The Fabulous Life & Times of The Ristig Family

Happy 2012!!

2012-01-01T15:24:00.002-07:00

We spent our New Year's Eve at a new friend's house. Our friends Tom and Erin had a little shindig at their house, and we brought the kids. They have three kids of their own, including a little girl about Maya's age. We played Apples to Apples, drank champagne, and chit-chatted the night away. The kids stayed downstairs for the most part, playing with toys and watching TV. Maya had a blast!

Maya stayed up until 12:30 when we drove home!! Wyatt passed out in his little pack & play at around 10pm. It was a fun night, and I look forward to spending lots more time with all our new friends in Colorado.

I made a couple resolutions. First, I want to make homemade meals more often.Pete usually cooks on the weekends, so I pledged to make two completely home-made meals per week. That means nothing from a box or frozen bag. All fresh, and made from scratch! I also want to eat more veggies and less meat.

My second resolution is to teach Maya her lower-case letters, her numbers, some commonly used sight words, and her months. I got a freebee calendar that I cut up, and we're going to hang it on her bedroom wall today. That way, she can have a better grasp on the abstract concept of time. She just couldn't understand why it was taking so long for Christmas to come, so we're going to do a little countdown to important holidays like her birthday and Easter.

Pete didn't make any resolutions. At least, no that I'm aware of. Party pooper!! ;)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

December in Review

2012-01-01T14:22:00.016-07:00

This month, we had a permanent house guest! Santa sent a scout elf to our house to watch over Maya and Wyatt, and report back to Santa on the status of their behavior. He also brought us a book, which instructed us to give him a name. After going through a long list of names, Maya finally chose the name Gus. I was pushing for Elfred, but she wasn't having it! Every night, Gus used his Christmas magic to fly back to the North Pole where he reported to Santa, and then played with his other elf friends. The next morning, he flew back to our house, and would find a new place to sit and watch the kids. It was our job each morning to find him! On Christmas Eve, Gus flew back to the North Pole with Santa. We sure do miss him, and hope he comes back next year!!

Maya got to visit Santa at the mall. We were lucky enough to be there on the same day he was visiting, and the line wasn't even that long! Maya told him about the red bike she wanted, but he already knew she wanted it. Gus told him!

Since the weather was getting kinda chilly, and Maya's hats were getting snug, I decided to pop for the cutest hat in all existence for her! I saw it at a consignment store, and used almost all my trade to buy it. Totally worth it! She looks like a little rainbow gnome. Cutest. Hat. Ever. I took some pictures of the kids, and one ended up being to main photo on our holiday card.

On December 5th, we drove up to the Denver Waldorf Academy to check out their Winter Festival. I'm part of a group of parents here in town working to open a Waldorf Charter School, and I wanted to go to a Waldorf school to check it out. We sure did get a taste of winter, that's for sure! It was DUMPING snow on us all the way there. I'm glad we went, though, because that school was awesome! Maya had lots of fun doing the crafts they had set up and playing in the indoor gym. She also went in to a room just for kids, and got me a Christmas present! I had to wait until Christmas, but loved my new bracelet she picked out. It was super cute!

I also had my birthday! I turned the big 3-3, and Pete made me a delicious meat cake. We had a lovely dinner, followed by going out to see The Muppet Movie. It was an awesome day!

A couple days before Christmas, we got a BUNCH of snow. We'd bought a little sled this summer at a yard sale, so we cracked that puppy out and took Maya sledding down our hill. The cars were nice enough to pack down the powder, so the hill was nice and slick. We also made a little snowman who Maya named Happy. Maya wanted to make snow angels, but once she laid down in the snow and realized how deep it was, she changed her mind.

Christmas morning was so fun this year! I was sad we couldn't be with family, but I was really excited that Maya could anticipate and enjoy Christmas morning. Plus, I went overboard for Pete this year, and I knew he was going to have an awesome morning! He got four D&D books, two funny t-shirts, a bow tie, and a shotgun! Thanks and much gratitude go out to Ken for helping me make the shotgun a reality! You are awesome!! Of all the gifts Maya got, I'd say she liked her tea set, tricycle, and Rapunzel the best. My favorite gift was the little bracelet Maya gave me. I also scored some pretty sweet moccasin slippers I'd been coveting, and LOTS of chocolate. :)

November in Review

2012-01-01T10:46:00.016-07:00

In early November, Maya, Wyatt, and I were all still in Prescott. We visited with Nana and Papa, played on the swings in their back yard, and went to Oliva's for some pollo fundito. Yum!

We spent another couple days in Prescott. The kids got to visit with their cousins and Aunt Hanna while I did homework, and had fun playing at Grammy's house and with their Uncle B.O. Wyatt scored a handsome scarf his cousin Emily made for him, and Maya got her nails done at the salon with Grammy!

When we got to Phoenix, we spent some time at Grumpa and Grandma T's house, then went to visit cousins and Aunt Amy at her house. Maya had lots of fun playing in her garden and bunny, and Wyatt liked giving footie high-fives with his Aunt Amy!

We spent the next couple weeks just hanging out and visiting with local friends. We skipped doing a Thanksgiving feast this year, which is so unlike me! Instead, we got an early start on Christmas shopping. I went Black Friday shopping alone, and scored lots of great deals. I found a Target close by that is kinda tucked back a ways. It was awesome not standing in a 50-foot line!

October in Review

2011-12-30T15:34:00.010-07:00

October was so much fun! This was the first year that we really got to experience autumn in all its glory! The trees turned oranges, yellows, and reds, and we went out on hikes as a family & with friends and really enjoyed the outdoors. Colorado is beautiful!

Maya tripped on the rug in the living room, and managed to give herself a fat lip. It was very pathetic!

We also painted Maya's room pink, at her request. Mama was offering other color ideas like yellows and violets, but Maya is such a girlie girl, despite her mother's best attempts! So, pink it is! I painted the baseboards white, but it was after I took the photo. Whoops!

In preparation for Halloween, we carved a lovely pumpkin together, and put him on the front porch.

We had a fun Halloween party at our house, and invited lots and lots of friends over. We even had a pinata, and painted pumpkins!

After the party was over, we headed out to the airport in Denver, still in our costumes, and hopped on a plane to Arizona! It was Wyatt's first airplane ride, and the first Maya could remember.

We went trick-or-treating with Uncle Dan, Aunt Autumn, and cousin Emily for Halloween. We cruised around Prescott just east of downtown. It was crowded, but lots of fun! We even went to the courthouse to watch all the Prescott cousins and Aunt Hanna be part of a flash mob who danced to Michael Jackson's "Thriller." Some people didn't really know the moves very well, but it was still all good fun! Baby Yoda did not want to wear his ears. Little turkey!

Update Your Blog, Ya Slacker!!

2011-12-30T15:30:00.002-07:00

Well, that was the longest I've ever gone without blogging! I think I'll go back and update month-by-month beginning with October.

A Visit From Grumpa and Gramma T!

2011-09-06T10:08:00.015-06:00

Dad scored a three day weekend as a reward for his perfect attendance at work, so he and Terea hopped a flight out to Colorado to visit. It was their first time meeting baby Wyatt, so we were all really excited! When they got here on Saturday, we all just chilled at the house, and Pete grilled up some ribs and corn for dinner. Yum! Wyatt enjoyed gnawing on the corn cobs.

I had told Maya in advance that Gramma T and Grumpa and their dog, Tuti, would be coming to stay for the weekend. I also mentioned that they might have a little present for her, but we'd have to see. When they got here, I said, "Hey, look who's here!" She replied with, "Grumpa and Gramma T!" I asked her who else was here, thinking she would say Tuti, but she enthusiastically replied, "PRESENTS!" Well, was she right! Gramma T opened up her suitcase to a new outfit, a princess shirt, some headbands, a book, and the piece de resistance...a Cinderella dress and crown! She was one happy camper. Terea had no idea, but Maya has been obsessing over Cinderella for the past couple weeks, and even pretends to go to the ball. She was PUMPED when she saw that dress! Wyatt got some outfits too, but wasn't nearly as excited as Maya :)

Here's Maya wearing Grumpa's shoes. Silly!

The next day we decided to drive out to the Garden of the Gods and check out their visitor's center. Terea got Maya some little silver butterfly earrings in the gift shop. This girl was spoiled rotten, I tell ya!

We drove on the twisty road that winds through the Garden, and were going to get lunch in Manitou Springs, but traffic was nuts! I think everyone had the same idea as we had. So, we headed back towards home instead, and got some Rudy's BBQ for lunch.

The next day was Monday, and I was craving cheesy eggs and grits from der Waffle Haus! The biggest seat they had only accomodated four people, so Maya sat next to Grumpa, and I had a seat all to myself. Aahhhhhhh.

After breakfast, we put Wyatt down for a nap, and Maya, Gramma T and I all went to the mall to get something fancy to wear for our tea party! I booked us a table at the Glen Eyrie castle here in CO Springs. Someone had an English castle relocated here brick-by-brick, and I got us reservations for the girls to have high tea there! I got a feathery headband to wear, and Terea bought a nice little blue flower and a bee pin for her hat. Maya was, of course, wearing her new princess dress to the castle!

It was a nice little drive up to the castle, and it was so beautiful inside! I am definitely going back there and doing the tour. I wanted to peek my head into every little nook and cranny, but we had to get to tea by 2:30.

When we got inside, we were seated, and brought two teapots. We started with cinnamon scones with cream, and were served our first cup of tea. Maya loved getting her sugar lumps for her tea with the little silver tongs!

Next, we were brought a tray of goodies like strawberries and kiwi, mini quiches, brie cheese with crackers, and a jelly-covered pastry of some sort. Maya just nibbled at the treats, but man did she guzzle that tea! She ended up drinking two cups on her own. Good thing I gave her the decaf! When high tea was almost done, Maya still had a bunch of treats left on her plate, so the lady waiting on us asked if we'd like to bring them home with us. I said sure, and when she came back they were wrapped up in a foil swan. Maya decided it wasn't a swan, though, it was a dragon, of course!

When tea time was over, we got up and were going to take the scenic route around the castle and back to the car, but all the little old ladies that were ogling Maya at tea just had to say hello to her. One woman even took a picture of her in her cute princess dress and crown. I may be biased because I'm her mother, but she was pretty stinkin' adorable if I do say so myself!! Once everyone was done talking to my cute daughter, we walked out back where there was a nice little terrace with a fountain, walked around the outside of the castle, and then headed home.

After tea time, Dad an T had to head back to Denver to catch their flight. We were sad to see them leave, and hope they come to visit us again sometime! We had lots of funsies!!

We Have Mobility!!

2011-08-29T09:50:00.008-06:00

This week, Wyatt started really pushing himself around with his feet. As the week progressed he turned into a full-fledged inch-worm! He can move, and he can move fast! The stairs have gotten me really worried, now, because our bannister is in a weird place, and I'm not sure how we're going to block it off. I'll have to do some homework on baby gates, or perhaps rig up something that will work. Yikes! Here's a video of the action. Maya steals the show pretending to be a dog, but you get a good 50 seconds of crawling action. Sorry it's so dark, Maya's light bulb in her room needs changed.

