is an AB product, but that will wait 19 1/2 years! (at least, assuming they still exist.)

September 19- I think she likes it.

mg

3 pounds

That is how much weight Madeline lost when I changed her diaper this morning. I guess drinking two full sippy cups of liquid before bedtime will do that to you.

Not much going on today. Kevin and I are battling some sort of illness. Kevin more so than me. He is off at work and I hope he is doing ok. He was pretty miserable overnight with a sore throat and major head ache. I have a tamer version of the same. I am here taking care of Maddy Lou today. She is happily watching Sesame Street while I want to plug my ears with cotton, now that Elmo is on. I really despise that squeaky little whinny voice. And don't even get me started on Mr. Noodle.

I have a load of laundry to do and the house is a wreck, so I guess that is how I will spend my day. That and I have four lesson plans to prepare! Did I mention that I am taking on a fourth class in two weeks?!?! Yep, I'm crazy.

Happy Monday everyone... let's roll.

mg

Fan fest

Kevin loves hockey (and admittedly, so do I). So today we headed downtown to see the Blues training camp scrimmage at Fan Fest. We went last year when Madeline was only 4 1/2 months old. It was our first real "outing" with Madeline. (We were first time parents and worried about, well, everything.) It was so much easier last year!

I remember feeling really overwhelmed last year. It was the first time we had her in a major public place, and I didn't know what to expect. What if she spit up? What if she needed to eat? Would I be able to nurse her without all of STL seeing? What if she had an explosive poop? What if?!?!?!? It was stressful. I think I brought changes of clothes for all three of us.

This year I didn't have any of the anxiety. So why was last year easier? Because Madeline didn't move. We held Madeline on our laps. She looked around all bobble heady at the people in the stands. Then she slept. She cuddled in our arms and just slept.

This year Madeline was up and down and in and out and around and around... I am exhausted just thinking about it. She figured out how to get into and out of her stroller. So of course she had to practice. She must have gotten in and out at least 75 times. At Least. Having a toddler is wonderful. Even if I am exhausted.

Madeline watching the Zamboni make the rounds before the scrimmage begins. We had just arrived and she was still happily buckled into the stroller. That didn't last long.

My family. You can really see Madeline's blues outfit in this photo. Yes, it is a "cheerleader" style dress. No, it was not our first choice. But do you know how hard it is to find Blues gear for toddlers?!? It is downright impossible. (We went to four different stores.) The stuff we did find was almost as much as a weeks worth of groceries! So I found this dress at a children's resale shop for $7.50. You can't complain about that now can you?!?

The Blues unveiled their 3rd jersey at fan fest today. Within minutes of the jersey being revealed, they had this one in the Blue Note Shop. (They are not officially released until early November, but you can pre-order them now.)

The logo up close. It is pretty slick lookin'. We approve.

mg

All Wit Abandon, Ye Who Enter Here

Happy talk like a pirate day!

The day is almost over, and if it were not for my brother's random phone call this afternoon I would have completely forgot this hilarious holiday. Go to the official website or find your pirate name.

So enjoy what is left of this most obnoxious of holidays.

Captain Mary Kidd (my pirate name of course!)

Book ends

I've been pretty busy in the last three days. I've wanted to post, but keep running out of time. Until I get my act together here is a straight out of the camera shot of Madeline and Madeline from last Wednesday. They were grabbing some girl time on Maddy's sofa. (Please, ignore how pink it is.)

August 10- Click on the photo to see the girls larger. They are so cute together!

I just got home from my other part time job, so I didn't get to put Madeline to sleep tonight. She was fussing a little so I crept into her room and got a few moments of sleepy cuddle time with her. It was wonderful. I love her sweet baby breath on my neck as I rub her back and she melts into my chest. I am truly taking in the moments more in the last few days.

mg

Too fast

It was a long weekend. Not much was accomplished, but I am back to working my other part time job so it was a full weekend for me. (Worked 8-3:30p Sat and Sun, now I am getting ready for teaching tomorrow and Thurs and back to other work Wed. pm... I am crazy, I know.)

