I need cake!

Baby is talking more and more. It's so fun! She attended her first wedding on Saturday and she said 2 things that just makes it clear she is my daughter:

I need cake!

I need dance!

Ha ha! I told her I needed cake, too, so we promptly shared 1 piece of chocolate and 1 piece of white. Yumm-y. Then we danced it all off. What fun!

Baby is spending a few days with grandparents. Lucky Baby. Lucky Momma! I've treated myself to a little shopping and a matinee. I also had time to plan our summer vacation. We are going to Denmark! Just me and Baby. Yeah. I know. I'm delusional about international travel with a 2 year old, but I'm just gonna do it. I think this whole Iraq thing has given me a lot of (false?) confidence about what I can manage. At any rate, we have round trip tickets for 2. For those of you who don't know, my brother lives there so it isn't a total random destination.

Aaaannnnddddd....it looks like Hubby will get to come home on a 2 week pass at the end of April! Whoo hoo! What a happy day.

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So, pretty much since I'm mostly my own companion (me and Baby), I have running blog thoughts throughout the days. But naturally when I sit down to write, all the witty comments have been sucked dry by the mommy brain. I wanted to post the other day with the title of "Happy" but something happened, I got tired, or I forgot, or something. But I do remember that I was Happy. And I wanted to write about it. For a variety of reasons. One, because, well, when you're happy, you usually want others to know. And two, because on some level I feel guilty for being happy. I feel like I'm supposed to wallow around in a deep pit of unhappiness and sack cloth until Hubby comes home. But that sounds depressing to me. So, instead I fill my days up with happy things. And Baby makes me very, very happy. Everyday I ask her what her favorite thing of the day was. I always choose a moment when we were together (like I have any other moments to choose from!!!). Today my favorite moment was sharing a picnic at the Arboretum. I don't suppose I really need to elaborate on what it's like to spend a day with a 2 year old since most of the folks who read this just spent their own day with a two year old. But isn't it fun (a lot of the time, maybe not all of the time)? And it makes me happy. I like it when I crack the code. You know...the one where only YOU (Momma) knows what your baby wants when she says, "mor arnge peas". Seriously. I'm strengthening my resume in the critical thinking/problem solving area. SAHMs should really use that one when trying to get back into the workforce. Which gives me an idea...perhaps I'll become an independent career consultant to women wanting to re-enter work after being out a few years. Not a bad idea. I'll thank my career counselor for that! But back to spending the day with a two year old. There's a lot about that that can make you happy.

Another blog post title is "What in the heck did I even do all day?!". Which is easily answered above (spent the day with a two year old). But sometimes I wonder...seriously. What did I do? I sure can tell you what I didn't do: clean the coffee pot, put away laundry, file, clean up the picnic, unpack the car (from just about any trip), rinse out my coffee cup, throw out the newspaper. I did at least feed us all (including the animals) and bathe us (just the girls, not the animals). And I sang a lot of songs. And read a few books (Baby's not mine). And chased a little girl and took about a million photos. I didn't nap. But I did spend an hour talking with Hubby. I made a tower from blocks and watched Elmo Loves Me. And I got suckered in to spending way too much time on Facebook. Ug. I hate FB. What a waste of time (check FB for pics from today...ha ha ha!). And now, here it is. Time for bed (well, past time for me. I'm really a granny at heart). So. Down with today, onward with tomorrow. I've concluded it's OK for me to be happy, and who cares what I do all day? If I'm happy and all my time is sucked away by my daughter, what in the world could be wrong with that?

A few pics...practicing with props for what the "real" photographer will do next weekend.

This and that

We've been having a good weekend. Although I'm currently listening to Baby cry/whine herself to sleep. Up until about, oh, 3 hours ago I thought I had this motherhood thing down. Ah, such is life. I think maybe she just got overtired from all our weekend fun (really? overtired? what even is that? I use it a lot as an excuse for her behavior, but really...maybe she is just 2).

So, big activities! Yesterday Baby went to her first parade and she loved it. She got to high five a monkey and even caught some beads! Then she got to spend the evening playing at her friend's house while I got to go to dinner with the friend's mommy. Nice.

Mmm...I'm noticing a trend. I think I know it all about mothering when I'm not actually mothering (such as out with a friend). Ha ha, I am a hoot.

Here are some random fun things. Baby absolutely loves to ride in Daddy's truck and talks about it all the time. She has a recent fascination with umbrellas (could it be because of all the rain?). She likes to wear about a dozen hair clips at a time. She hit me in the face and screamed no when I told her I had to change her dirty diaper (time out for that one, only I've noticed that time out

is losing it's effectiveness. Gotta find a new trick). She put monkey stickers over flat daddy's

eyes and nose. She ate 3 bowls of oatmeal yesterday. She is growing up so fast and it is astounding, fun, and heartbreaking all at the same time. Heartbreaking b/c Hubby isn't here to see.

What, what's that I hear? Nothing. The sweet sound of silence!

PS: Random fun pic reminds me that our 'fridge is being recalled. It seems that it might randomly catch fire! *Sigh* Something else fun to deal with.

It's all good

Just to alleviate concerns from all those dear to us, Hubby phoned home this morning! Yeah! On a mission (figures). Guess he does have a job and all to do. The whole not knowing thing is tough. Anywho. Just FYI.

