PSF: Strike a Pose

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

I wanted a cute picture of Sophie the other day and when I said 'smile' she immediately made funny faces with noises to go with them.

So I said, "C'mon strike a pose for me."

"There's just something about a woman in a hat that's just so vogue, you know what I mean?"

(what movie?)

About six months ago Nate was laughing at my Susie~bubblegum~ness and said that if he was a millionaire he would buy me a cable station and call it the 'Susie Channel.'

(if you know anything about me, then you know I really hope he makes this one come true--I am just this dorky. )

Since then, we have been critiquing movies, music, and shows by if they will ever make it to the Susie Channel or not. The question is, "Is it bubblegum enough?"

Madonna's music and videos will all make an appearance on the Susie Channel-although not ALL of her stuff is bubblegum enough (I'm thinking TRUE BLUE is my greatest hit); the movies Twister and Practical Magic will be run once a day --everyday; and T.V. reruns will consist of The Brady Bunch, Happy Days, and Sex in the City. For evening time I will show The West Wing, NYPD Blue, and of course, The Gilmore Girls.

Cheesy huh?

Well, that's me-all things bubblegum.

Oh, and one last thing--we just heard yesterday that coming on February 17 High School Musical 3 will be out on video and you can bet your booties that Sophie and I will be celebrating with an entire week long High School Musical tribute and the "Susie Channel" will air the trilogy weekly!

My only last question is this, "What's on your channel?"

(and if you guessed the movie from the quote above you can bet all of your bubblegum it will be run as well)

A New Haircut

I just needed a post to put up here so that the picture of my toe will get buried quicker.
Sophie got a haircut last weekend in preparation for her Big-girl birthday coming up this weekend.
She had a ball making up the 'loot' bags for her friends that are coming to see her on her big day.

OK, that's all I've got today. Is it just me or could these two pictures actually be of two different people? Cameras are so weird.

Oh, a little side note: today is the first time I got "no misspellings found."
--YEAH for spell check!

WWordFulW: This little piggy went to ...........

Market kick a chair-on accident yesterday morning.

and went "Good Golly Mother of God" all the way home.*

How's that for a wordful?

*Those are not even close to the REAL words that were said but this is a family friendly blog.

OUCH! Actually this one took my breath away-it hurt so bad-so I didn't mutter anything for a few moments.

Seriously, I just trying to straighten up some of the toys in my house before anyone woke up. Yeah, this all happened before my morning coffee. What a fabulous day.

All I can say now is, Sean Barber you are one heck of a nicknamer! I am still living up to mine today!
Oh, and this picture is a "back-to-almost normal size and a prettier shade of bluish pink" as opposed to last nights' bigger than my big toe puffy with a shade of violet. So.Much.Fun! Anyone ever try to sleep with their foot propped on pillows? how about while they are pregnant-with fiery razor blade heartburn and an enormous tummy full of bloat? Aren't I delightful?

I can't believe I actually broke my toe 4 days before Sophie's birthday party. Have I mentioned this is her first party outside of our home--at a bowling alley? I'm soooooo going to look like Flipper-the beached whale--C'MON!!!!!

For more WordFUL Wednesdays please go here and play along!

Nah, just kidding, I'll just be the clutzy silly mommy I always have been;) Good grief!

The 3 Little Pigs~As retold by a pregnant woman.

In the original story of the three pigs you have the first 2 , who are defeated by the wolf and it's up to the last pig to save the day.
This is the story of the one who saves the day--before the day gets here.
You see, the third little brick layer, isn't actually a pig at all.
It's a pregnant woman.
Today, it's me.
That's right. I am now a smarter than life, tougher than normal, FATTER THAN THE WORLD, saving-the-day heifer. Wait, heifer implies a cow, let's make that a SWINE-because a pig is just not quite as mature as a swine and well I am after all, pregnant. jeez. But I haven't always been like this. And Thank God I won't be like this forever. Yesterday morning I woke up in the pig body, and decided I needed to get my story to the world so that when they see me no one will think that I am just some kind of fat and lazy person, but actually the hero in a famous folktale.

