Over a year ago, Alli started this thing called "Kitty Present". I can't even remember now how it started. But sometimes the kitty is wrapped in a blanket and sometimes a towel (usually only when we are getting out the shower). The present is always for mommy. And when she's ready, I get to unwrap my beautiful kitty present and find Alli Kitty! The monologue usually goes something like this (done with WAY much enthusiasm): "Oh! A present!! Is this for me!??! I wonder what it is? I think I'll just have to unwrap it and find out. Oh, I think I see a paw! What could be attached to this paw?!?! Oh!!! I have unwrapped more of it. I think it's a kitty!!! What a BEAUTIFUL kitty! Let me see your face, Kitty. Oh! What beautiful eyes. You are such a pretty kitty. I think I will name you Alli and I will take you home with me and keep you in my house."
Obviously, there are plenty of renditions, but that's the jist of it. So, no biggie when it first started, but it's been over a year, and I have at least 1 kitty present a day!!!!! I'm soooo tired of acting surprised with my kitty present. Ugh. I should win an oscar for these performances!
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Alli's First Dance Recital
Alli's first dance recital went really well! And here I thought everything was stacked against us. First, we've been fighting her for months to go to dance lessons. She started them, I was going to make her finish them before she quit. Recital time came and she didn't seem thrilled with the costume. And then to boot, the day of the recital I had to drop her off backstage and then not see her again until after the whole recital was over. No parents backstage, no snacks, no extra bags of toys. So 2-3 hours backstage starting at 11:30 for a just-turned-5 year old. I figured we were for sure done.
But then the day came. After Alli did her dress rehearsal, we stayed at the auditorium for another hour to watch some of the other dance acts. These were mostly the other little kids (not the big kids). She really enjoyed watching the other dancers.
And recital day? We lucked out. I packed snacks for her to eat (carefully) in the car, so she was set for food (actually better than we were!) Backstage, they had all the girls split between 5 different rooms. As luck would have it, she wound up in a room with all the Belt girls, so she was well taken care of and had friends all around (well, 3 of them, plus the girls in her class).
And when she got on-stage, she just looked so cute. They all did. Alli couldn't see us, so she didn't look out into the crowd for most of the dance - she just looked at the girls to each side of her. But she had a blast.
And wouldn't you know it - signup for fall started the day after the recital, so guess what she wants to do. Yep, another year of dance. After all that fighting we did over the last few months dragging her to dance class. Well, we'll see what happens next year at dance!
(Alli is in the middle.)
But then the day came. After Alli did her dress rehearsal, we stayed at the auditorium for another hour to watch some of the other dance acts. These were mostly the other little kids (not the big kids). She really enjoyed watching the other dancers.
And recital day? We lucked out. I packed snacks for her to eat (carefully) in the car, so she was set for food (actually better than we were!) Backstage, they had all the girls split between 5 different rooms. As luck would have it, she wound up in a room with all the Belt girls, so she was well taken care of and had friends all around (well, 3 of them, plus the girls in her class).
And when she got on-stage, she just looked so cute. They all did. Alli couldn't see us, so she didn't look out into the crowd for most of the dance - she just looked at the girls to each side of her. But she had a blast.
And wouldn't you know it - signup for fall started the day after the recital, so guess what she wants to do. Yep, another year of dance. After all that fighting we did over the last few months dragging her to dance class. Well, we'll see what happens next year at dance!
(Alli is in the middle.)
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Alli's 5th Birthday!
I can't believe she's 5.
I can't believe she's 5.
I just can't believe she's 5!!!
Well, the birthday party was fun. We invited 8 kids and we got 8 kids and 7 siblings! :) The theme was butterflies, so really, I didn't do much except have Alli make some decorations. The kids came and just played while the parents chatted. Then we had lunch, cupcakes, and opened presents. Voila! One party.
Alli's cupcake cake was super awesome, especially since Molly made it! See below - very talented!
Alli's party was Saturday, then we had Mother's Day, and then her real birthday was Monday, where she celebrated in both preschool classes and then at dinner with the family. For her birthday dinner we had her very favorites - salmon and corn on the cob. Then we got to open the family birthday gifts. It was fun, and I think by then, she was pretty partied out. And why do I say she was partied out? Cause she didn't want any sweets for dessert after our dinner. Wow!! She could have opened gifts forever though.
