2008 Version of Getting to Know Me

1. What time did you get up this morning? I got up at 6:30, but I'd been awake since 5:40 thanks to Lacey, then Leah.

2. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Harry Potter 5

4.What is your favorite TV show? Lost

5 What do you usually have for breakfast? Oatmeal or 2 Kashi Go Lean Waffles

6. What is your middle name? Heather

7. What food do you dislike? cavier

8. What is your favorite CD at moment? Hmmm.....Keith Urban's

9. What kind of car do you drive? Honda CR-V (almost 100,000 on that baby)

10. Favorite sandwich? pbj

11. What characteristic do you despise? dishonesty

12. Favorite item of clothing? comfy clothes.....sweats or something like that.

13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? wine country...anywhere

14. Favorite brand of clothing? nope

15. Where would you retire to? North or South Carolina

16. What was your most recent memorable birthday? Hahahahaha????

17. Favorite sport to watch? football

18. Furthest place you are sending this? The furthest place that someone is reading it would be California or Nevada....depending on if those peeps are reading it.

19. Person you expect to send it back first? No one

21. When is your birthday? September

22. Are you a morning person or a night person? Well, I'm more of a morning person since having kids.

23. What is your shoe size? 8.5

24. Pets? Kramer, my elderly cat (old man) and Brady, the crazy mutt

25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with us? Notta

26. What did you want to be when you were little? a ballerina

27. How are you today? Fairly well rested and okay.

28. What is your favorite candy? depends on my mood. Although, anything with peanut butter or white chocolate is usually good!

29. What is your favorite flower? tulips

30. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? When Leah sleeps through the night consistantly! ;-) Um, taking Lacey to Build a Bear, which I'm going to do for her birthday treat.

29. What is your full name? Tricia Heather Hamilton

33. What are you listening to right now? Lacey running around the upstairs hallway, screaming "Leeaaaahhhh....Leeeaaahhhhhh"....and now, silence. Bliss. Oops....now she is reading a David book to Leah.

34. What was the last thing you ate? Wheat thins

35. Do you wish on stars? Nope

36. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? purple

37. How is the weather right now? cloudy and cold

38. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Deedlebug

39. Favorite soft drink? fountain Diet Coke....and yes, it must be FOUNTAIN! I have one every day. It's a quirk. Either Butch or I drive out to Wawa and get one on the weekends.

40. Favorite restaurant? Bonefish

41. Hair color? Red (and sadly, gray)

42. What was your favorite toy as a child? dolls

43. Summer or winter? Summer between the 2, but I'd rather have spring or fall.

44. Hugs or kisses? both

45. Chocolate or Vanilla? chocolate

46. Coffee or tea? hate coffee......love chai tea.....other tea is okay, too.

47. Do you want your friends to email you back? Sure...

49. What is under your bed? nothing

50. What did you do last night? dinner at home, played with the kids, read a book

51. What are you afraid of? spiders

52. Salty or sweet? sweet

53. How many keys on your keyring? <10

54. How many years at your current job? gulp.....15 years in March

55. Favorite day of the week? Saturday

56. How many towns have you lived in? 7

57. Do you make friends easily? It's harder as an adult, but, yes

58. How many people will you send this too? 0

59. How many will respond? 0

Holiday Weekend

We had a nice long weekend here. Butch & I were both off and daycare was closed. I wish the weather had been either a little warmer, or that we'd had snow! Instead, we were stuck inside most of the time b/c it was so cold. After being in for 2 days, we headed to Red Robin for lunch on Monday and it was soooo good. I love that place. We rarely go out to dinner with the kids b/c it's a pain. Lacey usually wants to run around, so we haven't even tried it for several months. One of us normally ends up taking her out of the restaurant or something. But, she's turned a corner and was wonderful on Monday. She tried to get down once, and I told her 'no', so she hopped right back up and colored.

Oh - I had a hickie. Yes, that's right. On my chin. From Leah. She likes to bite my chin....which I was okay with before she got 2 teeth. So, now I try to keep her away. Well, my neck was hurting and she'd grabbed hold of my hair on both sides to pull me to her......and I couldn't jerk away without horrible pain b/c of my neck. So, she sucked on my chin and I didn't think much of it. Until I went to put on make-up. I tried to take a picture, but it just wasn't working. To get the angle that I needed, you'd be looking up my nose, which is just not okay. Thankfully, the hickie is now gone.

Yesterday, I received a belated Christmas gift and card from my friend, Barb. I had to read the card several times because I was so confused. She had a baby on 12/31/07. I had NO IDEA she was pregnant! Some friend I am! We went to high school together and were really close. Then, she moved to Las Vegas after graduation. We used to be so much better at staying in touch. In fact, I was a maid of honor in her wedding (in Lake Tahoe) and had gone out for her weekend bachelorette party (Napa Valley). But, after I realized she'd been pregnant for 9 months and I had no clue, I realized that we've been really bad at staying in touch! She thought she had told me.... Anyway, I'm going to be better about that. (Any of you that read this and aren't good at staying in touch.....take a lesson from this!)

