Voyages in Parenthood

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What a beautiful weekend we had here! It was sunny and warm-to-hot this weekend, perfect for spending most of our time outside! We went to a bbq on Sunday (thanks to the Durhams) and spent today playing outside in our NEW sand box! Yep, Mama went out and bought the kid a sand box (don't worry, it's got a lid...no kitty litter box in the back yard for us!) This is the second time we were in the sandbox...the first time we were in our little skort outfit that Daddy dressed us in this morning. Then Mama realized that it would be easier to hose her off if she was in her bathing suit! We did a LOT of hosing off today! Leda was loving it! It really was a great weekend. Leda's doing a lot of neat things now...she climbed up on the couch tonight without our help...the first time she's done that! Of course, her Mama and Daddy sat on the other couch and laughed at her as she got frustrated (hey, it was funny! Besides, it just made her try harder!) I'll have to find some time ...

I found a video of Leda from Christmas Day that I just thought was too cute to not post to the video blog, so it's there now. And yes, that would be the dog in the background, watching TV...how we got a dog that watches TV and a kid that doesn't is beyond me! Flashback: Christmas Day 2005

The video is up! Leda and Daddy play with the hose Leda drinks from the fountain

Here's my finished project - my "buddha garden." It's a big hit with the kid and dog! I am a little unhappy with the big empty space behind the fountain. I think I am going to be looking for something to hang there. The "trellis" idea didn't turn out the way I expected. Of course, it's early in the season! I guess we can always hope the ivy and the black eyed susan viney thing might grow fast enough to take up that area. Ha! Anyway, as I said, it's a hit with the kid and the dog. Duff has already partaken of a nice cool drink on a hot day. Apparently, the kid thought it was a good idea... Don't worry, no chemicals were added. She then decided it was time to drink out of the hose...she ended up getting mostly soakin wet! Oh, and there are videos! Will probably be a day or two before they are up!

What a boring blog this has become! I've been too darn tired to update it in the past week. Chasing a one year old is tiring, especially on your own! As of this afternoon, however, I am no longer a single parent, YAHOO! One Lap is over and Brock is home. Of course, he goes off to do poll watching all day tomorrow into the evening, so, again, tomorrow evening, I am a single parent...actually, tonight, I was too (although Brock did make dinner before he headed out to his meeting!) But Wednesday! Woo Hoo... I think I might go out shopping and leave baby home with daddy! ;-) I did finish my fountain project this weekend. Barely in time for the torrential downpours we have had in the past couple of days, so I didn't get any finished pictures...will have to post that later in the week when it is nice out enough to take some pics. So, really, sorry for the boring site, but being tired and busy doesn't give me much time for being creative! I promise, I will post something fun soon!

I can't believe I am wasting this hour of my life watching David Blaine try to drowned himself. Dude, this guy's got a death wish. And, that music they are playing in the background...dude, so cheesy. I seriously can't believe I have been sucked into this...okay, he's out, it's fine, he's alive...he has just waved to the crowd! I think this is probably the worst waste of my time since watching Barry Manilow on Dancing with the Stars on a Friday night ! And, yet, I feel good that he didn't die. But, dude, enough with the stunts that could get you killed. Geez.

Half from Mama and Daddy, the other half from 'Uncle' Chris! (Thanks, Chris!)... Notice, she's already drooled on it! She is loving the chair... And Mama likes it better than the folding chair that she was playing with since she got it for her birthday...it's a lovely chair, but a little unstable for inside...much better for outside in the nice soft grass! This one she can climb into all on her own, she can sit there and drink her juice, and as you could see in the first photo, her little people can rest in the corners! Show Off!

I remember visiting Lucy when I was a kid when we would go to the shore with my Nani and Poppie...I can't wait to take Leda to see her...hopefully she can make it until then... I just heard she was hit by lightening over the weekend and it caused $35,000 damage! And, I think I heard last week that there is some dispute about some money (duh!) and that there was a threat to take Lucy "on the road?" Can you imagine? A six-story elephant rolling on down the highway?? Talk about seeing pink elephants!

Two years ago, when I quit smoking, I started "gardening." I started a patio pond, with fish and a water lily , and I started planting containers (hanging baskets mostly). I did plant some in the "garden" we have around the patio, but I tend to leave that up to Brock (I gotta have someone to blame if it looks bad! ;-) Well, last year, I didn't add fish to my patio pond, and, in all honesty, it really didn't get enough attention as I was dealing more with the infant we had in the house at the time than the outdoor beautification of the house. This year, with a toddler (it kinda scares me a little to call my BARELY ONE YEAR OLD a toddler, but, basically, that's what she is!) I decided a patio pond wouldn't be prudent - with the possibilities of drowning and all (not to mention all the wonderful things that might make it into the water other than the kid, like toys, rocks, sippy cups, etc!). But, I really liked the sound of flowing water out on our pati...

Only two days in (actually, Brock left yesterday morning) to a two week single parenthood and I am exhausted! Of course, that could be because Leda's been a bit clingly with me as of late (like three weeks! Geez!) and won't let me do anything without trying to hang from my pants until I pick her up...nope, that can't be it...it must have been the bath I had to give her tonight, by myself. Nope, can't be that...must be the talking in her sleep at 4 and 5 o'clock in the morning. Yes, I do believe the kid, she takes after her daddy and talks in her sleep! I heard her babbling away in her room around 5 (a whole HOUR before my alarm was to go off) and I lay there praying for her to go back to sleep...she babbled on and off for the next two hours. I figured, around 6:30 I could jump in the shower and she'd be okay. Not a peep out of her...about 5 minutes after I got out of the shower, I heard her babble again. I went in not a whole 5 minutes later and the kid, she was...

