The Plague

Hola, readers (if I even still have any due to the lack of posts lately)!  Just checking in to report that the Baums are still alive.

We were attacked by what I like to call "the plague" this week, and it was far from pleasant.  It's my fault, really, because just last week I was telling someone how glad I was that Lilly hadn't gotten a throw-up virus yet.  I guess my knocking on wood when I said it was pointless, because the virus from h-e-double-hockey-sticks attacked my house this week.

The crazy thing is that L never even acted like she really felt bad.  She never ran a fever, and there were really never any signs...other than the barfing (TMI alert...there was also some diarrhea, and it was also not pleasant).  And there was a LOT of barfing.  But I guess I really can't even complain about that, because L was a total trooper...she never even cried.  She would be minding her business and playing or doing whatever she does, pause for a quick barf break, then go back to doing whatever it was that she was doing.  The whole thing made me feel like a huge wimp,  because I know I would have been laid up in the bed miserable.  I felt so bad for poor little Lilly bean, she couldn't even take a sip of water without it coming back up.  

Did I mention that the plague is HIGHLY contagious?  Lilly and Callie both had it (not sure who gave it to whom, but they were both pitiful!).  Stephanie came to my house for literally no more than five minutes earlier this week to borrow a blanket and she got it (I have apologized profusely, I feel so bad!).  Dan got it, too.  I have never seen him as sick as he was.  I (miraculously) managed to escape it (knocking on wood times a million), but I am here to tell you that taking care of TWO sick babies while doing at least 25 loads of laundry and dishes and trying to sanitize the whole house is exhausting.  

Everyone is much better now, thankfully, and we made the trek to Charlotte last night to spend Easter with my family.  Still lots to catch up on, but now I'm off to enjoy the weekend.  First up: mani/pedis with my Mom and sisters.

Happy Good Friday to all!

Sarah

Melmo

Lilly is obsessed with "Melmo."  A translation for all of you normal folks: "Melmo" = Elmo.  And I guess I should note that recently, L has gotten really good at pronouncing his name correctly, but the added "m" at the beginning is so cute that I can't let it go.

I am not sure really when this obsession started, especially since Lilly doesn't watch too much TV.  If I'm being honest, there have been MANY times when I have sat her in front of the TV and turned on "Sesame Street" and sincerely wished that L would sit still for longer than the opening song so that I could have 30 seconds to myself to go to the bathroom in peace.  She barely makes it through the song before she's into something new, so I can't figure out how she even sees "Melmo" enough to love him so much.  Perhaps it's because he's red and fluffy and cute?  

I made the mistake a while back of letting L watch an Elmo video on my iPhone when she was having a car seat meltdown, and now every time one of our phones or the iPad is anywhere in her sight, she walks around saying, "Melmo?  Melmo?  Melmo?"  In the past week or so, I've started letting her watch a few Elmo videos after bath, before books and bed.  She really likes it, and it gives us all a chance to wind down.  If I'm being honest, Mommy and Daddy don't really mind the videos, because really who knew that so many celebs have done Sesame Street?  Added bonus: L cuddles with me while we're watching the videos.  I'm pretty sure this only happens because she is so engrossed that she doesn't realize she's cuddling, but I love every single second and am always sad to have to say, "OK no more, time for books!"  As I mentioned before, in terms of actual episodes, L only really likes the opening song, but I am pretty sure she would sit and watch the music videos for hours if we'd let her.  I like that the songs are versions of songs that the artists already sing, and they're pretty entertaining.

If you are a parent with an Elmo-loving child, here are a few of my Lilly's favorites, straight from the Sesame Street Youtube Channel: 

• Elmo's Song
• What I am featuring Will.i.am.
• Don't Give Up featuring Bruno Mars
• Hot N Cold featuring Katy Perry
• Belly Breathe featuring Colbie Caillat and Common
• Five By featuring Train
• 1,2,3,4 featuring Feist
• Outdoors featuring Jason Mraz  
• Time to Say Goodnight featuring Andrea Bocelli 

You can thank me later.  When I was linking these up, I discovered a lot more that I Lilly will have to check out (NSYNC, Garth Brooks, and Sugarland to name a few!).  If you find any must-sees that I've missed, do me Lilly a favor and holler at me, ya hear?

In keeping with the Elmo theme, I'll close with a few recent pictures of L and her favorite person/creature:

Posing with the huge stuffed version of Elmo at the neighbors' house.

Two weekends ago, the weather was glorious, so Lilly and I had a picnic lunch in the back yard (no judgment zone that she was still in her favorite PJs at lunch time).

Seriously.  She LOVES these PJs.  She'll lift up her shirt so she can see and squeal, "ELMO!"

Dan got Lilly an Elmo balloon for her birthday (refresher: her birthday was January 24th).  That thing is STILL alive and kicking after almost 2 months.  It started to show some signs of deflating this week, so Daddy, being the sucker that he is, decided to take it back to the store to get it refilled.  He sent me this photo from the car this morning with the caption "Melmo?!?!?!"  I feel sure that he will be annoyed that I posted this photo, but I think it's cute that he's such a sap about his baby girl.  :-)

I can't believe it's been two weeks since I last posted, and even before then, my posts have been few and far between as of late.  I am trying to make myself get back into the routine of blogging so that I can (hopefully) continue to be good about documenting things this way, but it is HARD, y'all.  A lot of days when I finally get to bed I wish I had the energy to blog, and there's so much I need to catch up on, but I've been busy just living and cherishing every moment.  This is probably the 200th time I've said it, but I promise the birthday party post is coming soon, if for no other reason than because I'm waiting on that post to have "Year 1" printed into a book.    

Until next time (hopefully sooner than later)...and happy Wednesday!

Sarah

Monster Face

When I was little, I used to make this face:

Betcha can't guess where L's thunder thighs and belly came from!

My Mom and Dad always call it my "monster face."  The above photo actually isn't a very good photo of aforementioned monster face, but it's the only one I can find at my house.  I'll have to look for more when I'm home in a few weeks for Easter.  Anyway, the other day, Lilly started making the monster face out of nowhere, without any prompting or face making from me:

I wish I could find a better photo of mine from when I was little, because hers looks so similar it's scary.  I texted the photo to my Mom and she said, "Wow, what a blast from the past!"

Anyway, I just thought it was cute.  When I was looking for my "monster face" photo, I found quite a few more gems.  Thunder thighs and belly aren't the only thing she inherited from mommy...

I think it's safe to say she inherited her lack of hair from Daddy, though...

:-)

I am so behind on the blog, and honestly the past few weeks I've felt like I'm so behind on life, too.  I promise to catch up soon (I know, I know, the birthday party post!).  For now, the couch, a glass of wine and "The Bachelor: Women Tell All" await.

Happy Wednesday!

Sarah