That Darned Makeup Brush.

So, most of you know about Caroline's best friend. No, not Ellie… her other best friend. Her makeup brush.

She got her hands on it a few months ago due to her super-human long reach (monkey arms like her mommy, sigh). I let her carry it around for a few days and would just grab it from her when I needed to use it. And then I realized where Mr. Makeup Brush was ending up. According to Caroline, it's a great cleaning tool, especially on toilets. That's when the makeup brush became Caroline's and I got myself a new one. The sad thing is Caroline carries around an expensive makeup brush from Sephora; mommy now has a $3.50 makeup brush from Target. The sacrifices we make for our children…

Caroline LOVES her makeup brush. She looks for it when she wakes up in the morning, she carries it around while we get ready, she looks for it when she gets back from school, and she often falls asleep with it clutched in her hand. If she's having a hissy fit, we can just hand her the makeup brush and suddenly all is well with the world. Thank you, Mr. Makeup Brush, for calming our girl on so, so many occasions.

In the morning, she usually stands next to me while I put my makeup on. When she sees me grab my makeup brush, and hers isn't firmly in her grip, she points at it and goes "MMM MMM" probably meaning, "MINE MINE." On those mornings, I have to go find her brush and give it to her in order to calm her down. She then laughs at the fact that we both have makeup brushes. It's absolutely hilarious.

Caroline has other weird "toys" that she loves (none as much as the makeup brush, of course). They include a travel sized bottle of Johnson and Johnson's shampoo, a yellow highlighter, and a shoebox. She'll gladly pass over any of her actual toys if handed one of these items. It's oddly adorable, I must admit.

If you pay attention to some of the photos I post, you can often see Caroline posing with her favorite makeup brush. Often, we even capture her with both of her best friends: her "Ellay" (as she calls her) and her makeup brush. And because no post is complete without photos, here are some of Caroline with her two best friends :)

Just hanging in the crate with Ellie and the Makeup Brush… a typical morning around here.

I'm just going to sit here with my Ellie and clean my shoes with my makeup brush.

We're the three best friends that anyone could have, the three best friends that anyone can have...

Oh dear.

Worst blogger ever Kaitlin has abandoned her blog. In my defense, I have been busy since my last day of work celebration post.

The Wednesday and most-of-the-day Thursday following that post were filled with me cleaning the disaster that was our home office! I'm working from home, so I need a productive area to work in. Our office was far from that; it was more of a storage area slash Josh gaming area. I successfully turned it into an office area slash Josh gaming area (hey, when you only have three bedrooms, some rooms need to be hybrids).

Then that Thursday, I flew to DC to spend the weekend with my favorite Rose gals, and see lots of my friends for a super fun event! Us gals had SO MUCH FUN tourist-ing in DC. We went to the National Archives where we chose Allison's tagline for her future Match.com (even though my brain fart mind has forgotten it) (edit: I have been informed by my sister it was "no idiots, criminals, or paupers.") and checked out the hotties that signed the Declaration of Independence. We then had a nice lunch in the art park (I know it has a more formal name, but I want to call it the art park), where we watched people figure skate. Our favorite was the gliding woman who had dramatic hand motions for each movement she made. She's my new hero, that gliding woman. We then made our way over to the National Gallery of Art where I found my new boyfriend (he was nakie… and stone), said "awww" every time we spotted a dog in a painting, and were basically the coolest tourists ever. It's important to note, we ate some fantastic food while in DC - thai food downstairs from my sister's apartment (sushi nom nom nom), tapas a La Tasca in Chinatown (fried zucchini, steak, scallops nom nom nom) complete with a three-round Happy Hour, and an amazing dinner at Clyde's in Chinatown (oysters nom nom nom). It was a wonderful trip and it was so good to spend quality time with my mom and my sister. My husband was awesome enough to watch Caroline in Florida so she didn't have to make the trip to DC. We're lucky girls having a guy willing to do something like that :)

