Random questions

Why do hospitals still follow a Catholic menu? Fish on Friday? I think it is more out of habit or tradition than anything. They always do fried chicken on Thursday too. Weird.

When did/why is text messaging become an acceptable form of getting to know someone when dating?

Why did I try the Little Debbie snack cake sitting on my desk when I don't really like snack cakes?

Why is Walmart such a drag?

Why do I buy water?

Why am I still watching Grey's Anatomy? The characters get on my nerves. I really dislike them. Yet I still watch. I am stopping right away...after I find out what happens to Meredith. I also need to see if she is ever going to change her hair. I know mine is probably worse, but she has no excuse.

Should we really trust movie reviews?

Crafts and other stuff

I went to the doctor on Monday and was glad to find that the appointment was simple with only the nurse listening to the baby's heartbeat. This was hard to do as the baby would not stop moving. It was so weird to hear the baby bumping around. I keep thinking that if I really focus I will be able to feel it. This early though would get me in some record books so I am not expecting it for a while.

Adam and I went out to eat (sushi, yum) and then to Barnes and Noble last Friday night. I bought a book in BN because it was full of inspirational crafts for babies. Crafts are fun. I like thinking about them but I must admit that I never seem to finish them. This is mostly because I never have all the things I need or the time that must be committed to finishing the project. I asked Adam if he would like to craft with me and his response surprised me. NO? Why not? Apparently, Adam hates two things. Board games and crafts. He sighted the many things that he willing did with me in the past as a way of showing that he paid his dues. Chic flicks, ballroom dancing lessons, cake decorating, shopping, looking through potterybarn kids catalog together picking out what we like best on each page. Ok, ok, ok, I get it. I need a craft partner.

First Steps

On Saturday, Sydney took her first steps. I am so excited that Adam and I both were there to see it. I was holding her and I put her on the floor. She just stood there for a good while and Adam and I were bothe watching for some reason. She put her right foot out and then squatted to the ground. I was thinking that is was such a good move towards walking and then she stood up and took 3 steps. We couldn't believe it! Just an hour before we predicted that it would be the end of February before she walked. She still isn't "walking". Just taking steps. She took 7 in a row on Saturday. Sunday was not as active. Sunday's are hard. With church getting us off the food and nap schedule it is really hard. She did take a fall into the leather ottoman. Of course, she hit the one spot that isn't padded. I am sure we have quite a few falls in our future. At one point she became so excited about walking that she clapped herself right to the floor. Walking and clapping is a hard thing to do.

First Steps

On Saturday, Sydney took her first steps. I am so excited that Adam and I both were there to see it. I was holding her and I put her on the floor. She just stood there for a good while and Adam and I were bothe watching for some reason. She put her right foot out and then squatted to the ground. I was thinking that is was such a good move towards walking and then she stood up and took 3 steps. We couldn't believe it! Just an hour before we predicted that it would be the end of February before she walked. She still isn't "walking". Just taking steps. She took 7 in a row on Saturday. Sunday was not as active. Sunday's are hard. With church getting us off the food and nap schedule it is really hard. She did take a fall into the leather ottoman. Of course, she hit the one spot that isn't padded. I am sure we have quite a few falls in our future. At one point she became so excited about walking that she clapped herself right to the floor. Walking and clapping is a hard thing to do.

Cool

This is something that Adam was playing with last night. It is really cool.

Watch this first:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atZMhaGn8fQ

Then go here to play:

http://www.official-linerider.com/play.html

Best Junk Food Poll

What is the best junk food?

I will start...Pop Tarts

Doctor Day

Sydney is going today for her 1 year check up and her shots. I wish I had remembered that it was today and planned for Adam to go with me. I dread seeing her get her shots. It hasn't been that bad in the past but now she is older and she will really have her feelings hurt. I hate going to the doctor with her. They put you back in the room forever when it would be easier to stay in the waiting room with her. While we are in the tiny room I feel like I can't let her or any of her belongings touch the floor. It is a long hour there. An hour really isn't that bad, but when you consider that they spend maybe 10 minutes of it with you it really is ridiculous.

Tuesday, Tuesday, the day before the day before Thursday

I am having trouble with subject lines. And posts. You would think I would have all kinds of brilliant things to say after listening to toys that play classical music all the time. I am not sure that they work. I did notice that the ticker says 200 days and I am very happy about that. Getting into the 100's makes it seem less like a year to go.

