From the highest of highs to the lowest of lows in 5 minutes flat

I was straightening up Summer's room so that's it's inhabitable this weekend (Summer's baby blessing--my family and my MIL are coming) and found the Bumbo seat. I have no idea how early they can start sitting in it, but I put her in it for a few minutes anyway. She was up high, sitting in her crib, looking around and started smiling at me!! The first extended period of pure smiles and almost laughs. Enough to melt a mama's heart! I started snapping away, of course.


She started to get a little cranky after a few minutes so I decided it was time to get dressed and ready for the day before she goes down for her 2nd nap. Typical procedure: vitamins first, then wash face, hands, and neck. Then inspect fingernails. A couple look like they need to be trimmed, so I grab the clippers and clip a couple fingernails. I clip her thumbnail and instantly realize I clipped her skin, not her nail. Her face crumples up and tears spring to her eyes, face red. My heart breaks. I've hurt my child! I clean it up and put some anti-bacterial ointment on it and wrap it up, all the while apologizing to her and cuddling her. I feel absolutely awful. I'm hoping by this evening it won't hurt and she'll have forgotten all about it. Still, I feel terrible. Look at this face. And poor thumb. So sad.

Future Furniture?

I foresee this being a purchase in about 2 years....

The BYU Flush and Cheer Potty! Why couldn't I have thought of this??? Genius. If we didn't already have kids, I'm sure this would have kick-started the process for sure.

A Fat Tuesday, indeed

Ahhh, the long awaited day. My beloved Sonic is open for business! But first--a trip to IHOP for "free" pancakes!

There is an IHOP close to our apartment. We live fairly close to railroad tracks, and let me tell you, the phrase "other side of the tracks" applies quite well. We are a but a mere stone's throw away from many scenes on the 10 o'clock news.

I drive by fully expecting to witness the mayhem that Denny's experienced a couple weeks ago. Not so. With Summer in tow, I walk in and am immediately seated. There are maybe 5 or 6 other tables occupied around me. I place my order--free pancakes, please, with water--and wait. It's Free Pancake Day, you'd think they'd have them all ready, right? Nope. I wait. And wait.

And observe.

Behind me is a girl bottle feeding her infant, who tells me she is "3 or 4 weeks" old. Excuse me? 3 OR 4 weeks? You don't know? It wasn't that long ago! I can tell you to the day how old my baby is! This baby also looks to be about 4 pounds, I kid you not. In front of me are a man and woman facing each other. The man has his bluetooth on. He's talking, but I don't know who he's talking to--the woman or his bluetooth. Either way, every other word is "mutha f*&%a". It's a verb, noun, and adjective. To my left enters three individuals who I'm certain came straight from their meth lab. There is an older gentleman in the corner, who looks like he goes everyday, eating his strawberry french toast and sipping his coffee, oblivious to his surroundings. Perhaps his hearing aid battery was low. Lucky guy.

My pancakes arrive! Finally! I eat, quickly. Mostly to get the heck out of there, and also to make it to Happy Hour on time. I ask my server for change for my my $10 bill. She brings me a $5 and 5 $1's. Perfect. I'll leave her a $2 tip, which is $2 too much, and the requested $3 donation to the Children's Miracle Network in the cardboard box by the door. I tuck the two bucks under my glass, and fold up the remaining bills in my hand. I grab Summer, anxious to get out of this incestuous cesspool. I pause at the donation box and insert my bills, and as I push them through the slot, I see Abraham Lincoln waving me goodbye. WHAT?? In my haste, I did not put my $5 bill away like I should have, but instead pushed all 8 bucks into the box. I froze and gasped. For a split second I debated how I could open the box and get my 5 bucks back. Then humanity slapped me in the face and I realized it was for a good cause, and my extra 5 dollars would help to make up for all the sleaze balls who would eat for free and donate nothing today. So, my "free" pancakes cost me $10 today. Blah.



Onto greener pastures....SONIC! I had gotten a heads-up text from my friend who told me it was pretty busy. No worries, what else did I have to do today besides wait for my Cherry Limeade? Nothing! I get to the intersection, and it is quite busy, with cars waiting to even pull in.