Wyatt also just had his six-month checkup. Here are his stats:

Weight: 16.8 pounds, 35th percentile
Height: 28 inches, 91st percentile
Head Circumference: 17.8 inches, 83rd percentile
BMI: 15.1
He also has his 2 bottom teeth!

When the lady first entered in all his stats and printed up a copy for us, it said he was in the 100th percentile for height. I wondered how that could be. He'd be the tallest baby on earth! Then, I noticed him BMI was zero. Uuhhhhh? Turns out she made a typo, and instead of 28 inches, entered 2,816 inches. Pete and I had a chuckle!

Wyatt is a sweet little guy. He goes to bed at 8pm every night, and wakes up at around 5:30am when I bring him into bed with us. He nurses and snuggles for about an hour or so, and then will just look up at me and grin the hugest, most adorable "Good morning, Mom!" grin ever! Every day. It's awesome.

Wyatt loves taking baths, but doesn't so much enjoy getting his hair washed. He loves slapping the water and eating his bath toys. Speaking of toys, Wyatt has a new-found love of "little guys". I bought a bunch of Star Wars guys at a yard sale, and they are his go-to toy of choice. He also loves playing with spoons, granola bar wrappers, his toy phone, and his favorite toy of all....his big sister, Maya! Lately, she has a new game where she just piles anything she can find into a big pile and calls it her "little nest". He just loves it, because they get into the nest together and Maya hands him one thing after another She is a really good big sister!

Wyatt also loves beards. He likes running his fingers through them. He's gonna be a mountain man someday, I just know it! Here he is at a recent party we had, enjoying a friend's beard. (This seriously cracks me up!)

They say all kids are really different, but I've found that Wyatt and Maya have really similar temperaments so far. The only big difference is Wyatt's determination, and physical strength. When he wants something, he really goes for it! Maya was more of a "cry until someone gets it for me" kind of girl. He is crazy strong, too. Has been since the day he was born.

We've just recently started Watt on solids. He's a pretty decent eater so far, but he definitely prefers the sweeter foods. It's funny, because all I wanted to eat when I was pregnant with him was candy.

Wyatt is looking more and more like his Daddy every day! It's nuts looking at old baby pictures of Pete. They could be Wyatt, with the exception of the nose. He totally has my nose. :)

I love this photo of his profile, and I also threw in a Daddy snuggle-time picture!

Dirty Girl Mud Run

2011-08-28T14:58:00.004-06:00

I'll be participating in the Dirty Girl Mud Run 5k next month with some girlfriends. It's basically a 5k obstacle course, with lots of mud! I will not be wearing my good shoes. After brainstorming for team names, we went with one of mine. We are The Dirty Nerdy Chocolate Granola Explosion! It pays homage to the dirtiness of the event, and the nerdy, granola-ness of myself, and especially, my teammates. One of the girls has dreadlocks for crying out loud! Now, she is a granola to the max. It should prove to be a really good time, and it'll be the first 5k I'll actually be running. Here's hoping I don't lose a shoe!! Here's a link to the website if you want to see what's on the obstacle course.

http://www.godirtygirl.com/faq/

A Plethora of Videos

2011-08-13T22:53:00.002-06:00

Wyatt sitting up all by himself.

Maya procrastinating when she should be eating dinner.

No more monkeys jumping on the bed! (This was shortly after we'd moved, and her bed wasn't put together yet)

Super-UpdateTron 3000!

2011-08-07T13:04:00.015-06:00

Things have been busy, to say the least, in the last three months. That's my excuse for why I haven't updated anything, and I'm sticking to it! And now, for the longest blog entry in history, because I don't really feel like splitting it up into events. Hey, I've got a 5-month-old sitting here. A little laziness is permitted for the sake of my sanity. Ha!

Well, we made the move from New Mexico to Colorado Springs shortly after my last post. The movers came and packed us up, which was wonderful, and they moved our stuff a couple days later. We slept on the air mattress for a couple nights. I was worried that Maya would freak out from sleeping in a new house, on the floor, in a strange, empty room. My fears were unfounded, though, because she did great! I did make sure the floor was thoroughly covered because the previous tenants left the carpet completely disgusting!

Since moving, we have done an insane amount of home improvement. We ripped out and replaced 1700 square feet of carpet, put down 800 square feet of wood floors, painted the kitchen, living room, master bedroom, and guest bedroom (and still have a ton more to paint!), we've re-seeded and revived the front lawn, put new frosted glass up in the kitchen cabinets, got all new energy-star appliances to replace the 25-year-old ones that were in the kitchen, repaired the sub-floor in the kitchen from where their skanky old dishwasher leaked, took out a wall in the living room, and a plethora of other little projects like patching things, painting the chimney, replacing light fixtures, fixing small leaks, putting up closet shelving, etc. Our efforts are paying off, and the house is really coming together. I wish I had about three kid-free days to finish painting Maya's room, the basement, the second guest bedroom (or as we've been calling it, "the shit room"...sorry Grammy!), the guest bathroom, the dining room, and the front room & entryway. A magic wand would be really nice right about now!

I only have a couple "after pictures, so I'll get my camera and take more, and post them in my next blog update.

Ciera came out for her annual one-month summer shopping spree! That's pretty much what it's turned in to. She has so few things because her Dad doesn't work, and therefore has no money. She's a growing girl, and half the stuff she got last year doesn't fit her anymore, or got stained. So, I gave her a chore list, she helped with home repairs where she could, and she did lots of babysitting so Pete and I could get projects done around the house and go out on hot dates.

She ended up earning a good $200 over the course of the month, and we went crazy at the thrift store. She got about 20 shirts and 10 pants. We went on half price day! She also got a new (refurbished) phone with a keypad, got her hair cut and styled at the Toni & Guy beauty school, and went to the mall and got some hot shoes for school, and some running shoes for track. She got her brothers each a giant bag of candy from the sweet shop in the mall. It was pretty much every 13-year-old's dream come true! The best part of her trip was when her Dad said it was OK for her to dye her hair a wacky color. She decided on hot pink streaks, which actually turned out looking pretty awesome if I do say so myself. I'm did it myself, and it turned out looking awesome!

We also went to the zoo, the Air Force Academy to watch fireworks, and a big carnival where we got to pet a monkey and a baby tiger who was visiting from the local zoo (for a mere $20). Hey, it supported the zoo, and we got to hold a tiger! It was a fun and busy month!

Melanie came out for a visit for three days earlier this week. We didn't really do anything special, but it was nice to just hang out, catch up, play with the kids, and not fix or clean anything for three days! We cruised the mall, ate gross food, and took a lovely trip to the new Ikea in Denver. It was heavenly having another adult body around to hold kids, and even better because it was Melanie! We stayed up late chit-chatting and playing pool in the basement, and I made her watch my saved YouTube videos (my favorite torture). Ahhh, adult conversation. How sweet it is!

The most recent development around the Ristig household is that we (really it was just me) decided that we'd go on the South Beach Diet. I haven't dropped any weight since about two weeks after Wyatt was born, which means I'm 12 pounds heavier than I was after I had Maya. I tried the Zone for two weeks, and didn't lose a single pound! I tortured myself for nothing. After I went off the Zone diet and went back to my old, gross eating habits, my weight stayed exactly the same. I was so mad! Well I've re-grouped, and I think South Beach will work. My mom said it works for her, and we're pretty much built exactly the same. Pete has reluctantly, but kindly, obliged to do the diet with me for the sake of my sanity. He even made me a South Beach friendly breakfast this morning. What a guy!

Wyatt got his first tooth on the 25th of July. Once again, I don't have photographic evidence. It'll have to wait until another day. Sorry.

I've also signed up for a knitting class, as well as a local meetup group called "Knitwits and Hooker" of all things! Ha! We'll see if I meet anyone interesting. With a name like that, how could I not!?!

And now, a bunch of cute pictures of the kids. Enjoy!

And us kids!

RIP Peanut Ristig

2011-05-02T11:07:00.002-06:00

Our sweet doggie, Peanut, was not doing so well. Her heart disease issues were returning, and her medication was just not doing the trick anymore. Her belly filled with fluid again, and she was just so uncomfortable. We decided to do the right thing (even if it was the difficult thing) and had her put down. It was really sad, but she died very peacefully while being told what a good girl she was. We had her cremated, and her ashes were sprinkled in the Sandia Mountains.

Rest in peace Peanut! We loved you. You were the best behaved doggie we've ever had. Good girl!

A Pictoral April Update

2011-05-02T10:43:00.012-06:00

Adventures in Colorado Springs! We went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo on one of our three trips to Colorado Springs. The giraffe exhibit there is so cool! You get to feed the giraffes, and can pet them and everything! I knew the horns on their heads were horns, but for some reason I always imagined they'd feel somewhat squishy, like they were surrounded by fat. Not the case. They were quite horn-y! We went on the last day in the morning, and then drive home to Albuquerque. Both the kids were wiped, and Maya slept a big chunk of the way home, which was heavenly!

Back home! Wyatt being happy in his swing. What a handsome devil!

Having fun with Daddy while waiting for our breakfast at the Church Street Cafe back patio.

Weekend hiking trip to the Bosque! We hit up the Rio Grande Nature Center a couple miles from our house here in Albuquerque. The weather was perfect!

We're Moving to Colorado Springs!

2011-05-02T10:16:00.003-06:00

Life this past month has been insane, to say the least! Time for another catch-up on the good ol' blog!

Pete's work wanted to know if he'd be interested in relocating to either Colorado Springs, or Herndon, VA. After getting their ducks in a row, it was decided that Colorado Springs it was! So, three house-hunting trips, two realtors, and a partridge in a pear tree later, we have a house and will be moving on May 16th!

Most of the homes we were looking at had really small kitchens, and were in pretty good neighborhoods. When we saw the home we ended up picking, it was kind of a no-brainer. It was crazy, though, because the next house we looked at was great, too! We were up all night trying to figure out which to choose, doing a points system rating chart, and being generally nervous about making the wrong choice. Well, the universe chose for us, because the other house went under contract. And, I am soooo glad it did! The house we got has 2400 square feet, five bedrooms, three baths, and a ginormous kitchen! It also has an RV pad, and a really cool deck out back. On top of that, it is in the nicest neighborhood I can ever hope to live in!

It's funny, because the neighborhood reminds me a bit of the house I lived in at 9th ave and Northern in Phoenix. I realized that the address there was 8140. The address at the new house is 4180! It was destiny. :)

Pete and I have so many ideas for fixing the place up. We are ripping out all the yucky old carpet, and putting down a combination of carpet and bamboo. we're getting all new appliances, and will most likely change the color of the exterior of the house. Our brains are on overdrive, in a good way!

Free Make-up!

2011-05-02T10:05:00.002-06:00

My cousin Molly is doing a give-away on her cute blog, MoreThanHeels.com! I want to win the $25 gift card, so I'm posting here for another chance to win. Plus, her blog has all kinds of nifty, girly tips, recipes, and whatnot so I have no problem passing it along to friends! Check it out!

