Severe Torture

Unfortunately this week has been one of severe torture for all three of us. Since Jody and Taylor left I've been bored off my ass, and can't believe this used to be the crew - me, Alice and Cleo. I had forgotten how those two aren't really much for conversation. Plus I've learned that although I complain about the lack of free time motherhood affords a gal, I find that I'm actually BORED not having 18 different things constantly going. But not to fear, I did get mildly productive this past weekend and got most of the apartment boxed up - after which I promptly plopped my butt on the couch and haven't really felt the urge to do much else!

Jody's torture is in that of single-dad/nomad. Poor guy is experiencing the joys of parenting solo this week. Not to say that he hasn't had a lot of fantastic help from family and friends, but he does take his role as a parent VERY seriously and I think the weight of the fact that he is ultimately responsible for Taylor is starting to wear on him a bit. Plus I think the idea of not having a permanent place to call home for the time being is wearing us both down.

And last, but certainly not least, we have poor Taylor. As you can see from the pictures taken at Stacy's house over the last couple of days she has been under severe duress and it's a miracle she's holding herself together as well as she is. That coupled with all of the playing she had to do with her cousins earlier in the week has surely made for such unbelievable living circumstances, I can only hope no one will turn us in to CPS for such cruelty.

*In case you weren't 100% on that last paragraph, I'm being TOTALLY sarcastic. I'm pretty sure Taylor has already forgotten who I am and traded me in for all the cool people she is playing with these days.

Yes, she was forced to watch the Smurfs on a ridiculously large TV.

And she was made to chew on coasters during the viewing! Oh the humanity!

Then, she had to eat horrific meals like ravioli. It's a testament to her character that she is persevering so well.

Beefaroni!!!!!!

So yeah, tonight we had a right of passage for every American child - the introduction of Beefaroni. Taylor loved that nasty greasy crap, and didn't wind up looking too terribly like an Oompa-Loompa. Also, Jody and I have inadvertently taught Taylor the super bad habit of smacking her lips after every bite. In our defense it was a good sound effect to make while encouraging her to eat (nom, nom, smack-smack, you all know how we roll), only now we are realizing she is a sponge and is definitely a great imitator. See for yourself below.

Adventures in Packing

This weekend Jody and I decided to start the packing process. Ick. In a nutshell what really happened was that we packed like fiends when a certain little rugrat was asleep and then goofed off with her (someone was mega-clingy!) when she woke back up. Ok, who am I kidding; truth is I packed like four boxes and Jody cranked out about 20 like a machine. What can I say? I HATE packing.

The caucasian MC Hammer lurking in the background? Oh wait, no, that's Jenni with the super veiny hands. As usual my child is dressed and ready for the day and I have yet to bathe.

Wait a sec Dad, I think I see a cavity. Better let me inspect that one a little closer.

What? We're totally packing.

Yeah, these are the kind of moments I love!

The Bottle Wars of 2010

Now that Taylor has reached the ripe old age of 10 months we (and by we I mean mostly me) have decided that it's time to begin the process of weaning Taylor off the bottle. Wow, I am learning just how stubborn my little one really is capable of being! Right now we're just trying to phase out the first bottle of the day with a sippy cup. Mornings are usually her best time attitude wise, and I figure if she's really hungry she'll be more receptive to taking her formula however she can get it.

Seriously? What the hell is this? I demand proper serving vessels for my meal dammit!

In a nutshell, it's not going great, but it could be a lot worse. Jody's been the only witness to the true hardcore meltdowns (yeah, she knows already that she can play Daddy more than Mommy), and as long as you're willing to be a bit patient with her she has started to drink the majority of what is put in the cup for her.

In other news, we're starting the arduous process of packing up all our crap and trying to get moved. We still haven't found a rent house, but Jody seems to think it's all going to work itself out (basically he's not worried at all and I'm giving myself an ulcer over it). But the upside is that I did get the job I was applying for, hooray! And I will be joining my family in Amarillo over Memorial weekend.

Taylor is still growing like a weed, and thankfully her hair finally is too. She is still not walking on her own, but is starting to get a little more confident about standing on her own. I think it's coming soon though, she seems to be getting a little frustrated at times when she crawls, and I catch her every once in a while doing a bear crawl instead. Nonetheless it'll happen eventually!

Mom! Mama! Mama! Mom! Mama! Yeah, it's already begun.

Showing off her mad patty-cake skills. No, I do not have hopes of my child being a go-go dancer with the tall pink socks, she is such a crawling machine they help keep rug burn at bay.

Mom! Mama! Mama! Mama! See what I mean? I love her more than anything, but she is up in my grill all the time lately.

Playing with remotes is the top choice for morning entertainment.

Pinkeye and The Big Reveal!

On a small note, it has been confirmed by my doctor (who incidentally looks and soundsexactly like Ricky Ricardo) that I do indeed have pinkeye coupled with a sinus infection. Before any of you laugh and point too terribly gleefully, let me just state that I contracted pinkeye over the phone. My stepdad, Dan told me this Saturday that he had come down with it, and as any good daughter would do, I laughed at him and made a few "stink eye" jokes at his expense. As a sick twist of karma, somehow he sent his infectious germs through the cel-network and into my eye, thus sharing the infection with me. Lesson learned: pinkeye is everywhere, and you can get it for making fun of someone who has it, not just by having your pillow farted on.

Yep, this is exactly what I looked like yesterday morning.