So, I got back Sunday afternoon and started my new job the next morning. I've been trying to be very good about focusing on doing my work and not letting my mind stray (which happens often working from home… so much around the house I could be working on), which is why I haven't blogged. I have a slow morning since I got a lot done yesterday afternoon, so I have a chance to sneak in a quick blog while I drink my coffee. I really like my new job! The people I work with are more "my kind of people" than the ones at my old job. We actually meet up quite often to work together. So far, I've had two coffee meet ups and two breakfast meet ups (free coffee and breakfasts are a job perk, according to my boss.. heck yes!). It's a good way to catch up on work and have social time while chatting with my coworkers. I have probably chatted more with my new boss these last two weeks than I ever did with my old boss the entire three years I worked at my law firm; it's refreshing. Working from home is nice - the animals truly appreciate it. On gorgeous days, I have always wished I could move my desk outside to work. Yesterday, a sunny, 77 degree day, I actually sat on the porch with my laptop for a bit while working on a spreadsheet. YES!

So, in this entry I have been depriving you of the one thing I know everyone really cares about - Caroline!!! I know she's why everyone reads ;) She's doing SO WELL. She is a pro at waving, loves carrying her duck purse around the house and blowing kisses, can now climb on and off of the couch on her own, and is still the tallest toddler at her daycare. She is SO interactive and actually plays games with us now. She likes getting the mail with me. She follows me down the driveway (although never catches up since I walk so much quicker than her), watches me get the mail, and as soon as I close the mailbox she giggles, turns around, and starts walking back up the driveway because she knows our mission is complete. She's still a bath time enthusiast; she likes throwing every bottle in the tub into the water and then placing them back on the ledge. Every time she gets one on the ledge we clap for her, so she claps too and smiles… best game ever. She is SUCH SUCH SUCH a happy little girl. She loves to read (she points at things on the page and goes "dadadadada" (she's obsessed with the "d" sound lately) mimicking how I read to her). She can now put her building blocks together to create things. She's great at her shape sorter. She made friends in the Chickfila play area (she is so social). And her artwork from daycare keeps getting better by the week. I love my toddler SO MUCH.

Here are some Caroline pictures to make your day brighter <3

Just a Random Blog...

... to keep me busy on yet another boring day. I seriously wish part-time work was an option (1. we cannot afford that and 2. my office would never allow that), because sitting here all day, doing nothing, and staring at pictures of Caroline (which creates both smiles and occasional tears) is not fun. SO, here's one of those blogs filled with random thoughts of Kaitlin. I will fill it with random picture from my instagram, just to add some prettiness into the mix!

 

Caroline and Eeyore, best friends forever. Caroline loves her Eeyore. I hope she continues to love him, because he's one of those "sentimental" stuffed animals. I bought him on the day we found out we were having a girl (Joshua bought her a lion, but she's not old enough for him quite yet). Eeyore stays in the car while Caroline is at daycare. When I put him in her carseat after I pop her in the car this huge grin spans across her face. The entire ride home consists the sounds of her telling him all about her day (and recently blowing bubbles at him) and her playing with his ears. He also eats dinner with us and often swings with her.

 

That smile just melts my heart. Every time. If I'm doing something and she starts smiling, I drop whatever I'm doing to just stare and smile back. She now smiles whenever Josh or I enter the room. Yesterday, when I picked her up from daycare, she smiled the second she saw me. Ugh, I love that little face. Now, we're trying to help her develop her laugh. She is totally trying, and we have gotten hints of a laugh, but that full blown laughter hasn't happened yet. That will be magical!

 

She definitely has her daddy's eyes. I told Joshua he'll never have to go on an episode of Maury, because just one look at this little girl's eyes says she's his :) I had little hope that she would inherit my blue eyes (silly dominant genes), and her eyes are so pretty, I'm okay with that!

 

Beer and wine have returned into my life, and they are as amazing as I remembered. I still don't really touch liquor (with the exception being the lovely bloody mary below) because, well, eww. I just have to limit what I drink so I don't end up with alcoholic milk for Caroline to drink. Nobody wants a drunken baby!