Newer Wyatt Photos

2011-03-05T05:37:00.003-07:00

Kids Sci-Fi Nerdiness

2011-03-04T10:05:00.001-07:00

Goodnight Dune! Nerd version of Goodnight Moon. All sci-fi nerds with kids will love it!
http://www.goodnightdune.com/index.html

Also, if anyone has an extra £199.99 laying around, Maya and Wyatt totally need one of these:

Wyatt's First Bath

2011-02-20T08:52:00.001-07:00

Wyatt Peter Ristig

2011-02-20T00:05:00.007-07:00

After a weeks worth of trying to get this little guy to come out on his own, I finally gave in to modern medicine, and checked in to labor and delivery at the University of New Mexico's Midwifery at 7:30pm on the 17th for induction.

At about 9:30pm, I was given 1/4 of a dose of misoprostol, which is used to soften the cervix. I was only 70% effaced. Once given, they wait 4 hours, check the progress, and if all is well they start the pitocin. All was more than well, though, and after about 2 hours or so I started having good contractions on my own. We opted out of the pitocin, and decide to let things go as they may. I decided to wait on the epidural too, so I wouldn't be stuck strapped to the bed.

I let Pete go to sleep, and I slept in two or three minute intervals between contractions, until they started getting really, really hard. I was just about to call the nurse when a heard a little POP! My water broke and I was a human geyser! (TMI, but what did you expect. This is about birthing a baby!). The contractions got crazy hard after that, and twenty minutes or so later, my epidural was in place. Sweet relief!

We called my good friend, Megan, who was my extra support person/photographer to come back to the hospital at about 5am. At a little after 7:30am I felt like I needed to push. The midwife was called in to check me, and said I was plus two, and could push whenever I was ready. Push I did. I was hoping that this time the pushing would be quicker since I'd already given birth once before. No such luck!

I pushed for nearly an hour-and-a-half, and finally out came Wyatt's head. Problem was, his shoulders were lodged in my birth canal. Yikes! Two nurses grabbed me by the shoulders to hold me down (and slammed my bed back against the wall in the process, not realizing the brakes were off), and the midwife yanked on Wyatt yelling for me to push with everything I had. Out he finally came! He was gray as a ghost for about 5 seconds before belting out the noisiest cry, and almost immediately turning a nice, rosy shade of pink. They plopped him on my chest, and Pete cut the cord.

Wyatt Peter Ristig was born at 8:50am, weighing in at 8 pounds, 10 ounces, and 21.5 inches. What a big boy!

Our Pre-Wyatt Family

2011-02-19T23:46:00.003-07:00

We took a few silly belly pictures and stuff a couple days before Wyatt was born. They turned out pretty stinkin' cute!

CHEEEESE!!

Holy Haven't-Written-a-Blog-in-Ages, Batman!

2011-02-16T13:54:00.009-07:00

I know I haven't been on here in forever, so I'm gonna try to make it up to everyone by mega-posting all the stuff we've been doing since mid-December. Okay, here it goes....

CHRISTMAS!
We made the drive back to Arizona for the holidays. I wasn't really looking forward to making the trek with Maya in the car, and was dreading listening to her whining for 14 hours round-trip. So, I asked Pete for a DVD player that goes in the car and hooks up to the headrests as my birthday present. Lo and behold, Maya was an angel for the entire drive! It is my dream come true. I'm all for sticking my kid in front of the boob tube if it will save my sanity, and make me a better and more patient Mommy when it counts.

We got to Phoenix, and spent the first couple days with my Dad and Terea. We also went to Ryan's Christmas Eve party, and I had my hair done by my cousin Sharisa. It was nice seeing all the sibs and nieces and nephews for Christmas Eve. Maya cleaned up! I couldn't believe how many pressies she got! She was pretty excited, and especially loved anything Toy Story themed that she received.

We did Christmas morning at Dad's place, and then drove to Prescott for some more Christmas goodness there with Grammy and the Granny up there.

Maya and Aunt Kate were accidental Christmas twinsies!

Maya was so cute snuggling with all her "friends" at bedtime that night, that I sneaked a picture of her.

We hung out in Prescott for a couple days, and then did a nice, late Christmas with Nana, Papa, Hanna, and the cousins the morning we were set to go home. Hanna made a yummy breakfast spread for everyone, too!

EMILY'S VISIT!
When we left, we kidnapped Emily for the week. We hadn't done that since we lived in Flagstaff, so that was lots of fun. She was a big help with Maya around the house, helped me set up Wyatt's nursery, and we co-produced a really cool Dr Who painting for Wyatt's new bedroom! It's an evil Dalek robot. EXTERMINATE! We also went to Explora, the kids science museum here in town. It was a fun week, and ended with Emily's first airplane ride!

SELLING THE HOUSE
Pete got a call from work asking if he'd like to replace the girl in Colorado Springs who just resigned. We replied with a big affirmative! We are really, really sad to leave all the good friends behind we've made here in Albuquerque, and leaving this house we put so much work into is bittersweet. But, we know that it's for the best. They are grooming Pete to move up the corporate ladder, and that is exactly what he was going for.

We cleaned the hoo-haw out of our house, put tons of stuff up in storage, had the overgrown agaves removed from our front yard, and had a professional photographer come through the house for our listing pictures. I had a dream the other night that our house sold in the first week for full asking price, and I'm REALLY hoping my dream will come true! Pete's work is giving us a couple months to get all our ducks in a row before we move, but they want us out there ASAP! The sooner the house sells, the sooner we can make a bid on wherever we're going to end up. It's such a tease looking at houses online knowing that they will probably be gone by the time we can actually really start house-hunting.

SOOOOO PREGNANT!! (A.K.A. Get Out of Mah Belleh!!)
Today is February 17th, and Wyatt was due to join us on the 10th. He is not being cooperative, and after having my membranes stripped on three different occasions, doing four rounds of acupuncture, running up and down stairs, ingesting black and blue cohosh supplements, doing jumping jacks, moving heavy furniture, and using evening primrose oil for cervical softening, he still is being a stubborn little cuss. So, we are going in tonight at 7:30pm to be induced. My Mom is here to watch after Maya while we are in the hospital, and we skipped her nap today so that she'll be super tired this evening, and hopefully go to bed early (fingers crossed). We've got our bags packed, the house cleaned, and all our ducks in a row. Let's do this!

We're outta here in t-minus three hours. Hopefully, the next blog I post will include pictures of our new family!!

The Holiday Schedule

2010-12-20T15:59:00.002-07:00

Here's what we have planned for our impending trip to AZ! Let me know if anything looks weird or wrong.

Wednesday -
Leave ABQ @ 3pm
Arrive at Dad's house in Phoenix around 10ish

Thursday -
Laurie's hair appt in Mesa @10pm - Pete and Maya at Dorothy's
Hang around until the afternoon, and then drive back to Dad's
9pm Comedy Show in Tempe (Dad and T, will you babysit?!)

Friday -
Make cookies in the morning to bring to the shindig later
Christmas Eve party at Ryan and Lynsey's
Spend the night at Dad and T's

Saturday -
Christmas morning at Dad's
Leave Dad's at around 8am and head up to Prescott
Arrive at Grammy's house in Prescott around 10am
Christmas at Grammy's!
Pete's parents swing by when they're done at Hanna's

Sunday -
Prescott all day - go to the movies (True Grit and/or Black Swan)

Monday -
Breakfast at Hanna's - not sure on what time
Kidnap Emily and head back to Albuquerque after breakfast!

Dr Who Awesomeness

2010-12-08T09:41:00.005-07:00

I'm posting this at Pete's insistence. It is pretty funny, and there's a nice surprise at the end. Enjoy!

Maya's Lullaby

2010-11-12T14:00:00.002-07:00

With a new baby brother coming in just a couple more months, I've been really kicking myself in the butt to update Maya's baby book, decorate her bedroom, and spend as much time as possible doing things with just the two of us. Since I have a Mac, I decided to try my hand at my iMovie app. I made this sweet video for Maya. Every time I hear this song I get all weepy for my little girl! It was an easy choice for the soundtrack. Enjoy!

The Sound of Music Reunion!

2010-10-29T13:07:00.002-06:00

I was all excited about this episode of Oprah (which is rare because I'm not really an Oprah person), because the cast of The Sound of Music were going to be on, 45 years after the filming of the movie. Of course, I missed it. Luckily, some wonderful person posted it on YouTube. So, for those who care and missed it, here it is!

Sweet Maya

2010-10-11T21:27:00.003-06:00

Maya has had so many awesome breakthroughs lately, and I've been a huge slacker and haven't really posted any of them here. So, here's the latest in the world of Maya.

The talking has gotten cuh-razy! She still isn't combining words yet, but she will learn and repeat words that I didn't even think she knew. I wore a shirt a couple weeks ago that has little beads sewn on it. She pointed to them, and I told her they were beads. She repeated me, and that was pretty much the end of it. Fast-forward to a couple weeks later, and I wear the shirt again. She points to me and says "beads" without skipping a beat. That is one example, there are tons more. The kid has a crazy memory.

Another thing that she's learning is her colors. The first color she learned and repeated back to me correctly was blue. Next she learned green, then red, then yellow, and so on. She learns a new color about every two or three days. Of course, she has been telling me what color EVERYTHING is now. Whenever I get her out a bowl or a cup, I let her pick which color she wants. If blue is an option, she practically screams "BLUE!!!" It's pretty obvious that blue is her favorite color, followed by pink and green.

Whenever Maya has something she wants to tell me, she always kinda yells "Mom!" Once she has my attention, she shows me the thing I needed to see, and then does it a few more times. Example:

Maya: Mom!
Me: Yes, Maya
Maya: Pink
Me: You're right, that is pink. You're so smart! (I go back to whatever I was doing)
Maya: MOM!
Me: How can I help you, Maya?
Maya: Pink!
Me: Yes, I see that it's pink.
Maya: MOOOOMMM!
Me:What?
Maya: MOOOOOOM!
Me: What do you need, Maya
Maya: Pink.

You get the idea. It's super awesome, and not annoying at all. (I love you, Maya!)

This weekend also marked the end of the bottle era for Maya. We told her that bottles are something that babies use, not little girls like Maya. She's not a baby anymore, so from now on we will not be having a bottle of water at naptime or bedtime. She was not a fan, and whined for a couple of minutes her first non-bottle nap. But, once she realized it was a done deal, she got over it and went to sleep. Then, at bedtime she told me "Bottle.......no." I concurred that we will not be enjoying a bottle. Again, she was kinda sad, but she went right to bed after I tucked her in. I was so worried, because all the baby books say to yank the bottle early because doing it later (like 19 months!) would be waaaay more difficult. I found it rather easy to just reason with her, though. I am blessed with one reasonable little girl!

