My Mom's Tattoo

My mom has been visiting my sister in Colorado this past week. When I was talking to her on the phone today, she said that she had been thinking about getting a tattoo for a while, and just decided to get one today. My 51-year-old mom supposedly got a yellow-orange sunshine with my dad's initials (GWB) tattooed above it. I guess she doesn't want to be the only old lady in her nursing home who doesn't have one (when she eventually ends up in one). I think she is also thinking about getting a small, diamond stud nose ring. I think she is having a mid-life crisis. She told me that she called my dad and told him that she got one today... and he said that was hot.

Anyway, about my day... I started off the day by going to a Fort Hood-wide garage sale/bazaar. It started at 8am... I was there by 8:15am. Some people were still setting up their areas in the Community Center parking lot where it was going on when I got there. I found about 6 or 7 books for Heidi and a brand new, never-been-opened easel for children. It has a chalk board on one side and the other side is for dry erasing. I guess you could also hang things and paint or draw on it. I thought it was a pretty neat find. It was So Cold this morning while we were there, but I had fun shopping.

Tonight, when I put Heidi to bed, I fed her some milk and then she just wanted to rock for a little while before I put her in her crib. While I rocked her, she had her head resting on my chest with her arms around me and she kept saying "Rock rock baby... Rock rock baby." I wasn't sure if she was just saying it because I was rocking her or if she was singing Rock-a-bye baby to me. It was very cute. She is such a sweet baby.

I think she has started to say "I love you" too. The other day, I told her that I loved her, and it sounded like she said, in her own, slurred, baby-talk way, "love you" back to me... but it was not very clear. She has done this a few times now.

She is also pretty good at saying please and thank-you now. Today, she wanted me to get her another puzzle down from on top of her dresser, and she said "puzzle please," while she pointed up to what she was wanting. Her "please" sounds more like "peese." She is using please more frequently now when she is telling me about something she wants. For instance, she says "cookies please" or "Barbie show please" pretty often. Today, she wanted to watch the Elmo/Sesame Street deployment video. She had gotten it out from under the tv and brought it to me, saying "Emo.. Emo." If she forgets to say please, sometimes I remind her to say please when she wants something. Oh, and "thank-you" sounds more like "tan-too" when she says it.

Oh, by the way, I think my mom and my sister are kidding about the tattoo that my mom supposedly got today. I don't think they are telling me the truth. I think they just wanted to see what I would say. I don't see my mom ever getting a tattoo or a nose ring... or anything that wild anytime in the near future.

Yard Work

Today after I got Heidi put down for a nap, I went out to cut the grass. It has to be cut every week... and it is something that I dread doing every week! Our yard is SO Big! Front and Back! Heidi usually naps at the hottest part of the day too. After I got the grass cut, I decided I would work on my edging. The front edges of the yard have been driving me Crazy! Since Brian has been gone, it has not been edged. We have an edger. I went into the shed to get it out a couple of weeks ago. I thought I would give it a try, but it kind of scared me and I thought I might cut my leg off with it while using it, so didn't get any edging done. It is so big, and it has this string looking thing at the bottom, that I guess twirls around to cut. It just scares me. Anyway, it has really been bothering me, so I took some heavy duty scissors and I started cutting into the roots where the grass was growing up onto the curb in front of our house. I actually think it looks pretty good, now that I am finished. It was hard work, but it is done (at least for a while). Then, I had a huge mess to sweep up in front of our house. After Heidi woke up, I brought her outside and I worked on weeding the strawberries. I guess this might be kind of a boring blog for the day, but this was my main accomplishment of the day... working on the yard.

Oh, I got an email about all of the troops that are currently in Iraq being extended from 12 months to 15 months today. The Air Cav Brigade is not sure yet whether that affects them or not yet, but I am assuming that it does. I am not getting my hopes up. Brian was extended to 15 months the last time he was there too. That will make three Christmases in a row that this company has not gotten to spend with their families.

Heidi and I ended our day with a walk around the neighborhood and came back inside to share a naval orange. Then, I had to fight with her to get her teeth brushed... rocked her... put her list usual things into her crib (which since nap time today, she has added a little rubber duckie to)... and then finally got her put into bed. Now, I am relaxing for a few minutes. I need to do some work around the house tonight.

White Easter

When I woke up today, it looked especially bright outside because of all of the snow that we got yesterday. I think it is definitely unusual for this area to have snow in the spring. I put some eggs outside in the snow for Heidi to find and put in her basket, but she did not like the snow. She did not move from the spot where I carried her over to in the yard.

Today at church, Heidi and I went into the nursery. She isn't really old enough for the nursery yet (they have to be 18-months-old), but they don't mind if we come in anyway. Heidi did really well in the nursery and seemed to have fun playing and eating her snack at the table with all of the other kids.

