standing from crawling, bravery & procrastination

little chicka was naked in the bathtub trying to crawl around when she got her leg caught underneath her. not wanting to sit down but couldn't quite get crawling, she decided she would stand! i just stood there in awe. something i was hoping she would do for a long time and she just *poof*, did it. like it was no big deal. it never ceases to amaze me. now hopefully instead of falling on her butt and either crawling to the nearest object [usually me] or sitting there crying for me to help her up, she can stand up by herself. i'm starting to go from being explosively overjoyed that she is becoming more independent to being bittersweet, almost sad, that my little chicka is needing me less and less. never thought i say that. when chicka was a newborn i prayed and dreamed for when she could play for ten minutes by herself while i ate my breakfast. now sometimes i can eat my breakfast and drink my coffee, all in one sitting!

    

  running around after a bath,pjs strategically placed                getting caught messing with the blinds                                                                                       

i'm currently helping chicka's aunt with her cake business designing fliers, pamphlets, logos and stuff. she gave me the idea to put an add, either craigslist or newspaper or somewhere to help small businesses with their advertisements. since i majored in art, it got me thinking. i would LOVE, LOVE, [did i mention i would LOVE?] to do this. two problems: i have no idea how to do my own business & i can't muster up the courage to do it! send me bravery vibes!

giving me some raspberries

why am i the worst at procrastinating. i sat here tonight working on my two church websites i volunteer to update and think, "why didn't i do this last weekend when i had the time?". i reply to myself [scary, i know] "it's because you work well under a deadline, you would rather spend time with your family and its how you're programed." i have ALWAYS been a procrastinator. i've tried, without success, to do things ahead of schedule. i fall back into the old habits after a week or so. i've longed to have that crazy gene where you HAVE to do things early and don't put off things til tomorrow.  isn't there some daily pill or vaccine i can take? i already feel like my stomach is a walking pharmacy. what's another pill in the old breadbasket? maybe the people who working on the gene that causes procrastination are procrastinators themselves? irony at its best...

ps- did i mention chicka is a tornado? every time i clean up one mess, i turn around to find another!

chicka chicka boom boom, i'll write again real soon...

auntie momma chicka

i'm an aunt! (or i guess more of a aunt-in-law?). dada chicka's sister had her baby yesterday! dad, mom and baby are all doing great. she was in labor since 4 that morning and had him around 2:43pm that afternoon. YIKES! a c-section, for the short-term, sounds better to me although that incision still bothers me sometimes...

little "o" weighed 7lbs 1oz and was 20inches long. now we just have to wait till the weekend to make the 8 hourish trip there. this is torture sitting here waiting to see him. i am not looking forward to the drive. chicka is the worst in her car seat. she despises it. hopefully she will nap some and let me rest.

i get so nervous about that darn drive it almost makes me sick. i get stressed out. the packing, the planning and the entertaining. ugh. at least we get to see a our new nephew! that is what is keeping me strong and keeping my head up high. maybe i might even get to poke my camera in his face. i have been itching to try our "new" camera on a precious newborn since we got it.  

chicka chicka boom boom, i'll write again real soon...

shower

what is it about a *real* shower that makes everything tolerable?

every time i'm having a horrible "mommy" day and think "i can't take this anymore! how do people do this and not go crazy? i need five minutes to breathe!" i take a shower.

as i strip off my clothes of woe, worry and doubt of being a good mom and step into my five minutes of heaven and really take time to enjoy my shower. my mind wonders and my shoulders relax as the water washes away my guilt, stress and anxiety of the days troubles of a walking 10.5 month old. i scrub off the caked on teething biscuit and baby food along with the thoughts of second guessing my decisions and reactions of today's events. did i discipline her to hard when she chucked her sippy? did i not hug her long enough when she fell? does she know i really do love her? be gone cruel thoughts. move on and bother someone else. my shoulders relax...

as i step out of the shower and dry off and feel renewed. as i put on my mommy warrior clothes of sweats and t-shirts i think. "bring.it.on. i'm ready". and then my little chicka wakes from her slumber and i grab my mommy armor of boogie wipes, butt wipes, diapers and love. bring.it.on.
chicka chicka boom boom, i'll write again real soon...