Speaking of reasoning with Maya, whenever she gets really frustrated recently, she will throw whatever's in her hand. If there's nothing in her hand, she'll look around, find something to pick up, and throw it. Then, she'll look at me like, "That's right...I just threw it. What are you gonna do about it?" At first I thought it was kinda cute, but now I make her go pick whatever it was up, make her look me in the eyes, and tell her it's OK to be mad or frustrated, but it is not OK to throw things because they might break. It's so dang adorable when she gets into trouble, because the talk we have afterwards is usually incredibly sweet and ends with hugs and kisses. She is still yet to be sent to time out.

With other kids around, Maya likes to be the boss. She is totally a future Hall Monitor of America! She is very particular about other kids following the rules, but rather than come to me about something, she like to police the situation herself. She can be quite the little bossy-pants!

We talk to Maya all the time about babies, and how we're going to have a new baby in the house. She knows there's a baby in Mommy's tummy, and whenever I ask her where her baby brother is, she pats my tummy. She also knows that the ultrasound pictures are of her baby brother. It's so sweet! For now, anyways. I think she is going to be INCREDIBLY jealous when he gets here! She has no idea what's really in store, but we're doing our best to prepare her. We will definitely talk about it a lot more when we get a little closer to my due date.

Pete and I are seriously the luckiest parents on earth. Maya is a great eater, she has an amazing ability to pay attention and learn new things, she is super snuggly and often comes over for random hugs and kisses, and she is so dang cute and getting cuter by the second! I feel so blessed with the family I have, and can't believe how much love I have for Pete and Maya. Seriously, I could be homeless, and as long as I have them everything will work out! I'm wondering what having a new baby boy will do to our little family, but I can't imagine anything but awesomeness!

It's a Boy!

2010-09-20T15:32:00.005-06:00

The Ristig men may rest easy. For, there is a male heir to the Ristig line. Huzzah!

Now, for the fun stuff. It's time to shop, and time to pick a baby name. I was considering vintage cowboys for the nursery, but the more I think about it, the more I'm set on Robots and Rocketships for the theme. Target has a pretty cute rocket crib set that I may need to acquire.

And now, the name game! Here is a list of names we've compiled thus far, in no particular order. Keep in mind that the middle name will be Peter no matter what, so a nice flow would be awesome. That being said, tell us what you think of the following names, and please feel free to give us suggestions.

Wyatt
Gustav
Samuel
Eric
Eli
Calvin
Thomas
Andrew
William (Liam for short)
Timothy
Jerome

The list is short, and I haven't really gone crazy looking names up yet, so like I said....suggestions!!

Fancy New Phones

2010-09-19T07:06:00.005-06:00

Pete and I were perplexed at what we were going to do about our phone carrier, Verizon. First of all, they dropped their phone credit for new, two-year contracts from $100 to $50. So, if we wanted to get new phones (which we kinda need) we were gonna have to drop some cash upfront. Also, unless we wanted to get a dinosaur for a phone, we were going to have to start paying an extra $20 per month in data charges. We were paying for every picture message we sent or received, and were getting all kinds of random charges for stupid, unexpected things.

Now, I understand that cell phone service is pricier than just a land line, and I understand why. But, for us to be paying over $120 per month, plus for us to drop a bunch of money on the phones themselves is just plain unreasonable. So, our hunt commenced for a plan and phones that were more affordable, but gave us the same services we already had.

We found one better! Yay! I guess Sprint and Virgin Mobile recently struck up some kind of deal where Virgin Mobile now uses Sprint's signal. Virgin Mobile has an amazing deal, and we both signed up (actually, we didn't because there is no contract!). We get unlimited text, pix, and web, plus 300 minutes each per month for $25 per phone. WOO-HOO!!

So, Pete and I got new fancy phones. I got a Rumor2, and Pete got the Rumor Touch. His phone is definitely fancier than mine, but Pete likes gadgets, and really wanted the Touch.

Sorry to all you Verizon peeps out there who will actually have to use minutes to call me during business hours, but seriously. I'm saving $70 per month. Sorrrrryyyyyyyy!

Raddest Hand Dance EVAR!

2010-09-16T12:08:00.000-06:00

A Week of Firsts!

2010-09-04T08:47:00.007-06:00

This week, Maya helped Daddy make dinner for the first time. Well, she actually just helped shuck the corn, but still! She had lots of fun pulling the husk and corn silk off the corn with her dad's help. It was cute.

This week, we also got Maya her very first bank account! We'd been slowly filling up her piggy bank, and we deposited $93 into her new account. Woo-hoo! MIT, here we come! That oughta pay for half of a college text book. ;D

And the most momentous (at least for me) was that Maya transitioned into a big-girl bed last night! We put our old queen bed into her new room, and I painted her walls light, light pink earlier this week. I was nervous that she would get out of bed or try to play with toys or get into some other shenanigans during the night, but she didn't! She cried for about 20 seconds after I shut her door, then she just lay down and was asleep about ten minutes later. She didn't get out of bed or fuss all night! Pete said he did hear her whimper just once, but she put herself right back to sleep. What a relief! I was so worried. Before bedtime, I let Maya play in her new bed, and get used to the idea that she would be sleeping in there. Here are some pictures of the new bed fun that ensued.

I LOVE how Maya says "ribbit, ribbit." It's so stinkin' cute!

And, while they aren't necessarily firsts, here are some other pictures of stuff in general. Yes, Maya loves running around naked before we get our PJ's on. And yes, those are her panties on her head.

The Secret Ingredient Is......

2010-08-03T07:16:00.001-06:00

Bwahahaha! Pete and I love Iron Chef America. Mark Dacascos is particularly goofy, and I love the swooshing sound effects when he chops the air. So. Corny.

Also, a real blog post is soon to come. I've been lazy.

Friggin Twilight

2010-07-03T22:29:00.002-06:00

On a less depressing note, I found this video clip from a Jimmy Kimmel skit. It's the retarded kids from Jersey Shore doing Twilight. It made me laugh so hard I nearly peed my pants. Enjoy!

Feeling Bleh

2010-07-03T22:06:00.002-06:00

This pregnancy is nothing at all like the first. I do have a lot of the same cravings, and my stomach is pretty much upset all the time, but WOWSA this is one depressing pregnancy! I feel mopey pretty much all the time, and then I feel depressed for being mopey. I'm really tired all over my body, so I just want to rest. But then, I feel like a giant, lazy slob for laying around. I'm going postal from housework and Maya clinging to me 24/7 (though I also simultaneously LOVE her clinging), and I feel like the house is nasty again two seconds after I just cleaned it. Ggguuuuuhhhhhhhhhhh......

Poor Pete is very tolerant of my ookiness, but it is getting so old. I'm also not looking forward to the next couple of weeks. I'll be driving to Prescott on Friday evening with Ciera and Maya. Pete's not coming, so I have to drive the whole way, round trip, with Maya's loveliness in the back seat. She just loves road trips. Not! Then, on the 13th, Ciera is leaving for Illinois. Who knows when I'll see her again. I'm gonna miss the poop out of her!!! On the same day, Pete is leaving for a business trip to D.C. for a week. So, I'm going to be left home alone with Maya. I love the pieces out of Maya, but geez Louise I need adult stimulation.

Yesterday I went to go see Eclipse with my girlfriend Carolyn and her sisters. It was the most amazing night I've had in so long. Getting away from everyone at home needs to happen more often. I can't remember the last time I just went somewhere with girlfriends and no kids or husbands.

There. I got the majority of my rant out. Aren't pregnancy hormones your favorite? Just an example of my insanity, I was singing "It's a Hard Knock Life" from Annie to Maya, and dancing around with her. I started crying mid-song because I felt really bad for the orphans. Is it February yet?

Definitely NOT Pete's Idea!

2010-06-12T19:01:00.002-06:00

I just finished reading all the Twilight books at the insistence of my friend, Carolyn. The first one was meh. The second one was a little emo, but better. The third book sucked me in like crazy, and the fourth made me a Twilight fan forever! Anyways, in honor of the unveiling of Eclipse at the movie theater, I'm rocking the Twilight background for the next two weeks.

TEAM EDWARD!!!

Seriously Belated Stuff

2010-06-11T09:44:00.011-06:00

I just realized that I haven't posted anything in over a month. I'm slapping myself on the wrist right now, and hoping that I'll not keep up the procrastination in the future. No promises, though. I mean, this is me we're talking about!

Well, during the last month a few things have happened. We went hiking at Tent Rocks, which is seriously one of the cooler hikes I've ever been on.

We got Ciera for the summer! Her family moved to Illinois, and she's spending a major part of her summer at our place before flying to meet her brothers and Dad. Ciera has been having a blast shopping. I've been trying to get her all stocked up and ready for the nasty winters ahead of her! It's really hard to find a store that carries warm boots in June in New Mexico. She's also been a big help with Maya and the babies. I'll be super-sad when she leaves. Who knows when we'll see her next. We've had her around for the last three-and-a-half years. It'll be weird without heaving her around whenever we feel like it.

We also went to AZ for my brother Dan's renewal of vows with his wifey, Autumn. It was really pretty, and very sweet! Maya did not appreciate the car ride there or back, but at least this time Ciera was there to help keep her occupied.

And, of course, here's the random pictures of Maya I've taken over the last month or so. I'm glad I'm such a crazy Japanese tourist with my picture taking needs. She'll have a wide variety of photos of herself growing up!

Maya got Bangs

2010-05-06T13:06:00.007-06:00

I've been fighting the urge to cut Mayas bangs for a while. I was fed up with Maya's hair falling in her face every time she pulled out her barrettes (which was every ten seconds), and the last straw was this week when she had a cold. She kept waking up with her hair stuck on her booger-face! So, to the chagrin of Pete, I cut her some cute little bangs. Here are some pictures from the last couple days.

Her hair is a thousand time less work, and she somehow looks cleaner. I know her face is just as clean as it was before, but to me it just seems less dirty for some reason. Call me a crazy lady, but it's true!

Also, I forgot to post this one earlier. Pete and I are saving money and opening Maya a college savings account. All of our change (and some dollars, too!) is going into this piggy bank and is then getting deposited for Maya every time it fills up. We let her put the money in, and she does a pretty dang good job! Cute!

Swagger Wagon

2010-05-06T12:51:00.002-06:00

I am in love with this video! It makes me feel way cooler for having a minivan.

Super Maya Update!

2010-04-28T16:12:00.011-06:00

So, here's what we've been up to lately. Maya started walking last week, and she's saying more words every day. She's been on a "b" word kick lately. This week she started saying ball, bye-bye, and boo! She also says hi, Daddy, Mama, and kitty. She says banana, but it sounds more like buh-buh-buh. I know what she means, though! My favorite thing she does now (ahem) happens when she either doesn't get her way, or she accidentally loses her balance. She falls on the floor whining and kicking her foot. Ask me how much I love it. Unfortunately, I don't have video footage!

Maya also got her first freckle! It's on the top of her head. I noticed it when I was washing her hair in the tub. Since then, she's been lathered with sunscreen every time we go outdoors.

We went to the river this weekend. It's cool because the Rio Grand Nature Center is just up the street from our house. It has lots of trails right on the river. We took Peanut, too. She had fun trying to chase lizards and getting as far into the water as we'd let her get.

