"Your problem is that you're too independent. You don't NEED a man, you WANT one."

This is what I was told recently.

I nodded. Yep, you're right. That is EXACTLY my problem. I have my shit together. I own a house. I raise a child on my own. I don't HAVE to rely on someone else to get by. Sure, it would be nice to have someone to cut the grass and take out the trash, but I can do those things. I don't need someone to get by because I AM getting by. Everyday. We're surviving and we're doing alright. I don't NEED someone I WANT someone. To rub my feet, take turns cooking dinner, argue over which show we're watching, etc.

But, if I don't...meh. I know I can do it. I went through nine months of pregnancy without a foot rub, I can last a little longer. I think this just means that when I do find someone willing to deal with my independence, it will be that much better.

And for this, he had no response. :)

Some cute...I mean Avery...ok I meant Avery AND cute

Random musings

Y'all I'm just sitting here on the couch waiting for Avery to fall asleep before I get started on this house. And it hit me. She totally is her mothers child. And, I've created a monster. She CANNOT fall asleep if she hears me out here doing something. So, since the day she was born, I sit quietly in my room or the living room until she is asleep then I get up and start doing whatever I had planned during nap time. Sometimes that comes back to bite me because I've lost all motivation by the time she is asleep and don't get up and do what I need to do.

Why has this police officer drove by my house twice now?

I was taking a shower yesterday morning and opted to NOT shave the stubble on my legs because I figured I could use the extra warmth. That's when I knew fall was really upon us. Don't act like you don't do it too, guys don't act like your significant other doesn't do it too. At least I shaved the pits. Plus, there was an almost two year old in the shower with me. It would have been an Olympic sport to shave without ONE of us bloody.

How old is too old for a same gender child to shower with you? We're of the walk from the bathroom to the bedroom naked train of thought over here too. I guess that means we aren't nudists or anything but I sure hope a Jehovah's Witness doesn't show up around bath time.

Nap time to do list:
Switch the laundry
Change the sheets on my bed
Clean the house
Decorate for fall
Write down "photoshoot" locations. (Don't y'all know, I'm a fauxtographer. Snort.)
Get dressed. (I'm still in sweats, it happens.)
Write a blog post. (CHECK...almost.)
DO NOT BUY ANYTHING from Gussy or Allora (Until this weekend at least.)(Because I love them both too much to be trusted on their websites.)

I'm totally going all Betty Crocker and cooking up a storm this weekend. Pumpkin pie and apple crisp. Hot cocoa and chicken and noodles with mashed potatoes. Mmmmmm.

I just got the urge to take pictures of Avery. It's a cloudy, overcast day and there is a spot that I want to try. Trusting, of course, that the child cooperates. We're out of string cheese, it's not looking too good.

The about me section

::looks left::

I updated my about me. Just our ages. Since I've been 26 since August, it's about time to bite the bullet. But what I'm even more flabbergasted (LOOK! Big word!) by is that I have an almost TWO year old. She'll be 22 months a week from Friday.

Hmph.

This post should have been shared last week

My bad.

Avery and I had a lazy day and just played in the living room most of the day.



We took the baby for a ride in the stroller. Oh, and the etch a sketch.



We built a fort on the couch.



We paraded around with our blue Colts football bead necklace.



But then the teething monster came to play and we snuggled on the couch.

Three more days!

My Be The Match kit arrived today. It was SUPER simple to do and only took 10 minutes.













(It probably wouldn't have killed me to do my hair and wipe the old makeup off my under eyes. But, you get the point.)

September 30th is the last day to sign up for free. Go and sign up. It takes 10 minutes. You'll get your very own kit in the mail in about 10 days (mine was sooner). Complete the kit, it's super simple. Send it back. That's it. That is all you have to do to save a life!

Avery wants you to do it too.











So, I might have told her where to put the letters. :)

Big girl beds are for....

.....nope I won't say it. I won't say that SOMEONE that lives in my house is sleeping in a bed that ISN'T a crib. I also WON'T say that she's taken the transition like a champ. That at night 5 she went to bed without getting up at all. I also WON'T say that at nap time today she only got up once.

