Today is our Friday. I'm so glad, Fabian will be off the next two days! He's been working so much and so many doubles lately, I won't be surprised if he wants to sleep the whole day away! My lil sis Deb is here so I'm thinking of trying to get Alvin & the Chipmunks since it comes out tomorrow. It seems kinda cute. Madison is acting so moody lately, smiling and laughing, then she'll have a crying outburst. I think she may be teething finally? It is about that time! She is so crazy though, she is laying across my lap playing with a teething ring right now. This is a tag my friend made me on Myspace, its the typical "Myspace" pose I always make fun of, haha.

Debra, Mad and I decided to go to LA and visit with Fabians Mom. We had a great time. We all went to the mall together and she let me pick a few cute outfits for Mad and we had a nice dinner together. We got size 12 months. Well, M freaked out in the car after a few seconds strapped in and before I could get to her, bleeeeech, she puked all over herself. We didnt want her to get sick and stay wet so I stripped her and put on one of the new outfits (I know, I always prewash but this time I didn't, and so far, no reaction from the chemicals of the new clothes). Anyway, it FIT! So now my little girl is 6mos old barely and wearing size 12 mo. I guess because she is so tall! Her torso is where all her length is at and she is bottom heavy w/short chunky legs and butt so that makes bigger bottoms fit, just a little longer. Anyway, wow so I need to start getting size 18mo because she barely fit that 12 mo. Ok, going to bed now, well, not really whenever M finally goes to bed I will!

Mad had her 6mo vacc today. She is average for weight but 95th percentile for height so she is tall! I need a new car seat! She also gave me a food chart, she should be eating solids 2-3xs a day and milk 3-4 bottles a day 6 ounces each. Juice diluted and only from a sippy cup, no more than 4 ounces/day. It also said solids should be 30% of her diet or about 1/3. I got work to do! I gave her Tylenol before her shots and she is sleep in my arms now.

Mad's New Expression

Okay so today she made this face, I made it back to her, and she imitated me! Excuse the blurriness, cell phone cam ; )

HAPPY EASTER! I took too many pics to post so I just made a silly slideshow. The end pics are my lil sis and I posing like people on Myspace in the car. Can you tell we were bored? haha. Easter was a beautiful day spent with family and church was wonderful. Mad was a good baby as usual. She does have little outburst of crying now for seemingly no reason and she stops in an instant. I think its because she exhausts herself and won't nap. I'm going to ask her Ped on Friday at her appt. All I got M was that giant bunny for Easter, no pics w/the "Easter Bunny" or anything like that.

Today I baked the cake I need for tomorrows creepy clown cake we're making in class. The cake is yellow so I made a lemon cake and a lemon pudding filling, I hope it taste good because I love lemon! The white cake was TOO sweet. The wilton buttercream frosting recipe is all sugar. They have a whipped icing recipe that has WAY less sugar, instead of 4 cups, 2 tablespoons! I'm looking forward to making that one instead. Hopefully I will still be able to decorate on top of it.

Lost is on, you know its on my dvr so I don't HAVE to watch it right now but I think I might, I'm so addicted! But I'm ready for these dam people to get off the island already, its been 3 years! haha, well only a couple months in "Lost" time.

I'm such a slacker. I got Maddy's Christmas dress before she was even born and now its Easter and I didn't get her one : ( Now the dresses are picked through, of course, not to mention shoes and all that. I'm going to try to find her one tomorrow after class anyway. I have to get new batteries for the camera so I can put up new pics of Mad.

GOOD NEWS: I went to Verizon tuesday and they told me the same thing, phone damage not covered under warranty because its not internal. But the lady was so sweet she ordered me a replacement anyway! So, phew, I will have a new phone tomorrow. And Fabian rigged my old one to get it to charge and I transfered all my phone book and pics/vids of Maddy! I was so sad about that but now I have it! And its time I invest in a REAL video camera and stop relying on my cell phone, thats so sad. haha



EDITED: Okay, heres that cake! I can't wait to start working w/smooth fondant frosting and no more buttercream. I want a smooth fake looking cake. haha

Mad ate pears for breakfast and carrots for dinner, did I mention she loves carrots?? I hope she will start to love green veggies!

I give up on peas! No, not really, but it is like pulling teeth trying to get Mad to eat them. This time I gave her peas w/brown rice and she still didn't like it. She holds her mouth tightly and when I managed to get some in her mouth she would spit it all over me and everywhere.

My cell phone broke last night! I don't qualify for an upgrade until 2/2009! That phone was barely 6 months old! Beware the LG Chocolate! The spot where you plug the charger into the phone, broke off the phone! I pulled out the charger and it was attached to it! Freakish but I'm a phone addict so I'm going through withdrawels right now : ( I want a pink blackberry pearl or a XV 6800 so I definitely need to wait for an upgrade, no good deals on ebay either.

