All Night Long

Yesterday was really quite lovely. Well behaved babies and the anticipation of today's date night. And then nightime came. :( Poor monkey caught a cold. She went to bed at 7:30 and we could hear her rustling around in bed quite a bit, and then she was up at 11:30 and every 2 hours after that, with some singing and rocking in between. She was stuffy and had a cough, and judging that my throat was sore, I could only think that her's must have been sore too. When she got up at 2 am, I tried to feed her, but she was so plugged up she couldn't breathe! So, I started my hunt or the buld syringe. . . at 2 am. Ugh. I was looking EVERYWHERE, and no luck. The last I had remembered having it was when we went to Atlanta for Christmas, and the doctor said to be sure we took it just in case. So I said a little prayer (maybe a little selfishly on my part. I didn't want to drive to the store at 2am) and started rummaging through our luggage we took. Lo and behold, it was stuffed in her carry on bag that was in her closet. Marin was promptly sucked out (which she still hates for wondering readers) and fed.

So, it was a rough night, and I am exhausted. I put her down this morning for a nap, and fell back into bed myself, only to get back up half an hour later with baby. I took her into a nice warm shower with me too, and I think it helped to clear her out some, but she's napping now, and I'm just hanging out in my trusty sweats :) Unfortunately, date night will have to be postponed. Ahh well, maybe next week.

Last night before Kris came home from work, my visiting teacher came over and while she was finishing up her lesson, the power went out! Yikes! Now,I am not such a fan of the dark, so I was really, really glad she was there. I was actually holding a battery powered light up toy for Marin at the time, so using that, I groped my way to the kitchen to find the lighter and lit some candles. She finished her lesson and hung out until Kris came home (sweet friend she is!). After Kris came home, I used the lighter to lite our gas stove and made chicken chili by candlelite :) And then we had dinner by candlelite, just the two of us! It was really nice, and even though the power came back on in the middle, we just shut the lights off to finish out dinner.

A few pics!


Marin was doing a little light reading yesterday. The Very Hungry Caterpillar. I read it to her sometimes, but our story goes more like: "Look at the the little worm! (page turn) He's really hungry! (page turn) He ate a leaf! (page turn) And all this other food!" You get the point. She likes it though :)

She loooves the colors in this book. And she more enjoys chewing on the corners of it.

Have a good one!

The Paris Fund

The other day I decided to start. . . again. It has always been my dream to go to Paris, and it seems like life just keeps, getting in the way. Finishing school, having no money, moving, having no money, paying off debt, having no money, having a baby. . . having no money. It all adds up, or rather, adds up in someone eses bank account. So, I told Kris that I was going to start putting money aside for our trip to Paris. 5$ a week! Hey, don't laugh! I know it doesn't sound like much, but it's really all we can afford for the moment. I swear, I'm really a Parisian at heart, the romance of even just the idea makes me smile with anticipation. So, into the account our little bundle of green joy goes to grow and grow, and someday, take us to Paris :)

Marin was up very early this morning. Ugh! I fed her at 5:30 and she was ready to go for the day. Mama, however, was NOT ready to go for the day. I put monkey back in her crib and let her squak for a while. When I took her out at 7:30, she looked sooo tired still. So we got dressed and had some cereal and she went back down for a 2 hour nap. Stinker. I was jealous! I wanted a nap, but I had laundry to do :(

Tomorrow is baby watching day, and then Wednesday. . . Wednesday night Kris and I have a date! Wow! Now, we did go the temple once in Salt Lake, but this is a real, honest to goodness dinner-and-a-movie kind of date! Our first in a loooonnnggg time. It will be good. I need time away from my baby, as much as I love her, I need some alone time with my husband. A relationship really takes a backseat when you have a new baby, and she's not so new anymore, so I think it's time to get back to focusing on my marriage a little more, with a new perspective for both us :)

And, I think that's it! Pictures!

Happy little girl, standing with mama's help.

