Tiptoeing Tulip

The Halloween activities have already begun and this Saturday Illusia got to visit the 'Night of the Living Zoo.' it was cold and way overcrowded but she still seemed to have fun, for the most part.

More @ Night of the Living Zoo

Then on Sunday we wanted to go to a haunted house but could not find one for the little kiddies in the area (but are looking to try again next week, which is a full schedule for sure!) Instead we went to the park. :)

More @ Tulip Faery

Dandelion Daze

 

So, Illusia is basically 75% toddler now a days, very little baby-ness left despite still looking sweet and angelic. Very feisty and opinionated, but also hilarious, obsessively helpful and sweet. :) Below are pics of her on her last days of an official  1 year old, today she is 1 ½!

WOW. It seems like just yesterday that I was bringing her home from the hospital and now she is walking, talking, running, throwing and most of all screaming her way through my days. I think seeing the photos of her with the dandelion (below) made me think of how as a baby she was soft, peaceful and settled. Just taking things in and now she is girl of action; wild like the seeds blowing in the wind. Still ever as pretty (and don't think she does not know it, she has the coy 'who me?' smile down.) and still the love of my life. Here is to 18 wonderful months of Illusia!

More @ Fall Daze

Only on a Monday

Today is one of those days. A day so crazy that Illusia has to take a back seat for another special girl in my life, one who is furrier and (believe it or not) a lot more trouble...

Why is today an awful, bad, no good day you ask? First it is a Monday...and also we now have no hot water and I watched my dog almost get hit by a car 4 times.

To explain... it all started around noon on a rainy, dreary Monday. That's when our gas, which was never suppose to be shut off was and out came a... gas-turner-on-man (? Stay with me here, my articulateness has left the building) showed up and spent about 5 minutes finding our very old, under the house furnace and declared it was too dirty to light. Which, okaaay sorry to make you do you job dude. (Okay, I am being mean --- I would not want to blow up either, but ehh this it not even our fault and now we are without gas because some guy does not want to get dirty.) Anyway, he said it was out landlords problem to clean it and he would have to light it (I am not sure if that means our gas is turned back off again or on and not lit and if so does that mean I need to be checking for fumes?)  then left, I made cookies (electric oven, yay!) and let the dog out.

12 minutes later I went to let her back in and discovered the guy had left the gate wide open (after we told him we had a dog) and &%^%! went through my mind as I saw my old, cranky, half blind, arthritic 12 year old dog manged to hobble away and disappear. But I did not panic. I cursed, I kicked things, I secretly wished the gas man had a flat tire on the way home but I did not panic, I carefully got a leash, a stroller and a barefoot 17 month old and hightailed it to the street. I called her name (Chaos), whistled, made other annoying sounds and Illusia helped with 'bye-bye doggie' and we scoured the neighborhood, we came home and checked for her and went out again...

2 hours later and no dog and I was ready to give up and put Illusia to bed and wait to see if Chaos came home and then I saw her across the (very busy) street a block from our house. Of course as soon as she heard me she came running into my arms ran the other frickin' direction! It is harder than you think to keep a sweet, peppy voice when you want to strangle someone's furry neck, but I tried and honestly I did not have enough energy left to strangle anyone. I promised her more walks, dog treats, sleep, ear rubs, anything if she would just. stop. running.

Sweet baby Chaos...oh those were the days.

Of course, to spite me she decided to turn around and run past me into the middle of incoming traffic. Did I mention her name was Chaos? It sounded cute when she was an adorable, round puppy (see above)... Anyway picture an old black and white husky mix standing in the middle of traffic as car after car almost hits her and a out of breath (and out of shape) mommy with a stroller is standing on the sidewalk panting, screaming and crying and calling said dog as the dog ignores her and that was pretty much the scene.

The whole time I am standing there, feeling helpless. I can't go out into the middle of traffic with a toddler to get her, I can only watch as she gets almost hit again and again and it was really making me a bit hysterical... Finally, after the 4th car came to a screeching halt and she looked back to me, back to the street, then back at me again with something akin to 'Okay, I guess you are better than death' and walked over. Yay, she really loves me more than getting flattened by a car. Being the big softy I am I threw my arms around her and kissed her and then cried some more.

Modern day Chaos. Can you not just see the evil I'm-gonna-escape-the-yard-then-run-into-traffic-and-give-you-a-heart-attack brewing in her mind?

