And He Thinks He Doesn't Look Like He's Lost Weight (55/365)

Going from a size 50 waist to a 42 in a year is not too shabby if you ask me! Somebody get this man a cheeseburger!

You're doing great, hon!

The Eating Habits of a 10 Month Old (54/365)

Izzy has been having some problems eating lately. No I'm not referring to her lack of motor skills, she is, after all, crossing midline now. Nor am I referring to the fact that she got so messy at lunch this afternoon that I had to strip her and give her a good scrub in the tub. No I refer to the fact that I've been having to really work at her to eat her solids, where before she gobbled them up. I'm pretty convinced that it has more to do with the teeth that are barely under the surface than her Zantac needing an adjustment. We'll see what the doc has to say though as I'm going to give him a call tomorrow.

A Room With a View (53/365)

Photo courtesy of Matt and his iPhone. It didn't stay this pretty for long as the temperature crept to the just above freezing mark today, but it sure was lovely while it lasted.

Now if we can just get some nice big snowflakes during the day so I can take some shots like Jessica did (see her Facebook if you're a friend). I've been DYING to do that all winter! I mean if I've got to have snow, I might as well have fun with it, eh?

There's always tomorrow.

Yep, It's Still Winter (52/365)

Despite the terrible storm that followed us from Pontiac to Kankakee,

we made it home safe and sound. Now if it would just stop snowing.

I Love Being Home (51/365)

I don't want to go back tomorrow.

Happy Birthday, Momma. (50/365)

Tonight I write this blog from the comfort of the living room of my childhood. It looks considerably different than when I lived here, but it, and the rest of this house, will always be home to me. In the red bedroom I remember my oldest brother jumping out of the shadows at James and I right before we fell asleep in his Freddy Krueger gear, scaring the living hell out of us. The brown bathroom I'm reminded of the time Littlefoot was sent to his watery grave. The kitchen has memories of fabulous food, lots of laughter, and stories of a night when mashed potatoes some how ended up on the celling. Oh and I can't forget the time that a bowl of hot chicken soup somehow ended up on my head. There are fond memories all over this house for me, but for some reason when I'm in the living room I'm often reminded of the spot where mom lost her battle with cancer. The night she died she was right here in this very room, in a bed not five feet from where I sit. So many things happened on that spot the 21 years prior, yet the memory that always comes back to me is that one.

I don't know why I go back to that day nearly seven years ago when I'm here. My mom lived in this house, and yet the first and most vivid memory I come to of this room is of when she died here. Sure I remember sitting around the living room watching soaps with her while she painted scads and scads of Santa pins on her waxed paper lined ironing board, or trimming the tree in the living room while listening to Bing on Dad's big speakers, hell I even remember many a fight I had with my siblings (usually Charles) in this room, but I always go back to that night when I'm here. Why is it so hard to get past that? Why is it so hard to be in this room and not think of that?

On this the last few minutes of the day that would have been my Mom's 62nd birthday I want to make a promise to myself that I will make a conscious effort to associate that spot with the many happy moments that happened there, and not the sad day that mom died there.

Miss you, Mommy.

I May Need To Fire the Help (49/365)

As any mother of 2 or more kids knows, the older kids in the house love to help mom take care of the younger ones. Alice has always been very good at getting me a diaper, fetching a spoon, or throwing out dirty diapers so I never worried she'd do something like this. Today Alice offered to put Izzy's bottle that she didn't finish in the fridge for me while I laid Izzy down for a nap. When I went to fetch it when Izzy woke up it was nowhere to be found. After I had moved everything around in the fridge, twice, I got the idea that maybe she put it somewhere else other than the fridge. Turns out I was right. Wanna take a guess as to where I found it? The trashcan. It could have been worse. She could have hidden it so well that it would take the putrid smell of rotten milk permeating through the house for me to find the damn thing.

Unfortunately I know all too well that that's a smell like that lingers for weeks. And fortunately for all of us I found it before that could happen. Blech.

10 Things You Didn't Know About My 10 Month Old (48/365)

• When I feed her solids she says "mmmm" after every bite. Ok so she just started doing that today, but you didn't already know that, didja?
• Izzy officially has a bedroom! I cannot believe how well the the girls have done with the transition to sharing a room. It was shockingly painless!
• She hasn't said "ma-ma" since right before my birthday. I swear she's doing it to torture me! This is how a typical conversation with her goes these days:

           MOMMY: Izzy, say ma-ma.

           IZZY: (blank stare)

           MOMMY: Say ma-ma.

           (crickets chirping)

           MOMMY: (points to herself) Ma-ma.

                      (points to baby) Izzy.

           IZZY: Ppppppffff.

           MOMMY: (wipes spit off her face) MA-MA...come on kid!

           IZZY: DA-DA-DA-DA-DA-DA!

