2009 The Year of the Baby

I look down and I see my feet! It is a sight to take for granted. It is hard to believe that just 9 months ago I could not see my feet, or how swelled up they were. I was a prego in the start of 2009. We welcomed Baby Kara Audrey Hay. She has been a delight thus far. Every week is a new adventure of baby talents and learning new things. She started out just sleeping, nursing, and pooping. She use to be confined to a blanket on the floor, doing tummy time; now she crawls everywhere, following us around the house. She walks from item to item holding on for stability. She pets Duke our doggy, she felt the cold snow and the warm sand at a beach. She has flown on a plain twice now, all in the time frame of 9 months she has done so much. Here is a photo of Kara with both her Grandpa Bob, and Great Grandpa Gordon Hay.

Looking forward to what ever comes next with cute Kara. Walking and talking, running, and little baby girl attitude...I am ready.

This year of 2009 is the year of the Baby, a couple of my friends all had twins, about 4 friends of mine. Then Kara has 3 new baby girl cousins and a baby boy cousin all with in 2009! Some other friends of ours had a baby too, and my neighbor had a baby boy. I joke that her baby boy is Karas future boyfriend and Kara will grow up as the "girl next door." We have had a baby boom this year. I have to try to keep up with all the birthdays.

Please leave a comment with your baby's birthday for me to write down on my birthday calender.

This year

Recaps of all the happenings around here.

We have been up to so much lately. Andrew's work had a holiday party at the Harrah's Casino up in the Buffet Lounge. We have been to work parties in the past and it has always been the kind to bring a spouse along, so this year I came along only to find I was the only spouse there. Oh well, I could tell some other coworkers were thinking, "Hmm, I should have brought my spouse..." Why didn't I think of that...I had fun at his holiday party. As for my work, there was not any mention of a holiday party UNTIL the evening before the day there were flyers posted up to reveal the plans of a party going on all day Wed. So any coworkers not working that Tuesday night would not have known to go or participate. Coworkers who happened to work on Wednesday were able to attend, and have the chance at winning door prizes. Coworkers who had Wednesday off didn't even attend or even know about the party. It was pretty bogus, and last minute on the companies part to throw together like that.

Then on Friday we decided to start a new tradition with Kara in celebrating Chanukah. It is a holiday that lasts for 8 nights, based on an old story of an oil lamp staying lit for 8 nights instead of for the one night, giving the people light for a whole week long. This was considered a miracle of light. So in the end, the holiday celebrates with a Menorah; lighting a candle per night up till the following Friday night. On the first night of Chanukah, we went over to our friend, Julie's place and made Matzo Ball soup and Potato pancakes. Kara was such a cutie, showing off that she could stand. She stands and walks around while holding onto things.

We are coming up on the end of Chanukah, with two nights remaining. Tonight we will make Matzo ball soup again and invite our friend, Jay over to our place. Then on Friday we have been invited to our neighbors house for the last night of Chanukah.

As for Christmas, this year is Kara's 1st year to celebrate. We are flying out to California to visit Andrew's family and friends first in LA then driving up the coast to my family and friends in Morro Bay. I have been doing laundry non stop to catch up on so that we can have clothes to pack up. We have to bring the car seat and stroller this time around and I dread having to check luggage, but it is inevitable.

Happy Holidays: Happy Chanukah, Merry Christmas and Have a happy New Year! 2010...wow.

Missing Family

PHOTOS TO BE POSTED LATER>>>
After a whole week of Andrew's brother and family staying in our home visiting and hanging out all together. I miss it. I miss having our nephews playing around with Kara. I miss cooking dinner with my Sister-in-law, Kyoung. I know Andrew misses Jordan his big brother. As kids they didn't get along too much, being brothers, but now they are both grown up, married, and daddy's. They actually like each other now. Jordan even borrowed some of Andrew's shirts to wear to his conference while in town. Family is always nice to have around. Even if it was for just the one week and one day, it was a nice visit, wishing it could have been longer.

While our family was in town, we went to the Zoo, for free and just paid for the tram ride around. With the three kids, we had two strollers, which could not go onto the tram and we left the strollers off to the side to pick back up in the end. It is fall time where most of the animals were not really out and about to see. Too bad, and my favorite section is the giraffes they were all inside their cages and not out in the nature part. It made for poor photos to have them all inside behind bars. One area I have not seen before was the chimpanzee area. There are apes, chimps and one was so big looked like a gorilla! They all have a play ground of ropes, branches and tires to play from. Fascinating to watch them move from one of the area to the other. One of the chimps walked right up to the window where there was a ditch in the ground, and people got excited he was so close, only to watch him squat and pee. It was gross...but funny. Similar thing happened at the Hippo home. The hippo would swim into the water and towards the window people are all standing at to watch the hippo, and we would get all excited in watching the hippo up close swimming...one of the hippos faced away from the window and POOPED out 5 or so baseball size turds! YUCK! it was sooooo gross! Ahh nature!

We also went to the Botanical gardens. My favorite part was the Japanese gardens. Very Serene.

Saturday was their last night visiting and Halloween. All three cousins were dressed as M&Ms and we all walked around the neighborhood trick-or-treating. Kara was carried around in my baby backpack, she fell asleep about half way through.

Sunday was their last morning here before flying back home to New York. We went to have Dim Sum which is Chinese Brunch. Delicious but pricey. It could easily get out of hand with the bill because the servers come around with food on carts to pick from and you don't even know the price of anything, just choose this and that. The bill gets tallied up in the end, we were a party of 5 with 2 babies eating baby food and it came to about $85.

Now they are out in California for the Thanksgiving week and visiting with Andrew's folks. We are going out there over Christmas week and will miss seeing them this time around. It was a nice visit with them while it lasted. I look forward to seeing family in California for Christmas. This will be Kara's first time to the beach. I already told my mom to save up the bread heals for Kara to feed the seagulls with. I also want her to splash her feet along the shore line, as a wave comes up and captures her baby feet. Hopefully she won't be scared of the water.

Three Cousins all Under One Roof

Andrew's brother has a conference to go to here in St. Louis, MO. He is here all week for the conference, so his family came along to visit us and stay at our house. Their two sons are Kara's Cousins. One is 7 months old like Kara, only one week younger than her, named Abidan. Ephram is 3 years old and is the oldest of the three cousins. For Halloween they will all be here to trick or treat. It will be both Kara and Abidan's first Halloween. My sister-in-law, Kyoung and I made their costumes. The kids are all dressing up as M&Ms. Kara being the girl is the green M&M. Ephram is the tallest and walks around to be the Yellow Peanut M&M, and Abidan is the red, boy M&M.