Of course, being the magnet for crazy people that I am someone that has saw the whole thing came over and asked if she could pet Chaos, like you know I was out there with my dog in traffic for fun, just to get my heart beat up over 125 beats per minute. Who goes up to a hysterical, crying dog-hugging person with a stroller and asks that, who?!? So anyway we made it home and Chaos crashed on the couch, Illusia crashed on her bed and I thought about how now I am hot, sweaty and have no hot water to take a shower and want to crash but am to hyped up.

It was a Monday so it makes sense. In the words of Garfield; 

NOW do you believe in magic

Pumpkins

SSOOOOOO long without updates, I feel terrible about neglecting this blog and not documenting some of the memories of the last two months!! :(. Though I will be sharing some of the pictures later...

Trying to focus on the now though and speaking of NOW we went to Applejack Pumpkin Patch yesterday and it had a lot of fun for a almost 1.5 year old and her mom (yours truly)

There were friendly goats, big ole slides, bails of hay, and pumpkins galore.

 

And of course... plenty of photo opps.

♥ more photos here ♥

Still Alive

Wow, I feel deeply guilty for not updating for over a month and a half :(. Not a lot has been going on that is fun and bloggable and I have been dealing with a lot of depression. Still managed to go a few places and do a few things in between but I felt too bummed out to update and the longer it went the harder it became to get back to it.

Things are looking up a bit lately though and I hope they continue to, expect updates very soon (including pumpkin patch cuteorama!)

Wild Weekend

Ugh, it has been so hard to get back into the swing of regular updating, even when I want to. I was excited about sharing our adventures last weekend, but every-time I started to make a post, I felt like there was nothing to say. I think it has a lot to do with STRESS. Mostly over the fact that next month our 6 month lease is up and though we have managed to pay every month and are not behind it was not always on time and there is a chance the landlord might want to find a 'better' tenant.  Add to that the fact Illusia is just starting to teethe in her canines and is so cranky I basically cannot say or do anything without her exploding in tears and screams...so much stress!

I did not get much sleep last night, so this might come across nonsensical but I want to share something not so gloomy: Last Sunday we had some definite fauna fun. It was an 105 degree high and normally I would elect to stay home and not go anywhere. But summer is fleeting and everyone was sick of being cooped up by the weather... so we battled the heat and went to the Hutchinson Zoo on Sunday morning. Even though we got there at 10:30 am, it was already 94 degrees, by the time we left, 45 minutes later it was already 100!

 
Still manged to enjoy ourselves a bit, mostly in the shade. It was a quaint little place with only a few animals and most of them were in their caves/houses trying to stay cool (and why was I not again..?) I liked the fact that the zoo had a strong rehabilition program and a lot of their animals young may leave the zoo and some of the animals in the zoo actually came from those that were not able to be returned to the wild (and not captive breeding programs, at least according to their website.

As a huge animal lover, I still have mixed feelings on zoos though. Some things I noticed that I wish they would improve on is the size of some of the animals exbibits and the fact that some jerk had thrown trash into the deer's water and it was all green and slimy. Which made me feel very sad for the majestic, obviously very friendly deer

We took a lot of breaks and Illusia enjoyed a home-made-water-bottle sprinkler, she really loved to get cooled off and play around! We took one last break in the grass to have a snack and take some photos. Speaking of photos, my camera got overheated and it really effected the quality of a lot of the photos. Some were dark, grainy and blotchy, mostly the ones I had Grandma A. take of me and Illusia, which proves I never should have my picture taken as I will break the camera!

Cataclysms Silent

♥

Just waiting for my camera batteries to charge up so I have plenty of 'ammo' to get some images later this evening (when it cools off a bit.) Have a fun little trip planned this weekend, but I will keep the details secret to avoid spoiling the suprise.

Here are some random pictures from earlier today of my dear running around and being her crazy little self. I made it into a collage and it now resides as my new desktop. :)

clickie for bigger.

And here is a poem from the poetry section of this blog. I have not shared it on a blog post yet, so I thought I might today :).

D u l c e t 

So soft.
The waves, the expression on your face
I hear you calling
you are the dulcet to my ears.

So far.
I wander, oblivious to the shadows
you light reflects on to me
you are the starlight to my eyes.

A kiss.
by sunshine, genteel and honeyed
your sweetness is contagious
you are the the love of my life.

You turn,
cataclysms silent, sirens into whispers
I hear you breathing
you are the dulcet to my ears.

