Magic words and Michael Phelps

Drew says please. It sounds like a cross between cheese and tease, but he knows now to use that word whenever he wants something. And since it's so stinking cute, he usually gets whatever he is "cteese"-ing. That won't last forever, right?

Also, last night he started putting his face in the bath water and blowing bubbles. I plan to sign him up for the 2028 Olympics tomorrow.

Just a snapshot of D's new tricks....

Way Back When-sday

My friend Allison has been doing "Way Back When-sday" for ages, but I never participated because I lost all digital pictures earlier than 2008 in a great "blue screen of death" episode in early 2009.  Sad.

So when my dad sent me 6 digital pictures from my junior year of high school today (Tuesday), I knew I was meant to play tomorrow.

I actually remember this day VIVIDLY-- it may be one of the most defining times in my high school life.  It was the Monday after Easter 2000.  My brother and I had just returned from spending Easter in Phoenix with my aunts.  The Friday before Easter was the culmination of drill team officer tryouts- I received the Lieutenant Colonel position.  I'm pretty sure my mom sent us to Phoenix that weekend to get me far, far away in case I did not make officer (mom, is that true?).

That explains the hand painted banners of support.

Since it was mid-April, it was also prom invite time.  My boyfriend at the time chose that weekend to ask me to prom by covering my bed in Easter grass and eggs filled with candy and the letters P-R-O-M-? in various eggs.

That explains the Easter grass.

Now let's explain me.  The day I got to Phoenix, I got really, really sick.  I remember sitting down in the airport because I couldn't walk any further.  They had to take me to one of those emergency doc-in-a-box places.  They didn't find anything.  I slept the entire weekend.  For the better part of 6 weeks I visited doctor after doctor trying to figure out what was wrong.  During spring finals I pushed up the sleeves on my shirt and found a crazy rash all over my arms and stomach.  That lead to a visit with an infectious disease doctor and a dermatologist, who finally ordered a blood test and realized I likely had mono.  (When I write it out here, it seems so obvious.  Why did we not check for that earlier?)  Who knows how long I had it for, but my poor body was fighting it hard since I never took a break.

So that explains why I look like death.  Motivational posters and being asked to prom really don't compare to just crawling in your own bed when you feel the sickest you ever have in your entire life.

I can't explain the clothing choices.  I just hope "it was 2000" is a good enough answer....

Also, I should point out the following
- very matchy-matchy comforter and skirted bedside table
- deflated balloons from some event that was obviously very special
- boom box
- black flannel over my window so that NO LIGHT GOT IN MY ROOM AT ALL.

Her name shall be Galleria.

:)

We had tossed around names of both genders before we found out peanut was a girl, but had nothing set either way. Of course, as soon as you find out everyone wants to know a name!

If our moms asked, we tended to tell them we were naming her Sharon Vicki or Vicki Sharon (our moms first names). Then we switched to telling them terrible first names, which they never believed. (No examples given for fear I would offend someone with my thoughts on a "terrible" name.)

But when my dad asked after a particularly stressful last minute trip to the Houston galleria, Rob answered his name question with a completely straight faced "Galleria." I could read dads mind right on his face as he considered if that was a true answer and decided not to laugh just in case he would be addressing Christmas gifts to Galleria next year. We pulled the same joke on Travis, and it worked on him, too. Apparently we look like the kind of people who would name a daughter Galleria.

We told my parents last night over a family Christmas Eve dinner. Instead of telling them outright, we sent it around the room telephone-style. The name at the end was Petula Anne, thanks to a jokester uncle who decide to change it to something terrible before it got to my parents.

So her name isn't Sharon, Vicki, Galleria, or Petula, but Anneliese Corrinne. We plan to call her Ellie.

In a later blog post I will explain the significance of the name. We, obviously, love it.

Merry Christmas from Rob, Lindsey, Drew, ELLIE and Sophie.

Tiny Prints

You know you are angry when you wake up at 3am and start thinking about the conversation you are going to have with a company.

Despite being told they would be here last Friday, I still have no cards and no reliable info of when the will be here.

Last Friday I emailed customer service to see what was up. I got an email
back from a rep apologizing for my "8.12" (what?) and that "per our conversation" he would refund my shipping. Oh yeah- I never spoke to this guy. I didn't want my money back. I want my cards.

On Saturday I called customer service. Another rep told me there was a delay, and that her system was down so she didn't know any specifics about my order. She said they were working overtime and my cards would be delivered that day or Monday. Nope.