We have been recovering (and trying to clean up) ever since.
I can't believe she's 5.
I just can't believe she's 5!!!
Well, the birthday party was fun. We invited 8 kids and we got 8 kids and 7 siblings! :) The theme was butterflies, so really, I didn't do much except have Alli make some decorations. The kids came and just played while the parents chatted. Then we had lunch, cupcakes, and opened presents. Voila! One party.
Alli's cupcake cake was super awesome, especially since Molly made it! See below - very talented!
Alli's party was Saturday, then we had Mother's Day, and then her real birthday was Monday, where she celebrated in both preschool classes and then at dinner with the family. For her birthday dinner we had her very favorites - salmon and corn on the cob. Then we got to open the family birthday gifts. It was fun, and I think by then, she was pretty partied out. And why do I say she was partied out? Cause she didn't want any sweets for dessert after our dinner. Wow!! She could have opened gifts forever though.
We have been recovering (and trying to clean up) ever since.
Saturday, May 4, 2013
The Freezer Fiasco
Well, you saw from an earlier post that our freezer was full of milk. And I kept increasing the stock-pile by pumping in the night, so the dilimna of storage was getting worse and worse. Compile that with some odd noises coming from our fridge, the fact that we spent over $800 last year fixing the fridge because of various things that broke, and we got our tax return back. So, do you see where this is going?
Yes. I wanted a new fridge/freezer. So I went looking...online. After weeks of reading reviews, looking at ratings, etc., etc., etc., I decided the only brands for us to look at were GE and KitchenAid. Our old fridge was GE. Based on online pictures, it looks like all the layout internally was the same. There were things that I didn't like about the GE fridge's layout. (You wouldn't think layout would be that important, but it kinda is!)
I knew that we lost a bunch of space in the freezer because of the icemaker unit. All freezers do, but it seems placement of the unit could make or break your freezer space. In the fridge portion, GE had this weird dip that went through the ceiling, making the top shelf an odd place for some items. (Shorter items had to go in the middle where the dip was, where taller items could go on either side.) They also had this "feature" of a "Custom Cool" drawer, which could either cool things down really quickly for you, or defrost things really quickly for you. Personally, I took the special shelf out because I wanted to use it as a drawer, but it was a horrible drawer because it didn't slide in and out very nicely.
Ok. So there was GE. I looked at the insides of the KitchenAid. For the freezer, the icemaker was in the door, which meant the shelf space was not taken. That seemed like a good idea. In the fridge, there was no hump down the ceiling, and no "special drawer" in the bottom. So those seemed like good ideas. The KitchenAid data showed their fridge that would fit our opening had more freezer room, but less fridge room (cubic feet). We hemmed and hawed over this, and finally decided that we needed more freezer space than fridge anyway, even after the milk storage.
So KitchenAid won. And we got our new fridge. So, now that we have it, wanna hear our evaluation of KitchenAid? :) We found that we have as much room, if not more, in the fridge, even though the cubic feet is smaller. I have no clue why. It must be the layout. The freezer is WAY bigger. I have room for another month's supply of milk to store! Woo hoo!! But here are some catches... The icemaker is in the door. This is great for storage but... When the ice falls, I can hear it back in our bedroom!!! And every now and then, it falls so hard it actually goes through the door and onto our floor (only a cube or two once in a while, but still!) hahaha In general, the fridge is a little louder. And, for whatever reason, it sits crooked in our opening. I'm sure our GE did as well, but because it was taller, we couldn't tell. This one, you can tell. We tried to level it, but once it looked level, it shook like crazy when you opened the doors. So, back to unlevel. Thanks saltillo tile!!! Note to self: Don't use saltillo tile under appliances!
But I have to include a picture of our awesome milk storage now. Yes, we are using boxes since we had to pack up all the milk to switch fridges, and this wound up working well for stacking.