 

The furry babies are all doing really well with Caroline. Even Wrangler is getting less scared. No pictures of Tollie below, but she actually really loves the baby. She loves rubbing against Caroline's head while she's eating, haha. Parker likes sitting in my lap while Caroline eats (that is an interesting sight). And the dogs are both very good about being gentle with her, but both love licking that bald little head.

 

I'd say I'm a very lucky girl to have such an amazing baby girl, a wonderful husband, super duper pets, and of course terrific family and friends who spoil Caroline from afar. I cannot wait to take her to the beach in May. She will be almost six months old during that trip, and I have heard that is a super cute age! And I really hope the Barcelona trip works out. She'll be almost nine months then and I'm sure that's a super cute age, as well. I think every month is going to be super cute for sweet little Caroline Quinn.

As for me, I am trying to keep myself busy at work to help the days go quicker. I blog, stalk people on Facebook, read random websites, read magazines, etc. Some days are busy, but most are not. I have to stay her though because 1. the pay is high for the area, 2. I need the vacation time I have earned because we have a lot of trips planned, and 3. the schedule and location are super convenient for Caroline's daycare. 

Along with keeping busy, I am also trying to eat healthier, snack less (except for healthy snacks), and lose this pesky baby pooch! I know, it has only been three months, but I want it gone and I want that extra weight gone. Since I am still breastfeeding, I can't exactly cut calories because I need them! But, I can make my calorie healthier. I need to start some sort of exercise routine, but with prepping myself and Caroline for work/daycare in the mornings, working full time, picking Caroline up from daycare, making dinner, feeding Caroline, showering, and trying to get enough sleep, where in the world am I supposed to find that extra hour in a day to work out? So, for now, I am just trying to eat healthier and cutting things like soda and sweets mostly out of my diet. So far, that scale still hasn't budged, but hopefully soon!

Well, I guess I should get back to "work." I have nothing to do, though, ugh. I just took my Fenugreek herb, which is supposed to increase my milk supply, which is taking even more of a hit now that I'm at work. I have been taking it since Friday and have seen no improvement; just that I smell like maple syrup (a common side effect; I'm not a weirdo). I guess I'm just doomed to never make enough milk, whomp whomp.

I hope everyone has a lovely day <3

Random Thoughts Blog.

Random thoughts blog on this lovely Sunday morning!

• Last night Josh and I experienced our first baby blowout. I think he described it best on his Facebook:

"It finally happened, that thing every parent gets at some point-- a blow out. It's that moment when your baby, who has been constipated for days, finally lets her bowels go. The entire front of the diaper and back of the diaper is consumed by the foul matter before it starts exploding out of the top of the diaper and all around the legs.  

Nothing was safe. The onesie and pants were absolutely covered. I should have been a surgeon. The skills I used to get all of the clothing off of Caroline without making her more uncomfortable was mind-blowing.  

On the bright side, I found out that Caroline likes semi-bath showers."

• I have truly enjoyed having my non-pregnant body back. This morning, Josh went to the store and brought back donuts and I could successfully do my "Kaitlin happy dance," which consists of twisting my body around... something that was impossible with a baby in the belly! It feels good that my shirts are once again long enough and my pants once again fully button. Some pants I couldn't get up past my expanding thighs now fit with no problem - score! I have lost 25 pounds since she was born, but still have more to lose to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I'm not stressing over it; what's the rush? At least I'm no longer craving donuts. That should help the cause ;) I would like my wedding rings to fit again, please. Shrink, fingers, shrink!

• I think she has outgrown her first outfit. The one pictured below. It's newborn size and her little legs are now too long for it. Either it shrank or she grew, but it will be the first outfit to be removed from her closet and placed in a tub to be packed away (I'm planning to save all of her clothes in case future baby #2 is also a lady (or a boy who's very fond of pink)).