Monday I get an email from a manager saying a "handful" of orders had been delayed, mine included, but they would ship Monday or Tuesday for Tuesday or Wednesday delivery, and I would get an email when they shipped.

Well Happy Wednesday. I have no shipping info, so I doubt my cards are coming today.

At this point I am LIVID. 3 delivery dates have come and gone. And I don't think the entire Tiny Prints site is 6 days behind (he did say a "handful" were delayed), so doesn't it make sense to stop the presses and make sure that handful gets moved to the front? I didn't order 100 hand drawn cards. Surely this cannot be so difficult.

If they do not ship today I am canceling my order, disputing the CC charge, and ordering from Walgreens/Costco.

Guess where I won't be getting my birth announcements?

It Begins.

Right around his birthday, I bough Drew a ton of winter clothes.  It had just gotten cold, and my pre-buying before he was born seemed to end at 12 months.  I needed some sleeves!  His grandmothers also blessed him with some clothes, and we were set.

Or so I thought.

It appears the child has hit a growth spurt.  Everything that fit perfectly in October is now too small, and everything that needed to be rolled up in October now fits perfectly.  Drew's winter wardrobe was slashed in half.  To about 3 days worth of clothes.

So today I ran to Carters.  I had the typical 20% off coupon, plus $20 in their stamp cards to use, so it seemed like an excellent choice.  I lugged Drew around the store grabbing some things for him, and even picking up a few things for sister-to-be.

When I got home, I looked at my loot.

Drew:

Little Sis:



I have three justifications for this:

1. All of the boy clothes said things like "Mommy's favorite" or "Daddy's little quarterback," which I hate.
2. Her closet is completely empty.  It looks like she got more, but really, we are just working on making them even.
3. Really, the girl stuff is cuter.

In case you are worried, I ordered some more stuff (vast majority Drew's) from Old Navy when I got home.  He won't freeze.

"Hi Da Da!"

Rob was out of town, and I was going to send him a video of D laughing.  Then this happened.

My kid's a genius.

Tinyprints is holding my cards hostage

Granted, I wasn't the most timely with the Christmas card picture this year, but by Dec 4th I had the pic done, and the card picked out and ordered. For delivery on the 9th- today. I paid extra for that.

But according to the website, my cards are still being printed. Clearly not delivered today. When will they get here? No idea. The website still says delivery will be today.

So I apologize for my late cards- it was only partially my fault.

A day of ups and downs

I spent a good hour today cleaning out Drew's room and removing all the baby stuff for his little sister. His early toys and books are all in a box in what will be her room once I figure out what to do with all the stuff that is currently in there. I moved all the grooming things (combs, brushes, nail clippers) to the bathroom, since I will need to be able to get to that stuff for both of them.

And then I sat on the floor with my boy, who brought me book after book to "read," then lost interest and walked away two pages in. I let him climb (literally) into my lap, and was shocked when he sat there rather than just using me as an obstacle course. In the last few days I have started seeing him try to express love/closeness. Yesterday I was carrying him around and kissing his cheek with a big "muah" each time. Then he started leaning his head into mine and saying "muah." He was giving me kisses. Aaaaannnnddd my heart melted.

I am so thrilled to have a sibling for him, but it's days like today when I wonder how there could ever be enough hours in the day to give each of them the attention they want and deserve. I know I will figure it out- people have been having multiple, well adjusted children for years, but right now it seems impossible. I guess Drew and I will sneak in as many "muahs" as possible between now and April.

To Do

1. Repaint office to become nursery.
2. Sew heavy drapes to drown out street noise in new nursery.
3. Put closet organizer in nursery closet.
4. Buy all manner of frilly pink clothes because we are having a girl!!

Yes indeed, I did manage to get myself into the doctors office before my December 5th date.  Impatience still reigns!

Baby girl was NOT cooperating yesterday.  I think, much like her mama, she insists on eating every couple of hours, and mama did not indulge her before the 7:30 am appointment.  We didn't get one single clear shot of her face- she kept her hands balled in fists around her face the entire time (before we knew she was a girl I joked that if it were a boy, I was enrolling him in boxing immediately).  If we tried to move one way, she moved the other.  And she was so squished into the side of my stomach (by her own choice- there is plenty of space in there) that when they switched it to 3D view it was like looking at a deformed alien.