           (insert hysterical laughter)

• Her favorite toy: diapers. She could have a whole living room floor full of all things Playskool and Fisher-Price and the kid will ultimately make a bee line for the diaper caddy and all the fun diapers inside.
• She's starting to prefer the solid food over the bottle. And I'm not ready for it.
• She constantly tries to eat cat food. If she's in the kitchen there is a good chance that she's headed straight for the food dish.
• I think she may have a career as an escape artist. No matter how good I block the exits from our living room, it's guaranteed she'll find her way out eventually. Eat your heart out Houdini.
• Unfortunately, I think she's a fan of Barney. The few times it's been on (we try to watch as little Barney as possible around here) she becomes immediately fixated on the big purple nightmare.
• Damn those Bathje genes - I definitely have another curly haired baby. Don't get me wrong I love curly hair, but I was hoping she'd have straight hair since I already have one kid with curls. And it's such a PITA to maintain.
• She's incredibly different than Alice at this age. From standing in her crib (Alice never did this, not even ONCE) to being so easy to please she's an all around one-of-a-kind kid. And boy do we love her.

There Are No Words (47/365)

How Fast They Grow (46/365)

Izzy is now using walls/windows to pull herself up to stand. She's also getting more daring with standing and letting go. I have a feeling she'll be walking soon!

Happy Valentine's Day (45/365)

Click to enlarge.

Looks like Izzy found her Valentine. I hope you had a good day with yours too!

Happy 21st, Tori! (44/365)

Cross Your Fingers (43/365)

Both girls are currently sleeping in the same room. If all goes well tonight we may just move Izzy's crib out of the catch all room and into a real bedroom this weekend (she's currently sleeping in the pack-n-play)!

Cross your fingers!

It Was a LONG Day (42/365)

For all of us. Matt and I got up at 4:15am, Alice was up at 5am, and Izzy was up right before we walked out the door at 5:15am. Oddly enough, Alice was freakishly chipper and happy the whole time - don't worry, I'm not complaining. I was quite worried how she'd be for Matt since she loves her sleep just like her momma (and uncles), but she couldn't have been better. Turns out the woman who scheduled my appointment for the CT scan could have worded what she said to me better as the actual test only took 5 minutes or less. The best the tech could figure out is that she meant that from check in to check out that I'd be there for 45 minutes, not that the test was going to take 45 minutes. Had she been a little more careful with her wording we all would have had a bit more sleep this morning because I never would have scheduled the test for 5:30am had I known that.

It actually all worked out pretty well in the long run. The sun was just coming up when we left the hospital and our favorite mom and pop restaurant had just opened its doors for the day, so we went out for a rare family breakfast - and boy was it FABULOUS! Then we came home, Izzy went to bed, Matt stayed home until around 10am (he had to work late tonight on something, so it just worked out the best that he go in late) and he and Alice watched a movie together while I took a nap on the couch.

It definitely made for a LONG day, but it sure was a GOOD day too.

Randomness Wednesday (41/365)

• Izzy is getting lots of teeth. So far only four are through (her four front teeth), but she'll soon have a mouthful as there are more on their way.
• Alice FINALLY seems to have the pooping on the potty thing down. She knows when she has to go and she figured out how to push on the potty so things are looking really good in that department.
• Today she actually got up from eating lunch and walked over to her potty (she's been using a small potty for poop because it takes her so darn long to go), sat down, and after a little bit of protest went potty!
• It looks like we may be moving Izzy's crib into Alice's room soon. Alice actually took a good long nap with Izzy in her room this afternoon. The last time I tried this she hated it and both of them ended up with out naps. Now we'll need to get a name sign for the door for Izzy that is like the one Aunt El bought for Alice when we went out there in 2007.
• Dad made it home to J'ville safe and sound this evening. I bet he's looking forward to sleeping in his old bed and getting back into his old routine. And I bet GG can't wait for her daily phone calls to start up again!
• Speaking of GG, the girls got the best handmade Valentine's cards in the mail this week from GG. I'll have to get pics of them with the cards and post them. Thanks, GG!
• We had one heck of a mess to clean up last night. I dropped the glass, nearly full, bottle of olive oil on the floor last night as I was cleaning in anticipation of Dad's arrival. I'm SO glad it happened when Matt was home as it fell at the entrance to the kitchen and I didn't have any shoes on. Of course this happened very close to the kids' bedtime AND minutes before Dad arrived at our door. Luckily we got it all cleaned up in a pretty timely fashion.
• Except for that piece that I found with my foot right before I went to bed.
• I go in for a 45 minute CAT scan tomorrow. I was miserable on my bday and the week following and my doc suspects it could be a kidney stone. Great. Good thing is that I have been feeling better so who knows. I hope Matt can wrangle the kiddos in the hospital waiting room for a hour without incident!
• Izzy is still eating well, thank God! I still can't believe a little bit of medicine is all it took to see change in that department. She enjoys most things, but her favorite food by far is avacodo.

In the spirit of Randomness, here's a very random video from a few nights ago.