zoo day, bubbles, tooth fairy, hugs, ladies night & tube sock

friday was our typically weekly zoo day. the chimps were active, the lions were not, the hippo was sleeping against the glass again and we marched through the zoo until it was unbearably hot and humid. we would continually retreat into air conditioned buildings [once to even get a snack] until we finally gave in and left the zoo. chicka fell asleep in the car on the way home which meant i would get a peaceful lunch.

right after dada chicka got home on friday we were bored but we didn't want to be outside. we decided to bring the an outdoor activity inside, BUBBLES! at first chicka was confused and a little scared. then, she soon realized bubbles were fun, but tricky! they moved a little too quickly and would pop once she touched one. i can't wait to til i can watch her run around chasing them! i remember making our own bubble solution and trying to get the biggest bubbles, laughing and getting sticky with popped bubbles. its a memory that i will keep forever...

the "tooth fairy" came and visited us last night because chicka woke up with a "white head" under her gums! her first tooth! momma chicka was sooo proud. she gave us no warning either! she slept really good last night and wasn't even crabby. i kept bugging chicka to get a picture but she had no part in it! this is the best we could do.

i'm teaching chicka some sign language and so far i know she is listening but she hasn't really signed yet. she kind of puts her fingers together for more but today she i was sitting there telling her hug and helping her sign it and BOOM BOOM! she did it back! i was so happy and she squealed with delight. she kept signing it over and over and i gladly gave her hug after hug after hug!

2 ladies and i last night went to stoneware studios and had a ladies night painting pottery! they are closing and this is their last monthly ladies night. treats, snacks and drinks were abundant and it felt so good to be with good friends without our children for once. instead of constantly keeping our eyes peeled for the wandering child or our laps full trying to entertain our little ones we could concentrate on each other. its was so nice to talk and get to know each other more. learning about our past explains who we are today. getting close to people in wichita is important to me since i feel like i don't have any close friends here.

i will leave you this crazy commercial i just saw on tv. wow. i'm scared and humored at the same time. again, wow.

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

stroller yoga, wingnuts, grossology & lunch with little bear

yesterday, wednesday, was a busy day! it started with stroller yoga in the morning at riverside park with the usual routine followed by a picnic in the shade. carrying key-nibbling chicka back to the group after getting our lunch from the car i noticed there was no more jingling of keys coming from my chicka. sure enough my little chicka had dropped them in the un-mowed, honey i shrunk the kids grass! looking like a silly mom as i carried chicka sideways parallel with the ground i walked in circles trying to find them. what would dada say about this! luckily, with the help of another mom we conquered the jungle and found them! grass = 0, moms = 1. the day ended with a free wichita wingnut baseball game with our mom's group. we only stayed for two innings because of my infection and it was WAY passed chicka's bedtime but we were in the shade and they were winning. go wingnuts!

today met yoga friends of ours at the keeper of the plains to walk around since it was cloudy and then head to the exploration place to let the kids get their "exploration" energy out. 

 bah-dum-ching! 

we walked through the grossology exhibit which had lots of loud animated characters that scared chicka and little bear, chicka's yoga friend! we then headed to the tot section where poor little bear learned about karma and what a pain it can be. he was being a big boy by using chicka as a climbing/patting post and soon after a bigger kid than him smacked him with a duckie at the water activity! his poor boo-boo lip stuck out so far. boys will be boys!

"pardon me, but do you have any grey poupon?"

little bear's mom invited chicka and i over for lunch, what a fun surprise! i love feeling special enough to go to someone house. it was fun seeing little bear run circles around chicka, getting into the door that doesn't latch by spider crawling his fingers into the frame and inching the door open! what a smarty pants he is! chicka passed out in the car on the way home exhausted from time spent with good friends and i'm sure little bear did the same!

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

pain, pain go away!

starting sunday night i was experiencing low back/hip pain that would radiate up to my shoulder and down my leg. two days later i finally gave in and called my hubby to come home from work and relieve me of chicka duty so i can go to the doc and get this taken care of. turns out i have bacteria in my urine, hooray, and prolly have an infection. i was hoping for a pulled muscle or pinched nerve and some pain meds... darn. gonna nip this in the butt before i end up in the hospital [again] with a kidney infection. think of me during your day and put a good word in for me to mother nature so i can get better. 

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

a day for fathers, diaper baby & new car seat

yesterday was father's day and we were so unproductive! i had a mom's night in the night before and got little sleep [but loved my second night out since cora was born] leaving me cranky and grumpy. sorry hubby bubby! chicka was feeling my vibes so i had to change or poor dada chicka would have not one but two cranky chickas to deal with! chicka and i, with the help of a friend, made dada a shirt to wear, secretly hoping it would make him embarrassed! to our dismay he wore it with pride, making my heart melt all over for him. thank you for being a great dad, father and friend! i love you and so does chicka.

chicka, being vanna white, and showing off dada's shirt and even giving us a smile! with the hopes of putting away clothes, cleaning the kitchen and maybe even cleaning a toilet or two we instead had a lazy day and played with chicka. it was a good way to spend father's day because its the little moments chicka will remember, not whether the toilet was clean.

chicka loves being naked as i'm sure most little ones do. we let her sit on the floor in the kitchen because she can really grip it and come to all fours! it scares me to death that she will konk her head but on the carpet her legs slide out from underneath her and she tends to fall onto her stomach. still no crawling but i'm sure she is on her way. someday chicka will wake up and it will just click! i'm surprised we are getting her to come to all fours. it was a struggle to keep her content enough but i think being naked helps!

we also made a trip to the store and after careful research done by dada [yes, he loves preshopping recearch] we picked out a new big girl car seat. we have yet to try it out but after dada installed it i just had to set her in it before her bath and bedtime!

