mamaLove

Time Machine

The one feature of Leopard that I look forward to the most is Time Machine. Now that I’m taking a zillion pictures of Amelia I really want to make sure I don’t lose any of them. And Leopard is making this easier with it’s new built in backup system.

Browsing the web today I found a really good, in-depth article explaining just how Time Machine works. After reading this article, it only makes me want to upgrade to Leopard that much sooner and get my backup system in place. Especially since the new iPhoto (iLife ’08) keeps all the photos and the photo library database in one package rather than in a folder structure like the previous versions do. You can no longer just back up the iPhoto Library folder. So having Time Machine back that up for me will be a lifesaver.

Posted in Mac Love | No Comments »

Leopard is Here…but I Must Wait

Apple is releasing the new Mac OSX today. Leopard will be available for purchase as of 6pm CST this evening. And I don’t have it. I haven’t ordered it and I doubt I will be ordering it at least for another month or two. Why, you ask? Because I don’t have the money. It’s the same reason I haven’t yet ordered my copy of iLife ’08. Lack of funds. It totally sucks because I’ve been looking forward to it since the first announcement last year sometime.

We’ll be getting the family pack seeing as how we have 3 Macs currently running at home. The desktop will get a full clean install of the new OS and all needed applications. It’s way overdue. The laptop, being that it’s pretty new (I’ve only had it since June), will most likely just get an upgrade after some clean up and a full backup, of course. Thankfully I have a large external HD that is perfect for that.

I think the features I’m most looking forward to is Time Machine and Stacks. I currently have a cluttered desktop with all the downloads that I haven’t cataloged yet. It will be nice to get those off my computer and into someplace that’s easily accessible. Time Machine is essential with all the gazillion of pictures I take of Amelia that I need to preserve. And I love that I’ll be able to use the same external HD for both the desktop and laptop.

And with all the knitting patterns I’ve collected in PDF format, the Quick Look feature will come in handy when I want to look inside a particular pattern. Heck it will even be great for scanning my digital layouts.

So hurry up Christmas and get here fast. I have a feeling that’s when I’ll finally be able to upgrade. Unless we just take the plunge and use the trusty old credit card, which we keep vowing not to ever use again except in an emergency. Can I consider this an emergency?

Posted in Mac Love | No Comments »

Trial and Error

I always kept hearing about the many different brands of bottles that people would go through to find one that their child liked. But we didn’t have that problem. I chose Avent and Amelia took to it well. In fact, she got so used to the fat nipples, that she didn’t like the skinny ones that most bottle brands come with. Fine by me.

Now that we’ve moved on to sippy cups, it’s a whole other story. I just got back from purchasing the 5th style of cup I think she might like. Crossing my fingers that she takes to it. She has her favorite but it’s not my favorite. She is very stubborn and wants to only drink from the Nuby Sippy Cup. I think she prefers it because it’s very squishy just like her old bottle nipples. But now that she’s growing up and “chewing” on stuff, she chews them to bits. Within a week or two I’m having to buy a new one because she has chewed through the spout and it’s leaking everywhere.

My MIL bought her some really cheap $1 cups that have the old traditional style spout. Well, she refused them for the longest time and then finally began to accept it. Problem was we changed them up about the same time we took her off of formula. Bad move. Now she refuses to drink from the cup. I guess in her mind if she has her old Nuby cup, she’s getting her formula and not regular milk. So, bad mommy that I am, I reverted back to her Nuby cup and she gulps down her milk with no problems. But before I did that, I went and bought a few new cups (to replace those darn Nubys) but she doesn’t like them either. The spout is too long and she doesn’t even take a sip before throwing it away.

So today, I bought yet another kind of cup. It has a soft spout instead of a hard one, but it’s not a nipple spout. I just hope she likes it.

It’s all about trial and error these days when it comes to pleasing my little girl.