Our good friends, Agnes & Trampas are coming for a visit next month. I'm looking forward to seeing them and having some adults (that aren't family or people from work) to hang out with. (Our friends are thrown about the country and we really don't have anyone that we hang out with around here.) Anyway, they are only coming for an overnight visit, but I can't wait.

I can't believe that Lacey will be 3 in another month. It's crazy. I told her about having a "princense" birthday party and she was soooo excited. I was telling everyone that would come. When I said "Jessica", her face brighted and she said "Steckita"! I love Steckita! So funny.

Lacey is no longer scared of Brady (hooray)! She has learned to tell Brady "no bite" and is quite bossy with her now. It's pretty funny.

Church, Leah's Doc Appt, ......

We hadn't made it to church since Christmas Eve and were feeling the need to get our butts in gear. On Sunday, we got organized and made it. We were 10 minutes late....I never wanted to be That Family, but oh well. We went. And, I'm happy with that. It was the non-traditional service that is less structured and it's easier in my mind to be late to that. The girls were angels. No joke. Lacey wanted to go to the nursery (nerf-ery) as soon as we arrived, but 5 min. later, Butch came back in with Lacey...she changed her mind. She has never has liked the lady who does the nursery for that service. Anyway, she played with the bookmark in the hymnal (the nice colored strings). After the service, a few people commented on how good they were. Made me feel good for having made the effort.

The associate pastor was there that day - no sign of the head pastor - and I was happy for that since it means service runs for a "normal" time rather than super long. The message was interesting and I think I probably took it a little differently than how Sue meant it. However, she focused on baptism and what that means. Having spent an hour with Pastor Ann last fall before Leah's baptism, I know that Ann thinks it means you go to church and promise to bring your child up in the church. Sue's message on Sunday focused a lot on other ways that you can serve God - including doing good things in your community - perhaps even fighting The Man (my words) when they are trying to do things that may impact the environment in a bad way. It was basically how I feel about being a Christian --- I don't believe that you have to attend church to do God's work. I fully believe that we can do good things in the world that God would be pleased with without going to a weekly service. Having said that, I think we get things from a weekly service that help us to stay focused, but I do not think it is totally necessary. Anyway, I'm sure this isn't what Sue's intention was....for us to walk away with that thought.....but it spoke to me. Okay......that is my religious rant for the year.

Leah had her 6 month well visit on Monday. She weighs 17 lbs 13 oz. and is 27" long. About 75th percentile for both, I think. Dr. Jill was pleased with everything and said that Leah's not rolling over is nothing to worry about. It appears that Leah simply does not want to be on her tummy. :-) And, since she cries so much when placed on her tummy, she's not there often enough or long enough to learn to roll to her back. Oh - and her sleep issues....Dr. Jill confirmed my initial thought.....Leah is drinking what she needs at daycare (7-10 oz. in 9 hours) to avoid being too hungry or dehydrated, but she is saving up to nurse from me because she would much rather have me. Very sweet....but I'm tired. I guess I'll just live with it for now. I'm not ready to let her cry it out in the middle of the night. She's our last baby and I'm okay letting her be a baby for now.

She got 4 shots and 1 oral vaccine. Since one of the shots is for multiple diseases, she was vaccinated for SEVEN things. Ugh. I wish I would have thought to ask to do it in 2 visits. That is a lot for a little body. She woke up at 10:30 screaming, nursed, then back to sleep until 1:00 a.m. Then, more screaming, Motrin, nursed and back down until 6:00. This morning she had a fever of about 100-100.5*. I hope it gets out of her system soon so she's happier.


I picked up the girls around 2:15 today because Miss Lisa's dad was taken to the hospital. He was unresponsive, but I don't know more than that. He has alzheimer's and it's apparently gotten a lot worse recently. This is the 2nd person that I know (recently) with such a progressive alzheimer's. Such a sad disease.

Brady's latest chew toys have been the window sill in the living room and the cuffs of a pair of my jeans. Ugh. So, we put the baby gates up and she's stuck in the area I'm in during my work @ home days so I can keep a closer eye on her. Lacey is now afraid of her because she likes to nip when she plays and she nipped Lacey's arm the other day. It doesn't hurt at all....Brady has gotten my chin a few times. But, it was enough to freak Lacey out. I really hope we get past that soon. Lacey doesn't want to be on the floor with Brady around. I have the family room blocked off this afternoon so Lacey can play in there without fear of the dog. Ugh.

I have a work function to attend on 2/8 - a gala for a client. It's actually a nice event and they usually have good speakers, but it is THE LAST thing I want to do on a Friday night. It's in DC, so by the time I get home from this, it will be 11:00ish. Yuck. In addition, it means I had better get serious about weight loss so I have something to wear to this thing! I refuse to buy something new in a bigger size for something like this!!!! Only 5 pounds and I'd be happy enough. (This is where you say "put down the M&M's, Tricia" or "put down the cookies". Man, I have a sweet tooth!!!

Ahhh....it's the weekend

So, this post will probably be dated 1/7, but I'm writing it on 1/12. I uploaded some pics on 1/7 and saved the post to do later.....and it doesn't update the date. Stupid.

Anyway, I thought I should do a quick update. Even though there isn't much going on around here, so there isn't much interesting to say.

