A Fun Weekend

This weekend we had been looking forward to a visit from Chris's mom, but unfortunately she wasn't able to make it (Hope you feel better soon!!).
So Chris decided to go to scotch night with his friends--yes, we are that midwest now that Chris goes to a whisky/dinner night with a bunch of guys from work--we'll let you know when we join a bunco club! Although, I love girls night with Penny she isn't much of a Friday night kind of girl since she goes to sleep at 6:30 so I had Lacey come over for Musical night. She brought over some cheescake and we watched Kiss Me Kate and Annie Get Your Gun. We've decided scotch night will be our musical night.
Oh, and on Friday we steamed some broccoli and mixed with sweet potato. Penny LOVED it as you can tell from this smile.
Saturday morning--She had hoped to show her grandma that she can read Grandma in Spanish
Okay, maybe she isn't reading quite yet...
Do you remember back in November we had a play date with Libbi? At that time they just stared at us from the crib. Well, they still think their mommies are crazy with the cameras but they were a little more interested in each other.
Here are Penny and Libbi playing with toys:Penny had a few cranky moments "Plastic bottles taste good...here you try"

I take hundreds of mediocre pictures for every smiling Penelope picture. Try to get 2 babies to smile at the same time. Impossible! Here's one of Libbi smiling:

Watching their crazy mommies sing songs and make faces And a smile from Penny :)

Becoming Me

NOTE: This post is not a Penelope update. There aren't any pictures (sorry mom)
I'm going to open up about this strange neuroses I have...or maybe it is not strange, but I've never really talked about it to people outside my family (who all seem to suffer from it. Chris has helped me get over some of it). It might be kind of hard for me to explain. I have these visions of the me I want to be and yet reality comes up so short of who I want to be. For example, I have this idea that I'll be a person that really cares that my house is "guest ready" at all times. I come up with these ideas and follow websites like flylady to get everything on schedule and organized..but a bathroom that needs to be cleaned will never pull me away from a page turner book. My idealized Laura rarely procrastinates online, has all projects organized at work, always does quality activities with Penny after day care (heck, I see her awake for like 3 hours a day and yet sometimes I'm so tired and realize I need to get everything ready for the next day that I'm running around the house with her in my arms, then after she goes to bed at 6:30 I futz around on Facebook or watch trash tv so then the next morning I'm still not ready and am a disheveled mess). Back to my list of the me I want to be...I'd go back to the violin and actually practice, I'd volunteer at my local community center, I'd be disciplined to work out and have confidence to try new activities besides the eliptical in the back corner, I'd find time to read more, learn Spanish and well, you get the point. I think this is why I'm obsessed with lists--1001 Books to Read Before You Die, 100 Places to See, etc Now I know that we can't be perfect, can't have it all yada yada yada, but it is sooooo easy to get comfortable and not challenge myself. Or the worst is that I look at everything I want to be and say "forget it! Why even try?" This usually happens after I've zoned out in front of a Bravo TV marathon of some sort and I start stomping around grumbling to Chris how the real Laura wouldn't do things like this. But let me tell you, the last thing he wants to do is try to intervene when I'm in the middle of my TV marathon...poor guy.

Well, today I was listening to this radio show I catch occasionaly and the woman (Colleen) was talking about her blog keepinghercool.blogspot.com. It sounds like some sort of anger management blog right? But it actually is about challenging yourself outside of your comfort zone. She doesn't want to say things ike "I used to fill in the blank" of whatever she thought was cool about herself before becoming a busy adult. I do that all the time..."I used to play the violin, do musical theater, bike or walk everywhere..." on and on and on. Of course, part of this was my mom allowing us to find our passions so I think I have a lot more "I used to..." then other people. I mean just between the 4th-7th grade I was involved in acting, dance (jazz, tap, ballet), gymnastics, tae kwon doe, violin, drums, horse back riding, swim team, softball, ice skating, choir, and volunteering at a nursing home. I often look back at all of it as stuff I failed at or quit, yet Colleen had a good point that we shouldn't use words like "fail". She uses "discovery". I really like that, and I do know that all of those activities did benefit me. Last year I started violin lessons again and really enjoyed myself, but then abruptly stopped during my pregnancy with the "I won't have time for this". Yet when I was listening to Colleen it became clear to me how I need to spend time for me and challenge myself or else what am I teaching Penelope? Plus, like one of my friends says, "You can't be a good mom unless you are a happy mom".
(I must be writing the longest blog post ever...I wonder if anyone is still reading)
So on the radio show Colleen was talking about how she has created this weekly goal to do something that makes her go outside of her comfort zone. Here is the description of this program and the rules she created for herself:

About Keeping Her Cool
I never want to hear myself say the words, "I used to be cool." After years of wifing and parenting, I have begun to notice the things that once challenged me and stretched me have fallen away.

As a parent and Life Coach, I find myself constantly encouraging people to step outside of their comfort zones and explore new frontiers. How can I encourage others to do that if I'm not setting a good example?

And so, I've decided to do something each and every week that stretches me and challenges me and share my experiences here. The things that are on my list may not be on your list. Some may seem very simple to you, but I promise you that each of these things makes me uncomfortable at the mere thought of it. You can create your own list too, here are the rules.

1. It has to make you squirm. I mean it has to be uncomfortable. You have to either think "I've always wanted to do it", or "I never could do it." If you think for a moment that you want to delete it after you write it down, KEEP IT! That means it's really good.

2. It should cost little or no money. It's easy to dream up things that would be difficult that cost an arm and a leg, bungee jumping, skydiving. Of course, if those feel like a stretch for you, and you have the money, by all means add it to your list. The point is this: Challenges are all around you everyday, and sometimes they can be just as thrilling as jumping from a plane or bridge.

3. Expect to fail sometimes, but expect to learn every time. Have fun, and find out what you are made of. Part of the exercise is remembering that feeling of picking yourself up and dusting yourself off after you've stumbled. Remember when you learned to walk? (of course not.) You never would have learned if you would have stayed down when you fell!

Now, let's do it!

What a great idea, huh? I feel it will help with my "I'll never be who I want to be so why even try" mentality. I know it is ridiculous to think that I can spend hours in yoga studios, music lessons, gardening workshops etc. The reality is that I am a working wife/mother that loves spending time with Penny and Chris and truly enjoys my job, but I also don't want to push everything off to the "when I retire I'll do that" category. So when you see weekly posts labeled Becoming Me this is what I'm referring to. Here are a few things I thought of (they all have stories behind them that I'll explain when I take on the challenge):

Learn to parallel park
Bake bread
Make a beginner project using a sewing machine
Start a veggie garden from seeds
Take the hip hop class at the Y
Write a short story/take a writing class
Let people read short story (eek! This one really makes me uncomfortable)
Go on a camping trip

I'll leave off there for now...Chris just read over my shoulder and said "You realize you have just let everyone in behind the curtain, including all those lurkers." Big inhale as I hit publish post...

FYI: Advertising

Just wanted to let everyone know that Blogger allows users to put ads on their page and get some money for it. I decided to try it out. Please let me know if you feel it is too distracting. It won't be much, but I thought it would be an easy way to put a few extra $ in Penny's college account...(of course, the backup account in case she doesn't get the full ride to Harvard...just kidding!)

Well, I'm off to a busy weekend. We've already got some fun pictures to post. I'll get them on here tomorrow.

Spring is here!