BUT we were eventually able to get all the measurements they needed to know she looks great and is growing right on track.  And we made the lady check at THREE different points to confirm that she was a girl.... at least Peanut wasn't trying to hide that!

So though we know what we are having before the birth, I suppose the surprise is going to be what she looks like!

We can't wait to meet you, Ms. Peanut (name in the works!)

I quit Facebook.

And apparently I'm not quite as important as I think I am, because I did it over a week ago and people are just now noticing. :)

I've been decluttering my life, physically and mentally.  I realized that my perception of life was totally skewed because of Facebook.  When you have 400 friends and 15 of them are pregnant, suddently everyone is pregnant.  But if I stepped back and looked at it, I would only know that three of those people were pregnant if I was forced to get the news by interacting with them in person.  Suddently everyone is taking great vacations, or buying new cars, or whatever.  Not normal, and not healthy.

I read this post today, and it hit home.  I especially love the "best life snapshot" comment.  Totally true.

Just something to think about.

Today's Tricks

1. Climbing into the bathtub (have no idea how he did this- I just found him in there, playing with his bath toys in his PJs)

2. Flushing the toilet

Despite how it sounds, we did not spend the entire day in the bathroom.

Yup, still impatient!

Some things never change.

We are set to find out the gender of Peanut on Dec 5th (though the gender and/or name will be withheld until Christmas), but I was dying to know yesterday so I actually had my husband call and LIE to the doctor about him traveling to see if I could get in earlier. It did not work.

I also considered paying $89 to visit a "pregnancy spa" where they will do a gender ultrasound after 17 weeks, but Rob was adamant that we could not find out the gender of our child a a place next door to a Mighty Fine Burger that also happened to offer teeth whitening. In retrospect, he is probably right.

13 Months

Well, I am giving up wrestling him into a white onesie and chasing him around in whatever room happens to have the best light. We took this a few days ago- it's pretty representative of what he looks like now. :)

D is getting too smart for his own food. He remembers certain foods taste better than others and has no issue holding out for the good food. If we are eating it, he wants it. Yesterday at the Mexican restaurant he kept handing me his chip and pointing at the salsa- we were eating it, and he wanted some too. It was too spicy for him, but he was NOT falling for my pretend dipping.

Love this boy- and love watching him grow!

Different

This pregnancy has been so different!! I think some of it is having a 1 year old, but it's worth writing down.

1. The Bella band does not work. It worked on the last pregnancy, but the bending down/lifting a child/playing on the floor means I am constantly yanking up the belt loops of my pants.

2. Heartburn. It has started early.

3. My back HURTS already. I blame hauling around a one year old, because I am not that big yet.

4. Still very tired. I sleep like a dead man.....

5. Until I get up to pee. At least twice a night.

6. I bleed. My gums bleed. My nose bleeds. I also bruise easily. That may or may not be related to pregnancy.

7. My allergies are unbearable.

8. I can out-eat my husband.

Does this mean it could be a girl? Who knows!?

Party Time!

After some fairly constant nagging (Hi, Mom!  Hi, Rob!), I'm back to give you a (mostly) photo journey through Drew's birthday party.

We just used a fall theme- browns, yellows and burnt orange.  This was a nod to Rob's original request for a birthday party theme- Bevo.  We did the party on Sunday afternoon, which worked out well because a lot of out of town friends and family were in for the football game the day before and many stopped by before they headed home.  Uncle T even "swung by" Austin on the way back to Houston from Dallas where he had been Saturday for a wedding.  That's dedication.

Please ignore the fact that I look rather large in these pictures- apparently I "popped" the Friday before his birthday. :(

Love this chalkboard!

Yes, I had to make the birthday banner.

Beer that almost no one drank (see note about many people driving back to their hometowns). 

GIANT Costco Cupcakes

Favors!  Goldfish and play dough for the little ones, iced cookies for the grown ups.

Despite the fact that Drew's hand is down my dress, I think this is the best family picture we got that day.

Drew's friend Sloane.  She sat there like a lady-- he tried to poker her and/or pull out her bow.

Before.

He needed some encouragement.

But just a little.

"It's good!" he declared.

"Try some, mom"

Since I banned face/cake smashing at our wedding, Rob took this opportunity to seize the day.

I had to find out what he thought about vanilla.

Hard to tell which he enjoyed more.

Obviously all birthday parties involve a mid-party bath.

And then present unwrapping in his skivvies.