.JPG)
I still have room for more milk, but I'm not pumping in the night anymore, so I shouldn't be stockpiling as quickly. Natalie is drinking less and I am working on producing less because of it. I do NOT miss middle-of-the-night pumping and dishes!
Yes. I wanted a new fridge/freezer. So I went looking...online. After weeks of reading reviews, looking at ratings, etc., etc., etc., I decided the only brands for us to look at were GE and KitchenAid. Our old fridge was GE. Based on online pictures, it looks like all the layout internally was the same. There were things that I didn't like about the GE fridge's layout. (You wouldn't think layout would be that important, but it kinda is!)
I knew that we lost a bunch of space in the freezer because of the icemaker unit. All freezers do, but it seems placement of the unit could make or break your freezer space. In the fridge portion, GE had this weird dip that went through the ceiling, making the top shelf an odd place for some items. (Shorter items had to go in the middle where the dip was, where taller items could go on either side.) They also had this "feature" of a "Custom Cool" drawer, which could either cool things down really quickly for you, or defrost things really quickly for you. Personally, I took the special shelf out because I wanted to use it as a drawer, but it was a horrible drawer because it didn't slide in and out very nicely.
Ok. So there was GE. I looked at the insides of the KitchenAid. For the freezer, the icemaker was in the door, which meant the shelf space was not taken. That seemed like a good idea. In the fridge, there was no hump down the ceiling, and no "special drawer" in the bottom. So those seemed like good ideas. The KitchenAid data showed their fridge that would fit our opening had more freezer room, but less fridge room (cubic feet). We hemmed and hawed over this, and finally decided that we needed more freezer space than fridge anyway, even after the milk storage.
So KitchenAid won. And we got our new fridge. So, now that we have it, wanna hear our evaluation of KitchenAid? :) We found that we have as much room, if not more, in the fridge, even though the cubic feet is smaller. I have no clue why. It must be the layout. The freezer is WAY bigger. I have room for another month's supply of milk to store! Woo hoo!! But here are some catches... The icemaker is in the door. This is great for storage but... When the ice falls, I can hear it back in our bedroom!!! And every now and then, it falls so hard it actually goes through the door and onto our floor (only a cube or two once in a while, but still!) hahaha In general, the fridge is a little louder. And, for whatever reason, it sits crooked in our opening. I'm sure our GE did as well, but because it was taller, we couldn't tell. This one, you can tell. We tried to level it, but once it looked level, it shook like crazy when you opened the doors. So, back to unlevel. Thanks saltillo tile!!! Note to self: Don't use saltillo tile under appliances!
But I have to include a picture of our awesome milk storage now. Yes, we are using boxes since we had to pack up all the milk to switch fridges, and this wound up working well for stacking.
.JPG)
I still have room for more milk, but I'm not pumping in the night anymore, so I shouldn't be stockpiling as quickly. Natalie is drinking less and I am working on producing less because of it. I do NOT miss middle-of-the-night pumping and dishes!
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Hunger Strike
So Natalie started solids, and is doing quite well. We haven't gone back to try rice cereal again, but all fruits and vegetables seem to be doing well. The problem we are now facing is that she loves eating solids so much she has cut way down on her milk. Like in half. And you know she isn't getting *that* many calories from the couple of tablespoons of pureed food she is taking in! So, we are getting a little skinnier. And there are days that I "hunger strike" back at her by not allowing her to get any solids, which forces her to drink her milk. I mean really! Does she *really* think she's in control of this situation!?!? ;) Actually, I have only done that twice, and only because she wasn't producing much pee.
Now we have adjusted her milk bottles and are trying to stick to a strict eating schedule so she knows which times have lots of milk followed by no solids, and which times she can have just a little milk followed by solids. We'll see if that makes things more consistent. All I can say is, our freezer (and my b00bs) will not allow her to reduce her milk intake that quickly!!! (More to come on that later.)
Now we have adjusted her milk bottles and are trying to stick to a strict eating schedule so she knows which times have lots of milk followed by no solids, and which times she can have just a little milk followed by solids. We'll see if that makes things more consistent. All I can say is, our freezer (and my b00bs) will not allow her to reduce her milk intake that quickly!!! (More to come on that later.)
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