We went brain dead for about half an hour earlier and thought it would be a good idea to go out to eat for lunch with the girls! Yeah. After about 10 minutes at the restaurant, we were asking for to-go boxes and packing it up. lol. It wasn't horrible, but Chloe was fussy and Reagan is never really an angel while we eat out, so it just wasn't fun and relaxing or anything.
Before that, we went to the library (also a bit of a nightmare). I snagged 2 Nicholas Sparks books while walking around with Reagan and waiting on John to pick out some audio books to listen to. He's all excited now that he's realized he can listen to books while driving and working.

I bought some 100-cal pack "Candy Bites" from Walmart yesterday. YUM YUM YUM. They are little chocolate chip cookie balls, coated in some other kind of chocolate candy. Anyway, they are so good and actually satisfy my chocolate/junk food cravings better than the regular 100-cal pack of Chips Ahoy (they taste too much like diet cookies, even though they aren't). I know it's a total waste of money to buy this stuff when I could just bake my own "healthier" sweets and ration myself, but sometimes it's nice to have just a 100 calorie bag and not be tempted to eat more afterwards. Whoever came up with this idea was a genius who understands women like me.

Pictures!

At a fish fry with my dad and the single's group from his church. She looks so old to me, sitting all by herself with food in her lap, and actually being able to do that without throwing it all over the place. She's growing up.




She really liked being in the middle of the guitars.




She was acting uncharacteristically clingy after being there just half an hour or so. I guess it was just a bit much for her. Chloe was in the baby carrier with me pretty much the whole time, so no pictures of her from the event.




She wanted to dress up




A picture of them together! Sort of.


First captured smile! 4.18.08


4.23.08


All of Chloe's pictures are pretty much identical. I have tons, but they are all the same pose and facial expression so I'm not posting them. :)


♥

I talk too fast when I get nervous. I WILL STOP THIS IMMEDIATELY.

It is horrible. I'm not scared of the phone, but I do get uncomfortable when talking to specific people and I talk sooo fast. I called a lady today to update her on some work, and she literally had to say, "ASHLEY. SLOW DOWN." :x I was so embarrassed. I think she was joking with me, but it made me realize how fast I go when I'm nervous (and she makes me nervous). I think it's because I know they're busy and I'm trying to not take up their time, but it just takes longer because I seriously have to repeat myself at least twice, sometimes three times. Ugh.

I think I'm going to join the "dark side" and start reading Harry Potter. I know, right? I'm a little interested in it. I've only read one book..I think the Chamber of Secrets, and I've seen one movie but I don't remember which one. It's been years. I want to try and catch up before the last film comes out though, because I don't want the ending to be spoiled for me (although it may be spoiled since the last book is coming out soon, anyway).

I feel things are looking up for us lately. Well, I don't just FEEL it. They are. We'll be working our butts off for awhile, but it will pay off. It is already starting to pay off some, which is fabulous.

Dear LORD my daughter is adorable. 14 months already.
Some new things of hers:

- shaking her head "no"
- nodding her head "yes" (really only when I nod at her first, so far)
- blowing kisses constantly
- eating bigger pieces of food: last night I made beef tips and rice (with some peas and carrots mixed in), and I made her a bowl of it with smaller pieces of beef. She mostly just picked out the beef and rice and ate it, leaving the veggies. Sigh. I'll keep trying. She eats veggies fine when they're pureed and fed in a spoon, but lately has been refusing to eat the regular version.
- saying "daddy" more clearly. She used to say "dadadada" around John, and starting yesterday she began directing it at John only and saying "Da-yee". Small thing, but worth noting in my book.
- blowing rasberries with her tongue
- not new, but cute: dancing! anytime any music is put on, she stops whatever she's doing and grins real big while bopping up and down with the music. Freaking adorable.

I wish I could post new pics, but I've been without a camera as ours broke. John is having to use extra of ours for his work, so I've empty-handed lately. :( I'll try and remember to take some pictures in the morning before John leaves for work.

Elizabeth came over last night for a couple hours...we watched "Because I Said So". CUTE movie. I hate that it bombed, because it was really fun to watch. Although some of the acting was way over the top, COME ON, it's a chick flick! We really enjoyed it, I would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of that genre. I told Elizabeth, "PLEEEAASE do not let me be that way with any of my kids. PLEASE." She solemnly swore she wouldn't allow it.

In other good news, we managed to squeeze in grocery shopping and I only spent $45. It got us food for a week, isn't that awesome? Possibly even longer with leftovers, but I don't like to eat until the shelves are bare if I can help it. I know it sounds like a small feat, but I budgeted for $50 (and brought cash!), and so I have a little extra to work with next time. We're doing the Dave Ramsey envelope thing, if that explains anything. I'm too tired to go into it, but it's extremely helpful so google it if you're interested. haha

I'm also going to start being way more consistent on signing with Reagan. She doesn't really use any words at all other than Mama, Daddy, and cracker, so we need to figure some way out to communicate at least a little bit. The meltdowns and whining are getting to be too much for me. I know part of it is her diet, I'm going to focus more energy on being sure she eats enough. Since we switched to mostly table food, I think she's not getting as much as she used to because she throws off whatever she doesn't like (she likes peas, but hates carrots, so she picks out the carrots and throws them off the chair. sigh). She also tends to play with her food more when she gets bored. Anyway, that's one thing I'm going to focus more on because I think good nutrition will make a big difference. I hope. Don't get me wrong, she's not going hungry, but she may not be ready to go 100% table food yet like I thought.

Ok I think that's enough rambling for tonight.

I promise to bring pictures soon!

♥

Of course, days after I spend $20 on baby food, she is now refusing to eat anything that she can't feed herself. Curses! OH, and $20 = ALOT of baby food. That's about $0.40/jar.

Oh well, it's good that she wants to do it herself, I guess.

Any creative ideas on what to do with this food? I spread some apples and pears on her toast that she is eating now, but at that rate it will be months before we go through this stuff. Any other ideas?

Also, video time! Her squealing, first-hand.
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1852939994