the great goat mystery.

you may remember back in january, during the days of the snowpocalypse, that my parents came to visit.

while they were here, they gave ellie a little farm. the set of animals included a horse, a cow, a pig, a sheep, and a goat.

after we opened it up, set up the toys and started playing, we realized that someone was missing.

where was the goat?

i remembered seeing it, because at first i thought it was the funniest looking horse i had ever seen. then i realized it was a goat.

so the goat had made it inside the house.

after looking and looking, i finally decided that the goat had either been accidentally thrown out with the box or he had fallen down the heater vent with the broken cover.

we weren't ever going to see that goat again.

nine months later (really!), it is five in the morning and i'm getting ready to drive husband to work.

i decide to put on my $2-clearance-fake-uggs since it is finally sixty-ish degrees outside.

as i put my right foot in the boot, i feel something hard.

guess who i found peeking back at me?

the missing goat! 

even better for my story, ellie had left her entire herd of farm friends together in her room before bed the night before.

when i woke her up to get ready to get in the car, she groggily scooped them all into her arms and began to stumble around with them.

"ellie," i said, "come see what i found!"

she brought all the friends into my room and saw the goat sitting on the bed.

she was puzzled for a minute, then smiled, laughed and started lining them all up.

she spent the rest of the morning lining them up in different places around the house and counting them.

she even said "goat!" when i told her what it was.

like it was never missing at all.

so ends the goat mystery of 2011.

i'll never quite know how it got in the boot.

although ellie is notorious for stuffing toys in boots, a tiny part of me thinks that maybe grampa brad thought it might be a funny little surprise (he just didn't know how long it would take for us to find it!).

who knows? but we're happy to have him back.

i like it!

the other song!

the other day she was in the car singing
"a-die-dit, a-yite-it, a-die-dit, a-yite-dit."

i couldn't figure it out for the life of me.
luckily, daddy was in the car and was able to translate:

"i tried it, i like it!"



i couldn't find the original song, but it is from yo gabba gabba (of course).
there is a new food to try and they sing:
"try it, you'll like it!" and when brobee tries it he says "i tried it, and now i like it!"

and this is her singing it
(and some distracted talk about who is a princess - including the little girl we babysit, sloan):

she is really getting to a point where she is communicating more than babbling. she asked for yogurt for breakfast and when i gave it to her she said "where's the spoon?"

hang on a second!

going a little bit crazy.

ellie is getting her eye teeth right now. her canines. her sharp, pointy mouth things.
from what i understand, these are usually the worst teeth to cut.

from personal experience, it sure makes for one cranky baby.
her brand of cranky is mostly crazy. she gets sudden urges to do all sorts of dangerous and naughty things and then gets hurt and cries and does it all over again (or we stop her from doing whatever dangerous, naughty thing and she cries and screams and then does it all over again - you pick).

she has become even more hilarious than normal, though. i made a couple of videos last night of the ellie experience. you'll have to forgive the shaky camera, because she was putting her feet on my arms while i was trying to film it. she also puts her fingers up to the lens a lot. oh well, it just makes the experience that much truer. you don't get to hold still around ellie.

also, we are really loud! turn down your volume, maybe? 


video one: 

ellie started singing two songs spontaneously yesterday. by spontaneously i mean: i have sung them to her before and she never joined in with me, then suddenly yesterday she started singing them out of nowhere.

i have yet to get the second song on video, so i'm going to wait to tell what it is because it is just toooooo cute. here she is singing "Jesus wants me for a sunbeam." she had been singing it all afternoon and through her bathtime.

(notice at the beginning she wants "gabba," because she thinks my phone only exists so we can watch yo gabba gabba clips on it.)

(she also says "good job!" at the end.)

video two:

ellie has been getting into the princess thing. she was walking around all day saying "i'm a princess!" but it sounds like she is saying "i'm a person!" she also loves yo gabba gabba so much that she says "my name is ellie! i like to dance!"

for those of you who haven't seen the show: 

that is what they do on the show. there are about four kids per episode that do a special dance. (i had no idea how many crazy videos they make of these kids on youtube...)

it took me a minute to figure out she had switched gears.

both of these were recorded at bedtime, when she is hitting her wild little peak. it's fun but really exhausting. when she finally hits the sack i think everyone is paralyzed for about twenty minutes. 

and this is why i am always tired and sore. she's a workout. and i love her. 

fall? possibly?