First outfit to be outgrown!

• Wine is just as amazing as I remembered it to be. I'm not exactly chugging it, since I'm breastfeeding. But, the small glass I can have every night is amazing! I have to drink it right after I feed her so the booze can leave my system; don't want a drunken baby! Beer hasn't really struck my fancy, but wine... amazing!

• We're still trying to figure out who she looks like. It's pretty hard to tell at 3 weeks old. She definitely got Josh's dark brown eyes. Apparently her eyes were blue when she was born, but quickly turned color. We think she got her nose, but it's hard to tell because she still has "baby nose." Her hair on her head is brown in some lighting and blonde in other lighting (just like mine), but her eyelashes are super light colored and her eyebrows are ridiculously blonde - she may have gotten the Rose blondness :) She got her dad's toes, as I knew she would. And she is a lanky little thing, just like both of us. I was never a chubby baby, and I don't think she will be either. 

• She has finally reached her birthweight! I have been supplementing her with formula to get her there, and she gained about half a pound in two days because of it! I don't mind supplementing with the formula, as long as she's getting some of the good stuff from me, as well! It's nice because Josh can help feed her with the formula after I feed her. She has her next doctor's visit on December 27th, so we'll see how much more weight she has gained soon!

• Buying Christmas gifts for a newborn is difficult. I want to fill her stocking, but everyone has been so generous and given us so many things, I don't even know what to put in there! Josh and I aren't really giving each other gifts this year since I'm on unpaid maternity leave (come on Christmas bonus! We need you!) so I'm not sure how eventful Christmas morning will be. We haven't taken her to see Santa Claus this year because flu season is so bad and she's so tiny and fragile, it's just not worth the risk. Next year we'll start taking her to see Santa, going to see Christmas lights, and filling her stocking with amazing things. This year, I don't think she really has a clue what's going on :)

• It was so nice having our families here to help us out! They also helped make our home feel more like a home :) My mom bought us an amazing area rug for the living room, bought us two new awesome pans, and helped us get our Christmas tree! Josh's parents got us some great lamps for the living room, set up a dimmer light for the living room because ours was SO bright, and fixed the wiring for our TV so we didn't have to get an electrician. They also all fixed us some great meals, which provided us with leftovers until Thursday! I guess I'll actually have to start cooking now ;) Next visitor is my sister, Allison, YAY!!! She's visiting in January and then going to Disney World for the first time - wish we could go with her, but a newborn in Disney World sounds a wee bit stressful.

• The dogs and cats have been great with Caroline! Ellie is by far the most interested in her; she makes a great big sister :) She loves to rest her head on Caroline while she's in her swing and just watch her. It's absolutely adorable. The rest of the pets sort of observe her from afar, but Ellie is a hands, er, paws-on friend to her.

I can't think of any more random things at the moment! Caroline is in her swing right now and it sounds like she may be pooping - LOVELY! :) Oh well, as long as it's not a blowout like last night, we're happy!

Late-Monday Blog.

Ohmygosh, this work day royally sucked, I cannot even begin to explain how much it sucked, and I'm not going to fill my blog with suckiness. Just know there is a reason this Monday blog is later than usual and it's because work sucked.

So, my husband is currently in Las Vegas. I drove him to the airport at 4:30 Friday morning. Seriously, that is love. I went home after dropping him off and collapsed into bed for an extra hour. The animals and I then got ready for work (they were very confused by the lack of Joshua when I returned) and I got some delicious Dunkin Donuts on the way into the office. YUM! Work was work and I got off at 3:00, woop woop! I ended up getting some spinach-artichoke bite appetizer thingy from Publix for dinner, and it was actually quite tasty! The receptionist at my office loaned me a few movies to keep me occupied, so Friday night I watched "The Heartbreak Kid." It was okay; probably would have been more fun with someone else watching it with me, whomp whomp.