caw-ap, j's birthday, planning

little chicka is becoming quite the little mimicker! she can now "talk" on the phone, "wash" the table, stir a big wooden spoon in an empty bowl to help "cook" and "read" a book! her newest is mimicking sounds. today in borders while reading the books we can't afford there was a book on clapping. i said "clap" and clapped my hands together. chicka clapped her hands clapped her hands and said "cap" then "caw-ap"! i was so stunned i must have made a funny face because she gave me the most concerned look. chicka is VERY perceptive! 1.5 months and she will be a one year old. sad times in momma chicka's heart. while i LOVE to watch her grow i hate admitting she is growing up. BOO.

had another birthday party this weekend. seems chicka's friends were born all around the same time because it's our 5th birthday in two months, geez. little "j" is the cutest little bleach blonde boy! mickey mouse was the theme and chicka was her normal social party animal.

when i first found out i was pregnant with chicka i planned on waiting til she turned 2 before even thinking of trying to conceive another one [preferably have our second when chicka is 3]. i wanted to give my full attention to chicka and didn't see the logic in having kids back to back. the closer chicka creeps to one the less i want to wait. i got the fever, baby fever that is. i'll be the first to admit it. not sure the hubbs is convinced in my logic [being ill will the baby fever] but we will have to see! i'm thinking it would make my day if we "pop" one out before chicka 2.5. if life only went as you planned it.

video

never put videos up but we will try it!

when chicka was a little, little [around 2 months]

playing in the water at the park

slurping noodlehead

that took way to long! any bloggers know an easier way?

chicka chicka boom boom, i'll write again real soon...

snowball, what you've missed [along with picnik love] & that's MY daughter

soooo.... don't know where to begin. i'm mad at myself for letting me quit writing. it started with a week when adam was gone with business training and i was super tired. i let it go a couple of days. then a week. then 5. then it snowballed into months! sorry fans. if i still have any left! i will try to do my best into working on writing again... at least every other day.

chicka went from crawling at 9.5 months to walking just before 10 months. that's right, chicka is walking. the first step in rehab is admitting. my name is momma chicka and i'm a mother of a walker. yikes! she has become quite the drama queen! [not that i didn't know that already] she can say "moooo!", "wash" her hands [rubs them in a washing motion], point to the fish tank when you ask her "where's the fish?", squat down and up when you say "down" and "up" and many other things that i could brag about. she is quite the smarty pants!

since i KNOW me, i won't take that time to write in everything i want to that i happened since last i'm going to post a bunch of stuff to make up for it!

 went swiming

got new outfits

played with my dollies

learned how to make lots of new faces

had my first spaghetti dinner

learned how to walk

played at some parks

have you heard of a little thing called picnik? boy, i have become addicted to it! its i dumbed down free photo editing thing! i LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE it. that's possibly another reason i've stopped writing. on picnik instead! here's some of the things i have done:

whew. FINALLY, chicka had her first real hold-my-breath-til-i-pass-out temper tantrum!

tonight, chicka was exhausted. just finishing her bed time bath she was trying to run around naked. fine. i don't mind it one bit. then, she grab her pjs and was trying to walk with them but was tripping because they were dragging on the floor. okay, but she could hurt herself. then she wanted in the kitchen with the pjs. that's where we drew the line [no chicka of mine is entering the hard fake wood floor, slipping on her pjs and hitting her head]. either pj-less in the kitchen or living room with pjs in tow. she wanted in that kitchen pretty bad. she was trying to get around dada then through him. finally he took them away. and moved out of the way to let her through. nope, that was it. she wanted those pjs in that kitchen! now!

well, i scooped her up to lay her down. as long as she was crying i might as well get her ready for bed since she cries every time i try to de-nakify her. tears come out when the clothes go on. as i was laying her down she took in a HUGE breath. waiting for her normal 5-10 sec pause until a huge outburst i opened the diaper, put it under her, got the diaper cream out, slabbed it on and no scream...

adam came over. we both looked at each other, she was turning purple!...then her eyes glazed over...then she went limp for 10-15 seconds...then she "came to". she looked so scared. i didn't even no what to do! she looked frantic and was now crying because she didn't now what had happened. i hugged her tightly. within 10 minutes she was asleep.

i would be super frantic and upset if i had no idea what had just happened but i did this when i was little and so did my dad. when she was born i feared she might get this trait along with the other kooky things she already got [like a huge monkey gap between the first and second toe and a tailbone dimple]. i was not so excited when she did this. looks like i've passed down another great tradition. called my mom and she laughed and told me to nip it in the butt before its gets to hard to break. she coddled me and caved which made me do it more to get what i want. chicka is just past 10 months!
ah, not already!  yep, that's MY daughter.

chicka chicka boom boom, i'll write again real soon...