Hooray for strong legs! She loooves to stand, and look how grown up she looks in this picture! Her face is starting to mature.

Cute smile, big blue eyes, and a large fuzzy noggin :) Do babies come any cuter?!

Total candid shot. Oh, she makes me laugh.

Photo shoot with mama. She may not like to cuddle, but she like to be held with short bursts of snuggling and lots of kisses and nuzzling and she really likes it when mama makes funny noises at her. My little sweetheart!

She was focused more on the camera string in this picture, wanting to grab it and stuff it in her mouth, yum!

Kristoffer and I after church on Sunday. I actually found this diamond in the rough dress at DI for 3$. Yeah! looks super nice on me too ;) Not that you can see it, but, trust me!

Ya-Ya Ma?

Ahhhhhh, Saturday night. Love it love it love it! I'm done with work, and don't need to go back for another 5 days, that in itself is a great feeling :)

Some cute little updates for those following the Marin news . . . First off, her cereal eating abilities have quite improved! She no longer fights the spoon with a tight closed mouth, but actually opens wide and lurches toward the spoon! Now, that does provide a awkward angle to maneuver sloppy cereal into a little tiny mouth, but we manage, however messily :) And, instead pf pushing it out of her mouth, she pretty much gulps it right down! Yay! We are definately making progress. And, on a happy little note, Marin has started jabbering. What a funny sound! She'll move her jaw up and down and make the same sound over and over again, it sounds like "Ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya.. . . . . " It is soooo cute! It makes me laugh. She's growing up so fast my little one is. I was thinking tonight as I drove home from work about what it was like to bring her home from the hospital for the first time. The first night, sleeping with one eye open pretty much, such a tiny little baby, ahhh the memories!

Kris is home from Denver! Hooray! I always miss him when he goes away, and this time, he doesn't need to go back again :) Isn't that selfish of me?

Pictures!

Marin was giving kitty cat some love. Well, mama helped her with the petting. I had to keep her hand moving pretty quick so she wouldn't clench onto her fur :)
Marin and mama! Just hangin' out :)

A little chewing session, EVRYTHING goes in the mouth nowadays.

Some attempts to roll over, she is sooooo close!

MArin looks so mature in this picture, she is just getting so big! A short moment of tummy time, she doesn't like to be on her belly, so she rolls over before I can even get a picture.

What a sleepy baby in this pic! I only posted it because it shows he fuzzy head. :) I love her fuzzy noggin.

big fat juicy salad

I watched the two young-uns today. Boy, that's always a busy day! But, both babes are pretty good, so essentially the day goes by pretty quick.

Yesterday I noticed I was in need of some fresh vegetable-ness, but it was too late to go out and buy some, and today I didn't have the guts to take two babies to the store, so I improvised for lunch (sauteed garlic shrimp with peas?) and waited for this evening. After I dropped off Madelyn, Marin and I went to the store to pick up some goodies for a nice big fat juicy salad. She was soooo good in the store, just sucking on her toy keys and making happy noises. I am such a lucky mama! When we got home, I put together a GI-normous salad. Ready? Butter lettuce and spinach, yellow pepper, hothouse cucumber, tomato, avacado, bean sprouts, sunflower seeds, gruyere cheese (just a smidge!) and some classic ranch dressing, oh, and I topped it with some cayenne-honey shrimp. Yummy! I ate just about the whole thing!

At the store we bought some Valentine's Day cards for Kris, one from me, and one from little sweetie :) Seeing as how Valentine's Day falls on a saturday this year, I'll be working, so it won't be a very exciting year I guess. Last year was. . . I'm sure it was wonderful, but I was a little nauseated. Kris took me out to this French restaurant at Mandalay Bay called Fleur De Lis, and as much as I wanted to appreciate it, I just couldn't get over the smell of the black truffle soup that was EVERYWHERE in the restaurant. It was the appetizer special I think. Ahhh well. I have many other Valentine's Days to spend with my honey :)

Still all by myself out here in Las Vegas. Kris has a test on Friday, and then he can kiss Denver goodbye! Hooray! Well aren't I just a sorry sap, good grief.

