MILESTONE MAYHEM~ Big Girl Bed!!!

I had the day off yesterday. I haven't had my job for over a year yet, so when we got our paid time off for the new fiscal year, I didn't get as much as most other people- it's prorated. Rather than waste my time by taking a whole week off at a whack, I decided I would just tack an extra day on a couple of our long holiday weekends so it would feel almost like a whole vacation... This was one of those weekends :)

I spent most of the day cleaning and cooking, trying to get the house looking nice so that I didn't have to deal with it for the rest of the weekend and could just relax. Well, I was trying to avoid doing the mountain of dishes in my sink (we don't have a dishwasher... ugh) and got the idea to transition Ilyana's bed to a toddler bed with the rails. I just knew she would be so psyched to be a "big girl" in her bed.

Will and I had discussed this a couple of weeks ago and hadn't really come to a conclusion. We thought she was ready for it, but were worried about spending a week dragging her back to bed, trying to explain that it was night-night time. So we sort of skirted around the issue and never came to a conclusion. Yesterday, I finally took matters into my own hands and did it myself :) It took me a while, because I couldn't find the right allen wrench (the one I needed was an "L" shaped one, and all I had was one of the straight ones) but I managed in the end.

She was really excited about it, she kept running across the room and flopping herself onto the bed, laying in it and saying "night night" pretending it was bedtime... It was really cute. Well, then real bedtime rolls around, and we were a little nervous as to what would happen.

We put her in her bed a little early with the t.v. and explained that if she got up, we would turn the t.v. off. Well, she got right up, and off went the t.v. Then we decided we'd put the child gate up in her doorway, so if she got up she could play in her room but she couldn't run around like a maniac and be fully up. After we put up the gate, she cried for a couple of minutes... And then it went quiet. I walked by the door and saw her laying in her bed, drinking her sippy. Ten minutes later, this is what we found:

WHAT A BIG GIRL!!! I was soooo proud of her, and I was blown away by how easy it was. At least for this first night. I am sure we'll have a couple more nights of fussing, but overall it was not nearly as bad as I expected. She was out like a light by 8:30

Of course we had to go on a pic-taking spree... Here are a couple other cute ones of Bendy in her big-girl bed for the first night!

My little angel peanut. I can't even believe how fast time has flown by. It's a little bittersweet, all this growing up she's been doing lately- where did my BABY go? She's a little girl now, with her own opinions, her own moods and preferences and ideas. *sigh* People told me when she was born that it would fly by, I just had no idea it would be THIS fast.

Friday Fill-Ins #3~

1. Dancing to the Noggin channel songs while swinging Bendy around makes me happy to be alive.

2. The last time I looked at the pictures from my camera I nearly screamed! What is UP with this pinkish cast? I need a nice new cam! BAH!.

3. When I drive I ride people's @$$ too much. Will hates it.

4. I saw a bear standing (well, actually running across) the road to my work about a month ago! This is where you can crack a joke along the lines of "You know you live in the boonies when..." :P

5. Give me peace, give me joyfulness, give me money to go shopping! ;)

6. Next week I am looking forward to my long weekend.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to going to downtown Leb, tomorrow my plans include camping with the Bend for the first time! and Sunday, I want to come home, veg and finish my chores!

Wordless Wednesdays #3- Political Persuasions!

Wordless Wednesdays #2- Cutest Cousins...

Friday Fill-Ins #2!

1. You know you're old when you fall asleep twenty minutes before the end of every movie you watch if you start it after 7!

2. My heart is divided between Snickers and Reese's cups. (I couldn't do something serious for this, because my heart isn't divided- I give it all to my family, especially my BEND!)

3. A deep tissue massage is what I need RIGHT NOW! (my back is killing me!)

4. I have felt the true loyalty of family, I have known the depths of love.

5. Gah, won't these people stop harping on about tires! Grow up and care about the meaningful parts of politics, why don't you?

6. Get out of debt as soon as you can! (That would be advice to myself... haha)

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to shopping for my friend's wedding present and getting a good night's sleep, tomorrow my plans include lounging, cleaning, and maybe having a friend up and Sunday, I want to dance around with my girl and take her to the park (if it doesn't rain)!

Random Bendy in Cute Suit Pics!

Over this past weekend, we were hanging out on the porch and I got the bright idea to fill one of our laundry bins with bubble water and toys and let Bendy play in it. Well, that didn't really work out, because she wasn't sure what to do with it- I don't think she understood that it was out there for her to play with... She sort of just stared into it, then continued to run around like a maniac. In any case, I thought she looked super cute in her two-piece bathing suit that the Cey-Cey bought her, so I wanted to share a couple of pics I took.

Yes, yes, I ponder... AND pontificate.

This one is pretty washed out, but I love it anyway! My pretty little bend with her belly button poking out :)

Looking out on the world... She says "outSIDE, outSIDE". She LOVES the outdoors, so I can't wait to take her camping! Hopefully this year before the season is over...

