Too Flogged to Blog

Sorry to all of my avid fans (all 2 of you!) for not having more delightful entries to post as of late, but things have been hectic! Busy at work, busy getting ready for Christmas, and busy watching Josie mimic us. That's right - we cough, she "coughs." We sneeze, she *tries* to sneeze, but just ends up giggling instead. We wave, she waves. We put our arms up and say "so big," she puts her arms up. We sigh, she sighs. It's been awfully fun to watch her develop and constantly watch us for cues. She's scooting all over the house now, finding any little scrap of paper on the floor and trying to hide it from daddy when he tries to take it away before it goes in her mouth. She's ready and kneeling in her crib in the morning, just waiting for us to open the door and giving a delightful smile when she finally sees us.

We visited with Santa over the weekend, and it went surprisingly well. I expected a fat lip and some tears as she is going through some of the stranger anxiety right now, but I think she was too enthralled with the beard to be scared. Here's a picture for ya -



If I don't get a chance to write again before the weekend, have a very Merry Christmas! Travel safely and enjoy the holidays!

Winter Wonderland

I know it sounds like such a cliche, but viewing the world through the eyes of a child is so awesome. For example, winter is definitely here, pummelling us with about 6 inches of snow over the last couple of days. In the adult mind, I'm thinking how much this sucks. It's purty and all, but getting around in it pretty much blows goats, especially when everyone else is nowhere near as good of a driver as I am. ;) Keep your comments to yourselves on that one.

But looking at this winter wonderland through Josie's eyes is an entirely different matter. After picking her up from daycare yesterday and walking outside, she had the most amazed expression at the white blanket covering EVERYTHING. We stopped near a tree by the sidewalk and she very tentatively reached out to touch this amazing stuff on the branches. I had forgotten that since she was born in January and was just an itty bitty bean the last time snow was around, that this would be the first winter that she is aware of what's going on around her. Very cool. Maybe the fun the snow will provide will make up for the anguish of putting on all the winter gear, especially that darn poofy coat that doesn't allow her to move once she's buckled into the carseat. Life is rough. We even hear an occasional *sigh* from the backseat. Although it can't be all bad - I did catch her playing peek-a-boo with herself in the mirror we have on the backseat so we can see her - she was pulling her hat down over her eyes and leaving it there for a few seconds, then lifting it up a little and peeking out at her reflection. Too cute. I'm so glad we have a girl who can amuse herself. She certainly provides good entertainment for the rest of us, too :)

Josie's Got Places To Go!

Our little girl is all grown up! Okay - maybe that's a *slight* exaggeration, but it sure feels like she's grown by leaps and bounds in the past few days. Friday afternoon we were playing in her room, when all of the sudden she just up and crawled out the door into the hallway. Just like she'd been doing it for months. As she stopped, then turned around to look at me for reassurance that what she just did was okay, I could see this excited twinkle in her eyes as she realized that a whole new world just opened up before her! I hope what I conveyed to her was absolute excitement and encouragement and not the panicky feeling I was trying to hide as I realized that a whole new world also opened up for us, her parents! More bumps on the head, pinched fingers and frustrated cries as she gets stuck in places that seem fascinating and must be visited. But it really is the cutest to watch that little diapered butt scoot across the floor, and I am so happy for her new development. She also has begun to kneel and try to stand in her crib, and to attempt to pull herself up onto any solid object that comes her way. So Fun! And So Scary!

A Better Way

Josie has finally decided there is a better way to get around than rolling from place to place, which she had become quite proficient at, actually. For the last couple of nights, Pat has been able to get her to take some tentative crawling "steps" toward, of all things, the newspaper. A Cub foods ad, to be exact. She is still doing more creeping than crawling, so far, but is finally well on her way. She's also showing more interest in pulling herself up on the couch and coffee table as she's realizing there's more to life than what's on the living room floor.

Here are a couple of pictures for your Thursday morning:


"Fancy 'do!" And "No more kisses!"

Priorities

What is it about having nothing to do that perpetuates doing nothing?