We had Sydney's birthday party this weekend. It was lots of fun and she seemed to have a good time. Adam insisted that she have her own cake to play in and to our surprise she ate it rather methodically. She pulled little pieces of icing off one at at time and kept her dress looking pretty clean. We are having a cranky week with 4 teeth threatening to come in any day.

Ticker

That ticker on the top is bother me again. I remember Sydney's ticker barely moving along and it bothered me so much. Now it is back and taunting me again. Only 205 days to go? ONLY? Why can't it say 205 more days of getting up and not being able to find something to wear? Or 205 days of having to wake up and take your vitamin that makes you feel sick? Or 205 days of waking up not being able to breathe? 205 days of no caffine and now no Lipton Diet Green Tea with citrus (apparently there are reports that excessive green tea cancels out folic acid. Not that I drink that much but why take the chance?). I hope I don't seem like I am complaining. Other than those "issues" I am pretty happy. Adam says I shouldn't worry about what I wear. Doesn't he know by now that that is impossible??

Thursday, the day before Friday

I like Thursdays. They hold the promises of the weekend to come. You can stay up late on Thursday nights because you can always make it through a Friday. That is what I used to think when I worked full-time. Thursdays are the day before school field trips or spending the night with your best friend. Thursdays have good movie previews on tv. The Office comes on on Thursdays. No, I love Thursdays. There is something good and fun about anticipation. This weekend is Sydney's first birthday party. I have done away with the handmade hats and the banner. I am still trying to find the magnetic photo sleeves for party favors (I am going to write her name on them with a paint pen and put a birthday dress photo in them). I did find a smocked birthday dress for a good price so my main objective was met. Maybe I could go for some crepe paper. Nah. I will stick with balloons. Crepe paper rarely looks good.

Adam has been out of town this week. It is really hard without him. Yesterday, as 5 o, clock approached I remembered that he wasn't coming home. With four teeth coming in on top, Sydney and I both needed a break from each other. A realtor showed our house yesterday around lunch so we did get out. We went to Big Lots and then to the park. I found the cutest easter baskets. I bought three because I couldn't decide. Once I decide I will return the others. Do I want to go Martha Stewart pretty or Pottery Barn cute? I just can't decide. The good part about the Pottery Barn knock off (besides being only $6) was that there were a variety of basket liner colors in gingham (I bought blue and green) and shapes (I bought one oval and one retangular). I could buy two and have one to match for the new baby next year. They did have several colors in the Martha style but I only liked the pale robin's egg blue. The other colors were not as good. If you have older kids, you should really check on Big Lots for your Easter Basket needs. There were these really cute fishing poles with magnetic fish and bubbles and paddles with eggs bean bags to toss back and forth, butterfly nets, and so much more!

Snickers...

It really does satisfy the hunger in you.

Party Animal

Sydney's first birthday is around the corner. It wasn't a hard decision to keep it a family only event. While I love the thought of scores precious children in their cute clothes toddling around my mom's house (better hers than mine...evil grin, sinister laugh), I think I do agree when "they" (they=parenting experts and free magazines giving generally bad parenting advice)say that it will be a happier event if it is kept simple.

I do find myself sneaking in a few more decorations than originally planned. This is mostly for that classic birthday picture. Baby on table, cake in front (out of reach), balloons, party hat, and a Happy Birthday, Sydney Banner (which is the latest addition). My plan is to make party hats from cute printed scrapbook paper and I did actually think about making an arch from balloons (I am rethinking this). I will have to make the banner if I want it to look right. I see a trip to Michael's in my future...

By the way, Adam and I are expecting a baby this summer sometime around August 18th...

28, 29 What is the difference?

This morning my mom called to wish me a happy birthday and to ask how it feels to be 29. I said that didn't know because I turned 28. When my mom was around this age she believed that she was a year older for most of the year. What a fun surprise that would be. Much better than thinking your are a year younger only to find out later that you have aged two years in one. My mom didn't understand the concept that I have been fighting most of my life. You can't subtract 1978 from the current year because I was born at the end of 1978 so it doesn't really count. I sat there on the phone as she counted from 1978 to 2006 twice before she believed me. My brother is 31 (how weird is that?) and am mostly 3 years younger. That sounds like a riddle. I am 3 years younger than my brother who was born in 1975. If I was born in 1978, how am I only 28? (a: I was born at the end of the year!)

