Rhymes With Orange

More neglected than my last potted plant

Fri, 26 Dec 2008 02:37:19 GMT

When we last left our heroine, her baby was tiny. Now he is not.

Whoa. It's been a while. Can I lie and say I've been incredibly busy and unavailable? Because it sounds so much better than saying I simply have a baby who went through a period of refusing to nap. Also! My family visited. So I TOTALLY have an excuse.

Daniel is...incredible. I look at my last post, and I can't even fathom how fast he's grown. He's almost crawling. He pushes himself up on his hands and begins to pull his knees under him constantly. Every once in a while, he gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth for a few seconds before sliding onto his tummy. He's totally crawling now. OMG. Hide the pointy objects and glass!

He loves to talk and sing. In the morning, he sits in the living room and sings to all his toys while I make coffee. He's begun mimicking sounds we make and yells "NANA! NANA" when he is angry in the desperate hope she will appear and save him from our evil torture. My worst fear is that his first real word may be boob. I say the word boob way too much. I've never been able to give nursing a nickname. I feel weird referring to the girls as "num nums." To make matters worse, he's begun making an "ooo!" sound before we nurse.

Nursing has finally become something wonderful for us. We had a really hard time in the beginning. He was so hungry that I couldn't keep up, and then he tried to quit at 6 weeks and again at 10 weeks, but I'm so glad I stuck with it and that we pushed through. It's become something very comforting for both of us. Gotta a boo boo? Thirsty? Tired? Lonesome? Hungry? Boobs are the instant comfort cure all. I love being able to comfort and calm him down so easily. And having baby food always on hand doesn't suck either. Sometimes it's frustrating. Like when I'm walking through the grocery store and Danny begins howling and exposing my bra to elderly women, but most of the time I enjoy it as much as he does.

Teething has been rough. No teeth have reared their shiny little heads yet, but I don't think it's far off.

In the last three weeks, Danny has begun napping by himself. For 45min - 1 1/2hrs. It's the most miraculous thing I've ever witnessed. I don't know what changed, but I can take absolutely no credit. One day I laid him down, and he napped for an hour. And I was convinced I'd killed him. He's still not sleeping for more than three hours a night in his crib, and he won't fall asleep unless nursed, but we're taking it one step at a time.

I'm so excited to about Christmas. I know that it will mean nothing to him, but I, in my silly new mommy glee, am thrilled. I can't wait to see him open his gifts. He will probably eat wrapping paper. There will be pictures!

We sit up like a pro now. No more of this lying down stuff! Sitting up is AWESOME. We try to sit up while we're supposed to be sleeping. While we're nursing. While we're having our diaper changed. We've also just learned how to pitch a fit. I have begun reading Dr. Dobson's "The Strong Willed Child."

Everyday, he seems to get bigger and bigger. He's continually changing. Somedays, I wish I could hit pause, scoop up our time and memories and store them away in a bottle so that when he's big and grown, I could open it up and relive it.

Almost 4 months!

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 19:16:05 GMT

I cannot believe Daniel will be four months old in a few days. He's grown so fast. He's easily 17lbs and more than 26 inches long. Yesterday, he rolled from his back to him tummy all by himself! He was so excited, and I was excited for him =)

He's become so social. He chats, laughs, grabs EVERYTHING. Being able to shove things in his mouth brings him endless amusement. He's not saying Mama or Dada yet, but he enjoys yelling, "Woo woo! Woooooo!" at the top of his lungs. He loves talking =)

We've begun teething. He chews on his hands, our hands, stuffed animals, blankets...you name it, he'll nom it. All of his baby hair is falling out (No!) Who told him he was allowed to get big boy hair??

He's so beautiful. I'm so proud to be his mama.

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:44:50 GMT

June 22, 2008

6 weeks 3 days (Formerly 5 weeks 5 days)

I started writing this almost a week ago. Those two minutes? That's all I was allotted for the whole week apparently =p

I have exactly two minutes to type before my son wakes up. Let's see how I do.

Daniel has been growing way to fast the last week and a half. He's not only smiling a lot, but he's laughing and yesterday he rolled over. Our five week old rolled over. I nearly wet myself. At first thought it was a fluke. Maybe he just got lucky, and his arm was pinned under his tummy or something, so we set him back up, and he did it again and again and again. Holy frickin' cow. Who told him he was allowed to do that??? I haven't baby proofed anything! I haven't even vacuumed the carpet in a long time...never mind that though.