I was looking forward to a wide-open weekend with NO plans. Wow - what a lot of stuff around the house I was going to get done! Well, guess what... I pretty much got nothing done. Don't get me wrong - I'm not beating myself up about it (too much - with the exception of a missed playdate Saturday - darn Josie and her erratic napping habits!) but it does lead to frustration. Sure, I got the laundry washed, dried, folded and put away, which is quite a feat in and of itself - but there are still dishes in the sink, hair on the bathroom floor and Christmas decos in their boxes. I wanted to organize the closet overflowing with out-of-season clothes - didn't happen. I wanted to get the extra overstuffed sofa out of our living room so we have an iota of space - didn't happen. I wanted to get my recipes picked out for the annual cookie bake coming up - didn't happen. We desperately need a run to Target, and that didn't happen, either. We DID have a very nice visit Saturday with one of Pat's uncles and family, and had brunch Sunday with another couple and their adorable 4 month old that we don't get to see very much - so all wasn't lost. And I guess I could have foregone the 2 hour nap on Saturday afternoon while Josie was napping... but that is a precious opportunity that I just couldn't let pass! And I guess Jo could have taken her 1/2 hour catnap yesterday afternoon in her crib instead of cuddled up on me while we snuggled underneath a blanket... but again, couldn't pass that one up, either. So I guess how you look at what got accomplished is all a matter of priorities.

I'll take cuddle naps and brunch any day over dishes and closet-organizing. :)

It's going to be a lonnnnggg afternoon...

Upon returning to work after maternity leave, I had been working until 1:30 on Thursdays, instead of my normal quitting time of 4:15. It was nice. Very nice. There's just something magical about leaving the office under the jealous, furtive glances of co-workers confined to their cubes until quittin' time, getting on that elevator and kissing this place goodbye until Monday morning. But, alas, it is no more. Now that the winter months are upon us, I found that leaving at 1:30, trucking down to our parking lot to get the car (or waiting for the bus to the lot, which is much like standing in line at the DMV,) letting the car warm up, driving to daycare, chatting with daycare Betty, bundling up Josiebean, making our way home and not arriving until 2:30... then putting her down for a nap, getting her up, bundling her up again and hopping back in the car (oh, yeah... we also have a detached garage - which is a GIANT hassle in the winter) to go pick up Pat from work at 4:45, just wasn't worth it anymore. Granted, Patrick could take the bus home... but that can take anywhere from 1/2 hour to eternity during rush hour. Then he misses any time with Josie before she turns in at the whopping late hour of 6:30 pm. So - we decided that since we're paying for a whole day at daycare on Thursdays anyway, I may as well stay at work for a couple more hours and make a little - and I mean LITTLE - more moola. It's not like Josie and I were getting any real, quality bonding time. So come 1:30, I'll still be here, looking longingly toward the direction of the elevator while my co-workers secretly smirk with glee. *sigh*

Pluggin' Along

We're pluggin' along in the Daly household - bundlin' up, gettin' new teeth (Josie FINALLY cut one of her top front teeth,) workin', eatin' and sleepin'. Jo has had the sniffles and a hacky cough for the past while - nothing earthshattering, just annoying for her when she's trying to sleep. Oh, the joys of daycare! Just when she gets over one bout of sniffles, onto the next! We *think* she's started to say mama. She's been babbling dadadadada for a while, but wouldn't break out the mamamama for me, unless she was really mad. So I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. But last night I woke up around midnight to hear her awake in her crib chattering away and throwing around some mama mamas for me. What a nice thing to be woken up by :) I'm sure I won't feel the same way when she's 3 and is screaming "Mama" at the top of her lungs, so I'll enjoy this now. I know the dadadas and mamamas are not probably specific to Pat and me yet... but it's still an awfully sweet thing to hear.

Patrick's hockey team lost their playoff game on Monday night - so he can finally get his hair cut. I wasn't aware that this superstition was alive and kickin' in our house, until I suggested that a haircut was overdue last week. I was greeted with a reaction of utter astonishment that I would even suggest such a thing until the playoffs were over. I'm not exactly a fan of "hockey hair," so I can't say that I'm too disappointed to see this hockey season come to a close. :)

Saw the movie "Rent" last night. It was... good. I didn't think it was great, but definitely worth seeing. The most enjoyable part of the evening was the part where I got to go out the door with myself, and my wallet and keys... and that's it! Sure felt great to have a "night out." So many great movies coming out soon... I can't wait!

Blog Worthy

I'm chuckling to myself because I just realized the title of this blog reminds me of a very funny Seinfeld episode. I'm not going into detail - but let me know if you get it. :)

Hmm. The last couple of days I've been searching for something worthy to write about.

