Best Christmas Present Ever!

So I am apparently bad at hiding things but our family got one of the best gifts ever this year - a new baby. That's right! There will be a new baby ski added to our family in August 2010!! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

The Mad Hatter Song

We have seen "Abby in Wonderland" about a million times and Libby loves to sing along to the songs. Too cute.

I want to shoot with the boys

It's a Mirly Christmas

We had Christmas at my parent's house on Saturday. Normally we do it Christmas Day but our trips to Disney World (we leave in 11 days!!) changed those plans.



Even though it wasn't officially Christmas yet, it sure felt like it.




We ate great thanks to my Mom's awesome cooking and the kiddo's had a blast playing and opening presents.







Merry Christmas!!

Crazy Kiddo

12.14.09 Goofing around (3)
Originally uploaded by Holly Mroczkowski.

Libby thought this was so stinking funny - to put her Daddy's hands over her ears. We have had to do this over and over again and she holds our hands where we can't move them (see picture for proof). I have to admit, it is pretty funny!

Wordless Wednesday (a little late)

12.16.09 Jim calling my bluff
Originally uploaded by Holly Mroczkowski.

When asking Jim to get a hair cut, I threatened to hang ornaments on his head if he didn't. Guess the joke is on me?

1st Annual Mirly Cookie Party

We decided to try to start a cookie party as a tradition for the Mirly half of my family. This year we hosted it at my sister's house. We made about 14 (!) dozen cookies (i think) and that was with me making about 8 before we got there so the kiddos could decorate some. They were able to decorate about 3 dozen in about 20 minutes. There were sprinkles flying everywhere! Not really =) But they really did about 3 dozen in 30 minutes!








The really special thing about it was that it was my Dad's first time decorating cookies! He did a great job. Oh, and my mom really was there even though I missed her in every single picture I took. She, in fact, did the bulk of the baking that day. Here is proof.




It was a great time and I really do hope we can continue this tradition!

Holiday Spirit

We were ahead of the game in decorating the outside of our house for Christmas. But due to some illnesses, we quickly were behind in decorating the inside of our house. This weekend we just decided to do it and ended up having a blast. Libby especially had an awesome time. She even declared our tree "beautiful" - a word I didn't know who 1) knew and 2) could say. Take a look of some of my favorite pics from decorating.

Happy Thanksgiving!

11.26.09 Ski Thanksgiving
Originally uploaded by Holly Mroczkowski.

I'm running a tad late but Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Our household spend Thanksgiving and Black Friday at home hosting not one but two Thanksgivings. I will freely admit I was scared at of my mind to do these but the idea of having our families share our first major holiday in our new home helped me overcome that...that and many phone calls to my mother-in-law and mom for help. =) It did not help that I had 1) never hosted thanksgiving and 2) never cooked a turkey. My mother-in-law bought and cleaned out the 20lb turkey for Thursday's meal so that helped a lot. The rest were traditional sides my Mom always made us...times two. =) So those I had at least seen done. After a few issues, everything turned out fine and only one of the two meals was delayed! I call Thanksgiving 2009 an absolute success! And now to find inventive ways to eat the left overs ;)

Priceless

11.27.09 Mirly Thanksgiving (42)
Originally uploaded by Holly Mroczkowski.

This picture is priceless to me. We haven't (successfully), at least I don't think, gotten a picture with Erin's daughter Zoe, my kiddo, and Grandma and Grandpa Mirly in one photo. After several takes and blinding my Mom, we finally got one where everyone was looking forward at the same time. I will always cherish this!

Pictures

I love taking pictures. Unfortunately that means I am not in many of them...which normally that is ok with me. However, recently I realized this mean that my daughter won't get to see me with her in any pictures when she grows up so I decided to change that. These are two of my favorites from Thanksgiving this year.


I am in complete pain because she is jumping (and I do mean JUMPING) on my knees. She's loving it though but I couldn't walk for a few minutes.


This is just a few minutes before that...we were having so much fun. =)

Singing

Libby does love to sing

The Muppets: Bohemian Rhapsody

Words can't even explain this...but it is so freaking awesome

Happy Holidays!

Thanksgiving is usually the beginning of the holiday season for my house. This year I decided to start a little early since the weather has been so wonderful. On Saturday I put up the Christmas lights outside. It was 60 degrees! I won’t lie, I had a lot of my neighbors come by and look at me a bit funny but I didn’t care. At least I wasn’t freezing my butt of this year! Plus, I had no idea what I was doing since this is our first Christmas in the new house. In our old townhouse, we only had half of a porch to decorate but in this house we have a full porch to decorate! We’re starting small this year and will build on it for next year. I am determined to get lights up around the roof at some point in time*. Until then, I am enjoying my adorable porch all lit up with Christmas lights and adorned with garland!

* Hubby: consider yourself warned for next year

Getting Healthy: Baby Steps

I’m slowly moving forward to making positive, long lasting changes in my life. One of these possible changes is happening tonight. After whining and talking about joining a gym, I am finally going in some to check them out. I’ve been a member of several gyms over the years so I know what to look for and ask…mostly I want one that isn’t a meat market. I don’t want to be looked at as I sweat like a pig because I will sweat like a pig. It’ll be awful and I will be ugly. Very ugly. Not that I care!