Let's get to the cute content.

Nummy, nummy chubby cheeks =)

It's 5am. Why am I awake?

Sun, 16 Mar 2008 10:47:39 GMT

This had something to do with it:

This is Eli. He's 11 weeks old, and the newest tenant of Chez Watrous. The little 9oz ball of fun decided at 4am that he'd had enough of this sleeping thing and could we please take him out of the bathroom mew, mew, mew. Thinking perhaps he was lonely and missing his brother, we brought him into bed with us to see if he would go back to sleep. Nope. He was just looking for a party and spent the next 45 minutes on my head, down my shirt and sitting on Mike's face. So here I am. There will be napping later.

Ms. Chloe is not happy in the least bit. Despite the fact that she has 10lbs on him, she still thinks that he could hurt her if he touched her. Or at least mess up her aura and ruin her chi. She has taken to bed and refuses to leave. The world just isn't safe for one so delicate as she.

We adopted Eli yesterday from a local animal rescue. He and his brother were born to apartment dwellers, and they were the last of the litter to not find homes. The landlord told the original owners to get rid of them pronto, so the rescue stepped in and helped. He's an incredibly sweet little thing and has a slightly unhealthy love of my boobs. In case you're wondering, he did not escape the long winded naming trend of all Watrous cats, I assure you. His full name is Eli Gideon Rainier Watrous.

So here we are. Two exhausted parents, one hissy sister and a little man ready to party.

(Taking clear pictures of him is like trying to dig a hole on the beach without it filling with water.)

You're listening to Mommy-Lite FM

Sat, 15 Mar 2008 00:03:02 GMT

"It's funny, but the baby really likes John Mayer."
"You've been playing John Mayer for him? Great! You're gonna make him gay before he even has a running start!"
"He's not gonna be gay! He also likes Boys Like Girls, Counting Crows, ...Michael Buble...and...Dave Matthews Band."
*Long awkward silence*
"I should go buy some more trucks and Nerf guns, shouldn't I?"
"That would be a good idea."

Our new apartment!

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 03:36:11 GMT

This is the view from the front door. The carpet it actually clean and lovely, but the lighting in the photo makes it look all icky.

Looking into the kitchen.

The kitchen. Where all the cheesecake-y magic happens.

The dining room. Also pictured a lamp and rubbermade container that have yet to find their places.

The living room.

Another living room picture.

Our bedroom (which could use some decorating help. Also nightstands ;)

The little, sunny nook is where Little Mister Orange's crib is going to be.

The office and general stuff room

Lego land.

So that is our apartment! I love it. It's really nice and being able to decorate it has quelled my nesting needs...for now. Not much else is new. Oh! Except this:

Little Man has decided that growing is his new favorite past time (there is a little bit of a shadow on the photo. I'm not quite THAT big yet). This week I've heard "Any day now huh?" four times, and the moving guy told me I looked like I was ready to pop. That one did bring on the tears.

New arrivals

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 19:42:48 GMT

Last night at 6pm, Chloe and I arrived at our new home which is absolutely beautiful! Mike did a fantastic job =) I promise pictures later, but right now it looks like our house threw up. The packing part was easy because tiny men who spoke little english came to our house and started tossing stuff in boxes before I was even fully concious, but now we have to deal with the after math of their packing. "Honey? Why are there three shoes, a book about popculture and the toaster in this box?"

It's kind of like trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle. Made completely out of jello.

Boy boy boy!

Sat, 12 Jan 2008 13:37:15 GMT

It's a boy!

All I can think of when I see that little face is the last episode of Friends with Monica holding her newborn adopted son saying, "I'm gonna love you so much that NO woman will ever be good enough!"

I won't show his little man parts on the internets though. He's going to have enough issues just having us for parents ;)

Baby ate my brain cells

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 23:48:04 GMT

Am beginning to feel almost uncontrollable urges to purchase itty bitty items of clothing with yellow duckies and green elephants on them. Must resist!

Help.

Mah hubby's talent; let me show you it!