Some how after Kara was born I ended up with 3 cribs, which turned out good for when all three babies/toddler are staying here to each have there own bed to sleep in. We are so happy that they were able to make a visit out here. It is so fun to watch the cousins all interact. We have our hands full though...double the diapers with both Abidan and Kara. Luckily Ephram is potty trained, he is 3 yrs old and doesn't have to wear the diapers. Nap time is a challenge too with getting all three to nap the same time. Right now, the two babies are napping and Ephram is having lunch. Later on after the naps we are heading over to Walmart Super center, where there is a portrait studio. Kyoung and I are going to get the kids dressed in the M&M costumes for a group photo (to be posted later on another post).

Kara's Full Day With a Babysitter

Last weekend Andrew and I hired a babysitter to watch Kara at our house while we spent the day at our friends wedding. Andrew was the best man and I was a wedding coordinator. The wedding was held at a Winery about an hour drive away. Leaving Kara with a sitter all day from noon til 9:30 pm! It was the longest we had been apart from her.

She is 6 1/2 months now, and starting to crawl/scoot around the room. The funny thing was, the other day, she crawled from the living room all the way to the dog bowl of water! "Oh, Kara...that's icky!" I said, as I was picking her up and swiveling her around to crawl another direction. It was too funny. Then one morning I set her on the kitchen floor while I was fixing her a bottle. Duke (our dog) was laying on the floor in the doorway to the kitchen...Kara was in dertermination mode, crawling and scooting over towards Duke...ALMOST there...Duke decides to get up and walk away! Oh the disappointment I could see with Kara, rejected like that. So much effort she put into crawling over to him, about 5 minutes or so waisted! It was so cute.

Pretty soon she will be crawling quicker and reaching Duke before he can escape. Haha.

Kara's Firsts for Many

Kara had an eventful weekend. It was the first time to be on a airplane, her first wedding to attend, and her first time meeting some family and friends...and her first time visiting California, where her mommy and daddy grew up!

She did really well on the flight to California. Andrew and I packed just 3 carry on bags and did not have to check any luggage! I was amazed. On the flight, I had my usual ginger ale, and Kara had a bottle of formula durring take off and landing, to help ears pop. She had one diaper change, at first I thought, how am I going to change her? But there was a baby changing table to keep things simple. She even took a nap on the plane. People who were seated around us were very impressed how well she did on the flight...Thank you Kara!

Friday was a full day of fun. We started out driving over to Andrews old office, where his dad works and we joked that Kara would be the next PHC partner in 2039! haha

Following a Train of Thought

Kids say the darndest things...

I was at a friends house and they recently got a puppy. My friends, three year old, daughter, remembers when I was pregnant and is looking at Kara now as a baby...She understands that Kara was in my tummy and now she is a baby. She understands that she use to be a baby and was in her mommies tummy... SO... She looks at the dog, a baby dog...and asks, "Mommy, did the puppy come out of your tummy?" Giggling in response, "No. The puppy came out of a Dogs tummy." "I can only have human babies come out of my tummy..." Little girl then said, "and Martells tummy too?" "Yes, our puppy came from a mommy dog, and Kara came from Martiel"

It was so cute! I could see how this makes sence in her train of thought. Very funny.

I'm in a love/hate relationship with...

I'm in a love/hate relationship with Wal-mart. For years, I have hated the fact that this store crushes down on the local mom & pop shops and takes over small towns.

Back when Andrew and I lived in Grover Beach, CA there was a Wal-mart with a great photo processing center. I would only go there for my one hour photos...this was years ago when one hour processing wasn't all that common and was more expensive elsewhere. Plus the Wal-mart photo center only makes you pay for the photos that turned out. I would have some blurry pics or bad shots from using a Film camera (back then) and would not have to keep those shots or pay for them. Of course now, in 2009 I have a digital camera, and online photo ordering to where I can select which photos I want, and pick them up at my local, one-hour photo center at Walgreen's. I don't go to Wal-mart any longer for the photos. I was basically trying to boycott Wal-marts for the past 10 years, and only shop there on a needed basis, such as the use of the Photo center. Wal-greens is my photo center now and I no longer needed Wal-mart.

When we lived in Cincinnati, Ohio there was a "Supercenter" being built right in front of our Apartment Complex. It was such an eyesore! It was being built the entire year that we lived in Ohio. The road to our place was constantly bothered by construction hazards and blocking our main road for a while. This made me HATE Wal-mart even more. By the time the Supercenter was going to finally open, Andrew and I had moved away and over to Missouri.

So here we are living in Missouri for the past 3 years and the Wal-mart here is 24 hours open. It is yet another crappy Wal-mart to which I prefer to shop elsewhere. ONLY it was convenient being open at 12:08 at night. I would be driving home from work and I would need some more bread or something random for the next day. I fell for the 24 hour convenience and would only shop there when other places were closed... and I just need to drop in for a few items.

I still hated shopping there. Since the Wal-mart is open "24 hours" the customers who shop around midnight... it is an obstacle to shop around the staff unpacking inventory and restocking shelves. It is so annoying to shop there at the wee hours of the night. The aisles are cluttered up and easily trip happy over wood pallets and cardboard piles!


So I really do hate Wal-mart...BUT I love Wal-mart at the same time. It is a love hate relationship I have for the store. I loved it for the photo-center, I loved it for open 24 hours and I hate it for being The Wal-Mart that squashes and puts other businesses out of business. I hate Wal-mart for the unpleasant shopping experiences in the midnight hour. And I hate that their pharmacy is not 24 hours inside a 24 hour store!

MY DILEMMA: A Supercenter Wal-mart has it's grand opening TODAY here in Manchester, MO. DO I GO TO IT? I can finally see what a super Walmart is all about? and poke around... take it all in? Maybe there will be free stuff and drawings to take part in, by shopping on their grand opening day? OR! DO I BOYCOTT & NOT SHOP THE SUPERCENTER? I know I will eventually shop there, might as well be on the grand opening day? I do need some more bread...I just don't want to kill any local stores who will go out of business because of this Supercenter/ ONE STOP SHOP opening in town.

