Maybe She Can Just Get By With Dentures?

I know I've been seriously lacking with our updates, but I'm certain you'd forgive me considering Chase wakes us up every 20 minutes from 2-5 o'clock every day this past week. The poor child is so uncomfortable and gassy. I'm beyond tired and so thankful Wil is here to share the nighttime parenting fun. We take turns getting up with and trying to console her, but there are times, normally after the 5th or 6th trip to her room in two hours, that we play "it's-your-turn" game. I normally win after I pull "I-gave-birth-therefore-I-win" card. Really need to not abuse that one since I do need his help in getting another baby. A LONG LONG TIME FROM NOW, GRANDPARENTS.

Our weekend... Where shall I start? How about that I will never again expect a quaint dinner party when being invited to a "Girls' Night In"? When I called to confirmed my attendance, I was informed that it was the "toys" party. I'll spare you all the details, but I can just tell you that faking an illness to get out of something I already committed to will be seriously considered the next time.

Ok, I've gotten up 4 times in the last hour to try to make Chase take a nap and it's beginning to make me crazy so I'm going to wrap here. I'll leave you with some pictures of our 5-month old baby, at her much happier times.

Almost sitting up on her own.
Her constant cheerleader, Brother Paddy.
She's going to kill me for posting this picture, but how can I resist that cute chunky butt?
Her official 5-month old portrait.

I'm Still Here...Sort Of

Chase is REALLY teething. Drool, diarrhea, GAS, FREQUENT NIGHT WAKING!!! Good thing I love this child...

Wil just put her down for the night. We're going to enjoy a few hours of peace and quiet. Will elaborate more about our weekend later. Hope yours went well.

I'd Like to Return This Weather and Get My Money Back, Please

The overnight low's are going to be in the 30's for the foreseeable future. October was always my favorite time of the year, and September was a close second. No longer. I disown you, September.

The Face of an Exhausted Parent

He was talking and suddenly went quiet. It was barely 8:30.

What Does a Girl Have To Do To Keep Warm?!?

Last year this time I was incubating a human, who put off so much heat I was comfortable just wearing a t-shirt to go outside with the boys--in the German winter. I even thought to myself that the much-dreaded winter was actually kind of enjoyable. Obviously, I was seriously hormonal and had a jacked up bodily thermostat. It's barely fall here and the heaters have already been on for a few days. During the day when the sun is out, it is not so bad. At night, however, you can practically hear my bones rattling in the dark. I think Wil is beginning to feel sorry for me after hearing my whining all this week. He actually threw another blanket over me (in addition to the 2 that were already there) this morning on his way to PT. He really did throw it on me and woke me up, but I was too grateful to bitch and just curled up into a warm Me ball until the baby started to cry 10 minutes later. I saw heaven in those 10 minutes and it was clean and toasty. Now where is my ticket to Italy? Or do I have to try getting knocked up again just to make it through these next couple of months?

In other fun PCSing news, getting to Italy is proving to be more of a headache than moving to Germany all the way from the States, surprisingly enough. Nobody seems to know what we have to do/who we have to call to square away our travel arrangement. And when Wil finally called the correct Italian embassy number (he was given 4 others that didn't work), he was rightly greeted with an automated menu in either German or Italian. At Bragg, the fabulously efficient ladies at Port Call just took care of everything for me in one afternoon. You wouldn't think getting a permission to drive 10-12 hours south would be this much trouble.

Anyhoo, I'm off to take a nap before the child wakes up from hers. Need to reaquaint myself with that clean and toasty place...

Getting an Early Start

I'm determined to have a drama-free move (at least where I have control over), which means getting as organized as I can as early as possible. If you know me, you also know that I don't really "organize" in the traditional sense. I mean I know exactly under which bed I should look for my shoes and it really throws me off when my husband tells me that he puts them in MY closet, where they belong. There is a perfect method to my madness and I like it that way. However, having gone through the last move by myself and realizing that not all movers appreciate my logic, I am now reformed. I started packing Miss Chase's clothes today. I pick her stuff for a very obvious reason: it's EVERYWHERE. In her 4 and a half months of life, her chairs, swing, toys, and clothes have completely taken over our tiny apartment. I know my inability to control myself while browsing ramsteinyardsales.com is not the child's fault, but, c'mon, the kid NEEDS stuff. I can not describe the high I get after scoring 18 months worth of baby clothes for $40. It's really a mutually beneficial relationship: she gets new-to-her things and I feed my small addiction. This is what happens when the weather is always bad and I have full access to the internet.

Speaking of bad weather, I should have never posted anything about last week's sunny days. The weather god is punishing me for prancing around a little too smugly by dropping the temperature by about 30 degrees. Last Friday, Wil's work had mandatory fun time at the park, and we had to go enjoy hot dogs, hamburgers, bar-b-q chicken, and iced cold soda, you know, summer foods, in hurricane-forced wind, Forrest Gump's side way rain, and subzero temperature. Everyone kept sneaking back inside to regain feeling in their appendages and get hot coffee. It was a nice party, however a few months too late. It's the thought that counts anyway...

Now since I have absolutely nothing exciting to report, I shall get on with some cute pictures of the child.

This is her way of telling me that her bouncy seat is on its way out, which leads me to my next yard sale purchase...
Hello, Bumbo!
I know I'm totally biased, but my kid is freaking CUTE!
I just want to wake her up right now to kiss those chubby cheeks. I know I need to get out more. And what is up with that weird index finger?
Social workers everywhere just hopped into their cars after viewing this picture. Don't worry, she only fell off the counter a couple of times and is fine now. Mother, please, put down the phone. I know I'm not supposed to let the thing leave the floor, but she wants to see me wash the dishes... Not really, I don't wash dishes, but she does want to be physically close to those apple strudels. Aren't they, like, the third baby food?

A Good Weather Week

We got Chase an exersaucer and by far it's her most favorite toy. The first couple of times I sat her in it, she started to cry and wasn't really interested in any of the toys. A day later I woke up from a nap to hear her laughing and squealing very loudy. Wil had put her in it just to see if she might give it another go, and she just couldn't get enough of it suddenly. I'm constantly amazed how quickly she learns and adapts to new things. She's growing up too fast!

I can stand on my own!!!
Not sure where to start.
It's hard to say no to that face and those eyes.
Teething slobber, anyone?
Determine to gnaw off the chicken's head.

I felt like a horrible mother to the boys since we had not taken them out swimming once this summer. After the baby came in April, I was just so incredibly exhausted and pretty much handed over the boys to Wil. Poor little puppies. I had been trying to take them out to the lake for a swim on my own, but walking them alone near an opened body of water with the baby strapped to my chest was not something I was brave enough to test. This past week we saw a couple of warm and sunny days, which allowed us to take all the kids out for a stroll around town. The water in our lake was still rather low and gross, but I'm sure you wouldn't hear any complaints from our boys. I'm going to see if we can go to a nicer lake Eurolush recommended to us this weekend if the weather holds.

Happy puppies! Finally.
Chasing ducks is so last year...
Brutus was giving it his best trying to catch a tennis ball and ducks. Somehow, he still managed to keep the top of his head dry. On the other hand, Paddy relished making the biggest splashes and getting EVERYTHING and EVERYONE to smell like pond water. It was lovely.