A day of firsts...and seconds.

FIRST BOO BOO. Abigail had her first boo boo today; she fell off the couch. She really likes standing up now, so she was standing up holding on to the couch arm and Robby had one hand tentatively around her. Chance came running in with his toy and wanted to play fetch, so Robby bent down to pick up the fish and BAM Abby came tumbling down. I guess the shift in the couch cushions made her lose her balance. I was in the laundry room folding towels and I heard the KADUNK then the imminent WAAH. By the time I made it in there (like .00025 seconds later), Robby already had her picked up and was cuddling her. She has no bumps, no bruises, and she stopped crying after about one minute; thank goodness it was minor.

SECOND TOOTH. When she woke up this morning I noticed almost immediately that there was a new tooth in her mouth. Even though it is only 5 days after her first tooth popped up, we have been expecting it. It's so neat to see her grow and change each day. Before we know it, she'll have gotten her first and second sets and we'll be putting braces on. (Or maybe, hopefully, she'll be like my cousin Amber and have perfectly straight teeth!) Every day is a new adventure!

It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.

The last two days have been completely wild. All was well and full of smiles on Tuesday and Tuesday night - in fact, Abby even helped me cook!

All smiles on Tuesday.

My "help" in the kitchen.

(Please ignore the carrot spill on the foot of her high chair.)

Then, Abigail woke up on Wednesday morning at 4 am with a low grade fever. We started her on Tylenol, and it has been up and down since. The highest it has gotten is 100.7 and with the Tylenol it goes back down to normal. I called the doctor today and they said it is probably just a cold, which is what I suspected, to continue the Tylenol or Motrin (if I choose) and to keep an eye on it. If it goes above 102, then I am to call back. All day Wednesday it was obvious that she wasn't feeling well. She had a snot faucet and kept coughing and sneezing, plus her eyes were really watery. There was a period of time when she couldn't/wouldn't sleep and kept going, "Mummmmummmuuuummh" for about 20 minutes or so and it broke my heart that I couldn't help her feel better. The only thing I could do was sing to her and rock her and get a warm washcloth and wash off her face every so often. My mom always did it to me when I felt ill, and it seemed to have a calming effect on Abby, too, so that made me feel better.

My poor baby!

As if my sick baby wasn't enough, here comes a tornado! Ack. I was home alone and all of a sudden it started raining hard and I heard the warning sirens. I grabbed Abigail's carseat, a flashlight, a bottle, Chance, my cell phone and headed to the nearest bathroom. I buckled in sick Abigail, wedged her underneath the pedestal sink and found out pretty quickly that there is no cell phone signal during a tornado. I had no idea where Robby was and I was pretty frightened because the storm outside was very, very LOUD. I was in the bathroom and the lights went out, Abby was crying, Chance was whining and scratching at the floor and all I could do to keep from going crazy was to start singing lullabies. Sure enough, it worked! Chance calmed down, Abby calmed down and started cooing (I think she was singing with me) and eventually the lights came back on. I was in there about 45 minutes total. Then I contacted my parents and FINALLY Robby, who had to evacuate to the bathroom at his work (eww). He was on his way home. Yay!

The following pics are not of our house - just around town as I drove home from work today around 4pm - after a full day of cleanup. I wasn't able to get pics of the houses with no roofs, but there were some.

This morning I woke up and it was still storming terribly bad, but I had to go to a staff development. Boo hiss. (It actually turned out worthwhile and I learned a lot of valuable info!) After that, I was fortunate enough to cash in on my Mother's Day gift at a spa and I got a facial. So relaxing and nice! Now my face is aglow and looks at least one year younger! I know Robby may eventually read this -- thanks, Honey, for my gift! I loved it!

Abigail, although still under the weather, felt a lot better today and was chatty and happy. Hopefully she'll kick this little bug in the next few days.

7 months old already?!

Yesterday was Abigail's 7 month birthday! Time flies when you're having fun. Her Uncle Chris weighed her on Sunday and said that she was 19 pounds even; I measured her length and it was 27.25(ish) inches, and her head circumference is just a tad over 18". (At her 6 month check-up her head measured 18" even, she was 26.3" and was 16 pounds, 13 ounces.) Quite a growth spurt! Glad to know her body is catching up with her head. She is fully in 6-9 month clothes, sometimes even needing 12 month clothes - especially around the thighs! She just started wearing size 2-3 diapers and is about to be in size 3 shoes. Big girl!

She has been sitting up for over a month now, but has recently been able to sit up in excess of 30 minutes unassisted. It's more like she falls over when she gets bored rather than falling over because of lack of balance or muscle. She reaches for toys and can lay completely flat on her tummy- like a pancake - from a sitting up position. Twice, she has been able to sit up by herself from a reclining position (not all the way back). She still cannot roll over from her back to her tummy (she can the other way around), but I guess I will follow the advice from Abby's doctor and my mom and not worry. After all, she has scooted, stood up by herself while holding on to things (not to be confused with pulling up), and taken steps when Robby or I am holding her hands. She's progressing otherwise and the doctor said some babies just don't like to roll over. She HATES tummy time, so I guess she has no desire to go from her back to her tummy. Her favorite toys are her jumperoo and her new ring stackers (best $5 I ever spent!). She has been a little crabby lately, but on Sunday we woke up and saw a tooth staring at us! Her first tooth - bottom front left (her left).