Isn't it funny how we count out how old babies are by months? I guess it makes sense for the first year but then after that I am not sure. I think we want to keep them as young as possible. Sydney is 10 1/2 months. I am 336 months. Or is it 324 months? Do you multiply 12 by 28 or 27? Why did I need a calculator to subtract 12 from the first number? I am getting old. Maybe I am 29.

I think that all the things of motherhood add up to make you basically crazy. Remembering things like how many weeks old they are, testing sippy cups, tasting bland food, packing diaper bags, arranging babysitters, finding hair bows, keeping up with socks much smaller than your own socks that get lost too, baby proofing, managing to actually sit in the car seat to strap it in as tight as possible, watching Adam back the drivers seat up making the car seat loose again, maintaining enough D batteries to keep the toys in working order, tuning out the noise that the D batteries power, getting tomato stains off the highchair tray, etc.

Sydney's 1st birthday is approaching and I think that one thing I will be very glad to do is turn the car seat around (hopefully she will weigh 20 lbs by then). I can't get the thing tight enough for my taste and not being able to see her makes it hard to see what she wants. The other day while driving I turned to look at Sydney. Remembering that I couldn't see her due to the mondo car seat facing the back, I just turned half way and while glancing out the window I said the most recognizable lip reading words. I told the guy in the car next to me that "I love you, Baby". He seemed flattered.

Another sign that I may be getting old is that I keep going places with my zipper down and I requested and received a rolling shopping bag to tote things from the car to my house, to a friend's house, ect. It is so convenient and there is no need for me to be embarrassed. They aren't looking at the bag they are looking at my zipper.

Adventures in Northpark

Last night Adam and I went to the mall to do some shopping and on our way to the foodcourt we encountered the mace that was the talk on the news last night. We saw a stream of people coughing and trotting away from the court, but we thought they were just being silly. Adam said jokingly, "maybe we shouldn't go down here". As I walked ahead in warp Jessica speed I encountered an invisible fog of mace. I must have been tyring to breathe in the sugar and flour that the food court offered, since I knew I wouldn't be eating it with my diet, because I was immediately coughing and inwardly screaming "my eyes, my eyes!". The look on the non-coughers faces as they looked at the coughers was funny because they had this "what is going on?" look and then slowly the look of panic came over them as they too started coughing. Adam said, "it's mace!".

Adam only mildly inflicted with a burning throat bought me a drink so I could end the agony that is mace, which I drank nearly in full within 30 seconds. As we walked through the mall the coughing echoed upstairs and down as everyone moved away from the court. As we approached the complete other end of the mall I was surprised to find people coughing yet again. I knew we were one of the first to encounter the mace and to Adam's credit he was right in guessing that the ventilation system carried it to the other side. It was then my eyes burned again and the inside of my nose. It reminded me of last Christmas when Chandler and Adam opened a jar of habanero peppers we previously had for 3 years. I was not stupid enough to try them but someone was stupid enough to not be cafelful with the juice from the jar and it ended up on my steering wheel. It gave a whole new meaning to a burning stare, which I did give to those resposible. That stuff was so strong that even days after I couldn't put my fingers near my mouth or it would burn. Adam tested this by biting my nail so he can attest to its truth.

We ate in Ruby Tuesday's and watched as firemen and policmen entered (or infiltrated I should say) the mall. They stopped some teenagers (which I can only assume are the ones that were later arrested) from leaving, but we didn't see any real altercations. I felt so bad for people who worked in the food court or were eating there with children and there were all these cute dogs having their pictures made with Santa. The news said it wasn't normal mace, but something equivilent to police issue. That makes sense because even my lips were burning well after the incident. So there. That was our exciting adventure.

Hello, my name is Jessica and I am an Oprah fan.