♥

The Great Sippy Cup Disappearance

Strange things happen in summer heat. Especially when said summer heat is 110 frickin' ridiculous degrees!  The plan was to stay home and sit in front of the air conditioner....until it cools off, you know around.... autumn. But that was before the great sippy cup disappearance!

 One second it was there, then there was a great cuphunt and every single Illusia reachable area (as well as quite a few that we not reachable) was explored and no sign off the full, bright blue sippy cup was found! To make things even stranger, I asked Illusia what happened to her drink (and she knows what it is) and she pointed to my laptop! 

I asked her how a sippy cup could go into a laptop and she pointed to the corner of the room and said as plain as day 'he did it.' I kid you not! A creeeeepy creature lives in my room and sucks things into my laptop. Like sippy cups (and probably all those socks too.)

 Not her sippy cup-- image found on google. The creature is totally mine though.

I am thinking since said sippy cup was full of milk that pretty soon we will be finding it by smell and see that Illusia set the whole thing up because she wants a new one... Or if we never find it and she was right...I wonder if 'he' sucks other things into there, I keep checking my screen for solidness and nope, no earthly barrier to the other side. I also and wondering is he spits things back out also, like an  ice cream sundae. Mostly I am thinking 'creepy creature, you owe me 4.99!'

Anyway I am quite bored and the heat has clearly gotten to me. Time to drink massive amounts of liquids and watch netflix now.

Walking on Beautiful Sunshine...Award

I was going to post this over a week ago but I am just getting to it today. I have received this very awesome Sunshine Award from La Licenciada

12 bloggers that spread the happiness and light:

A Lot of Loves

Sweet Peas & Sassafrass

One Love Mama

And Baby Makes Two

A Page in My Book

The Hip Single Mama

Airforce Wife Life
Tatter Scoops
Miss Madison's Charmed Life
Stuff Could Always be Worse
Is There a Bathroom on This Ship?

Wonderfully Dysfunctional

The Sunshine Award is given with the following rules:

1. Put the award on your blog and/or within your post.

2. Pass the award on to twelve (12) bloggers.

3. Link to the nominees within your post.

4. Let them know they received this award by commenting on their blog.

5. Share the love and the link to the person from whom you received the award.

 

I also received the beautiful blogger award from The Scoop on Poop

Thanks!

& I am sharing it with 8 amazing bloggers who make their blogs a beautiful place.

Momma May Be Mad

Chi of Life

An American Girl in Bristol
Suburban Rebel Mom

I Forgot What I Was Doing

Hello Sneakers, Goodbye Heels

Gerber Days

Woman Uncensored

 

I am not sure of the 'rules' on this one. But, I assume it is similar to the Sunshine award?


* * *

I know these awards really get around, so I am sorry if I am re-giving a previously given person one of these awards. Just think of it as making you extra awesome! Also, I promise, more updates very soon!!!

A Weeks Worth

It has been a whole week since my last post. I have not been feeling well (that's right all week. Yay me.) and have had internet issues to boot! In between those two setbacks I have been working on my blog awards post in draft. It was a lot more work than it seemed like it would be (at least being sick and battling my on and off internet)

Try to get that posted in the next couple days. For now here is a cute picture to tide you over. Went to the library yesterday to return books and Illusia ran around the place (trying to pull all the books off the shelf of course) and tired herself out so much that by the time we hit the park next door she was exhausted and kept falling asleep. 

But here is one picture that turned out :)

Hope that I feel better and can update soon-ish

Chasing Dusk

Someone turns 15 months old today! WOW. I was just getting use to the fact she was already 14 months and then she has to go and get older on me!

We made a visit to a park last night for for a few minutes at sun down. See her very last photos as a 14 month old:

She has continued to make leaps and bounds this month in her small motor development. Just learned a few days ago how to blow a kiss. ADORABLE. ^_^



 I know what you are thinking, cutest polka-dotty dress ever. And you are right.

 & have I told you how curly gorgeous her hair is lately? Because, yeah it is. Also, I won two more awards lately so I will be posting about them very soon!

more pretty pictures here

Delicate Light

I've never really liked the color yellow. It is so cheery and overwhelmingly happy looking. Like a creepy mannequin painted with a huge fake smile. Or a clown. Not like a cool really-an-evil-werewolf-pretending-to-be-a-clown clown either...more like a super hyper bozo with a high, annoying voice. That's how yellow makes me feel. Though, Illusia makes it tolerable. She makes most things tolerable.

being still, for just one moment.