Saturday, I woke up early (thanks to the lovely dogs who were oh so hungry) and made coffee and waffles (frozen kind, don't judge). I then spent the morning nesting like a lunatic. I cleaned the dining room, organized the hutch, cleared out half of my closet to make room for Josh's things (the baby needs the nursery closet soon!), washed like a bagillion blankets, packed them into tubs, yadda yadda yadda! I then had lunch with my friend, Karen, at Hurricaine Wings & Grill. I had an amazing burger, nom nom nom nom nom! We then went to Kohls so she could shop for earrings. It was fun :) I spent the rest of the afternoon completing my nesting tasks, made mozzarella sticks for dinner (unhealthy, yes, but I was too lazy to go out and get something else). I lazed around for the evening, ready some "50 Shades Darker" (just as terribly yet amazingly cheesy as the first) and went to bed :) 

Sunday, I once again woke up early (thanks to the children, once again) and made coffee and waffles! I nested, relaxed, read, etc. until noon when the Thai place up the street opened and ordered some Pad Se Ew - it was delicious! I then relaxed around the house (I really enjoy doing that) and then headed over to Karen and Zach's apartment for dinner! She made me steak stir fry, we watched some Dane Cook, we discussed planes to crotchet the baby a kitty, and then went to Dairy Queen for some blizzards! It was a good time :) Ellie was not pleased with me when I came home and went straight to bed (she wiggled on the bed staring at me for a while before finally calming down).

I got my gestational diabetes test done this morning, which was not a good time, and then suffered through work (did I mentioned it sucked?) and here I am blogging!

Here are some pictures from the weekend that I have been sending to Josh while he's away! It's like a flashback to when we were living in separate states, except this whole 3-hour time distance is really confusing!

My nesting project of tub organization!

Me and the Ellie Bug saying hi to Joshua!

My feet are slowly disappearing!!!

How Ellie spent her weekend: "Where's dad??" 

The husband at Caesar's Palace!

The weekend I got a tattoo.

Hello there, everyone! Here's my usual mention of how much of an enemy Monday is. Couldn't the world have just let me sleep for a few more hours? Is that so much to ask? Yes, yes it is. Because I'm an overachiever whose biggest fear is getting to work late. Darnit! 

Moving on :)

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend; ours was quite nice!We both got off work early Friday, so we headed out for some mother's day shopping :) I cannot disclose where we went or what we got, as neither of the mothers have received their gifts. Then, I ate some phenomenal buffalo chicken pizza at Momo's. It was a nice of gift and food success! 

PIZZAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Saturday, we woke up (as people typically do on Saturdays), had coffee time, and watched some Game of Thrones. Josh has been reading the books and loves them. Our friend, Zach, has the first season on his computer, so Josh went over Friday night and burned them onto our external hard drive. We can watch them using his Xbox, so it works out really well! The series reminds me of The Tudors with the visual appeal, music, scenery, etc., so now I want to rewatch that series. I really like Game of Thrones. I feel like I saw more boobies and butts than I ever have (especially boobs, geez), but I enjoy the show! I can see why men love it, bahahahaha! 

I then went out for a little more shopping and we cleaned the house a bit. I got Miss Ellie a fancy new collar (she decided to lose her old collar in the backyard and then proceed to chew it; gotta love puppies) for her first birthday! My little lady is a year old :) Time flies!

Girly puppy collar, awwwwwwww!

Then it was more Game of Thrones! We ate some delicious NY Strip for dinner (Joshua is getting very good at making steak) and then relaxed for the rest of the night. We went to bed at old person bed time (before 11, do not judge) and it was splendid!

MMM, steak! (Note: It's not burned. Joshua rubs it with espresso

!)