Quoted from the Wal-mart site in an artical about the local location having it's grand opening:

"Approximately 175 new positions were created as a result of the relocation. More than 75 of the store’s associates have worked for Walmart for more than 10 years, including ten associates who have worked at the store since its original opening in 1988. Community Organizations Benefit from Grand-Opening Grants As part of Walmart’s commitment to the communities in which it operates, $27,000 in grants from the Walmart Foundation will be presented during the grand-opening celebration. Eight local non-profit organizations will each receive grants to support programs that serve the community including: Mid East Area Agency on Aging, City of Manchester, Circle of Concern, St. Oouis Community College, Parkway School District, St. Louis County Canine, Manchester Shop with a Cop, American Legion Fund..."

It is a half hour till the grand opening at 8am today. Do I love it or hate it? Do I shop or not shop? Kara is sleeping, so I will wait for her to wake, then I have to also go over to the YMCA for my workout class...so maybe I will shop there on grand opening day, but just not at the 8 o'clock hour of craziness! I am not that much in love with the store to be apart of the Grand opening ceremonies. I'll think about it...and check it out later today, after my workout. Kara and I will explore the new world this after noon.

Free and Fun

Last night we brought baby Kara along with our friend, Julie to a free night of music at the History Museum. It ran about 2 hours and the band played rock n roll. Kara was literally rockin to the music. Currently at her 5 1/2 month mark she has been attempting to crawl, by lifting her torso and rocking front and back, but just not crawling. The band played the "Shout" song. "throw your hands up and SHOUT" So I would raise Kara's hands and sing along, she smiled and was having a blast. Then Julie picked her up and started dancing around with her and we each took our turn dancing and singing with Kara having a grand ol' time.

pics to post later...

Let's Talk Evelution

Dear Scientists,

Scientifically the theory is that Humans have evolved from Apes and ruling out that God created Humans. Ok. So if the Apes evolved into humans...why are there still Apes today in 2009? Why did those Apes not turn into humans?

AND! Let's just say God didn't create the humans...because of evolution...BUT who created the Apes to then become a human?

Happy Birthday to Me

I'll soon be 31 and I don't even remember being 30...it went so fast. For my birthday present to me; I had my hair highlighted (very cute), eyebrows waxed (ouch!), Pedicure (tickle torture), and Gel-fill Nails or whatever you call em.

My favorite part to a pedicure is the chair, without it the pedi would be pure tickle torture for me.
I'm doing a girls night out at the Melting Pot. It's going to be Chocolate fondue and cocktails on Saturday. I'm rounding up my gal pals to celebrate the big 31. Andrew will watch Kara that night.

People are asking me what I want for my birthday...So here is a Birthday Wish List: Sun Flowers, Ziggy Marly kids CD, Toyota Rav4, baby girl toys, gas card, Black Eyed Peas CD, babysit Kara coupon for one night out with Andrew, a cute top...Size L for lovely...

I posted the Birthday Wish list on my facebook page and some of my friends replied to it:

Julie - I told u I will babysit anytime and it doesn't have to be your b-day gift.
Kim - Rav4...who's gonna get that one? Ya better ask Andrew to buy it! :) I would babysit anytime if I lived there! Move back here (to California) and I will watch Kara!!!
Martiel - Thanks for the babysitting offers. What is the babysitting rate though? I am wishing for a COUPON to use on babysitting one night.... :)
To Julie, We will take you up on the offer to watch Kara when we decide to go to the Cheesecake Factory over by you.
To Kim, I want my next car (new or used) to be a Rav4 type car, like the Nisan Murano or ANY of those that are shaped like that. So that there is room for the baby AND the Dog. He would go in the back with the stroller.

Facebook Brings People Together.

After joining Facebook I have chatted with more old friends and new friends on a regular basis than I did with email or phone calls. This is a great medium to use to keep in touch with friends and family.

I am trying to tell my mom this, and have her join facebook. She can keep up with photos of her granddaughter Kara, and chat back and forth or keep in contact with her sister who is also on Facebook, and even get reconnected with old school friends, etc. The possibilities are endless. BUT my mom is being "stubborn" and is boycotting Facebook, based on the negative uses the news has reported about. There was the one news story of a woman and her daughter were teasing and tormenting another school girl on MySpace (website similar to Facebook) and that girl ended up killing herself. I believe that the woman went to jail for being involved in the girls suicide? But that is one side to Facebook and Myspace.

Facebook for me is not like that Myspace example at all. I am able to connect and chat with a wide range of people I know using one website. It is a great tool. Here is a sampling of my chats to others about baby Kara:

Martiel- "Kara was talking in her verbal sounds....she totally said Mmmaaa ma mom mmm... does that count? wish full thinking ;D"

New Topic:

Martiel- "Kara's little baby nostrils are too tiny to pick! has a little booger....she can't blow her nose lol how does she get the booger out? It's staring me in the face, this little baby nose and a booger!!!!
Verda - "use the blue aspirator - its shaped like a bulb on one end with a pointy tip (baby nostril size) on the other. great for vacuuming out baby boogers."
Martiel - "I forgot I even had that thing, I have two from the hospital...thanks Verda! There's so much to learn and odd little things like baby boogers...silly but I'm learning."
Mym - "the hospital bulbs are the best...put a few drops of saline (salt water) they have it pre-made for babies and let it soften the boogies and then use the bulb. if the boogie is right there but cant get it with your nail, use the tissue like you would, it will stick to the tissue like magic! good luck!"
Connie - "lol cute...I do know about the boogie sucker, they (babies) hate it but it works ...is it still there ?.....hope not...."
Martiel - I replied, "No the Booger is gone...I will def try the bulb next time though. That wont be the only booger she gets, lol. More to come...ahh the joys of motherhood!"
Connie - then said, "lol a boogie is nothing , wait til she wakes and paints her crib with poopie, and you see a bit around her mouth."

