Tonight is Day 3 of the new routine of put Li’l Foot to bed in her bed without having her fall asleep and freak out when we try to move her. The last three night? Relatively smooth if I do say so myself. A little crying and general make-mommy-feel-as-awful-as-possible-without-pushing-her-over-the-proverbial-edge, but nothing I haven’t dealt with by simply rocking myself to sleep. Tonight was definitely the best of the 3 nights. It does seem to be getting easier and easier as you wonderful souls assured me it would go. Thank you! I love you! A lot.

Speaking of a lot.

Aaaaaaanywaaaaaaay, tonight waited a few minutes to go downstairs just to be sure Li’l Foot had fallen deep asleep. I laid down in my bed for a few minutes, called Pocklock and chatted for a bit and then hung up. Had I known what was about to happen in my life, I would’ve said a more in depth farewell to Pocklock before we hung up. But I laid there next to LFD who apparently needs to face my direction when he sleeps and either breathe out of his nose, blowing cold air on my face, or breathe his stinky fire breathe on my face. Either way it’s a lose/lose situation for me. (Sorry, tangent) So, I was done being breathed on, so I tip toed out into the hall way. Closed Li’l Foot’s door (no, she still won’t let me close her door…baby steps here people). Walked to the staircase and no lights were really on except the one downstairs that was casting a very faint light throughout the stairwell. And within that faint light int he stair well I saw on ominous shadow taking up residence on the trim down by the 2nd or 3rd step down from the top. I flipped the light switch and this is what I saw…

Oooooooooookey dokey folks, well I’m tappin’ out…

I… FREAKED… OUT…

What IS that?

(Do NOT go google “bug with lots of legs”, just DON’T…just for the love of God and all things holy and good…DO NOT!)

Fortunately I was able to control the ever loving SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMM that wanted to come out of my mouth. I turned around my body, keeping my eye on that “thing”. That “thing” with like eleventy BILLION legs. And walk into our bedroom. I whispered to LFD who was sleeping, “ummmm, excuse me, husband?” He lifted his head from where he was blowing his breathe on my poor pillow, and said “what?” To which I exclaimed, “I need you to come kill a bug!” He shook his, mumbled something about me growing up and just killing it on my own and then I gave him the stink eye, kinda like this…

At which point, he then knew I meant business and Buster better get his little white Irish ass out of bed and get to killin’ the beast with 90 gajillion legs (please, tell me you didn’t google “bug with a lot of legs”) in the stairwell. He followed me into the hallway and I stopped at the bathroom door, at which point I pointed him in the direction of the bug with a lot of legs wherein I pointed my finger in that general direction and waved him on ahead. I even flipped on the light for him again. I’m so thoughtful.

He went down about 4 steps, turned around and I said, “WAIT!” and I think I scared him a little. He looked up at me and said, “WHAT?” to which I replied, let me take a picture real quick, the innernetz won’t believe this if I don’t have photographic PROOF!!! It’s all about the PROOF!” He might’ve rolled his eyes a little bit. So I quick flipped up my phone and snapped that picture up above. It was the best I could do under the pressuring circumstances. Had I told LFD I needed to grab the Nikon for better photographic evidence he would’ve either A) killed the bug right there on the spot and I would’ve lost my photo opp or B) he would’ve just walked away and gone back to bed leaving ME to do the bug killing. So, a picture on my crappy Nextel phone, it was. I’ll take what I can get.

And then I Twitpic’d it. And I think not only am I NOT going to sleep tonight, but I think half of the country won’t either! Your welcome! And right after I Twitpic’d it. I googled it. Like I said, DO NOT GOOGLE IT! Trust me. I googled it for us both. Specifically I googled, “bugs with lots of legs” and the first thing I saw was this post.

And then I decided that wasn’t really enough information, so I hit “back” and clicked this post. That says it’s a house centipede and oh, it’s “beneficial”. And oh, it’s not harmful to humans except SOMETIMES it does bite humans and the human swells up and turns RED…but oh, he’s harmless. Yeah…right…where’s my bubble that I am going to live in?