Good thing she's getting teeth because this little girl is quite the eater, let me tell you! So far she has had (in order): rice cereal, oatmeal, peas, green beans, sweet potato, multigrain cereal, squash, carrots, banana, applesauce, peaches and prunes. She LOVES rice cereal and sweet potato - actually, the first time she ate the sweet potatoes she said, "mmmm" with every bite. I kid you not! All other foods she tolerates, with the exception of peas. She hates peas. The only way she will eat them is if I alternate one bite peas with two bites rice cereal. She's starting to figure out my tricks, though! Sometimes we can't help but give her "real" food, so she has also had refried beans, a tiny tiny piece of tortilla, a tiny tiny piece of apple, and a few black eyed peas. We're really trying to wait to feed her table foods until she has teeth, but we sometimes let her nibble on what we're eating. OH - and she has had two - exactly two - little ice cream dots from dippin dots. She loved it! No more for a while because we're supposed to hold off on dairy until age 1. Also, she loves the little Gerber Puffs that melt in your mouth. It's like cereal that dissolves super quick. She is so proud of herself when she eats them! We know she's a little young for them, but we bought them mostly so she can practice her fine motor skill of pincer grasp. As far as liquids go, she drinks water and juice (so far only apple) from a sippy cup. It took her about a week and a half to accept the sippy cup, but now she can drink from them like a pro. She does have a little problem tipping the cup up, though, so she has to have help when she drinks. She can also sip from a straw and sometimes drinks out of a regular cup.

She's growing so quickly, and I am so thankful to have the summer off so I can spend the next few months with her!

Summer Vacation: Day One - Setting Goals

It was so nice to wake up today and not have to go to work. Yay! And, surprisingly, I woke up before Abigail and was able to get about 10 minutes of "me time" in before it became "Mommy time." I actually got to go to the bathroom, fix a bowl of cereal and feed the dog without an audience! Ah, it is the small things that count. :) (Sorry about that "tinkle" comment, but any mom knows what I mean!)

It has been a looong time since I have been home alone all day with the baby - on the weekends I get to split the duty. Today has been a huge wake-up call! I will say, however, and I am very proud of this, that the TV has not been turned on once! (I am nonchalantly overlooking my facebook updates!) We've played and read books and looked at pictures and gone to the gym (thank heaven for the gym daycare!) and then played with puppy Chance. She is just now taking her first nap of the day. Hopefully she will be exhausted tonight! I know I will be.

I know that Abigail and I will get into a routine and this will all seem second nature to me again, so I am just enjoying the time I have with her. During the few spare minutes each day that I have to actually get stuff done, I am creating a "summer to do" list and, if I may say so myself, it is quite ambitious.

First of all, I am working on a reading list that attacks both pleasure and intellect, so it is has a wide range of genres. The first few books are The Secret Life of Bees (a classic award winner and I may teach it next year...?), Skinny Bitch (motivation and sass!), The Laura Robb method of teaching reading, and Now, What Are Your Strengths? (yay, Mom!). I need to add a detective novel, a young adult novel (I've finished the Twilight series and must say it came in handy this past year at school, but what is the "new thing?"), a chick lit (always so fun!) and at least one contemporary child psychology/development book. Eh, one of these days I will make a list and put it some where that I can keep myself accountable. My goal is to have ten books read by the end of the summer, and I think that it is totally do-able.

After my mind comes my body. I am aiming to work out at least 5 days a week and to lose my final "baby weight." I'm still going to call it that, even though I realize it has been 7 months and by now it is "Kasie weight" and no longer pregnancy related. I am holding on to the few people who think "9 months on - 9 months off" which gives me two months from today to lose my last (eek - dare I say it?) 13 pounds. THIRTEEN POUNDS? Crazy. I pretty much weigh today what I weighed on the day I stopped breast feeding (in late January). I lamely attempted working out in March, when Abigail was 3-4 months old, but after one week she got a double ear infection which I could only attribute to the gym day care and her baby immune system. I felt so guilty! Then came swine flu! How could I take her to daycare then? No way. Now that she is older than 6 months and is substantially more able to fight off infection (or so I believe), I am willing to try again. If there are 3,500 calories in one pound of fat, then I need to burn, through a combination of exercise and diet, a total of 45,500 calories! What the heck! That seems a little daunting. Today, according to the treadmill and elliptical, I burned more than 550 calories. I am going to round it to the "50" to make it easier to calculate. Afterall, I am an English major - math makes my brain hurt! That means only 44,950 calories to go! (Sidenote: Even though calorie loss comes from diet + exercise, I have no idea how many calories I eat/day, so I will just count the calories lost from exercise and try to eat better.)