I also plan on getting a personal trainer to kick my big butt. My goal is to get in some serious workouts before our big trip to Disney so it doesn’t kill me and I don’t get exhausted too fast. I am excited and nervous about this change but mostly I am SO EXCITED! It is seriously something I have wanted to do for years but never felt like I was worth it to spend that kind of money. Well, now I feel like I am finally worth it. I still don’t like spending the money but you know what? I’d rather be healthy at this point. This should be the kick in my butt that I need to make some healthy changes, and I would rather spend the money on this versus another diet plan!

I am trying not to get too excited about this though. When I was in college I got on an exercise kick and dropped a serious amount of weight without trying hard. In fact, I got to my smallest size while I did that and weight watchers – a freaking size 4. I don’t expect to get that small again…mostly because I am a lot older (sigh). Honestly, I am mostly doing this to be a good role model for my kiddo AND to get my blood pressure down. Now, I do hope that I turn into the incredible shrinking Holly but if that doesn’t happen I am not going to cry over it. I just can’t wait to see what happens! I’ll keep you posted.

Miss Manners

Jim and I are trying to make sure our child has good manners. She is starting to get the hang of it. “Bless you”, “Thank you”, “Please” and “Sorry” are all being used…but the problem we are having is that when she says “please” she assumes it will happen. Just today when I was taking her to daycare she said, “Monkey Zoo, please?” in her sweetest voice ever. Of course I wanted to drop everything and just take her to the zoo to see the monkeys…but I knew that wouldn’t pay the bills. “Sorry” is another one that is getting there but not quite. It usually follows after she does something painful to us and it is the fakest sorry I have ever heard. Even as she is running over my foot with her stroller or pulling our my hair with a comb, whenever I hear her say “sorry” in her cute, fake voice it melts my heart. I guess that doesn’t help her learn though, huh? Even though she doesn’t have these down, she understands “Bless You” and “Thank You”. Usually with “Bless You” she says, “Mommy sneeze?” and I nod or say yes then she says, “oh, oh! Bless you”. So she gets it. =) Now to get her not to hurt us when she says sorry and to understand just because she says please it doesn’t mean she will get the thing she wants…hmm…

Hope

I have hope that someday my daughter won’t turn on the news and only hear about death and destruction. She won’t hear about children being abused or people killing each other.

I have to have hope that this will stop. That people will live with one another and treat each other with the respect that they deserve.

I have to have hope that this will happen or I my heart is going to break into a million pieces.
I just have to have hope.

As I look at families that are struggling to keep their children alive from illnesses, I just cannot comprehend how other people are killing them. Every time I see or hear about it happening a piece of me dies. I will never get it back. I have actually stopped listening or watching the news just because of this reason. And, sadly, I still learn about it without trying. That’s how often it is happening now.

Please. I beg of you. Stop. I have to have hope and faith that people will start being human again. Love each other. Please. I have to have hope for my daughter and her future on this earth.

Sick Day

11.12.09 sick day
Originally uploaded by Holly Mroczkowski.

About a week ago I got a cold. Now a cold is not normally something that would knock me off my feet but this one sure did. By Wed night (day #4 of the cold), I wasn't sure if this was just a cold. So imagine my delight when the next morning Libby woke up super crabby and not feeling well at all. I took her temp (several times - hello OCD!) and she never had one. But I knew, just KNEW, that if I took her to daycare she would end up coming home with me early. I packed and unpacked the car FIVE times and then finally at 7:15am decided to try it. I had a big meeting at work and I really needed to be in the office that morning. So off we went...my crabby kiddo and me. I attended/talked in my meeting at 8:30 and at 9:30 called to check on my sick girl. Sure enough she had a temp and I had to go get her. The rest of the day is a blur (mostly because I actually took cold medicine for the first time in 3 years)...but we survived. Now it is Monday, one full week after this cold showed its face in my house, and I am almost 100% healthy, Libby has a slight cough and Jim is starting to get all stuffy. Go away cold! No more sick days!!

Growing Up

11.08.09 STL Zoo - Monkey House (9)
Originally uploaded by Holly Mroczkowski.

Please tell me when my child got so big? In looking at recent pictures I am noticing how big she is getting. I definitely cannot call her a baby anymore. She is a little girl now.

*sigh*

Dancing

I don't know which Libby loves more - dancing or the muppets (specifically Miss Piggy). Fortunately, she has found a way to combine them. Here is a video of Libby dancing with her Daddy while watching a dance routine between Miss Piggy, Kermit, and cast. Normally, she tries to do a longer tap routine while Miss Piggy does it...This is something I will always cherish.