Over at the Yates' Video Blog ...

ONE WHOLE YEAR OLD TODAY!!! Happy Birthday to Leda! A year ago today, Leda entered our lives. She became real - a tangible after 9 months of wondering what was going on in there! I was scheduled to be induced a year ago today. We were trying to force Leda out so that Brock could be here for her birth, as One Lap was to start at the end of the week. We'd been trying to get into the hospital since the previous Wednesday, but weren't having much luck! They were too busy and elective inducements were low on the priority list! We heard stories of a woman who went in to be induced and was taken off the drugs and sent home, they were so busy! So, Sunday, the 24th, we went to bed wondering if when we called the hospital the next morning at 7am if they would tell us they couldn't take us then, that we would have to reschedule for Tuesday. I wasn't nervous...not like I thought I would be. I was pretty calm, as calm as a 6 day over due pregnant woman would be when realizing her hu...

When I got pregnant and we figured out we were having the baby so close to One Lap (Brock's once a year, gotta be gone for two weeks, adventure), we were nervous. Then, I realized, we were having a Spring baby...wow, wouldn't it be nice to have a baby in the spring? All the flowers and trees blooming, it will be generally warm. A birthday party outside! What I failed to realize was we were having a baby born in the springtime. Springtime in the northeast can be unpredictable - it can rain, it can be cold, it may snow, it can be warm, it can be sunny, it can be all of these things ON ONE DAY! Now, not that it was that bad on Saturday (just really heavy down pours...yeah, heavy enough that last week, we were headed for drought...this week, ain't so worried about drought no more!) But when you are expecting 40 + people, and 10 or more of those people are kids, and you have a small house, you can bet that it was looking pretty darned bad! It turned out to be pretty darned okay!...

And boy, does it need it! Let's see, in the past two and a half weeks we have entertained the Lillys by taking them to Philly for a day, drove to Wash DC area and visited with friends Dave and Judy in the morning, met up with the rest of the Yates family and headed over to the Wendels for Easter dinner, spent a day touring the Capital Building and the Supreme Court, ate a little Asian Fusion for dinner, toured the Air and Space Museum, saw Monets, Manets, Renoirs, etc at the National Art Gallery, saw the Hope Diamond at the Natural History museum, drove home, cleaned house, had Lillys and Sweats for dinner, then made sure the Lillys made it to the airport on time, entertained the Sweats for dinner and then had 40+ of our closest friends and family over for a party to celebrate Leda's First Birthday...Whew! We had a lot of fun along the way. We took lots of pictures (of some of the stuff (Wash DC, not so much of some other stuff (Leda's birthday party)! We expect lots of pic...

We are back from our three days in DC with the Yates clan and are busy getting ready for Leda's First Birthday Party! We are not quite prepared for the onslaught of family that this house will see starting tomorrow night, so probably won't post much in the next couple of days. Besides, most of the people who read this blog are on their way here! ;-) hehehe All of you others, will have to wait until I have a free moment that I am not using to sleep or use the restroom! ;-) Cheers!

On a sunny spring day... click to go see more!

It's been crazy around here for a few days or so. I spent most of the weekend cleaning house to prepare for the invasion...the invasion of Lillys'! Yes, the Lillys have arrived for a few days before they head off to places south (Williamsburg and DC) We will join them in DC on Sunday for a few days. Get to visit with the VA Wendels on Sunday (talk about invasion...most all the Yates will invade the Wendels! And, they invited it! Crazy! ;-) hehehe Anyway, it's been a busy week or so. Leda is getting used to her cousins and Aunt and Uncle. She's pretty tired. But she got to go to see the Liberty Bell today with her Daddy and Aunt and Uncle and cousins (Mama had to work!) Hopefully she'll have as much fun down in the Nation's capital! And, next weekend, more family and friends to help us celebrate Leda's first birthday! Wow! What a busy couple of weeks. Hopefully I can up date this blog soon! It's starting to get a little stale! ;-)

Just saw a preview for the final XMen movie (well, you never know, it may not be the last one at that!) Not that I was a huge XMen fan (in fact, not sure I ever saw the first one all the way through and am pretty sure I haven't seen any other XMen movie) but I am a HUGE Hugh Jackman fan...I don't care if he's got more hair on his face than usual...he's hot! ;-)

Well, we have (are) experienced our first ear infection! It's not bad, but bad enough that Leda's had a fever for two days, has been miserable (on and off...I have to say, she deals with being sick much better than her daddy or I ever do!) and, on top of that, she's got two more molars coming in. The molars are the reason why we didn't do anything right away...the fever appeared on tue evening, but we knew that the teeth were coming in. So, we just assumed that the fever was because of the teeth. When she woke up this morning with a temp over 102, Brock called the doc and took her in for a little looksee. Turns out, just a little infection. So, we have some amoxicillin for the infection. She's a little lethargic, a little tired. Hopefully the temp will be down soon and she'll be back to her usual happy little self tomorrow!