cause mama i'm a big girl now...

Qiana was feeling really crummy this weekend (yes...again)
and it was a pretty sad sight to see.

this time she was actually vomiting,
which was a new experience for me (and not super awesome). poor girl.
I did A LOT of laundry these last couple days (thus the no sheets in this shot). poor me.

Because she wasn't feeling well, Qiana and I kind of stayed close to home.
We played in her new little pool. which she loved.

and snuggled a whole lot (even emily got some snuggles in).


But yesterday she was starting to feel better, and just in time for her 9 month mark!

She had her 9 month check-up yesterday and here are her stats:
height: 27 1/4 " (25-50%)
weight: 19 lbs. 13 oz (50-75%)
head: 17 3/4"

For the longest time she had absolutely NO MOTIVATION to crawl. if she really wanted something, she would just roll to it, but very little motivated her to move that much. She much preferred standing (with mommy's assistance), to anything involving her and the ground. Well this week she started at least trying to move a little.

her motivation? music playing on my cell phone.

the sad thing, she shimmy's backwards...very frustrating for her.
She loves music and starts to dance when it comes on, it's pretty much the cutest thing. If she gets a hold of my cell phone, she holds it up to her head like an old school stereo and just wiggles her body.

This is the only thing I can use to get her to try and crawl, otherwise it's up on her legs and she is one happy girl.

I've also started feeding her some real food, and let's just say it's going 150X better than gross baby food. She is a very good eater. Her favorite so far? mac'n'cheese and peas...can you blame her? look at that face!

She is also a huge fan of anything involving rice, noodles, or potatoes. and loves her vegetables. I didn't think she was a big fan of anything sweet since I have yet to get her to eat any fruits, berries, or juice...but the other night...
for a special treat Emily and I ran to DQ for a cone. delicious. Qiana was looking at me with those sweet little eyes, I had to give her a little nibble....and this is what she did.

She was in heaven!

so maybe she has a sweet tooth afterall!

She has also mastered her wave and now does it whenever I hold up the camera, so usually my first picture of her in any pose is her waving, then I get her to put her hand down and take a real picture.


And her love of sesame street was not just a one time fluke. This girl is a super fan. This is my sweet little girl this morning watching sesame street while I got ready.

comfortable Qiana?

Why, why, tell em that is human nature...

“If you enter this world knowing you are loved and you leave this world knowing the same, then everything that happens in between can be dealt with.”-Michael Jackson

shock. numbness.

the world mourns the death of an icon.
Some don't seem to care.
I'm still trying to comprehend it.

Every generation has those artists that seem to define their childhood, their growing years. Michael Jackson was mine. The jackson 5 christmas album completely defines the holidays for me, and the "thriller" album changed music for me as a child. I LOVED that album...I still love that album. His music still rocks. His videos were iconic. His motown 25th performance when he debut his "moonwalk" for the first time is engraved in my mind.

that black hat. the shiny glove. the white socks. iconic.
I wish I knew how to moonwalk.

yes he was crazy, all the geniuses are.
I chose to remember the music.

remember the time
rock with you
billie jean
keep it in the closet
thriller
beat it
man in the mirror
wanna be startin something
the way you make me feel
black or white
heal the world
human nature
p.y.t
i just can't stop lovin you
don't stop til you get enough
will you be there (free willy song)
the girl is mine
she's out of my life
you are not alone
smooth criminal
scream

But I learned how to swim and I learned who I was...

nena had a sick kid
I gladly took the day off
Qiana and I had our first swimming experience
just as I suspected....she loved it!

(please excuse the bathing suit shots of me, but I wanted to document this experience with Qiana)
The weather was perfect yesterday, and I was so excited to get Qiana into grandma's pool and let her kick around. I bought a couple different flotation items, not knowing which she would like better, but she seemed to like them both.


In the watermelon ring, she took on too much water at one point and coughed a little up, but quickly rebounded and kept on playing.

She loved splashing both herself and mommy, and couldn't get enough of watching emily. After a little over an hour in the pool she was exhausted and went right down for a nap.

Funny story: we were in the pool and emily started freakin out that something was on her. I started laughing cause usually she is just making it up, but as she was swimming away I saw this little guy swimming after her....


**sidenote**
my child has now discovered sesame street. out of all the children's shows I have tried to get her to watch, this one held her attention the longest. guess you can't mess with the old school stuff.