Once upon a time, starting the day after Christmas, I gave up eating LOTS of food to eating barely any, starting drinking tons of water, exercising at least 4 times a week, and completely gave up sugar or anything that closely resembled it. I did this for two weeks straight while my jeans got tighter, my face more puffy, and my mood swings would have made even Glenn Miller proud.

Then came the 'Am I pregnant' question for about 3 days. I analyzed, scrutinized, and rationalized that the answer was an absolute NO. I just didn't want to talk myself into it and go through another round of tears and disappointment that is certain to follow a failed pregnancy test.
Then came Monday night when a teenie little voice deep in my gut yelled, Wake UP--you're pregnant!
So at around 5:30 AM I went downstairs to endure another brutal, gut-wrenching test-only this time I passed. I sat and stared for a least 5 minutes at the result--NOT--believing it.
Finally I ran to wake up hubby-who jumped off the couch and hugged me. We were so excited. For like a week everything was "oh, hooray, my prayers were answered, and another little one is on the way! Yippee!"

Unfortunately the honeymoon is over and I have been violently shoved into the "fat suit" or "swine gear" to fulfill my duties as the 3rd pig in the famous story. You see, it appears that since the moment of conception my body began holding on to every drop of water that I gave it, which is why my pants are tight. It's not the baby, but water retention to give me the cheeky rolls and the tummy waves that all pigs display. Yeah, the baby is the size of only a mere peanut without the shell, yet is nestled snug in a home as big as Xanadu itself, built in the immense private island that is my belly. Even Charles Foster Kane would be proud of the splendor.

SO,

Barely 7 weeks into this baby making journey and I have already lost myself. I am now simply the third little pig, preparing my home of bricks to keep out all of the wind-bag wolves who might try to destroy my family.


To reassure the other pigs that they are safe and sound and that I have accepted my new life role, we celebrated yesterday with pancakes.
(I actually saw this idea on another blog and can't remember who's it was--so if you read this please tell me and I will give all of the credit due.)

In the spirit of the story I will tell you that my feeble little pig#1 ate the equivalent of how much a piece of straw would weigh; pig #2 followed suit and ate enough to maybe cover the weight of a stick but scraped the Mn M's off his plate like they were rabbit droppings or something, and I, pig #3 ate a solid plate of pancakes, candy and all, so that they sat like a lump of bricks in Xanadu, until an hour later when I was hungry again--and finished everyone else's pancakes.
Nice.
In addition to changes in appearance there are also the added bonus of total fatique, yet complete insomnia, and really weird food cravings (no aversions except for my beloved coffee--sniff,) like chicken and cheese. GROSS--but it's all I want.
Then there is the fermenting process that is happening in my digestive system which not only blows me up to the size of a 5 ton tank by the end of the night, but also causes tremendous heartburn, and slows down every process of elimination. YUCK--I feel toxic. Seriously, my pants totally fit in the morning, but by mid-afternoon I look 9 months preggers from all the bloat in Xanadu. (oh, and with all of this fermenting going on --yes gas is being released. I'm digusting.)

Yes, I prayed for this.
and yeeeeees, I will forget all of this, because as soon as the baby is done staying in the private hotel, he/she will grace our presence turning our home into the Xanadu we built-only 33 more weeks to go. Yippee. whatever. It's Possible --Pig. (what movie?)
You know what they say though--only the STRONG shall survive, which is why I believe God made sure women are the ones to give birth;)

The end.

EPILOGUE
At the beginning of my story I declared this:
"I am now a smarter than life, tougher than normal, FATTER THAN THE WORLD, saving-the-day swine."
It takes the entire 40 weeks for all three of those things to be true.
Unfortunately, at this stage of my new role, I'm just getting to the FATTER part because my brain is total mush (you might see evidence of this by my proofreading) and I cry at the drop of a hat-and picks fights with my hubby as an added bonus. (we are not speaking as I type!) whoohoo for pregnancy
I'll keep everyone posted when this changes--and of course, when the big bad wolf comes to huff and puff--in other words, when I give birth--I'll be sure to blog about it.

