Boy or Girl?

What will baby Westphall be? It is making me crazy to not know, and Sam and I have been talking in circles as to whether or not we are going to find out. He does not want to; I do. We have conferences at school tonight and I'm sitting at my desk, attempting to avoid grading projects for as long as possible. I was surfing the Gymboree website, looking at cute spring clothes for baby boys and baby girls. Will it be more frou-frou pink for us? Or will blue make a showing? Either way, both of these outfits are adorable (and overpriced!)--I just want to know which one is for us!!!
I understand Sam's objection--he thinks it will be more exciting to wait and let the baby be a surprise. I can see that point, and sometimes I even agree with it. But on the other hand, I want to know and plan things: do I need to do some garage-sale shopping this summer or do I need to simply unpack all of Annie's tiny clothes from the basement? We knew Anne was going to be a girl, so we don't have any "gender neutral" clothing. It is pink and purple as far as the eye can see. Only our baby gear is neutral--no pink stroller or carseat or anything.

I feel this is the most psychologically exhausting part of pregnancy. I don't feel sick anymore, so I don't "feel pregnant" but I also don't look pregnant and I can't feel the baby move yet. I have moments when I think "Okay, is everything okay in there? Is something really happening, or did I imagine all of that?" Plus the wait between doctor visits and heartbeat-hearings is SO long. I am going this Friday and it will have been over 6 weeks since the last visit. That's a long time to wonder if things are alright and be left alone with my hormone-crazed imagination. So for now I am left to my own wonderings and daydreaming about bringing home a brother or sister for Anne...it's one of those times you wish your brain had an "off" switch.

Oh, and I'm totally aware that if Sam sees this, his response will be: No son of mine is EVER wearing plaid shorts.

The Dinner Experience continues

We've been working our way (slowly) through the frozen dinners I've put together. We recently had a baked ziti-type dish that garnered mixed reviews. Sam and I were so-so about it, but Anne ate it with gusto! Neither Sam nor I cared for the sauce that was in it, but apparently Anne liked it.

She's also quite insistent at every meal that she needs a spoon. She can't really eat with it and mostly plays with it, but she won't put her hands in her food until she has a spoon. She just sits there saying "Ah poon. Ah poon" until you give in.

Saying "ah" usually means "where is?" Side story: When I get Annie out of bed she'll ask "ah puppy?" or "ah daddy?" but this morning Sam got her up and I could hear her down the hall asking "Ah mommy?" She NEVER asks for me, so it made my morning!

Here's Anne enjoying her pasta and milk. I highly recommend these stout sippy cups--the First Years Take-N-Toss 5 ounce Trainer Cups. What a name. We've also got the Take-N-Toss spoons and forks. Excellent utensils.

Givin' me the stink-eye while drinking.Tongue sticking out in concentration.
Success!
Mmm...good dinner, Mom! I will reward you with a smile and being nice when you wipe my face.

Inspector Gadget/Meredith Grey

I bought Annie a little blue trench coat at a garage sale last summer. It was super cute and only cost $1 (from Gymboree) so I scooped it up. Last night I was sorting through Anne's closet and packing up stuff that doesn't fit anymore and I pulled the coat off the hanger to try it on. It's still a little big and we decided it looks more like a lab coat with a big flower brooch on it. She looks like a little doctor!

A little long yet...the size is 18/24 months and she's tall for her age...weird sizing for babies.
Hello, I'm Dr. Westphall. I'm here to remove your appendix!

Hey, youz guyz wanna buy a watch? Gen-u-ine Ronex.

Updates abound

Here's some generic news for you. Enjoy!

Anne keeps talking up a storm. She'll try to say anything you ask her to, which is very cute. She even attempted "butterfly" last night with reasonable success. The funniest thing now is that she says "no" It's funny because she isn't saying it TO us. It is usually in response to something we've told her not to do. For example, the other night she was pulling on the cord to our floor lamp and I sternly told her "No" and moved her away from it. The next day she walked over and pointed to it, looked at Sam and said "No" and left it alone. It was too funny.

She's walking well and standing herself up, and she's not yet climbing on anything, which is great in my mind. No rush there! She can walk backwards and spin in a circle, too. The cutest thing now is if you're sitting on the floor she will walk over to you, turn around, and back herself into your lap and sit down. This is the preferred method when reading books in her room--she fetches the books, plops into my lap, and then gets up for more books when we're done!

Work is busy right now as we get ready for conferences next week. That for me doesn't mean much since I only teach one class that gets grades, but it means it is time for the Book Fair, which is my project. We do it twice a year and it always goes fine, but it adds a little to my stress level.