New topic:

Martiel - some how I've ended up with three diaper bags... a baby bottle in one and the formula in another...good thing all 3 bags were in the car when I was out with Kara, today.
Now we are home and settled in from running errands. I am so board, Kara is napping, Duke is at the groomers, and Daddy is at work...guess I'll take a nap too...but I'm not tired...
Shawn - Oooo I have an idea for some excitement...wake Kara up!!!! :)
Martiel - Good one Shawn.
Matrika - suggested, "Enjoy the silence while it lasts!"
Kim - Watch TV or a movie OR make a romantic dinner for Andrew. :) ...
Martiel - I am watching TV...hence the bored part! lol

New topic:

Martiel - Kara is 4 going on 5 months this Aug 23. Each new month is a beautiful experience. Right now she is blowing little bubbles and giggling, as her new talent. ;)
Sara - (her daughter) is 3 months now and growing so quickly. Time is so fast. It is amazing to see how much they change and learn in a short few months, huh?
Martiel - I know, every moment is so special. She is starting to grab everything now too. We think she is going to be left handed?

JOIN FACE BOOK MOM! Ignore the news stories and listen to your daughter. ;)

Power Outage

Amazing what vast amount of power we use. I didn't really see how much power our house was using until the power went out for just a few minutes. After it went back on, I walked around the house and unplugged items that are not used all the time. There were 4 items plugged in and waisting energy. My coffee maker topped with dust was plugged in, as well as my phone charger, blender, and paper shredder. I can plug these items in as I use them and leave them unplugged the rest of the time. As I walked through the house searching for items to unplug, I did notice I have a lot of battery operated things which is saving on power.

Go green! Unplug items in your house that rarely get used. Also buy clocks with batteries instead of the plug kind to prevent having to run around the house setting the time on 4 different clocks!

Who knew?

Office Dramma. Rummers spread like wild fires, feeding off of a little bit and grows to more complications. People never know the whole story just one side and twist up the fuzzy parts inbetween. It went a little something like this:

I think I know what you know...Tell me what you know and I'll let you know if what you know is what I know...Do you know the same thing I know? Because, no one is suppose to know, how do you know what I know? I don't know the whole thing, I just know a little, do you know more than what I know? I don't know! I can't believe it! I KNOW!

Litter Bugs!

I am driving down Manchester Road, I see the lady in the car, in front of me, with her window cracked open, just a bit. She flicks her cigarette out onto the street, without a second thought. LITTERING.

Some people do this and especially at street intersections...why is that? There are signs posted every once and a while stating that there is a fine for littering. Therefore the police have the option to pull you over and site you a ticket for littering.

What gets me about this particular lady in her car flicking a cig out onto the street is that she then takes a last sip of her soda can wiggles it in her hand and sees that it is empty...while sitting at this red light... why then did she place it in the cup holder to save and throw out later? Why not toss the soda can out onto the street as well? Oh that would be bad, she wouldn't want to LITTER! What she could have done is sipped her last sip of soda and puffed her remaining puff of the cig and toss the cig into the empty can. Placing it in the cup holder of her car, temporarily till she reached the chance of tossing BOTH into a trash can. Just throw the can on the street next time, it is the same annoying thing as flicking out a cig.

The light turns green, she drives straight through, and I turned left.

Free is always good. :)

July 16th 2009. A wonderful day, filled with free everything! Thank you to all who contributed.
First off I had to find a shop to fix my vacuum. I found the OK Vacuum shop near by, the guy fixed it for free! He replaced the rubber belt and brush roll...FREE


As I was stopped at a stop light, I peak at Kara in the back and her car seat was slanted to the left. It was no longer snugly fastened to the back seat. I had to think quickly and find a place to reinstall the car seat, to keep her safe. I was just down the street from a fire station. I dropped in to the fire house and Fireman Greg, the certified Baby Seat Installer, properly hooked in Kara's car seat...FREE


Went to target to return some baby things that I never ended up using. The customer service gal gave me store credit on a gift card, to shop with. With the gift card I bought the baby sleep wedge; to help Kara from rolling in her sleep, and the Michael Jackson CD with all the #1 songs on it....sort of free by using the gift card.

Then at Walgreens I bought two, 20 oz, cokes and got a pack of gum for...you guest it...FREE!

4 o'clock rolls around and I have to start heading into work. No traffic on the highway, and I got to work 15 minutes early. To top off my good day I went on my dinner break to the employee cafeteria and found a delicious menu to eat from. There was spinach salad, fresh fruit and vegi burgers...ALL FREE! It just added onto my day of free experiences and my luck kept on coming. Today was such a great day and mostly FREE!

Happy 3rd and 5th of July!

One of her great aunts gave her this adorable dress with matching hat. I was so glad it fit her to wear for the 4th of July. Kara was decked out in her Red, White and Blue, to her first of two BBQs that weekend.


We first went to a BBQ on Friday the 3rd with Andrews coworkers. It was at Todd and Diann's. Their house was across the river in IL. and down a little road out in the middle of corn fields. They have a big house with a nice size pool in the back where everyone was at for the BBQ. Too bad Kara wasn't just a wee bit older and she could have tried out the pool for the 1st time. There were other kids there slashing and jumping in all night long. Three boys would repeatedly jump off of the diving board, get out of the pool, and jump back in off the diving board. It was fun to watch, they were getting creative with each jump in. But it was also tiring watching them go in and out of the pool, they had so much energy!
Our friend, Jay, who works with Andrew was at the BBQ and held Kara for a while. New best friends, he was so good with holding her, a natural. Baby Kara loves her daddy, Andrew. Everyone got their turn holding her. I also brought along the baby backpack with us. This thing is so handy, to be able to have Kara strapped in and have both hands free. Usually I place her in the baby backpack facing inwards towards me. At the BBQ I tried for a change facing her out to see everyone...she is a little baby still with her head peeking out the top. It was too cute. She was able to look around at everything this way. Later on she fell asleep in the baby backpack, but not for too long, there was too much fun going on to keep her interest at the BBQ. family photo of the three of us at her first BBQ. All that yummy food and she didn't eat any of it, she hadn't started on solid foods yet, just breast feeds.

Once it got dark some of the guys set off fireworks and the load noise startled Kara only twice...the rest of the time she was mesmerized by the pretty colors up in the sky. (photo below, crying from the load startle)When we got home she slept through the WHOLE night! We wore her out. heehee. She didn't wake up until 6:30am AND she slept in her own room that night, I was so proud of her! Kara's first 4th of July on the 3rd.