And then because I am a glutton for punishment I hit “back” again and I searched the google “images” file and found this image.

And just so you know, I am REALLY nice. I could’ve been really mean and SHOWN you the images results page for “bugs with lots of legs”. But see, I’m nice, and I saved you the agony. It is not my problem if you clicked through and viewed the results page. P.S. I don’t even want to know why that McDonald’s breakfast sandwich is on that image results page for “bugs with lots of legs”. I will not click thru. I will not click thru.

And now? Now that my evening is completely ruined, I am seeing things (which is actually NOTHING) move out of the corner of my eye and I am itchy as all friggin hell. I will not sleep tonight. Am I tired? Yes. Will I risk falling asleep and have one of these blood suckers crawl on me while I sleep? Hellz to the flippin NO WAY, HOEZAY!!! A glass of wine will do just fine in the place of sleep. I’ll just curl up right here with my cat and she’ll protect me. You will?!?! Won’t you Keoki? You’ll protect me? Keoki? Keo…

Gosh darn it *GEORGE…WAKE UP!!!

“Wha? Wha’d I miss mom?” (Traslated from “meeeeeoooooow?”)

Damn cat…you’re supposed to eat these things so I don’t have to be faced with them in the first place. If you didn’t sleep so damn much, maybe you’d realize there’s a house that needs to be de-bugged! Good for nothin’!

* My cat is a girl kitty. Keoki is a Hawaiian name. We named our cat after a TS restaurant in Hawaiian called Keoki’s. I didn’t know at the time but “Keoki” actually means “George” in Hawaiian. Yet, my cat is a girl. So I think I’ll just start calling her George, when she’s in trouble…it has a much bigger emphasis. It’s hard to get the 3 syllables out when you’re yelling at a cat…George is a much easier one syllable yelling name.

I love Autumn. I was born in October. It’s in my genetic makeup to love Autumn. This Autumn though it’s been a weird foliage. There hasn’t been a “WOW” factor this season. The leaves started changing colors in August. It’s like Mother Nature wasn’t sure what to do. A tree would change color here and there and the rest were all “dude, not yet”. And then another 2 would start to change and the cycle went on. There wasn’t a unified change of all the trees together at once, like there usually is. It was a very weird phenomenon.

A week ago my sister-in-law asked me to pick up some pretty leaves for her and send them to Hawaii. She wanted to do a project with the kids she has in daycare. I was really excited when she asked me to help out. So excited that I sort of forgot that Autumn took a giant poop on foliage this year and almost all the trees were already bare. I managed to scrounge up some really pretty Japanese Maple leaves and Burning Bush leaves from our neighbor’s trees. I announced to him as I walked over that I was going to be stealing his leaves. Being that if I didn’t take them he’d have to leaf blow them, he didn’t have a problem with it at all.

On Halloween we went to Newtown and I happened to snap the picture you see above. It was on a whim as Li’l Foot was collecting some loot that I happened to look past the house we were standing in front of and see the landscape. It just struck me as beautiful. And of course, there’s one of the last Japanese Maples still hanging on for dear life to what’s left of Autumn.

All in all Autumn was generally a great big disappointment, but it’s ok, there are kids halfway around the world who are putting together an arts and crafts project in a place on earth that doesn’t get to see the changing of the leaves. I’m glad I was able to share even just a little piece of what Autumn is about.

In February, you’ll recall my hard drive crashed and burned…hard core!!! It was not salvageable despite the best efforts of Cass. And for those efforts I am eternally grateful. Hopefully someday, technology will evolve and somehow someway two years worth of pictures can be saved. It may not happen tomorrow, but maybe 10 or 20 years from now and that’s ok with me. I’ll wait.

