............................it's been a LONG week and a half

And I've been exhausted and I'm very very sorry I haven't been updated. There will be lots and lots of pictures posted this evening when I get home but, at the moment, I am at work so do not have the ability to upload pictures.

Momma came into town on June 27th. It was so great to have her in town for awhile. She hasn't been in Key West since right after Lil Miss was born, so she hasn't seen her, in person, in three months. She's gotten much bigger, and I swear she grew an inch in the time that Momma was here visiting. She is sprouting like weed! She's at least thirteen pounds now. She's definitely going to be more than double her birth weight by six months!

We went to Orlando late last week so that Jimmy could interview for jobs. He looked at places in Orlando and also interviewed with a company on Ponce Inlet, near Daytona Beach. He was offered a job there the next day and took it. So we're moving to Daytona Beach! He and Momma are actually there right now (they drove up last night), finding an apartment and getting things settled. Then he's going to work up there for two weeks and I'm going to finish things up down here with Charles. He's coming back down the last weekend in July and we'll be moving up then. It's going to be a long two weeks without him here, but it will be good because both of us can work and get as much cash as possible for the move. Charles is calling around to see if anyone he knows or anyone else knows is working in Daytona Beach or the surrounding area and looking for help. Hopefully we'll be able to find me something quickly. Even if it doesn't pay as much as Charles is paying me, it would hopefully be full or mostly full time and, also, living expenses in Daytona are about HALF of what they are here.

Crazy, I know.

Mommy was happy to be in Orlando because you know what they have in Orlando? Targets and Walmarts. And I have some gift cards from when Miss Abby was born that I wanted to use to get her some 0-3 month clothes because she is finally growing out of her newborn stuff (I think she finally got too long for most of it this last week). I have lots of newborn stuff and lots of over 6 month stuff but now until 6 month stuff is a little less full. So I got a few things for her to fill in the gap. They also have outlets (including an OshKosh outlet!) in Orlando, but we did NOT go. It's good to know it's there, though, for when we need stuff down the line.

So Miss Abby had two firsts last week -- her first experience with Disney and her first experience with fireworks. We didn't go to a Disney park (Abby's a bit young for that, and they're a bit expensive to pretty much just go walk around in) but Momma wanted me to see the marketplace part of Downtown Disney, so last Saturday we went down there are walked around for awhile. Abby was fascinated by all the people and the stuff. Momma got her a stuffed Stitch that's almost as big as she is. She's still very attached to Raffe, but she does like her Stitch -- she hugged on him and chewed on him the entire time we were at Marketplace. Momma also brought me a stuffed Figment from Epcot, that I will most likely share with Abby. It's very cute and makes Mommy a VERY happy girl. I got Momma a stuffed Squirt to go with her stuffed Crush (from Finding Nemo) so she can remember to relax when she needs to.

I also found the "Team Mickey" store, which is dangerous. I do so love some of the stuff in there! And even though we're in Daytona, we're still going to be close enough to go to Disney pretty easily (it might be an hour and a half drive, and that's WITH hitting Disney traffic and going all the way to Ponce Inlet -- Port Orange (where we will most likely actually be living) is about twenty minutes or so closer). My goal is to be able to afford season passes to Disney and a few treats each year from there once Abby is old enough to really get it and have fun.

The fireworks were, of course, Saturday night. The hotel we were staying at was right by Celebration (it was called Seralago -- if any of you are going to Orlando, it's a great hotel, very comfortable and safe and perfectly nice, great for families and rather cheap. Good spot to remember), so we decided to go watch their fireworks. Traffic was, of course, horrible, so we pulled off into an office building parking lot and decided to watch from there. There were a number of other groups doing the same thing and, to be honest, it was perfect. We were able to avoid most of the traffic leaving and, while we couldn't see the really low fireworks perfectly, we could still see the fireworks just fine and were far enough away that the smoke and noise weren't too bad. I was worried about the loud noise frightening Abby, but she was perfectly happy and liked watching the pretty lights. She actually fell asleep towards the end though (considering that they started more than thirty minutes past her usual bedtime and by the time they were ending, it was almost an hour after she usually goes to bed). The noise didn't even seem to phase her!

