It’s Fat Tuesday (or Mardi Gras as we call it in these parts). It’s the day of revelry before the 40 day season of Lent begins. And in the spirit of both seasons, I have a few things to share with you.

First, Fat Tuesday.

In the spirit of indulgence and revelry, I’m pleased to announce that Cassie and I have been working on a very special project that revolves around our love for food, more specifically our love for making good food. Our very own joint cooking blog is currently under construction and will be coming to your computer screen very soon.  Expect a lot of pictures of things that will make you want to eat yourself into a coma and our commentary on cooking (and other things that happen to get in the way while we cook). We’re still hammering out design and set up details. But the big reveal will be soon I hope!

Now onto Lenten sacrifices.

You guys, I really am a fairly healthy eater. And while I struggle with the foods my co-workers like to temptingly place before me, for the most part I do a good job. However, since I had Sarah I have woefully neglected my exercise. It’s true that scooping up an 18-pound baby over and over and lifting her over your head multiple times does provide a form of exercise, but I’m talking about the kind you have to make a conscious effort to do. There have been several legitimate stumbling blocks, primarily working full-time and caring for a (usually sick) infant. But, my sacrifice this Lent will be time. I am going to make myself rise at 6:00 a.m. and stick to the routine that fitness instructor Cassie is creating for me. Plus, Cassie will be checking in on me every day and she intimidates me, so I’m going to do it. I’m also going to give up chocolate because I need to for a while. Both will be real and good sacrifices (So please pardon me when my upcoming cooking posts lack chocolate. I’m sure Cass will make up for it).

So wish me luck with all endeavors above. I’m going to need it.

P.S. A video of Sarah waving by popular demand.

P.S.S. Please ignore all the junk in my house.

So, a list of things that make my head explode this week:

1. Sarah has double ear infections and is on her third antibiotic in less than a month. Fortunately after discussing the cost of the last antibiotic with her pediatrician *cough*$168*cough* we made sure to get on a generic brand this time.

2. Sarah has also been coughing all. night. long. Not only am I in agony because I can’t wave a magic wand and make her feel better, but it’s also keeping all three of us up all night. How did I ever do this when she was a newborn?!

3. Also, we have a standing appointment at the pediatrician’s office every other Friday. I seriously wish I were joking here.

4. The mention of the words “ear tubes.”

5. The number of people who have told me “I told you she was going to get sick in daycare.” Yes. I know. Rubbing it in right now? Not a good idea. I may say something back to you that might make you not want to be friends with me anymore.

6. The HHS debate. I’m not going to voice my opinion on it here, but it has become a daily part of my job and it is consuming a lot of my working hours .

7. The word “ombre.” Yes, I know they use it on Project Runway when referencing fabric shading, but if you use the term to refer to a child’s birthday theme I might puke. The word you’re looking for is “gradient” and I can do it in InDesign or Photoshop for you in less than five seconds.

8. Knowing my child needs to stay home for a week to get better for a while and having all my sick time used up. Also the guilt that comes with begging other people to watch my child when I would give anything to be able to do it myself.

9. People who drive under the speed limit. Especially this one driver of a black BMW who seems to leave for work and take their lunch breaks at the same time I do.

10. The fact that they destroyed Fairfield Avenue, left a gaping hole in it for a month that screwed up traffic and then finally fixed it with a giant road bump that threatens to take out my front bumper each morning.

11. It’s Mardi Gras and it’s too cold and wet to get out to the parades.

12. How long it takes Scramble with Friends to load.

I know things could always be much worse and I don’t mean to make light of much heavier situations. And there have been a lot of good things this week too that cheered me up including Sarah figuring out how to do a forward roll on her own (I guess she’ll be a gymnast), Mark bringing home a bottle of wine after work today, Cassie putting together my kickass Lenten workout program out of the goodness of her heart and Susan stepping up and volunteering to spend her one day off to keep Sarah even though she’s got the pregnant pukes. I have a lot of amazing people in my life and I am thankful for all of you for helping me get through this mess of sickness.

I don’t know which is funnier, how much she’s interacting and enjoying herself, or her reaction when she suddenly spies dad and realizes that he sees her having fun at school. You’re not fooling us kidd-o, we know you love it there.

This video made my day. I hope you enjoy it!

Happy Valentine’s Day! We hope yours is full of love in every way, shape and form. Oh, and eat a chocolate for us, ok?

Early on this past month, Sarah learned how to wave her entire arm to say hello and bye bye. She especially loves to wave that arm while she’s sitting in her high chair. She’s also started saying “ma ma” all the time. Ma ma is eating it up!

She has gotten proficient at using her four teeth to chew. She loves Happy Baby organic puffs. If she sees us getting the container out, she’ll hop up and down until we give her some. Her teeth have also served her in eating table food. So every night for dinner, she gets a little of what mommy and daddy are having, which always includes a protein and a veggie. Daddy’s spaghetti is her favorite!