I've got nothin'.

I usually do a weekend wrap-up. But nothing overly exciting happened last weekend. Josie and I did nothing but play and hang out at home on Friday, then Saturday we went to a very fun baby shower for my work-friend Kate, who is due in January, and Sunday I went to book club at Michelle's house. Which is always fun - so nothing new there, either.

There are not a lot of ground-breaking new happenings in Josie's life, either. She's still giving us the fish lips, had a couple more amazing explosions over the weekend (but still no new teeth,) and continues to be her cute, funny self. She did have her 10 month birthday on Saturday - which is mind boggling, to me, at least. In the words of Auntie Meg... Josie was "on" at the baby shower. She was being especially cute and charming, wow-ing everyone with her amazing capability for hanging out upside down on my lap. She's a ham. I guess her newly-found love for being upside down is a fresh development - so there you go. That's all I've got.

Oh - Pat's hockey team won their first playoff game last night. So that's pretty exciting. I guess. Not that I've been able to go to one of his games in the last couple of seasons, what with being either pregnant and very sleepy or at home with baby, and very sleepy. And his games are at all God-forsaken hours of the night, like 9:00 and 10:00 pm. I'm usually climbing into bed as he's packing up his stinky gear and heading out the door.

To continue with some random thoughts, and since I'm not sure if I'll be able to blog again before Thanksgiving, here are some things I'm thankful for this year. In no particular order.

The amazing gift of motherhood and everything that comes with it.
My truly unique, funny, talented and supportive network of friends.
Patrick. (see earlier blog titled "That's why I married you...")
The continued health and happiness of our families.
Being able to give Josie a home - even if I do call it a crap shack and make Patrick very angry.

That's probably enough for now. Of course, there are always little things like pie, office supplies and Caribou coffee... but it just seems a little materialistic to give thanks for that kind of stuff. :)

Have a Happy Turkey Day. Travel safely and wear elastic pants.
Love,
Carol

Toaster Woes, Secret Turkeys and a Blowout of Epic Proportions

So we (meaning the collective 12th floor employees of the 401 building) get to work yesterday morning to find a bright red notice posted in our vending area, right above the toaster. It says something to the effect of "the use of personal appliances such as space heaters, toasters and coffee makers is prohibited... yadda yadda yadda... will be confiscated... blah blah blah." Since I sit relatively near the vending area, I've been able to hear the utter discontent this has caused among my co-workers. You'd think they posted a sign telling everyone that it will be mandatory to donate a kidney or sign their paychecks back over to the company and work for free. Since I'm not one to bring in items which require toasting and don't really give a hoot if our toaster is confiscated, I've gotten quite a kick listening to the conversations this declaration has provoked.

"What am I going to do?! What about my English muffins?!"
"How about they focus on real problems like ice machines that don't work?!"
"Who's a toaster going to hurt?"
"Oh, no! Somebody better hide the toaster!"
"I hear on the 11th floor they have a coffee maker. Man, I wonder if that's gone?"

When you put it into perspective, I guess if a confiscated toaster is all we have to worry about, then our lives aren't really so rough, are they? :)

The other excitement at work this week in my department has been the annual "Secret Turkey" gift exchange. Normally, in cube-land, this type of activity is done around the Christmas holiday, but with everyone's busy schedules, vacation times being used and generally hectic workloads at that time of year, this department decided to do it around Thanksgiving. We drew names and brought gifts each day this week for the person whose name you drew. Can I just say, I had the BEST SECRET TURKEY EVER. It was so awesome to get to work each day to lovely gifts, and a cute poem from my "turkey." I can be put in a VERY good mood with a little chocolate, let me tell ya.

Lastly - I just have to share (whether you want to know or not) that Josie had the biggest, the nastiest, the smelliest blowout last night in her crib. What a joy for Patrick and I to open up the door to her room this morning to a foul smell - and I mean FOUL. It actually made Pat gag, and he has never done that before. Anyone who gets frequent updates on Jo's pooping habits knows that we have a little trouble in this area as her "movements," while frequent, are normally quite hard and difficult for her to pass. We've pushed fruit, veggies, juice, karo syrup in her bottles (as suggested by her doctor - in case you're wondering) to no avail. But for some reason last night - she exploded. EXPLODED. And I must say, she seemed in much better spirits this morning after her cleansing! After gaining his composure and helping me go through about 15 baby wipes, Pat ran the nasty abomination directly out to the garbage can. The diaper genie was going to be no match for this one! Poor garbage men. I really should send them flowers or something. Not that they'd be able to smell them after stopping at our house.