There were these weird flood control device thingies that made the trail look like the beaches at Normandy!

Two weeks ago Maya was riding on her little car. She tipped over and landed right on her face, poor little bug! She got some pretty gnarly road-rash from the sidewalk. She cried for about 30 seconds or so, and then was cool. She didn't even care when I cleaned it out! I was impressed. It doesn't look too bad in these pictures, but the next day it scabbed over and was not cute.

And here are some random cute pictures we've taken of her over the last few weeks. Enjoy!

Easter in Prescott

2010-04-11T17:30:00.015-06:00

We made the trek over to Prescott for Easter, and boy-oh-boy, Maya was not a fan of the car ride there. Our friend Travis came along for the ride, so I sat in the back with Maya the whole time. I kept her relatively occupied most of the way, but there were times when she was just not a happy camper.

Once we were there it was lovely to just fall into the nice, warm, clean dungeon at Grammy's house! We went out to breakfast the next morning at the Dinner Bell, and then Pete, Maya, Mom and I went toodling around the square. Most of the shops were still closed, but we had fun window shopping.

I also had my Mom take some pictures of us walking around. I'd mentioned that we hadn't had any pictures taken of all three of us in ages, so we got a couple nice ones.

We met up with Dad and T and Rob at the Red Robin for lunch. It was YUMMMMMM. Just like the commercial, go figure! Maya got a cute little Easter bucket with an outfit from Target and a Cabbage Patch Kid bunny in it. She had a great time putting things in her new bucket! Grumpa helped Maya do some important coloring on the place mat.

Grandma T helped Maya play with her new doll, and made sure she knew how cute her shoes were.

Rob was just really pumped to be there. :D

For Easter morning, Dan, Autumn, and Mom all came over to Grammy's and we all had a yummy lunch. The Easter Bunny made everybody some yummy fudge eggs, and Maya wore her cute new Easter dress. Bill swung by too, but it was right before we had to leave for our next Easter destination, darnit!

Pete went to pick up Travis for the ride home, and he tagged along with us to Lyle and Hanna's house. Everyone was pretty excited to see Maya, but nobody more than Ben. That boy was obsessed with her! It was pretty cute. Maya liked it for a little while, but I think she was feeling a bit smothered after a bit. She was kinda cranky and tired from all the excitement of the weekend. She got passed around, had some more ham and potatoes (we'd just had stuff at Grammy's!), spent a little time with Nana and Papa, Pete had some extreme close-up photos of his nose taken by Emily, we had some yummy blueberry pie, and then we hit the road back to Albuquerque.

Thanks to everyone who could share our Easter with us and make it such a special day for our family!!

The Easter Schedule

2010-03-30T08:48:00.002-06:00

It's Easter in Prescott! Yay! Fourteen hours of driving with a baby in exchange for a day-and-a-half of candy eating, family visiting goodness. You guys do know just how lucky you are, right? Just making sure. :P

Anyhoo, here's the tentative schedule:

Friday - Leave NM at 5:01pm
Arrive at Prescott at around midnightish

Saturday - Lunch with Dad and T at Red Robin @ noon
No definitive dinner plans yet....any takers?

Sunday - Easter morning at Grammy's. Possible living room hunt.
2pm Easter dinner at Hanna's
3:30 - hit the road!

See all you Prescottonians on Saturday!

Sweetie Pie!

2010-03-22T16:46:00.003-06:00

Yuckiest Saturday Ever

2010-03-14T10:54:00.004-06:00

I realize that this blog may contain TMI, but I really don't feel like relaying this information to everyone and reliving it a hundred times over.

So, yesterday was such a pretty day. We had Ciera and her brother Alex, and we decided we'd go out to the Flea Market at Expo New Mexico at about 2pm. I'd just told Ciera that I was pregnant (yes, I realize I hadn't blogged about it yet...hey, I put it on facebook last week!). We were getting ready to head out, and I made a bathroom run. I freaked out when I realized I was spotting a little.

At first I told Pete I'd just lay down, and he and the kids could go on without me. He said I should at least call the 24-hour nurse hotline that our insurance provider offers. I called, and she told me that I should take a trip to the emergency room to be on the safe side.

Luckily, our good friend, Travis, was with us. He took the kids back to their dad while Pete and I headed over to the Lovelace Women's Clinic that's just up the street from our house. Travis met us there, but ended up taking Maya home so she wouldn't get sick from sitting around an emergency room.

After a few hours, we finally got into a room. They had me pee in a cup and put on a hospital gown, and then we waited.....and waited.....and waited and waited and waited and waited.

I was sitting on the stupid stirrup bed the whole time, and it was so uncomfortable. I'm really glad I brought a book. The TV in the room only got one channel, which was Food Network. ??! Luckily, Pete loves food Network, so he watched Iron Chef while I read my book. I was trying to relax, but the bleeding just persisted the whole time.

Finally, the doc came in to tell me that the pregnancy test was negative. I told him he better check that puppy again, because I know I'm pregnant. He had the gall to tell me that I must have had a false positive on my home test, because I wasn't. I asked Dr. Genius how a false positive was even possible, since it reads human growth hormone, which isn't present in your urine unless you're pregnant. He said maybe I should call the manufacturer, and it happens all the time (no it doesn't). So, I'm already annoyed because I've been waiting around for four hours or so, and now my Dr. is a hack. He goes out to re-check the test, and lo and behold when he returns (45 minutes later), it's positive. Butthole. He comes back in and says that I must be only three weeks pregnant, not five. My confidence in his medical knowledge and abilities plummet again, because you measure the age of the fetus from one's last menstrual cycle, not from the date of conception. From a conception standpoint, I was three weeks pregnant, but by medical terminology I was five weeks. If this guy doesn't know that, then he is a gynecological retard.

So, he says since I'm still bleeding he needs to do a pelvic exam, and I need an ultrasound. He goes away for another hour or two, then returns for the pelvic exam. He gives me no feedback, and then leaves for good. His shift was over. THANK GOD. He sucked so bad. I still don't know what the point of the pelvic exam was, or what his findings were.

The nurse comes in and tells me to let her know when my bladder is full so I can get wheeled in for the ultrasound. I tell her a little early, since I figure I'd be waiting around, which was just what happened. It wasn't too bad, though, and by the time I was wheeled in, my bladder was ready to roll. They did an external and internal ultrasound, and then I was wheeled back to my room. Now we had to wait around for the radiologist to look at the ultrasound and tell us what the deal was.

At this point, I'd pretty given up all hope that this pregnancy would stick. About seven hours had elapsed, and nothing was different. I was upset, but not too terribly since I wasn't all that far along. I just wanted an answer one way or the other. So we waited...again.....

The new doc came in, and I loved him immediately. He explained in great detail the situation. When I came in, my levels of human growth hormone that they'd tested for was in the 160 range. When they tested the blood they'd drawn about four hours later, it was in the 40's. The baby was most likely gone.

It was good to know an answer one way or the other, and I was ready to just go home when he hit me with the blow that really freaked me out. He told me that the ultrasound revealed that the fetus was in my fallopian tube (an ectopic pregnancy). I knew exactly what that was, and started to freak out a bit. If the baby had stuck around, it could have done some SERIOUS damage to my reproductive bits and pieces, would have hurt like hell, and would have had to be surgically removed. It wouldn't have lived anyways, and would have wreaked havoc on me in the meantime. The doc made an appointment for me to have a follow-up with an OBGYN on Monday, and said we'd be discharged shortly.

The nurse came back in to give me a shot in the butt that they give to ladies with ectopic pregnancies. I also got two prescriptions to fill in the pharmacy, and was discharged at about 10:45pm.

Pete and I hadn't eaten since 11:00am, and we were both tired and hungry. We stopped by Del Taco, which was the only thing open nearby this late. I got my tacos right when the shot really kicked in, and I got all nauseous and really crampy. Eating was the last thing I wanted to do. So, Pete took me home and put me to bed, and then he went out to fill me prescription. Poor Travis spent his entire day off watching Maya for us. What a hero!

We are both really upset that there will be no November baby, but more than anything we're thankful that it happened now and not two months from now when we'd be more emotionally attached, and a LOT more damage would be done to my body. We were both notably upset last night, but we're doing OK now. The prescription I got makes me really crampy and pukey, but Pete is going to take the day off work tomorrow, and I'm calling in sick so I can finish off the bottle before I have to chase after kids.

We're taking a month off trying again because I don't want a December baby, and then we're getting right back on the horse! No worries. Baby number two will come eventually!

Artiquerque Crafters

2010-03-01T15:31:00.002-07:00

I'll be participating in the Artiquerque Crafters Craft Carnival this Saturday! It's my first craft show. Wish me luck!

First Birthday Festivities!

2010-02-27T21:43:00.019-07:00

Maya got lots of great pressies for her birthday. Mommy and Daddy got her a couple fun board books. Grandma T and Grumpa got her some cute little ruffle-butt chonies! They also got her a cool collage of a bunch of pictures of Maya from her first year. I still need to get a frame for it.

Nana and Papa sent a package with three outfits in it. I cut the tape and let Maya open up the package. She had fun playing peek-a-boo with her new clothes! I am in LOVE with the little cupcake hoodie.

For her birthday, Maya and I went this morning and had our portrait done again by Dan Peebles. The guy is RAD. He's done Zsa-zsa Gabor and David Carradine's portrait. His style is intense scenes with occasional flashes of nudity. We definitely kept our clothes on. Still, the guy is amazing. I should have a couple of the best ones in the next couple days, after he does his editing. The best part is, it was FREE! He actually called me asking if we could come in. He's beefing up his portfolio, and wanted to do some experimental photographs with black and white. I wore black with polka-dots, and Maya wore her little skeleton outfit. I'm looking forward to seeing the results!

Next, we went home for lunch and a nap. When Maya woke up, we went to a local toy store called Up in the Air Toys. It was their 20th birthday, so they had cake, a jumpy castle, and a real live unicorn! How could we not go? We didn't get great pictures, but it was actually a lot of fun. That toy store is really cool, too.

Next, we headed to the zoo. It was Maya's first time going to the zoo. We would have gone sooner, but ever since Maya has been old enough to actually appreciate the animals and understand what she's seeing, it's been freezing cold outside. Well, we bundled up and had a great time! Most of the animals were over it. It was late in the afternoon, they'd long since eaten, and it was chilly out. The plant-life was all winter-y, but there was this really neat tree with fuzzy pods on its branches. We had fun petting them.

Flamingos!

The chimpanzees were out in full force, though. The baby even came up and tried to steal a Nutri-Grain bar from some lady. Too bad there was glass between them. It was really cute!

The most surprising even at the zoo was that the rhinos were actually doing something. They usually just stand there and aren't interesting at all. Today they were rolling around in the mud, and scratching their sides on the rock right under us. It was really neat.

When we sat down to rest for a minute, Maya found a nice pile of leaves to play in. It's sad, but I think that was her favorite part of the zoo.