Anyway, tonight I visited the NaBloPoMo site to check out the happenings. I was kind of looking for some inspiration. I didn’t know where to start when faced with having to write a post tonight. It didn’t take long before I found what I was looking for. I didn’t even have to leave my page on NaBloPoMo to find something to write about. It was right there, in my photo slideshow. I found pictures of Li’l Foot from the fall of 2007, which was the first year I participated in NaBloPoMo, it was the the first year of Li’l Foot. Well there were pictures in the slideshow I do not have. Pictures that are locked in my crashed and burned hard drive. Pictures I was so excited to see again. Pictures of my little girl when she was little. Here…let me show you…

Oh man, those big blue eyes are killer aren’t they?

I remember this day so well, we went to the orchard with my brother and his family while they were visiting from Hawaii. This was taken outside my mom’s condo.

My little snail in the days leading up to her First Halloween! Perfect costume…she couldn’t walk quite yet…which was perfect being a snail!

Li’l Foot’s first ride on the carousel at the mall near our house. She had such a great time. And look at those two tiny beaver teeth on the bottom.

I remember how proud she was when she could stand up on her own. Not quite walking, but it wasn’t long after though. Started walking the week after Christmas that year. Just over 11 months old.

Those pictures are all two years ago. That blows me away. HOW? How did she possibly grow so much and become such a little person in just 2 years? HOW?

I’ve mentioned the sleep issues we’ve been having. I’m sure two years ago it was something else. Tonight I put my little girl to bed. Tonight I didn’t snuggle with her in our bed first like we ALWAYS do. Tonight I made her bed more snugglie by putting a down comforter under her little crib blanket we still use. Tonight we read some books with her laying in her bed and me sitting next to her bed with my arm up around her head holding the book on her tummy so we both could see and I could read to her. Tonight I moved her night light and the one from the bathroom so that they were more prominent in her room and cast more light for her to see if she wakes up in the middle of the night. Tonight we started a new routine. It wasn’t awful. It wasn’t prefect, but it wasn’t awful. She only scootched when I left her in her room for maybe a few minutes. It’s progress. That’s all I can ask for right now. I am proud of her and I am kinda proud of me. I feel for her. It must be so scary being in a bedroom all by herself, especially when it’s mostly dark. We’re making progress and I am trying my hardest to make it work…and so is she! So proud!

The weekend before last, on Saturday night I was sitting on the couch with Li’l Foot napping on me and my cell phone started vibrating. I picked it up and it was one of my very best friends, Moonshine. Moonshine and I have a huge long history together. She is my longest friend. We’ve been friends essentially since we could walk and wreak havoc in church on Sunday mornings. A couple years separate us in age, so we weren’t in the same grade and didn’t go to camp or anything together, but we lived close enough that we always saw each other and our families are really close. How close? My mom works at her dad’s company. My mom and dad sung in the choir at church on Sunday mornings and her dad played the organ…my mom still sings in the choir and her dad still plays the organ. I’ve been on vacation with Moonshine and her parents (heehee, that was such a fun trip). We’ve been friends so long, the roots run deep in our friendship, let’s just put it that way. There’s really just no other way to describe us…

Moonshine is one of my very best friends. The memories I have of our friendship put me in such a good place. The staying up all night sleepovers…which we are still known to have to this day. The trips to the town park pool as kids. The trip with our parents to see The Phantom of the Opera in the city. Her being in my wedding. There are so many memories or us from our growing up together, they are all so special to me. We shared a lot growing up. More than anyone could every imagine. We were “there” for each other when things were tough….we still are! And when she sat with me long after everyone else had gone home from visiting me and Li’l Foot in the hospital until they eventually kicked you out because it was past visiting hours. I don’t know that I ever told you…but I loved that! Remember?…

So, anyway, when I answered the phone…it’s actually all a blur. My excitement and adrenaline from the whole phone conversation have wiped out any recollection of what exactly was said, but the gist of it is…SHE’S ENGAGED!!!! I can’t tell you how excited I am for these two fabulous people…

Aren’t they cute? I wish you both the best of your lives together. I wish you happiness. I am so very excited you have each other and that you are going to be married. I know you will make each other laugh for years to come. I am so happy for both of you. P.S. E, you did an awesome job with the ring. It’s ridiculously gorgeous!