Fish Lips

Hello Everyone - this is Josie and I just wanted to tell you all that my Mommy and Daddy keep laughing at me! All I do is make my latest funny fish face - which would probably be described more accurately as "kiss lips," since there isn't really any sucking in of the corners of the mouth. To make my new face... you try it, too... just wrinkle up your nose and pretend you're going to give someone a big kiss. I don't see what's so funny about it - just like when I shake my head, growl and wave at the same time - I can do them all together, so why not?!

I had a very fun, very full weekend with Mommy and Daddy. Here's what we did:

8:00 am Friday - Target run with Mommy. She takes a long time to pick out stuff. Sometimes I get bored. But I do like to poop at Target. Except it works better if I lean to the side in the cart, and sometimes I hit my head on the edge and that makes me mad.

Noontime Friday - We went to Dino's Gyros and picked up food, then had lunch with Daddy at the big building downtown. I like to stroll with Mommy through the skyway. There are lots of strange people to look at.

Afternoon Friday - We had fun at Eastview Park enjoying the last warmth of the season!Brewster came with and Mommy played fetch with him lots. He's funny to watch run around. Then then a police officer drove by, and Mommy got real nervous because Brewster wasn't on a leash. But he just kept on driving. Then Daddy came to the park after work and played, too. It was fun.

2:00 pm Saturday - Me and Mommy went to a bridal shower for Mommy's cousin Elizabeth in Racine, Mn. We were in the car for a long time. I slept for a while. Mommy had lots of toys in the car that she'd keep handing to me when I'd throw one, so I had plenty to keep me busy. I got to visit with Grandma Sue and Great Grandma Janet and Great-Great Auntie Mabel... and lots of other family, too! Then we had to leave the party and get back in the car again. I fell asleep right away this time. It's a lot of work to entertain so many people.

5:00 pm Saturday - "Auntie" Tricia's 30th birthday party. Wow - 30!! That's a lot older than me. There were lots of people there, and they were all in the garage. Auntie Tricia hung up balloons, so they were fun to look at. My friend Owen and his Mommy were there, but I didn't get to see them much because I got sleepy and went to bed. And I got to see some of Mommy's friends from high school. Kari is so nice. She's kind of twitterpated right now, but I can see why... her boyfriend is really cute. But we only get to see pictures because he's in a Buffalo right now :) And Dawn and her husband Gary were there... they're awfully nice, too. Gary's a little strange - but that's okay, 'cause so are Mommy and Daddy. :) I can tell Mommy and Daddy like them lots. I hope I get to see them more!

Sunday morning - I slept until 8:30 am! Mommy and Daddy woke me up at Kevin and Tricia's at midnight and brought me home to sleep in my crib. I was confused! It was dark out and we were in the car. But I was very tired, so I went right back to sleep and stayed in my crib until morning. Mommy wasn't moving very fast on Sunday morning, though. She had some Margaritans and I guess they make you want to stay in bed. I played and played all morning with Mommy and Daddy. I took a nap - then watched a Viking play football with a Giant. I guess the Viking won because Daddy was doing lots of happy yelling.

3:00 pm Sunday - Cousin Trent's birthday party. He's 2 now. He got lots of presents, but cousin Trevor opened most of them. I guess you can do that when you're the big brother. So I got to see all of my Daddy's family, too. And I finally let my Grandpa Mike hold me a little bit. He bounced me lots on his knee, and that was fun. Maybe he's not so scary, after all.

I was very tired Sunday night. We had a big weekend. But I got to visit with so many family members and friends - it was fun. I hope we get to see everyone again soon! Gotta go make some more fish lips!

Love, Josie

That's why I married you...

Because you woke up the next morning after going out downtown Minneapolis and said that it just wasn't the same anymore.

Because you told our daughter the story of Little Boy Blue... who grew up to join the Navy, and when he was about 90 years old joined a fraternity and was Frank the Tank's "boy."

Because you went back to the video store to rent something different after you brought home a movie that I declared was scary and refused to watch.