PSF: It's official:)

Sophie's smarter than me,
AND she's not even 4 yet! Here's the evidence:

(at dinner last Sunday, pizza night) Sophie: Can I have a root beer too?

Me: Sure kiddo, just leave it at the table, please don't take it in the family room.

Sophie: Why not?

Me: Because it might spill.

Sophie: You take yours in the family room, annnd I've seen it spill!

Want to know how my outstanding, patient, spectacular, self answered?
Because I said so~! Then I went on to calmly yet matter-of-factly say, "When you pay the bills, feel free to do whatever you want. Until then I say." (like I'm some sort of big shot)

When did I turn into my parents?
big heavy sigh.

The picture doesn't match the story, but I was just too plain flabbergasted during that particular moment to snap a pic of her brillance, so I choose a more happily-go-lucky one this week. THis one cracks me up with those ears!






Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

WWordfulW: Teletubbie Tidbits

Last week when told Sophie we were expecting a little sister or brother for her she immediately went into the nursery-turned-toy-room-about-to-be-turned-back-into-a-nursery, and grabbed the teletubbies. She brought them downstairs with her right away and when I asked her why she responded,




"The baby needs them so we can watch the Teletubbies together." Sophie hasn't watched the Teletubbies since she was a baby, and she just knows the new baby will love them like she did.

Just another reason why I can't.stop.crying!

Now, back in the day when Sophie did love the tubbies, I ran around like crazy searching for the missing Dipsy. These tubbies are about a foot tall and they sing and dance when you clap your hands really loud. Poor Dipsy. It's just not the same without him. I did see some on EBAY, but I only buy 'New in box or NIB for short' ---used stuffed animals GAG me!

To play more WordFul Wednesday go to Seven Clown Circus or click on the button on my sidebar!

Make Believe Monday: Roll Call

We are starting the slow process of preparing for the new baby. In order not to get too overwhelmed I decided to prioritize one task at a time. Breaking things down in small work-able chunks that can engage Sophie seemed like the best way to go to avoid insanity. Not that I'm complaining by any means, I LOVE TOYS, and everything babies, but I am also out of room. Completely.

Task #1: Organize Sophie's Dolls.

Our Make Believe Monday turned into "Let's pretend your dollies are from different families and build them different homes" which took up almost 2 hours of our time!

This turned out to be extra fun since Sophie took it upon herself to scour the house and bring every baby she owns upstairs. I unfortunately do not remember all of the names, so we ended up repeating a bunch. We did manage to count a whopping total of 77 + the missing and (chewed up) Princess Kayla--she's the pink version of the purple and tan ones that we do have in the pics below.

In this picture we have the Big Momma in blue in the middle of her kingdom surrounded by her cabbage patch kids, Angie Julieka, Rosie Muriel, and our latest addition Frannie Elizabeth, along with brand new Ivy waiting for her pig tails to get down, and lastly all of the stuffed Mickey and company. In the top left there is an overview shot of her whole room, and in the top right there is her collection of the Disney dolls, babies Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella, 2 Snow Whites, 3 Belles, and one Little Mermaid. (This collection continues in her barbie suitcase where she 2 of each + the High School Musical gang.)

In this pic I have the two Kayla's in the top left; Melanie and Effie in the top right; and Ducky, Melody 1 and Melody 2 in the bottom middle. In the background picture are from left to right, Ava, Jillian, Sammy, Josie, Sally, Angie, and Amy.

This is a picture of the bassinet which is now referred to as the Twin Tower Condo, and the delightful group in the white crib of dollies that started them all.

In the top right we have the Bitty Twins, Little Aunt Julie and Little Sophie, followed by the original Bitty Baby, cleverly named Bitty and Fancy Nancy. In this portion of the tower we also have several orphans who may or may not have names.

In the bottom left we have the original brat pack; Pepper, Lucy, Annabelle, Duffy, Bonnie, Katie, Annie, and Purple Annie. In the center of the photo we have Cloe & Hailey, Noelle & Joy, Boy & Girl, Debbie & Henry, the triplets: Julianne, Pixie, and Castle (don't ask), and finally our fave twins, Jenny & Jodie.

