Merry Christmas

Yes, this is a bit belated but it's worth documenting. For Valentine's Day I'll let you know how our New Year's went. There are oh so many things that are a little bit better with children such as swimming, 'Toon Town at Disneyland, and Christmas morning. We were extremely careful to train Liesel not to touch the tree or train so it took her a little while to warm up. Whenever we ran the train around the tree she would sit impossibly still and just stare at it. Christmas morning I tore a corner of the first gift she opened to get her started and when she ripped off a chunk she just looked at me quizzically and said, "garbage?" It wasn't until she saw others making a mess and *gasp* not getting in trouble for it that she launched in.

We've been trying to wean Liesel off of her binkies for fear they will ruin her teeth. Instead, we've been giving her Dum Dum's... which will probably also ruin her teeth. Anyway, she was excited to find them in her stocking:

Although Liesel looks like a type and shadow of her father, she's definitely got some of me in there. This is made manifest the most in her love of shoes. In fact, she hates feetie pajamas because she can't get her shoes on over them. She'll spend a toddler eternity in her closet playing with her shoes. For Christmas she got two pairs of Crocs and a pair of Pedipeds that are just adorable. In case you ever need a maternity test:

When we were kids we had these really LONG stockings and my mom cleverly found the best way to fill up all the space was to give us Pringles and frosting. Now it doesn't feel like Christmas to me without some sour cream and onion chips to munch on. Random I know, but there you have it. Thanks to a generous grandpa who let her have his BBQ flavored Pringles, Liesel quickly embraced this time-honored tradition. She insisted on wearing her new pajamas and shoes all day.

Relatively speaking, it was a very simple Christmas which I rather liked. There wasn't a lot of pressure to get through a mountain of presents so we were able to just enjoy each other's company. I had planned to make a fabulous ham dinner but after the festivities of opening stockings and gifts, I completely passed out. Because I'm saving my vacation time for my maternity leave I'd worked on Christmas Eve and then frantically done my last-minute shopping. I was able to sleep in a bit on Christmas morning but the second Liesel went down for a nap I went down too. When I woke up Mom and Brent had taken care of the whole thing! The house smelled wonderfully of ham and we sat down to a lovely meal. I am so grateful to have my mom around at this time because we would have eaten cereal otherwise.

Totally Bizarre

The other day I was up in the Finance department handing in my latest Travel & Expense reimbursement form. Now that I'm in my third trimester and walking like a penguin, people no longer bother asking if I'm pregnant. They jump right away into the barrage of questions: How are you feeling? When are you due again? Do you know what you're having? Have you thought of any names? The nice lady who processes our forms and issues our reimbursement checks happened to see me and asked how I was doing. She followed the general pattern of questions and then the conversation took a turn I couldn't have anticipated.

When I told her I was having a girl, she asked me to turn around. Oooooohkay, that's a new one. After a little spin, I faced her again and she said, "You look like you're having a boy." What the whaaaaaa????? Is there something on my @$$ that says what I'm having? Well, then she explained that I was only carrying in the front and usually women with girls carry all over. In spite of her explanation, I headed back to my cube completely confused. Even if that old wives's tale were true, would you ask a pregnant women (IE someone who is already self conscious about her body shape) to turn around and then comment on where her weight was sitting?

Bizarre.

P.S. Actually published by Danika not realizing Brent was signed in.

Ringing in the Holiday Spirit

Paying it forward from a co-worker who sent this to Danika. We hope it makes you smile and gets you into the christmas spirit if you are not already.

Rite of Passage

I'm SO excited about something I did today: I signed Liesel up for her very own American Airlines frequent flier account! We're planning to have the new baby blessed in Iowa in May and since Liesel will be over 2, she gets her own seat. As I started looking at ticket prices, it occurred to me that I could add Liesel as a companion traveller (Brent's been on there since we were dating). The only problem is she needed an AAdvantage # and I thought you had to have an email account to do that. One call to the AAdvantage desk and voila! She's ready to fly the friendly skies AND earn points for it! The agent told me her daughter had an AAdvantage account from the time she was 4. For the time being, Liesel is under my email account until she's old enough to have her own.

Both of our families live far enough away to warrant a plane trip at least every 18 months, which is how long an account can go with no activity before the miles expire. If you know me, you know how very much I love my AA frequent flier miles. It's like money in the bank! The only two times in my life I've used them were for a funeral and a vacation I wouldn't have been able to afford otherwise. I regularly log in to my account to check the updates and love seeing my balance go up, up, up! I hope to aspire to be like my parents and one day make the "Million Mile Club." Oh how sweet that would be! In the meantime, we'll let Liesel work towards that goal along with us. By the time she's in college, she could have enough miles for all her Christmas trips home! Or to go to Europe on study abroad! Or to travel for graduate school/job interviews. She doesn't know it yet, but her mama is doing her a HUGE favor.