Lil Miss travelled pretty well. She didn't necessarily LIKE being in her carseat all day for two days and a bit the rest of the time, but she dealt with it. And she was perfectly fine in the hotel (we took her pack and play, so at least that was familiar). She actually let Momma be the one to wake up with her most of the time she was here, so Mommy could get some sleep (though I still generally heard her wake up and would go talk to her). Momma swore up and down that she wanted to get up with her. I think she just wanted as much grandbaby time as she could get her hands on. It was cute. Abby likes her Grandma, though she definitely knows who I am. It's nice to see her face light up when she sees me, and Momma said that in the mornings, when she was up, she would watch the door waiting for me to come in. Very cute.

So it's been a very long week and a half, but it's good. It's going to be okay and things are going to get better. I just know they are.

And I'll try very hard to be god about this again! Love you all!

we have a little teddy bear

June 6, 2009

It's my sister's birthday. It's the second of her birthdays that I've missed. )c: That makes me a sad panda. I miss my big sister.

Lil Miss wore a new dress today. Well, not exactly "new" in that it's one of the first things we had for her (it's one of the ones that Natalie gave us) but it's been too big for her until recently, so it was the first time she wore it. It's a hooded dress and it has little bear ears on the top. It's the cutest thing ever and I love it. I might actually have to go get another one the next size up for when she grows out of this one. I love it that much.

Like mother, like daughter.

It was a good and lazy day, other than the waking up at three thirty this morning part. Which means, at this point, I've been awaky for nineteen hours, as it is ten twenty at this moment. I am a sleep girl.

Jimmy did some job hunting today. Looks like he's finally going to listen to me and find another job. There were a couple of possibilities that he's going back to talk to on Monday, including one that's right around the corner from the law office. So that one would be perfect, being there, you know.

Other than that, we hung around the house, doing some cleaning and moving a few things around, me putting stuff in the new dresser I "inherited" this week. We watched some of the Yankees game and then watched the Belmont Stakes (which Mine That Bird SO almost won) and talked to Grandma Lynn on Skype too. I tried to call Anjie today to wish her Happy Birthday, but I'm sure she and Andy are busy wrapping things up in Virginia. We did send her some Lil Miss pictures and birthday wishes though.

And currently? Jimmy and I are watching Finding Nemo. I LOVE that movie. "Mine? Mine? Minemineminemineminemine" I do a very good seagull impression. (c:

If you hadn't noticed, I'm feeling much much better. This is a good thing.

Miss you all. Love you. Talk to you all tomorrow.

My cute little teddy bear, passed out cold. Being a baby is HARD work!

a walk through, since only one of you has been here

So, my camera battery is charging. After it's done, I'll do the post for today about Lil Miss.

However, I realized a few days ago that only one of you (Grandma Barbara) has actually seen the new apartment. Well, I guess it's not new since we've been here almost a month, but you know what I mean. So I was cleaning on Thursday, trying to forget I was sick since Lil Miss wouldn't let me sleep, and I decided to take pictures and give y'all a walk through! So be prepared -- picture heavy!

This is, obviously, not actually in the apartment. This is our little car, out front. It's old, but it runs well. I want to get the transmission checked out before we take it on a long road trip, but it's a good little car and perfect for what we need down here.

This is our little front yard. She's too young to play in it right now, but if we stay here longer than we are currently planning, it will be a good place for Lil Miss to run around and be a kid. Also, it's nice to have since she likes to be outside so much and likes to walk -- gives me a different place to walk in circles where I'm not walking by our neighbors smoking on their porches. I don't want her around smoke.

Our little porch and our front door. You can't see it, but we have chairs on the front porch. We're right at the front of our little horseshoe of apartments.

What you see right when you open the door -- our couch (with the awesome slip cover we inherited from Lori), the rug the coffee table -- our living room. The entire apartment is floored in that beige tile you see.

Directly to the left when you walk in -- Jimmy's Miami Heat stuff. He got the Heat light from a bar in Key West that was shutting down. The poster? One of our neighbors went to the Miami Heat game where they retired Alonzo Morning's number and they gave out those posters -- it's signed by Alonzo Morning. Jimmy loves it. I think I'm going to get it framed for his birthday.

Directly to the right of our front door -- Jimmy's hats. These aren't even all of them, these are just the ones he actually wears a decent amount. I figured it was easier to hang them on the wall -- they have a place, they're easy to get to, ect. I like them.

Our living room. Pretty standard. The bean bag chair that both Zeus and Lil Miss love. I think they use it more than they allow Daddy to. They've commandeered it from him. The blue thing in the top right corner? That's Zeus' blanket that I made for him (cause he tried to steal Lil Miss' blanket) that's sitting on top of my computer chair.