Okay, okay. So, mind, body - what else? My home life of course! Actually, this is one of the most important; don't be fooled because I am listing it third. I think that there are four elements to being the best possible wife I can be, and I am going to strive to do them each day this summer. Even though it is my rubric, I sometimes only complete 2 or 3 of the 4 items in any one day. My goal is to try and do all 4 on a more consistent basis. Where did I get my criteria? From a combination of watching my mother + grandmother, reading, living and my Christian faith. I just made it up when I was engaged and have since tried to live by it each day. These elements are cooking at least one meal, cleaning and at least one load of laundry. (Oh wait, that is only three? Hmmm. I bet you can come up with the fourth, but please, PLEASE don't put too much thought into it.) If we have a happy, clean home and we make sure to spend a little alone time together each day, our lives seem so much simpler and more enjoyable.

The only other goal I didn't mention is more of a lifestyle change than a "goal" - we need to go to church on a more consistent basis. I'm nicer and happier and a better person when I am surrounded by other believers and am reminded to read the Bible. I have someone to follow in my shoes now, and I need to make sure that I am the best example I can be and that I properly prepare her for life's challenges. It's the only safeguard I have for her.

Well, I better get something done around the house before she wakes up! Love, love, love!

Fun in the Sun

Summer's here! School ended on Thursday so now I get some much needed time for TLC, reading (I have a mega book list!), organization and just plain ol' time to hang out with my daughter. I would say that I get time to hang out with my husband, too, but that time will be short and sweet and wedged between his massive summer school schedule, work, umpiring and softball. I'm proud of him for doing so much! His May-mester ended on Thursday, so this little three day weekend he's had is like our summer. I still haven't gotten used to the idea that I don't have to go to work on Monday.

Yesterday, we went to the Fort Worth Zoo. It was 91 degrees out (according to my highly accurate car thermometer) and overall, it wasn't too bad. There were lots of families out there, and I was happy to see that there were other babies out younger than Abigail. For a brief moment, I was feeling a little guilty about bringing my 6 month old (7 months on Monday!!) to the zoo, but when I saw little 3 and 4 months out - with no hats! - I felt better. You better believe Abigail (and Robby, and me) were slathered down with SPF 50+. No burns for us!

The best part of the zoo was the family time, of course, but I really loved seeing my first hippos (!!), white tiger and eating a snocone. Who can go to the zoo and not get a snocone? It's like going to a baseball game and not getting a hot dog. Naturally, the part Abigail liked the most was seeing the regular Texas birds that weren't part of the zoo exhibit at all, but just the ones that were flying around and happened to be visiting the zoo, too. The blackbirds were her favorite! Here's a few pics of the zoo:

Abigail (6 months)

Okay, I am new to blogspot and I will need time to play with the photo-adder. For now, you just get these. To see any others, go to my facebook! I'll end with the giant gorilla. The picture is kind of blurry because it was taken with my zoom through about a 9 inch thick (or more) window/barrier.

Lobster Kisses? What the heck?

Apparently, I am not very creative at all. Every name I tried to use for my blog name was already taken! First, I wanted a name that was indicative of the context of the blog - a summary of our lives - and I tried alliterative names with "Roden," but the only ones I could think of were Roden Report (boring), Roden Replay (too sporty), and Roden Rendtion (sounds cool, but it is specific to a dramatic or musical reading, not a daily log type work and I would feel uncomfortable misusing the word). Then, I thought about naming it something to do with our lives as they are now: Pitter-patter (taken), Love (taken), Love Love Love (taken), Happy Hearts (taken), A Little Bit of Sunshine (also taken), and about ninety others that I tried. I liked those because they remind me of Abigail and how all three of us are as a family - happy, joyful and full of love.

After a million failed attempts, I almost resorted to A Roden's Writings, but I just couldn't confirm the name when I knew it would be improperly punctuated! There's no apostrophes allowed in web addresses, and I know I would just cringe every time I thought about it. As a last resort, I thought that I would just grab an adjective and a noun and go with that - which is what I did. Except that my first one was Blue (because of Robby's eyes) Shoes. And guess what?! Blue Shoes is taken! (Seriously?) Next, I went with Butterfly Kisses - TAKEN! Then, I thought about Robby and how he is my lobster and combined lobster+kisses and it worked and I was tired of trying so I accepted it. Whew. Forty-three minutes to find a deadgum good name. I'm exhausted.

(For those curious souls out there, Robby and I often refer to each other as lobsters because lobsters only have one mate, and even if they are separated from each other for years, will always go back to their first "love." Lobsters = Us. And who needs to explain kisses? They are full of goodness and all the joys in life - which, hopefully, I'll be able to share through this blog.)