Because you asked me to let you be the one to get up with Josie and give her her morning bottle.

Because you make me french toast.
And eggs.
And pancakes.
And bacon.

Because you continued to clean the litter box everyday waaaaaayy after I was not pregnant anymore.

Because you dressed Josie in a newborn jacket when she was 7 months old and put her pants on backwards when you dressed her to go for a walk so I could take a nap.

Because you email me a "menu" at work so I can pick out what I want for supper.

Because you change the words to songs on the radio and make me laugh every time I hear that song again.

Because you pretend not to be thrilled when everyone tells you how much Jo looks like you.

Because you *tried* not to look terrified at the size of the needle going into my back when I was getting my epidural.

Because you indulge my addiction to reality tv shows and don't complain about it. Too much.

Because you hid change in my shoe so I wouldn't put it in our "bank" at home- but then forgot about it and let me have it when I found it.

Because you take the dog for a car ride when he's driving me crazy at home.

Because you calmed Josie, made her smile and handed her back to me after I nipped her with the fingernail clipper and felt like the most horrible mother in the whole world.

Because you get the spiders, even though I suspect you hate them even more than I do.

Because you want so badly for a new baseball stadium to be built not so much for your own enjoyment, but because you want to be able to take Josie to a nice ball park.

Because you love her so much that you worry about every bump on the head.

Because you held my hand and didn't let go when she had to have a spinal tap. And because you squeezed my hand. Hard.

And because you let me be the one to hold her when it was done.

I could go on. And on. But you get the idea.

Nothin' but the Radio On

Josephine's newest trick is to be sweetly and innocently getting her diaper changed on the changing table, just waiting for that precise moment when mom or dad has the dirty diaper off and is reaching for the new one, and then flipping herself defiantly onto her tummy, bare bottom in the air and being oh, so proud of her cleverness! This fun game continues for a few minutes until either mom or dad has to call for backup while secretly praying that Jo doesn't have to "go" in the middle of all of this hilarity. As frustrating as her latest antics can be, I know there are many more fun times ahead- especially once she can walk and we'll see that cute little bare bottom toddling away from us. There's *hardly* anything more adorable than a bare little baby butt.

She's very close to crawling... Josie pulled herself up to a sitting position from laying on her side over the weekend, and can almost get herself on all fours from aforementioned sitting position, but just can't *quite* figure out how to get that second leg swung underneath herself. It's absolutely fascinating to watch- you can almost see the cogs turning in her little head (which isn't so little, by the way... we had her 9 month doc visit on Friday, and her head measurement is in the 97th percentile!) as she tries to figure this stuff out. I love watching as something will happen by accident, and she'll sit for a moment to mull over if this is something she should try again, cry about or forget happened and continue playing. She'll usually look to one of us for a cue... man, what a burden of responsibility to have the appropriate reaction, especially when we usually just want to laugh!

We (perhaps I should say "I"... Patrick got lots of helpful things done around the house) had a very laid-back weekend. I didn't even venture out of the house once. And I don't feel guilty about it in the least! As a matter of fact- I don't even think I ever changed out of comfy clothes. Yet another thing that I don't feel guilty about considering that weekends from here on out will be filling up quickly with pre-holiday activities. Have a wonderful Monday!

Thumb-suckin' Pacifier Thief

So I was always under the impression that babies come hard-wired from the get go to be either pacifier suckers or thumb suckers, and if they didn't go for either right away, then they just didn't need it. Josie showed disdain for pacifiers from day 1, and I was pleasantly surprised. Great! No unpleasant weaning from a paci, or nuky, or bing or whatever other cutsey terms evolve around pacifiers. Now, she would occasionally suck on a finger or hand or arm or couch, but just never seemed to be overly gung-ho for her thumb. Or pacifier. We just thought she wasn't going to be a "sucker."

Until recently.

Apparently, she is now aware enough to notice that- "Hey! That kid has something that I don't. And I think I want it!" Her first victims were the Watson twins. They naively thought that they could toodle around the couch in front of her with their pacifiers safely in their mouths. But they were wrong. She popped the nuks from their mouths and popped them right in hers. I don't think they knew quite what to think of this ballsy kid taking advantage of them this way- and a girl, nonetheless! They were used to it from each other - but not someone else. After this first offense, we began to get reports from daycare that the thief was striking there, too. All of a sudden, Josie would have a nuk in her mouth, and Alexa or Isiah wouldn't. Then just last Sunday, another encounter with the Watson boys lead to more thievery. I think they'll probably just avoid her in the future. :)

Not long after the pacifier crime spree began, the thumb sucking started. We'd find her in her crib in the morning, contentedly pretending to still be asleep while plugging away at her little thumb. I have to admit- it's awful darn cute. Then she started to find it while we'd be rocking her before bed, and now promptly pops it in her mouth when we lay her down at night.

