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this is what i do. i work, i come home, i eat, i sleep a little and i have this two year old who talks constantly.  i'm currently hearing "come on mommy, watch tv".  and it's always "my turn" or "madilyn do it".  we throw tantrums, laugh at silly things, and are always asking for chocolate milk or candy or cereal or pancakes....

madilyn is IN my classroom at daycare now.  that means that i see her from the time she wakes up (sometimes a few times a night!) until the time i put her to bed.  nice and frustrating at the same time.  she is good at home but the rules at school are different.  she's above them in her mind since her mommy's there. 

yesterday madilyn told me that "madilyn big trouble, go to time out".  i'm not sure what she did since she was sitting in her car seat but it must have been bad.  

she's also started telling me that she has a sick belly about 20 minutes into a car ride.  this could be trouble.

our biggest issue is leaving.  she will not put her coat on to go anywhere. frustrating.

her answer to the question: what's in mommy's belly?  is "baby brudder in there".   yep.  she's going to be a big sister.  i guess we'll find out if she's getting a brudder or not in a month or so. 

that's about all the exciting stuff happening for us.  except for the fact that i was in california for a conference in october.  that was nice.  a week to myself. madilyn spent the week with grandma and grandpa and didn't really seem to mind that i was gone. neither did justin. oh well.

Tomorrow is the day!

Madilyn turns one year old tomorrow.
I can't believe how fast the time has gone. I started with a tiny baby who was 5 lbs when I brought her home. Now I have a 20lb one year old who walks and talks (not well...) and has three teeth.

I love my little toddler but I really miss that baby. For weeks I've been going through her pictures and remembering how small she was when she wore preemie diapers and preemie outfits.

Now she feeds herself for the most part and only nurses between 7pm and 6am. (somewhere between one and 3 times). She drinks whole milk and throws her food on the floor. She thinks she's funny and has a fake laugh to prove it.

I miss my baby.

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so madilyn has been doing a lot of growing recently.

she started crawling at 6.5 months and pulling herself up shortly thereafter.

she finally got two teeth at 8.5 months.

today at 9.5 months old, madilyn took several steps alone.

Madilyn is six months old today.

So far we've mastered rolling, sitting, pivoting on the floor and push ups. It won't be long before she's crawling away.

She gets very excited when she sees the cats. She puts both hands out and shakes them and makes grunting noises. The big cat gets up and gets the hell out of there. The small cat usually sits still for a while. She doesn't get up and leave until Madilyn pulls on her ear. The cat is a patient beast.

Currently she's sitting in her exersaucer grunting so I will look at her. Then she smiles at me because she knows she got my attention. It's too cute.

Being a mommy is fun. (mostly).

We haven't been updating lately... oops.

My days are as busy as ever. In a minute I will get very long-winded and rambly. You were warned.

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We have a tooth!!

Madilyn is cutting her first tooth. It's on the bottom in the front. Her tooth is a sharp little white speck right now. I'm sure it will get sharper in the next few days. YAY teeth!

what a good weekend. madilyn and i were busy most of last week at work/daycare (same place).

it was nice to have her all to ourselves this weekend. although saturday night madilyn decided she did not want to sleep and was up and nursing most of the night. she also didn't take very long naps on sunday. oh well.. i can't complain, she's been sleeping in 6 hour intervals at night lately.

we took tons of pictures this weekend.
i thought i would share a few. as always, they are located here.

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i'm sick again.

i can't take this winter. i've been sick on and off since november. i had a sinus infection when madilyn was born in november and probably 4 more times since then. now i have strep throat. yay!

hopefully the baby won't get any of my sickness. she's been lucky so far. right now she's trying to cram her whole fist into her mouth. it's silly. she can't figure out how to get her thumb in there. i'd really rather her not be a thumb sucker, but it's cute to watch her figure out where things are.

and in not-so-cute news, madilyn crapped the bed this morning. i put her in my bed to change her diaper. ooops silly mommy took the diaper off too soon and silly baby angled her self in a funny way. pooped on mommy's leg and on the sheets. thank the lord for mattress pads!

this weekend we are going to visit grandma and grandpa. woo hoo!! since i'm not allowed to go to work today, i'll be spending the day doing laundry (5 loads.... that's not too bad, right?). i'll also be doing the dishes and packing our things. since i've been back to work our house had gotten very messy. every room is a mess in some way and needs cleaned. there isn't anythign on the floors (except the laundry i have sorted). they just need swept and vacuumed. all the tables are covered with paper and stuff. every surface is dusty and the cats don't help much. they get all the chairs and rugs hairy.
so it's not really that bad... except the bathroom. it's really gross when you go to brush your teeth and there are dirty cat footprints in the sink. they are also in the tub. yuck.

it sounds like my laundry is done... woo hoo. time to wash the poopy bedding.

justin is on the naughty list now.

it's 11pm and he woke me up to move madilyn over in bed. we were both sleeping!! i was actually sleeping good for once. we laid down at 8. now i'm up pumping a bottle and packing a lunch. he better hope she keeps sleeping or he's gonna be in trouble.