Once-A-Month dinner is going well. We had Chicken Macaroni Bake last night and it was very good. I used rotini instead of macaroni because it is my favorite pasta shape--seriously, it's the only one I'll buy. No long noodles in our house! The dish tasted eerily similar to the Tuna Helper I ate as a child--the cheesy kind with the breadcrumb top. You know the one I mean. I also managed to make an extra one for the freezer last night, as well as 2 pans of chicken enchiladas. The freezer's getting full. As Mr. Burns would say: Excellent.

Sam is fine--I never write about him! He broke my heart and shaved off his beard last night. He was tired of taking care of it, and he'll have a new one in 3 days, but I like the beard! Come back, scruff!

In pregnancy news, all is (apparently) well. I'm tired and like to nap when I can and I'm a bit grumpier with the kids at school, but I try to be nice. I feel hungry all the time and feel like I'm eating constantly--lots of little meals/snacks throughout the day. Right now I can't get enough water and my skin is very dry and itchy. That's probably due to the extra-hot showers I love to take more than anything else (honestly, I've been known to shower in just hot water, nothing coming from the "cold" pipe at all) I'm headed to the doc next Friday to check on things. Of course the doctor I like is out of town so I have to see my second choice, but I'll survive. Hopefully Dr. N. will be back soon!

Today I'm meeting with a person who can hopefully hem Annie's flower girl dress. I'm also hoping she can radically alter my dress for Sarah's wedding. Let me say that being pregnant during 2 weddings gets complicated. I simply chose a different dress for Erin's wedding (it should look okay since I'm maid of honor and can be different). But for Sarah's wedding I already had my dress, so I've ordered extra fabric and have to find someone to morph it into a maternity dress. Lordy, how I hate maternity clothes of all kinds! You'd think it would be fun to get all new clothes for a few months, but it isn't. My only consolation this time around is that when I get to my very biggest I won't have to worry about dressing for work. If you see me in August I can almost guarantee I'll be wearing an XL tank top and capri-length yoga pants. Oh yeah, lookin' good. I'll start covering all my mirrors on July 1st...

What a difference a day makes

On Saturday I let Annie play with her spoon and applesauce a bit. I helped her scoop and lead the spoon to her mouth. I thought "She can't do this yet."

Fast forward to Monday night. We had dinner out with friends and over dessert I let Anne have her baby spoon and gave her a few bites of chocolate pudding. All of a sudden she was scooping off the plate and getting the spoon right in her mouth! It was amazing! Two days ago: no clue what to do. Today: practically proficient.

This also goes to show that Oma knows babies. She's been quoted as saying "Eats with a spoon--16 months." Dang, she's good!

The Grand Experiment Begins

During one of my many web-surfing episodes, I stumbled upon a website called OnceAMonthMom (www.onceamonthmom.com) The two moms who run this little blog have designed a system in which they only cook once a month. That's right, one day out of the whole month. I read their info with great interest and decided "I'm going to try this!"

The cool thing about this system is that all of the planning has been done for you. You view the menus and recipes, and a grocery list is generated that combines all of the ingredients for all of the food. It is even organized by section of the store! You print the list, print the recipes, and then print the schedule. The schedule outlines how to most efficiently prepare all of this food in just one day.

My motivation: Why do all this? Is it that hard to make dinner? No, it isn't that hard to make dinner if you want to eat frozen pizza or veggie burgers every night. But if you want something more, it takes more time. And the time is in the planning, not so much in the actual cooking. I'm also tired of making separate dinner for Annie every night, so I needed some easy meals that are good for her, too.

Some downfalls: The system is designed for two people. I didn't invite anyone to be my partner this time, figuring it would be best to try it alone first in case it was a total flop. So I had to go through and halve all of the amounts on the grocery list, since I'd be cooking for one family, not two. Also, the plan includes recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I decided to omit a few breakfast options and both lunch plans because they don't work for us--neither Sam nor I were interested in microwaving individual breakfast burritos each morning or eating boatloads of soup for lunch each day. So I went through the grocery list again and removed items that were not needed for us.

Now, I had to read through all of the information multiple times before it all made sense. I read, read, and re-read to make sure I understood exactly what I was buying and cooking. That's why we didn't start the February Menu until halfway through the month! It is a bit confusing and overwhelming at first, but hang in there with me!