I could go on and on about the ginormous ways having a child changes ones life. I am sure most parents could, but sometimes it is the little things that really gives us perspective. Life is made up of little things.

being a big girl with her rockstar straw sippy cup

It is in the way she, in the middle of playing, gets up and comes over and hugs me for no reason other than to do it. It nearly knocks me for a loop every time, makes my heart a puddle of warm goo. It is in the way she leans back against me and lets out a little sigh when I watch yet another silly cartoon with her. It is in the way she sometimes turns to me and touches my face like she is seeing it for the first time.

being full of love

And sometimes I see her like it is the first time. I forgot how gorgeous and miraculous and special she is. Then I catch a glimpse of her with the sun in her eyes, a goofy expression on her face, just being sooo her and I remember. I remember that it is not the messes, the whining, the tantrums, the refusing to nap, the being into everything all day. Those are just actions they are not her. She is so much more, she can make anything tolerable.

being her

So, like I said, it's the little things.

P.S.

SQUEEE ducklings!!

How to Make a Mess

A pictorial brought to you by cranky-pajama-Illusia:

P.S. don't ask me why she put her dolly in a homemade torture rack, I really don't know...

Blog Crush X's 5

Wow, this last week has been so hot and miserable. It was 100 degrees most of today and still in the 90's at evening time! We have been going nowhere lately because the last time we ventured out Illusia was acting really over-heated and upset even with my best attempts at keeping her cool. Myself, I have felt stir-crazy and really depressed lately being cooped up. I (and this might sound silly) have also been really stressed out that I do not have many pictures of her this month, I like to have at least a few different occasions to commemorate her growing and I feel our recent lack of outings have been leaving a hole in my memory trail. Which adds to me feeling more like crap. Like I said, silly!

I hate the empty ache of depression. The loneliness and gloominess of it, the general constant tiredness and pessimism. It is something I deal with quite regularly but it also dissipates every once in a while only to come back with  a vengeance, As if to remind me 'No, you are not normal! Your life is a mess and hey just look at all these other people being happy like you are..so totally not! NANANANA!' Yes, my inner depressed voice sounds like a middle school valley girl, really.

Anyway enough of my whining... with no pictures I decided to do something a little different today by paying homage to just a few of the blogs I know, love and read. I stole this idea from Marvelous Kiddo, so mucho thanks to that blog! My theft is feeling pretty darn good right about now.

Drum Roll....

5 random--- okay slightly alphabetical, blog crushes:

Alabaster Cow

Aside from the awesome tag-line, it is always such a fun visit when I go to this blog. I can always count on Ericka's sense of humor and sarcasm to make me forget the pains of life and remember to smile because even if it isn't all one big joke, you can make it one!

* Favorite Post: dear extended family (except you uncle ted, you’re just creepy)
It made me laugh so hard I almost woke my daughter! Luckily I didn't, or I might be suing.

Breastfeeding Moms Unite

As you could guess most of the posts revolve around breastfeeding. It is a very good, supportive place to go when you start to feel like a isolated breastfeeding mom in a formula feeding world. I really find it exhilarating to read about the struggles and triumphs of modern breastfeeding women.

*Favorite Post: Actually has nothing to do with breastfeeding and is actually a series of posts called Vegetarian Foodie Fridays. I am a vegetarian and love seeing new recipes!! An example of one I want to try by Melodie is Vietnamese Rice Noodle Salad, yum!

Hobo Mama

A wonderful blog focusing on gentle, natural parenting. Everything is always well researched, articulate and informative. A definite resource for all parents looking for advice and insight into raising a happy child outside of society's depictions of 'normal'.

* Favorite Post: Assuming the best intentions
This is a true, observational gem from Lauren on how us (silly) adults often ascribe false motives to very young children. Creating issues and stress for both us and the child where we could avoid them.

Love Imagine Create

First the name rocks. Second, Holly Renee's posts are always so real, deep and introspective. They manage to tackle squeamish personal issues gracefully and never sound gritty or pretentious. I always leave this blog asking myself meaningful questions and daydreaming.

* Favorite Post: The Humblebird post fills me with delight. It made my heart a little warmer, seeming so silly, innocent and imaginative like something a child would do. And I mean that as the highest compliment! Children have some of the brightest, most expressive minds in the world.

One Starry Night

I have not been following this amazing blog for long, but I have become quickly smitten with it. I admit the first things that drew me here were the gorgeous layout and the amazing pictures. If you go a bit deeper though, underneath the beauty it boasts are some truly outstanding posts by Sarah that are full of emotion and splendor.