Our living room standing on the other side of the room. I think it looks pretty good. It's larger than the living room in our other apartment. And much easier to set up. The other apartment's living room was rather strangely laid out. I love that carpet, btw (another inherited one) -- free -- can't do better than that!

Our kitchen, from the living room. Yes, we have a bar counter. Good place to eat since there isn't much room for a table in the apartment. And yes, that is a Swiss flag on the back door ("I am Switzerland -- I am neutral." Anyone that gets that reference........................is as much of a dork as me.). There were no blinds or anything over the window in the back door, we needed something, Jimmy had that flag. (Why? I dunno. He has some odd things. Then again, so do I). We put it up as a "jury rig" for that moment. And now we just like it.

Our kitchen. Not huge, not much, but it works for us. The fridge is much bigger than the old one we had. I like it lots.

The hallway to the bedrooms. Lil Miss loves that poster of Paris. I think it's the black and white she loves. The frame on the wall is all pictures of Lil Miss. She likes looking at that too.

Our little hallway. Not much to say about it. (c:

The restroom, directly to the left from the picture above. I put this in here for one reason and one reason only -- see the tub? Yes. We have a bathtub. I love it.

The smaller of the two bedrooms, the one on the left. This is Lil Miss' bedroom. I'm still working on her walls. They will have lots of different stuff on them -- it's a mish mash of both Jimmy and me. So Georgia, Florida, Dolphins, Yankees, Disney, fairies, Harry Potter, Heat and...well...all kinds of randomness. And I love it. And yes, her floor is already full of toys.

The other side of her room, with her bassinet (the second one. The one we salvaged) and the dresser she commandeered from Mommy to hold all her clothes. I think she has more clothes than Mommy!! (and that's hard!)

And finally, our bedroom, with her bassinet in the corner, because she still sleeps in our room for the moment (and, which is where she was during this entire photo shoot).

So yeah -- that's our little apartment. Hope you like it! Pictures and update in the morning since, like I said, camera battery is charging cause I let it die (yeah, I know, Bad Mommy! No Sprite for you!)

cutting the hairs and watching history

May 16, 2009

I wish you could hear the sound that goes with the above picture. It's this adorable little cooing sound that's just the absolute cutest thing in the whole world. I love that sound -- I think it's one of my new favorite sounds in the world (that and her "dinosaur" sound).

It was a pretty good day. Lil Miss was very good. We went and got my hairs cut this morning (yep -- it's pretty short. If this tells you anything -- I donated to Locks of Love, meaning I cut at least 10 inches off -- dry). Jimmy hates it. Mainly because he doesn't like short hair on girls. He's actually a little upset with me because he told me he didn't want me cutting it all off, but I thought he meant all off, like pixie cut all off. That wouldn't look good on me, so I'd never do that. It's right about my jaw line. But that's apparently too short. So he's grumpy that I cut it after he told me not to, but I keep saying he'll get used to it.

I like it.

At the Vandenburg.

After getting the hairs cut we run a couple of errands and then headed into Old Town to check the mail and messages for work (since we were there already) but most importantly to get Moo Cow. After that, we had about forty five minutes to kill before our bus came through, so we walked down to the Truman Waterfront. There's this big old retired military ship, the U.S.S. Vandenburg, there. They're going to sink it off the coast of Key West and make it an artificial reef where people can dive and stuff. I realized that this is a bit of Key West history that Lil Miss is alive for, but won't remember. So I got some of the tourists down there to take a picture of me and Lil Miss so I could prove to her that she did get to see the Vandenburg when it was above water -- even if she doesn't remember it!

After we got home, Lil Miss took a small nap (long enough for Mommy to do the dishes and clean up a little bit) and then got up to be played with and cuddled all afternoon. The switch to soy formula seems to be going well. She seems to like it enough and I don't think it upsets her tummy as much. She has a much easier time with her messy diapers and doesn't seem to be as gassy. So this may be the trick.

She has put herself on a schedule though, so she's a grumpy butt from about eight until she finally falls asleep, usually around nine. She fights sleep for almost an hour -- I guess she thinks she's going to miss something?

Sleeping in her pack n play.

So one of the many things we inherited from our neighbor Natalie was a pack and play for Lil Miss. Obviously she hasn't really used it yet, as she's not big enough to really need it yet. She still sleeps in the bassinet with us in our room. But when we got home this afternoon, I was doing some stuff in our room and didn't want to wake her, so I laid her in her room. I was going to put her in the second bassinet, but decided to see how she liked the crib.