I guess thinking back- she did always find the tags on her "taggie" blanket and shove the silky pieces of fabric in her mouth when she was tired, so perhaps we simply deprived her the opportunity to become attached to a nuk, or she probably would have. If it's got to be a paci or a thumb, I'm happy she's chosen the thumb. Come to think of it, I was a passionate thumb sucker and look at how good I turned out. Right?!

My Pumpkin is a Pirate!

Josie had us cracking up at dinner last night. She makes this great pirate-like growling noise all the time now, and apparently has figured out how to wave, and also shakes her head back and forth- which she's been doing quite regularly for some time. The funny thing is (well, funny to us, at least!)... now she does them all at the same time, frequently with a toy or stuffed animal in her mouth! So imagine, if you will- a small stuffed black cat hanging by one paw out of Jo's mouth while she's shaking her head, waving and growling. Multi-talented baby, I tell ya!

My Pumpkin

Happy Halloween! As you can see- Josie had a great time being a pumpkin on her first Halloween. She was awfully cute, if I do say so myself. Thanks to the Gronaus for throwing a lovely Vikings/Halloween party and giving us all an excuse to dress up our babies and get together.

No thanks AT ALL to the Vikings for completely and totally sucking. If they want this bandwagon fan back on board, they'd better stop stinking and do a big turnaround before this season ends. But I'm not holding my breath. Just as sure as a boat floats on Lake Minnetonka (!), this Vikes season floats like a turd in a toilet. Not that I'm bitter or anything.

Yes, the costume was bought off-the-rack and not hand-made... but she would have been a poor little naked baby if she would have had to wait for me to make her a costume. Maybe my creative mom gene will kick in during the next couple of years and I'll dazzle you all with adorable costumes, but I'm not holding my breath on that one, either :) Here is Josie with a couple of her cute friends, Owen and Lucy.

One of THEM

I had a realization on Friday. Josie and I decided to go to the Mall of America. That's not the realization, just hold on a minute, I'm getting there. We had a great time strolling, people watching, and shopping. As we were milling around the mall, I realized that I have become one of THEM. You know- the Mall Moms. Cute babies in strollers, diaper bags in tow and trendy coffee drinks in hand, shopping and walking and amusing their little ones in the hopes that they can hit just ONE MORE store before a meltdown occurs. BB (that's Before Baby) I was one of the annoyed shoppers dodging strollers and rolling my eyes at wailing little ones. Now, I'm doling out sympathetic smiles at moms trying to calm down sobbing babies, casting furtive glances to see what brand of stroller they have and strutting proudly while my cute baby smiles and babbles at passers-by. I vaguely remember a time when I'd vehemently declare that I would never be one of THOSE parents who'd take a stroller to the state fair, or let my baby cry in a store- how annoying! Hmm. How quickly things change. I now realize I am one of THEM, and I'm quite proud of it. Now pass me a trendy coffee drink, I've got some strolling to do.

Friendly Reminder

I was reminded by a co-worker today that there are 2 months remaining before Christmas. I mean, really. Yikes! Do we have to start a countdown ALREADY??! There are Christmas decos in the stores already, and it's not even Halloween! Seems like the stores start jumping the gun earlier and earlier every year; let's slow down and enjoy the time we're in- geez, martha! Back-To-School supplies are out at the end of June, Halloween decos show up around August and pretty soon we'll probably start seeing 4th of July goods before Christmas! Time goes by fast enough without having to plan 6 months in advance. So There. I've had my rant for the day. Thank you. And Happy Easter.

Addicted

I was told yesterday by bookclub friends that they were surprised to see that I am actually blogging more than they expected, and in fact, I am doing it more than I anticipated. If you read my first entry- you'll see that I set the expectation very low- that way, you wouldn't be disappointed :) I have to admit... I'm a little addicted. It's still fresh and new, and I'm sure I'll tire of the novelty soon. But then again, maybe I won't... you'll just have to keep checking back to see! How's that for a tease? And leave a comment, whydontcha? It'd be nice to see who's been lurking out there. I'm not asking for a novel- just a hello.