Struggling

I often ask myself, "Why do some people have it so easy?" Then I realize those people don't know what hard work is. Unfortunately, when you are struggling with something you still want to have things come easily. Something I have always struggled with is weight. For those of you that know me, you have seen me go up and down over my lifetime and it is a constant roller coaster. This is one of the things have always struggled with but am determined to get a handle on for my family - specifically for my little girl. I don't want her to see her Momma gorging on bad foods, not exercising, etc. Unfortunately I am failing right now. I was able to drop a lot of weight and keep it off for a year after Libby was born but then I said I was going to take a "break" from dieting. Now, a year later, I am back up to where I was when I got pregnant with Libby and feeling, honestly, like a failure. I got comfortable which was something I vowed never to do again. So, here we go again my friends, I am going to try to stick with it this time and find a way to actually make this work in my life versus making it be such a battle. That's the hard part - trying to find a balance to make this work in every day life. Because, lets face it, the holidays are coming up. I am not going to be "perfect" the entire time - I may eat a piece of pie...but what I have always lacked is self control to only get small portions of things to balance it out. So my goal this go around in my latest weight battle is to do better portions and not completely eliminate the goodies I want. Instead, have little tastes of them when I crave them. It's all about balance.

Wordless Wednesday

10.30.09 Pumpkin Carving-Painting (10)
Originally uploaded by Holly Mroczkowski.

Play-doh Fun

My child is nuts about play-doh. I thought 2 year olds couldn’t have a long attention span. Apparently they can when there is play-doh involved. On Sunday, Libby played with it for 2 hours straight. She’d play with me and then switch to Jim and then back to me. It was wonderful. We made all kinds of things with it: suns with rays, a snowman, banana, hot dog, duck, etc. Nothing was boring to her. She just loves it and even asks for it in the morning. We got a tub with 3 1lb tubs of red, blue, and yellow. She’ll cycle between the colors. We won’t let her play with all 3 at once because lets face it. If we did that, we would only have one thing left of it because she’d mix them all together. Luckily for now she is very happy with one color at a time.

A not so happy halloween

I had big plans for Halloween this year. Libby was going to go trick-or-treating for the first time. We finally had a neighborhood where she could walk around. It was all planned out. So when I woke up yesterday I was completely excited and then I looked at the clock. 8:30 am?! How is it that late? For those of you that don't know, our child never sleeps in. Never. The latest she has ever slept is 8:15am and that is when she was sick. So I immediately thought something was wrong and went to check on her. She was fine...just sleeping in. I thought, "hey! whats the harm!? I can get a head start on things downstairs." So I left her alone until 9:15 when she was still sleeping. You would think all of this extra sleep on Halloween would be great, right? Extra sleep means no crankiness AND she can stay up later to trick-or-treat. WRONG! I took her to Target to run off some energy and she ended up throwing 3 major, throw herself on the floor fits. Moms did the classic look at me saying how they felt my pain and had been there. But I haven't! She's never done this before in a store...at least not to this degree. So home we went where I thought I'd get some food in her and down for a late nap. WRONG again! She wouldn't nap...just screamed. and screamed. and screamed. So eventually we went to get her and she never did nap. The crankiness continued and then got worse. So by 6:00 we knew she would never make it walking around the neighborhood. No halloween for her. =( Luckily she did get to go to Boo at the Zoo and trick or treated at her daycare. So there was that...and she was the cutest puppy ever!

Ready for Christmas

Yes, I know it is early but I am ready for Christmas. Most years, I am excited about it but really do not get into it. I don’t know if it is due to finally having a child old enough to really participate this year, having a new home I am just utterly peaceful in, or the combination of both but I am so ready for Christmas. I’m so ready to decorate the house with lights (something we typically don’t do a lot of). I’ve already warned my wonderful hubby that he is going to need to get on a ladder this year to put some up. Sadly the stores haven’t started putting out decorations so I cannot even plan our decorations out yet. Yes, I am one of ‘those’ people but with a new house I have no idea what to do!! I am even trying to start holiday traditions like baking cookies, decorating the tree on a certain day, etc. My goal is to make sure Libby has a fantastic Christmas and enjoys every minute of it. We are so blessed this year. I want to soak up every minute of family and joy from this time of year.

What are some of your holiday traditions?

Thanksgiving

With us having a house that can accommodate family and holiday traditions, I have volunteered to host Thanksgiving for the Ski side this year. Sadly, I have absolutely no idea what I am doing!! Luckily my mother-in-law is going to help me not mess up the turkey. =) I can handle sides, pies, etc…but that turkey! Eeks!! I am clueless. Can’t I just buy one made up so I don’t mess it up? Or make a lasagna or pizza or something? That I won’t screw up…but a turkey. Man. Good thing I have a few weeks to figure it all out and family that can help. =)
What kind of things do you make for Thanksgiving or do you stick to the traditional bird? Any tips so I don’t blacken the thing? =)

Winter Activities

With cold weather right around the corner and snow too (?), Jim and I are plotting ways to keep the Liberator from going insane inside this winter. Last night we spent our weekly “date night” at Toys-R-Us looking for things to accomplish this task. You might think going to a toy store isn’t a fun way to spend the evening but it really can be! There are so many options and different kinds of toys! Our goal was not to get stuffed toys (her crib is full of them) but things like scissors, drums (cause we’re crazy), maracas, play-doh, etc., for her to use. We did really well too! Jim did find one toy that wasn’t on our “list” – a stuffed Ernie*.