There's only us, There's only this, Forget regret, Or life is yours to miss

Happy Birthday to Me!

Last week was my birthday and like always it was so much fun. Getting older isn't too awesome, but I love parties and especially ones that are all about me! Each year I look forward to planning my birthday, and try to make it special. This year was no different. On thursday (my actual birthday) my friends took me out to dinner and we hung out for a little bit after. It was simple, but nice. Then on friday, Michelle, Emily, and I headed over to Seattle for my birthday celebration.

***sidenote***Notice I didn't say Qiana...yep, this weekend was our first night separated, and I was gone for a little over 24 hours. I knew she was in good hands, but it kind of felt like I was forgetting something everywhere we went. But I think she had fun, and won't even remember that mommy left her so that helps me cope.

Anyway back to my weekend. We checked into our hotel, and headed straight to dinner because we were starving and the Cheesecake Factory was calling our name. We gorged ourselves on avocado egg rolls, crispy artichoke hearts, delicious dinners and left no room for dessert....shameful right? But it was all delicious. We then walked around the mall for a bit, and did some other shopping, then headed into Seattle. We went to the Paramount Theater and saw RENT! I have been dying to see this musical for years, and when we heard that not only was it coming to Seattle but that 2 of the original broadway (and film) cast members (adam pascal=roger, and anthony rapp=mark) were reprising their roles, this musical became a must-see! When we arrived we were delighted to see these fierce divas hanging out outside and we had to get a picture.

Workin' it!

The musical was amazing, and lived up to all of my expectations, although there were a couple things that diminished my enjoyment of the show slightly...
1. the completely pretentious 20-somethings sitting behind us that talked like everything that came out of their mouths was not only correct, but needed to be heard by everyone around them...oh and one girl kept talking about how she couldn't see over emily's hair, so loudly, I was two seconds away from making things super awkward.
2. There was a strict no cameras, no cell phones policy for the play...which is completely understandable, but apparently that meant that any picture taking BEFORE the play was also prohibited...ridiculous. So my attempts at creating a "here we are" moment, was completely thwarted by this annoying theater volunteer.
Our first camera attempt got a paparazzi style hand in the shot

and second attempt with my cell phone left much to be desired (except my mischievous smile was perfectly captured)


It had been a long day, and although my shoes were super cute, it was time to take them off and relax in bed...but it took FOREVER TO GET HOME. Our hotel was right off of 520 in bellevue, but as we were heading to that bridge we noticed that it was closed...5 minutes before! aghhh. so we had to turn around and head over the i-90 bridge and all the way to our hotel. so frustrating. but we got home, got in our comfy clothes, and went to sleep.
The next morning we got up, got breakfast at the hotel (where I became best friends with a very nice jewish woman decked out in gold like it was going out of style), and headed to a spa for some pampering. This was one of my best ideas ever!

For a couple of hours, and less than $100 I got a wonderful foot soak, full body scrub, scalp massage, swiss shower (i need one in my house), and 50 swedish massage....completely awesome. My skin has never felt so soft, and so amazing.
then we got ready, ate, and headed home ( I was ready to see my baby)
My birthday weekend, like always, was super fun and spending time with my girls brought major laughs and a new phrase (premature lyrication: definition=singing lyrics to a song too early)

I love my birthday!

return of the mack...

Qiana is finally back to her old self.

It has been so great to see her laughing and playing again. She makes me smile all the time.

We like to sit on the blanket and play with toys, or hang out outside and look at the pretty flowers. I try and let her play on her own sometimes, but that lasts for about 15 minutes tops and then she wants to do whatever mommy is doing. so she comes and watches shows or stands on the couch and looks out the window. she is pretty easy to entertain, as long as she can see me and I give her a few claps, smiles, laughs, or words of encouragement.

Funny story....The other day I went to go pick her up and this is what I found

apparently Qiana was helping Nena make doughnuts. She had flour ALL over, and was having a blast. I think she thought she was in trouble when I came in

but I thought it was just too cute to not capture on film.
We did head home and get straight into the shower, but she loves that too. Have I mentionned how much she loves water....It is so crazy. I have to now try and sneak a shower in while she sleeps otherwise she goes crazy if she hears the water running and she's not involved. I don't want to have to sacrifice a thorough cleaning of my hair and such so I deviced this little plan to keep her happy while I enjoy my showertime.