This is too soon. I refuse to admit that my child is a ::gulp:: big girl.



(I risked my life taking this pic. And by my life I mean waking a sleeping child.)

When it's time to sleep I say "Are you ready to go night night in your Dora bed?" She stops what she's doing and we hold hands and walk to her room. She climbs in bed and I give her Heidi (her sock monkey) and her blankie. I give her a kiss then have to kiss any boo boo she has at the time (tonight was 3) and I shut the door. At night I leave the hall light on until she falls asleep. I've noticed she falls asleep faster if I do. Should I get her a night light? I don't want her getting up at night and playing and the dark seems to keep her in bed. If I hear her out of bed I just go into her room and pick her up and put her back in bed. No talking, no eye contact. The most she has ever gotten out of bed was 5 times and she was still asleep in less than 45 minutes. I feel like that's pretty good.

::sob:: I'm not ready for this!!

Be the match

Have y'all signed up yet?

GO QUICK, we still have 8 more days! It's really that simple.

In just 10 minutes you could save a life.

Easy, yummy meal

A few of you have asked me to keep posting my healthy-ish eating tips and things that Avery eats.



(There is far too much green in this meal.)

This is what Avery and I had for lunch the other day. Apologies for the craptastic cell phone pic, there was a ravenous 21 month old clinging to my leg. Aves LOVES this lunch and gobbles it up. There is seldom anything left on her plate.

The wrap: I make tuna salad with very little mayo and spread on an entire wrap, all the way to the edges. This time I happened to have spinach wraps on the top of the drawer, she will eat any of them. Roll it up so it's a tight roll, I usually make sure some of the mayo-y stuff is on the edge to seal it shut. I take a pizza cutter and cut it into small toddler-sized pieces.

The green beans: I make a large steam fresh bag of them and they will last us a couple meals. She loves them cold, warm, with ranch to dip, whatever! This time they were just cold, straight from the fridge. She does the same thing with peas. We always have one or the other ready to go to just add to a meal or as a snack.

Speaking of peas. Avery absolutely LOVES cold peas and blueberries mixed together in one of these.



It's not blueberry season anymore so we've been coming up with other yummy snacks to put in the trap.

Apple season is upon us. I'm going to start searching for an orchard so we can go apple picking. I bought a few at the store a few days ago and Avery knows where they are hidden. "Mom...ah-puhl?" How can I resist? She eats more of it if I cut it up for her but she loves just being able to carry around the whole apple and bite off chunks. It kept her quiet before lunch time at the aquarium yesterday.

Do you have any tips? I'd love to hear 'em. We constantly need new ideas to mix it up.

A BMT story

#####'s diagnosis is CID which is Combined Immune Deficiency syndrome, simply put. This means that she does have an immune system, but it doesn't work at all; therefore, they classify her has having NO immune system. Strange way to go about it, but it makes sense once you understand it a bit better. The 'combined' part simply means that both her T-cells and B-cells are affected. They do not communicate with each other or anything else. As well as dealing with this, the PET scan showed clusters of tumors all over her lymphatic system. There are abnormal cell growths on the tumors that they removed.

##### is a tough little girl, she is so happy every day. I wish that I had the same outlook on life that she does.....everything is going to be fine....that's what she tells me. Smart girl!

(Names removed for protection. Don't worry, I had permission.)

This is a little girl going through hell. With the most positive outlook I have ever seen. She went into transplant with a mismatched donor, very risky. She has had numerous complications. She is doing MUCH better. She is an inspiration. This little girl smiles no matter how lousy she is feeling. She always has something sweet or funny to say. Her parents beam with pride just mentioning her name.

She MIGHT not have had a mismatched donor if there was a greater number of people to select from.

Did you sign up to be a match yet? No? It's free for the month of September. Go here. Click on join the registry at the top.
Do it for her.