Turns out, they have you drive behind the strip mall and form a line behind it. Craziness. So I wait. 3:03 pm.

Up ahead, a man asks me if I'll be going through the drive-thru or a car stall. I tell him drive-thru and he gives me a laminated card stating so, as well as a paper menu. Like I don't already have it memorized! Turns out, I wind up going to a car stall to place my order. 3:37pm.

Finally, a girl on roller skates brings me my liquid heaven. 3:40 pm.

No, they're not both for me. I took one to a friend.

Was it everything I hoped it would be?? Honestly? No. It was light on the cherry and heavy on the lime, but it was their first day, I'll give them a week or two to get it right. I'm just thrilled to know I can go anytime I want. Open everyday until midnight, baby!

Now all we need is a Chick-fil-A.

Sickly

It all started last night when my stomach was feeling less than fresh. I went to bed, and froze. All night. Bedspread AND down comforter did nothing to warm me up. I wake up this morning and feel sick to my stomach. I know if I get up I'll throw up. So I stay in bed as long as possible. Luckily Summer is sleeping well. I finally get up around 10:30 and start throwing up. Still freezing, I have a fever and my entire body aches. Great. How am I supposed to take care of a baby when I can barely take care of myself? (And I'm thinking...horrible timing! I can't be sick for the Grand Opening of Sonic tomorrow!!! I know, I know...) I call Derrick and he comes home and takes care of us. What a lifesaver. He's been so helpful today--I don't know what I would do without him. I'm feeling TONS better now. My fever broke and I'm keeping food down and Ibuprofen is helping with the aches.

Being sick SUCKS!

Free Quiznos

Go here and sign up to get one of 1 million subs from Quiznos. They're only up to 173,857 so you still have time! Hooray for free food!

Drive by

Yesterday I did a drive by of the new Sonic we're getting. You know, to plan my attack. I took a picture with my phone, I was that excited.

I've had my current phone for over 2 years, and never knew how to get the pictures I took OFF my phone. I'm a little ashamed to say it was my mother, with her pay-as-you-go circa 1995 cell phone, that showed me how. Thanks, Ma.

Artsy Fartsy

The Milwaukee Art Museum is free to Milwaukee County residents on Wednesday so yesterday my friend Deann went with our kidlets in tow. I had been wanting to go every since we've moved here. The building itself, the "Calatrava" is really interesting looking.

Anyway, I do love looking at paintings and photographs, but I honestly have no idea about any of it. I don't know if I'm the only one who does this, but when I go to art museums I generally look at all the pieces and look for names I recognize. Which aren't many. I wish I had taken an art history course, because I feel like a complete dunce when it comes to art. I like what I like, which is mostly contemporary and modernish types of art. Clean lines, bold colors, abstracts.

Here are a few of my favorite pieces (I don't have all the info on all of them...my bad):

This is actually a close up of a really long painting.

Pablo Picasso: Bouquet

Vassily Kandinsky: Fragment I for Composition VII
Kandinsky is one of my favorites--so bright and colorful.

I don't know who did this, but it struck me as funny for some reason. Maybe it's the cartoony faces. Maybe it's the random tennis racket.

Claude Monet: Waterloo Bridge, Sunlight Effect

Roy Lichtenstein: Crying Girl
I dig pop art too.

Loved this, of course. I tried to find who did it online but couldn't.

I'll definitely be going back and checking out new collections as they come. Can't beat free!

Latest Obsessions

Two things I'm addicted to:

The new water bottle I got for my birthday. Whitney has one and I've coveted it for a long time. It's BPA free, completely spill proof, and has the bite valve/straw combo. I am much more likely to drink something out of a straw, and since I've been super thirsty lately, I needed a better way to stay hydrated. I drink so much more now because of it. I love it because I can set it next to me in bed when I nurse at night and I don't have to worry about spills. It's also safer to use when driving--no tipping my head back to take a drink. Seriously, best water bottle ever. And of course, mine is pink.