Favorite Post:

 Who Am I? is so deep and heart-wrenching that it makes you want to do something but you are not sure what. I think the post title is a question most of us ask ourselves at one point or another in our lives. Now add to that a lot of confusing and traumatic moments and it is far too easy to see how one can become lost.

***

Okay, I have stated my crushes, Now who is going to ask me to prom???

Maximum Overdrive II

Haven't been around the blogging world for a few days now.... Either writing or reading, I hope to change that soon and was going to make a post on Wednesday as I planned to go somewhere with Illusia but I ended up getting hurt trying to install a new video card in an old computer and spent the rest of the day laying down.

Now, I was smart enough to unplug everything to install it but when I did and it still did not work I thought I might just jiggle it a little bit to see if the connection was loose and BAM cut my finger on the fan blade and zapped myself on something next to it. Apparently it was idiot proof! I went into the bathroom to clean up my finger and suddenly felt dizzy and apparently passed out on the bathroom floor and hit my head, which is where I woke up, face down on the bathroom floor.

I am still not sure if I passed out from seeing the blood (as I have seen much more without much thought, I am a clumsy mess and always injuring myself) or if it had more to do with the electricity that coursed through me. Either way....my head hurt and I felt tingly and woozy all day. The worst part of it all is that I still did not get the darn computer to work! I feel like I am a huge moron for doing something so totally off-the-wall stupid like sticking my finger inside a running computer (so why am I posting this again?) and also ashamed for loosing a fight with a giant hunk of metal that no longer even works.

I hope tomorrow is better. I know I am taking the computer apart and selling it for parts, that'll show it! Just to make it legal here is a cute image of Illusia from the 3rd. Getting SO big and yeah also tinted pink.

Miss Independence

 a day of fireworks, little steps, laughter, love & independence

Moving Pictures

Gearing up for the 

tomorrow. 

We are going to spend some time with family and try to catch a good fireworks show. Last year, little Illusia was only 2 months old and not really too excited about the decorations blasting in the sky. She was even less enthused with the sound. So, I am hoping this year is a real treat for her.

She is a lot of fun and trouble lately. Being a real patience tester and is into everything, totally ignoring me and then giving kisses and hugs when she gets in trouble...what a little stinker! On the flip side she has really been blossoming in her small motor control and baby signs have come easy to her and in the last few days she has learned 'all done', 'diaper' and 'bath.' She can also point to her head, ears, nose and feet when asked (& if she feels like it) and has graduated to a straw sippy cup.

I finally purchased the memory card I needed, am currently charging up two batteries for my camera and cannot wait to start this amazing weekend with Illusia. Because of the whole camera fiasco I do not have any recent pictures. I do, however, have something to share...

 

Moving Pictures from S a r a h ♥ on Vimeo.

It is a series of webcam shots of Illusia and I watching a Netflix movie on my laptop (Tuck Everlasting if you're curious) She was being restless and bouncy and went up and somehow pushed some random keys that made the webcam pop up and just out of curiosity I did not turn it off and instead took some random stills (with the webcam running in the background) of us watching the movie and interacting. Then I made it into a short, silent 'film', how is that for coming full circle? :D

Awarded

YAY ME, I got an award! It is my very first award and I am super excited about it. Thanks to Mom of all Trades, who says I have substance....But, I swear there were no open bottles in my vehicle! Oh, wait I got confused there for a moment. Ahem.

I knight you all with this award. May it serve you well and give you peace and prettify your blog.
* Curvy Ladies Rule  * Being Tazim * A Lot of Loves *A Mother's Earth
* Being Alison * The Mahogany Way * My Story is Not Over
* Momma May Be Mad * Mama Notes

Once you pick up this award you are suppose to:

A. Give me ice cream thank me

& B. Spread the joy of award giving by sharing it with 10 honorable blogs that show substance.

 P.S.
Check out my entry for IHF's Pet's week.

It is spunky little Dazzle after giving Blaze (twice her size) the 'beat down'...Aren't they adorable? :)

Flashbacks of Fall

My memory card decided to die completely yesterday, and not before loosing 20 or so great shots I took yesterday. So, left without brand new pictures (OH NO) I am relying on some old favorites to get me through until this weekend when I can buy a new one.

This was Illusia in all her glory last fall. She was 5 months old, had little hair but a lot of giggles. The weather was very nice and she loved practicing her sitting skills and playing with leaves.