In any case, I am sure I will be posting more about how these go over this winter and whether we actually survive it…but for now we are going to spend as much time outside as possible before winter actually hits!

* I know I said we weren’t going to get any stuffed toys but Libby loves Ernie right now and it was just too cute to pass up. I had the pleasure of giving her the toy and she freaked out (in a good way) when she saw it.

Future Worker Bee

10.25.09 Future Worker Bee (4)
Originally uploaded by Holly Mroczkowski.

My child earns to be a worker bee and do work at a desk.

To my dear kiddo, don't rush it. =) Enjoy playing with paints, crayons and scissors right now!

Puppy Love

10.24.09 Boo at the Zoo (7)
Originally uploaded by Holly Mroczkowski.

Outdoors

10.25.09 Playing outside (11)
Originally uploaded by Holly Mroczkowski.

Nothing makes me happier than watching my little girl play outside. Yesterday we went outside after her nap to get some running around time before it started to rain. She had so much fun running around! Jim (aka, Daddy) got her to pick up a bunch of lady bugs with leaves. This kid loves her some bugs. I had her look for different flowers and then we made bracelets from them. She was in heaven! Yay for gorgeous fall days/

Failure to commeownicate

I'm not sure English is Libby's first language.

Swinging

My child loves to swing. Loves it. And for her 2nd Birthday, her Daddy and I got her a swingset. We now live in the backyard.

Iron Man

We went to my hometown this weekend for a family reunion. More specifically, we went to a park where Jim and I spent the entire thing running around after her. At one point, Libby was determined to use the monkey bars - at age 2. We humored here and took this video after she hung on for about 15 seconds *by herself*. This video doesn't do it justice. My little future iron man!

Libby and the mask

Let me explain. Jim, from the second that I met him, has had this strange Christopher Walken mask. Libby, being fascinated by her Daddy's car, has found this mask and loves to now do this with it. Boo!

Arts & Crafts

I've never been a crafty type of girl. I've always hoped that I could turn into it...but when I go to actually create something it never turns out like I want. Well my kiddo must take after me a bit because she loves arts and crafts. We knew that pretty early on. I was always hesitant to start anything with her and made many excuses not to: the house is for sale and I don't want to clean up the mess, oh - she isn't old enough for that, etc. Although, after watching/hearing how much she loves it at her daycare I had to try it at home. We did small things at first when she was a year old. I made home made flour playdough (although there are many kinds you can make at home where if they eat it, it isn't as big of a deal - not that I think that's ok =)). Next I took construction paper and had her glue the cut up pieces to paper making a sort of collage. We did this for awhile in addition to coloring and playing with stickers (she's a sticker queen), but I knew she needed more - paint. I've never seen a kid paint like her. She's so careful and precise with her movements...and she loves it and wants to do it often. In fact, this morning she cleared off her activity table and demanded to paint. Now the reason I was hesitant to start this was obviously due to the mess. Last week when she was home sick with us, we had to entertain her somehow so we took out the finger paints. And so began the regular paintings in my house. To my surprise it isn't messy. You would think finger painting would be, right? I just put a smock on her and we're ready to go. She's very careful not to get it everywhere and has a lot of fun. So my lesson learned here is that don't be afraid of arts and crafts. Kids can really start at any age and it teaches them more than you think. Think about it - colors, to listen, textures, etc. It is an amazing way to learn! So go out and have fun with it! We sure are!!

Party at my crib!

I thought our lives were getting back to normal.  Sure, our child who never sleeps in was sleeping until 9am.  She was getting up still constantly throughout the night.  But, I had high hopes that our Sunday night would go great since she had a normal nap time and we took her places to wear her out.  Boy was I wrong.  It was like a light came on in her.  "Oh!", she said.  "I have FIVE days of playtime to make up for.  Party at my crib!!  1am - 4am!  You bring the juice, I'll have the toys and milk."

It was horrible.  I can almost take comforting a sick child at 1am but to try to convince a very alert, happy kid that it was time to go to bed when clearly it wasn't for her is not so fun for a parent.  Add to that I had some kind of stomach bug (which only tends to happen on Sunday nights I notice - coincidence?) where I was up half the night anyways.  So the end result was we put her to bed at her normal 8pm listened to her play in her room until 10pm when she fell asleep for the first time.  Listened to her get up at 1am and then spent the next hour trying to get her to go to sleep.  The next hour was just spent with us shaking our heads that she was still awake and playing contently in her crib.  Then from 3am - 4am I think we began to get loopy and just prayed she went to sleep.  Because, you see, I have the pleasure of taking her back to daycare for the first time in a week.  Which means she gets up at 6:45am on the dot so I have a prayer of getting to work by 7:45am (which is what I strive for).  Just the thought of having to get her up after so little probably didn't help my stomach issues. 