Sunday was a very nice day. We slept in until nearly 9 on accident (longest. most amazing. night. sleep. ever.) Josh (with the pups in tow) then headed off to Dunkin Donuts to get us some donuts. Please prepare yourselves for the most tragic story ever told. Josh, being a good human being, held the door open for another man, thus letting the man in line ahead of him. The man then proceeded to order 6 dozen donuts. WTF, that's 72 donuts; who the eff needs 72 donuts? This douchebag stole all of the donuts leaving poor Joshua in line with no donuts to buy. He then had to go to Publix and buy us pastries there. This is tragic, because when you're expecting Dunkin Donuts, your stomach needs Dunkin Donuts and this a-hole screwed up our dream of donuts. So sad. So sad. My danish was yummy, though :)

Anyway, sorry for the sob story. We then watched more Game of Thrones, and then headed out for some time-waster shopping. We walked around the mall, returned one of our mother's day gifts (I found a superior gift after purchasing something), and then split some teriyaki chicken! It was tasty. Then we went to Wal-Mart (SO EXCITING) and then Starbucks (we were on a food/beverage spree yesterday) where I got a double chocolate chip frapp, which was so good. Then, you guessed it, we were home watching more Game of Thrones (Joshua is very excited about this show).

Then, it was off to Karen's carnival themed birthday party! We ate kettle corn and corndogs. We had a cupcake decorating contest (I got second place, baller!). We got temporary tattoos (see below); mine was taken off this morning in preparation for work, so sad). We got to watch Zach and Max pie each other in the face. We got to guess what was in a mystery box (I won; it was a toy elephant!). The boys played with waterguns and ring toss). We then watched Maru videos (Here on YouTube). And then we played Apples to Apples. It was a good time!

Butterfly!!!

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend; I will see some of you this weekend!!!! SO EXCITED :)

My miniature furballs.

The kittens read my last blog, and felt very left out, since I posted a picture of the pups and not them. They wanted to show everyone that they look beautiful with my new camera, as well. (Yes, I am very strange, and am pretending my cats can actually log onto the internet, read my blog, and tell me how they felt about it. Haters to the left)

My name is Parker and I am very handsome. I like to lay around,
stand at the garage door and meow to go outside, and then lay around some more.
My life consists of being really cute and using it to my advantage to get away with anything.
I'm a nudist and refuse to wear collars.  I love everyone and everything. "Barrrrrrow!"

My name is Tollie and I am a pretty, shiny girl. I'm the HBIC in this household
(for those who don't know, that means "Head Bitch In Charge").
My big brother, Wrangler, is terrified of me; I often corner him into the bathroom where he hides.
That obnoxious puppy, Ellie, always tries to play with me and lick me;
hellz no, puppy, you had better back off! "Squeak!"

 Can you tell it's a slow day at the office??

Hi there, Tuesday.

I like this week because Friday is a holiday. And four day work weeks make me happy. Next week is also a four day work week because Friday we're driving to THE BEACH! Can't you just sense the excitement? And the week after that will be a three day work week, weeeeeee!

I'm very excited for the beach. I haven't seen the parents since New Years, so I'm excited to spend time with them :) And, of course, it's THE BEACH! I haven't spent time with a beach since last summer, so this is long overdue. We'll be there Friday through Tuesday! We have to board the poor doggies; this will be Ellie's first time being boarded. At least she'll have Mr. Wrangler :) The kittens will stay home, and their Auntie Karen will take care of them; yay!

This weekend was very nice and very relaxing. We watched good movies, ate good food, and had a good time :) I got a new camera, which I'm so excited about. I used my poor, old Canon until it fell apart, poor baby. I now have a Canon Rebel T3! It's amazing, and takes great photos. I'm a huge fan! I can't wait to take it to THE BEACH! and to Allison's graduation!

We also took the doggies to the park, and they were very popular with a group of children there. They had a lovely time on their walk, had a great time at the park, and then had a "let's lay down on the floor and pant really loudly" party in the living room, poor pups. Here they are :)

Just stare at the cuteness.

I have nothing interesting to say, but I felt like blogging.
Since I have nothing to type, I will just post this picture of my doggies.
"Wrangler Hugging His Ellie" is the name of this portrait.
Just stare, go "awwww," and pretend this blog was actually interesting :)

"awwwwwwwwwwwwww"