Posted in Motherhood | No Comments »

A little behind

I’m a little behind, I know. We celebrated Amelia’s birthday on the actual day with another cake and mini-party. It was a success, but even though she had a cake with regular icing, she still didn’t like it. I think she just doesn’t like to get very messy. Pictures are up at my Flickr account: 1st Birthday Party #2.

Since she turned one, we’ve been trying to switch her over to whole milk and it’s not really going too well. We started out with a 1/2 & 1/2 mix of formula and milk. Then after about 3 days went 100% whole milk. She’s refusing her milk now so she doesn’t really drink much at all. I think it’s partly due to the new cups we got for her as well. I don’t think she likes them, so a new drink in a new cup is just not to her satisfaction.

And now that she’s on whole milk, I’m trying to get her to eat more table foods so she still gets the nutrients she needs that she no longer gets from formula. Another ordeal. She’s constantly crabby and is almost refusing everything we try to feed her. She’ll eat mac n cheese, cheerios and some of her toddler snacks. She really loves the lil crunchies. Other than that, she might eat a nibble or two here and there of something. I guess she just has to be in the mood. The other day she ate a whole slice of french toast. This morning she wouldn’t touch it.

I know that all this is normal, but I get so frustrated. I feel frantic when I get in the kitchen and try to find something for her to eat while she’s sitting there crying or fussing because I’m not giving her the right stuff. I want to offer her new stuff so she’ll try it and occasionally it will work. But I guess it’s not going to hurt her to have mac n cheese 4 nights in a row if that’s what she likes, as long as something new is offered as well for her to try.

Ah, the joys of feeding a toddler.

Posted in Motherhood | No Comments »

One Year Old

Dear Amelia,

You are officially one year old; a toddler. My little munchkin is growing up. I remember the day you were born like it was yesterday. I held you for the first time and just stared at the precious gift God had given me. The gift I’d waited all my life for. I couldn’t believe it had finally been given to me. A child. A daughter. I can’t believe it’s already been a year since you came into our lives. I sometimes wonder how I lived my life before you and can’t remember, you are so much a part of what makes me who I am today. I am a mother to a precious little girl.

You’ve changed so much from that tiny little baby I kissed in the delivery room. You looked so cute and pink and had the most adorable little face. Everyone was instantly smitten. I remember the days when I thought you’d never roll over. What was I thinking. Now you are constantly on the move. I remember the days when you were learning to crawl and would only go backwards. I would laugh at your silliness. Now you walk everywhere. I remember when it would take you an hour to drink 4oz of milk. Now you are finished with your whole meal (food and milk) in about 15 minutes. I remember the days when we would put you in the swing and you would look around contentedly while daddy and I played video games. Now you run around the living room playing with your own toys. I remember when you first laughed. Now you babble, screech, giggle and talk as if I could understand it all. I remember all those late night feedings when I’d be giving you a bottle and falling asleep. Now you sleep all night long (thankfully) and sometimes I have to go in and make sure you are okay. You are such a sweetheart. You love resting your head on our laps when you are tired.

You are growing up to be such a beautiful little girl. We get stopped in the store by strangers who find you so adorable they just have to tell me. I already know you are the most adorable little girl. But then I’m your mommy and of course I think so. But everyone else does.

When I smile at you, you smile back. Sometimes I wish I could hold you forever. Sometimes I wish you’d just take a nap and let me rest for just a bit. But never do I wish you weren’t a part of my life. The thought of not having you in my life suffocates me. I look forward to all the years ahead of watching you grow up from the sweet little baby I gave birth to one year ago to the wonderful woman you will one day become.

Happy 1st Birthday, Amelia

Love, Mommy

Posted in Motherhood | No Comments »

I’ve been tagged

I’m supposed to tell you all 8 things about me you didn’t already know. That’s a little tough seeing as how I can even finish my 100 things about me post. LOL! But, let’s see…

1. My family used to own a poodle named Princess.
2. I used to run around in Wonder Woman underoos. (Yeah I was an 80’s child!)
3. I’ve gotten a perm before, then used a home perm to straighten out the curls.
4. I’ve lived in Panama before.
5. I’m allergic to penicillin-based and sulfur-based antibiotics.
6. I was a girl scout.
7. I’m really bad about starting something and never finishing it.
8. I talk to myself out loud when no one else is around. I guess that comes from being an only child for 8 years and learning to play by myself.