No news is good news?

Or at least not bad news, right? So this whole time Hubby has been gone, I've heard from almost daily. Or I knew I wouldn't hear from him for a few days. And you may remember a previous post not too long ago about not worrying. Yeah. Right. I haven't heard a thing since Thursday (our anniversary). Which I guess isn't really that long, but I sure would like to hear from him. Ah. But what to do? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I can't do a thing about it. So, I just have to go on and keep living. Oh, and praying. I'm so over this whole The Iraq thing. It has gone on long enough, but the chain says there is still 170+ days left. Which does sound quite better than 300+, but still.

On another note, I have a babysitter! Finally. Found her at good 'ole work. Walked through my office looking for a "real" job and wound up with another baby sitting job. I'll throw in some career counseling for free. OK, seriously, I will help her find a job, but in the meantime, she will be at my house every Tuesday evening b/t 5 and 7. Yippee! I feel simply luxurious. After Baby went to bed, I didn't have to make lunch, clean the kitchen, or anything! I can just relax. Ah.

Hubby, if you're out there, phone home!

I made a mistake

I went to the new Whole Foods without a list. Logic would dictate that if you don't have a list, you actually don't need anything. And I agree. So, you may wonder why I went to the store. It just opened a few days ago, and I wanted to check it out and get lunch. 60 bucks later, I had my lunch and a whole lot of organic goodies for Baby to enjoy, or as it will probably go, spit out of her mouth. A mom can try, right? Lunch was yummy at any rate.

Ha ha. Here's a funny. I drove Hubby's huge 'ole honkin' gas guzzler truck to my yoga class and then to my organic shopping. An anomaly, for sure. I even gassed her up on the way home, which got me thinking, is she due for an oil change? Hmmm.

God spoke to me!

Ok, so, maybe not in the dramatic way you hear about in the Old Testament. But still...yesterday was our anniversary (happy anniversary, Hubby!), and the scripture in my daily devotional was one that we had read at our wedding!

As God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Colossians 3:12 (NIV).

So, I chose to believe that this was a way of God telling me that He knows me, and He knows the struggles of being a part, He knows the deep loneliness that I feel. And that He created me for Hubby and Hubby for me and we will be together again, amen. Don't you agree? Too much to be "just" a coincidence.

So, you may ask how we celebrated this special day. I'm happy to report we got to talk early, before I headed to work. And he sent flowers! Man, I'm starting to think I get more attention when he's over there in The Iraq (ha ha ha). After work there was happy hour with the office and dinner with a couple of my lovely lady friends who attended at our wedding (luv ya, girls!). Topped off with a mani/pedi today. Not how I would typically plan to celebrate an anniversary, but not bad.

I've managed to keep busy, and I've gotten caught up with a number of projects, but I sure do miss Baby! I'm looking forward to having her home soon.

Already lonely

I miss my baby! It's been about 2 hours and the house is so quiet. Too quiet. I tried to take a nap but the concept was just too foreign, and the house too quiet. So, I had to get up and get to that "to do" list I have for my springbreakfrombaby. I've already taken Weenie the dog to get her nails done and for her annual vet checkup. And I drove Hubby's truck. Gotta start driving that huge honkin' thing now that Dad (my Dad, that is) put a new battery in it. Don't worry, Hubby! I'll keep it running for you.

Ah...mmmm. I know the time will pass (probably too quickly), but it will be nice to have those little feet running around the house again! With that sweet little voice saying "get you, get you"!

Alright. Gotta go get to the rest of that to do list. Or maybe I'll just lie about for awhile eating leftover birthday cake, drinking coke, and watching TV. Sounds like springbreakfrombaby to me!

Happy Birthday, Baby!

Baby is 2 years old! How is it possible? Just like they say, it sure goes in a hurry. I know others may disagree, but I'm having more fun being the mother of a two year old than a newborn. Give me a toddler any day! The newborn stage is sweet and all, but...can a newborn say I love you? No. Baby is very good about saying I love you in her sweet little toddler sing song way.

So, let's talk birthday party. With Hubby/Daddy in The Iraq and all, we kept the party sorta small and at the house. We had a great time! Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and a few friends. What a crowd. Oh, but you gotta check out the cake!

Whadya think? Not too bad, huh? Curious George in case you are wondering. Some of you know I measure my success of motherhood by the birthday cake I make. Some may measure by their child's intelligence, manners, etc...No, I judge myself by cake. I think this one turned out pretty good. Oh! It's cupcakes, even!

So, Baby got way too many toys and she loves them all. Well, mostly. She isn't too keen on the awesome bike we got her, but I'm sure she'll come around. Here it is:

We've been having a great time, but this whole birthday thing is about to

come to an end. Baby has really gotten into what having a birthday is like...she fit right in to getting every thing she wanted. The grandparents are taking her home for the week...whoo hoo! What a treat for us both. Mmm. On second thought, I guess it will be like she's having a birthday every day for the next week (getting everything she wants, that is).

You might think with all the party fun Baby would just sleep and sleep. Nope. Not MY baby. She was up about 4 AM. Thanks to Grand Pop, I got to stay in the bed while he got her up. You might next think she would take a long nap. Wrong again! We did put her to bed early tonight, tho. We'll see what happens in the morning. I'm so blessed with my family. Now, if only that Hubby would come home...