The second BBQ was on Sunday the 5th of July. We went to our friend, Julies place. A smaller group of people than the 11st BBQ. My friend, Carissa gave her this cute onezie that reads, "baby's 1st fourth" I dressed Kara in that with the hat that was with the dress she had and a pair of jean shorts. She is starting to grow out of her newborn onezies and into her 0-3 month and the 3-6 month clothes. At Julie's BBQ, we ate hot dogs, fruit, Cesar salad, cupcakes... I went there knowing that Kara is 15 weeks old and babies don't really start eating solid foods until one more month or older. We brought along cut up watermelon, and I had a piece on my plate, holding Kara in my lap. I thought I would see if she would like the melon. She loved it! Sucking on the watermelon was the best stuff on earth, it was such a treat for her. I started to take it away and she got a little fussy, telling me to give it back in her baby talk. It was amazing, I put the watermelon back in front of her mouth and she latched on sucking it dry. Everyone was amazed at how much she was enjoying this piece of watermelon. She kept making slurping/sucking noises it was to cute! BIG hit with the watermelon! SHE LOVED IT! Photo below of Kara in my lap, chomping down on the watermelon. MMM good! It almost was a joke, that you have to give her watermelon if you want to hold her... with out the melon she would get fussy. Photo below is Julie with baby Kara and watermelon in hand.

I'll keep an eye on her the next couple of days for any allergic reaction she may have from it. She is sticking to the Breast milk and formula diet. Not going to introduce too much of the solids quite yet. We were just at the BBQ with her and wanted to give her a little treat to enjoy. I hope your 4th of July weekend was as eventful as ours was. We had a blast, times two!

Useless Road Signs

There are at least three road signs I have seen around town, that are a waist to put up. One is a marquis sign telling people, "Air quality green, breath easy." What? Thanks for letting me know, I don't have to hold my breath any longer. So what will the sign read when or if the air gets to RED? Will it read, "Air quality red, buy an air mask... on sale at Walmart?" Hopefully our air quality doesn't get to Red or what ever color code the worst air quality is. I hope for it to stay "green."

The second sign reads, "Accident reduction zone." Shouldn't ALL areas that people drive in be an accident reduction zone? We as drivers should drive with caution and prevent accidents from happening in the other areas too. Not just that area the sign is posted, for that "zone."

The third sign I saw put up in my area is, "Drug Free Zone." Darn I wanted to deal my drugs on that corner and snort some crack on my lunch break! Where is the Drug Zone then? I'll go there! Silly. Of course that particular area and everywhere else is a "drug free zone" because drugs are illegal and there are not any designated places to do drugs.

Are we seriously spending our tax dollars on new signs stating the obvious and waisting money like this? We need to budget better, we are in a recession and economy is down. The city doesn't have the extra money to post at least 3 new signs up around town. I noticed these three useless signs, there are probably more posted that I don't know about.

Another thing is personalized car plates. The car infront of me this morning reads, "PRPLXD." What does it mean? Purple XD, and it is on a RED car? what is the XD part? There needs to be a bumper sticker decoding liscence plates when they are personalized and don't make sence. It should be a requirement. I don't get 1/2 of the plates I come across sitting in traffic. Some though are very clever!

Choices

My blogger-friend, Kimber, recently made a post about making choices and how some of those choices are made without a conscious or deliberate analysis. She got the list from a blog friend of hers and now I am choosing from the list of theoretical choices... (in bold)...

Milk chocolate or Dark chocolate
Scotch or Bourbon
Ketchup or Mustard
Ice Cream or Sorbet
Icing or No Icing
Mac or Windows
Pants or Skirt
Long Hair or Short Hair
Breast or Bottle
Ice Cream Soda or New York Egg Cream
Creamy or Chunky
Isle or Window
Smoking or Non-smoking
Plane or Train
White Gold or Yellow Gold
Rocks or Neat
Steam Room or Sauna
Tea or Coffee
Sugar or Splenda
Fiction or Non-fiction
Sleep or Work
Flats or Heals
Meat or No Meat
Sauce or Dry Rub
Automatic or Stick Shift
Bar Soap or Body Wash
Dressed Salad or Dressing on the Side
Driver or Passenger
Seek-n-Find or Crossword
Now or Later
Coke or Pepsi
White Wine or Red Wine
Cranberry Mimosas or Orange Juice Mimosas
Reality TV or Documentary
CNN or BBC
Camping or Lodging
Beaching or Hiking
White or Wheat
Betty or Wilma
Tom or Jerry

I don't know what this says about me in the choices I made or how you will perceive it. Don't read too deeply into some of these. It is just a fun little list of things in life we choose one over the other on. I choose Mustard over Ketchup only because there are so many kinds of mustard and only one kind of ketchup, it is so boring. Mustard is adventurous. My favorite mustard is the kind with the seeds. I choose the wheat over the white, because I never liked how white bread gets stuck to the roof of my mouth. Annoying! Wheat bread is the better choice. Passenger over Driver, I hate driving where I don't know where I am and someone else is giving the directions, I get all turned around. I just want to be the passenger, better yet a passenger sitting in the back of a limo and sipping on my Orange Juice Mimosas, not worrying about how to get from point a to point b...just as long as I get there. I suck at directions and can easily get lost. The train over plane I choose, because I have many fond memories of riding the train to my daddy Kenny's house to visit him for a week at a time and sitting in the viewing car, with the swivel chairs. I miss you dad, and miss my train trips to visiting you.

While on the topic of Choosing and choices...I never liked the phrase, "Beggars can't be choosers..." OK...so beggars can't be choosers, but can choosers choose to beg? I always think of this when some annoying person says that phrase.

BOGUS! Photo contest!

I submitted a cute baby pic of baby Kara to the "Great American Photo Contest" then I get the email telling me to forward on the link to friends and family members to help vote for Karas picture to win...Well here is the "link to vote" if you want...but I think it is a load of crap?

https://www.greatamericanphotocontest.com/voter1/index_e.aspx?referid=WlcmKobe&p=1527435&x=.jpg

Once you click on the link to vote it wants you to enter in more information and do surveys, or sign up for stuff...What kind of contest is this? Seems like a marketing ploy, to get people to sign up for junk. I was excited to submit a photo and POSSIBLY win a $2,500 savings bond.

THEN on top of the bogus voting part, I also get an email saying that my photo was selected to publish in a photo book of some sort...I can convienantly oder a copy of this published book with my daughters photo entry for a small fee...just fill out the credit card info, etc...NO THANK YOU

I am not going to pay for a photo contest, I should be winning the book with her photo published...another marketing scam.