Well, today was jam packed with lots of adventures! This morning, Penelope tried bananas and loved them. Then after her nap we walked to the park to try the swings and slide. We met another couple with a little boy. I'm sure the playground will be a great place to meet other families in the neighborhood. After the playground we walked to the co-op to get some fresh veggies. Days like this make me realize how I've entered my dream world. We have a great little house in the city where we can walk to a playground, amazing cafe, health food co-op, bike trails along the river...all of this is within a few blocks. A 20 min walk takes us to Target, the library, the west campus of the U of M, the Y, and dozens of local restaurants. Maybe this isn't such a big deal, but after growing up in Sierra Vista where we had to drive into town and once we got there we pretty much went to Walmart, Hastings, Dennys. Thank goodness mom and dad had us in a ton of activities. Of course, we did have the huge yard to play in and lived at the foot of beautiful mountains, so I guess it is all give and take.
Back to our day...in the afternoon Penny and I took a long nap and then had to go back outside to enjoy the 60 degree weather. I realized that we have over a dozen knit hats for her, but nothing for the sun so she ended up wearing one of Chris's caps...didn't quite work. I'm going to head over to Target tomorrow to get her a spring hat, sunscreen, and some sunglasses. Hopefully we can get some work done in the yard. Now that all the snow is melted it is pretty obvious that we didn't keep up with the leaves.
Here are some pictures. There are new videos at youtube.com/clpstrand

I won!

Remember a few posts back I promoted my friend Ashley's website? Well, she does many giveaways...and I won the most adorable outfit for Penny. It is for 3T so it will be a while before she can wear it. I was so excited to see that I won! Here's the link of the capris and purse: http://makeitandloveit.blogspot.com/2009/03/its-for-free.html

We have a perfect baby

That was the text message I got from Chris today. He took the day off to spend it with Penelope and take her to her 6th month doctor's appointment. She is now 15.4 lbs and 25 inches which puts her right in the 50th percentile....also the exact size for Carter's 6 month clothes.
I gave Chris a list of questions to ask. She said it is perfectly normal for a breastfed baby to still need one feeding during the night. That was good to know.
Then in the afternoon she took a 3 1/2 hour nap. She always seems pretty tired after her immunizations. Chris made some baby food batches of butternut squash and pears. He tried to feed her pear, but she didn't like it at all. We'll try a mixture of pear and rice cereal to see if that helps. Tomorrow will be the butternut squash. Oh, and she learned a new trick to reach out and grab Chris's glasses and take them off his face. It isn't like an accident any more, she does it every time she can reach them. So funny. Well, that's it for now. I need to get batteries in the camera to take some more pictures.

New School and Carrots

Today was Penny's first day at Jardin Magico. Dropping her off was quite a different experience then at Tator Totz. I'm used to Penelope being the first one there and having a few minutes to chat with the teachers. Well, when there are 150 kids and drop off starts at 7:30 it is like organized chaos. Chris will be doing the drop off and he seems pretty confident that he has got the procedures down. Around 10:00 I got a call at work from Jardin Magico. I was dreading the "what is wrong with your baby? She won't sleep and is very bad. You have to come get her" but they were actually calling to say that she was wonderful and was taking a long nap. Yay! When I showed up she smiled so big and said Buenos dias Mommy! :)

Then this evening we tried carrots. Yummy! She loved them. Here are pictures and a link to the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUA9JAsImWE

St Patrick's Day and Applesauce

So today we made applesauce. The baby food book calls it apple puree, but water and mashed up apples...isn't that applesauce? I posted a video on our youtube link (see below post). Here are some pictures:

And here's a great picture of Penny and Daddy...also great videos of Penny playing on her playmat at youtube

Then for lunch we went to Aunt Janet's house for some corned beef, cabbage, and other yummy root veggies. Aunt Janet was babysitting Emmie, a little yorkie. Emmie didn't understand why Penny wouldn't throw the ball for her.

FOOD!

*EDIT: VIDEO DID NOT WORK THROUGH BLOGGER. PLEASE GO TO http://www.youtube.com/CLPStrand (can someone let me know if these work? They seem to work on my computer but so did the video I uploaded here that everyone said wasn't cooperating.)

Today we started food!! Our pediatrician recommended that we wait until 6 months so since she is 6 months on Monday we celebrated today with rice cereal. Yum! Here's a video and pics of Penelope enjoying her first meal.
Here we are shopping at the co-op (Chris was very embarrassed that I made him take a picture in the grocery store)

This looks like fun! I don't know what is going on but Mommy and Daddy seem excited.

Oh yeah! This is what I've been waiting for.

Food makes me happy--as well as 2 1/2 hour morning naps.