Tomorrow I think Marin and I will head to the gym. I need to pound some circulating thin rubber for a sweaty mile or two. After that, I'll need to start working on my Young Women's lesson for this Sunday. Oh, and did you know? They added a value to the YW theme! Yes, it's Virtue. Faith, Divine Nature, Individual Worth, Knowledge, Choice and Accountability, Good Works, Integrity, and Virtue. Cool Huh! It's a great addition I think! All of the values are soooo important, and virtue just rounds it all out. There is nothing more sacred or precious than a womans' virtue. It makes me so sad to, live out here especially and see so many daughters of God exploit themselves for some meager compensation or superficial promise of a better life. At what cost? I don't remember who said it, but they said when you save a girl/woman, you save generations. So true. Anyway.

Inaguration Day was today, and, I must say, I really think that Barack has already made a difference. I'm not talking about policies or "Change we can believe in ", that stuff will all be revealed in time. I'm talking about his example, and raising the bar for black americans. Not that caucasians can't use some improvement themselves. Be-leeeive me, white people go to jail for some of the sickest most awful crimes ever! Since black americans have made the transition into society as citizens and not slaves or segregated human beings, it seems that (I have to be careful here) they have tested the boundaries of acceptable societal behavior. Clamoring for equal rights (rightfully so) and respect, but then crying desperately for everyone to notice their differences. I think many Americans strugge with the same feelings, just from chatting with some people at work. What needed to happen was the ultimate victory, the ultimate conquering of not only american concession, but governmental control over the whole world. They needed a black president. We all did. Now, there is a role model. A well versed, educated, respecting black role model, for black, and white americans. He has raised the bar for his fellow black americans, and I hope they live up to the dedication and devotion they have shown him throughout his campaign. The work does not stop here. For any of us. I don't know what his presidency will bring, but I look forward to finding out. I pray that he will be inspired to make the right choices. I hope all of you will continue to pray for our nations leaders, we all know they need it. We will never be competely satisfied with what the government has to bring, but just keep praying!

Viewer Discretion is Advised

Today is Monday and Kris just left for Denver again. I'm glad that he at least didn't have to leave as early this time around, so it was nice to have that extra day and a half with my husband. He'll be back Friday night, and he won't need to go to Denver, or anywhere else, again :)

This morning we went out on a mission. To find me some clothes. I know I know, certainly not a priority for us, however. . . .let me s'plain! I have had such a hard time wearing clothes, but in particular, church clothes. EVERY single sunday morning I stand in my closet on the verge of tears because I have all of these clothes, but I can't fit into any of them, and church clothes are especially hard. I have about 2 shirts I can wear, and 2 skirts. For those math junkies out there, that's a grand total of 4 outfits. This is not just because of extra baby fat, but the girth of my ribs has expanded, making most of my shirts not fit. Anyway, this last Sunday was the breaking point. I have kept refusing to buy new clothes, but yesterday morning after a frustrating half an hour of changing my 4 outfits, Kris walked into the room and told how lovely I looked, and I snapped at him. :( I felt so bad. After that, I agreed to get a few items, so as not to snap at my wonderful hunny anymore. We went to DI to see what kinds of inexpensive treasures we could find, and then to Kohls to hit the super sale racks:) I did find a few good things, so hopefully this Sunday will be a little easier on the nerves!

Sunday was a good day though! I got to dress my cute Marin in the most adorable dress (courtesy of the sales rack in Babies-R-Us) and pink shoes, and, (easy dad, you may want to sit down for this one!) a big fat flower on her head. That's right, I put a flower on my daughters head. I have to keep up with west coast baby fashion! She was absolutely adorable! Just the cutest little bug EVER! She could be on TV:) After church on Sunday, we had some friends down from Mesquite and had a yummy dinner of spaghetti with roasted peppered chicken and a light garlic cream sauce, gruyere cheese puffs, and steamed vegetables. They were so nice and brought some Christmas gifts for us!