This weekend began the actual food procurement and preparation. Anne and I ventured to the grocery store on Saturday morning. I was armed with a detailed list and ready to shop. I bought all of the necessary food, as well as some foil pans and gallon-size Ziploc bags to store it all. (Side note: Never take Anne to the store without a snack. She gets grumpy and unpleasant! Last time we went I broke into a box of Cheddar Bunnies right there in the cracker aisle.) One supposed effect of this once-a-month plan is that you spend less on groceries. I'm not very good at tracking how much we spend on food, but a good rule of thumb at Walmart is $2 per item. If you count the items in your cart as you put them on the conveyer belt, then double it, that's about what the bill should be. I was a little bit under the $2 Rule this week, and I am hoping to create a whole lot of meals from that food. I did notice that I bought fewer "convenience" items like frozen pizza or snack-y things like chips and crackers. Those usually cost more and drive up the bill. Anyway, we bought our food, packed it up, and brought it home. Anne went down for a nap and I put the food away.

I decided to tackle the non-cooking recipes first. There was a chicken and rice hotdish recipe that required no cooking to assemble--mix dry rice with assorted wet things, lay chicken on top, and freeze. Easy enough. Then I moved on to lasagna, assembling them quickly, labeling, and freezing. I finished the nap-time work with a baked pasta dish that required a bit of cooking, but not much. All in all I had at least 5 dinners in the freezer, less than one sinkful of dishes, and a smug sense of satisfaction with my work.

Before Anne got up I managed to put a chicken in the CrockPot. Now, this was my first time working with a whole chicken (I bought two of them) and it was interesting. I have many thoughts on them and their impact on my life, but perhaps I'll share those another time. I'll just say now that you haven't lived until you've picked apart a chicken's spinal column.

Yesterday I baked 4 dozen banana-chocolate chip muffins and froze most of them. These are quite yummy and I brought two in my lunch today.

To summarize: I have 4 frozen dinners in my freezer right now and 2 huge bags of muffins for snacking. We made one lasagna last night and it was awesome. Sam will be having the leftovers for lunch today and probably dinner again tonight. The Once-A-Month system is helpful in that it does all of the planning for you and provides recipes that are freezer-safe. They also provide directions for re-heating the meals. I am happy to know that after only a few hours worth of work I do not have to think "Crap! I didn't thaw any meat!" for several days.

More info to come as more food is made and eaten!

Official Flower Girl Business

We picked up Annie's flower girl dress last Saturday. It was part of a Metro-Area trek my mom and I made to conduct all manner of wedding-related business. Anyway, we finally put the dress on Annie on Sunday night to see how it fits and what it looks like. Bear in mind she isn't going to wear this for another 3 months and change.

She was kind of grumpy when we did this, so it didn't go so well. I know Erin wants to see them, so here they are!

1. In the dress, with the wedding blankie.2. More detail on the beading and sleeves. Note her onesie is adding to the neckline quite a bit!
3. Um, do you think she will grow 4 inches in the next 15 weeks?
5. Anne wants to know "Can I wear this instead? It still works with the color scheme."

Photos!

Anne on Feb. 5th, officially 16 months old! She has her favorite toy--her bowl--in hand. I couldn't believe she stood still long enough for me to snap a picture.
Another favorite toy: the spoon. She can't feed herself, but she likes to try, and I guess that is the first step toward learning how to do it. That yogurt cup is empty, by the way. I'm not that trusting!

This is what you get when you say "Anne! Smile!" Note the spaghetti sauce on her face...

A new favorite game: feed the dog a Beggin' Strip. We call it "Mikey Treat!" and Anne thinks it is hilarious. We'll give her a piece of faux bacon, the dog stands to beg, and she holds it toward his mouth. He'll eat right out of her hand and then she does a little stompy happy dance. The dog gets a lot of treats because we think it is so funny to watch Anne get so excited!

Ooh, and in other family news...

...welcome to Annie's "cousin" Grace Lee Ann, who was born last Friday. She is the 5th consecutive great-granddaughter to our Grandma Joye. Five in a row! Madeline, Grace, Emma, Anne, and Grace. Will baby Westphall break the streak or add to it? Pressure's on! (Interestingly, my cousins on the other side of my family have had all boys: Ethan, Jonathan, and Dylan)

...you can view Erin and Todd's engagement announcement at the Republican-Eagle website. Click on "Weddings" on the left-hand side. Only, what, 15 weeks to go?

The "Media Rollout" continues

In this day in age, there are many ways to share information with people. You can visit them, or make a phone call, send and email, share a message on Facebook, or put it on your blog. There are so many ways to let people know what is going on in your life, each with a varying degree of "personal touch" Having said this, I must announce that it is time to share some big Westphall family news.