This evening, we went over and ate with the Pritchard's. It was nice to get out of the house and I think Heidi had fun playing with the kids there. They had strawberry shortcake for dessert and it was delicious! Heidi disappeared for a little while with Maddie (Chad's little girl, who is about 4-years-old) and I guess they were making themselves pretty (combing their hair, etc). Maddie is a really cute little girl with very blonde hair and chubby cheeks. They had been in the guest room and had poured water on their heads from a sippy cup. I am glad that Heidi is getting older and can play on her own or with others now.

Spring Snow in Texas

It snowed throughout most of the day today. At about 10:30am this morning, I looked outside and saw it. I was a little shocked to see it. It has already been up in the 80's this spring here in Texas. It started getting really cold yesterday. It snowed all day and was coming down pretty heavily at times. It is really pretty right now. It looks like everything is covered in a blanket of white. I hope the raspberry bushes do okay. They had just started growing some green leaves, finally.

After I first noticed it earlier today, I took Heidi to the back door and showed her. I pointed and said "snow." She repeated "-no."

Later on, we drove to the video store and rented The Pursuit of Happyness with Will Smith and his little boy (which I didn't spell wrong, it is just spelled that way). I think Heidi was a little unsure of what to think about the snow. I think she was actually a little afraid of it when I went to get her out of her car seat and my hair was covered in white snowflakes.

After we got home, she kept going back to the back door (which is glass, so she can easily see outside) and she kept pointing and saying "bubbles... bubbles." I guess all of the white everywhere did look a little like the frothy bubbles that sometimes form in the bath when I pour some of her babywash into running bathwater. I guess she thought bubbles were falling out of the sky and filling our yard like they do in the bathtub.

I went outside a while ago and stuck a measuring tape in the snow to see how deep it was. It is between 5 1/4 - 5 1/2 inches deep (measuring straight down to the ground from the top of the snow). It was about 4 inches deep on the top of my car... and about 2 inches deep on the back patio (that was the last place for it to start sticking). I had fun measuring the snow after I put Heidi to bed tonight.

Oh, tonight when I put Heidi to bed, I am pretty sure she said "thank-you" to me when I gave her a tissue to go to sleep with (as I usually do every night). I think I have heard her say thank-you a few other times too. I have never made her say thank-you. I usually say thank-you whenever she brings me things. I guess she just picked it up. She is a pretty smart girl!

Also, tonight I made eggplant parmesan. I didn't put any on her plate because I didn't think she would like it. I just gave her some peas, cheese, and some cucumber pieces. Heidi ate her cucumber (first time giving that to her) and then she wanted what I had, so I thought I would give her a taste and that would be the end. I did not think she would like eggplant parmesan, but she DID! She ate it So Fast and said she wanted "more... more." So I cut off another chunk of my eggplant, and it was gone in about two seconds. After that I just decided to go get her some from the kitchen. She really seemed to enjoy her eggplant. I told Brian tonight online when I was chatting with him that she liked it. Brian doesn't like it. He says that it is from the tomato family and that it is evil. I am glad to have an eggplant partner now!

Tomorrow is Easter, it would be nice to take pictures of Heidi in her Easter dress while standing in the snow. It might be melted though by the time we are ready to go to church. Church doesn't start until 11am. I guess we will have to wait and see what the weather looks like tomorrow.

* This spacing is really driving me crazy! I hope I can soon figure out how to make the spaces stay where I put them when I hit the publish button.

Putting Heidi to Bed

Tonight, as usual, Heidi had to go to bed with her usual list of items:

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  Her Favorite Little Mommie's Baby Doll (the one that I got for her right after Brian deployed)


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  The Cocker Spaniel Puppy that my parents gave her for Christmas (from Toys R Us)


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  An E.T. doll that used to belong to her dad when he was younger (she thinks it is another baby)


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  Another little puppy stuffed animal


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  A Big Caterpillar that teaches how to tie, button, velcro, zip, etc. (from Discovery Toys)


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  A tissue (I guess in case she needs to wipe her nose in the middle of the night)


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  A sippy cup with water


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  And sometimes another baby doll that my parents gave her (The older Little Mommies doll that talks when you press on her hands)

If she doesn't have these things, it is hard to get her to lay down, so I just put them in her crib and she helps me line them up around the outer edges. Then, she usually lays down and puts her right arm around one of them and cuddles it closer to her. Lately, she has been putting her arm either around E.T. or the caterpillar. She doesn't know anything about E.T., so she calls E.T. "baby." She also says "caterpillar" (pa-pu, with a short a/short u).

Oh, we also have to turn on her birds. She has a plastic box-like thing that hangs on the side of her crib that has little birds inside that move around when you turn it on. It also plays some soft, lullaby kind of music & projects images of birds, sunshine, and clouds on the ceiling. She usually points up and says "sky" when she looks up and sees the images on the ceiling.

Tonight, after I put her in her crib, I heard her talking for about 5 minutes or so. I guess she was talking to her dolls/animals. It sounded like she was saying something like... purple, poo poo, pa pa... or something like that over and over... and maybe some other things. Maybe she was just listening to herself talk until she was tired enough to just drift off. It was kind of cute listening to her.