 

So when 6:45am came around I avoided her like the plague.  In the end, it actually wasn't horrible.  She kept hiding from me and putting a blanket over her head (I guess she thought this was hiding?) but in the end, yes, there were tears but it was by no means the worst morning ever.  By the time I got her downstairs and into the car with a graham cracker in her hands watching Tinker Bell (Thank goodness for a DVD in a car!!), she was wide eyed and ready for her day.  Even the drop off at the daycare wasn't too bad.  She was clingy but once she saw her teacher, Amber, she was fine.  I can finally relax knowing she is healthy and although tired, she is ok. =)  Now, we just need to get that sleep routine down again!

Why We Moved

I've decided to fess up and say why we moved. There were honestly many reasons. A townhome with no backyard off of a busy street, no matter how convenient it was to everything we wanted to do (Forest Park, STL Zoo, The Loop, etc), is not a good place to raise a kid. Add to that we never left the house. Why? Because our "up and coming neighborhood" became grand central station for thefts. Approximately every 2 weeks someone in our community, not street, not nearby, in the buildings next to us would get their homes broken into and cleaned out. They had a system and it sadly worked every time. Around 2pm about 2-3 kids/men would go door to door and ring the doorbell with an extra person in a car. If you were home, they would ask if some made up person was there and you were safe. Then off to the next door they would go until they found an empty home. Next they would pull around back, hop onto your deck, pry open your door and then let the car into the garage where they would then take their sweet time in taking all of your possessions and even eat your food.

For those of you that know me even a little bit know that I am worry-wart so this made me a prisoner in my own home. I thought that if we just stayed home all of the time we would be safe. My husband had other ideas. He said we should move. And so began the fun of packing up our lives and trying to convince others not to be afraid of our area. We got a realtor and as quickly as we could put the house up on the market. Sadly, this backfired because after a few weeks of having our sign out front we had a visitor one morning at around 3:45am trying to get into our house. Luckily I am crazy and make sure the alarm is always set. The alarm went off instantly and nothing was taken. The police were called but told us they couldn't look for fingerprints because nothing was damaged or taken. Lucky us. We were the first house to get hit at night...again, lucky us.

It is hard to think about the old house because we both loved it. It was our first home and we took our first child home from the hospital there. We wanted to make it work but in the end we just couldn't expose our child to that area. We didn't tell our friends and family about all that was happening because we didn't want to worry them. So, if you are reading this and are shocked or upset we didn't share this with you...we did it out of love. I promise.

But now we are in our new house. I am finally at peace and in a home I can see raising our children in for a very, very long time.

Ah, peace.

Making Elephant Sounds

Libby was feeling much better yesterday and even found a way to make elephant sounds.

Memory Lane

I can't believe my little girl is turning 2 in 1 week. I found myself looking at old pictures of her today. Libby watched me go through them and constantly said "baby" to all of her old pictures. I tried to explain that was her and was just amazed at how much she has grown. I thought about the first time I saw her.
And about how much she has grown from sitting and chewing on things that were towering over her...
To watching her build things and tower over them...
Watching her grow up is one of the most exciting things I have ever done. I am so thankful to have this little wonderful girl in my life.

Balance

One thing I have struggled with is balance. How do you find time for everything? This week stretched that to the limit with Libby being sick. I knew my daughter needed me, but so did my co-workers at work. I am part of a team in both situations but thanks to some great support we made it through. Sure I wish I could have devoted 100% of my time to both and I won't deny that the TV was Libby's babysitter most of the week...but we made it. Sometimes that is all you can do, just survive and get through it. I still struggle with trying to keep my personal life out of work and work out of my personal life but I am finding it is nearly impossible to do that. There has to be some sort of balance out there for this, right?

Teething? Or something more?

Of course after I make a decision like trying to write more, life gets in the way. So if this post isn't really coherent, I completely blame the lack of sleep from this week.

Last weekend I proclaimed to my husband (who is a fantastic writer even though I can't seem to get him to write here) that I wanted to write more on this blog. He, of course, supported me but Libby decided it was time to start acting like a 2 year old. My sweet, beautiful little girl turned into this little kid that was doing anything she could do break the rules and just act up. What we discovered Sunday evening after getting up with her for the 1 millionth time is it wasn't all together her fault. She was teething again.

Now Libby started to teeth early so we are pretty used to it. This seemed to be different though. First, she cried non-stop*. When she started this routine up on Monday morning I chalked it up to being a Monday and not wanting to go to daycare. Then her teacher called me at 8:30 to tell me she hadn't really stopped crying and begged me to let her give her some Tylenol. I happily said yes, thinking we had dodged a bullet and now my little girl would return to her sweet, loving self. Wrong. While realizing what Libby really needed was Motrin (Tylenol does squat for her), I called the daycare back to find out she had over a 101 fever. I quickly rushed to pick her up only to find her beet red and sobbing with her wonderful teacher attempting to calm her down while 3 other kids were running around having a great time since she was distracted. I was so surprised by how upset Libby was I sat down with her on the curb and let her cry a bit before getting into the car. Once in the car I turned the A/C on full blast (yes, I am pretty sure that is a no-no but if you saw her your only thought would be to cool her off too) and made her there was a movie in the DVD player to keep her company on the way home. The next few days seemed to go on forever with crying fits, sleepless nights, fevers, etc.