i still can't believe he woke me up... all i ever get is short naps!!

grrr.. today is the day that i understand separate bedrooms.

so an update...

i started a new job. i no longer work with delinquents in a group home. now i work with two year olds in a day care.. better? you bet.

i play most of the day and whenever i get a break, i walk down the hall two rooms to the infant room and see my daughter.

i no longer work weekends (with the exception of feb. 4th, we have a training). i no longer work 2nd or 3rd shift. it's great.

i'm home every evening to see my husband and put my daughter to bed. i get a discount on day care for madilyn and spend lots of quality time with her. the ladies in the infant room are very nice and do exactly what i tell them to do in terms of feedings, naps and diaper changes.

i don't get paid very much money, but it's something. i get out of the house and i have a fun job for the most part.

the biggest drawback (apart from the lack of pay), is the fact that the kids are always sick! two weeks ago it was pink eye. and yes, i'm a hypochondriac when you mention an illness. i swore i had pink eye yesterday morning.. it was just sleepies.

the steelers are in the superbowl this year. my little lucky charm was wearing her steelers onesie. she'll be doing the same on feb. 4th!

uh oh. she's up from her nappy. just in time to eat and get ready for our big day.

it seems like my skinny little girl is beginning to enter the chunky stage of her life. either that or it just looks that way because she was sooo tiny to begin with.

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madilyn went to her first party on new year's eve. she slept for most of it but at 11:30pm she woke up to eat and get a kiss from mommy and daddy at midnight. daddy also had to wake up for a kiss. that's right, justin fell asleep at a new year's party. at someone else's house. with lots of people there. OLD!

1) Was 2005 a good year for you?
it was a year of extremes.

2) What was your favorite moment of the year?
when my daughter was born

3) What was your least favorite moment of the year?
brooke's funeral

4) Where were you when 2005 began?
at the hoover's new year's party.

5) Who were you with?
the whole town was there.

6) Where will you be when 2005 ends?
the hoover's new year's party.

7) Who will you be with when 2005 ends?
the whole town will be there again.

8) Did you keep your new years resolution of 2005?
i didn't make a resolution.

9) Do you have a new years resolution for 2006?
i wont' make one this time either.

10) Did you fall in love in 2005?
yep.

11) If yes, with who?
my daughter and brand new husband.

12) If yes, do they know?
i certainly hope so.

14) You regret it?
Nope

15) Did you breakup with anyone in 2005?
Nope.

16) Did you make any new friends in 2005?
not that i can remember

17) Who are your favorite new friends?

18) What was your favorite month of 2005?
november when madilyn was born

19) Did you travel outside of the US in 2005?
no.

20) How many different states did you travel to in 2005?
none. i think madilyn and i stayed in state all year.

21) Did you lose anybody close to you in 2005?
our neighbor bill and justin's cousin brooke.

22) Did you miss anybody in the past year?
everyone.

23) What was your favorite movie that you saw in 2005?
batman begins. i didn't watch movies when i was pregnant because i couldn't sit through them.

24) What was your favorite song from 2005?
anything on the new system of a down cd

25) What was your favorite record from 2005?

26) How many concerts did you see in 2005?
zero.

27) Did you have a favorite concert in 2005?
no.

28) did you drink a lot of alchohol in 2005?
i'm not sure if i had any.

29) did you do a lot of drugs in 2005?
no.

30) How many people did you sleep with in 2005?
just my husband, hence the daughter.

31) Did you do anything you are ashamed of this year?
i didn't have the opportunity.

33) What was the worst lie someone told you in 2005?
everything anyone told me was the truth!

34) Did you treat somebody badly in 2005?
not on purpose.

35) Did somebody treat you badly in 2005?
i dont' think so. if they did, i don't remember.

36) How much money did you spend in 2005?
more than we made.

37) What was your proudest moment of 2005?
marrying my husband or having my daughter.

38) What was your most embarrassing moment of 2005?
let's see... there was the time when i peed my pants. or the time when i thought i peed my pants. or the insane amounts of gas a pregnant lady has. or when i was playing stomp dance with the girls (boys) and lost my mucus plug. or the whole delivery thing... but only justin witnessed that and i really didn't care at the time.

39) If you could go back in time to any moment of 2005 and change something, what would it be?
we probably would have saved more money.

40) What are your plans for 2006?
love my husband, raise my daughter, start a new job, and hopefully get pregnant again near the end of the year.

so i may or may not have a new job.
we'll see how things go on monday. i'm really hoping this works out because i'd never have to worry about day care for madilyn and we'd have weekends off so we'd actually get to see daddy!

maternity leave is excellent. i'd never go to work again if i didn't have to.

yesterday was madilyn's due date. today she is 4 weeks old. luckily she came on a day when there was no snow. last night we accumulated nearly 10 inches.

madilyn has been sleeping in the bed with us lately. it's just so much easier than getting up to nurse her. the only downside was yesterday morning when she peed the bed. not once, but twice. the first time was totally my fault. i'm a bad mommy. i fell asleep after one of her many feedings and forgot to change her diaper. i woke up to her fussing because her entire outfit was wet. crap. i suck. then an hour later, she did the same thing. that time it wasn't my fault. she was just being spiteful.

since it has been so cold outside, we've been staying inside all the time. we're getting pretty good at watching tv, doing laundry, eating, playing playstation, and sitting around in general.

