Blogger Challenge #5

What is your favorite Halloween candy of all time?

Yes. I love Halloween candy. I love that they're bite sized (think small plates!) so I can have 5 different types instead of a whole candy bar. I'm not a big fan of tootsie rolls... they just aren't my cup of tea, but I love the sour, the cheap chocolate, the fruity, pretty much all Halloween candy.

We'll be taking Jenna trick or treating this year, only to a few houses before putting her to bed (hopefully late to prepare for the time change!) but once she's asleep, I can't wait to dig through her goods! Weeee!!!

Blogger Challenge #4

What was your (or your child's) "best" Halloween costume ever? (Bonus points for photos!)

I pink puffy heart Jenna as a little squirt from last year. The costume was essentially a hoodie and a pair of pants. It was WAY too big for her, but she was just adorable in it, working on her head control during tummy time was awesome to watch. She was also a flower last year and that was a bit hit, too. However, it was warm last October and I had to take her out of the costume after only a short amount of time because she was roasty toasty.

My favorite costume? In the 6th grade, I was a headless person. My Mom came up with the costume idea. I wore a pair of my dads pants, pulled up to my shoulders (I don't remember what I did with my arms all day long!) a shirt hung on a frame of coat hangers and stuffed with newspaper that sat on my shoulders. The arms of the shirt came together just under my chin... sooo I looked like I was walking around carrying my own head. During the parade at lunch, the coat hangers came undone and collapsed on me, but it was a pretty cool idea, none-the-less.

Blogger Challenge #3

What is a specific moment/event that made you realize you were truly "a grown-up"?

I have a couple.
1) Shortly after our first wedding shower, I started packing up all of my college dishes to give away to a college student. I realized that I was putting 'grown up' items away. Years from that day I would tell the story of who gave us what items for our wedding years ago. I would look back fondly of that time and be able to tell my children the same stories my Mom told me.

2) We hired a high school student to do some filing at my work. It didn't take long for me to realize I related more to her Mom than to her :-/

3) When becoming a Mom. With a daily routine for cleaning, work and home.

Jenna's First Haircut

WHY do I need my hair cut!?

She did really, really well. Didn't freak out at all, and in the end it's pretty cute. We were scared it would end up looking mullet-ish, but in the end... not at all!

She does look more like a big girl now, but the wispy ends allow for her to still have some baby hair :)

Jenna is just shy of 16 months old.

My head is spinning

So, over the last 3 weeks or so, I've realized such a change in Jenna. She's really a little person, displaying her wants, her needs, her desires. She's throwing less tantrums because she's really able to express herself now.

I can *talk* to my child now. She can converse back with us. She says so many words every time I try to write them down, I miss A LOT. She sings 'take me out to the ball game' with us. I'm going to try to list a number of the words she's saying but I know this list will not be all the words. I.just.can't.keep.up!

Tree, apple, light, more, please, up, down, Pop, Poppy, Mama, Daddy, Mom, Dad, Daddy, bath, potty, broccoli, cheese, sock, shoes, zapatos, boca, eye, nose, head, cabesa, mesa, Noble, bye, hi, go, Ohhhh Doctor!!! (phrase used when the Yanks hit a home run), kisses... the list goes on and on. She repeats new words daily and frankly, I don't know what to do with such a verbal child! Oh, I left out the word 'crap' which she's repeated but not used in context... much better than some of the other words that came out of our mouths during the 49ers game the other day.
We went to the pumpkin farm a few weekends ago. We had a blast. Jenna loved pushing the pumpkins over then trying to pick them up...

She's so big, so independent, such a toddler. I *love* this age. I love that she's striking out on her own every chance she's got.

Although I can't say I'm surprised. The girl has always been opinionated. Need I remind you that she likes to make a statement?

Seriously... look at this kid. So different than 6 months ago. When they say 'this too, shall pass' they're not kidding. The blink of an eye yields a different child entirely. And yet, she's not all that different. She still makes us aware of her wants, her needs, her desires... rather forcefully. But now I'm able to encourage her to phrase things instead of just balling or screaming. Crazy cool is what it is. Crazy cool.

Jenna is just shy of 16 months and blowing my mind.

Blogger Challenge #2

Do you enjoy reading? What do you read and when? What's your favorite book ever?

I do enjoy reading quite a bit. I read: blogs (um, duh), business nerd books (self improvement, business management, personal growth), Mommy books. I tend to like Non-Fiction. That cracks me up, by the way. I remember when I was in elementary school and non-fiction was totally lame. I didn't understand why people would read non-fiction when there were stories of Ramona out there to immerse yourself in! Now a days, fiction just doesn't grab me the way it used to. I have a book sitting on my nightstand that I've been reading over the course of the last year. It's fiction, about knitting (Friday Night Knitting Club for anyone interested). Oh, I guess I don't read entirely NF. I will pick up some chick-lit every now and then if I don't want something too thought provoking.

I read blogs on my phone in the evenings, and when I'm in the middle of a book I read it whenever my butt hits the couch and Jenna's not around.

Favorite book ever? Ugh. So tough for me. I'll list books that I rec to others frequently
Business Nerd Books: 4 hour work week, Am-bitch-ous, How to win friends and influence people and Think and grow rich I think those are my 4 biggest reference point books. And I fully admit the titles are a bit lame on some of them, but the content is friggin awesome.

Mommy Books: Sippy cups are not for Chardonnay; Love & logic, early childhood years and It sucked and then I cried.

I love my family.

This was taken at Disneyland (duh) by my brother. Jenna was ALL ABOUT touching Minnie... Luckily Minnie didn't mind, too much. She decided to take a step closer to Nick, though.



I love this picture.

Blogger challenge

I belong to an awesome community, a community of Mom's that support each other through the good, the bad, and the ugly of parenting. Many of these Mom's have now become my near and dear friends, which I will forever be grateful for.



There's been a 'blog challenge' and I hope to be able to keep up with it weekly. Sadly, I've had virtually no time to blog with changes at work (trying to decide how much I want to discuss that here) and when I'm at home, the last thing I want to do is sit in front of a computer in the evenings or on the weekends.



Why do you blog? What do you hope to get out of this challenge?



I blog for me. Initially, the blog was to remind me of the little changes, to get the neverending thoughts of being pregnant, having a baby and now having a toddler out in a form that I could look back on. I'm happy I started blogging when I did. It's exciting to look back on when I found out we were expecting, on telling Nick, on finding out the gender, sharing news with our families and friends. Looking back on the colicky times (although I didn't blog a lot about those, not enough time and they were difficult.



The trials of breastfeeding, working, being a working mother. Reminders to be true to who I am, not lose myself in the process of wake up, work, Jenna, bed, crash. I blog to remember. Mommy-amnesia is real, people!



I've also been able to use the blog to open up about my real feelings, share my photos, share my life. I used it to write Jenna a monthly letter and I hope to print those letters up and give them to her for her birthday one year.



I hope these challenges really 'force' me to not forget to make time to make memories. To get me writing. I really don't want to forget anything. I want to be able to look back on the blog and remember that today Jenna signed please and SAID it, too for the first time. I want to remember how hard it is to throw myself into work and leave it behind to throw myself into my family when I get home. The conflict of having a working dinner meeting and stepping away from my loving and supportive husband and my little girl as she blows me kisses goodbye.



I just want to be able to remember how life is RIGHT NOW.