{insert awesome fall picture here}
(sigh. i'll get one eventually. maybe later this afternoon?)

i'm having a hard time admitting that it is actually fall. yes, the leaves are finally starting to change a little and it has finally been raining a little more... but it is still in the 80s all the time and it just doesn't feel like fall without boots and a light jacket. or lots of pumpkin food. or soup and bread for dinner a few times a week.

i did roast an acorn squash last night and it was delicious. however, the hot chocolate i had the other morning was a bit much. i don't think i cooled off all day.




i keep thinking about last fall, when i had a little wobbler instead of a little toddler. it seems like it has been years since then!

ellie bean says at least one new word every day, usually more. she's just so smart (too smart?). last night she asked for applesauce for dinner, though we hadn't eaten or talked about applesauce in days. when i opened the fridge, she started telling me what foods she saw and finally decided that she would rather have a "yodurt" instead (it was the first time she had ever said that word and she wasn't repeating me).

she jumps on her bed and says "montee! montee! jump jump jump!" (monkeys jumping on the bed).

she learned the word "money" from daddy and now tries to steal all of his coins - and our debit cards.

she finally (finally!!) talks about me. i went out on an errand the other night and when i walked in the door i heard her say "it's da mama!" before coming out of her room to hug me.

she found daddy's portable radio and brought it to me, asking for "mutesick" (music). we turned it on and she carried it around the house, dancing to everything from bryan adams to the allman brothers. she asked for music again this morning when we got in the car. when the commercials or the news come on, she'll whine and cry until we get some good tunes, then she quiets down and bops her head to the beat.

oh, and best of all, last week she went on a daddy lunch date. she spent so long getting ready with me. we did her little curls with hairspray(!) and she pretended to put on makeup. i let her rub some fancy lotion on her hands and arms, too. she was so excited. i had a doctor's appointment, so i dropped her off at work with daddy during his lunch break and they set off on their own adventure. i never want to forget her face when i left her there with him. she grabbed his hand and turned back to look at me and she was a tiny bit uncertain. then she took a breath, smiled, squared up her shoulders and walked away with him for their date. when did she get to be so big?

every time this girl hits a new stage, i keep thinking "and i thought she was fun before!"



the other thing about last fall: i couldn't stop thinking about brand new babies. whenever i saw the colors and felt the breeze i would think, "wouldn't a tiny baby just make this perfect?"

and she will.

baby boo, we love you (even though you are the second child and all of this pregnancy stuff is old news). we can't wait to see how different you are.

(32 weeks tomorrow - two months!)

p.s. - ellie says:

mn    06666666666 , kmn
p hgv2 h+
 /=* 4-1021*

the doldrums.

i think the first time i ever heard anything about the doldrums, it was when i read the phantom tollbooth as a kid. i remember the grey, sleepy feeling i got while reading it.

for me, the doldrums represent being both bored and anxious at the same time, as if there is something i have to do but i don't know what exactly that thing is or how to i am supposed to do it.

boy, am i ever in the doldrums in this pregnancy.

i think it could be mislabeled as nesting, because i have reorganized the hall closet and entertainment center and now i am going through ellie's clothes and the baby clothes and cleaning out their closet, too. every time i enter a room, my brain hones in on what needs a good scrub. yesterday i cleaned the laundry room and the day before that i washed some of the walls in the kitchen.

it sounds like nesting, yes. i'm preparing the house for a baby, right? no. i'm nervously doing tasks to keep myself busy while i wait for the real task: having a baby. i am not satisfied with any of the things i accomplish because i know that it wasn't "the" thing that needs to be accomplished. (well, then again, it might also be that everything that is clean today will be destroyed tomorrow... but that's another story.)

i'm getting to that point of no comfort. sitting is uncomfortable, but so is standing. trying to sleep? forget it. i'm not comfortable in any position. i am either squirming with a full bladder and running to the bathroom every five minutes or i'm dehydrated and a little dizzy, there is no middle ground. the other day i went to the bathroom, washed my hands, brushed my hair for a minute and almost forgot why i had originally come into the bathroom - and felt like i had to go again before i left.

so that's one reason i haven't been blogging much. i feel like i'm constantly tapping my fingers and waiting for the next big thing, but nothing is as big as the thing that is coming.

also, this has been going on:

ellie has been climbing on the chairs. constantly.

if i sit down at the computer and she's around she tries to climb on me and take over. she wants to sit at the computer or at the kitchen table just because she can. i have to put the chair by the computer away so she doesn't go nuts on my desk. she is also figuring out that she can push chairs up to the counter in the kitchen and get things down. luckily the rest of the house has carpet, so she can't move the chairs as easily - yet.

