I sleep alone... eventually

The hub and I share our bed with another female.... our daughter. Yes, we are (gasp!) co-sleepers. It's funny. Before Googie was born, I swore she would NEVER sleep in our bed... EVER. And then, Googie spent 10 days in the NICU after she was born. When we finally got our baby girl home, I was paranoid she would stop breathing. I slept with her in my arms for weeks. When I finally felt comfortable, I placed her next to me in the bed. Fast forward nearly 18 months later, and here we are. Thank GOD for our kingsize bed!

Googie has a beautiful crib, a gift from all of my aunts. I love her crib. But we've grown used to having her snuggled up next to us. Now, Baby Brother will inherit the crib. And we're slowly making efforts to transition Googie out of our bed. So, we bought her a toddler bed.

Of course, before we could even get the bed put together, Googie was enjoying the mattress. It was on the floor in the living room and, though I was at dinner with friends last night, the Hub says she had a blast bouncing on the mattress and playing around on it.

This was what I came home to last night.

My heart just melted when I saw her! She zonked out on the mattress for a nap! I knew she was going to love her bed, once we got it put together.

So last night, that's what we did. We took her into her bedroom and started assembling the bed. It really wasn't that hard. I just have issues with reading instructions completely before forging out on the road to put something together! (Hey, admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery, right?)

The bed is just a simple design. White with a headboard and side rails, $40. Can't beat it! Now, don't get me wrong, I love spending money on Googie and Baby Brother. But I choose to spend it on things I know they can appreciate and enjoy. Not a bed frame that, at the rate Googie is growing, will be too small in a year or less.

Googie couldn't wait for us to get the mattress on the bed along with her new pink striped sheet! She was chomping at the bit to climb in and check everything out.

She was so very proud of herself when she was sitting in her pint-sized bed for the first time!

After a few seconds of looking around, it was time to check everything out. And boy did she!

She crawled up the the headboard to get a closer look at her fishy wallpaper border.


She checked out the view upside down (which, seems to be her new thing these days).

She bounced... and bounced... and bounced. Then she bounced... and bounced... and bounced some more.

She brought her stuffed Backyardigan, Uniqua, and her kitty kat Mao-Mao into the fray. She loved crawling all over the bed, climbing in and out of it, over and over and over again. For now, it's a fun plaything, but I'm hoping to convince her to take her afternoon naps in the bed soon.

Think I'll be successful?

A Change is coming!

It's hard to believe. TWA (aka Googie) is growing up so fast. It seems like only yesterday she was my Buddha-bellied little tub of goo, laughing, drooling and just being a baby.

Googie November 2005

Now she's walking, running and talking. Sometimes she speaks English and other times, it's that weird, but cute, baby speak adults can only dream of understanding.

Googie Christmas Eve 2006

Life will soon change again for all of us. TWA's (Googie) baby brother will be born in about 3.5 weeks. Now, Baby Brother doesn't have a nickname yet, though we've picked out his name. I'm saving the nickname for when I see him.

By the way, if you haven't noticed, I'm starting to transition from calling my girl TWA to Googie. Googie is a nickname we use here around the house and it just seems a little more personal. That doesn't mean she's no longer a TWA... she definitely is!!! Googie is just... cuter!

So change is coming for our family. Googie will turn 18 months old next Sunday. And, if things go well, in about 4 weeks we'll be home from the hospital with Baby Brother, our family complete.

I've tried to prepare Googie for Baby Brother's arrival. But how do you prepare such a young toddler for such a change? She's constantly rubbing and kissing my pregnant belly, saying "baby". If you ask her where Baby Brother is, she instantly rubs my belly. Of course, she also runs up to the Hub and rubs his belly and emphatically announces "Baby". He is less than thrilled, but it is funny!

She'll see a photo of a little baby or a commercial on tv and she gets excited, saying "Baby, baby, baby" over and over. So does she get it? No. I don't think so. Will it rock her world when Baby Brother is born? Well, yeah. But it's going to rock our world too, I imagine.

The ride may be bumpy, but it's the whole journey that matters.

Good News and Bad News

Let's go with the bad news first... I didn't get the EP job at my station. No big whoop to me really, with another kid on the way in 4 weeks... I'm more focused on family than career advancement. I simply applied because I felt it was expected. Besides, management really isn't for me, I don't believe.

The good news... NO ONE currently working at the station got the job either. That is a HUGE relief, especially if you know me and know my opinion of my "competition". They hired out of the station and out of the company, actually. Someone with about 7 years combined experience in 2 very large markets in the country.

That's a good thing. Hopefully the "new blood" will help our product. We'll see... of course, I won't be going back to work until the end of March/beginning of April... so... I'll see what others are saying!