Nature Kicked My Butt!

This morning I started the first of 4 exercise classes. The class is called Bikini Boot Camp, with 8 ladies in it. We all meet up at the park, where there are bike/hiking trails, and beautiful scenery. As a group we: hiked up steep hills and down to a flat area to do stretches, walked down 205 steps and back up to an area where we finished up with yoga, for a cool down. It was so rewarding in the end; I was able to physically do the hole routine.

I have not exercised in a whole year basically. I was pregnant most of 2008, but went on walks around the neighborhood...My little 1/2 hour walks around my neighborhood does not compare at all to the walking I did today! WOO! I worked up a sweat, got out of breath, drank my bottled water, etc. It was so rejuvenating. I look forward to next Saturday to do it all over again. The park we hike in is so beautiful, with trees and a lake down below. I might even want to go back on my own with a friend and do some Kayaking in the water there. I will have to look into more info on this park and see if there are rentals available for Kayaking.

All Hail the Gods!

It hailed this afternoon! Being from California, this is all new to me. Wow! I was looking out at my deck in the back yard and it was pouring rain with thunder and lightning and the trees were blowing all around from the wind. Then the hail became more dominate and there was more hail than rain at one point. Pouring down hail at the size of crushed ice. It was almost as if someone was on my roof throwing over buckets of ice on my deck. CRAZY!

I video taped it on my camera to share with my Cali folks. Those of you who don't really experience hail at all. There was a hail storm about 20 years ago in Morro Bay...but that was only one time and back when I was a kid. Other than that one time, this was a first for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_IYBqAftDw

the link will take you to my home-video of the hail storm that was in my back yard.

Happy Birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY HUBBY, ANDREW!

Kara is cooing a happy birthday to her daddy! It is the big 3-1, the start of a new decade... one year down 9 more to go until the big 40. eek!?

Google your name game!

Search your name as "Unfortunately _______" with the quotation marks! Then pick you favorite bits and leave it as a comment on this blog post. I was on Facebook and my friend, Michelle, and Janae did this and there were some doozies out there. Of course my name is not common enough. I did google just my name (Martiel) and found this story line scene from a game or something of the sort. It is so funny. Apparently "Martiel" is a character in a game. read below, from the following site. http://www4.wittenberg.edu/student_organizations/rpguild/2004-fall/vampsgnomes/

"...Four travelers appeared in a city in the middle of a commotion: two children, a boy twin and a girl twin, had disappeared from the local temple, along with a divinely-powered scepter of Pelor. Arturus, Austra, and Zephyr volunteer to look for the children, and they drag Martiel into it kicking and screaming and pulling her hat down over her ears. They are taken out of the village to the dark entrance in the ruins and caves of an underground dungeon. Down there they explore, fight undead and other beasties, see bloody remains of what could be kids, and begin to see a vampire history. They find the coffins of what appear to be a king, queen, and kid vampire, and Martiel takes the king's crown and scepter. Martiel later foolishly tries to do acrobatical feats in the vicinity of a well, down which she looses the crown, scepter, most/all of her worldly possessions (this is hotly debated by Adam and the DM), and nearly herself. "

Too cool.

My Busy Weekend

It was a three day weekend, but for me being on maternity leave it was not a big deal having 3 days "off." Saturday I went to the Crown Valley Winery for my friends birthdays. We were celebrating for both Janae and Michelle. There was eleven of us, and we all rode down in a 12 passenger van. For $5 you are given 5 tokens, 1 token per wine taste. There is an covered outdoor area with tables set up for groups to gather and a live band playing. We got there early and set up shop, taking up three tables. We each brought food to share and snack on through out the day. I brought cheese cake from the Cheesecake Factory. It was three flavors and 12 slices to use for their birthday celebration. I stuck two birthday candles in the cheesecake for Michelle and Janae to blow out. We were at the Winery from 11am to about 4:30 or 5pm.

At the end of the day we headed back to Michelle's folks house (where all our cars were). Two of the guys that went with us were gay, so later that evening they wanted us to go to a gay bar. Some of us dragged out feet and were trying to think of other places we could go. I checked in with Andrew to see how he was doing with watching Baby Kara. He was having a fine time with Kara and encouraged me to stay out with them if I wanted to go. He was in no hurry for me to get home, and wanted me to enjoy my day out. I told the group I was up for going to the gay bar and would drive since I wasn't drinking any longer. We took two cars and headed down there. It was a biker type gay bar, the guys were all wearing leather stuff and some were not wearing T-shirts. For the guys going shirtless they should rethink that, they either had hairy chests or beer bellies...not so hot. This was a different crowd of gays than I was use too. I thought most gay guys were smokin hot and well groomed type and not so "Butch?" It was still fun going there and dancing, but it was a long day after going to the Winery and going there later. I ended up getting home at 2 AM! I had no idea I was going to be gone ALL day long like that.

Sunday was a bit sadder, I went to a funeral for my friend's Grandpa. He was 88 and lived a long loving life. I went to the funeral at the cemetery and to the wake afterwards at my friends folks house. Andrew stayed at home to watch Kara. This time I was only gone a few hours, from 1-5 pm.

Monday, Andrew was off work being the holiday. We were able to hang out and go on a date even! We dropped Kara off at our friends house and went to lunch and a movie. Lunch was a restaurant where we know the head chef and he said lunch was on him, we even got a Banana Split to share for free. It was so nice of him to do that. Then we were off to the movies. I had 2 free movie tickets to use up. We saw the Terminator movie. The whole date was for free, even our sitter for Kara was free. My friend and I swapped babysitting for each other. Back on Friday night I went to their house to watch her 2 kids, and then she watched Kara for us.

It was a good three day weekend aside from having to go to a funeral.

Kara pics! 2 Months

Kara turns 2 months old this Saturday, the 23rd! Here are some recent pics of her.

Andrew's great cousin, Dianna, made this baby blanket for her!




Andrew picked out Blue's Clues (kids show) for her to watch while she swings in her chair.

I've got my hands full, Kara fell asleep on my shoulder.
Bath time in the kitchen sink!

She grins and coos durring bath time.

She is doing her tummy time! prepping to crawl.