You Are Totally Like Your Mom

You and your mom are practically clones. You think alike, and you even seem to read each other's minds. You're definitely you're mother's child... and that's just fine with you.

Are You Like Your Mom?

Your Leprechaun Name Is:

Stinky Potfiller

What's" Your Leprechaun Name?

You Communicate With Your Body

This isn't as bad as it sounds, it just means that you're a "touchy-feely" person. You need a lot of affection in your life. And for you, this means both giving and receiving little touches. Warm hearted, you bond with people easily. In fact, you often feel a little sad when you're not in the company of others. A little moody, you tend to be controlled by your emotions. But a bit hug always comforts you!

How Do You Communicate?

You Are A Good Friend

You're always willing to listen Or lend a shoulder to cry on You're there through thick and thin Many people consider you their "best friend"!

What Kind of Friend Are You?

Today...

Maddy ate a whole tub almost of organic carrots, she really loves them! She didn't care for the organic peaches/oatmeal/banana combo though. haha Ok, she is cranky, ready for a bath and shushybye!

My first cake!

It turned out okay, but it is only my first. I didn't know what to put on it so I dedicated it to Mad turning 6 months old on the 26th = ) This doesn't seem that hard at all, especially with a lot of practice. Next week we make a clown cake. I don't like clowns, they are scary to me, ewww. haha I guess I need to learn in case anyone wants a scary clown cake ; )

Madison is getting big! She doesn't like it when I lay her down, starting today! So, I had to sit her up on the couch and she held herself up. And she gets mad when she rolls on her tummy but I have to let her try and roll out of it. She's having peach oatmeal banana for breakfast. I'm saving all the jars so I can store food I make. My good friend Maurisa (love you) shared some tips w/me for making and storing baby food that I'm going to share for anyone who's interested. ((HUGS))

From Ris:

Basically all I did was take whatever fruit or vegetable I was making a batch of peel all the skin off and steam until soft. Even soft fruits like pears need to be steamed it adds to the nutrient value. I would then puree them in a really good blender sometimes using the leftover juices from steaming if a veggie was too thick (carrots) and put them in the glass baby food jars and freeze them. If you don't have many stock piled glass jars then you can also use ice cube trays. I for one tried not to becaus small scratches in the plastic trays leach bacteria into the food and the plastic breaks down and is an endocrine disrupter in our bodies. (Early puberty for some children among other harmful disruptions in growing bodies)

When I did a batch I would usually do 30 or more jars. So one day I would do sweet potatoes (which is more nutrient rich when baked in the oven, it brings out more natural sweetners in the veggie.) and freeze all the jars in a big zip lock bag for extra protection, another day pears, another green beans, whatever organic fruit and vegetables were on sale.

I rarely made applesauce only because I just bought it in the ready to eat containers for kids 6 packs, (like earths best or santa cruze) it was much cheaper that way. After doing this one fruit or vegetable a day for a week I had a great stock and was able to just keep up after that, once I ran out of all of a fruit or veggie I would then remake that food. I also made chile, corn and potatoe soup and spaghetti with tiny pasta and homeade sauce all of organic ingredients. My kids loved it all.

Don't let this overwhelm you. It really is a simple process. At one point I even wanted to make a company out of it. I really did enjoy it. There are many cookbooks that you can find for homeade baby food. And it is a commitment. If in the end you realize that it is more than you are willing to commit to, dont feel like your any less of a mom. Many great children grow up very healthy on jarred food.

Okay so the one day trip to Vegas was fun! We went to pick up Mom's order first, then Mom said, "I always wanted to go to Lake Mead" after we passed the sign. I said, "Lets GO!" So we went, it was beautiful. Then we saw signs, Hoover Dam 8 miles. Hey, why not? So we went, it was pretty awesome and beautiful.

Fabian spent the day with Mad and took her to THE MALL. I don't even have to say what happened.

Nothing new today. Mad's pink eye from the yucky cold virus we have seems to have cleared up on its own so we won't need those drops the dr. prescribed, phew. I bought a lot of organic baby food today and hopefully I'll be making most of her food from now on (wish me luck!) Tomorrow my Mom and I are driving to Vegas to pick up some items she bought from a liquidation website. I'm excited because I get to have one of the sewing machines so I can finally start sewing! I've been making hair bows like crazy and I'm ready to start making cute little boutique outfits for my baby website and ebay. I make tutu's too so if any one wants one! I'm going to do a princess theme for Madison's first birthday party in September and I'm going to custom make tutu's for all her girly guests : ) I think that will be fun. And I'm going to try to make a castle cake and princess cupcakes. Friday we decorate our first cake in our cake decorating class, a rainbow cake. I'm going to decorate it for Maddy turning 6 months. I want to throw it away afterwards because I don't need all those calories in this house! I wish I knew a good place to donate all these cakes I'm going to be making! And who knows what I'm going to do with the tiered wedding cakes I'll be making in the level 3 class! haha, take pictures then get them outta here! I'm down 5 pounds under the weight I was when I first got pregnant! I think I want to lose 6 more pounds, but I'm getting kinda skinny so I don't know.