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

zoo

our mom's group today went to the zoo.

it was super hot - just standing there and i was sweating! i needed to shave so i could wear shorts [couldn't remember the last time i had so you know its been awhile] but instead of continuing the theme with my clothes for hot weather i chose i dark blue polo... walking along in the sun i began to think, "really? you really had your thinking cap on this morning!" maybe it was because i hadn't had my usual cup of coffee, darn hubby for not making it. that's right, my husband makes it because you make not think its possible to make a bad pot of coffee but it is. no matter how much i try i always manage to screw it up! oh, what a good little housewife am i? plus it tastes so good when someone else does it...zoo highlights: we got to watch them feed the tigers which is always a good show.

they have them jump up on the fence its really exciting.
the hippo's water was clear meaning we could see in and one was sleeping at the bottom. he was even facing us with his nose pushed up against the glass.

the kids were running around, laughing and generally enjoying the day. i always love seeing kids smile and laugh. they are so joyful and so in the moment.

the kids would find the misting fans and get soaked!

chicka passed out before we even exiting the zoo, making a happy momma. i was ready for a nap as well!

this turned out to be such a great day, despite the crazy heat!

sorry to make this blog post a mess! i'm playing around with photos and i eventually gave up, so you get what you get and you don't throw a fit!

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

all fours, stroller yoga, friends & baby weight

today was the day i thought would never, ever come. chicka was playing with her ball and it rolled just out of reach. she was in a pretty good mood so she didn't began to whine for it. she started to rock/lunge back and forth to reach it and eventually rocked enough to lunge onto all fours! chicka sat there for a second, not sure whether the situation she was in was a good or a bad thing, until i said "yaaaaaay!" and then i got a smile. she even rocked a little until... she decided it was no longer fun and she started to scream bloody murder to have me help her get out of her situation, but at least we are making progress. especially since standing is all she wants to do.

its wednesday and you no what that means? stroller yoga! me likey some stroller yoga. met at great plains nature center again since last week was so crappy. this time we were halfway around the mile track and it started to downpour!

rain+crabby chicka = run, mommy, run!

so that's what i did. it felt so exhilarating! i was out breath by the time i got to the center but it felt so good. i realized how much i miss running. after we went inside it was story time. every wednesday the great plains nature center has a free story at eleven. when the story was over, we went to the aquarium were we sat down to sing some songs. all the little fishes are swimming in the water, swimming in the water... and hop-a-long yogi. a good time was had for all, despite the rain.

lately, chicka and i have been keeping pretty busy. good thing, because we get bored easily. seems the tides have turned and we no longer feel so alone. we are making reliable friends and i just wanted to take my time and blog space to thank you all. thanks!

okay, gonna be brutally honest. i hate the leftover baby weight. i knew my body would change with chicka but all this leftover skin and this flabby thing that i now call my tummy is unimaginable. [don't even get me started on celebrities and there post-baby body bounce back miracle...] i know they say it takes 9 months to put it on, blah, blah, blah... well, chicka is officially 8 months and i'm nowhere to taking it off especially since i have stopped exercising and am in a rut. i don't like the way i look. i have stopped eating healthy and its getting me in a funk/depression. i'm all or nothing with my life. working out, losing weight, feeling good and eating healthy or a junk food junkie couch potato. i need someone or something to get me started on the right track again. grrr. thanks for listening to my rant and sorry but i needed to gethat it out.

i like to leave it on a positive note. its wednesday and that means halfway done with the week!i also can't wait for my first mom's night in on saturday! so excited.

to get your chicka fix:

cruising the window

talking

trying to cruise the against the brick wall

getting dada's hair

laughing

love

my heart melts when i see this pictures. i can't believe how much she's grown and learned so far. i remember thinking if we keep her alive and well-fed we should be happy as a first-time parents. well, i'd say we are doing pretty good and then some.

"not me" monday, zoo day & the eighth month

idea from mckmama. where you admit some of your imperfections so you can laugh about yourself.

i didn't hit my chicka's head on the door frame going into the garage, finally calmed her down only to hit it AGAIN when i opened the door to the car. nope, not me.

i certainly didn't smirk at a lady wearing skin tight sweatpants clearly defining her girlie "junk" only to realize i was walking around with my fly open and baby vomit down my shirt. nope, not me.

i certainly didn't hold my chicka up to a sign at the zoo that said "dangerous animals" to get her picture taken by it. nope, not me.

___________________

must have gave dada what i had yesterday. headache and tummy troubles because he woke up with it this morning. after a restful morning i finally convinced him to get out of the house to head to the zoo [it was all part of my secret plan to get him walking because his tummy troubles are usually because of irregularity]. it was as cool as it is going to get all week and the sun was hiding so we got to enjoy the rest of the cool but humid afternoon at the zoo.

momma and chickabear scratching, hilariousbird in the jungle, proud of this shotlooking at the fishes

wasn't sure if it was a friendly or not

stretching our his wings

i thought he was going to bite me

____________________

dear chicka,

you are now eight months old. you have come so far from the tiny glowworm i held still on the c-section table in the hospital.

minutes old

10.14.2009

you can sit up, roll over, clap, shake your head no [and i think you know what it means], open and close your fist "HI", say dada, and many other things i could list but you have even taken a couple steps.

i'm sure one day i will look think back when you were only eight months and think of how much you have grown since then.

eight months

6.14.2010

it been a crazy ride so far but i wouldn't trade it for anything... not even sleep.

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