The other is Gold Bond Ultimate Softening Lotion. This stuff is amazing. Our hands have been so dry they peel and crack and look sooo nasty. This stuff fixed it in like a day. My feet were super dry too, and after one day of lotion on them they are no longer rough and ugly. My hands are really soft now because of it. I'd always shied away from Gold Bond b/c of the price tag, but it's well worth the cost. Honestly, they give it away on The Price is Right so much I'm surprised I haven't tried it sooner. I have since repented and shamelessly promote it to everyone I see.


That's it for now. Although as you know it's only a matter of time before I find my next addiction.

Cheap Food

Right now you can get a $25 gift certificate for $3 at restaurant.com. I just bought some to two restaurants here in Milwaukee that I've been wanting to try. Just use the code "PREZ" at checkout!

There are a few restrictions. Most require a $35 purchase and can't be used on the weekends. Hey, just an excuse to go out during the week!

And for you Utahns, The Smokehouse is one of the restaurants on the site. Although right now they are all sold out. Keep checking. Chris, I'm looking at you.

I'm an official Wisconsinite now

For Valentine's Day we made fondue, as per the norm. But we decided to add the cheese course this year. I looked online for a recipe, and they all called for beer. And all the reviews for those without beer said they added beer and that it was so much better. So...I bought beer. My very first time. We went to the Wal-Mart liquor store first only to find out they don't sell single cans. So then we went to the finest liquor store by our place where they do sell singletons and I purchased one lonely Pabst Blue Ribbon. Top shelf alcohol, baby. Really, it was on the very top shelf in the fridge. For a whopping dollar. The nice Indian man put my can in a brown paper bag and I walked out with shifty eyes, lit a cigarette, and hopped on my Harley. Ok, not really. But it was still really weird. And funny.

Anyway, the fondue was amazing. Truly, it would not have been as good without the devil's brew. We'll definitely be making it again. I actually found myself daydreaming about it while I was driving yesterday. It was a shame we had to pour 8 oz. of the stuff down the drain, but we couldn't justify polishing it off ourselves. :)

Here, make it yourself and see!

1 c. milk
1 c. beer
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp. ground dry mustard
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
3 Tbsp. flour
6 c. shredded Cheddar cheese

Combine milk, beer, Worcestershire sauce, ground dry mustard, and garlic. Heat on medium heat until almost boiling. Coat cheese with flour. Gradually add cheese and heat until melted. Serve with bread and/or veggies. Really good with green apples, too.

It's super easy and the cheese is sooo smooth. I used Sharp Cheddar, just generic Wal-Mart brand. Nothing fancy. Tasty, tasty.

Problem child

If Summer keeps this up, we're gonna have a rough 18 years ahead of us. She's been:

shimmying out of her clothes at night

spending all her time on her Blackberry

and running up huge bills. (at least she looks sad about this one.)

Guess we need to be stricter parents, eh?

Best Week Ever

Three of my body parts experienced something completely awesome today. But which one is having the Best Week Ever??

1) My eyes.

After a year and a half I finally finished Season 3 of The O.C. It had been hanging over me, leaving me with a feeling of guilt. Did Seth get into Brown? Does Marissa really like Volchok? These were questions I desperately needed answers to but I just couldn't find the time to satisfy my curiosity.

Today I finally closed that chapter. Seth doesn't get into Brown. Volchok killed Marissa. And now I'm moving on to Season 4. And then I can finally close this chapter of my life. This crazy O.C. chapter.

2) My mouth.

I learned today that Milwaukee's first Sonic is opening next Tuesday. 8 days. Cherry Limeades, here I come. I might just pick up an extra shift just to pay for my addiction. It's a good 15 minutes away, which will limit how often I go. Although, now that I think about it, if I take the freeway to work, it's right on the way. Hmm....

3) My lady business.

I had my 6 week postpartum appointment today. My doc said everything looks OK, and that I may now return to my regularly scheduled programming...if you know what I mean.

So, who is it? Who's having the Best Week Ever? My eyes? My mouth? My lady business?

My vote? My mouth. :)

One bad apple

I found this in my fruit bowl the other day. What in the world would make an apple do something like this?? Weird.

6 Weeks!

Fishing for gifts?