I call this pic of Kara, "Doing the Matrix" pose. Like in the movie, Matrix, Keano Reeves makes this same pose, but floating in the air.

Kara came along to my Doctors appointment for my 6 week check up after giving birth. Kara is 6 weeks old here, with my wonderful Doctor.

Sneaky Retail Sale!

I'm onto you, Carters Store! The Sale at Carters is not realy a sale from how I understand it? At Carters (baby clothes store) the following sale is going on:

http://view.exacttarget.com/?j=fe7116707564047c7311&m=fefe1671706100&ls=fdf4137371650c7471127175&l=fe5e15757364027e7211&s=fdf7157575660179711c7472&jb=ffcf14&ju=fe30167377660079771c74

"gift checks are back! get a $10 gift check for every $25 you spend
now through june 14, 2009. redeemable june 15-july 4, 2009 on purchases of $35 or more." -Carter's

A consumer gets $10 coupon/check AFTER spending $25. Uses that $10 on a next purchase ONLY if you spend $35. So in the end you end up spending $50 to "save" $10? And probably spend actually more than the $50 in the end. Bogus!

Kara isn't 6 months?

OH MY GOSH! What a horrible thought. I was on a parenting sight that I have not gone on in a while. There was a login part and I didn't know my password, then logged in with the given password that was emailed to me. I looked at my profile on the site and it reads: "Your baby is 6 months, is she crawling yet?" I thought... Kara is not 6 months? she will be turning 2 months this Saturday... THEN I remembered. The baby we miscarried earlier in the year before becoming pregnant with Kara would be 6 months if she/he was born. If this was not sad enough already, I then go to edit my personal information on my website profile. I added Kara on there as a child and it lists the "other" baby as a child with a box marked "remove child." I had to click the box and hit submit! So hard to do! But in a way I have totally stopped thinking of this other baby that we never had, and have been so blessed with Baby Kara (our live and well, 2 month old), that it never even occured to me, that the other baby would be 6 months old. Man, this sucks.

Mrs. _(insert name)_ Butterworth

There is a contest online to guess what Mrs. Butterworth's first name is. Have you ever wondered what her name is? I didn't even know one existed...A syrup bottle with a first name? hmmm. The winner to guess the syrup bottles first name, wins a supply of syrup and $500.

Here is my thought process on figuring out her 1st name:

I believe Mrs. Butterworth's first name has to start with M being that the initials MB are on the bottle. She also is an older lady, from 40 years ago, so her name is of an old, grandma type name. I am guessing something along the lines of: Margaret, Mildred, Mary, or Magda. I am picking Margaret as her first name because it sounds like a kind, old, grandma. It is how I think of her to be, from looking at her and hearing her voice on the commercials. With Margaret as her first name, she could be nick-named Maggie, or Mag. Margaret Butterworth... mystery solved?


Click the link to enter... I already submitted Margaret! pick a different answer for yours.
www.mrsbutterworthsyrup.com/namecontest

I made M.O.Y.

http://news.cnnbcvideo.com/?nid=LqNvfqD7i_Yty_lJfkGDiTQ4OTk2NjE-&referred_by=16536306-J9cc_fx&p=moveon

see the link to view my recognition on the news!


Martiel Hay ~ Mother of the year 2009

Cute Kara Pics

Here are some pics of Kara to share. She is 6 wks old now.

pinkie size comparisons. 6wk old baby pinkie vs. 30 yr old pinkie.

A coworker of Andrew's gave Kara this handmade, pink hat along with a matching pink, blanket and booties. His wife made the complete set. I tried the hat on Kara to take her by my work for my coworkers to meet her. She looks like a little gangster, or diva all dressed up in her big hat and big pants. The pants are newborn size, but they will fit her well into the 3 month size, they're so big.

This baby swing I bought from Goodwill for $25...score! It keeps her occupied while I cook dinner or take the dishes out of the dishwasher, etc.
Duke is cuddling below by Kara's swing. They are best friends.

I just changed her poopoo explosion, and now she is a happy baby! ;)

Every day she works on her "tummy time" leaning over the boppy pillow. It helps prep her for crawling and she strengthens her neck and legs. She was on there a little too long, and fell asleep. So cute!

My brother, Robert, was visiting us at our house for the week, along with my mom and dad. He is such a good Uncle to baby Kara. I almost got him to change a diaper, but suckered me into doing it, by asking me to show him how to...sneaky bro!

free KFC from Oprah

Print out your limited yime coupon from this link: http://www.unthinkfc.com/

good for one complete meal at KFC till the 19th, excludes mother's day the 10th. print up to 4 coupons and redeem. Thanks for the hook up Oprah!

Home cooked meals and family time

Now that we are a family of 3, I am more inspired to cook at home and have dinner ready when Andrew gets home. It is sort of June Cleaver of me, I even vacuumed yesterday... Usually I put it off or wait for Andrew to vacuum. It was so simple and didn't take long; I don't know why I always procrastinated with vacuuming before? Silly.

When my family was in town visiting, they got me into cooking dinner and making easy to do meals at home. My dad showed me an easy recipe for Pork chops and I am going to make them again tonight.

Here is the pork chop recipe:
Serves 5-6 people

need:
pork chops cut into 2" chunks
jar of Prego spaghetti sauce
onion sliced up
apple sliced into wedges
dash salt
carrots chopped
provolone cheese
casserole dish
foil to cover

350 degrees 45 minutes cooking time,
dish up over pasta and serve with some garlic bread.

In the casserole dish place the pork chop chunks, onions sliced, apple wedges, carrots. Pour the whole jar of spaghetti sauce over everything. Top off with sliced (provolone) cheese about 4 or 5 to make a top layer. Cover the dish with foil and cook for 45 minutes.

Presto! Easy dinner!

Baby Kara is a Month Old!

Kara Audrey was born March 23, 2009 and is a bundle of joy. She is such a happy baby, sleeping up to 4-5 hrs at night. She is going on 5 weeks old now! When she was born she weighed 7 lb 13 oz. and currently she is 9 lb 7 oz. When I walk up to her or start talking she recognizes that it is her mommy near by and she looks over at me, she knows who I am and gets alert and smiles. My mom, dad and brother were just visiting for the week and left to fly back to CA this afternoon. It was such a nice visit, having them all here to help out with caring for baby Kara.