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 00:05:49 GMT

In order to commemorate our time here in Okinawa, the wonderful and talented Mr. Rhymeswithorange has cooked up something spectacular.

Mike has been working tirelessly for days putting this all together. He is really smart, very talented and also seriously cute. So, without further ado, I give you Mike's amazing and fabulous creation =)

Go! Look! Click on things! He has put together a wonderfully comprehensive page that will hopefully give everyone a little glimpse into what we've seen while we've been here. Enjoy =)

(Also! Leave a comment for him =)

Sun, 30 Sep 2007 02:12:53 GMT

Here's the seven songs I'm currently listening to.

Wires by Athete
Augustana by Boston
Best Days by Matt White
Everything by Michael Buble
Everything You Want by Vertical Horizon
Shadow of The Day by Linkin Park
A Stranger by A Perfect Circle

Tag! I don't know who's it.

I kinda forgot to post...Don't kill me.

Fri, 28 Sep 2007 10:31:31 GMT

So it has occurred to me that I totally forgot to share some big news with the few people who read my LJ instead of my Typepad and since y'all have been my friends for eons I should probably tell you. Remember that whole I post about how I hurt my back and Mike was being so insensitive blah blah blah? Well...turns out I didn't actually hurt my back.

Hi, my name is Kate, and I am knocked up.

Yup. You did read that right. Mike and I found out about three weeks ago that we are having a baby. We were completely surprised (not that we should have been. it is one of the risks you take when you have sex ;) but after the initial shock wore off we realized we were pretty excited.

So, parenthood here we come. Hold me, I'm scared. No seriously.

=D

Neighbor of Mine

Fri, 13 Jul 2007 22:27:44 GMT

I've come to three possible conclusions about my upstairs neighbor. A: She's a nut for feng shui, B: She's OCD and can never get her floors clean enough. Or C: She just likes trying to make me crazy.

All day long, I hear furniture scraping across the floor. Not just a single chair once in a while (She doesn't have carpet, so this would be understandable), but multiple pieces moved over and over. For hours. She's lived there for almost two months now, but she's still moving her couches!

How does one woman manage to make as much noise as a pack of elephants playing shuffle board?

Two Years

Fri, 13 Jul 2007 05:28:48 GMT

I forgot to post this on LJ and didn't remember until I read Aj's post about Mark =)

July 8th
About three or four months after Mike and I had been married, I was talking with my best friend, Annie, and she asked me what my favorite thing about being married was. I went into lengthy details about how I loved not having to sleep alone anymore (I hate sleeping alone. Monsters might get me.), blah blah blah always a shoulder to cry on, blah blah blah, mushy newly wed stuff. When I asked Annie what her favorite part of marriage was, she told me it was Ryan. Her favorite part of marriage was being married to Ryan.

I didn't quite get it at the time, and it's taken me almost two years to realize what she meant, but I get it now. Being married to Mike is my favorite part of marriage. I love being married to him. It's not even something I can really describe, but anyone who has been with the love of their life, even for a little while, will be able to tell you the same thing: That person is what you love most about your relationship. They also can drive you up walls in a way no one else in this world can ;)

Okay, so that was super schmoozy and also highly confusing word-wise (I wrote it at 1am last night while high on Benadryl) In spite of the horrid wording and Benadryl induced nostalgia though, I meant every word.)

I loved Mike's company when we were dating, but two years later I realize that I enjoy being with him more than anyone else I know. When I look at Mike, and I see so much life.

And I'm so grateful that we get to live it together.
Happy Anniversary baby. I love you.

I have amazing friends

Sun, 01 Jul 2007 22:15:42 GMT

Hey, I just wanted to drop a quick post and say thank you for the sweet comments guys you guys left when Pip died last week. It really meant a lot to me *hugs*

Wiiiiiiiiiiii

Sat, 30 Jun 2007 15:47:21 GMT

Wii Sports + Rum = Awesomeness

Taylor: "It's like he came out of the woods and said, "Hey! I'm a woodsman!""

And then there were three

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 23:50:02 GMT

My baby is gone. I still can't believe it.

On Tuesday night, Mike and I were playing with the cats when we noticed that the pupil in Piper's right eye was bigger than her left, so the next morning I took her into see the vet. They poked and prodded her. Looked at her eye for a long time and told me to come back next week for a recheck because they were pretty sure it was glaucoma.