This past week, I had my yearly review at work. :? It actually went very well. My manager had very good things to say, and even gave me a project for this year. She wants me head up a committee for policy review. Yeah, well, I guess I've stirred up enough crap-o policies for her to take notice, and she said I would be just the person for the job :) Well, I already knew that! So, all went well :) Work has been super busy anyway, so I have been relieved when my two days are done and I can come hom and snuggle with my family.

Oh, and Marin has been really funny lately. Anywhere we go, I usually hold her on my hip with one arm, facing the world, so she can see. Well, she sees so many things she wants to touch and hold, so she'll hold out both of her arms and reach as far as she can for ANYTHING she can get her hands on, it really is sooo funny:)

Ok, picture time, and, as the title states, Viewer Discretion is Advised. She may just be too cute to look at, and careful, I told you about this flower on her head, so here it is!

Here she is reaching for a spinning light globe :)

This one is my favorite, she is reaching with both of her hands, like I mentioned, and it is jusst adorable.

Her little pink shoes. The only ones that fit right now.

Here is the huge flower! I actually made that headband myself. A pair of white baby tights sewn together and a fake flower from Wal-Mart, I sewed that on too. It turned out well!

Oh, the dress! I LOVE this dress. The top is chocolate brown and the bottom is a shiney sheer fabric with tulle underneath. Just adorable.

Happy Baby!

Have a good one guys!

16

Marin monkey this morning weighed in at a whopping 16 pounds! She is getting soooo big! We weren't sure it was right, so we weighed her twice, but, she is 16 pounds. I can't get over that she is over twice as big as she was when she was born. Before I know it, it will time for another baby! Just kidding, that's a ways off in the future :)

Not much in the cards for today. Marin and I, I think, will be going for a nice long walk. I was thinking of going to the gym, but I feel more like getting outside, so that means monkey needs to come with me if I want some fresh air. We do have some friends coming over for dinner tonight with their 2 kids. The little boy is 2, and their little girl Lilly is 7 months, so it will be fun! I just have to remember to put away all my breakables. That's something I'll need to do anyway here in about 8 months or so anyway :) We'll be having (by a Kristoffer request) deep dish red pepper and sausage pizza, maybe a salad and I'm still thinking about dessert. Nothing too sweet, she has to put her 2 year old to bed after they get home, and I don't want to be the cause of two-year-old-terror at bedtime.

Picture time!

This is Kris last night making a tower of V8 cans. We have a lot of fun here in the Lyman house :) Crazy nights huh!
If you've never seen it, monkey sucks on her middle two fingers of her left hand. She won't take a pacifier, which is fine with me. It is soooo much easier to not have to search around for one and stuff it in her mouth all the time, and when she can just learn how to satisfy herself, it makes life so much easier. Anyway, these are her fingers she just loves. She's not a thumb girl!

Oh, so funny. Sadie, our cat, is the wierdest cat. She likes some of the strangest things. She won't eat fresh fish that I offer her, but she LOVES tuna from the can. She won't eat scraps of whole beef or chicken, or eat deli cuts, but she LOVES ground beef. My mother will tell you about a little incident when Sadie and I were living at home before we moved to Las Vegas. Mom left some ground beef out on the counter and Sadie jumped up, chewed through the plastic wrap and styrofoam, and ate a huge chunk off the corner. Naughty cat! Well, she knows when I buy the beef, because she is immediately underfoot and waiting for a luscious scrap to be thrown her way. I usually give her a few chunks :)

Miss cutie wore an adorable little white jumper dress with hearts all over it yesterday. Sooooo cute and snuggle-able!

:)

Aww, the pictures are here:)

Here are the pictures!

This is a wonderful picture of the flowers Kristoffer brought home for me when he walked in the door from Denver the other night ;) I am such a lucky girl!