It was a GREAT day.  We are so lucky that our friends and family could come share the day with us.  More later on his actual birth-day!

Spoons

Today we are practicing utensils. We are getting about 50/50 hand and spoon.

Exhaustion

Trying to wear out a dog and a one year old? Might I suggest a Roomba?

One Year!

Andrew Edward Callegari, you made it.  WE made it.  A whole year!  Our lives changed dramatically a year ago, but at the same time it feels like you have been here all the time.  Your goofy personality fits RIGHT in with our family.  We are having a blast watching you grow up.

You were born at 4:12 on October 18th 2011.  Ironically, at 4:12 on October 18th, 2011 I was getting a sneak peak at your brother-or-sister-to-come.  My two kids.  That just amazes me.  (Note: the doc said Peanut was really opening and closing their mouth a lot..... please prepare yourself for a sibling who is a talker).

I will recap your birthday party and birthday day in different posts, but let's talk about the changes in the last month.

The biggest thing (and hardest for mama to swallow) was you had your very last bottle on October 17th.  We were running out of formula and I thought there was no reason to buy more, so when you woke up on your birthday you drank whole milk.  Which you LOVE.  No problems transitioning at all.  You have also finally figured out how to hold/tilt your sippy cup, so you can give yourself the milk.  I thought that day would never come.  Now if we can just teach you to use a straw!

You do 100% solid food, and are still a pretty good eater.  Your favorites are fruits and breads.  You don't seem to love meat, and your veggie preferences have gotten more specific.  On occasion I will sit you down in your chair and just give you veggies for the first part of your dinner.... once you have other options, you pretty much ignore the vegetables.  I'm not sure how the milk is going to work into all of this.  You seem to like it so much that you would be willing to sit and drink an entire cup full before you eat anything.  We will have to watch that.

You've been battling a lot of "yuck" this month.  Not really sick, but not 100% well, either.  I have been taking you to MOPS at Grace Covenant Church, and I think you tend to get sick a couple of days after you spend time in the nursery.  Nothing terrible, but goopy eyes and a snotty nose.  But I would prefer you to get sick now and get those immunities before you head off to school.

You are still on the same sleep schedule- 7PM- 6:30AM at night, then a nap around 9 or 9:30 and a nap around 1:30 or 2.  Today (October 19th) you tried to drop that morning nap.  I hope that isn't going to become your new normal!

You are an absolute monkey these days.  You are walking everywhere- your days of crawling are gone.  You open every door or drawer you can.  I keep finding our remote control in your dad's bathroom drawer.  You get into the smallest spaces.  You are a handful, but a constant source of FUN.

We love you, Drew.  This last year has been a blast.  Can't wait to see what the next year brings!

It is Birthday Party Day!

For the last several hours I have been dreaming that I forget to put food out. I remember 30 minutes into the party, go into my kitchen to find uninvited guests making quesadillas. I start to cry, wake myself, roll over, and have the exact same dream again and again.

So as long as no one makes a quesadilla, I will call it a success. How's that for setting the bar low?!

Growing Up

This post is about me, not Drew, believe it or not.

As Drew gets closer to a year old, I realize he isn't the only one who has "grown up" this year. Becoming a mother has done so much for me and my priorities. And I am so thankful that I learned this lesson at 28 rather than 58.

I have always been a "do-er." I signed up, I volunteered. I was especially flattered if someone asked me specifically to do something. My answer was ALWAYS yes.

And then came along this wee little man- who grew like a weed and quickly became one of my greatest sources of entertainment. He was a great source of entertainment for his daddy, too. I got to where I loved the part in the day where Rob came home and played with his son and I could sit back and just watch them. Problem was all the things I had said "yes" to took me away from this special hour of the day. Meetings, happy hours, events.

And then the most simple, most profound thing hit me- "only do what you WANT to do, Lindsey."

Huh.

I'm not giving up everything-- mama has to stay sane somehow-- but I am thinking everything over and learning how to gracefully say no to the things that aren't as high on my priority list.

Because really, the very best "happy hour" happens at my house, anyway.

Sometimes....

We like to dress our baby up like an extra from an 80's exercise video and then laugh at him.

What I am not doing today

(besides sleeping....)

It's my 1/2 marathon day, and I am not out of bed getting dressed, and I didn't have a big pasta dinner last night. I asked the doctor at my first appointment for peanut if I could still run, and she was concerned about my training in the 100+ degree heat.