I feel so clever, I can't stop smiling!

Behind the Times

Confession: I'm not on Facebook and don't ever plan to be. We had a focus group of students who came to my company to review collateral and give feedback and one whole session focused on social media. Not only was it the liveliest of the focus groups, but one of the most bizarre in my opinion. Most of the students agreed Facebook was best used for "stalking" people. No lie, that's the term they used. I don't want to be stalked. They also agreed it was a huge time waster. I don't like wasting time. They went into great detail about the different applications and games they played. They also mentioned it was very addicting. No thanks, I already have a problem with my love of shoes, I shouldn't pick up another obsession. My intention here is not to offend, just to explain myself. I spend the majority of my waking time on a computer, why would I spend my leisure time on it too? Just not my cup of tea.

While visiting family over the summer I was severely chastised by my sisters for not being on Facebook. One visibly flinched when I told her I didn't have time to waste "harvesting" crops on Farm Town. Both of them have found long-lost friends through Facebook. This may sound snooty, but those who want to be in contact with me already ARE. They both reminded me even my parents are on Facebook; indicating if even the Boomers are into it, I shouldn't be rebelling against it as a Gen Xer. Somehow I just can't do it. I already have a fear of internet peeping toms who are granting themselves access to the private corners of my life. And yes, I know you can make your profile private. Why make a profile at all then?

Recently on the news a police officer talked about how sites like Facebook are their geatest friends. They've found parole breakers and people blogging about the laws they've broken... even people violating restraining orders. One guy told me when he's hiring he checks out all prospective employees on Facebook. One of them had photos of himslf with a huge bag of weed. He didn't get the job. I've been told there's one person at my company who regularly updates her Facebook during work hours with messages like, "Only four more hours until I'm out of here!" That just seems unprofessional to me. Facebook isn't for me I guess. Call me Greta Garbo... I just want to be left alone. Don't even get me started on Twitter. Do you really care if I've just taken a dump and am wondering if eating Indian and Greek food in one day is a good idea? Didn't think so.

Nevertheless, I was blown away by this clip about social media and wanted to share... Even if I'm not on Facebook, I still want to do my part you know :)



If you can't see the whole screen, link here

Sitting Pretty

Liesel has spent the last few days with Grandma and Grandpa Nielsen while Brent and I were in Arizona for a wedding. We got in this morning at 1:00 AM so of course she was in bed. After completely spoiling us for two weeks (not to mention taking stellar care of Liesel), my Mom and Dad left in the wee hours of the morning. When we heard Liesel stirring in her crib a couple of hours later, Brent jumped up to get her.

She was SO happy to see us! Brent brought her back to bed to cuddle with us. She leaned over and kissed him 3 times and then she threw her little arms around me and said, "I sorry!" One of the challenges of being a mother of kids Liesel's age is they don't quite know how to express appreciation, even if they are grateful. I'll take that hug as a token of appreciation though, and it was nice to see she genuinely missed us.

Our day was spent trying to get back on East Coast time, unpacking and settling into the reality of the mundane week to come. We had a Christmas party to attend and I took the opportunity to put Liesel in the red tulle skirt I got on sale at Gymboree last week. Brent went out to warm up the car and she went into hysterics, even as I tried to tell her he was coming right back.

Liesel was an absolute hit at the party. She smiled coyly at the guys and hugged the girls who asked to hold her. Liesel hugged one girl for so long she gushed, "Oh, THIS is all I wanted for Christmas!" I know I'm biased, but she really was charming. She got lots of compliments on the skirt as well as her shoes and hair. I'm grateful to have friends who eagerly invite not just Brent and I, but Liesel as well to their formal gatherings because we really wanted to be together as a family after some time apart. Sorry the picture quality isn't the best, it was taken from Brent's camera phone!

How I Love You, Let Me Count The Ways...

They say every pregnancy is different and I am coming to realize the veracity of that statement. Even though I don't weigh any more than I did at this point in my pregnancy with Liesel, I'm FEELING it a lot more. I remember cruising into my third trimester wondering why people said it would be worse than my nauseous, exhausted first trimester. That lasted about 3 weeks and then my awkward body shape and extra weight really started to take it's toll on my hips, back and shoulders. Not to mention Liesel's penchant for lodging herself right into my ribs. For whatever reason, with two more weeks until I even START my first trimester, I'm feeling the aches and pains much more acutely this time. Again, I weigh the same as I did at this point in my last pregnancy, but my body seems to be groaning a bit more with this one.