We came home and chilled out for a while before dinner. Maya got a birthday face bath from Peanut. Gross. Maya thinks it's just a riot. Strange child. She must've gotten it from her Dad's side of the family!

After dinner, it was time for cake. I told myself I was going to personally bake the most amazing Pat the Bunny cake. It was going to be glorious! Unfortunately, I wasn't feeling it, and ended up getting her a little piece of cake at Whole Foods. Hey, at least it was quasi-healthy, right?

Maya was so sweet! At first she just picked at the berries on top, but then once she got a little frosting on her fingers she dug right in. She never really made that much mess, and only got a little in her hair. She also liked sharing her good cake with her Mama. When she'd had enough she let us know that she was "all done!" What a little sweetie!

Happy First Birthday, Maya!

2010-02-27T21:12:00.004-07:00

Today my sweet little baby girl, Maya, turned one-year-old. It's strange because while it seems like it couldn't possibly be an entire year, it also feels like we've had her forever! I wish I knew her stats, but she hasn't had her one-year appointment at the pediatrician yet. But, here are a few things I've learned about Maya over the last year.

- Maya is a hugger. She is always ready to get a hug, and always has hugs and kisses for other people when she thinks they might need one. And, not just for her mom. She hugs the other kids when they are hurt or sad, too!

- Maya likes things the way she likes things, and if they aren't how she likes then she might make yucky noises at you. Not that making yucky noises changes anything, but she likes to let you know if she's not happy, anyways. Little stinker! She also can make some pretty unattractive faces. I like when she crinkles her nose, purses her lips, and grunts.

- If you ask Maya for a kiss, she'll pucker her lips and blow in your mouth. She also gives pretty great raspberries.

- If it's bedtime, and Maya has her blanket, bottle, and bear (the three B's), she will lay quietly and go right to sleep. If she's not tired, she'll kick gently on her crib toy until she nods off. I am so grateful, because she was not a great sleeper when she was littler.

- Maya is more than willing to share food or toys, but doesn't like it if the thing she's playing with is yoinked out of her hand. There were biting incidents with Sofia until I got fed up and bit her back. There hasn't been any biting since then. I don't think she realized how much that hurt!

- Maya likes to have her foot out of her high chair while she's eating. However, lately she's preferred the big kids table. She can even get in and out of the big kids chair by herself.

- If Maya is cruising around, she always makes sure she holding something. She is scared to death of walking on her own. If she ever loses her balance even for a moment, she cries even if she didn't fall or hurt herself. Sometimes we can trick her into letting go, and she holds herself up standing really steadily. I think she could walk if I could just get her to be brave enough! You can do it, Maya! Little chicken.

- Maya's favorite veggie is peas. Just like her Mama!

- Maya looks like a hippo when she grins. Her two top teeth have a big, goofy gap, and a hippo comes to mind when she flashes her cheezy smile.

- I don't mean to toot my own kid's horn, but Maya is definitely ahead of the curve in the brains department. She figures things out very quickly, and I think she's the smartest kid of all the kids I watch. Don't tell the other parents I said that!

- Everywhere we go, I always expect at least one person to comment on what pretty, red hair she has. I don't mind, though, because it is quite pretty!

We love you so much, Maya! We are so lucky to have you in our lives. Like I always tell everyone, we totally won the baby lottery. You are so smart, have the silliest personality, are so beautiful, and are such a sweet snuggler! We couldn't have asked for a more awesome kid. Happy birthday, muffin!

New Shoes and The Cuteness

2010-02-20T14:57:00.004-07:00

I have these really cute May Jane Pediped shoes that Maya pretty much always wears. Unfortunately, she knows how to undo the vel-cro, so they come off at the most inopportune times. She did have some really cute tennis shoes, but we lost one, and I cannot for the life of me find it. I know it's in this house somewhere!

Well, I finally gave up. I decided I just needed to get her some new shoes. So, I went to my regular haunts (Target, Savers, Other Mother's) to try and find some cute tennis shoes, but to no avail. What is the deal with girls shoes? All the tennies have Disney Princesses or Dora some other AWFUL cartoon printed on the sides. That, or they are covered in glitter and sequins. What the heck? The shoes in the boys departments were all way too boyish, though. I gave up, and we went to the mall. I knew I'd seen some cute shoes at Journey's for Kids. I didn't care that I'd have to spend more than $12 on her shoes (yes, I'm a cheapskate), as long as I didn't have to cringe every time I put them on her feet. Well, boy am I glad we did! I ended up getting her some gray Chuck Taylor's exactly like the ones I have had for about 5 years (I just keep buying the same shoes because I love them)! Now, I'm pumped because not only does Maya look totally cute in them, but they match everything, the next kid can wear them regardless of whether it's a boy or girl, and we are twinsies! How stinking cute are these?!

And, did you notice that Maya is sitting at the big kids table now?! I thought I'd have to buy her a high chair with a tray, but she climbs up to the table and likes having snacks there. Woo-hoo! She's a little stinker, though. She'll sit in a big chair, but refuses to even try walking. What a poop!

Here are some pictures of her playing with her Daddy that I thought were pretty cute, too.

Ciera is 12!

2010-02-20T14:49:00.003-07:00

I've been lazy and haven't updated in a week or two. My bad. Ciera turned twelve on February 10th! We had a little party here last weekend, and she invited a girlfriend to spend the night. We also went to the movies the next day. She got two posters, a couple teenie bopper magazines, a new outfit, and a Ken doll that looks like her heart throb, Justin Bieber! Here she is opening her presents.

Also, I got her a really nice ring with an amethyst in it, as per our family 12th birthday tradition. I let her pick it out from a fancy shmancy place in Nob Hill. She got a little pair of earrings to match, too. She was pretty excited to have some real jewelry! I am a nerd, and didn't take pictures of it, but trust me when I say it's really pretty! I didn't influence her at all, and she picked the one I would have picked out. I was pretty stoked!

Profiles: Pete, Maya, Laurie

2010-02-15T07:44:00.000-07:00

Raspberries!

2010-02-11T20:01:00.001-07:00

Scherenschnitte

2010-02-10T14:11:00.005-07:00

As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I've developed an unhealthy obsession with all types of crafty goodness. One of those things is called scherenschnitte. It's the art of papercutting. It sounds kinda whatever until you see some of the amazing things other people have made! That being said, I did some blog-hopping, and accumulated a collection of pictures of papercuts people did, and stencils they have shared. Hope you enjoy!

Love! I'm going to be doing profiles of Maya and myself (Pete too, if he cooperates!), and might do a scene if I get the time.

The Cuteness

2010-02-10T07:56:00.003-07:00

Charley Harper: an Obsession

2010-02-09T15:08:00.006-07:00

I have recently become a crazy person when it comes to being crafty. I've made a gzillion hair bows and tutu's, I've sewn a really cool banner for my upcoming craft show, and I've purchased stuff to do scherenschnitte (German paper cutting to the lay person) and cannot wait to get started.

While surfing the web for ideas, I came across a blog post about this artist whose work I'd actually seen before in the kids section of the bookstore. I think every time I set foot into a bookstore and see any of Charley Harper's stuff my inner dialogue goes a little something like this:

inner me#1 - "OOOOHHHHH! Look at this gorgeous book!"

inner me#2 - "Wow, that is really pretty. But, did you see the price tag?"

inner me#1 - "But, you can't put a price on beauty."

inner me#2 - "Oh yes you can, and that price is too much. You said you were going to stop spending on stuff you didn't really need."

inner me#1 - "But, I think I need this."

inner me#2 - "No, you don't"

inner me#1 - "Yes, I really do!"

inner me#2" - Behave yourself. Get it under control! What will Pete think when you walk in with more stuff? You'll hate yourself tomorrow."

inner me#1 - "Dang you, stupid inner me#2!"

Seriously, his stuff is so gorgeous I'm thinking about buying a book or two, scanning the pictures into my scanner, printing them out, and framing them. They are gorgeous beyond words! I will probably break down and buy the coloring book for Maya. When she really starts making art, and knowing that she is making the marks on the page, I'm going to let her do watercolors on them. Definitely frame-worthy!

Crafty Goodness

2010-01-31T18:30:00.004-07:00

My friend Caroline is going to have a booth at the Artiquerque Crafters craft fair in March. I went with her to Hobby Lobby to pick up some craft supplies. She's making fridge magnets and hair thingies for adults. While I was there, I got totally sucked in looking at all the neat stuff!

After much oooing and ahhhhing, Caroline talked me into manning the booth together. Now I'm making TONS of kids stuff to sell. I've made a bunch of flowery clips and headbands, and made three tutu's this afternoon! I think I might make some pretty wands, too. I'm ordering some more crocheted headbands to attach the big flowers to, and I think I might make some clippies that match the tutus I made. There might be feathers involved.

If you guys have any other suggestions for pretty things I could make, let me know!

Maya's Playhouse

2010-01-31T18:27:00.002-07:00

Maya got a new car seat. Which means she got a new big box to play in. She likes to take her baby and her bottle in there and lay down whilst playing with the flap on the inside. It's pretty cute.

Here she is playing peek-a-boo with her PJ's. 'Scuse her messy face.

New Kitchen Fixture

2010-01-31T18:21:00.002-07:00

I'm playing a little catch up. Last weekend we installed a new lighting fixture in the kitchen. What we thought would be a 20 minute fix turned into a two-day endeavor, though!

The little electrical box thingamajig (I can't remember the name of it...leave me alone!) was totally ancient, and we couldn't find anything that would replace it without tearing up the drywall on the ceiling so we could put in a new bracket. Sooooo, that's what we ended up doing.

While the extra work sucked, I would have done it in a heartbeat. Our old light was an ugly fluorescent box. Yuck! Here's our new, lovely light.

HA!

2010-01-30T17:33:00.000-07:00

The Ministry of Silly Walkers

2010-01-22T12:57:00.002-07:00

Maya is officially its newest member! When she walked in her little walker she always leaned forward, bent her knees, and walked on tiptoe. Now that she's started trying to walk on her own, her technique is a little silly. Needless to say, the walker is now up for sale at Other Mothers!

Happy MLK Day!

2010-01-18T16:19:00.002-07:00

MLK's last speech before being assassinated. Auto-tuned for your listening pleasure.

Maya playing Peek-a-Boo

2010-01-18T13:27:00.001-07:00

Kids Museum in Pictures and Video

2010-01-18T13:11:00.007-07:00

This is Why Pete LOVES his Employer:

2010-01-14T11:31:00.002-07:00

Pete just sent me an e-mail saying how much he loves working for ITT. They just sent this out to all their employees, and are offering to match any contributions that employees wish to make to help out in Haiti. Here's what the e-mail said:

Since we heard the news about the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck the country of Haiti on Tuesday, ITT people across the company have been mobilizing to determine what help we can provide in this devastating situation.