Anyway- I wanted to post something out here that I think is very sweet. It's a poem/song we heard on Friday night at the B & B, sung by the eccentric mother of one of the innkeepers. She's a hoot. During our exploration of the house, we wandered into the... parlor (?) I guess it'd be called. We found an accordian-playing guest and his wife along with Marion (the eccentric mother) burning up the piano and accordian, if such a thing is possible. It was quite amusing and entertaining. Marion proclaimed that if and when she gets married again (she's 74!) she wants this song played during the wedding. She played it for us, then wouldn't let us leave again until she had read the lyrics to us to make sure we fully appreciated them. It's called "To Celia" by Ben Johnson.

Drink to me, only with thine eyes
And I will pledge with mine;
Or leave a kiss but in the cup,
And I'll not look for wine.
The thirst that from the soul doth rise
Doth ask a drink divine:
But might I of Jove's nectar sup
I would not change for thine.

I sent thee late a rosy wreath,
Not so much honouring thee
As giving it a hope that there
It could not withered be
But thou thereon didst only breathe
And sent'st it back to me:
Since, when it grows and smells, I swear,
Not of itself but thee.

1825 Days of Wedded Bliss... and counting

Patrick and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary on Friday the 21st. Kay, Bob, Val and Em were kind enough to watch Josie for us Friday night while we redeemed our gift certificate (of course- it's just like a coupon!) to Oakenwald Terrace Bed and Breakfast in Chatfield. We also had dinner at the Branding Iron in Preston. Patrick asks about it every time we drive through on the way to Mom and Erwin's, so I decided that it was probably about time we stopped in for dinner, and this was a perfect opportunity. This was Josie's first slumber party overnight with someone else... and it went beautifully. Thank you, Coes, for helping us have a wonderful anniversary experience!

I'd highly recommend Oakenwald to anyone looking for a unique B & B experience. Great hospitality, interesting house and wonderful breakfast. www.oakenwaldterrace.com

Happy 9 month birthday, Josie!

9 months. I can't believe it. Of all the cliches floating around out there, "time goes by so fast once you have kids" is the one that has rung the most true for me. She's been out in the world for as long as she was inside me now, and it feels like I barely blinked. The months turn into minutes, the weeks into seconds.

Our happy little baby is turning into a happy little girl! She is so aware of herself and her surroundings now, loves to play peek-a-boo and smirks when the tickle-monster is on the way to get her. Her new favorite toy is a plastic serving spoon from our drawer- it is true that the best toys are the everyday items you find around the house! Bathtime is funtime... she can splash Mommy or Daddy, and her voice sounds very cool in the echo-ey shower! It's always an adventure to go in and get her in the morning as we never quite know where she'll end up in her crib, will she be on her tummy or her back? Will there be an arm or a leg sticking out- or both?! So much fun, so much to learn, so much to look forward to! The first 9 months have been a treat- I can't wait for the next!

Please don't eat the frisbee...

So I was at a benefit fair today in Minneapolis for Wells Fargo employees, oh sorry- "Team Members." As their chosen life insurance carrier, Minnesota Life sends a representative of the company to these fairs all across the country to answer questions, pass out plan info and hand out some trinket with the Minnesota Life name on it to clutter up homes of team members. The trinket this year- a floppy, squishy frisbee type thing called a high flyer. Most of the people who cruise through this array of tables occupied by insurance, dental and vision vendors are there for one reason and one reason only: free stuff. So one genius takes his hot pink frisbee with glee (a little too much glee, if you ask me) and returns to work. A little while later he's back at my booth, waiting in line to talk to me. And what does he ask me, you may wonder? Get this- "Is the frisbee edible?" IS THE FRISBEE EDIBLE?! No, Einstein. Please don't EAT the squishy siliconey object. Geesh! It's scary out there, I'll tell you what.

A Night Out, Pow Wow and Pumpkins

Another weekend winds down here in the Daly household. Patrick is putting Josie to bed as I write. Of course, if you ask her if she's tired, you'll get an emphatic head shake "no." Granted, she does generalize this head shake to any question you ask... but it's fun to pretend.