Sadly, Libby still wasn't feeling well and by Thursday it was making me nervous. Teething shouldn't be this rough, right? I called the Doctor and made an appointment for that afternoon. We were going to see the other Doctor in the practice, not our normal one. I wasn't concerned but I just wanted her to find something to explain this. But what did she find? Nothing. Not. A. Thing. So, her advice was to not give her Tylenol or Motrin anymore and see if the fever comes back and only give her Motrin at night to help her sleep. Sadly this made for a horrible night full of screaming and getting up constantly and brought her fever back to 102.5. We took her back to the Doctor today and her normal Doctor was there. For some reason, one I would love to know, she thought she might have a Urinary Tract Infection and wanted to get a sample of her urine. This involved cleaning Libby's private areas and 'taping' a bag to them to collect the urine. Libby hated this and of course refused to go to the bathroom. This resulted in getting her first ever catheter. Or at least I think so, by this point we had been in the room for almost 1.5 hours and I was about to pass out from the heat, screaming, and sobbing (from both me and Libby). I couldn't even watch and then I saw it. She was looking for me. I needed to step up and so I did. I stopped crying (which I hid by looking away) and focused only on her. We got through it (even though they barely got anything to do a test) and found out she didn't have any kind of infection or bacteria. They also did a Strep Test which came back negative. So, even after almost 2 hours they still had no idea what was going on with her. Their suggestion was to get her to drink more (duh) and continue to give her Tylenol and Motrin (double duh). I am not really frustrated by the whole experience with the Doctors...mostly just frustrated that we still don't know what is wrong. I hope it is just a virus and it goes away really soon.

* My heart goes out to any parents with a baby with colic. After 5 days of non-stop screaming and little to no sleep, I am a zombie that will cry or scream at you for any reason whatsoever.

Quality vs Quantity

I always say quality is better than quality. However, in some things, the more you do things the better you get. I'm hoping that may happen with my writing if I post things more often. I read lots of blogs from friends and online mommies that post regularly and I envy them. Then I realized, well, why can't I do that? Sure, I stink at writing but it would help me get better at it (I hope). So, be prepared for more posts - and about actual things...not just pictures. Of course, I won't stop taking and posting pictures -- good luck prying the camera away from me! --- but I am going to try to start writing more about my life and what is going on with my family more. I hope you all enjoy it!

Finger Painting

As the video explains, we are having a difficult time teething right now. I swear this kid must be growing another set of teeth. This morning was our first good morning since last Sunday. No fever and very little pain. I took today off to take care of her and decided why not try finger painting. She loves it at daycare so I figured it would be a hit. Libby loved it. At first she was a little hesitant (as the video shows) but after I turned off the camera and showed her how to write her name using her fingers, by the end the paper was completely covered with paint. It was awesome fun!

Sticker Fun

09.12.09 Sticker Fun
Originally uploaded by Holly Mroczkowski.

Libby loves stickers. More importantly, she loves to take them stick them somewhere and then move them 1 million times. Sadly, not all of them hold up. Jim got her a Mickey Mouse coloring/sticker book and she went immediately to the stickers. She stuck them all over her activity table but the wanted to move them. This is one that split in half...I don't think she minded much though. =)

Hulk Smash

My little girl is no girly-girl
She will attack you with no hesitation....

and is happy to do it to protect her 'babies'

but after she's done, she is my sweet little girl again. She wants to give you kisses....

NO!!

09.06.09 telling me NO
Originally uploaded by Holly Mroczkowski.

We've entered the fun phase of "No". Not us saying it to her but her telling us it. This picture if her telling me "No" (again because this kid is tired of getting her picture taken). Normally she has a little finger up shaking it at us while she tells us no. It was cute the first 5 or 6 times but as we enter the 1000th time, it isn't so cute. Not sure how to stop it but she is definitely becoming assertive!

Monkeys!!!

09.07.09 STL Zoo - Running around the Monkey House (4)
Originally uploaded by Holly Mroczkowski.

Libby loves her some "ah ahs" (think monkey sounds). We took her to the STL Zoo because we hadn't been in a month (our longest time since she has been born). The monkey house was on the top of our list since she likes them so much. At first she didn't like the smell and couldn't see the monkeys very well but once she did she went crazy!! This is a pic of her running, not walking, from monkey to monkey. She would push adults or kids down (she didn't care) to get to the monkey. It was cute...and a little scary.

The "Look"

09.06.09 giving me 'the look'
Originally uploaded by Holly Mroczkowski.

My kiddo has some faces, let me tell you. I finally captured "the look" she does when she is unhappy with her. Actually, typically it also involves with an eyebrow being up...but here she is giving me "the look" because she didn't want her picture taken.