Here we have Lizzie, Carrie, Izzy, Molly, Emily, a basket of unnamed dolls, and under the night stand are Mandy & Kimberly (mine from childhood,) and Daisy who was my mom's when she was a kid.

Lastly we have another little Aunt Julie, another Sophie, Isabel, and Kiki.

Not pictured are Maddy and Jean who are currently vacationing in the nature bouncy in the nursery. (I forgot to take their picture.)

I decided I wanted to document all of this so I took lots of pictures. I really hope Sophie turns these dollies into a real collection. How fun will it be for her to give these to her own children someday. If not, then she certainly has a record of all of the dollies she once loved.

Task Accomplished.

PSF: Chicken McNugget Lipgloss, Rated PG

I thought it would be fun to have a little car picnik before going into CostCo the other day (saying NO to mcdonalds is sooooo much easier than saying no to the delightful offerings of pizza and hot dogs at the Costco cafe.)


Then I started to feel a little guilty about feeding her junk food-especially since I choose to be healthy that day and Sophie had a yummy flavor of chicken fat coating her lips.



So yesterday, instead of napping she wanted to go swimming. No problem-anything to ease my guilt get some exercise!

I should mention here that last night around 5PM the car thermometer read -15 below zero!!!!!!!!

So to the pool we went. Even I thought I was crazy-- until I realized--hey, I get to park here now!





Whoohoo for special parking!!!!!!!

Have a great weekend!






Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

WWordFullW: and the Grammy goes to....

How we roll.

Or should I say rock and roll?

Now on this video, it's mostly my voice and background music from HSM 3, but she is still in the running for the next Hanna Montana--she got me at the end with her incredibly proud bow!

Ok, child prodigy in music? Too soon to tell, but I'll buy tickets to this concert all day long!

Anyway, this is a little snippet of how we spend our days when we are trapped during the deep freeze. whoohoo for indoor fun! (that may be a tad sarcastic)

PSF: Would you like stamps or our extreme value today?

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

This is the latest pic of Sophie. To me, even though the quality of the photo isn't great, she has lost all of her 'baby" and is officially a big-girl. The best big-girl on the planet I have to say.

I'm contemplating --no make that WORRYING--some of these 'big girl' changes that are about to take place: school, naps, night sleeping, portable comforts, etc; Sophie doesn't even notice much, yet I am freaking out.

I'm not ready for her to go to school yet. OK? There. I said it. I'll miss her. There are still things that need to be done, like outings to the zoo and bicycle trips to the arboretum. Now that I have the big truck we'll be able to cart her new 'big girl' bicycle and my bicycle + the trailer if she wants --anywhere we want to go. I can't wait. Adding preschool would just make her schedule a little too chaotic for both of us and the bike-rides & zoo just wouldn't take precedent over school.

So let's forget school. She's still only 3 after all. Time for me to make the most of it. She got a new shopping cart and a cash register for Christmas, so we are having a blast shopping right now-we've literally spent hours taking turns buying groceries. SO MUCH FUN! And not only are we getting in some good people skills like politeness, manners, and courtesy, but we also work on math;money-quantities-addition-oh yeah, number recognition, AND problem solving like figuring out if you need to buy one or two boxes of cereal and such. For me this is better than school. We both love it.

However, come April, her daddy will most likely no longer be working from home, so there is the danger of zero mommy time which makes mommy not-so-happy after awhile.

Preschool doesn't sound too bad when I put it that way.

I think the best compromise will be to find a school that she can attend once a week until the fall when she can join a 'real' preschool and go three days a week. I'm sure I'll be ready by then--I mean Sophie will be ready.

Now, all I have to do is find the place and once she's turn the magic '4' we're all set.
Phew. I can stop worrying now. Thank God. I was really stressed and only because I forgot my own rule that everything happens naturally. I don't need to push, fight, or manipulate as long as I am showing Sophie a good example of how to live. You know, "parent" her. Easy right? When will I learn?