Sunday night I was tossing and turning to find a comfortable spot. Brent asked me what was wrong and I told him, adding how frustrating it was to not get a good night's sleep for nigh on a week now. As I lay on my left side (like they tell you to), hugging a body pillow, with my head on my own pillow, I felt Brent stuff something around my lower back to give me support and make me more comfortable. It worked and I drifted off. It wasn't until my routine 5 AM bathroom run that I looked over and noticed Brent was sleeping with no pillow at all. He had taken his own pillow and given it to me so I could sleep.

Forget fairy tales girls, THAT'S true love.

Mormons are supposed to do anything for food?

One of the wonderful perks of having my parents here is they can catch me up on all the random YouTube videos they've seen. I just don't have time to peruse the web like that! Maybe someday when I retire...

This one just put me under.

Genius

I don't know how she did it, I really don't.

Liesel likes to go up on tiptoe and pull things down from the dining and kitchen tables. For a while we just put important items in the middle of the table, far out of reach. That didn't last long though because if she somehow manages to see something she really wants, she's not above climbing on a chair and precariously balancing herself to reach what she wants. More than once we've found her ON TOP of the table! She's a curious girl, for sure.

After a long and completely exhausting day yesterday, I noticed Liesel had gotten a hold of the Benadryl bottle from the kitchen table. I heard the click-click-click of the child-proof cap as she spun the lid around. Knowing it was firmly closed, I went back to what I was doing and glanced over a few minutes later. That's when I noticed the bottle was mostly empty. And she had something small and white in her tiny fist. And there was a puddle at her feet. And there was a strong medicine-y smell coming from the hall.

My 19-month old daughter managed to open a child proof bottle of Benadryl and pour all but about 10% of it on the hallway carpet, her Sunday quiet book and of course, herself. There are full-grown adults who can't even get those open! And it's not a fluke either where you push down and turn just once and voila it's open! You have to do that numerous times to get it open. She has tiny hands! She would have had to do it A LOT to get it open!!! To add insult to injury, it was the brand-new bottle of Benadryl I'd purchased that morning after a visit to the pediatrician about her ear.

Perhaps it was the way I moved my pregnant body with lightning speed to the scene of the crime that tipped her off she'd done something wrong. Suddenly she looked at the mess with an expression that said, "Oh my, how did THAT get there?" Of course the first thing she wanted was for me to hold her and I was still wearing my pricey work-appropriate maternity clothes. Oddly enough my first thought was, "Can you get high from huffing Benadryl?"

After confiscating the medicine, scrubbing the carpet to the best of my ability, bathing the culprit and salvaging the quiet book I made a few phone calls. Liesel happily played in the corner as if nothing had happened. My parents just laughed. A lot actually. I demanded to know if I had done anything like that as a kid. Of course I didn't... I didn't get in much trouble as a kid so this wasn't the universe's payback to me. I called my sister who nannied for Liesel this summer and demanded to know if SHE'D taught her how to handle a child-proof cap. She dryly responded, "Yeah, you're not going to peg this one on me." I called another sister who apologized profusely as if she had done it herself and told me, "I wish I could tell you it gets better but that would just be a lie." Then I called Brent's mother to relay my sad tale. I told her I'd confirmed with my parents this character trait wasn't coming from MY genes so I wanted an explanation for what was clearly a Wuehler issue. She quickly responded, "Brent couldn't open those things either!"

Brent had to work late and when he finally made it home he not only took charge of Liesel but he made me dinner and completely cleaned the kitchen. I'd only briefly been able to tell him what happened so I told him the whole story once we had some quiet time. He was a bit chagrined to find his mother, who usually sings paeans to his brilliance and intelligence, threw him under the bus so quickly. Liesel blissfully slept the night away while we discussed new tactics to cope with her new-found mischievousness.

I don't know how she did it. I really don't.

Aftermath

You can tell corn is ripe if it bursts and explodes when you put your nail in a kernel. You can tell you need an oil change based on the mileage and/or date from the last one. And you can tell a toddler has had a pretty rough night when she's sniffling like this in her sleep (enjoy our sound machine set to "ocean" in the background):

Liesel woke up at 4AM hysterically crying and tugging on her left ear. I had lots of ear infections as a kid and Brent tells me when he was young he was the poster child for them. Brent, Liesel and I have blue eyes which I guess is somehow related to the shape of your Eustachian tube and makes you more susceptible to them. So in the early morning hours we found ourselves sympathetically trying to remedy this pain while our little girl cried streams of tears and looked at us pleading for relief.

We immediately gave her a dose of Motrin and called the Dr to determine if we should head over Children's Hospital. Because it was just the ear, (no diarrhea or vomiting), he advised us to put her in a steamy shower for 5-10 minutes to open everything up. She was definitely better, but wide awake and still a little upset. It took her a while to go back to sleep but finally around 6:30 AM she did, sniffling away the vestiges of her troubled night.

Brent has left for work and so I'm here at home waiting for her to wake up so we can start our day. For now, I think I'll just let her sleep.