she loves it. I get her all washed up and clean, then put her in the bumbo while I do my thing. She sits and plays with various toys, combs, lotion bottles and kicks the water, while I take my time in the water. She smiles the whole time, and is perfectly content. so it works out for both of us!

gonna dress you up in my love, in my love

I wish there was something really exciting I can blog about, but alas I've got nothing. My life is pretty much, working, and hanging out at home with Qiana, which sometimes doesn't leave much room for really amazing stories. Plus I've been trying to keep life pretty low key for Qiana, since she still isn't feeling 100% yet, so things can get pretty boring. Thus was the case yesterday, so I decided to have a little fashion show with her. I think it's kind of fun to document her outfits for future "I can't believe my mom made me wear that!" moments, and to put outfits into "themes" is even more fun. Here is what we were able to put together.

"rock concert" or "club" outfit


ready for her first tennis match


my 50's girl



It was pretty fun, and she really got into it.

Oh and here is her newest trick:

yep, she can wave. we've been practicing it, and maybe some kids come by it naturally but Qiana has been more of a head nod, stare, or point girl when saying hello or goodbye. This friendly wave thing is a big step. She does it for me all the time, but has yet to perform for others...now we just have to teach her that performing on command makes mommy look less like a liar. At least I have this picture to prove it.

I thought I'd seen everything...but I spoke to soon...

Remember last week when I said something about finally being able to breath and Qiana getting better....wow, apparently that was totally PREMATURE!. Cause this is what my friday looked like.

After she had been throwing up I took her to the doctor again...and she had lost a WHOLE LB. in just two days. They put a catheter in to test for a UTI (urine very dark, but negative), then had to draw some blood (getting a needle in was tough since a. she's a baby and b. she's a chubby baby with veins that can easily hide when prodded), then we sat in the procedure room while they pumped in 3 bags of fluid in an iv.

Her bloodwork and U/A were normal so she was just really really dehydrated. poor girl.
Over the weekend we tried pedialyte, successfully for about a day then she wasn't having it, and she has yet to drink more than 4 ozs., no matter how long it has been since her last bottle. It is just so weird to have my girl go from this

to this

And what is worse than having a sick baby....being sick with a sick baby!
Yep, to add even more bad news to my week, at about 4am sunday morning I was hit with the most painful stomach cramps EVER! OH MAN, I thought I was going to die. Needless to say I spent sunday either in bed or in the bathroom. Luckily my awesome roommate Emily was able to watch Qiana, in between her naps, which is such a blessing cause I could barely move, let alone hold and take care of a baby. But I am much better now, and hopefully Qiana is on her way there!

i'm not the average girl in your video...

I've taken some videos of Qiana lately on my phone. Mostly of her just talking, or playing around but the funniest thing about them, I think, is what they "look" like.

picture the camera as justin timberlake
and Qiana in the front row at her first concert
...crazed fan?


her try-out video for sytycd.
look at her shimmy to Kanye's "love lockdown".
you can't tell from the video but it was totally on beat!


Qiana throwing up gangsigns?


If Qiana was on a reality sow.
her late night video diary.

I'm so tired, my mind is on the blink

I know I have been M.I.A for the last week and to all my loyal readers I am sorry. :)

This week has been a tough one and I feel like today is the first day I can really take a deep breath.
As many of you know, and have already commented on my siblings blogs, it has been a year since my mother's death and needless to say, it has been tough to deal with. some days it doesn't even feel like she is gone, and then to realize that it has been a year seems so hard to fathom sometimes. I still can't think about without crying, so to save my head from yet another emotional headache I will leave it at that...

Then to add to the already emotionally draining week, Qiana has been super sick and it has been exhausting for both of us. Not quite sure what was wrong with her (doctor said no to an ear infection) but she has had really high fevers, loss of appetite, completely lethargic and extremely cuddly, emotional (this girl barely cries, and now has been crying at the drop of a hat), and intermittent sleeping at night. I would say she's teething, but I have yet to feel anything in her mouth, so your guess is as good as mine. We have spent the last few days sleeping, cuddling, playing with toys, sleeping, cuddling, etc... This morning is the first time in 4 days that she didn't wake up completely wet with a temp of 102+, so that is a good sign. I had already missed more days of work that our budget can afford, so I had to leave her today which was tough. I hope she is okay.

Anyway, I don't have much else to write, and I know this post was probably lame and lacked the usual "flair" I like to give my writing, but I am too drained to write anything else. Maybe tomorrow...