For example, she choose to stop drinking a bottle on her own time-I didn't need to fight or 'wean' at all--it was all so simple, natural, and absolutely no big deal.
I did however waste several months on the 'OMG, my 2 year old still has a bottle' nonsense in my head.

For another example, Sophie choose to rid herself of her diapers--again--on her own time. I did give a slight push last summer when I said "absolutely no diapers in the swimming pool," but after that I just let her be --and before I knew it I heard the magic words, "Mommy, I want to wear my undies all the time now!"

Too bad I spent almost 6 months really sweating my incredibly tall 2 year old in diapers-constantly worried about all of the 'looks' I would get and the disdain from other would-be-friend moms that I couldn't be friends with because my daughter was not yet potty trained and couldn't attend certain classes.

Then Sophie turned 3 and I endured another 4 months of uncomfortable hell, until I let nature take it's course and she finally lost the diapers for good.

SO why am I worried about preschool? 'Cause it's how I roll. I'm also currently worried about where she sleeps at night-family or baby bed, when will she let go of the binkie, will she ever stop napping--god NO!-- and if so what in the world will we do with all of this time?--oh yeah, preschool--duh!-, and the biggest worry of the day, how will I get her to open her mouth for the dentist without drugging her?***

When will I learn to remember that all things happen naturally? When will I ever stop worrying about 'what's next' in the grand scheme of growing and maturing? Yeah I know, when hell freezes over, I just may get a good worry-free night of sleep. In the meantime I have my blog, my health club, and the forever best friend--Skittles!--to keep me company during my times of stress.

I could just give it to God knowing He has the final say anyway, but I don't have that much Mom-confidence to announce that to the neighborhood moms as my daughter runs around with her bunny bear on the back of her bike.

But I can just say, "Today I am letting her be," and maybe even inspire another mom to chill out a little. Hmm, maybe I should take my own advice!

***Seriously, I need some tricks for the dentist. I am completely against child 'doping' (TWO dentists have told me this is the only other option if is doesn't open up herself-TWO!), but I understand the importance of dental hygiene (especially since I have more than just one cavity right now because of my lack of dental visits and strange immature love for skittles) and have absolutely no idea how to do this one.
I am very anxious because A. I do not want my soon-to-be 4 year old to have to have a root canal on a little baby tooth and B. she grinds her teeth at night- BADLY- and I am really concerned about that. This is one of the reasons I still allow the binkie--she doesn't grind when it's in her mouth.

OK, so if anyone knows of anything I would love the suggestions. I really need some help here.
Have a great weekend! Thanks for playing!

Spreading the love

I saw this over at Andrea's blog and just had to share.
You have to read the fine print for full effect.

Call me Dorothy.

I am soooooooooo not in the mood to re-enact the Wizard of Oz right now.

Tell that to my stupid cable provider. Not only was my internet down for over a week over Christmas, but it turns out that I had the capabilities of fixing it myself ALL ALONG. Sometimes you have to learn it for yourself--stupid ruby slippers.

So, all of my 25 days of Christmas posts will have to be Christmas memory posts instead. If I get to them.

In the meantime, I've got a birthday to get ready for--Sophie is turning 4! LOTS of big changes coming--YIKES! Now that the house is calm, Christmas is erased, cookies are consumed, and bellies are flopping ALL over the place, I am ready to tackle the new year.

One thing needs to stay the same though- the look of this blog. I just don't feel myself with any other look--AND--I can only handle so much change at once. Need to tread softly here, we are moving in to new uncharted territory. Pre-kindergarten. Not just preschool, but she's actually going to be a Pre-K kid. Holy cats. Holy Holy Holy cats, Scarecrow!

Stay tuned.

Oh, and Happy New Year! I can't wait to see what '09 brings --whoohoo for clean slates!

Here's one for the road: Sophie was so excited to help me bake over Christmas that on this night she couldn't keep her mouth closed or her arms down. The jokes on her though because no matter how she poses I still think she's fantastically sparkling. (You can click on the picture to see an up-close view--it's a little small in the post.)

OK maybe not-well just squint your eyes. What in the world did I do to P-O my computer anyway?