Our 1st cake is this design, this is someone elses cake, I'll post ours once we do them Friday after class.

These are from Mad's first trip to church. I know its a long time, but we wanted to wait until we could all go as a family for the first time and this was Fabians first Sunday off in months.

Okay, so I just love this commercial! haha, Stinky McStinkface! Who you callin a Cootie Queen you lint licker??"

Today Madness had a follow up dr appt to check on her ears from the ear infection and make sure she is all better. She sure is! She's 15lbs 9oz's as of today. She has been extra kicky the past few days and I thought maybe she was ready for her rainforest bouncer my mom got her. I just put it together and boy are her legs long enough and bouncy enough! She is having the time of her life! What a great invention! I'm glad its unisex so we can keep using it on our future children. Definitely a must have, this is the longest she's been entertained by something yet!

I put Mad in her cosleeper last night. Boy was it weird not to have have her in bed all night w/us! She woke up at 6:30a and got in bed with us though, but she did a good job most of the night! Still woke up to eat 6x's or so though. I'm not sure when that will end. Sigh.

Here are the instructions: Copy these questions onto your blog and answer them. Tag all of your friends by posting a comment on thier blog. Add links to their blogs on yours. Have fun, and learn more about your pals!

1.WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
No
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Last week watching Oprah's big give
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
Ummm, I guess so
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
Turkey
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? One little girl, Madison Ashley
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Oh heck yes I would!
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Not a lot, but I definitely use it
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes.
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? I don't think so.
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Special K Redberries
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? No
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Mentally, yes
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Coldstone's Cake batter
14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Smile/Personality
15. RED OR PINK? Pink.
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? Sometimes I nag, and I know I'm doing it and hate it!
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My sister Renee
18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO PLAY ALONG WITH THIS GAME? Only if they want to.
19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Pink velour cargo sweats, no shoes
20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? Peach Yoplait Light
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Fabians wings sizzling in the oven
22. IF
YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Pink
23. FAVORITE SMELLS? My baby girl’s breath
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My mom
25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Very much.
26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? On TV, Football, Live, Basketball
27. HAIR COLOR? Black
28. EYE COLOR? Brown
29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Yes but I hope to get Lasik this year.
30 FAVORITE FOOD? Most anything Italian
31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy endings, although I do love a good SCARE!
32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? John Tucker Must Die
33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?White
34. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer
35. HUGS OR KISSES? Both
36. FAVORITE DESSERT? Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake
37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? N/A
38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? N/A
39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? The Wilton Method of Cake Decorating, Course 1
40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? We use laptops and I don't use a mouse other than the one on my lalptop.
41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT? Top Chef repeats
42. FAVORITE SOUND? Maddy's chatter
43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Neither
44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? New York
45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Special? Well I knit.
46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Long Beach Memorial
47. WHO'S ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING?Anyone who chooses to do this.

Well today was weird with the time change. No matter how many times I've done it, it always takes some getting used to. We had planned to go to church since it was the rare occasion that Fabian had it off, but we couldn't get out of bed. Me, mostly because Madison woke up at 2am for 2 hours, and Fabian had just came off a double. We went for a drive and Mad is finally asleep in my arms. Yes, I type w/one hand on my laptop all the time holding her and I've gotten pretty darn fast! Ok, gonna try to lay her down now : ) This is her sleep in the car after our drive today, KNOCKED out after I fed her some squash (she LOVES it!)

Joyce

I'm such a slacker on blogging!! Geesh, I let months and months go by between posts. I am not that busy people! I'm a domestic engineer so my day is full of feeding, playing with and caring for our little princess Mad. We have fun everyday. She is so cute (yeah, everyone thinks their baby is so cute and now that I'm a mother, I agree, babies are the cutest things on the planet and make life worth living!) Mad rolls from her back to her tummy and back to her back. She sits up for a few seconds and tries to balance herself. She pulls herself up from any position. Her favorite food so far would have to be apples with sweet potatoes a close second. I'm getting freaked out about pesticides so she is only getting organic food. I'm going to start making it now that I've got an idea of what she likes and needs.



This morning Mad woke up at 5am and stayed up! She went down for a nap at 2pm and guess who went down with her? Mom! I was exhausted. Daddy even more so. He went to work yesterday his regular shift, got home at midnight, went to bed at 1am and left at 5am for work today 16 hours straight! I don't know how he does it but he does and Mad and I appreciate Daddy working so hard so we can be together all day/night and I can raise our daughter myself.

Okay, Mad is scream playing right now, this little girl has some pipes on her! Heaven help our new neighbors : )

Mom and I started our 1st series of Wilton cake decorating classes last night, it was fun! Next week we are decorating our 1st cake. I'm excited, it should be cute. I would love to make a part time business of it with my mom.