We didn't send out Christmas cards this year because we knew we'd be sending out birth announcement a few weeks afterwards. So, birth announcements went out a couple weeks ago, and all of a sudden I've noticed an influx of gifts for Summer. Then I started thinking: Are they the result of the announcements? Of course-they must be, right?

It had never occurred to me that birth announcements would be treated like wedding announcements, graduation announcements, etc. and are an attempt to get gain. I thought they were just a way to brag about how adorable your new little bundle of joy is. Don't get me wrong, I'm so loving the adorable things that are coming in, and VERY appreciative, but they were all just so unexpected.

So my question is: do you, my readers, send out birth announcements in hopes of getting more gifts? Or just as an FYI?

If it's the previous, then I feel awful about not sending gifts to those who have sent me announcements!!

Valentine's Day

First, thanks for voting, and for all your comments on the last post! I've learned of 4 stalkers, and now I have 4 new blogs to read! No shame in stalking...you know we all do it! And if you haven't voted b/c you're too lazy to click on my blog from Google Reader, shame on you.

I love February. Mostly b/c it's my birthday month, but also b/c of Valentine's Day, which means lots of pink and red. I have Valentine's Day decorations, but for some reason they always get forgotten and never put out, and that makes me so sad.

Valentine's Day may be a commerical, "Hallmark holiday", but what's not to love about it? You get an extra excuse to show how much you love someone. And it doesn't have to be a significant other, you can celebrate your love for your family or friends. Don't be a VD (hmmm....interesting coincidence of initials...) hater just b/c you don't have a boy/girlfriend.

One of my favorite Valentine's Days was when Derrick and I had just started dating, and we went up to Salt Lake City and walked around the Olympic Village (obviously in 2002). We had dinner at Z Tejas where I gave Derrick my gift of concert tickets to Styx and REO Speedwagon. I was such an awesome girlfriend. :) He gave me roses, that he and Sterling got at some warehouse at an apparently unbelievable price. What wasn't so unbelievable was how they were dead the next day. You get what you pay for, boys!

One of my favorite things about Valentine's Day are Luv Pops. Big cherry flavored suckers. Not those crappy wimpy tiny cherry suckers, these are hefty and thick and delicious. Wait...are we still talking about suckers?? Anyway, they are IMPOSSIBLE to find. I found them at Wal-Greens a couple years ago, but haven't found them since. Except online, and even then I'm not convinced they're the right ones.


If anyone comes across these, snag me a bag. I'll pay you back, and maybe even let you have one.

I'm not sure when we started doing this, maybe right after we got married, but instead of going out for dinner on Valentine's Day, we make fondue at home. Usually beef and chicken and then chocolate for dessert. I'm thinking of adding cheese to the mix this year. It's cheaper than going out, and easier than getting a reservation. We usually watch a movie while we eat, and it's lots of fun and really delicious. Oh, and sometime during the night the Valentine fairy dyes our milk pink.

Anybody want to share what they do for Valentine's Day? And let's keep it clean, kids!

New Poll

I was talking to my friend the other day and she told me her friend who I've never met reads my blog. So it got me thinking just who reads this thing. I think it would be really interesting, and super awesome, if every single person who reads The Wet Donkey left a comment, just to satisfy my own curiosity. But, as a blog stalker myself, I know not everyone would obey. So, to somewhat satisfy myself, I have created a simple poll, to your left. Purely anonymous. Have we met, or have we not? No cheating, only vote once!

Now VOTE!

What is it about sports movies...

...that always make me cry???

We watched "Invincible" and "We Are Marshall" this past week, and I cried in both of them. In fact, I cried practically throughout "We Are Marshall". I think it's the whole "based on a true story" part that gets to me. "The Rookie", "Miracle", they all get me choked up. "Angels in the Outfield"...not so much.

I don't know why it took me so long to watch "Invincible." I don't think I knew Marky Mark was in it. That would have upped it's priority, that's for sure. Hotness.



Speaking of movies, I saw "He's Just Not That Into You" on Friday night. I didn't have high expectations for it, but I was excited to go out with some girlfriends. Well, I thought it was really good actually! Really cute. And it portrays the crazy neurotic obsessive single girl very well, I thought. And Bradley Cooper is super good-looking.