Madeline is awesome. She is just such a happy little girl. What is more impressive to me is that she is a little girl. She isn't really my baby anymore. She is talking up a storm, navigating stairs like a monkey, and entertaining herself for 20 minutes at a time (sometimes).

Today I was making lunch and Madeline was playing with one of her delightful (read: migrate inducing) electronic toys that plays the ABC's. Next thing I know she is singing the first part right along. "A B C D " in her sweet little voice. (yep, no longer just a cry, but a little Madeline voice. Kevin pointed that out to me last week and he is so right.) I smiled from ear to ear, knowing she is such a smart and amazing little girl. But part of me is sad that she is growing so fast.

Some days I get so frustrated and impatient with Madeline. On those days I don't feel that I cherish Madeline enough. Today, I tried to take time to breathe her in. To try to remember her as she is today. She is already so grown up.

Sometimes I just want to hold her and say:

Slow down my baby. Stay little for just a while longer. Let me hold you while you sleep and brush the curls off your ears. Just a little while. Let me sing you a song and watch you smile as you look up at me. Just a little bit more. Let me relish the look you get on your face when Daddy walks into the room. Just a few more times. Let me take all this in so I don' t forget.

And God willing she isn't our last. What must that feel like? If I am in tears now with my first child's transition from baby to toddler what is it going to be like if I feel as if a baby is my last?

Slow down my baby. Stay little for just a while longer.

mg

I love you Daddy

Sept 10
Madeline hanging out with Daddy at the EMHE reveal. I love my family. I just want to eat my loves up!

EMHE: Part 6

This is the final EMHE post. (Don't be sad... it will be ok.) They revealed the house on Wednesday (9/10). You know, the "move that bus" moment and we tried to see the huge event. Emphasis on tried. More on that in a minute.

Ty was there as the furniture truck pulled up. They filmed him coming out of the house at least four times. Then they unloaded the truck. The team of volunteers unloaded couches, beds rocking horses and chairs. The behind the scenes info: only about half of the stuff they filmed going into the house stayed in the house. The rest came out of the house and went back into the truck. Yep, totally Hollywood.

The crowd gathering on the lawns across the street from the house. There were a ton of people. A ton.

Maddie and Anna went with us for the reveal. Although Maddy and Maddie did a great job and were total troopers we knew they would only last so long.

MOVE THAT BUS!
To be honest, the limo had the practice family in it, not the Martirez family. This was at 12:30pm. We had been there two hours already and they had moved the bus to film different angles at least 6 times. It was shortly after the practice family walked into the house that we decided to head home. (About 1:15pm.) It is a good thing we left because they didn't actually get the family to the house until 4:15 PM!!!!! We would have been standing on the lawn for almost 6 hours!!!! And there were people who had been there since 7am!

I wouldn't leave you without a photo of the finished product! The house with landscaping etc. It really is quite a nice house. Although it looks smallish from the front it goes on forever in the back and has a fully finished basement with 10 foot ceilings.

So it is over. The streets are still blocked and the production crew will be in town until later today. Then the local police take over patrols for the next two weeks. I am looking forward to a weekend without a million people walking up and down our street and no shuttle buses rumbling the windows. The excitement was well worth it though. What a fun week it has been in our sleepy little neighborhood.

We've been told the episode will air in the first few weeks of November. Of course I will post when it does!

mg

Time

Either there is not enough time in a day or I am really bad at time management.

I have a ton of house work, school work and photos to post from the last two days of EMHE. But it is 9:15p so I am going to bed. I am such a woous. (How in the world do you spell that word!?!?! Spell check is no help.)

I leave you with a photo of Madeline from last Friday. I have some really great photos to post from our fun with Maddie at Mo-Bot and today at the EMHE reveal*. They are so cute together.