My sweet angel

09.06.09 My sweet angel
Originally uploaded by Holly Mroczkowski.

New slide and other fun

Here is a video of Libby playing with her new slide (and getting into other trouble). Who says they have to be outside to have fun? =)

Zoe's Cake

8.28.09 Zoe's 2nd Birthday Party (6)
Originally uploaded by Holly Mroczkowski.

My sister constantly amazes me. When we showed up at her daughter, Zoe's, 2nd Birthday party we settled in and I pulled out my camera. I immediately came over to the cake to take a few snap shots in case something happened to it (there were many a kiddo there that could have done something to it). It was a jungle/zoo/safari type theme and from the looks of the cake, I assumed my sister bought it somewhere. But No!! She made it! My sister actually made this amazing cake! How cute is it?!

Sleep (or lack of)

People always joke with you that until your kid sleeps at night you will have to just manage on next to no sleep. I always thought people did that as a way to bond with other people or to say, see, you are about to find out why I'm always tired. Like many others we had our share of sleepless nights with our daughter. She finally started to sleep through the night at a year. It was a long year but we thought we were golden after it became a habit. And then every few weeks teething gets in the way and we lose that sleep. So what people don't tell you is that your kiddo may start sleeping through the night but then it all goes away. I have learned to survive on less than 5 hours of sleep over the last 2 years but never dreamed that was possible. Also, the days of me getting more than 3 hours of consistent sleep are gone. I was never good at going back to sleep after I was awake...hah, if I didn't master that I would be a zombie by now. Even though I may groan if I just went back to sleep and its my turn (already) to get up with the kiddo, there is nothing like snuggling with your child at 3am (even if it is the 5th time that night). It's hard to get upset or mad when they look at you with their little eyes (that you can see yourself in) and they are whispering your name.

So, to all of those Moms and Dads starting this adventure, it gets better. You do learn to deal with little to no sleep and it eventually doesn't make such an impact on your day. But, a word of caution (as stated above), just because your bundle of joy starts sleeping through the night...it doesn't mean it will last forever so cherish those nights where you get your much needed sleep!

Urgent Libbygibber

Libby loves to talk...it just isn't in english. We call it Libberish or Libbenese. This is a conversation Jim and Libby had on the way home from date night last week. We're trying to get her to calm down while driving home...this is the result. Urgent talking to Dadda.

Water Activity Table

Sliding

Libby sliding on the playground in Suson Park. She had a blast!

Flashlight Fun

Libby found a flashlight and thought it was really funny to play with it.

We did it!!

Well, we have officially, as of last Thursday, moved into our new house! YAY! We love it here. I never realized that we were on top of each other in the old house but apparently we were. Now we can be on different floors and not hear the people on the opposite floors. CRAZY!

My main concern with moving is how Libby would react. She's doing a lot better than I expected. The first couple of nights she woke up scared but after that she was fine. Her new room is twice as big as her old room so we were able to put some of her toys in her room. Now she insists on putting every single stuffed animal in her crib before she goes to bed. Seriously. And she has a lot too.

So all is good in the Ski household now. =) We're trying to get completely settled now but it isn't too hard....we're really content here!

Horse Play

Too funny

Diaper Fun

Libby decided Fozzie needed a diaper change. After 10 minutes of set up, I finally got to run and get my phone to record this video.

Dance Party!

Our first dance party in the new house. Libby was a little tired after running sprints from the front door to the couches...

Libby Playing in the new house

Libby Reading

This is Libby reading "Good Night Gorilla" momma's way...when we get to the page with just the eyes I normally make a "bwhua" sound and I guess she likes it. =)

Cameras

7.25.09 Say Cheese!
Originally uploaded by Holly Mroczkowski.

I guess growing up right now makes all kids techno kids...but Libby thinks everything is a camera. I guess it doesn't help that we are always taking pictures of her. Here is a pic of her taking my iPhone and walking around like it is a camera. She runs around saying, "Say Cheese Momma" with it. It is cute but I can't convince her that everything is not a camera (even though 90% of what we own does have a camera built in =) ). How confusing!

Yum, Pepsi

7.26.09 Yum, Pepsi
Originally uploaded by Holly Mroczkowski.

Our little girl loves to drink...anything we are. Usually it is from a can or straw or a glass that isn't plastic. That isn't always great for her to do solo, although she does try. So how do you prevent this from happening? We still have no idea =)

Proof

7.25.09 Fun in the sun
Originally uploaded by Holly Mroczkowski.

This is proof we need a house with a back yard. This afternoon to let Libby play, we played in 'our back yard' which is our deck. Our deck...with no grass...nothing but wood. So we played with bubble wands and sidewalk chalk. Can't wait to move so we can get her a swing set and grass. Lots of grass!

Dance Party

While Daddy was partying in CA, Libby and I had a dance party in the living room!