i'm glad i have her around to keep me entertained and stressed and constantly busy. she doesn't let me take a break. when i try to stretch out on the couch, she's there to sit on my ribcage or push my feet off onto the floor. "ta'mon, mama! wes go!" ("come on, mama! let's go!" - if you don't speak ellie.) she is being pretty helpful in her own way, though. she was so excited to go through the clothes for "da beebee" and she sleeps for at least 10 hours most nights, bless her heart.

maybe if i document some of the "not so big" things (like, anything that doesn't involve pushing a baby out), i'll keep myself going.

maybe you'll see some more posts out of me yet.

magic in my middle.

if you want to skip my pregnant ramblings about cookies and get straight to the cute video, scroll down.


i made these wonderful magic in the middle cookies yesterday.

that's what happens when i am temporarily stuck at the house during the day. we're still down one vehicle, so during the work day i have no way to go out and buy whatever bag of halloween candy my heart (i mean, the baby's heart) desires... so i bake.

i'm telling myself that it is helping to teach my daughter manners, because the only time i can get her to consistently say "thank you" is when i am handing her a cookie.

anyway, you have to try these cookies sometime. the ingredients are things that most people usually just have on hand, too. that's what i love.

the recipe i found via the girl who ate everything,  but it was a guest post from gonna want seconds.

when i made them, i found that i didn't exactly end up with 30 one inch balls - more like 18. when i tried to cram the balls i made inside the dough, i ended up with six huge cookies (not that there is anything wrong with huge cookies!). i ended up cutting each little ball in half and wrapping it in the cookie.

also, i was craving a salty sweet treat, so i mixed some coarse sea salt with sugar and sprinkled it on top of each cookie, then pressed it with a glass.  i highly recommend it, if you like the salty side of sweet.



speaking of vehicles, this commercial made me laugh so hard yesterday.

i can hardly complain, though, because in our car we only have about 10% tantrums and 90% this:

9/11.

yesterday i was thinking about that day and this present day and all of the things that have happened in that time. 

i can't imagine what it must have been like to have been there and to have lost someone; what it must be like to have lost someone in the conflicts that have followed that terrible day.

jose narosky said that "in war, there are no unwounded soldiers." i think that can be true for entire nations, as well. everyone in this country and even worldwide has been changed in some way by the events of september 11, 2001. 

i've always believed in america. i can't say that i know what things we need to change or how to change them (if i did, i would run for president). i do think that, collectively, we all need to be better people and make better choices. we need to take care of ourselves and our families, friends and neighbors. we need to be as united as we proclaim ourselves to be.

"america will never be destroyed from the outside. if we falter, and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." abraham lincoln

God bless the USA.

miss bedhead's latest accomplishments.

want to hear some funny little things ellie has been doing lately?
i thought so.

when asked a question, she has started wrinkling up her eyebrows and saying "ummmmmmmm?" like she's thinking hard about her answer.

she has really started to figure out how to use her words. yesterday i told her to go get daddy for dinner, so she ran into his office. he said, "hi ellie, what do you need?" she said, "ummmmmmmm..." then looked at him, said "let's go!"and waited for him to follow her to the kitchen.

she loves having conversations with us. i ask her about her dreams every morning. "did you dream about pumpkin pie? did you dream about horses?" sometimes she will laugh and say "noooope," but other times she will hear me mention something and she'll go on and on about it. unfortunately i can't understand much. last night, before bed, she sat on daddy's lap and answered his questions. my favorite question: "do you like mommy?" her response was a vigorous nod of her head, because her mouth was full (awww).

she's making a lot of small sentences. instead of pointing at things and saying their names, she'll say "it's a box" or "it's dada." she likes to tell stories, and like i mentioned, we can't really understand most of them. she's getting there, though. she played on the swings with daddy the other day at the park and afterward she came to me and pointed to the swing and said "dada, sit. weeeee!"

she also says "oooh!" a lot and "oh! wow!"
along with "uh-oh," she has started saying "whoops!" 

and i didn't realize how often i say "alright" because she says it a lot, too.
"ellie, want to get dressed?" "um, awight."

