Milestones

Yesterday was Mel-belle's 3 month birthday. She is becoming quite the charmer with the sitting up and the smiling and the laughing. My personal favorite time is when she ends a crying fit by looking directly at you and saying "Meh!". Totally priceless.

Meanwhile the milestone she passed yesterday was the official "Baby's first spewing milk out of her nose" moment. (Unfortunately I was not there to witness it, but I have been assured that it was spectacular.) Apparently the little missy was busy chugging a bottle and coughed at the same time as she slurped. Thus causing milk to go up her nose. And a moment after she realized what she had done she screamed bloody murder. (When I was told about this later that night I laughed so hard my side hurt.)

In other news, yesterday I also took the first of many Russian classes. I am kind of sad that I have been losing my language skills and have been looking for a place to get them back. So I enrolled in a Russian class through the parks and rec people. It's fun. I decided to take the beginning class because even though I speak some Russian I am missing lots of fundamentals... like cursive and vocabulary. (There was only so much I needed to talk about on a daily basis.) The first few classes are going to be really easy for me, but hopefully they will become a little more challenging as the weeks go on. (I get 12 weeks!)

The condo is still in the question phase. Well, the loan for the condo is still in the question phase. The loan lady asked us if we could come up with more money for a down payment and we are struggling to put some together. (So far we have managed to beg, borrow and steal all but 1000 dollars of what she asked for, go us!) Another positive is that the bank sent an appraiser to the condo yesterday. Which means that we have probably passed their income phase and moved on to the 'is this a reasonable amount of money to give them' phase. I still have high hopes even though it is taking a long time. I really would love to be able to stay in the area.

And now I have to get back to work.

This message has been sanitized for your protection.

Bath time

(to the tune of Rubber Duckie)

Little Melly, You’re the one.
You make bath time lots of fun.
Little Melly I’m awfully fond of you.

On the day that we,
Make our way to the tubbie.
I see a little baby who‘s awful cute and real smelly,
Washing her belly.

Little Melly, Joy of Joys.
When I bathe you, you make noise.
Little Melly I’m awfully fond of you.

Little Melly I’m awfully fond of you.

This Week in Babyland

No more pictures. I'm ready for my nap.



Learning how to sit up and discovering our feet are just some of the excitement we experienced this week.


I think we have found the best color for Miss. Mel-belle.

Memories

So I'm reading back over my blog for the past few years, just to see where I have been coming from. Last year I proclaimed it the year of being girly. And I guess you can't get much more girly than having a baby. So I probably I won that. Some other girly things I did? Well, I am a secretary, a notoriously girly profession (now, not historically), I held sewing workshops, got several pedicures, has a baby shower, and all of that amounts to a pretty girly year. Go me. I accomplished a goal I was going for.

And with that... I am off to make coffee for the next seminar that is starting in half an hour.

Go me.

Just for Fluffy

When I grow up I'm gonna be a ballerina.

The look on her face in both of these is priceless. And totally wonderful. Thank you Fluffy for the beautiful knit things!

Life gets good...

So last week on a whim I was searching the Craigslist.org housing postings. I do this a lot not really because I think we will be able to find a house that we can afford, but because I like to know how much houses cost... and I an nosy like that. Anyway I came across an ad for a condo, two bedrooms four blocks from the beach, that was being listed as a measure J house (for those of you not in SC, that means reduced price so a person making a median income could afford it). And all they wanted the person buying it to come up with was $3000 bucks. So I emailed it to Mr. C as we fall nicely in the measure J limits. Mr. C called up the people and we made an appointment to look at the condo. Now, I was getting excited. We had _talked_ about looking at places before but never actually done it. The following Friday we both took our lunch breaks early and went over to see the place. We toured the facilities and looked at three different condos and decided that one of them would be perfect for our little family. So we took a deep breath and put down the deposit and made an appointment to see a loan specialist the next day.