Be the match

I'm not sure if I've told you guys but I work on a pediatric bone marrow transplant unit. The kids I take care of everyday are the sickest of the sick. We put their tiny bodies through more crap than you will probably have to go through in your entire life. We take parents away from their families, friends, jobs, entire lives to live in a tiny room with their ill child for weeks, months, even years. These families have to adjust to this new "normal". They fear things like large groups of people, cold and flu season, germs, and people not wearing gown, gloves, and mask to care for their child. They are the kids in the plastic bubble.

A bone marrow transplant can potentially save their life. It's their only hope. A bone marrow transplant is horrendous. Chemo, steriods, infections, complications, side effects, thousands of medications, more complications, tests, lab work, isolation, emergency situations, allergic reactions etc etc etc. They literally live their lives day to day not knowing what is going to happen. Is today the day they will react to a drug they have received a dozen times? Today will their blood pressure go through the roof and have a seizure? Today will their line get infected and have to start new antibiotics?

Yesterday I joined the National Marrow Donor Program. For free. Registration is free for the month of September. A family at work let me know about the opportunity so I jumped at it. What if one day one of my loved ones needs a life saving transplant? I would gladly give a little bone marrow for any one of yours.

So, I was wondering if you all could do the same. Take advantage of this free registration by going to www.bethematch.org and signing up. It takes less than 10 minutes. They will send you a package in the mail that contains swabs for you to rub on the inside of your cheek and send back. That's it. No blood work, no tests. You will be entered into the registry where people will search for possible matches for their patients. If you happen to be a match they want to pursue they will ask you to go to a hospital close to you for tests and some blood work.

I know some people think that they don't want to have to be put under general anesthesia and have a needle put into your hip. What if it was your child/parent/loved one? What if it was MY child that needed a BMT? I would gladly donate and I hope someone else would too if the roles were reversed.

If I can get ONE person to sign up, that is ONE life that could be saved. That's it. It really is that simple. So, go to www.bethematch.org and sign up. Go. Right now. And then come back and comment and let me know you did.

Thank you SO MUCH for your donation.

It's only been 2 days?

Since I blogged? Seems longer, guess I've been busy busy!

Today Avery and I met work friends for lunch. This was Avery's first time meeting them. They pretty much gobbled her up. She LOVED them!



Nothing like a group of 6 nurses and a toddler to get things going!

We left the restaurant and went shopping since we were already at the mall. I needed a new outfit for my sisters birthday party go out tomorrow night. I got a HOT shirt and some jewelry for the occasion.

Wednesday morning I got home from work, slept two hours, picked up Avery, we napped for two hours, then I headed north to be with a friend after the passing of his mom. It was a nice, relaxing, chill time. We spent too many hours drinking too much wine after Avery went to sleep. Oh the headache the next morning! Ugh.

Oh, Cato @'ed me again on Twitter. We're, like, BFFs now, duh. ;)

I swear I do have a blog with some content that needs to be written. But it's a cool summerish/fallish evening and I can hear the crickets. I'm going to go sit on the porch and drink a beer. And then go to bed, cuz that's how I roll.

Look at this little gem I found tonight (last night? right now?) while I was at work. I noticed I had a new follower so I went to scope it out.


(crappy copy and paste job)

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAH ::gasp:: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

HeidiflippingMontag.

Pardon me, I'm going to go laugh some more.

PS. Let it be known that I do not, in fact, follow Heidi and/or Speidi

A lovely fall Sunday afternoon

It was the first Sunday of the football season y'all! I was itching to see a game. Of course Avery and I had to represent our team.



I was double dog dared by someone on Twitter to wear these to church that day, in Bengals country. Already planning on it sir! :) We did get a few side-eyes but really, who is gonna trash talk in church right?

Much to my dismay I have grown accustom to not being able to see the Colts game when there is also a Bengals game on. This was the case on Sunday. I planned on just following along online with the in game updates. That being said, WHY ON EARTH do you need to have the Bengals game on TWO FLIPPING CHANNELS?? Oh, and the Steelers/Falcons game on two more channels? Those were the only two 1:00 games being shown in the tristate. Southwest Ohio....FAIL. It was even more awesome when my internet decided it didn't want to work that day.