The weather was absolutely beautiful this whole weekend- truly fall perfection. Friday night we got to enjoy a night out (thanks to Pat's mom for watching Josie-bean) at Chris and Mary's wedding reception. We had a great time, it was at the St. Paul College Club on Summit Avenue- a very unique, intimate setting. Did a little eating, a little drinking and a little dancing, and it felt so good to have a night away from home!

Saturday brought the Daly family Pow Wow. This was a tradition Pat's family used to enjoy every October when he was young, and now has revived for the last 3 years. There are lots of reasons to celebrate in October in the Daly family... many birthdays and anniversaries throughout the family. This year was bittersweet as it was the first pow wow and first birthday without Grandma Daly. It wasn't quite the same without her yummy treats and fiery energy bouncing around- but I'm sure the tradition will be carried on for many years to come to help keep her memory alive. There is a new generation starting with Deb's (Pat's sister) two boys, Trevor and Trent, Travis and Kate's (Kate is Pat's cousin- and shown in the picture above) boy Tate and now our Josie. And of course, we can't forget Brewster and KC (both labs) who look forward to the pow wow all year long so they can play and play and play, and play!


Yet another warm, sunny, beautiful day today. We went out to eat with Pat's aunt/godmother, Kathy and her husband, Randy. It's another tradition in the family to eat out on birthdays at an East Side restaurant called Governor's. The birthday boy or girl gets their meal for free and a free drink at the bar... and everyone in the Daly family loves the word free! :) As today was Kathy's birthday and would have been Grandma Daly's, too, it was a nice way to celebrate the day. After dinner, Pat, Josie and I made our way to Pine Tree Apple Orchard in White Bear Lake. That's right, Peg... PUMPKINS!! Josie absolutely loved her first pumpkin experience. Well, she probably liked grabbing at the weeds on the ground more than the pumpkins- but she had a ton of fun, nonetheless. Every new discovery and new experience is such a joy for Josie- it's impossible to resist getting caught up in the excitement and sharing it with her.

Baby Boom

Wow. We're at that age and place in life where it seems that you can't throw a stone without hitting a pregnant lady. (I wouldn't actually throw stones at pregnant ladies, but you know what I mean.) Just found out that ANOTHER co-worker is preggo and due in April. This brings my tally to 4 co-workers, 3 close friends, a couple of acquaintances and a partridge in a pear tree. Anyone else have any news for me...?

East Side Little People Chaos

We had dinner last night at the Gronau's... so much fun. They also invited their neighbors, the Watsons, with their twin boys (Will and Owen) who are about a month older than Josie. I can't even tell you how fun it was to sit in the living room and watch the 4 little ones have a free-for-all with Lucy's toys. Really, I don't get to see Jojo interact with other kids very much since I am trapped in cube land all day while she's at daycare.

As I was sitting on the floor watching Lucy chatter in her own Lucy-language, Will and Owen climb over one another and their mom, and Josie master the art of sitting up without toppling over, I remembered something a friend said at bookclub once. Meg was pregnant with Lucy and I had only told a few people that I was pregnant with Jo. She said to Meg that she hoped she realized how truly lucky she was to be able to have a child. Last night I was struck upside the head with that thought, again. How very lucky we are.

P.S. Tater Tot casserole rules.

Bandwagon Blues

Alright. So I just scraped my knee jumping on the bandwagon. Seems that everybody's blogging, and I've resisted up until today. What I wanted to do was to make a guess in my friend Meg's baby pool- and what I ended up doing was creating my own blog. *sigh*

Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm not the most *ambitious* person in the world. I'm not one to take on projects that place expectations for a timely result, or a result at all, for that matter. :) Procrastination is the name of my game! So be forewarned- don't expect much from this blog, and you're certain not to be disappointed. There probably won't be any (or many) witty insights, current photos of Josephine, or updated entries on a regular basis. With that said... Welcome! I look forward to keeping you mildly informed of what's going on in our Daly lives :)

This is us:
Patrick- age 29, Carol- age 29, and Josephine Daly- age 8 months. And Brewster. We're not sure how old he is. There are a couple of cats that let us live with them, too. You can see them in this picture:
We like to hang out together in the same room at all times. Baxter is the black cat, Buford is the tan cat. We're a happy family! I look forward to hearing from you, so post a comment or two and let me know what's up.