Oh, I had the urge to do some experimentin' in the kitchen the other night, with some healthy alternatives. These are... well, I'm not really sure, I didn't follow a recipe. They're these little phyllo dough cups filled with a mixture of tofu, roasted red peppers, capers, parm cheese, etc. The flavor was good, but I just couldn't get over the wierd texture of the tofu, even though it was firm tofu. Ahh well. I made an effort.

Little miss monkey playing with her toes. Isn't she just sooooo cute?! Oh I could eat her up some days!

Awhh hwaaa haaa, enchante madame ;) My new black high heels. Nice huh!

Miss Marin on Sunday. She was wearing a dress that I had worn when I was 6 months old. And, she looks just as cute as I did!

Her cheeks make me laugh every time, they are just adorable.

A close-up for the camera, and her fans!

That's it for now guys!

8 pounds = 1 bowling ball

I am alive! I promise! And, lest you be concerned, I will post some pics later tonight, I just can't do it now. Our computer is a bit bogged down with, I'm sure, some random downloads, and is therefore a little sluggish, and that makes downloading pics. . . . that much more time consuming.

Anyway! :) This weekend my hunny came home, HOORAY! I just do not do well being by myself. I freak myself out at night when it's dark ( I think I have just come to the realization that I am honestly scared of the dark!), and make myself think some scary hooded person is always lurking outside my window or door just waiting to pounce. Oooooh, I get the shivers even now! And then when I get into bed, I always think some scary alien is going to come and suck my brains out through my ears. I have quite the vivid imagination, if you haven't already guessed. Ahhh well, I survived and all is well, My hunny is home and keeps me safe, so I am a happy girl :)

Also, this past weekend, we had Kris's mom and sister and her boyfriend down for a visit. They came in super late thursday night and stayed until sunday afternoon. What a fun time we all had. Just hanging out talking and laughing. It was hard for me, because I had to work friday (well half of friday) and saturday, so I couldn't hang out as much as I wanted. I got to some home from work early on Friday (I cured all my patients!) and go out and buy 2 pairs of shoes, courtesy of Trine (THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!). One pair of running sneakers which I desperately needed, AND, one pair of super sexy black high heels ;) I have always been a sucker for high heels, and I have not bought any, since, I think before Kris and I got married, so this was perfect! I needed a pair of plain heels, so i all worked out.

Sunday I taught my first lesson to the YW, my little Mia Maids. I have to say, some interesting personalities. There is only one that I don't think I've encountered along my travels with the YW, and that is the I'm-smart-and-know-all-the-answers-and-have-a-slightly-cynical-attitude-while-attempting-to-pull-off-the-preppy/alternative/mollymormon-look-and-be-aloof-ly-popular. Interesting! I'll let you know how that goes:) Kris has already started recruiting some girls for babysitting. Yikes! I just got used to the idea of leaving Marin with another adult, so this is gonna take some adjustment.

And, speaking of Kris. . . the church calling fairy has once again made a magical visit to our home. He now has a calling also! He is the ward employment specialist. Huh? Yeah, we both were a little like "Uh, what?". But, I guess he is, essentially, going to be the go to guy for people when they need a job, so he can know who in the ward does what and refer people for certain things or to certain businesses. I don't know exactly, but I think they said that's what is was. Kris was a little shocked, but, as I remembered, I referred him to his patrirchial blessing, which talked about this sort of thing exactly. I know he will be great at this. He has such a calm reassuring personality, that he JUST they guy for the job:)