Anyhoo, that said, it's time for the reveal of Jenni & Jody's REALLY BIG NEWS. As I clarified yesterday, I'm not pregnant. However, Jody has made a big decision to leave Biotronik. We were waiting to announce this until he had had the opportunity to tell his employers himself, as they have been very good to us over the years, but it's time to move on to greener pastures. So, where are these greener pastures you ask? Of all places, we think they're gonna be in Amarillo. Jody has decided to go back to school, and I have a job opportunity that I'm pursuing there as well that will allow for an incredible growth opportunity professionally. Sorry, but I'm still keeping that under wraps, simply because it hasn't happened yet and I don't want to jinx it. So, Jody and Taylor will be moving on up next weekend, with me and the hairballs (Alice & Cleo) trailing a week or two behind. It's going to kill me having to be apart from the two most important people in my life for that long, but it's going to be best for us in the long run. Plus it's going to be so awesome being close to our family and friends up there again (who wants to babysit?). I'll try to keep everyone informed as everything unfolds, and please keep us in your prayers that we arrive safe, sound, and employed ;)

Now & Then

Here's a picture of Taylor on her first flight, and then here's another picture of her on our flight home today. I had to laugh because it's almost the exact same pic, only she's grown just a scoonch. I am soooo lucky to have such an easy flying baby. Now car trips are a different story, but at least there aren't 130 other people in the car with us when she starts pitching a fit!

Two months old

Ten months old

Happy Mother's Day

This weekend Taylor and I made an undercover trip to Amarillo. Don't be offended if you didn't know we were there, we kept this trip under wraps on purpose - I've gotten so worn down and exhausted from traveling all month that I just wanted to veg out and be lazy. Taylor had a great time, and we did some mandatory down-time on Saturday - we both woke up with serious sinus issues and an abundance of snot. After we got back home my wonderful husband treated me to margaritas and queso at Chuy's. Other than that we've just taken it easy today, everyone (Jody included) is still pretty puny from the attack of the killer sinus infections. Seriously, I thought I had pinkeye when I first woke up and my eyes were glued shut from eye-snot. Stay tuned, more exciting announcements are to come soon, I just can't tell you everything quite yet (NO, I am NOT, repeat NOT pregnant again).

What will someday be mine & Emily's biggest downfall, the dynamic duo!

Michelle actually holds a baby! Have I mentioned that Taylor also has a weird obsession with coasters?

Stacy & Frank's cat army. Check out the lowrider, JR "taco-beef," giving me the evil eye. No, he's not squatting, his legs really are that short.

See what I mean about the coasters?

Taylor pimps Ethan's sunglasses at the Golden Light.

Kissy face!!!!!! This is her favorite new expression. I can't believe my child would ever make such a face in every single picture ;)

Happy flier

Ten Months

Yep, another month has flown by and what a month it's been. We've had a wedding, a ball, and the funeral of my dear sweet grandmother in the past month. All of these things have led to a LOT of family time for Taylor with her grandparents and aunts and uncles. The good thing about all this grandparent time is that I have experienced parents working with her on her gross motor skills and boy has it really made a difference. All in the last three weeks or so she has begun really crawling (no longer scooting on her head!), pulling up, and cruising like a pro around the furniture. I seriously suspect that this little one will be walking in no time, and also that a couple of new teeth will be appearing any day now (she now has two!). It's amazing to me how we were at a developmental standstill for a few months and then suddenly it was like everything clicked and she was ready to rock & roll. The only downside to all of this family time is that she does get a whole lot of TLC when she's with people that don't see her every day, and we've been told that she's hell on wheels the first day back at daycare. Plus all the wear and tear it's had on Jody and I - let's face it, we're not exactly spring chickens and all of this driving has really gotten us run down. Sunday presented me with a lovely migraine (shoulda seen that one coming what with all the sleep deprivation. Oh yeah, and maybe that headache that I'd had for 2 days prior was an indicator.....), and by the end of work today I felt so crappy that I was seriously contemplating just laying down in the middle of the freeway. But, I've been told that if you're not utterly exhausted, then you must have a nanny. Parenthood takes a LOT of energy.

Ta-da! Two teeth! I think the top two will be in any time now.

Crawling for my sunglasses. Basically if you're child's allowed to have it, it's worthless as baby-bait.

Feeding herself for the first time. The fork was more of a prop than anything, but toward the end she was taking the raviolis and trying to put them on the fork before putting them both in her mouth.

Enjoying a powdered donut at Lovie's. Yeah, you shoulda seen the hairball fit this one threw when I cleared the gluey glob of this out of her mouth as she was trying to choke it (literally) down.

Teaching Uncle Thom and Lovie how to walk. What would they do without her expertise?

Fun Times With Ear Infections

Well a couple of weeks ago, we found ourselves in the midst of yet another ear infection. Yeah, that makes the fourth one just since November. So, it was off to visit an ear nose and throat specialist (ENT), who promptly recommended we get some tubes put in her poor little ears before she develops a serious resistance to all the antibiotics she's been taking. Fortunately for us, Dr. Laursen is a go-getter and was able to get her taken care of yesterday morning. This was a great thing because I couldn't help notice that all weekend while we were in Ft. Worth she started seriously pulling at that left ear once again (post-op the ENT did in fact confirm that she was once again on the brink of infection. Mind you- this was only four days after she finished her last dose of antibiotics for another ear infection). The procedure went great, we checked in at 6:30 am, and we were loaded back up on our way home by 8:30. God bless our anesthesiologist this time for giving her a little dose of Demerol to "take the edge off" her wake up process. Not only was she not crying hysterically this time, but she (and I) took a three hour nap after we got back home! All in all it was a positive experience, with exception to all of the nasty stuff (I'll spare you my graphic descriptions) that has been oozing out since. I'm still trying to figure out exactly how the doc expects me to make an ear plug out of a cotton ball and vaseline, but surely I'll get that down too.

That's right, I'm a little tiger. Seriously, ask my mom about my sharp little claws.