We're having a baby (again!)

Visits and phone calls have been made, family and friends have received emails, bosses have been informed, and the 12-week mark has passed, so it is time for the blog announcement.

All is well in Westphall-land. I was throwing up and completely exhausted the whole time Sam was in North Dakota, but am doing much better now. We haven't really said anything to Annie, because she totally won't get it, but it is funny that she suddenly wants to play with her baby dolls and will hold and hug them. It is very cute.

Doctor due date is August 20; Corrie due date is August 24, so even if I go a week over my date, this baby is still coming in August and I will miss a pretty September sapphire in my mother's ring again by only a matter of days. D'oh!

So soon this blog will not simply be a shrine to Anne and all of her magnificence (magnificent-ness?). She'll have to share the glory, but I'm betting she won't mind.

You are 16, going on 17, fellows will fall in line...

I don't know if that line applies to being 16 months old...

Anne hit the 16 month mark yesterday. I've been pretty good about chronicling her achievements lately, so there's not much extra to say. She does have 3 of 4 molars now, bringing the tooth count up to 11.

I've tried to get some pictures and video of her talking and moving, but she just won't be still long enough to snap a picture or anything! This is why the majority of the pictures we've posted lately are Anne in her booster seat--strapped down!

New word: Puzzle. Oma heard this one first and says Anne likes to get a puzzle and then dump out the pieces. That's all, just dump out the pieces and walk away. Anne's courteous like that.

So keep checking back for more info on the wonderful things Annie is doing!

A momentary foray into the political world...

I don't normally yak about non-family things here, since this is supposed to be a record of our family life, but I can't help myself today.

National Review's website has a great list on its homepage of 50 things contained in the "Stimulus" bill that will have absolutely no effect on the economy and will not help regular people keep their jobs and keep their homes. Check it out at nationalreview.com

Let's break this down into the most simple economic terms: President Obama is begging for money to be pumped into our economy. Problem is, this money does not exist. The government does not have money. You think it should, since you give them money every time you get a paycheck, but they have a reputation of fiscal irresponsibility and always spend more than they earn. If YOU spend more than you earn, eventually your family collapses, you lose your house/car, and your credit score goes in the toilet. Lucky for the government, they can just borrow money from other countries or simply print more money. But we already have a national debt of almost 1 TRILLION dollars. Not million, not billion, but trillion. And with one swipe of the pen, Obama is ready to nearly DOUBLE that amount within his first month on the job.

Hypothetical situation: Let's say I owe MasterCard $2,000. I have for a long time, but I never send them any money, because I spend it on other stuff. In fact, I keep using the MasterCard to pay for things because I'm living outside my means and need the extra $$$. So after a while I owe MasterCard $5,000. I still don't pay my bill and act like it's no big deal. Now I decide to go out shopping for things my family "needs," like landscaping for our house and converting our car to a hybrid (things actually included in the Stimulus bill!) and I charge another $5,000 to the card. Am I being financially responsible? Am I actually helping anyone by creating more debt that I never intend to pay back? Or am I creating problems for my family down the road and putting them at a disadvantage in the future due to my own lack of foresight?

The difference between the government and me is that if I don't pay my debts back, MasterCard sues me or sends goons to break my kneecaps. The government, however, is not really accountable to anyone. And if they keep creating debt, do you know who is going to pay it back? You are. In higher taxes, for a very long time.

To summarize: You get nothing from the "stimulus" bill because it allocates money to projects within the government and does nothing to reward people with steady jobs who pay their mortgage, but those people will pay higher taxes to help fund this monstrosity. You pay, you get nothing. People who are irresponsible and reckless get many things and do not have to pay anything. Fair? Not at all.

Silver lining: Watching Obama struggle to drum up support for this nonsense. He's threatening members of Congress with "You better act now or face the consequences later" It makes him look like a petty jerk who doesn't really have any control over the situation. To those who think he's the all-powerful leader, you see now how the system of checks and balances works! It doesn't matter if he thinks it's the greatest idea he's ever come up with--he does not have the power at this point. And it seems to make him mad.

I'm done now. More baby stuff later!

25 Things About Anne

The "hot thing" on Facebook right now is to answer a chain-mail type request and list 25 interesting facts about yourself. Some people do it on Facebook, others put it on their blog. I already did my facts about me on Facebook, but I saw another mom blog some interesting facts about her kids and I thought it was a good idea. So here are 25 interesting facts about Anne Meredith!