So there you go. 8 things I haven’t mentioned in my about page. Crap, now I have to come up with something totally different to add there. Agh!

Posted in The Inner Me | No Comments »

The Birthday Party

We drove to Florida last weekend (not yesterday weekend) and celebrated Amelia’s birthday at my mom’s house with tons of family. We grilled out and had lots of good food. I saw family I hadn’t seen in a while. It was a nice day I think everyone enjoyed themselves.

Poor thing was not feeling good because of the medication she was on. So she was sort of crabby. Then, to our disappointment, the cake we got had marshmallow icing so it was horribly sticky. Not too fun to smash at a birthday party, so Amelia only got a few swipes at it and then started crying. She didn’t like being all sticky. She loved her toys. She kissed her new dolly and danced with her alphabet pal.

All in all it was a good party and it was nice that some family finally got to “meet” Amelia. But the drive was way too long and it was a challenge keeping her entertained and distracted so she wouldn’t cry and fuss too much.

More pictures can be found on the flickr set: 1st Birthday Party

Posted in Motherhood | 3 Comments »

And So The School Madness Begins

Amelia will be ONE on Wednesday. She’s not one yet. And still we received our first plea from the school. We’ve been asked to do a fundraiser!! For the daycare! How nuts is that?!
We’ve been asked to sell cookie dough and cheesecake for our daughter’s daycare and she’s not even one year old yet. It’s absurd. Of course I’ll buy the obligatory package of cookie dough. I’ve even informed my office that she’s selling, in case they want some, so I’m doing my part, but I think it’s just crazy.

Posted in Motherhood | 1 Comment »

Oodles of Diapers

One day I happened to come across Parent Product Reviews and saw a post for free diapers. The mommy reviews products and gives away free stuff. She was giving away a 2 month supply of Luvs in size 3, so I thought what the heck, I’ll enter.

Sure enough I won!! a 2 month supply of Luvs diapers in the size Amelia is currently wearing!

A few days ago, I arrived home to see 6 big boxes on my doorstep. Diapers! Each of the 6 boxes contains 4 packs of Luvs. Each pack has 40 diapers. Do the math! That’s 960 diapers!! Holy crap. 2 months supply it is not. My husband figured that if we use on average 8-10 diapers a day, this will last us 3-4 months! Plus I had just bought an 84 pack of Huggies the night before because we were out.

So we now don’t have to worry about diapers for several months. That’s assuming she won’t outgrow size 3. But with her little tushy, I don’t think it’s likely. We definitely have oodles and oodles of diapers now.

Posted in Motherhood | 1 Comment »

Sick Again!

Yep, we’ve all been bitten by some nasty bug this week and have been down and out. Amelia got sick over the weekend. Then DH and I got it and for some reason it’s hit me hard. Still feel sort of crappy. Thankfully, Amelia seems to be doing better.

It’s been a crazy week. She has an ear infection, I’ve got a nasty cough and sore throat. We got Amelia a new big girl car seat, which she’s almost ready to use. She also got new shoes! I was watching TV earlier and started crying when I saw a mom feeding her little baby. Why? Because my little baby is almost one year old, wearing shoes, walking, drinking out of sippy cups (not bottles) and she’s almost in a big girl car seat. My baby is growing up so fast!

We leave tomorrow for Florida. We’re spending the weekend with the family and celebrating Amelia’s 1st birthday a little early. (sniff, sniff) So I’ve been busy today trying to clean up a bit and do some laundry all while trying to get some rest. I’m off to pick her up from school. Then I’m back home to work on figuring out what needs to be packed for our big weekend.

Posted in Motherhood | No Comments »