I've been watching the Grammy's tonite. It makes me more than a little sad that I don't know half the songs. What's wrong with me??? I blame it on the fact that the new Lake FM radio station plays awesome 80's jams and I'd rather listen to that than the pop/rock stations I usually listen to. I'm so out of the loop. I must be 28 or something...

One year closer to 30...

What do....

Ashton Kutcher,


Garth Brooks,


Chris Rock,


Laura Ingalls Wilder,


and I


all have in common??

We were all born on the greatest day of the year, February 7th!

It was a pretty low-key day, but delightful nonetheless. We slept in (as much as we could) and ran some errands in the morning. It was about 50 degrees out, and sunny, so we took a walk around the complex with Summer. It was so darn windy though, which I can't stand, so we only did one lap before we called it quits. We went out for sushi for dinner, which I looooved, considering I haven't had any since I found out I was pregnant. Derrick got me a new water bottle, which I've been wanting, and "Photoshop Elements for Dummies", which I've already started to read. My MIL sent AMC gift certificates which will definitely be used.

It's interesting to see how technology changes. I got 47 posts on my wall on Facebook, and only 3 texts yesterday wishing me a happy birthday. Granted, Facebook makes it pretty easy to help you remember someone's birthday, although the people who texted me have Facebook as well so the extra effort was appreciated. Even the posts on my wall made me feel nice and tingly because the person took the time, even if it was 20 seconds, to write a note for me. They didn't have to take time out of their day to think of me, but they did. So thanks for everyone who wished me a happy birthday, whatever the method. I loved hearing from everyone!

I've always been a huge fan of birthdays. It's the one day that's all about you. The one day you get to be special and do what you want, go where you want to go, eat what you want to eat. Birthdays were always much more fun when you were little, but even now, I still love my birthday. And I love to help others celebrate their birthdays. Derrick always does a good job of making me feel special on my birthday and this year was no different. He always makes me my favorite cake, Funfetti, and always treats me to my favorite meal.

I still can't believe I'm 28. It sounds so old to me, and so close to 30. Yikes. Oh well. I don't feel old, and I guess that's all that matters, right? Right.

Another food dream

Last night I had a dream I was at my grandma's house, in her kitchen. She had tons of boxes of cereal to choose from, and I was trying to decide what to have for breakfast. What did I choose? Corn Flakes. But not just any Corn Flakes, Confederate Corn Flakes. This is sort of what the box looked like (yes, these are my mad photoshop skillz):

There were four lines of text on the box as well, proclaiming white supremacy and various racial slurs.

As I poured my cereal and was about to take a bite, the friends who were with me looked at me in shock. They questioned my choice in disbelief, and I apparently realized what I had done and promptly threw it in the sink. Then I chose the regular, boring Corn Flakes. The Yankee Corn Flakes? I'll never know for sure.

What in the world is this supposed to mean??

I hope there's a place in heaven where you can watch all of your old dreams. You know, like a giant Blockbuster of all your dreams on DVD. Wouldn't that be awesome?

At BYU I went on a date with a guy to the International Cinema and saw Kurosawa's Dreams. It was so bizarre, but I remember it being such a cool idea to put your dreams to screen. In case you're interested, here's one of the 8 segments from the movie, called "Crows". It's my favorite, not only b/c it features Van Gogh's art, but also the Raindrop Prelude by Chopin.



Wonder what tonite's dream will be??

Exciting, or pathetic??

What do you do when it "warms up" to 37 whopping degrees? Why, you go on a walk, of course! It felt absolutely balmy this afternoon when we were out running errands, that I decided we should take full advantage and get outside. We just walked to get the mail and back, but it was a walk nonetheless. And the sun was out! Miracle of miracles! It felt sooo good to walk outside and stretch my legs. For some reason a walk outside feels differently than walk in the mall. Mall walking doesn't feel like exercise to me. Probably b/c I stop too frequently to browse...

It's supposed to get up to 45 tomorrow...maybe more walks are in our future!

Trend or Fluke?