Our little girl never stays still for very long. She’s figured out how to escape the baby gates in the living room, shoving one aside and shaking the other so violently that it comes loose and she can escape.

She’s also developed an attachment to her blankie. She’s always loved to rub her face on soft things, but now blankie can soothe her when she’s fussy. This is especially important as separation anxiety has kicked in full force. Any time we’re around people she doesn’t know, Sarah clings to me with every fiber of her being. School drop offs have become especially difficult. She has moved up to the bigger babies class though, and her teachers there have been wonderful. She cries now when I start to leave, but handing her blankie seems to make it much easier.

Separation anxiety has also made her more snuggly. I’m so used to my baby who wants to go nonstop, so to have her want to cuddle with me is wonderful.

We also had another month of illness. This past month saw a light case of pneumonia, upper respiratory infection, pink eye, ear fluid and more snot that I want to remember. This also meant lots of trips to the pediatrician’s office with all the finger sticks, chest x-rays and nose swabs that come with it. We’re holding out for the end of March when all this is supposed to get better.

She continues to love books, especially ones that makes noises or have textures. We’ve taken to packing them in her diaper bag as an easy source of entertainment. Speaking of entertainment, one of her favorite things each morning is to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse or Veggie Tales on daddy’s phone with him while mommy gets ready for work. As soon as I put her in our bed, she crawls over to daddy, perches on his shoulder and eagerly awaits her show.

And to cap off this amazing month, Sarah took her first steps last night. Four unassisted steps to get around mommy and daddy who were standing between her and her toy. Despite attempts on our parts to get her to repeat it, she has stubbornly stuck to crawling. It’s obviously much faster and easier. I should probably be thankful, more mobility means more trouble.

I am so impressed by our growing girl. She’s constantly observing and learning. I know this next month will show us even more amazing things as she continues to develop. Happy 10 months Sarah!

It’s kept me busy and exhausted, but I’m happy that I’ve been able to take care of everyone.

And since any post I might make would list the varying degrees of illness of my household (not exciting), I want to use this post to find out more about you!

I know I have regular commentors (who I love) but I want to know everyone who is reading!

So tell me: Who are you? Where do you live? Do you blog? What’s your favorite book?

We’re looking forward to hearing from you!

The guilt of not being there for her every day is compounded by the guilt of missing so much work to take care of her and myself. I’m torn and frustrated and just want it to get better.

I love my job. I love what I do, but I hate subjecting her to the sickness and not being there for her.

I wish there was a way to make it all better.

We go to the doctor again for the fourth time in three weeks tomorrow. I’m on a first name basis with the lady at the receptionist desk and even the daycare director felt bad when she had to call me about the green goop pouring out of baby girl’s eyes today.

Working moms tell me it gets better after the first year, but Sarah’s ongoing sick seems excessive (though I know it could always be much much worse). I pray that’s the case, because right now I feel like I’m working to pay co-pays.

Sorry for the pity party, it’s just been a rough few days/weeks/months with all this.

My hair minus six inches or so.

Other resolution updates:

1. The reading is going swimmingly. I’m on Book 3 from the Game of Thrones series. These books are fantastic, but I swear I have hit a point (or two or three) in each volume where I got so mad at the writer for what he puts his characters through that I’ve been tempted to put them down and take a break. But then I keep reading and I’m so glad that I do.

2. The travel. I’ve planned a big trip this summer to visit my friend Tammy in Indianapolis and Cassie in Pittsburgh. There is also a possible trip to Florida in the works. Yay and Yay!

3. Home beautifying. We are getting ready to get a desk for my awesome new iMac and shift things around drastically. We’re grown ups with a baby, time to (mostly) retire the tv trays and let Sarah sit at the dinner table with us.

Progress!

I was rather proud of our decorations and all the yummy goodies we put together.

The invitations.

I designed these in Adobe InDesign and printed them on invitation stock from Hobby Lobby.

The banner.

I made this with the help of a printer, some ribbon and pink cardstock from Hobby Lobby.

The spread.

The food was delicious and almost all made from scratch by Heather (though I did manage to contribute some chocolate chip cookies). The table cloth came from Oriental Trading Company. I made the food tags to match the banner.

I was particularly in love with this punch/ducky idea from Pinterest. The princess duckies came from Oriental Trading Company.

There was a hot chocolate bar courtesy of Heather!

There was a picture frame of photos I took of the girls, along with princess favor bags for all the kids (big and small) who came.

There were crowns for all the princesses present, including Miss Mia. (Also courtesy of OTC).

And Susan (holding honoree Baby Evelyn).

And beautiful mama Angela with her friends Randa and Gillian.

I think little Miss Evelyn loved all the attention, and was only slightly disappointed when we didn’t load her bottle up with hot chocolate.

It was a great party and I’m so happy I got to be a part of it!