Moving Update

I still can't believe it is real but we will be moving as of August 6th. Everyone here is sad but really excited and happy. We have had a lot of good and bad memories here. This is the first home Jim & I bought together a few months after we got married. It is also the first home Libby has ever known and where we brought her home. When I get anxious about moving, it isn't from the packing and the logistics of the move. I have learned from my parents how to make a move easy and simple. I am mostly worry about how Libby is going to react to her new home. She has only known this house and isn't good with change. The daycare confronted me yesterday saying Libby is acting unsure of herself this week. I am not sure if that is because of her things getting boxed up or because her Daddy went away for the first time this weekend since she has been born....but it definitely is making me even more anxious. The daycare suggested making her as much a part of the process as possible by letting her box up her toys and things in her room. I am not sure if you have ever tried to do something like that with an almost 2 year old, but the things you put in a box never stay in a box. The kiddo will always take them out. We'll still try it the night before we move with the remainder of her toys...which lets face it, is a lot of toys.

Everything seems to be coming together though. I just worry something will fall a part or Libby will have a bad transition. If you all have any advice on how to make this smoother, please let me know!

Salsa Baby!

Salsa
Originally uploaded by Holly Mroczkowski.

Libby's new love is to dip things. She's invented combinations that don't make sense and make my stomach do flip-flops they are so gross, but she likes them. So when we took her to the local mexican restaurant, we figured she would try to dip her chips in the salsa. At first Libby didn't like it but by the end she was globbing it on and sucking the salsa off. Did you know that chips are really just ways to transport anything you want to dip into? Libby does! I love my salsa baby =)

Zoe saying her ABCs

My cutie niece Zoe saying her ABCs. Too adorable!

Zoe Counting

My adorable niece saying her 1-2-3s

House Update

I finally have some good news! We officially have a contract on our house and a contract on a new house! We will be moving in 3 (that's right, THREE), weeks from today. We'll be sending everyone out our new address but we are SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Balloon!

7.8.09 Lamberts Trip - beating Daddy with a balloon
Originally uploaded by Holly Mroczkowski.

Libby loves balloons. We knew this...but what we didn't know is Lamberts has GIANT balloons - the size of Libby. She, apparently, also loves to beat her Daddy in the head with a balloon. Jim didn't find it as fun =)

Dancing

Aunt Erin and Zoe taught Libby how to dance!

Peekaboo

It is amazing what games you will come up with when you are waiting to show the house and can't mess anything up!

Libby calling max

After a visit to Grandma and Grandpa Mirly's house where the dogs come when you clap your hands, Libby seems to think that works with our cat Max. It doesn't.

Goats

Fountain!

Libby playing in the water fountains at the STL Zoo...we were not prepared for her to get soaked =)

Tentative at first

Libby ended up loving the pool...but this is how it all started

Dancing

Libby loves Imagination Movers. She loves "Where is Warehouse Mouse" song even more. This is her mimicking the moves of the song...you just can't hear the song in the background.

Water Baby

Libby saw a swimming pool today. She's been in her baby pool before on the deck but she loooves a swimming pool. Of course we weren't prepared for her to go *into* the pool...but that wasn't going to stop her!

Pepsi

Libby does love her soda

Cheese!

Libby thinks everything is a camera...even cell phones.

Libby's Bubbles

Here is Libby's new way to make bubbles

Peekaboo!

Libby having fun with our curtains

Pretending in the Kitchen

Libby loves to pretend her kitchen is real

Running

This is one of Libby's favorite things to do in our house. Good thing our layout is good for this!

When it rains, it pours

Apparently Jim and I don't believe in doing things one at a time. Any big change seems to happen all at once. Let me give you some updates on what has been happening in the Ski household since I haven't been very good about posting anything recently.

Jim has a new job. YAY! He is no longer a contractor at AB but is now a contractor at a furniture place in Clayton. The plan is for him to work there as a contractor until the hiring freeze is over there and then make him an employee. He just completed his second week there this week and is really enjoying it. The best perk he is able to work from home. If you know Jim, you know that is something he has always dreamed of being able to do. This is a great fit for him and our family!

And meanwhile, the house is still for sale. We haven't made any progress in selling it but are still hopeful. Everyone else around us is having good luck selling their homes so we're hoping we can hop on that train soon. We'll keep you guys posted.

Libby is still the center of our world. She keeps growing and developing more and more each day. Lib is now, unbelievably so, 21 months old. Next week Jim and I are planning to take a week off of work to just spend relaxing at home. During the time we are going to attempt potty training. I am not sure what to expect so I am expecting the worst so that I won't be disappointed if this is a complete failure. I'll blog our progress next week...maybe you all can give us tips or at least help me keep my sanity if it doesn't go well. =)

Tickle Fight with Brian Christopher

Libby loves her some Brian Christopher =)

Warning: New Toys!

Just a warning that Jim and I have new toys in the house. We got iPhones so expect more flickr pictures, videos, and blog posts to be done here. I know, I know, we could do this the old fashion way but this is so much easier and well, I'm lazy. =)

Eating Habits

What do you do when your child is in between chairs? Libby doesn't really like to be in the high chair but does not want to use a booster. She prefers to just sit in a regular chair. Thank goodness she is so tall.












Oh, and lets not forget the activity table. Since it is the miniature version of her daycare's table where she eats and plays, she does like to sit there too. Hey, at least it is her size!