I hated to hear her say "no," but as I lay in my bed and listen to the rain fall outside I don't mind quite as much. Next year.

UPDATE: I checked my email after I wrote this, and they canceled the race due to rain. NOW who looks smart for not training?!

Celeb sighting!

Not the best picture of Drew and I, but we weren't the point of this picture.  Check out the man right about my head.  Yessiree, it's Mr. Mack Brown.

There was a baby at his table, too, and Drew was completely obsessed.  Which gave a good excuse to chat with Mack himself!  He even called my baby "adorable."  Yes, it was a good day.

Dada (From Dads perspective)

It is time to make it official.

Drew,
Your first word was Da Da. To this point your only word is Da Da….and we waited over a month just to make sure. It is very cute when I come home and from 3 rooms away I hear “Da Da…Da Da…Da Da!!!” There is no better feeling in the world. I think we owe a big thanks to Momma for teaching you your first word and for making that feeling happen for me.

Love you both,
Dad

Da da!

My kid spends all day with me, so naturally he would show his love and appreciation by choosing "da da" as his first word. :)

He has been making the "dadadadada" noises for some time, but when he happily squealed "da da" when Rob walked in several nights, we decided we had to call it his first word.

Still nothing close to "mama" when trying to summon me. Maybe I should make myself less available?

Anyway, here is a cute picture of D and his dada.

11 Months!

Drew, you are 11 months (ok, at this point 11.5 months) old! And you are a man on the MOVE, which  means when your mama has a break from chasing you around the house, she lays down and takes a nap.  :)

The biggest thing that happened between 10 and 11 months were your first steps, which quickly turned into walking all over the place.  It's funny, I definitely see a difference in your ability to walk depending on the time of day.  You have much more control the earlier in the day and/or if you just woke up from a nap.  Generally you start off walking wherever you want to go.  When and if you fall, you just crawl the rest of the way.

You suddenly also have the memory of an elephant.  If you do something once and enjoy it, you want to do it over and over again.  I made the mistake of letting you pull on the cord and turn the light on the fan earlier this month.  We cannot pass under a fan without you trying to climb me now.

You seem to be developing a neat-nick gene.  You spend hours taking blocks out of your tub and putting them back in.  You have also determined that your wood blocks make a satisfying "clang" going into the metal trashcan, so you enjoy that greatly.

Your "elephant memory" also now extends to food.  You used to eat everything.  It was great.  Now you remember that some foods are better than others, and show your displeasure at certain foods by tossing them over your tray and/or trying to hide them in your lap (which your dog truly enjoys).  I am now getting you kids meals with more and more frequency when we go out, which is hard to imagine.  You really do eat quite a bit and (quite frankly) I got tired of ordering only foods that I could share with you.  Sometimes mama needs her own food!

You watch PBS in the morning while you have breakfast.  Usually we hit the 8:00 Curious George and 8:30 Cat in the Hat.  I'll tell you a secret- I think your dad likes Curious George more than you do.  I've caught him watching it in the bedroom when we aren't even in there.  You love the theme song for the Cat in the Hat and will dance along with it.  Your dad and I die laughing every time you do it.

Oh, you now have a "lovie."  It was a gift when you were born, but you have recently decided it is the greatest thing.  If I leave it in your crib after your nap you will reach through the slats for it.  You have also been known to carry it around in your teeth.

Your sleep schedule is generally the same- you wake up about 6:30, nap around 9:30 and 2, and head to bed between 6:30 and 7.  I would still love to push your bedtime back 30 minutes or so, on the off chance your morning wake up time would shift back about 30 minutes, but you are a pistol at 6:30 and I can't bring myself to try to keep you up.

Ok, now for some stats:
- you have 7 teeth
- you can wear 9 month clothes if they are shorts, but pants are too short.  I suspect you still fall in the "stringbean" category on the growth chart- tall and skinny
- you get bathed every day, thanks to your new found mobility.  You like the bath.  You do not like getting dressed after your bath
- You have a bottle in the morning, followed by "second breakfast" (usually a waffle and some fruit) and sometimes "third breakfast" (cheerios while we go on a walk).  After you nap we usually have lunch around 11 (turkey, goldfish, fruit), then a snack (cheese) and dinner around 5.  Your favorite dinners are leftovers from what mom and dad have- you enjoy flavor and are not at all deterred by spice.  Then another bottle before you hit the sack.

Love you bub!