AND. . . .Da Da DAAAA: 8 POUNDS TO GO!!!! I am very excited! Now that I am so close to my goal weight, the pounds are harder and harder to shed, so I know I have some more hard work to do to get there. But I know I can do it! I was pleasantly suprised yesterday, I pulled out a pair of my size 8 jeans that I haven't been able to squeeze into for quite some time, and lo and behold, not only could I get them over my hips (*applause*), but I could (although barely) zip them up! Now, the extra skin that flopped over the front of my jeans made me gag just a little, so I hastily removed them, BUT. . . progress is progress. I think the hardest part has been watching my actual waist shrink in size, but having that area around my hips and (moms know!) below the belly button remain the same size. Ugh. However, I am working hard to be healthy (While making sure Marin's food supply isn't affected) and my loving husband giving me kisses and telling me how beautiful I am certainly helps. :)

Today is tuesday, and that's baby watching day. Both babies are upstairs sleeping (nice!) and have been asleep for over an hour! That's not normal for my monkey! Ahh well, she got to bed late last night because we were grocery shopping at Sam's to restock our hungry deep freezer. Not much on the menu for today, just keep both babies fed and clean and happy. I think tonight is a fresh bread and homemade chicken noodle soup night :) I think I'll have a happy husband, it's one of his favorites:)

Ok, so I'll post some pics later tonight:)

The most AMAZING discovery. . . EVER!

Marin has recently discovered some cool new toys to play with, and fortuately, she can't drop them so she can watch mommy pick them up (which, I think she enjoys more than she should!). She has discovered her feet! She hasn't really cared a hoot about them until about a week ago, when she was taking a bath, and saw these awfully funny phalanged, soft, warm wiggly things. There is nothing cuter than watching a chubby baby grab her feet and roll around with a smile on her face :)

Well, I was a busy lady yesterday. I watched my friends baby, along with my cute monkey, and it was . . . busy. Madeline, the babe, was really quite good, but there was a time I had her propped up on pillows feeding her, and was nursing Marin at the same time! It seemed like the whole day, they were never asleep at the same time, so all I did all day was feed and change diapers and play and put babies to sleep. Yikes! I'm glad I don't have twins, or more!

Last night I went to a friends house for dinner. She and her husband and 2 year old little girl and 6 month old future-boyfriend-for-Marin moved into the ward about 3 months ago. I was impressed! Dinner was soooo good! chicken satueed with red peppers, tomatoes and prosciutto, served over bowtie pasta. It was really good! It sounded like something that I would make! We also had asparagus and some garlic rolls too. Super yummy:)

Today we have a few things on the schedule. After I post this, I'll feed little girl some rice cereal, and put her down for a nap, while I get ready for the gym. I have a pilates class at 1030, then home and lunch and nap for Marin, and some cleaning for some house guests this weekend (Yay! I'm so excited!), I need to plant a rosebush in a pot that I have, and start preparing a lesson for YW on Sunday, my first lesson! I'm very excited.

Miss Marin in her walker

She has these striped pajamas that are just soooo cute, I love them, they are the footie PJ's, hat just make babies so cuddly.

He's leaving. . . on a jet plane :(

Ahh parting is such sweet sorrow :( Kristoffer left for Denver this afternoon and I am a lonely wife. . . already! I always miss him whenever he leaves, even for work, and this is no exception. He's in Denver for some training for his new job at the University of Phoenix, and he'll be gone until Friday night. Yuck. Luckily, the girls at church are super nice and when they heard of my lonely home that is minus a patriarch this week, I had lots of invites to come hang out and come over for dinner this week. So, even though I am missing my hunny terribly, I have to look at it as a week with some girly fun. Besides, those who know. . . know how sweet a homecoming reunion is with your spouse ;)

So, of course, with the new year already here, I think it's appropriate to share some of my resolutions, and what better way to help keep those resolutions than to make sure EVERYONE knows them, so they can check in on you!
1) Go to the temple more often
2) Find more time to read my scriptures, with and without Kris
3) Be more consistent with family home evenings
4) Punch up my personal prayers a little
5) Eat healthier, and cut back on the choc-O-late! (who doesn't have this resolution?!)
6) Get back to my exercise regime, so I can shed those last 10 pounds to my goal (for this year at least)
7) Work on my organizational skills :)
8) Join a comittee at work (it earns bonus points for next years raise)
9) Keep spending as much time as possible with my family
10) Take some cooking classes