September 5

*The reveal was a total bust, and we didn't see the "move that bus" moment... I'll explain later. Don't worry. It's all good in the 'hood.

mg

Piggies

mg

EMHE: Parts 4 & 5

Sunday, September 7th

I stopped by the house at about 7:15am before heading to work at my other part time job. (yep, working two jobs. I'm crazy.)

I found a house. It is amazing to think that just 24 hours before the "house" was just a whole with foundation forms still on. This is like two weeks of real life work crammed into 24 hours.

It looks like a house!

Crew change. This is the night crew heading home at about 7:15am.

They only had a small section of the roof to finish Sunday morning.

Monday, September 8th

I stopped by in the morning during our walk, then we went when Kevin got home from work. They have done all of the stone masonry on the exterior of the house and are starting to put the porch on. I was impressed that the walls inside were painted, and there are built-in book shelves, and a stone fireplace inside already. You can't really see too much inside, but they are amazingly fast.

It looks like a home!

I find this sign all well and good, but we haven't seen a designer in at least two days.

There is so much going on at the site. There are constantly people coming in and out of the house and there are trucks pulling up and bobcats leveling gravel. (I would love to know how many tons of gravel they used for this job, b/c every time I have been there more gravel has shown up. It is quite amazing really.

Madeline was ready for bed time. Isn't she cute?!?!

mg

EMHE: Part 3

Saturday, September 6th

I was a EM junkie on Saturday. I went four times.

First with my parents at about 9am. The foundation was poured and they were begining to take the forms off. At 9 the night before it was just a mud pit. Amazing.




The second time I went alone at about 12:30pm. The forms were off, and they were just starting to pump gravel into the basement so they could pour a floor.

t Designer Edwardo Xol was there... not doing much though. That is him in the black shirt.

I love this photo. This is a volunteer with his two children. The little boy would not let go of his daddy, not even a little.

One of the house's across the street has had a camera on its roof all week. There was actually a guy up there with it this time!

Can you see how huge that tracker is? Can you see how little those people are? Can you see how close the huge tracker is to those little people? I was happy up on the hill. It is tight quarters on this build, let me tell you!

Sponsored by Fitz's. That's my kind of build.

Then when Kevin got home from work at 5:30pm we went back to the site. Kevin's first time on Saturday, my third.

Madeline, snacking in her back pack. We {heart} this back pack. I forgot we had it... and it is much beefier than the one you saw my dad wearing earlier in the day. (sorry dad) Strollers are not really an option when there are that many people and only a 3 foot walkway.

The first wall going up.

Designer John Littlefield was on site putting in the first wall. They filmed him getting it into place and then he stepped over to the right side (in the black shirt and pants) and hung out.
Carpenters, working hard. John Littlefield, hardly working.
That's the theme this week.

And because I can't get enough of this craziness, Kevin, my dad, my brother and I came back to see the progress. We got there at about 8pm.

They had all the exterior walls up and much of the interior framing was complete. They were taking in plumbing fittings and already assembled shower pipes. It was pretty cool.

This is my favorite photo so far.
We were there as they set the first section of the roof.
Wicked cool.

I have more from yesterday and today. (not that many more... but it actually looks like a house... which is what I am sure you are all waiting for...)

Anybody actually care about this? I just can't get enough. If this build was in any other community I probably wouldn't even go see it. But because it is literally around the corner I can't get enough. Yep. I'm crazy.

mg

EMHE: Part 2

Life in our quiet town has been turned up side down this week. It is all very exciting. Really. We don't love all the traffic, but at least is it for a fun and honorable purpose.

Traffic signs near our street. Although they say the street is closed to only local traffic, there isn't anything stopping people from traveling the road. Well, other than the earth movers and dump trucks blocking the way.

On Friday they took down the house. Maddy and I walked over to take in the action.

What the house looked like on Wednesday.

What is looked like at 1pm on Friday.
They spent all of Thursday packing and moving the families belongings out of the house. They also spent some time reclaiming things like doors and windows to be recycled.