She seems to like it. She slept just fine in it. Putting her in and getting her out is a little harder on Mommy's back, but it's not bad. And she seems comfortable so yay!

Yeah, again, don't feel like loading all the apartment photos. At some point, I really will put them up here.

Also, I'll try to get some photos of the hair cut tomorrow. I like it. I hope y'all do too. I'm sure Jimmy'll get used to it -- it's just very very different (I'm glad Lil Miss is too young to really freak out about Mommy looking so different!)

And now? Sleep.

yes, a morning update! (cause mommy was sleepy last night)

May 15, 2009

Smiling and giggling and laughing -- Lil Miss was feeling much better yesterday! Mommy not so much, but Lil Miss is better and I'm hoping I'll be better soon. She was such a happy and cuddly baby yesterday and it was a nice change from the fussy sick baby I'd had for the past few days. We changed her formula (to soy) and it seems to be sitting a bit better. She hasn't really been spitting up at all and her tummy seems to be settling down. Her Daddy has problems with digesting milk, so I wonder if Lil Miss is lactose intolerant. I'll have to talk to her doctor about it.

Being a sweet little observant thing on the bus.

We went to work yesterday. Charles wasn't there (on his way out of town) but there were a number of things we could get done -- including starting a bill that we'll be working on this weekend because Charles won his case that was in trial this week! Yay! And our client was awarded attorney's fees, which means that I get to create a second bill that covers everything that has been done in this case (this case has been around for seven years -- if we hadn't won, we weren't going to bill the client for EVERYTHING. With this? Yep. You do. Everything. Every little moment. And guess who gets to recreate it? So much fun. Really).

So we went to work and Lil Miss was, of course, so very very good. But Mommy did I bad thing -- I left Moo Cow on my desk. Lil Miss hasn't screamed at me for it, but she was not very happy on the bus. She would reach for him (and last night when she was going to bed) and he wouldn't be there and she's fuss for a minute. So we're going to go down and get it this morning (after I get my hairs cut. Yup. Getting them cut). If it's not too yucky, we may walk around for awhile.

Daddy's feeling lots better and worked again yesterday and today. It makes him tired, cause, well, he ride on rough water and lifts jet skis all day, but he says he's not letting it stress him out too much and that since he's not working as many days, it's okay.

I'm trying to get him to go see Wolverine with one of his friends cause I know he would like that. And they're (he and some of his friends) going jet skiing one day this week, which he'll love. Doing it for fun, not just work. So we'll see.

Oh, and when I feel like sitting here and uploading all the pictures (cause it takes a bit -- so probably this afternoon when Lil Miss is napping), I've taken pictures of the apt. So I'll give y'all a walk through.

Love you all!

Being a cutie -- like always. I think she was looking at Zeus.

let's go heat!

May 1, 2009

It was another long day. Lil Miss has apparently decided that naps (other than ten minute cat naps) are for other people and that being awake is what all the cool kids do!

Cause she does NOT want to sleep during the day. Not that big a deal, I knew it would come at some point, I just thought it would be a little longer before the "Sleep? I don't need no sleep!" phase. Oh well!

She was a major grumpy butt today though. I don't know what was wrong. She was fussy and crying all afternoon at work -- I couldn't put her down at all because she would scream and even holding her, she was still fussy. I would have come home and just gone in Sunday (I'm still going to have to go in Sunday) but I had to wait for another attorney to come pick up a file. So we still ended up being at work for a good bit of the afternoon.

She was fussy enough that I took her temperature to see if she was sick, but she doesn't seem to be. She seems to just be fussy today.

But she's better now. She's out cold at the moment.

One of the few non-fussy moments at work today -- that position canNOT be comfortable for her little neck! But every time I fix it, she goes right back to this.

The apartment is coming along well. I'm almost completely through with the putting away and putting things up on the walls and stuff. I need a bookcase and a dresser (because Lil Miss, with all her new clothes, commandeered mine), but those can wait. You'd be shocked what people will throw away down here -- I'm sure I'll be able to find some. Maybe I'll hit a yard sale or two tomorrow if there are some close by.

I went through the clothes we inherited yesterday this afternoon and decided what we're keeping and such. Most of it has been put away now. I'll post pictures of the new apartment once everything finds its place.

Watching the Heat game with Daddy. He swears she's a good luck charm for them -- they won!

So, once we got home and then once Daddy got home, we ate dinner and then watch the Miami Heat beat the Hawks by like 30 points. It was a fun game and Jimmy insisted on putting Lil Miss in his Miami jersey for awhile. I think it's the funniest site I've ever seen.