This one doesn't really fit with the others, I just wanted to put it cuz it was cute, too. This is my little family, minus me on this past Tuesday, August 5. Notice Deuce Dingle creeping up to get some love and try to munch the popsicle... haha! Ignore the laundry and dishes in the back, please- this was a chore night! I was folding things and eating on the couch. heh.

Our First Ever (Sort of) Garden :D

For years, I haven't been able to keep a plant alive. I know the principles of gardening- I've been watching my Dad, stepmom, Mother in law and Mom do it for years with amazing skill and actually reap the rewards of a pretty yard and some yummy fresh veggies- but, for some reason, they have never really translated for me... Whether I was watering too much, putting them on the wrong side of the house, or they just didn't like me, who knows. As of a few years ago, I had pretty much given up and been resigned to the fact that my apartment would be bare of plant life for all time. Sad, but true.

This year, I decided to give it a go again.

It started when, on Mother's Day, I was given a plant as a gift from my Mother and Stepfather in law. They handed it over with a grin and said, "Hope it's alive next time we see you..." I had to laugh, but it made me all the more determined to keep THIS ONE alive. I almost failed again, I must admit. I hadn't gotten around to potting the plant after about a week, and it was really starting to droop and look like a sad little specimen. So I finally got my butt in gear, bought a pot and some Miracle Gro soil- I figured I can use all the help I can get. Once I'm a pro, maybe I'll consider going pesticide-free. heh.

Well, my plant came back! Bright and bushy and alive, in all its glory. Maybe being a Mommy has somehow made me more in tune with the pulse of life in all things- or probably, that's just hokey and finally something clicked and I figured out what I was doing wrong before. Or maybe it's just the location of my porch and the light it gets. All I knew was, I was psyched!



So I became inspired. When we went to the Farmer's Market a couple weeks later, I bought a pumpkin. Now, mind you, we don't have a yard. But I was told by the farmer at said market that this pumpkin (which is a special red kind, for even more coolness bonus points here) that if I bought a big enough pot, I could actually grow my pumpkin right on my porch! Yay! I was thinking that by the time Halloween rolls around, even if it's only a tiny little pumpkin, any home-grown pumpkin would be a cool source of fun for us and the Bend- to decorate and put a shiny red pumpkin out front will make her feel like such a big girl! So I brought him home, got him a pot... And here he is, weeks later, looking rather healthy and with a lot more leaves than he had when we bought him:



And then... My Stepmom gave me a whole bunch more plants. She had gotten a couple of flats for free off a friend who has a greenhouse, so she passed some along to me, too. Looking at all of them, I thought for sure, this is the end of my lucky streak with plants. There's no way I can keep like ten of them alive at once. But I'm happy to report, I was wrong! They are ALL thriving, and once Illy got over her urge to pull them out of their pots (which took a while- she had uprooted a few of them before she caught on that they're not toys and are supposed to stay IN the pots) they started growing like crazy and the flowers are blooming! So for once, I have a garden. Of some sort. I don't know that it counts when it's just ten pots scattered across the porch, but it still makes me happy. I go out there every day and check on them and it's so crazy just how fast they grow- it's good to know SOMETHING grows faster than little kids :P Here are some more pics I took of my happy little bunch:

Pots lined up in a row...

Some hot and spicy Oregano!

Flowers are oh-so-pretty...

Especially sneaky red ones that I didn't expect!

Lavender growing like wildfire looks like crazy hair.

More Lavender and some purple flowers with yellow centers (yeah, yeah, I should know the names, but I don't.)

I think this is the saddest pot. I ran out of plants, so there were only two in this one! Still growing, though...

Three flower colors...

I love purple flowers.

First Friday Fill-Ins EVER :)

I like this new meme I found, so I decided to try it out... Here goes:

1. I believe whatever doesn't kill you either makes you stronger, or makes you go crazy.

2. If you're good at something, don't take it for granted- use it as much as you can.

3. Why so many weird weather patterns this summer?

4. Something is out there, it's karma- you can't see it, but it will either bite you in the butt or surprise you with happiness when you least expect.

5. If my life were a sitcom, it would be titled Traveling with Toddler.

6. Sitting on my back porch [if you don't have one, use your imagination] I see my potted plants, Illy's Dora bike, the river rushing by beneath the bridge on Main Street, the laundromat, the Northern Rail Trail, and the building with the little organic restaurant and tattoo parlor in it.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to possibly watching a movie, spending time with the Bend, and sleeping well, tomorrow my plans include the HUGE annual summer bash at Greg and Kristin's! and Sunday, I want to probably sleep some more, because I'll be pooped after partying all night!

This was pretty fun, and harder than I thought! I found this meme at:

http://fridayfillins.blogspot.com/2008/07/friday-fill-ins-82.html

PS: The Friday Fill-Ins for this week weren't up on the site yet, so I cheated and used last week's. :P