Last night Summer slept from 11-4 and then from 4:30-8. Bless her little heart, she let me sleep. I'd love to think it's a trend, but I'm not getting my hopes up for a repeat performance tonite. Maybe she was just apologizing for being a little turkey last night. Maybe she was extra tired from all the chores we made her do yesterday. Either way, I love her for it!

Getting my 8 glasses in

Breastfeeding makes me thirstier than a camel in hell. Combine that with the dryness I live in and I'm practically a raisin. Parched.

Solution: drink water!
Problem: I don't really like water.
Solution: Crystal Light!

These little bad boys are an answer to my prayers. I can down a whole glass of water in seconds when it's flavored with this powdered goodness. Derrick says it's not water anymore. Pfft. Whatever. Water is water is water, right?

Fruit Punch is usually my flavor of choice, despite the fact it turns everything it touches a bright, bright red. The new White Grape is pretty tasty, too. I tried Wal-Mart brand Cherry Limeade with high expectations, only to be sorely disappointed. I think the box with the remaining 9 packets still resides in my cupboard.

Bottom's up!

Cravings?

Last night I had a dream I was in a grocery store and I bought one pound of beef and a wedge of blue cheese for $57. Now I'm wondering when I can get a steak from Wildfire.



And I'm wondering where the heck this expensive grocery store of my dreams is.

One month

I can't believe Summer is a month old already. It's like I blinked and-POOF!-one month zipped by.

I feel incredible blessed and lucky to have had such an easy baby so far. She has started to get more alert and awake and therefore more fussy, but it's hardly fussy at all so I can't even complain about it. She just likes to be held and cuddled and loved...who doesn't love that?? She also likes to snooze in her carseat while we run errands, and her favorite is sleeping on dad's chest in the evening. She loves sleeping on her tummy, just like her mom. Darn that Back to Sleep campaign!

She's starting to get pretty heavy, and I wondered just how much weight she has gained. Well, I found out today at her one month appointment. Let's just say this little girl is quite the eater and is turning into a little chunk. Two weeks ago she was 7 lb 15 oz. She's now 9 lb 3 oz.!! She's moved up to the 50th percentile in weight. She grew just over an inch to 20.75", 37th percentile; and her noggin is 36.5 cm, 37th percentile.

She got her 2nd dose of the Hepatitis B vaccine, which promptly brought the first painful tears to her little eyes. Oh man, it broke my heart to see her cry like that, and then I started tearing up. She's been super cuddly all night as a result, which we love.

She still sleeps well, waking up usually twice at night to eat. We've got it down to a science. Eat, poop, diaper change, swaddle, and back to sleep in about 25 minutes. Not bad!

I've been able to learn a little more about Photoshop Elements, and I was able to make Summer's birth announcement, just like I wanted to! Thanks to all who sent links and helped me learn new tricks so I could actually do it! What do you think? Don't you just love that center picture? It cracks me right up.

Raising a newborn, for me, hasn't really been all that stressful or hard. I attribute a lot of that to working on a newborn unit. The experience handling a newborn helped me a ton, and just knowing what to expect out of them eased my mind on a lot of things.

What is stressing me out is the feeling that I'm not enjoying her as much as I should or could be. Everyone always says, "The time goes so fast! Enjoy every minute, every stage!" So I'm always wondering if I've held her enough, stared at her enough, talked to her enough, taken enough pictures of her, etc. I feel guilty when I put her in her crib for naps during the day, wondering if I should be holding her and watching her sleep. I feel guilty if I try and put her in the swing or bouncy seat while I shower or make dinner or clean or whatever. It feels like I'm neglecting her. Now, before I get the barrage of comments telling me I'm allowed to let her sleep and that I need to do things for myself, I understand that. I do, I really do. And I know it's illogical to do all the things I tell myself I should or could be doing. But I can't help feeling like I'm still missing something, and that I'll have regrets later about not cherishing the moments now. The moments that have already passed. The moments I'll never get back. I'm so torn about loving the stage she's in now and wanting to see what she'll grow up to be. All I know is we love her, and our lives are so much better because she's a part of our family now. All we can do is our best, and hope she knows we're doing everything we can for her.

Here's to another month!!