Tonight I invited Moonshine to dinner at our house. We were going to try and get together just the two of us but logistics weren’t in our favor, so my house it was. She got to my house before I got home and we threw together some salads and sat around and ate and chatted for a while. Then it was time for Li’l Foot’s bath. Li’l Foot asked Auntie if she wanted to come upstairs too for bath time. She did. So we did the routine. Run the water, chase the nekked baby tushie around, and wrangle her into the bathtub. Wash the hair, wash the gills, clean the mushrooms behind the ears. Lather, rinse, repeat. Oh and Li’l Foot has these yummy smelling soaps so I washed her hair and had some suds on my hand so I leaned over to Moonshine and asked her “how yummy does this smell?” and she fell for it!!! She actually fell for it!!! And I said as much just before she leaned her nose right into the palm of my hand and wound up with a nose full of strawberry smoothie suds. Who falls for that? HAHAHAHA!!!

And then we were pretty much done so I started to let the water go down, except for one small detail. And I know how Moonshine would’ve HATED what was coming next, so I told her to close her eyes, plug her ears and recite “watermelonwatermelonwatermelon” until I told her it was safe because what was coming next was going to be most unpleasant for her and I didn’t want to subject her to it. I needed Li’l Foot to blow her nose, because well, things just start running really well int he bathtub and it’s a perfect opportunity to clean things out. So Moonshine did as I said and amidst her reciting “watermelonwatermelonwatermelon” she also said “I can still hear that”!!! See, Moonshine HATES boogers. Like dry heaves she hates them so much! They disgust her. When I was done with Li’l Foot’s nose. I tapped Moonshine on the knee to tell her it was all clear (no pun intended). Well I guess in the shuffle of getting Li’l Foot out of the tub right after blowing her nose, Moonshine caught sight of the booger in the water…and she dry heaved…and all I could do was get the towel around Li’l Foot as best I could and LITERALLY roll on the floor laughing so hard I was crying. And what came next completely took me by surprise and totally off guard. Moonshine said (as she sat there on (the closed) toilet), “Well I’m rethinking I might have to demote you, because I was going to ask you to be my Maid of Honor, but after all this, I don’t know if I should…”

{{Insert look of shock here}} {{While still laughing and crying really hard}}

People, Moonshine asked me to be her Maid of Honor over Li’l Foot’s boogers!!! Who else could possibly top that? I personally think that’s awesomeness!!! SQUEEEEEEEEING ensued and hugs and LOTS of laughing so hard I cried!!! I am so honored to be her Maid of Honor, words can not possibly express. I can’t wait to stand by my best friend’s side as she marries the man she loves next year. I am so looking forward to being there for my best friend as she was there for me seven years ago.

I thought this would be the perfect post for tonight. I’ve been wanting to write about their engagement since last weekend. I thought tonight was most fitting and I was able to find the pictures on Flickr. It all just seemed like a perfect opportunity to give a great big shout out to the happy couple.

Congratulations and best wishes you crazy kids! May you have lots of kids with boogers!!!

I love you guys!

~ Your MOH

I was thinking how vastly different the past 3 Autumns have been when posed like this…

…and this…

As opposed to this…

…and this…

And I was going to stop there…but oh my this one too…

Which brings us to this…

And oh my that tush…

And this sweet face that loves a beautiful day in the pumpkin patch…

When I look at the last 3 years of pumpkin patches, I can’t imagine them any other way. How does one caption any of those pictures except “cute”, “cuter”, “cutest” and “cutetastic”? These pictures would’ve been so boring without my sweet little girl in them. Tonight as I was putting her to bed in her bed, we went through the same old excruciating bedtime routine. I am believing she is afraid of monsters (because she told me that tonight). Tonight I asked her to think of happy things when she was feeling scared. I hope she thinks of the fun times we’ve shared in the pumpkin patches together. Because I know all my troubles melt away when I think of these happy wonderful times with my little girl.

Oh did I forget to warn about the cute? Ooops, sorry!!!