Ty in the center. If you have seen the show you know that they send a video of the house being torn down to the family on vacation. They filmed that at least twice that I saw.

Ty, filming with the crowd.

Ty walking by as they finished the filming. (Heading to his trailer for a nap.)

One of the Shea family. Part of the construction company running the site (Calliers, Thompson and Shea).

I guess they forgot to move the bed.

If you look closely you can see there are THREE back hoes taking down this house. (the third one is just coming up the driveway on the far left of the frame) The Fire department was spraying the demolition, so that isn't dirt, just water vapor.

We have many more photos from Friday night, Saturday, Sunday and today. So stay tuned. When I get around to down loading them I will post.

Life is crazy here!

mg

A converstation with my grandmother

Tonight at dinner with my Grandma, a good Irish woman, we were talking politics.

***
G-ma: I've known who I am voting for even before the conventions.
Me: Who is that G-ma?
G-ma: O'Bama, because he's Irish.

***
I love my Grandma. She is always good for a laugh.

mg

EMHE: Part 1

The big news in my home town is that Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is just a block and a half away from our house tearing down and rebuilding a new home for a family in need. On Wednesday, the day the family found out they had been picked Kev, Madeline and I headed over to the house to see what we could see. We learned a lot about the show talking to the security and others standing around.

First, they have their own security that travels with them from house to house. They used to hire new security at every site, but by the time they got them all trained they moved on and would start all over. So now they just travel with them.

Second, Even the security doesn't know if they are going to be knocking on the door and giving the family good news or bad news. Sometimes they knock on the door and tell them they are not the finalist. Then they go home. That was not the case in STL.

Third, They told the family Wed. AM, sent them to Disney world in the PM, then finished filming, and started packing up their house. Thursday the finished packing. Friday at 1pm they started tearing down the house. By 6pm the house was completely gone and they were leveling dirt. They say the house will have a roof by Saturday night.

Fourth, The cast and crew have spread their tents and trailers over a six square block area of our city. The roads are completely closed off and the side streets all have no parking signs. (ours included.) There is only one way in and one way out for spectators.

Fifth, If you are a neighbor, and you live next door, they put you up in a hotel. If your lawn is being used as a spectator area they will be replacing it. They can also get massages and help themselves to food in the rest tent.

These are the photos we took on Wednesday.

The house. On Brunswick just a block and a half from our house.

The family. The mom is the one in black, the dad is holding one of the twins and the little girl looks like she has to go to the bathroom. Their other son isn't in the photo. They are all standing in front of the neighbor's house.

One of the women with Calliers Thompson and Shea the construction company that has taken on this huge project.

The spectators. We were a montley crew, and about 10 minutes later, after St. Mike's got out, there were at least 20 kids their with their moms.

The "Beefy" security guard kept hamming it up for my camera. They were all very kind.

Designer John Littlefield
I don't want you to think that I actually know who these people are. I got their names off of the EMHE TV show web page. You can find their bios there too. Which by the way, are really interesting. All of them are actors who just happen to be handy. They never really explain that on the show. I could have guessed after looking at this guy. He's just too pretty.

Designer Eduardo Xol (pronouced soul)
He's awfully pretty too.

On the far left of the group is designer Ed Sanders.
Ed, not so pretty.

The lone woman in the group is designer Paige Hemmis.

And of course, you have Ty Pennington. (That is him in the center between the tree and telephone pole.)

The family pulling away and the designers going into the house to "start working." The limo stopped right there and then backed up. The family then got out and they started over. They taped the send off three times before actually allowing the family to head to the air port.

Two of the crew members. They were hanging out with the few spectators that gathered at the site. They were extremely nice and weird.

Yep. That's right. They were eating Mom's deli on set. Lucky ducks.

More to come. Madeline and I walked up today as they were tearing the house down and that was pretty exciting. I have some really great photos of the tear down and of Ty. I'll post those soon.

What a crazy week.

mg