the keeler family nest: September 2008

Do you ever have "one of those days" where you wake up and just know that that day is going to be a little tougher than some? Today was one of those for me. I know very well that the things I experienced are trivial compared to most "difficult days" for people, however, I have to laugh at the series of events that just continued to happen today:

Wake up at 6:30am when Tim leaves for work - I am so tired from lack of sleep this weekend (we were out of town and Teagan does not sleep well away from home)....okay...lack of sleep for the past 8 and 1/2 months...and am praying that Teagan just keeps sleeping so that I can keep sleeping! Nope. She's awake. :) I bring her into bed with me and feed her and do my best to put her back to sleep. Works for about 20 minutes before she's awake again and I realize that the energy I'm putting into keeping her from crawling off the bed would be better spent if we just got up. :)

Called the carpet store to find out if the carpet we ordered is in (to go in the basement that we're finishing off!) as this is the week we were planning to get it installed. Find out that it hasn't even been shipped from the order site yet like it should have been a long time ago.

Teagan has a "blow-out" all over her pajamas. Give her a bath and put her down for a nap and attempt to do a few thing on my "to-do" list before attempting to take a lil' nap myself as I'm finding it difficult to function well. :) No such luck. Teagan wakes up after 45 minutes when she usually sleeps for an hour and a half.

Go the the grocery store (go ole' Aldis) with Teagan. Those of you who shop at Aldi's know the extra challenge being here is with a baby in tote as you have to pack your own groceries etc. Can't fit everything in one cart (it's been awhile since we've gotten groceries!) so I make two trips into the store...have to walk all the way around the store in order to get to the front again...and load up the extra groceries. All of this is taking longer than I had hoped and although Teagan is a great shopper (in my Baby Bjorn), she's had enough. Amidst the cries (her, not me), I rush home to put her down for a nap...I attempt to stall putting her down for a nap b/c I want to put the refrigerated items away first. This isn't working so well so I set her down and try occupy her with a few things that I cleaned out of the fridge. A bag of shredded cheese that I thought was empty proves not to be empty but apparently open as it is wildly shaken and cheese covers Teagan and the kitchen floor. I laugh and clean it up but this only stalls nap time more and Teagan isn't happy (I wish babies understood "just a minute, please!"). :)

While she's napping, I check my email accounts and deal with the fact that I have to reschedule a client...again...and that I wrote the wrong date for a meeting with another client...and that I had overlooked the fact that I am suppose to attend a church meeting (that I set up) as well as help lead a training at work on Thursday night which is the same afternoon/night Tim and I need to leave for his brother's wedding in Mississippi. (I believe reasons as stated in paragraph #2 of this post are to blame for these disorganized mishaps!)

Teagan wakes up and I feed her some solid foods. I feel kind of guilty for neglecting the green veggies lately (knowing she does not care for them) so I attempt to feed her some green beans and avocado. She eats just half of the green beans and proceeds to gag (yes, like she is going to vomit) on the avocado. Thankfully, I like avocado so I don't have to feel too guilty for wasting something again.

I actually plan ahead and work on making lasagna for dinner. I am excited about this as I don't make it often and I know that it is one of Tim's favorite meals. Right after I begin making it, I call Tim and remember that he is working late tonight so that we can leave for Mississippi on Thursday. Despite inwardly being appreciative of his hard work ethic, I get grouchy b/c my idea of a nice sit down dinner enjoying his favorite meal are out the door and he'll have to resort to reheated lasagna in the microwave.

The lasagna dinner is taking way too long to make and I get mad at the noodles sticking together...only to remember that I didn't need to cook them beforehand. All the while, I am feeling guilty for ignoring Teagan who keeps pulling on my legs, wanting me to hold her. With just a few minutes left of making the dinner, I put Teagan down and she crawls to the living room floor carrying a plastic jar of Parmesan cheese (don't ask me how she got it...I must have set it on the kitchen floor as another distraction method). After an innocent attempt at using the jar as a rattle, I look to find Parmesan cheese sprinkled all over Teagan and the living room floor. Wow. Two incidences today involving cheese and apparently poor supervision.

Eat dinner with Teagan, clean up the kitchen and food smothered all over Teagan's body and rush to get ready for a funeral visitation of a family friend in GR (condolences to the Weilhouwers). I'm running late (as usual) and hit every red light in town. Teagan is tired now and crying in her car seat. I practice my deep breathing skills. I end up picking my sister up and leaving her car at a place off an exit that doesn't allow you to get back on the highway due to construction. Follow detour through town. This doesn't help the late factor.

Leave funeral home and find out that another exit we need to get on to 1-96 is closed b/c of construction so take a long way through GR to get back on highway. Drop my sister off and take another detour to get back on highway again. End up going in a circle through town and coming right back to the place that I dropped my sister off - the detour ramp was right there and I didn't realize it.

Get home and put Teagan (still in carseat) in her room as it is past her bedtime and she thankfully fell asleep on the way home. Feel in a quandary about whether or not to wake her up so I can change her diaper and put her pj's on or just let her sleep in the carseat. I opt to let her sleep...although 30 minutes later, she's up. :) After some tired cries, a diaper change, pj's on and one last feeding, she's back to sleep and Tim finally arrives home.

Ahh....what a beautiful day! :)

Okay - time for bed!

I think one of the best things are rainy days. Staying inside, curling up on the couch with a blanket, watching movies, eating good food, laughing with family and just being. That's what the majority of our weekend consisted of and it was so great!

Teagan seemed to especially enjoy her time with her Daddy this weekend and it was cute to watch.
She's becoming such a big girl in her attentiveness, her mannerisms, her little smirks and looks...

Some of my favorite new things are the way she squints her eyes and curls up her nose to give a cheese grin. She also began sticking her little tongue out the corner of her mouth...a look her daddy is famous for! I keep trying to get a picture of her doing it, but this is the best I got:

She also stood up for a few seconds all by herself, not holding on to anything! I have a feeling we're going to have an early walker! We are loving this stage as we watch her discover the world around her. She's babbling more and more, crawling all over the place, eating some finger foods and loving to be close to us (separation anxiety has kicked in full force! We don't always mind though... :)) On a side note, prayers are appreciated for our lil' babe as she is currently on an antiobiotic which is fighting off a urinary tract infection. We go back to the doctor this week to find out if it is gone. I initially brought her in after she was having fevers on and off - we attributed it to teething at first but trusted our instincts that something more was going on. We're hoping we caught it at the right time and that the medication is working. So far, she has been much happier, sleeping better and more herself so we're hopeful that it is.