We got this great baby food cook book called Superfoods that has easy recipes and a suggested plan. (Who's surprised that I turn to a book for guidance on eating? :) ) So tomorrow we are making homemade apple baby food--isn't that applesauce? After that we are on to carrots...add future food critic to Penelope's list.

Bittersweet week

So this week had some very sad moments. First off, King of Pugs, Alex Strand passed away. Alex was one of those dogs that was so much more than a dog. Here's a picture of Alex:

He joined Chris's family when Chris was in high school. He was very lucky to end up with the Strands after a rough start to life. He's had various health issues, but made it into old age with a lovable (sometimes crochety) personality. When we heard the news Chris and I immediately started talking about what heaven would be like for Alex. Of course, he'd be the healthy young pug that HATED if anyone walked ahead of him. The human must be behind him on all walks. He'd have baskets full of beanie babies with all sorts of clothing. Alex had this talent of quickly undressing tons beanie babies. He wouldn't tear their clothing but work it off of them with his teeth. It was quite amazing to watch. And I'm sure he has people dedicated to petting him and chasing him when he decides to go on a tear around the pearly grounds. Well, I'm getting teary eyed thinking of the pugglypoo. Laura, Mom and Dad Strand, we are thinking about you! I'm sure you are going to have a hard time not having Alex's snorting, barking, corkscrew- tail wagging greeting every time you come home.

The next part isn't as sad, but it was bittersweet. Today was Penelope's last day at Tator Totz. I'm sure many of you remember that we had toured an amazing day care near our house while I was pregnant but the waiting list was really long. So we found a day care near my work that I didn't like as much, but since I could visit at lunch I decided that it would be okay. Right before Penny started the day care changed ownership. Right when I met Alise I knew Penny would be in great hands. I've been going there every day for lunch and get to spend time with Penelope while also talking with Alise and the other teachers in the baby room. I love that it is so small and that I know all of the kids and teachers. She has such a great vision for the day care and was so accomodating to everything I wanted (cloth diapers, breastmilk, and even doing bit cards). Well, recently, we found out that my office is probably moving soon. It could be in the same area, but there is a good chance that I'll have to drive past my office and then double back to get to work...just will add so much time to my commute. The same week that Chris and I realized that we may need to start the day care search again, we got a call from Jardin Magico that a spot opened. Although it has great aspects (spanish immersion, great preschool curriculum, cloth diapers, homemade food, a special quiet nap room), it is much much bigger than Tator Totz. I'd be fooling myself to think that Penelope will be rocked to sleep for every nap like she is now. It is so hard to know if you are making the right choice!

This morning when we arrived at Tator Totz there was a gift in Penelope's crib from Quinn (he is the same age as Penelope). It was the sweetest card. I forgot it at work, but will post it on here next week because it is so cute how they got Quinn to "sign" the card. I'm hoping we can get together with Quinn and his family. Then at lunch Penelope was so smiley and I got to rock her to sleep. I'm going to miss that so much. Everyone is telling me that she'll be going through the separation anxiety period soon and I'd probably have to stop going to see her anyways. I plan to keep in touch with Alise and Penelope's first friends....I was crying on the way home...Imagine what I'm going to be like when she graduates from kindergarten?!

First business trip

So Chris and I have been anxious about March 4th-5th since the beginning of January. It was my first business trip away from home. Of course, everything turned out fine. It was harder for me then Chris and Penny. Chris said when I got home that although he doesn't want me to go away often, he actually enjoyed himself and learned that I don't have some special magic or trick. He said each evening she smiled and "talked" to him a ton. I was so happy that it went well...but of course I thought "she didn't miss her mommy at all?" :)
And when I walked in the door on Thursday night Penny was asleep in her crib, Chris was sitting in the living room folding baby laundry, and Cece was snoozin on the bed. It was a wonderful feeling to come home to all of that.
Here's Chris and Penny's picture (she finally fits in her Christmas pajamas)

"Hi Mommy! We miss you, but we are having a lot of fun!"

And then here are some pictures from before I left:

Snoozin on the couch in the sunlight

Wearing Lacey's Twins hat
Mommy and Penny

Wearing the Smurfette onesie that Daddy bought Penny