1. She loves cheese. Loves it. Like, eats as much as she can until she's sick. She says "cheeeees" with an "s" sound, not a "z"

2. She weighed 9 and a half pounds at birth, but quickly thinned out and was never a really a roll-y, chubby baby.

3. Puppies are her favorite thing. We did a Google image search for "puppies" last night and looked at many cute little guys!

4. She loves shoes. True woman. I recently bought her new church shoes at Target and she held them in her lap in the cart, very pleased about her new stuff.

5. She is starting to pick up her toys with my help and tries to put her books away on the shelf. Good girl--less work for Mommy.

6. Her eyes have always been a weird, inky-brown color. They defy conventional description and do not look like either of her parents' eyes.

7. Her name Anne means "grace" and Meredith means "from the sea" She isn't named after anyone.

8. She was almost named: Jane Victoria, Amelia Jane, Anna-Kate Margaret, Elizabeth Reagan, and Reagan Elise. Somehow we landed on Anne. We'll never use any of these names for a sibling, either.

9. Anne' birthday, October 5, is the most common birthday in the world. More people have that birthday than any other, including my Grandma Lillian.

10. Anne loves milk and (right now) doesn't really like juice. Sam is adamant about her not drinking juice--she doesn't need it and it isn't really good for her. We don't keep any in the house. Milk for meals, water at snack time.

11. She is a perfectionist and cries when things don't go well, like if she falls when walking.

12. You all know she was a scooter, and even though she is walking proficiently now, she still can't crawl. Put her on her hands and knees and she just backs herself up onto her rear end.

13. She goes ballistic when you try to trim her fingernails. Just screams like you're cutting off her fingers. I have to wrestle her down--last time I used one arm and both legs to hold her relatively still on my lap. Let's not even discuss what happens when we try to do the toenails...I'll just say it takes two adults and someone usually ends up getting kicked in the face.

14. Anne's always been a good sleeper. When it gets to be bedtime we lay her down and away she goes. She likes her crib a lot.

15. Anne loves her grandparents all equally, but I think she's got a special love for Opa. He's got all the good treats and teaches her things.

16. Anne does not like to go home from Oma's house each day. We have to remind her that "Puppy is at home" and then she wants to go see him.

17. She laughs and kicks her legs when we get home and let Mikey out of his basement prison (the "pet pokey" as we call it) She thinks he is pretty funny, especiallly when he scratches his back by wiggling on the couch.

18. She has no idea of the big dreams her parents have for her (academic all-star, accomplished musician, dancer/volleyball player/golf nut/softball girl, generally nice person)

19. She can recognize a picture of her daddy from any point in time. We have Sam's football picture from junior year in a frame and she knew right away "Daddy!" Didn't matter that he was much smaller and beard-less; she knew.

20. Anne's "social debut" will be at Auntie Erin's wedding this May. Let's hope she can walk down the aisle with minimal help and minimal drama!

21. Anne is beloved at daycare. She's the youngest kid there and everyone else kind of watches out for her. Her best pal is Nic, who brings her toys and helps her do things.

22. Anne (like most kids, I think) can sense tension. If she's upset and I'm getting upset, she gets worse. If I stop and take a deep breath and calm down a bit, she usually follows suit.

23. She loves flannel! Her little blankies are flannel and she rubs them on her nose and sucks her thumb. She has a big flannel blanket to sleep under at daycare and one at home, too. Big thanks to my Aunt Kathy who made her the first flannel blanket, which helped us discover Anne's love. (She's picky about it, too. There's one little blanket that's different from the others and she doesn't like that one! Last night she had the un-preferred blankie in bed and ended up cuddling the big flannel blanket instead.)

24. She rides in the car like a dream. Either sleeps or looks out the window. DVD player? We don't need no stinking DVD player!

25. We tell her she's pretty and she'll run her hands through her hair and say "Pretty!"

A melty puddle of love and happiness

That's what I've been reduced to this evening. Anne is at the point where she'll try to say anything. Tell her "Anne, say 'book'" and she'll try to say "book." If we're surfing Facebook we'll visit Erin and Will's pages to practice their names "Eh-wah" and "Uuh." But tonight was the cutest of all. We always say "Love you!" when we put her to bed and tonight she said "Uv-ooo" right back! I know she doesn't know what's she's saying, but I don't care. She also gives kisses and hugs (she'll even rub your back while she hugs!) It is all very sweet and cute. It is nice to get a little love back...

I also get the occasional "Hi, Mommy!" which I love, also.