She's here!!

Madilyn Grace was born 11-11-05 at 7:54pm.
She weighed 5 lbs 7oz and was 17.5 inches long.

She was in a big hurry apparently. She was almost a month early and was born in 5 hours. She only made mommy push for 45 minutes.

Two days later and mommy, daddy and baby are all home and doing fine.

these cats are trying to sabotage me.

i just did some laundry and i lay it all on the bed once it comes out of the drier. once everything is dry, i put it all away. the big cat was laying on the t-shirts. i kicked her off of there.

the small one was "sleeping". apparently between my trips down to the washer and drier, she found the time to completely chew off one of the straps of my maternity tank tops. what a bastard. of course i can't even find the piece she chewed off to sew it back on.

they must be getting mad that the baby is coming soon.

so my car is fine.
it runs and there is just a crack in the bumper.

justin said there's other things wrong with it but nothing really serious.

i also got a bonus check at work today. now i feel better about my stupid job.

i just got home... i ate cereal at work and now i'm STARVING again. STARVING!!!!

So this week I'm scheduled to work some overnights. (CRAP) The first overnight, I never get any sleep. It's terrible but it's how I function. So Monday night it's raining and I go into work at midnight. Sometime overnight it decided to snow. There was seriously an inch of very heavy snow on my car when I left work at 8am.

So I'm driving home, thankful that I still have my winter tires on my car from last winter (LAZY). Halfway home, my car decides it hates me and I start to lose control. To make a long story short, I ended up sliding sideways across traffic (there was no traffic, and no plowing) and slammed into a bank. Then my back tires went up over the bank leaving my car stuck in a ditch.

Well that sucks. I tried forward, nothing. Reverse, nothing. Okay. I'm stuck. So I call Justin and he comes to pick me up.

And since I'm seven months pregnant, he makes me go to the hospital. CRAP!

So we go home and find out that the car is being towed. Some cop showed up and was looking for a body. (Where was he the 45 minutes I sat there waiting for Justin?) I shower and we head BACK to Johnstown to the hospital (umm.. 45 mins for Justin to get me home, then 45 mins back to the hospital, that sucks).

I guess we got there around 11am and they took me up to labor and delivery and hooked me up the the fetal monitors. Everything looked good with baby. I had an ultrasound, blood work, a urine screen.. this was all before 12:30. So when I get back from ultrasound, they decide that I'm having contractions every seven minutes and I'm 1cm dialated. The contractions weren't painful. They are normal. I'm pregnant and that's just what happens. So they gave me tons of fluids - 4 bags!! and three shots of stuff to make the contractions stop. I finally got released at 6pm. 6pm!!!! for nothing! The baby was fine!

I was very disgruntled since neither Justin or I had anything to eat since breakfast. That's twelve hours of no food! AND since I worked the night before, I got no sleep.

Today the plan is to go retrieve my car from the salvage yard and see how much damage I did. Hopefully I'll be able to drive it to work tonight. Otherwise I'm banished to driving the sunbird again.

it's sad when the only things that interest me are articles about food.

last night i think justin was trying to poison me. i could be wrong but here's what happened.
on sunday we went to the steelers game and justin packed us a lunch. it was excellent. chips, sandwiches, soda, oreos. the oreos were in a little ziploc baggie i ate a few, he ate a few. we brought the rest home. last night i decided i would eat the rest because i'm a huge pig. so i sat down with some milk and dunked the first one and devoured it. then i pulled the second one out and it looked weird. it was all hairy and dusty. very gross. ( it was so hairy that we probably should have named it.) so i went and showed justin the oreo in question and his response was this: "that must have been the one i dropped... i thought i ate all those" there are so many things wrong with that. then to top it off, he never seal the bag the rest of the untainted oreos were in so they were all stale. i lose.

the steeler game was pretty fun. it was hot and sweaty and someone there smelled like bologna. haha.

so this pregnancy thing is going alright. we're at 30 weeks this week. so only about 10 more to go if she comes on her due date. i've gained a considerable amount of weight. i almost weigh the same as justin now. which is really fun because when he lays down i sit on him and he screams. i've heard "you're like a beached whale" more than i'd ever thought possible. surprisingly enough, it didn't make me cry.

we got our bedroom and nursery painted last week. justin's dad did a really nice job. i'm hoping justin will get his act together and move the bed back in there. it's the only dark room in the house and i have five overnights this week starting tonight. i need to get a nap. last time i had overnights there was too much going on and i didn't get enough sleep. this time people need to stay away for the week. that would be nice. i guess archery hunting starts on saturday so justin should be gone allll day. it will be very quiet.

i can't think of anything else... except spaghetti. i guess i should have some of that.