But I still maintain that she's cute no matter what she wears.

Oh, and Anj, you know how I told you she had inherited some organic onesies? That pink striped one in the top picture and the picture below is one of them. It's really cute. And it snaps all the way down so you don't have to pull it over her head!! (Daddy HATES that part of dressing her because sometimes it makes her cry.

Daddy doesn't like it at ALL when Lil Miss cries.)

Getting kisses from Daddy in her organic onesie. She sure does love her Daddy!

and now back to our regularly scheduled programming!

April 27, 2009

I apologize that we missed a day yesterday. Yesterday was the day everything was getting transferred over to the new apartment -- cable, internet, all that good stuff -- and we were moving the rest of the stuff. Jimmy was working, but I took the day off so I could be here when the techs showed up and so I could move things and we could hopefully have just the big stuff remaining when Jimmy got home.

Didn't work exactly that way, but I had a lot of it. However, our internet company switched the service over, but they conveniently forgot to check their records and see if our new apartment was wired for internet and they just had it switch over instead of sending out a tech. Well, guess what?

Our new apartment wasn't wired for internet so it didn't work. I called last night to see why we still didn't have a signal and they couldn't figure it out so they sent out a tech this morning. He knew what the problem was in five minutes and was done in less than thirty. Really -- was that so hard? Why couldn't they have done that yesterday so I could have posted last night and I wouldn't have had a grumpy Daddy who couldn't play online with his boys? (c:

April 28, 2009

But all is good now. We have electric, water, cable and internet at the new apartment. All our stuff has been moved (almost all of it put away) and everything is out of the old apartment (including the kitty, who decided to get out and go MIA for about six hours yesterday. Not fun for a worried Mommy). We've cleaned the old apartment and we're going to clean it again tomorrow. We'll be out a day and a half early, since we're doing that in the morning (cause Lil Miss and I are going to work tomorrow afternoon). The new apartment is pretty much set up. Lil Miss has her own room (even if she's not sleeping in it yet) and there's plenty of room for all our stuff -- we can spread out some. And things are actually *arranged*. It's amazing -- it looks like a real home.

It's great. I love it.

"Look at me! I'm trying to stand up!" (You might not be able to tell, but she's pushing down with her feet, trying to push herself up)

Lil Miss has been as good as she can be through this whole moving process and I'm grateful for that. She was really good at work today -- she did some absolutely *adorable* cuddling with Moo Cow, but I forgot to take the camera with me, so I didn't get pictures of it, sadly. Oh well, I'm sure she'll do something just as cute tomorrow. She always does. She makes some of the cutest faces and noises. I really should try and get them on video to show her off.

I have, I think, the cutest baby in the universe.

Sitting up (almost) on her own

I think Lil Miss is doing really good developmentally. She holds her head up really well and for a long time. Her neck muscles are getting really strong. She's eating more at each feeding and she's being awake for longer and waking up for reasons other than just "I'm wet" or "I'm hungry". There are times now she really wants to play. She's trying to turn over too, though she can't exactly figure it out.

And she gives head butts. She doesn't do it on purpose and she has no *clue* what they are, but she does it anyway and I love it. Considering that Mommy head butts people (well, mainly, Daddy and Zeus) she fits right into the family that way.

Thumbs up! I think she likes her new apartment

So yeah, it's been a LONG week of little to no sleep trying to get everything moved and watch Lil Miss, but it's worth it. We have the new apartment and we love it. Oh and Mommy got to take a bath -- a real bath -- tonight. Daddy listened for the little one for awhile (she was (and still is) asleep) and Mommy got to sit in the nice hot bath I've been craving since last fall.

It was great. Definitely going to have to do that more often. I think Lil Miss is going to get her first bath in there tomorrow night after we get home from work.

All I have left to do is reorganize and put away all the clothes (we sent out a lot of laundry today -- though hopefully there will be a washer and dryer in our near future so *I* can do our laundry easily), hang the posters / prints / pictures that are going in our room, the nursery and the living room and unpack two boxes of "the leftovers" -- just little stuff that wasn't worth carrying over one by one. After that, everything will have a home in the new apartment and we'll be ready for Grandma Barbara to come visit next week. We can't wait. Daddy is ecstatic. And I know Lil Miss will be very happy.

I'm pretty excited too. (c:

Big Brother decided that Lil Miss needed to share her crib. Until we get a mat for it, he can sit there. Once we get a mat? No more.