I spent pretty much all the game following along on my phone. Both on the Colts website with the in game updates and on Twitter following the Colts hashtag. My poor followers that don't like football were surely sick of me on Sunday. I was messing around on Twitter and saw someone mention a player that used to play for the Colts, Cato June. I tweeted something along the lines of "Cato June is on Twitter? #diedandgonetoheaven" AND LOOK WHAT HAPPENED NEXT!



OH.EM.GEE! I died. No one else seemed to feel as excited about it as I did. Is it because he plays in the UFL now? In Omaha? Because no normal girl cares about football as much as I do? Meh, screw em. Cato June @'ed me....SQUEEEEEEEE. Did I tell y'all I'm really starting to like Twitter, you know, after I got the hang of it.

LOOK! FISH!

Look! Avery eats fish! Specifically, salmon since that is the only fish I will eat besides tuna. I love that Avery is such a great eater. She thinks cold peas or cold green beans are a great snack. Blueberries ("beebees") will get her to do just about anything. Of course, we did order a pizza last night for dinner and she chowed down with mom. But, she wouldn't sit down to eat until I put peas on her plate too and gave her a spoon.

Why is Avery such a good eater? She's never known any different. She has no idea what candy tastes like. Oh, I lie. I gave her a Junior Mint a few months ago and she spit it out. She's never tasted pop/kool aid/etc. Apple juice makes her get a horrible diaper rash so we stick to mostly milk and water around here. She LOVES carrots and hummus.

When Avery started solids it inspired me to eat better. I don't want to put crap in her mouth, why would I put it in mine? We aren't perfect but we've made great strides in the right direction. I've always been a fairly healthy eater so it's not a huge leap for me. Lately we've been loving sitting down and munching on steamed broccoli with a little salt, pepper, and lemon juice for a snack. Or chilled green beans dipped in ranch. I actually served them as "french fries" the other night with turkey burgers. I love knowing the eating habits I'm instilling in her now will follow her for a lifetime.

What were you doing?

9/11/01 will always be one of those few days in history where you remember exactly what you were doing. I believe it's the only day thus far for my generation. Ask an old man where he was when Pearl Harbor was bombed, or Kennedy was assassinated, he remembers.

I was a junior in high school. I was sitting in Ms. Severson's Bio 2 class. I was sitting between my best friend and a smart young man that lost his life too soon (RIP MT). Someone came in and told us to turn on the news. We didn't know we were about to see things that would change everything.





The towers. The pentagon. United Airlines Flight 93.

This day not only serves as a reminder of a horrible tragedy, it reminds us of the strength, compassion, and kindness that echoed around the world that day. People lined up to donate blood, opened their homes to strangers, signed up to protect us.

We will always remember those that lost their life that day. We will always be thankful to those who enlisted to defend our freedom.

Did you see that?

The leaves are changing. Fall is really upon us. Just typing that made me want to grab my scarf and a steaming cup of coffee and go for a walk on a cool morning. Oh, and apple cider...mmmm. I CANNOT WAIT to take Avery to the pumpkin patch and apple picking. We've never been. I thought she was too young last year, but this year should be perfect. I want to buy mums for my front steps and put up my scarecrow. I want to sleep with my windows open and watch the curtains dance in the breeze. Ah, fall. Did y'all just picture it? You did didn't you? Ah, perfection. Lazy, steamy summer days will always be my favorite, but fall comes in a VERY close second. I remember being back home and looking out over harvested corn fields (*Mental note* photo shoot??) and watching the sun set and seeing the frost sticking to the old, dried stalks.

And now I want nothing more than to curl up on the porch with a blanket, the babe, and a cup of coffee.

Weird dreams

I've been having weird dreams lately. What's up with that?

I had a dream that a box of Luvs cost $32 a box. Or that Avery and I took a walk and there were hundreds of bunnies. That I took Avery to her first day of preschool and she was the only one wearing a school uniform. Whiskey.tango.foxtrot?

Maybe it's because I'm not sleeping normal hours? Or that I'm in the middle of working 3 on 2 off for three weeks so I'm lacking on sleep?