Heidi's Boo-ba

Tonight before I put Heidi to bed, we were playing with her play bowls and play food. I wasn't paying any attention to what she was doing, until I saw her put her hand in front of my face to show me something. She was showing me that she had a Huge Booger on the tip of her pointer finger. It was Right there about 2 inches away from my face. She had just picked her nose and got her first booger ...and it was a Big One! I said "Heidi, you just picked your first booger!" ... and she said back to me "Boo-ba." I thought it was so cute! She has tried picking her nose before, but I don't think she has ever gotten anything out. I thought it was funny that she was trying to show me what she found.

Heidi also made me put her on the toilet again today. I really should get a potty chair for her. She has been wanting to sit on the toilet a lot, and then she has to use some toilet paper and flush.

Earlier today, Heidi and I spent some time dressing and undressing ... and dressing and undressing (over and over) her baby Cabbage Patch doll. And every time, we had to change her "doop-da" too. She calls diapers "doop-das."

Yesterday, I bought a ticket to fly to Maryland in June to see Grandma Bradford. We will be going from the 25th of June to the 2nd of July. My mom and dad will be driving up from Alabama to visit too. They will be picking us up from the Baltimore airport after they get there. We have to take advantage of Heidi flying for free while we still can. She will be 19-months-old then. When she is two, we will have to buy her a ticket whenever we fly. I am looking forward to the trip. It will be nice to see Grandma again... and my parents.

This morning, I went to a meeting with a couple of other ladies from church to plan what food we will be having at an upcoming church activity. On the way home, Heidi was sitting in her car seat saying "Daddy... Daddy... Daddy." While she was doing this, she had her hands up in a "where is it" kind of a sign. I think she is wondering where Daddy is. After Brian left for Iraq, I made a little photo album for Heidi to look at. It is just a cheap little photo album with pictures of her and her Daddy. In one, Brian is giving Heidi a kiss. Heidi kept kissing that one yesterday. She also pointed at the pictures saying "Daddy... Daddy" over and over. I am pretty sure she remembers that he is her Daddy. I think she is just wondering where he is. He has been gone almost six months now. He will be coming home next month for R&R time. Even though it is only for two weeks, I am looking forward to him coming home. I think it will be good for Heidi to see her Daddy again.

Oh yeah, since Heidi was pretty much handing me her booger, I took it and put it on a piece of paper. I am going to mail it to Brian in Iraq. I think he will enjoy getting it in the mail!

Easter Egg Hunt

Today was the day of the battalion Easter egg hunt at a park downtown. It was a perfect day for an Easter egg hunt. The sky was clear and it was nice and warm. Heidi was so pretty in her size 2T pink dress and white sandals. As soon as we got there, Heidi found some eggs on the ground. She decided she would go Easter egg hunting early and picked some up and put them in her basket. It is a good thing she did too because she might have missed out on all of the fun. When the hunt started, I was on the other side of the park handing out goodies to some of the kids that were there. So by the time we made it over to the hunting area, the baby/toddler time was up and now the big kids were hunting too and most of the eggs were gone. She did find one more blue one though. I got a few really cute pictures of her handing some eggs to a 2-year-old little boy (Colton).

After the hunt was over, we ate some of the pot luck food. This morning, I made a ham. It was a pretty big ham, I thought (8.54lbs). Well, by the time Heidi and I made it up to the food, the ham that I made was ALL Gone! We didn't get any of it! Oh well. That's not what we really came for anyway. We settled for some chicken, grapes, and cookies.

The Easter Bunny had been walking around the whole time we had been there and I wanted to get a picture of Heidi with him, so I walked over to where he was and tried to set Heidi down... but Heidi clenched onto me and said "No... No." I tried again, and figured that she just wasn't going to cooperate, so I asked someone else to take a picture of me holding her next to E. B. She doesn't look very happy in those pictures.

Then, we headed over to the playground area. Heidi was having fun with the slide. I held her as she went down. I was also taking pictures of some of the other kids from our company, so I had turned away for a few seconds... when Heidi went over to another slide. By the time I saw her, it was TOO LATE! She had jumped into a HUGE MUD PUDDLE at the end of another slide! She slid down into it and her pretty pink dress and white sandals were no longer so cute anymore. I moved her out of the mud and she just stood there for the longest time saying "Uh oh... Uh oh... Uh oh." She would look at her feet and pick one up and say "Uh oh" and sounded like she was about to cry. I don't think she likes getting dirty. She didn't want to walk. She would try to move her feet and I think she was upset because they were wet and muddy. I didn't have anything to change her into and it was almost time to go, so I just figured she would be okay and maybe it could dry a little before we got into the car to go home.

When we got home, it was kind of warm in our house (79 degrees). Our air conditioner has been broken all weekend. Someone will be coming to fix it Monday morning. This evening, it got up to 80 degrees inside of the house. It was cooler outside, so Heidi and I spend most of the rest of the day outside: going for walks, going to the neighborhood playground, blowing bubbles in the yard, and kicking her pink princess ball around the yard. It will be nice to have our air conditioner working again tomorrow!