She seemed to be fine except for being a little tired until Friday morning when we noticed she was breathing hard. I chalked it up to her eye hurting, but by that afternoon she was breathing so hard we took her back to vet. They listened to her chest and heart for a while before asking us if they could take an x-ray. When the x-ray came back, it was bad news. Her entire chest cavity was filled with fluid, her heart was enlarged, and she had a mass in her chest. The diagnosis was Lymphoma, and the prognosis was she would be dead by Monday. I completely lost all composure and started sobbing hysterically and dry heaving in front of everyone.

We were then posed with two choices: Let her die of slow suffocation over the weekend, or put her to sleep now.

It was so hard. Piper was awake and alert. Making noise, giving kisses, purring, trying to wiggle free and explore. She seemed so full of life. I always thought we'd have more time together. I imagined her getting to experience snow for the first time, being there when we brought our first child home, getting to meet mom's dog...She would have loved Maggie. So many things that I thought she would be there for.

We took a long time with her. Trying to soak up as much love as we could. And then the vet scooped her up and took her away. She looked back at me as they were leaving, and my heart breaks every time I picture it in my mind. I hope that she knows we didn't want to make this choice, but we couldn't have bared to see her die in agony. I hope she knows that we loved her so much and that we would have done anything to make her well again. And I hope she knows that she will always be in our hearts. She made such a difference in our lives. She helped us through some of the hardest things we have ever gone through, and she was a blessing to everyone who met her.

I just can't believe she's gone. She was fine on Monday! She was so full of life. I feel like I want to scream. She was my baby! It was my job to protect her and keep her safe, and I couldn't. Not only could I not protect her, but I had to make the decision to end her life. This morning I pulled out to dishes to give them food and started calling for her to come eat. I've almost called out, "Pippa! Where are you bunny?" about a million times. I miss her so much sometimes I can scarcely breathe.

Mike and Casp are taking it really hard. She was Mike's kitty. She adored him. She greeted him everyday after work, brought him her toys, cuddled with him and slept wrapped around his feet. I don't think Caspian actually remembers life before living with us, so he's taking it especially hard. He misses her some thing fierce and has been searching the house endlessly.

I apologize for this post being poorly constructed. I just don't have it in me right now to be creative. I need some more time. There will be a memorial post for Piper though. I just have so much to say right now, but all words seem inadequate to express how I feel.

Twenty-One

Thu, 31 May 2007 12:39:50 GMT

I decided to take a page from Aj and photo chronicle my birthday! Sadly, I didn't get all of it. I completely forgot the camera when we went out for dinner (which was probably a good thing because one Cosmopolitan later I was...gushy.) But here is most of my day anyway =)

Here's me at 12:01am May 31st. I couldn't sleep, so I was surfing the internets.

This is right after I woke up. I look awfully cheerful for someone who hasn't had her coffee yet.

Mike brought me breakfast in bed =D

After he left for work, Mr. Coffee and I celebrated in our fashion.

Talking with my parents.

My parents talking to me (I made them take a picture and send it to me =)

I finally got dressed at noon

21 looks good on me.

After lunch, I spent the afternoon with my lovely neighbor, Kali, and Colin, the little boy I babysit. Also known as the world's grumpiest three year old.

Caspian hid in a basket from Colin. He was just so cute.

Mike was really sweet. He even let me take pictures of him even though he hates it =)

And then a lot of time passed in which I didn't remember to bring the camera with me, so there aren't any pictures of the restaurant. They brought me a cake which I totally asked them not to, but it was really sweet. They did agree not to sing. One Cosmopolitan and a Mudslide Martini later...

It was totally time for bed =)

It was a really great birthday. The best part was that Mike was here with me to celebrate =) Thanks for all of the wonderful birthday wishes!

Thursday

Thu, 24 May 2007 01:12:38 GMT

I've never been a big fan of Thursday. It's not quite Friday, so there's not much to look forward to in the evening, and it spoils all the fun of Wednesday being halfway to the weekend. Thursday seem to be my gloomy day (everyone has one). I think I'm going to change it up next week though. Make Tuesday my gloomy day perhaps. Next Thursday will be my 21st birthday, and I don't plan on feeling gloomy!