There I admitted it. I tivo her show and watch is most days. While I don't agree with everything on the show and I have been known to change the channel to watch a rerun of Gilmore Girls, I would say I am an enthusiast fan. I am not a member of her book club and I have never read her magazine. I don't think I would cry upon her entrance if I were in the audience, but I do "impart" the knowledge I gain from watching the show to my friends and family. Last week, she had Drs. Oz and Roisen on the show talking about their new book "You on a Diet". A friend and I anxiously awaited the episode just knowing that it would be the answer to all our problems. It suggested that if you follow the plan (which is basically this: eat healthy and stop being such a pig) you will trim 2 inches off your waist and drop one size in 10 days. We immediately called Barnes and Noble to find out if they had the book. We waited too long to go get it and now no one is Jackson has it. Of course, I made my friend ask most of the people in the stores we visited because I was embarrassed. Why did my turn have to come in Lemuria Bookstore? They were nice (though I did hear some snickers from other customers) but I would have to say that I think I was the first person ever to request this book and mention that I saw it on Oprah. I sort of wispered it like I was in a pharmacy getting some sort of medicine filled for a fungus (which, by the way, I have NEVER had to do) They had one copy somewhere and the guy really tried to find it as we waited trying to look cool and pretend we were waiting on a book about modern art, but our cover was blown as the he yelled from the ladder that he was looking for a book on Oprah about a diet. We never found the book, but we dutifully shopped for no sugar added items and things without enriched flour. It is hard to find things like this in a box or can.

It has been three and a half days, and as promised, I am feeling more energetic. I still don't have the book and I am thinking I may not need it. How weird since last Thursday I just had to have it to go on living. I guess that is what thinking through your purchases does to you. I am happy to report that I have lost 6.5 pounds since Monday. I must have been consuming a very large amount of sugar before, because this seems like a larger amount that I would expect. No complaints though. I might not have said that on Monday when I was watching Oprah in the dark passed out on the couch from lack of sugar. It takes a few days to feel pretty good and I can only assume it gets better. I am still convinced that it does take some calorie watching even on this. To quote my friend, "We are on a diet but we are buying pizza, pasta, and chips?" (Harvest Wheat Digornio, Multi-grain Tostitos, and whole wheat pasta)

I will let you know how it goes. I did find a really cool site about healthy foods.

Jessica

First Tub Bath

We waited a while because our tub/shower doors are pretty inconvenient. This was taken at my mom's house.

A New Leaf

Adam and I are trying something new. We are attempting to cook more. It is so easy to go to Wendy's. Why cook? We are doing this to be healthier so I am telling myself to not worry so much about how much cooking costs. I am going to be reasonable though. I don't like to cook complicated things so most of the recipes are pretty easy and have few ingredients. I am not in to buy a new $5 spice every day.

On Saturday, my mom kept Sydney for the morning and Adam and I cleaned all morning. We really had the house looking nice and we vowed to keep it that way. It was going well the first few days. Yesterday, however, was a bad day. The electricity was out for most of the evening so as we were fumbling around in the dark trying to keep Sydney occupied we let things get out of control. I went to the grocery in hopes that they power would be restored, but I was greeted by tons of rain and a dark house. With one dinky flashlight we tried to put away the cold stuff and then packed the baby to go to my mom's house. Why she had power and we did not I don't understand. She lives on the same street. (This also perplexed me during Katrina when our power was out for two weeks and hers was fine after 5 or 6 days) Our power was on after an hour, but I didn't want to move the baby again so Adam and I planned to spend the night. While he played raquetball at the gym I went home to clean the house and get it functioning again. After 10 minutes the lights went out again! I gathered my things and left. Thankfully, Sydney slept all night but woke early. My mom must have heard her earlier than I did because as I walked down stairs to get the bottle (at 5:30 AM) she had one ready. Nice. I like room service. My mom started reading excerpt from the book "Weigh Down". At 5:30 in the morning. The last thing I need is guilt over eating the Snappy Turtle from Bops that Adam brought home after the gym. What happened to eating healthy?

I vow to go to the gym to do weights, walk at some point today, cook one of the meal I planned out tonight, and clean the house until it is back to where it was on Saturday. I will update you with my progress.

The Wedding

Adam's brother, Brian, was married the other weekend. It was a fun wedding and we are glad to add another girl to the family (Danielle). Speaking of girls, Adam was more than willing to assist Sydney in dancing during an all girl dance.

Bathing Suit

lounging0
Originally uploaded by adammichaelwhite.

Don't you love the hair?

Bath Time Photos