Saturday... We arrived with all kinds of paperwork, two years worth of tax receipts, pay stubs, IRAs, college funds and all the paperwork that proves that while we have not much liquid assets we have lots of other money hidden away. And after taking all of that into consideration we applied for a loan. What is really cool about this loan is the extremely low APR and the help with down payments and all of that fun. So we should be hearing back in the next day or so if we are approved. But the loan lady seem to think it was a sure thing and was very positive.

What is the moral to this story? If everything goes according to plan we will be signing papers next Saturday and buying a condo!!!!!!!!!!!! A house of our own!!!!!!!!! It so exciting I might just pop. I have spent the last two days looking at appliances and lighting fixtures and paint cards. There is so much to think about and do... I hope we get the call soon or I might explode!

You want more? OK!

Alternative baby!



This is what angels must look like.

More Baby!

And here is my sleepy girl.

A happy baby learning that belly time is happy time.

Ramdon faces of cuteness

Baby's first Christmas. AKA: Silent night.

What's over there?

A brand new car!!!

We received a phone call last night from a company that Mr. C entered a drawing with. They informed him that we had been chosen to win one of the top five prizes and all we had to do was come on out and pull a piece of paper out from a bowl and see what we had won. It could be anything from a cruise to Mexico, a trip to Hawaii, or a brand new car worth up to $100,000!!! And all we have to do is show up!!! Well, that's not quite true. We also have to sit through a 90 min presentation on time shares.

Now, I don't know about you, but that sounds suspicious to me. However they said that we would not be required to buy or sign up for anything. And Mr. C asked them to email him all the info. And they were being supported by the Dicken's Faire, which is pretty reputable. (mostly...in recent years)

I don't mind sitting in on a presentation. 90 min seems like a small price to pay for a nice prize. However there is a catch (there is always a catch) they do not want children under the age of 10 there. So we will need to figure out what to do with Mel-Belle. Perhaps I can convince someone to masquerade as me so I can sit in the car with Melly and wait and while we still get the prize. Or possible have someone sit in the car with Melly while I go to the presentation so I can come out and rescue/feed if necessary.

Who knows, maybe they are legit. Maybe we will have a new car on Sunday. Or maybe we will get a nice lunch with a friend and screw the stinking time share anyway.

Rain and Snow

We are currently getting slammed with a huge storm. There are power lines down, trees down, gusts of wind up to 55 miles an hour... And we live in the woods. What does this mean for little old us? Well, it means that our power has been flickering all night and morning. It means that bits of stuff are falling all over the roof and making lots of noise and it means that all the roads off the hill and into town are closed due to trees falling and downed power lines. I love a good storm.

So this morning we were up and ready for work on time. Mel-Belle and I were in the car and driving down the hill right on schedule. I was driving over large sticks and pine fronds. I was feeling like quite the rough rider and then it happened. Right at the base of the road were we meet the main highway there was a tree. So I turned around and headed back home. I figured I should tell my hubby about the tree so he didn't waste his time and I was still in blackout cell phone area.

I got back home and told him. He said that the other road into town was out because of power lines. Well crap. I am the only person in the office today. No one to call and no one to cover while I try and get down off the hill. So I bundled the baby back into the car and headed back down towards the tree hoping that one of the big construction trucks that had passed me had decided to stop and deal with the tree for everyone. By the time I made it down there the baby was screaming bloody murder and the tree was being cut away by some nice neighbors. So we waited.

And not long afterwards we were being ushered through and all was right with the world... Except for the screaming baby. So we pulled over at the beach and I did a lap change (remember I can't be outside of the car as the storm is still pouring down water on my head.) and gave her a little food to calm her and we were off... an hour behind, but here non the less. I just received a call from Mr. C, apparently after all the work we put into getting to work this morning, his office has no power.

And here I am goofing off instead of working. But I needed to tell my story to someone. Thanks for listening. I now return you to your normally scheduled program.

Happy New Year

This is the cutest picture of Mel-belle yet. (Look, Mr. C fixed it, no more sideways)

It's 2008 and looking back on the past year I have absolutely no idea where this one will lead us. All I know is life seems to be getting better and lots of fun.

So here is to all of the people who I love and the people who love me.

Happy New Year!!!