I keep marveling over this number. Twenty-one. Wow. An adult in every sense of the word, yet I don't feel like an adult. I own two cars, pay my bills, have a wonderful husband, cook, clean and work, but yet I still feel like a teen. When do you finally start feeling like a grown up?

Tue, 06 Jun 2006 12:15:10 GMT

I never use my lj anymore, but ya'll should go here.

Tue, 14 Feb 2006 04:31:14 GMT

Girl meets shoes

Look! Girlie shoes!

I had a wedding to go to yesterday and even though I gave very good reasons as to why I should be allowed to wear my tennis shoes with my skirt I wound up buying a pair of girl shoes. I was proud of me. I actually was able to walk in them! Well...sort of.

This is after we got home from the wedding. Not too bad, eh? Then, as soon as mom was done taking pictures, I went outside to dig around in the snow with the boy scouts.

I personally find the snow boots to be quite fetching.

Tue, 14 Feb 2006 04:28:43 GMT

My secret pal is the most awesomest of them all

Guess who's home??? And -gasp- there were wonderful things waiting for me! (other than my family =) My parents knew that my laptop had been sick for quite some time, and that it was working on dying, so my Christmas present was a shiny new Dell =D Also... my Secret Pal is AWESOME! I haven't dug out the camera yet to take pictures of what she sent me, but it is incredible. She sent me a Purple Heart Whorl spindle from Charis Spindles, some gorgeous roving, and my very own knitty notty (Did I say that right?). I couldn't believe. I am still beyond words about it. All I can say is the I pray she is being as spoiled by her SP as I am. (Adi, I'm sorry! I know I told you that I'd post pictures of my first spinning attempts, but I didn't get a chance to try it today. I was busy, and exhausted. Soon though. I promise!). I promise to post lots of pictures of my wonderful new toys very soon. Jet lag hath kicked my butt. As soon as I recover though, there will be spinning on my beautiful new spindle =D Oh my gosh. Thank you so much my SP! You are awesome =D=D=D=D I also promise I real live post about my trip very soon =)

Tue, 14 Feb 2006 04:25:16 GMT

I am special

*sing song voice* I got a packaaaaaaage from my secret pal!

And as you can see, Piper already knew there was something in there that was for her. On the top of the package there were 2 skiens of very loverly blue wool, a pattern for some very pretty socks, and some twee, wooden brittney DPNs (they're so cute!!) with which to make the socks. I couldn't wait, and I've already cast on =D

See all the pretty things?? I have an awesome SP! I feel so special =D

Piper loves the greenies! She actually attacked one of the bags shortly after this picture and attempted to chew a hole in it.

See the pretty BLUE yarn?? And the twee DPNs? And the hats book?! *squeals*

And LOOK! All my favorite smelly things!!! Best SP EVER!

And this is the best part! My new coffee cup =D Thank you so much Sp! I love my package!

Tue, 14 Feb 2006 04:24:14 GMT

Limited Edition

When I went to the linen closet to get a new razor before my shower today, something odd on the bottom of the package I had just opened caught my eye. "Limited Edition". Interesting. I pulled one from the package, laid it next to my old razor and looked at the two side-by-side. After a close inpection, I discovered that they were absolutely identical. Save for the color. One was pink, and one was blue. Questions have been plaguing me all day. What make this blue razor so special? Why use the words "Limited Edition"? Are people really so gullible that they would buy them because they're special? Do people collect disposable razors? Is that legal?

The world may never know.

Tue, 14 Feb 2006 03:40:02 GMT

A sad attempt at a post

This week past week, I had given myself one task: Mail off the rest of the Christmas gifts so that they will arrive sometime before Valentine's Day.

I failed. These are the majority of the gifts and packages to be sent, but not quite all *sigh*

It's so nice to have Mike home again. I missed him. The morning after he got home, he brought me breakfast in bed.

If he keeps this up, I'm gonna be so spoiled by the time he leaves. It's also been so nice having him here to help with Piper once again. Especially since her new favorite game involves pushing all the books off of the bookcase.

So, that concludes the post I promised yesterday. I know it's not very good, but...well...I'm sorry. It's very hard to write a decent post when there is a cute guy on your couch who wants you to come watch a movie with him! Speaking of which, I'm gonna go join him ;)