Shit

Y'all I don't really cuss. Especially when SOMEONE, about 3 feet tall, is around. I go to church, I try to be a decent person. I keep a majority of my personal life out of the interwebz. ::waves:: Hi mom, other mom, ex mother-in-law. Maybe I should stop censoring myself so much. But sometimes SHIT is really all you can say. So SHIT SHIT SHIT and a DAMN for good measure.

Ahhhh, that's a little better. :)

Coffee on the porch

Yesterday morning, after the most-of-the-nighter, I woke up to sunshine streaming in the open windows and a funny toddler laughing at herself in her crib. I stumbled to the coffee pot to turn it on and went in to get the babe. Still in our jammies, we got a sippy of milk and a tall mug of coffee and sat on the porch.

It.was.perfection. She told me funny stories and pointed out birds and dogs and cars that passed. We snuggled. Avery danced and we both laughed.

I wish we could spend every morning doing just that.

Labor Day

Avery and I had a great Labor Day, after we got some sleep. Little Miss Allergy Face was up from midnight until five am off and on because the poor thing couldn't breathe. A tall cup of coffee in the morning and we hit the ground running, well I did! I cleaned the whole house and caught up on laundry while she watched a couple episodes of Dora. (Thank goodness for DVR!)

After an earlier nap than usual we headed over to my sisters for a cook out. She played on her cousins big wheel with Papa.





She played, and played, and played. And ate chips. And got all kinds of dirty. We came home and got a quick bath and she passed out. Hopefully she sleeps tonight.

Running behind

I'm running behind tonight. I have to get ready and go clock in for 13 hours at my "real job". Heh.

I'm waiting on the salmon to get done in the oven. Avery is drooling at the oven door. "Mahmee! Look! FISH!!" Crazy kid.



Look! Cute kid! (Yes, she's eating Craisins until dinner time. They're better than candy, no? Marginally?)

PS. Don't mind the crazy hair. It looked KINDA cute before nap time. The girl sleeps like she's wrestling alligators. And greasing it WASN'T HAPPENING today.

Ya'll I gotta step up my game....

CANADIAN BALD GUY READS MY BLOG!

And thank you for following.

::curtsy::

Fall is in the air

We all know that summer is the best season like EVER. But, second on my list is most definitely fall. And no fall is complete without one of these.



Mmmm. Non-fat, no whip please! :)

Leaves changing colors, cooler air, pumpkin spiced lattes, scarves, hoodies, ahhhhhh. The absolute worst part about fall? It leads into winter. But, we won't think of that until, oh, November mkay?

I went shopping with my sister the other day for a few things for her. We stopped at The Children's Place and I stocked up on a few fall things for Avery. A few fall/winter things. $5 screen print tees, leggins, hoodies, a hat, and this cute skirt.



Hell-freakin-o how cute is that? Paired with the leggings and black uggs I got her (don't worry they were consignment) she will be the cutest kid on the block. I believe I uttered the words "I'm so screwed" for the billionth time in her life while I was combing the racks. Cute outfit? MY KID HAS TO HAVE IT! I swear it's an illness. We all know she would look cute in a brown paper sack, but I just LOVE dressing her up in cute outfits. It's like my mom didn't give me enough Barbies when I was young or something. (I know mom, you gave me plenty and I swear I'll find them....someday.) We already have a lot of stuff that we bought at the end of season last year and stored. I also went to the consignment store and stocked up on jeans and yoga pants...SCORE! (Oh and the baby uggs...squeeee!!!!) She has a Northface-ish jacket we snagged last year for like $5 that I might use as her winter coat. She loves huge puffy jackets about as much as I do and her car seat loves them even less. We prefer layers.

Back to work tomorrow night for three in a row. I'm a little sad that I'm working on the unofficial last weekend of summer. This weekend used to be filled with boating and cookouts and good friends for me. It always makes me feel a little off to not be on the water during the summer holidays. But, nothing can stay the same right?

Good Lord, am I done rambling yet?

Check out my new contact me section (it's not up quite yet, but keep checking). A new email address so my readers can contact me. Questions, comments, something you want me to talk about? Email me!