I have Tastefully Simple Beer Bread in the oven right now. MMMMmmmmm. So good. And, I am so bad. I always find something to ruin any weight loss attempts. I signed up for Weight Watchers at Work before the holidays. It was a special 7 week thing to try to avoid gaining over the holidays. And, it worked out pretty well since I (net) lost 2 pounds. I was down more than that, but then put some back on during Christmas. And, now I can't find the motivation to behave. It'll come, I know.

I had a potential work trip in April to San Diego. And, while I would love to go to San Diego, I wasn't crazy about leaving Leah for 4 nights....especially since I hope to still be nursing her. So, my Client Rep (Chris) out of our Des Moines office is going for me. She is thrilled and having a girlfriend go with her. The trip is actually for a client's conference and Chris will be staffing a table and prepared to talk about the insurance program for this client. Fun stuff. Anyway, it's a very quiet conference and they are very nice people, so she should have fun.

My next potential overnight trip (that I know of now) is in July, so I should be good to go then. It's to Philadelphia...not nearly as good as San Diego! :-)

Brady is a chewer....I know I already said that before. But, she has now chewed on the window sills in the living room. Brat. So, we are going to put up the baby gates to keep her in the sunroom/kitchen/family room area - especially on my work @ home days. We need to get those back up again soon anyway since Leah will start crawling in a couple of months.

The girls are doing well. A week or so ago, Butch & Lacey were playing in the basement and she was running....and fell into the Christmas tree box. That is where these lovely boo-boo's come from.

I try really hard just to let them rough-house, but the last several times when I've bit my tongue, she's gotten banged up pretty good. And they were all preventable if I would have just said something. So, I'm just going to be over-protective momma now. I know she'll get hurt at times, but if it's something preventable, I just can't keep my mouth shut. There is no reason to.

She's dozing on the chair in the family room now. She hasn't taken a nap in her room since Leah was born. No, I'm not joking.

Leah is doing pretty well, except her sleep! She had a couple of bad nights earlier this week where I was up with her 4-5 times, but the past couple of nights, it's only been twice. Ugh. What happened to my good sleeper??? This has been going on since October. I bet she's only slept a solid 6+ hours 8-10 times since the beginning of October. It's wearing on me. I would like to feel like I could stay up past 10:00 without fear of getting zero sleep. At least when she wakes up, she goes back down easily. If she nurses, she's back in bed within 15 minutes, usually less.

She's sitting on her own well and is still super happy. She's only rolled over twice, which has me a little worried. She should be doing that well now. But, since she does the rest okay, I try not to worry. She has her 6 month well visit on Monday, so I'll be able to talk to Dr. Jill about it then anyway. I think she's getting 3 shots again. Poor girl.

Here is cutie-patootee Leah having a good ol' time:

Well, Leah woke from her 3rd catnap. It's 3:25 right now and she has had 3 naps of 30-40 min. today. Why she won't snooze for long periods is beyond me. She has -- when swaddled. And, she does at Lisa's - unswaddled. I just can't figure it out, but I'm frustrated. Lacey was at least 6 months before she settled into good naps, too, though. It's only a phase, it's only a phase, it's only a phase.

Brady

I don't know if I've mentioned on the blog that we adopted a puppy. She is a black lab/terrier mix and was about 29 lbs when we got her. She's gotten a bit more plump, but isn't expected to get big. Her name is Brady.

Here is Brady with Leah:

Brady & Lacey taking a rest:

We've learned that lab hair is quite different from Frisbee's hair. Lab hair is coarse and wirey (sp?). It gets on everything and doesn't "shake off". Fris used to sleep with us & it was never a problem b/c he shed some, but it was fluffy hair. We kicked Brady out of the bed after the first bit of laundry that I folded on the bed ended up covered in her hair (and wouldn't shake off....had to be picked off).

Just this week, we decided she is also kicked off of the furniture. We ordered another dog bed to keep in the family room for her so she has a comfy place to lay. I love her dearly, but am not dealing with that hair everywhere. It weaves its way into fabrics. In fact, I think we are very seriously considering buying the Dyson pet vaccuum now. We've talked about it before, but with the hefty price tag ($500+) have ruled it out. But, it is supposed to be awesome, and it might be more needed now. We'll see.

What other Brady news? She likes to chew up the kids' toys. She chewed one of Lacey's pacifiers, chewed up one of the Little People, chewed up Lacey's tooth brush and has chewed (and eaten) the hand off of one of her dolls. Ugh. Keep in mind, she is crated when we are away. She manages to get into these other things (usually) on my work from home days. She just wanders around getting into trouble. So, if she doesn't find a way to behave, we may end up putting baby gates up to keep her confined to just the few rooms I'm in during work hours.

Lacey really likes to play with her. It's sort of nice having a new puppy "grow up" with the kids. Frisbee never really understood how to play with Lacey. Brady is learning quick.

Leah - 6 months old!

Wow, I can't even believe it. Here are the first 6 months!

August 1---1 month old

September 1---2 months

October 1 --- 3 months

November 1 --- 4 months

December 1 --- 5 months

January 1 --- 6 months