By the way, I am gnoshing on some totally delish leek soup that I made tonight. I have always wanted to try and make it, and the flavor it absolutely wonderful! Sooooo good, and fairly healthy I guess. I'll post the recipe soon, it was reeeeeaallly easy:)

Today Kris dressed Marin for church, and I had him put her in her little white dress, because I have a pink jacket and matching bonnet that I wore when I was little, and she was soooooo stinkin cute. Here are some pics:

It was a little on the big side, well, not the hat, the hat was a perfect fit for her large noggin.
Look at that sweet face! She was just adorable in this outfit.

Oh, and here's Sadie, just hanging out.

Look at the camera!

I'm not too keen on how I look in this pic, but monkey looked really cute, so here you have it.

A side profile of her bonnet.

Oh, and, our church schedule has changed, to everyone's dismay. Church starts at 1pm, with Relief Society, gosepl doctrine and then sacrament meeting at 3pm. Ugh. Not only is the day totally shot, but I feel all . . . backwards! It's WIERD!

Honing in on some stinky baby poo here.

Well, our small munchkin had not pooed (pood? poo-d? how DO you spell that?) in 3 days, and I was a wonderin' when everything was going to rear it's ugly head. For the past 2 days, I've dressed her in not so cute clothes, or dark bottoms, just in case she had a blowout. As I was getting her ready for her bath tonight, I noticed it. A diaper LOADED with fresh offerings. And boy were they FRESH. Yuck! It has to be smelly because I'm on antibiotics. I guess I'd better get used to it, it only gets worse when they start eating people food.

I worked yesterday, and I have to say, it was, by far, the WORST day I have had at work, EVER! Well, it ranks right up there, and I have had some pretty tough days. I have never been so frustrated in my life. Keep in mind that it is a 12 hour shift. I am all for making sure you take a lunch break. Jut stopping what you're doing and taking that 30 minutes (yeah, for 12 hours, we get a whopping 30 minutes for lunch), but yesterday, it was CRAZY. Just one of those days where for everything you are trying to get done, you have to take 4 extra steps (not literally) to get everything done. I sent the same kid to CT 4 DIFFERENT times, had a mean doctor to deal with, a super sick 3 month old that I sent to the ICU, so you can IMAGINE how often I was in the room before I shipped him down, a kid to discharge, a new kid to admit, IV's to start, TONS of meds to give, a bunch of which weren't there, be on the phone to try and fix 2 computers so I could chart. I thought I was going to have to do a sedation at 6pm. INSANE. I didn't even get a lunch. I think I had stole some PB and graham crackers at 10am, and crammed some doughnut holes into my mouth while I was complaining/yelling at the charge nurse. Anyway. It was days like that, that make me want to stay home with monkey all the time.

Ok, and NOW for the big news. This morning. Kris was feeding Marin some thawed milk from yesterday, and she took 4 oz, and was still fussy, so he heated up another few oz, and she downed that too! I know for certain she doesn't get 6 oz from ME when she eats, so I contemplated for a while about whether or not to start miss monkey on ricce cereal. I had wanted to just nurse for 6 months, but I think she was telling me she was ready for more, so. . . . we picked up a box of rice cereal and Marin had her first taste of solids tonight! It was sooooooo funny to watch. The very first spoonful she kept her mouth open after I dumped the cereal in and looked at me with raised eyebrows and a very concerned/disgusted look on her face. She didn't really know what to do with it. I'm not sure how much she actually swallowed, but the experience was definately worth it. We'll keep working at it, once a day for a while, and then we'll do 2 times a day.



Here is the first meal!
Marin getting ready for dinner!

A very concerned little face, I think she's spitting it back out in this picture.

This one is a little more like her first face. It really was adorable. She looks totally grossed out.

I gave her a spoon to play with so she wouldn't try and grab mine.

That's it guys!