she has started to pay a lot more attention to what we're watching. she has liked watching kid shows on tv for while now. she loves nature shows. for some reason it doesn't bother her to watch lions and cheetahs hunt, but i guess she has a thing for baby seals. she saw a polar bear attack one and she yelled "no! no! no! bear! bear!" maybe gazelles just aren't as cute as seals? she also got really wrapped up in toy story 3 today. when the monkey started to attack she said "no! no! no!" and i had to convince her it would be fine.

she loves to make her toys kiss. farmer kisses cow, horses kiss horses - and mommy and daddy have to kiss the toys, too. she smiles so big when she sees mommy and daddy hug each other and kiss (and she absolutely loves getting a sandwich hug from mommy and daddy and being attacked with kisses). what a girl. she's in love with love already.

one last little thing: she's a girl after my own heart. i made cookies the other day and she was being extra polite, saying "please" and "thank you" every time she got a bite. when i was taking the cookies off the racks and putting them away, she started screaming and crying in terror. she didn't want those "tuutties" going anywhere.

our little girl is growing up so fast. i keep wanting to call her a baby but she just isn't really a baby at all. it's sad and exciting and fun.

all i can say is that we love her. 

over the weekend...

we didn't do much over labor day weekend.

husband said at one point: "do people have barbeques or something?"
i replied: "i think so. sometimes they go camping, too. or on a trip."

i think this is only our second labor day weekend without having to work at least one of the three days and we're still not really sure how holidays work. we do know how to relax, though.

ellie and i looked at some adorable puppies with the only aunt in georgia (and we saw bunnies, hamsters and kittens, too). we ate frozen yogurt and pizza. we drank way too many diet root beers. we played with family and friends.

a few little things i want to remember:

- finding magnetic letters and princess stickers hidden in ellie's boots.

- watching ellie fight sleep while listening to her daddy tell the most outrageous versions of fairy tales i have ever heard. (i'm not kidding. at one point, goldilocks was making an alliance with the great eagle of the forest and there was something about the three little pigs going off to college to learn about architecture.)

- the entire family (including dog) cuddling on the bed and watching daddy's show (top shot) and then mommy's show (project runway) on the tiny laptop.

and the past few days it has finally been raining, really raining. dark and all day raining. it is even a little bit (gasp!) chilly.

i couldn't be happier. we're getting closer to autumn every minute.

and i stink at taking pictures, so here's a video that's a few days older. i'm sure it isn't too different from what happened over the weekend, though. 

it's sideways. sorry.

she's counting her food, which lately she does instead of eating it. she's also wearing the shirt she picked from old navy clearance. good find at 97 cents, right?

thanks on a thursday.

today i have an ever-lengthening list of things that are driving me crazy; things that are making me feel not very thankful at all. here's all i will say: i am getting really tired of broken stuff. oh, and i'm out of my caffeinated diet beverages and i won't be getting more anytime soon. enough said.

so to take my mind off of that, i'll make a list of things that i am thankful for (and it's thursday and bloggers talk about being thankful on thursdays, right?).


i'm thankful that "elbow" (elmo) and "gabgab" (yo gabba gabba) are on netflix. i'm especially thankful that they put up nineteen new yo gabba gabba episodes this week and i'm not stuck watching the same 10 over and over anymore.

i'm thankful for great air conditioning. i don't know what i would do without it.

i'm thankful that pinterest can help me feel creative and organized and pretty and stylish and talented by living vicariously through others.

i'm thankful that my glucose test came back with good results. i was really afraid that i was going to have to give up sugar for three months and then, of course, take to my bed with grief.

i'm thankful that ellie's iron test was good, too. i've been trying really hard to get that girl to eat some good foods with not much success (read: at least three different kinds of food are thrown on the floor each day). luckily, she will let me mix baby cereal into her "apbahdah" (applesauce). i could give her nothing else all day and she would be happy.

on that note, i'm also thankful that ellie can eat with a spoon and fork pretty well. i don't think either of us would survive if she couldn't feed herself.

i'm thankful that judge hasn't tried to run away even though his fence has been broken for weeks. it is pretty low on our list of stuff to fix/replace right now.

i'm thankful that enough things work for me to make some delicious fresh bread. nothing makes me feel more accomplished or happy right now cutting into a warm loaf of homemade bread.

i am thankful for babies that take naps. i can't even tell you how thankful i am.

i'm thankful that we've had a few days of cooler weather. well, low-90s-cooler weather isn't much but it is definitely better. i've found myself staring longingly at my scarves and sweaters lately, knowing it will be a while yet. oh, and these pictures are of us celebrating the weather by actually going outside!