No ITT employees were affected, but we expect that some of you may have relatives or friends that live in the region and that some of our business partners may have also suffered losses. Given that there is no way to reach people that are in the Port-au-Prince area at this time, if you have family members there or if you know of any of our business partners who may need assistance, please send those names immediately to Scott Crum, our Senior VP of Human Resources (scott.crum@itt.com). Scott and his team will work to make sure we provide any help that we can.

I also want to let you know what ITT is doing to help with the larger issues. Under our ITT Watermark program, we have set aside funds to deploy in emergency situations around the globe along with our non-profit partner, Mercy Corps. We have already wired $100,000 to them and they are using our contribution to deploy Mercy Corps experts to assess the immediate situation and to begin to provide relief.

If you would like to make a contribution under ITT Watermark to be used specifically to help in Haiti, please click on this link https://donate.mercycorps.org/watermark.htm. Under this program, we normally provide a matching gift for your contributions to our non-profit partners. Because of the scope of the crisis, for the next 60 days, we are going to double match the contributions you make to Mercy Corps, up to U.S. $5000 for a maximum of U.S. $10,000. The contributions will be rapidly released to provide aid where it is needed quickly.

Our Emergency Response team is also determining what ITT equipment (pumps, night vision goggles, portable communications systems) can be sent to Haiti to help with the huge issues that will likely be ongoing for the foreseeable future. In addition, we would like to offer any expertise we have on the large infrastructure and repair issues that the country will now be facing. If any of you have specific skills that you think could be helpful to our emergency response team, please send an email to Bjorn von Euler, our Director of Corporate Philanthropy (bjorn.voneuler@itt.com) who is working to coordinate ITT’s overall response.

ITT people are always quick to mobilize when there is a crisis and I know this extremely tragic situation in Haiti will be another opportunity for us to demonstrate how we care. It is hard to imagine exactly what the people of Haiti are enduring. We are going to do our best to try to alleviate some of the suffering and provide help where our particular expertise – in products, services or skills – can do the most good. We will keep you posted on our efforts.

Maya's First Potrait

2010-01-14T08:07:00.005-07:00

...and, believe it or not, my mom didn't do it! This really cool sketch artist from California known online as BayaniArtist saw the video of Maya crying in her swing. He decided to do a sketch of her, and used a photo that Terry took as the model. This is the result:

He titled it "do I look like I got the blues?"

The same artist also did a sketch of my grandfather from a picture he saw on my mom's facebook page. It is much more polished, and is also AMAZING.

This one's for Katie....

2010-01-13T14:28:00.000-07:00

GOULET!

First Trip to the Aquarium!

2010-01-10T17:35:00.006-07:00

We took Maya to the aquarium for the very first time this morning. I don't think she's ever actually seen fish before. Not even in the pet store. I usually focus my efforts at the dog and cat areas of Petsmart, with the occasional visit to the birds and rodents just for fun. But never to the fish department. Well, the moment we walked up to the first tank she got very excited and started squealing with joy!

Swing me or I'll cry!

2010-01-10T17:33:00.001-07:00

I was swinging Maya, and stopped for a moment to take out my camera. She was not happy about the fun ending!

Happy New Year! (last week)

2010-01-06T20:41:00.001-07:00

I have been meaning to post earlier, but just haven't had the time. All my babies are asleep, though, so I figure I better do it quick before someone wakes up!

We had a fun New Year's Eve. Pete and I went over to our friend Kevin and Dorota's house where we played Super Mario Brothers on their Wii, and I got to play with their baby boy, Patryk. He is so tiny compared to Maya! I can't believe Maya was that tiny just six months ago. Maya had fun playing with his toys, too! Peanut was also glad to play with their two doggies.

I've made a bunch of resolutions, but who knows if I'll keep to them. I'm terribly undisciplined. I'll be gung-ho for a week or two, and then flake out once the novelty wears off. Some of my resolutions include paying down a chunk of our debt (danged student loans!); making doctor, optometrist, and dentist appointments I've been too lazy to make; finish landscaping the back yard; get Pete a more reliable car (or get me a mini-van to fit all the kiddies and let Pete have my car); eat better; do more outside activities like hiking the Bosque and visiting places of interest in NM; and last, but certainly not least, getting pregnant with and having baby #2 by November. A boy, of course!

I realize that most of my other resolutions are going to make that first one of paying down debt hard, but I've decided that if we get a tax return this year (and we should) it will all do towards debt. That totally makes me sad. Tax return time is when I get to splurge, but alas, not this year!

I hear babies crying.....be right back!

......

OK. It's later in the afternoon, and I've already completed one of my New Year's resolutions! I just bought a minivan. CHECK! It's a '99, but it only has 87,000 miles on it. The owners went to Europe for 5 years. They drained all the fluids and just stored it in their garage the whole time. The guy who owned it is a mechanic and has a shop in town. He kept crazy meticulous records. So, I now officially have a seven-passenger soccer mom-mobile. Yikes! I told myself I would never get a mini-van, but SUV's only seat five.

Let's see...where was I now. Let's talk about Maya's new tricks! While she still refuses to even try walking, Maya now will pull herself up on the couch. She puts her leg up and as long as I use my hand as a little shelf for her butt she can do the rest! Also, today the other baby I watch, Sophia, was crying because she fell down and bumped her little head. Maya came over to us and gave her a hug and kiss, and started patting her head. It was so cute! My ten-month-old feels empathy. Mama's so proud!

As for our resolution to eat better, we decided to follow the Alton Brown non-diet diet. No calorie counting involved. We are still going to stuff our faces, but instead of stuffing them with cookies we will be choosing healthy items from the four food groups. We totally stocked up on fruit, cheese, and a variety of dips like hummus, guacamole and salsa to snack on. Here's what the diet consists of:

Eat Daily:
Fruits
Whole grains
Leafy greens
Nuts (1 oz a day)
Carrots
Green tea

Eat at least 3 times a week:
Oily fish
Yogurt
Broccoli
Sweet potatoes
Avocado

Eat only once a week:
Red meat
Pasta
Dessert
Alcohol

Never eat:
Fast food
Soda
Processed meals
Canned soup (because of salt content among other things)
“Diet” anything

At first glance this diet seems difficult, but once I started writing out ideas for meals, you really can eat practically anything. So long as it's not garbage, that is! Clearly, Pete will not be eating fatty fish three times a week since he hates the stuff, so we'll be eating a lot of tuna melts. We are also going to eat out twice per week. Once for breakfast and once for dinner.

That's the update. Tune in next week for more exciting adventures in The Fabulous Life & Times of the Ristig Family!

Christmas Vacation

2009-12-31T06:34:00.020-07:00

Pete, Maya, and I all flew home to Arizona this year for Christmas. I didn't think any of us would enjoy 14 hours in the car this holiday season, so we popped for airline tickets! Thanks to everyone who let us borrow cars and crash at your pads. It was greatly appreciated, and we couldn't have made the trip home without it!

We spent the first couple days chilling at Dad's house. I went to lunch with my old friend, Sarah, and her two babies at the Cheesecake Factory. They need to build one of those here in Albuquerque! So yummy! Afterward, we mosied around Chandler mall for a bit. Here's our picture in front of the Santa Claus area.

On Christmas Eve, we had the traditional party at Dad and Terea's place. We usually do goofy trivia and an auction, but this year they mixed it up a bit and instead we did Survivor: Christmas Island! I was on the green team, and Pete and Maya were on the red team.

We had several challenges, and I whomped the red team on the first challenge! I, along with Autumn, were the puzzle assemblers, and our teammates had to run back and forth getting the puzzle pieces as we assembled the puzzle. We were done before theirs was even halfway assembled. I'm very proud of my mad puzzle skillz. Next, we had a Wheel of Fortune challenge, an air hockey challenge, a scavenger hunt, and a cookie decorating challenge that the kids judged. It was pretty fun. I got voted off about 2/3rd of the way through after being betrayed by my teammate! Watch your back next year, Alicia! Mwahahahaha!! (just kidding ;D) Pete made it pretty far, but was voted off after the scavenger hunt. Angela was the surprise big wiener! Whooda thunk?

We opened white elephant gifts, and the kids opened up their gifts. Maya opened her first present from her Auntie "M". She actually ripped the paper a little and peeked inside. She tried pulling out her new spaghetti monster before it was really unwrapped. What a cutie!

After the festivities, Dan and Autumn gave us a ride up to Prescott in Grammy's van. We woke up on Christmas morning at Mom's house. Maya was cruising around on the floor when I showed her her stocking. She bee-lined straight for it, and started pulling stuff out.

After the stocking fun was over, we drove to Hanna's house where I didn't take any pictures! Oops. Well, Nana and Papa got Maya a box full of cute new outfits, and Pete and I got a nice little stuffed envelope, if you know what I mean. Pete is totally getting his e-reader now! We hung out with all the cousins, and then cruised over to Grammy's house. The usual gang was there minus Erica and Justin with their families. We totally cleaned up at Grammy's! We got lots of treats, and I got a really pretty gold bracelet. It's a little big, but I think I'm going to take it to the jewelery store and have them size it down to fit me perfectly. Maya got a giggly doll that she thinks is just hilarious. It's a bit maniacal with the laughing, but that kinda just makes it more fun!

We stayed at Mom's place along with Melanie and her family. I have to say it was nice to all hang out like that, but I will be crashing at Grammy's next year. I love you, Mom, but your house is small!

We did have some gross fun with the noise putty Santa put in Grampa Ken's stocking, though!

On our last day we drove back to Dad and Terea's. Pete was a handyman and fixed their garage door and garbage disposal, and unclogged their bathroom drain. He's so nice to have around! Maya had fun playing with Grandma T and Tuti.

For dinner we went to Dorothy, Ron, and Mady's place. It was SOOO nice to get a nice, light, home-cooked meal. We were in heaven! Too much fast food and heavy holiday food was making us feel gross. And I am totally putting the tomato feta recipe in our cookbook! Yes, the cookbook is still coming. We were lazy and didn't e-mail them out yet. Oops!

The next morning, bright and early, we flew back to Albuquerque. Maya slept on the plane, which was great because she was in a mood! Poor baby was up coughing that night, and had to wake up at 5am so we could get to the airport on time. She was back to her old self after a nice long nap, though, and her cough went away. We had lots of fun in AZ, but man it's good to be home!

10 Words You Need To Stop Misspelling!

2009-12-29T21:28:00.003-07:00

Stolen from Molly:

This 'n That

2009-12-20T16:54:00.003-07:00

We're all packed! Well, except for our toothbrushes and deodorant and stuff. We are maxing out Southwest Airlines' luggage allowance. And we didn't even pack enough clothes. I'll be doing some laundry while we're there!

This comic reminded me of me. Well, except without the amazing belly hair.

I just gave a ton of clothes to Ciera because I've lost all hope that they'll fit me again and still be in style. I'm still determined to get that last 5 pounds off, but knowing that we're planning on getting pregnant again in a couple months is a huge deterrent. What's the point, right? Is seems silly to diet during the holidays when it's just going right back on the butt in two months. That's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it!