Last week, Andrews Grandma fell down and went to the hospital and then to a hospice, where people took care of her as she slowly passed away. Grandma Thelma was 90 years old. It was a turn for the worse. Family were, in Long Beach, visiting with her on her last couple of days and there to support Grandpa and my father in law, Bob. My family flew in Thursday, late at night, and all of this on the side line was going on with Andrew's Grandma at the same time. Andrew decided to fly out, the following Saturday, to be in Long Beach with his Grandma and family.

We all went to the St. Louis Airport Saturday morning to drop him off and then spent the week here at the house with out Andrew. Too bad, they came out here to see us and the baby and he had to fly off to CA. In a way though, it was good timing. I couldn't go on the flight with a one month old baby and had to stay behind in MO. I would have been at home with the baby all alone for the whole week that Andrew was gone. Having my folks in town visiting worked out, that they were here to help me with the baby while he was away. They just flew back home today (Wed) and Andrew will fly back home tomorrow (Thursday). I will just have the one night to myself with baby Kara. She is napping right now, and I have a short amount of time to catch up on my BLOG! I have neglected my blog lately, and have not posted anything since she has been born. Sorry blog readers for not getting around to the blog. Kara comes first. ;)

Here is a photo of Andrew with his Grandma visiting them back in the fall of 2006. A photo of Grandma last Thanksgiving 2008. We went to visit her and grandpa in Long Beach.

This blog post was a downer...I am sad to see Grandma pass away; but relieved she will not be suffering any longer, and no longer in any pain. Grandpa Gordon is 94 and on his own now, I don't know how he will adapt to Grandma being gone? He has been taking care of her and they have lived in the same house in Long Beach for decades. Now the house is empty with out her and will just be him and thier dog, Lucy. I wish I could be in California right now to be there with the family and be able to give Grandpa a big hug and sit with him and be there to help out. I am land locked to Missouri and it sucks! It is just Kara and I now, waiting for daddy Andrew to come back home. We miss daddy and look forward to Thursday, when we pick him up at the airport. :)

Oh Baby!

I am STILL prego, and due March 25th. Due dates are just an ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival). Due dates are not accurate and DR don't help much at the check ups either. My check up is every Tuesday and yesterday my Doctor poked around and said I still have a closed cervix and not dilated... Which is frustrating, I thought maybe I would be further along? Last Sunday, my belly shape drastically changed. It is now lower and the top part of the belly which use to be firm is now mushy and the bottom part which use to be mushy is now firmer. So the baby has nestled down more and is dropping. Signs of her coming out are happening. ***This next part is TMI (To much information) sorry. I am just blogging the facts*** This morning my "mucus plug" came out! :) I never thought I would be happy to see a little glob of goo. It is one more indication of labor coming soon. I just don't know how soon? Will it be later tonight? or on Friday the 1st day of spring she will be born? or will she be born on the actual due date of the 25th? Apparently the mucus plug doesn't happen right before labor, it could fall out days or weeks before hand.

I just know my body is changing and prepping more than usual this week, out look good! fingers crossed. I don't want to go past my due date. My DR says if I do go past the due date she will induce me on March 30th on a Monday. Inducing labor means the DR does the work for you, opening of the cervix, breaking the water, etc. and it could be more painful to be induced. I hope I don't get to that point. I want to go into labor naturally before my due date and give birth when the baby decides to come out. Inducing sounds to me like playing "God" and choosing the birth date for baby arrival. It is not natural.

At the same time though, I am very prego and waiting around to pop! She needs to come out now, I can't wait any longer, I am too excited. It's like trying to wait for X-mas morning. It is too hard waiting around, I am getting antsy! ;)

Andrew is awaiting the arrival too. When ever I call his cell for something basic, like did he feed the dog this morning? or could he get some Chinese on the way home...he thinks I am calling him for THE call. When he answers the phone now, it is not a "hello, how are you.." it is a reply of, "Is it time to go to the hospital now?" I say, "no, I just was calling..." Now I try NOT to call Andrew, because he is anticipating THE call and I don't want to get him all excited over nothing. Poor guy. He is waiting around just as I am. We are both too excited and antsy. We can read up on all the info possible, but really don't know anything until we stumble through it first hand.

The word for today is...

Why did I wake up this morning with the word, Trifecta, stuck in my mind? I was not even sure what Trifecta meant? I just have had this word rolling around in my head all morning, till I can get the chance to Yahoo the term. I like the sound of pronouncing the word. Tri - feck - ta. The term is for a bettor to place a bet on horse racing predicting which horse wins 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places and in the exact order. The bettor then wins the bet if the three particular horses win in the bettors order. Known as a Trifecta. I don't follow horse racing, and I don't dream about horses or betting? So why do I wake up this morning with Trifecta stuck in my mind? So bizarre.

the term for the word Trifecta found by Wikipedia online:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trifecta

The term is also used in a common use of characteristics used in threes. As found on Wikipedia:
"Trifecta" is a term used to describe any successful or favorable phenomenon or characteristic that comes in threes, for example: "She has the 'trifecta' of attractiveness, intelligence, and career success." ...

I usually wake up in the morning with a word of the day, some are so off the wall, I don't know where I get the idea to have the word pop into mind in the first place. Last week I had the word Trilobite stuck on my mind. A trilobite is a small creature from back in the dinosaur times, and are fossilized, and extinct. Photo below (provided by Wikipedia site)

These words are useless to me, and these don't really extend my vocabulary to use in everyday conversation. I would not seem any smarter working in the word trilobite when talking to a peer. It would not be impressive. There are too many words out there in the English language alone. Many words are not even used any longer...and with quite the opposite, many words are still used today but with multiple meanings, to where a person can take one word and spin it out of context and get into trouble or confusion. Why get stuck using one word with multiple meanings than just using two or three different words? Some words are also outdated as well and would not be used today in 2009, because it is not politically correct. Such as Policeman, it is now Police officer, because the Police-man may be a woman. The title Stewardess is now Flight Attendant.

My parents have had a word game going on through out the years (20+) and keep a running list of words spelled the same but are two different words entirely. Example, Sew and Sew, or Record and Record. I like to record my thoughts down on a blog. OR I have an extensive record collection. Their list is pretty much complete. Every once and a while I will come across a word and run it by my mom, and she tells me it is already on the list. They are going to have to start a new word game.