Oh, and check out this amazing website I found. I'm going to have to add it to the links at right. They have a tauntaun sleeping bag! You've all seen Empire Strikes Back, right? When Luke Skywalker is locked out in the arctic cold on some planet, and he light sabers open the tauntaun he's riding and sleeps in its guts for warmth. The inside fabric is even intestines! Haha! They have tons of kids stuff too like the Plush Foodchain Friends and Star Trek onesies. Hilarious!

On a different and much more important note, my friend Sean will be doing a Rock Band marathon for charity. He will be doing an 84-song marathon with NO bathroom breaks. They are playing straight through. Why is this important, you ask? Well, he is asking that anyone who wants to donate to his charity do so at childsplaycharity.org. The charity gives gaming systems (among other things) to children's wards at hospitals all over the country. At the website, you can choose which hospital you'd like to donate to, and it will take you to their Amazon.com wishlist. You can choose any item you'd like to purchase for the hospital, and they will ship it directly to said hospital. You can also just donate money with a secure online Paypal donation. It's a really neat charity, and I'll definitely be sponsoring my friend by giving to the New Mexico Children's Hospital here in Albuquerque.

Merry Christmas everyone! I'll see you in a few days, AZ peeps!

Babysitter

2009-12-15T07:33:00.002-07:00

We finally worked up the courage to leave Maya with a babysitter while she's awake. We used to just go out after she fell asleep at 8pm. Anyways, she was really clingy at first, so we put her in her walker, and she got super brave. I didn't sneak out until she was busy playing with the sitter. She did great, and didn't cry until bedtime. She usually does that, though!

Our Holiday Schedule

2009-12-09T21:15:00.002-07:00

I did some calling around to find out where we'd be this Christmas, when, and how (yes, how...we're flying in and won't have a car!). We've pretty much got our schedule down except for the Ristig festivities. I was hoping you all could fill me in on what's happening for Christmas in Prescott. Here is our schedule thus far:

Tuesday the 22nd - We fly to Phoenix in at 7:40pm
Spend the night at Dad's house in Phoenix

Wednesday the 23rd - Breakfast with the French's
Hang out with high school friends (yay!)
Spend the night at Dad's house in Phoenix

Thursday the 24th - Christmas Eve party at Dad's house
Hitch a ride with Dan and Autumn to Prescott late evening
Spend the night at Mom's house in Prescott

Friday the 25th - Christmas morning at Mom's!
Christmas at Grammy's in Prescott
Ristig Christmas at the Minkler's?
Spend the night at Mom's house in Prescott

Saturday the 26th - Anyone wanna do lunch?
Karaoke in Prescott with the FamDamily!
Spend the night at Mom's house in Prescott

Sunday the 27th - Mom drives us back to Phoenix
Spend the night at Dad's house in Phoenix

Monday the 28th - Dad drops us off at the airport to catch our 7:55am flight home

I tried to make this a nice long trip since we missed everyone at Thanksgiving. Hopefully, we'll get to spend lots of time with everyone who wants to see us! Please, if you haven't already, don't get us a present. We are bringing one bag of gifts with us, which means we'll only have one bag of stuff to bring back. Thankfully, we're flying Southwest, so we can bring 3 pieces of luggage and 2 baby items for free. Any large or heavy items might get left behind if we can't fit them into our bags! Besides, we really don't need anything. Just being able to see your smiling faces will be gift enough!

Oh, and if you didn't see the Sketchy Santa website yet, you have to check it out! Here's a taste.

"Hi, Dada!"

2009-12-05T20:57:00.003-07:00

So, I let Maya stay up a little late because she was in a great mood and it's the weekend. Pete and his friend Travis were in the living room playing the Wii, and Maya and I were sitting on the other couch playing with her phone. She loves it when I ring the phone, and pick it up and start talking to someone. Then, I tell her "It's for you!" I did this same thing, and told her to say "hi." She said hi loud and clear. Pete said he wasn't counting it as her first official word, since she didn't really know what she was saying, and it was was probably an accident. Then, she said it again about 5 seconds later. When I told her to say Hi to Pete, she said hi and waved! I'd been practicing waving during hellos and goodbyes, and she sorta kinda did it, but not really. She kept saying hi and waving and Pete and Travis. Then, I told her to say "hi Dada" and she DID! She'd said Dada and Mama before, but we weren't really sure if they counted as first words because she said them so arbitrarily, and never really addressed either of us specifically. I couldn't believe that she not only said hi and understood what she was saying, but she quite clearly said "hi Dada" perfectly several times while waving at Pete. Two words strung together! My nine month old daughter is a genius.

I'm so giddy I could just giggle! My insides are aflutter.

Of course I got the camera out and tried capturing the moment, but she totally knows what the camera is and got all silent when she heard it turn on. I wish there was a way to silence the stupid thing so I can sneak up on her with a little candid camera. Oh, well. I'm sure she'll say hi to you all when you see her at Christmas. Yay!

All Pete wants for Christmas.....

2009-11-30T14:27:00.003-07:00

....is a nook! He's been eyeballing the nook e-reader that Barnes & Noble sells. He checked out a couple of other e-readers, but this is the best, he claims. Unfortunately, they cost $259 dollars. Anyone wanna go halvsies?! Quartersies?

Moooooovies!

2009-11-29T20:23:00.002-07:00

Maya turned nine months old this weekend. Today I took a couple videos. Enjoy!

Muppets Bohemian Rhapsody

2009-11-24T16:50:00.001-07:00

A Lovely Sunday Afternoon

2009-11-22T14:46:00.003-07:00

We didn't have much going on today. I let Pete sleep in until 10am while Maya and I hung out and played in the living room, then we all sat around watching the boob tube and dorking around online. Maya started falling asleep snuggled up to her Daddy.

We got bored, so we decided to go to the mall and just walk around. We got a cheese-on-a-stick and a cherry lemonade, and then Maya and I went on the carousel. It was Maya's first real merry-go-round ride!

We went into the Disney Store where Maya was enamored by the stuffed animals. To Pete's dismay, I just had to get an E.T. picture of Maya with the stuffed animals!

She liked the Wall-E dancing toy, too.

If only they had baby dolls, Maya would have been in her own little utopia. That girl loves her baby dolls! You should see her when we go to Target!

Ciera's Turn!

2009-11-22T09:07:00.003-07:00

Lately, I've been picking up Ciera from school three days a week, and she spends the night on Fridays. We put her hair in rollers on Friday night and she was wearing a new shirt I got her, so we decided to take some pretty pictures in the back yard. Here they are!

Maya's portraits are in!

2009-11-14T15:43:00.003-07:00

I scanned them on our crummy scanner, so they're a bit grainy. They turned out so cute, though!

Cutie Patootie!

2009-11-11T08:58:00.001-07:00

Uncle Jay Explains the News

2009-11-10T12:44:00.002-07:00

I just found this website. This guy talks about the news, and has a new video every Monday. It's really funny, but I couldn't find a way to embed it here. Sooooo, click on the linkie below!

Uncle Jay Explains the News

Sick!

2009-11-08T15:55:00.003-07:00

Maya is sick. She is crazy congested, and woke up four times last night. Today while we were out and about, she blew a booger-bubble that was at least two inches across! It was so gross! I kinda wish I had my camera handy so you all could see it. I've never seen anything so amazing and simultaneously disgusting.

Neat Stuff

2009-11-04T09:59:00.009-07:00

How to make Chewbacca sound effects:

Hey Jude flow chart:

Cheeseburger pumpkin:

Crayon cake:

I can see your peanut:

Dude, it's scientific!

Low res Halloween costume:

Oh, snap!

Last, but not least, Maya in her Day of the Dead outfit. We went to the parade here in Albuquerque.

Picture Time!

2009-11-01T13:25:00.002-07:00

Maya had her portrait done today. I got a package where I will get tons of the pose with Maya surrounded by toilet paper, and a couple of the other poses a la carte. If you want some of the TP pose, let me know and I'll mail them to you. If you want any of the other poses then you can buy them at this website:

http://www.myonlineportraits.com/ViewSharedAlbum.aspx?ShareID=9077f1a0-7dcc-444a-a5e4-66df522c0109

You can see them all there, too! They are far cuter than I expected from a Wal-mart portrait studio, and I am really happy with the pictures I got!

Happy Halloween!!

2009-10-31T20:00:00.007-06:00

It's Maya's first Halloween, and it was sooooo hard to pick out a costume for her. There were so many cute options, but the hat on her Princess Leia costume was what made it the winner. That and the fact that Pete is a HUGE sci-fi nerd and loves Star Wars.

Pete and I went to a Halloween party last night while a friend babysat Maya. Pete didn't have a costume this year, and he didn't want to wear one of his old costumes. I insisted he have some sort of costume, so he agreed to go as the popular internet social site, Facebook. I wrote the word "book" on his face! I stole that idea from the TV show The Office. I had been planning to be Professor Trelawney, the divination teacher from Harry Potter, so my costume was all set!

Our friends Kyle and Meghan had the coolest costumes! Megan made "Wild Things" costumes for the two of them. They were super-shaggy, and had claws and huge wild things masks on sticks. It was pretty amazing. Everyone had cool costumes, but if I was the judge, they would have won the blue ribbon, for sure!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!

I am in Awe

2009-10-29T08:51:00.003-06:00

I know my cousin Erica will probably post this to her own blog, but I just have to say that I am in awe of her Halloween costume. She and her husband went as Pee Wee Herman and Jombie, his genie head-in-a-box. She is very pregnant, so that just makes it even funnier!

Genealogy is the BOMB!

2009-10-24T21:25:00.004-06:00

I decided to get an ancestry.com account since it's free, and I've been compiling tons of information on both Pete's and my side of the family. At first it was just tedious insertion of information, but it's starting to become a crazy obsession. Last night I was online until 1:00am, and the only reason I came in to bed is because Pete reminded me that it was his morning to sleep in (we take turns on the weekends). I was on a high because found my dad's mother Margaret, and discovered her siblings and parents. I have aunts and uncles I never even knew about!

I've discovered that I am a direct descendant of King Henry I as well as French royalty and tons of the English aristocracy. I've also traced two separate lines from just 100 years ago back to the same people in England from the 1200's. Did you know they stop recording dates of anything previous to 1000 C.E.? Pete tells me it's because they had a different calendar back then. I think its that, and it probably has something to do with the Millennium Project.

I've been going pretty much non-stop on this for the last three days, and I still have loose ends that I'm filling in. It's crazy. I have over 2,000 people on the tree thus far, and there are over 400 hints for more possibilities. Sometimes while I'm filling in names, I have mixed emotions about whether or not I want to find more parents of ancestors. If I find them, that's two more people I have to insert. Dead ends mean no more work, but it also means no more history.

Pete has been a saint and has been tolerating me sitting in front of the computer all day even more than I usually do! Speaking of saints, did you know that Saint Patrick is my great-great-great-great...............great uncle? SO. RAD.

Here's where my genealogy is if you're interested. It starts with Maya.
http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/5115853/family/pedigree

Windows 7

2009-10-22T13:38:00.003-06:00

I don't really know anything about Windows 7, but I thought this comic was pretty funny!