18(ish) Months

Well, it's happened again.  Let's not act surprised though, shall we?  I mean, it was only a matter of time til I blog-slacked. Again.  And the sad thing is, I have SO MANY INTERESTING THINGS TO SAY.

No. 

But I do have things to say.  So, that'll work, right?

Let's hope.

First and most importantly, Ally Grace is (nearly) 18 months old!  And I am actually hitting a milestone that most moms blog about, instead of something random like 13.3 months and six days.

Dear Ally Grace,

You're so much fun these days!  You're also super exhausting these days.  Or maybe it's the pollen.  Or maybe it's the blood sugar crash that I have after downing a bag of truffles.  One or the other.


You're obviously such a tomboy.  If only we could get you to like girly things.
Oh wait.



I love, love, love hearing you call out for "mama" and "daddy."  You also love to say "mere."  Which I've decided is baby talk for "come here."  You like to deviously distract me from diaper changes by sweetly holding out your arms and saying "mere, mama."  It makes me hug you about 17 times per diaper change. 

So, it's totally working for you, girl.

Your favorite toys are still your "book-uhs."  You will literally scream for your "book-uh" the MOMENT I get you up in the morning, and dissolve into the cutest tears ever if I don't get it for you right away.  I thought about getting you a baby kindle, but I'm not sure they make those.

I'm also not sure you can actually read, so....

Your other favorite toy is your "dub-uh duh."  Aka, the bunny that you sleep with every night.  I've nicknamed him Dubs (like the ghetto fabulous baby toy that he clearly wants to be). 

You've started putting sentences together, which always stops us in our tracks.  The other day, you said "that's my daddy."  And then, "I want my mama."  And we were all, DID YOU HEAR THAT?!!?!?!  SHE IS A BABY GENIUS. 

Apparently we have a tendency to get overexcited. 

Future fashionista on board! 

One of your favorite words is a very emphatic "NO!"  Clearly John says that too much, and totally needs to work on this. 

(Okay, fine. Maybe that's me.  But in my defense, what else are you supposed to say to the toddler who's trying to help you unload the butcher knife from the dishwasher? Or just the toddler who's ripping apart my US Weekly?  I rest my case.)

You are honestly the sweetest, smiliest, happiest little girl, and we could NOT possibly love you more.
Unless you managed to potty-train yourself.  I might love you just a little bit more if you could do that.  

Happy 17 month and 20th day birthday....oh wait.....

Things That Make Me Happy...

...productivity, stainless steel wipes, Anthropologie, and lavender-scented dryer sheets.

Things that make me unhappy....a certain printer company, who, if I were nice, would remain nameless, but after 5 days of getting the run-around by said printer company (whose name starts with an "H" and ends with a "P"....oops), I am so over being nice.

So over it. 

(Although my version of mean is sadly un-scary and un-intimidating, and probably makes people want to laugh.)

Let me tell you something else that makes me slightly unhappy (if by "slightly," I mean "ragingly"):  Talking to Dot in Arkansas for multiple rounds of technical support.  (Really, HP?  REALLY?  Dot in Arkansas?!) 

Multiple rounds of technical support.

On a brand-new printer. 

That we purchased less than a week ago. 

It also makes me rather unhappy to hear Dot in Arkansas tell me to "please hold, while I research the problem." 

REALLY, DOT?!  I KNOW HOW TO WORK THE GOOGLE TOO, AND YOU'RE NOT GONNA FIND ANY ANSWERS, DOT!  WIKIPEDIA ISN'T GONNA TELL YOU HOW TO FIX THIS.  QUIT "INSTRUCTING" ME TO TURN MY COMPUTER ON AND OFF.  I WOULD THROW THIS PRINTER OUT THE WINDOW IF I COULD PICK IT UP AND GET SOME GOOD MOMENTUM GOING!  BUT SINCE THAT'S DOUBTFUL, I'M GONNA YELL AT YOU IN ALL CAPS, DOT!

Like the sassy consumer that I am.  Try not to be too scared, now. 

Decide for Yourselves.....

You decide....cute or scary?

(And by scary, I'm not referring to the freakishly long nature of my toes.)

(Or the fact that I'm supposed to be working, and instead am taking pictures of my scary finger-toes and putting them on the world-wide web.)

Also, I'll give you a helpful hint, just like I do with John sometimes:  I'm only looking for opinions that will  tell me this is cute.  Because it's too late.  It's like asking, "What do you think of my new bangs?"  Because if anyone says something like, "wow, that's really only a look that Heidi Klum can pull off," you might find it slightly to very upsetting.

So.  Just tell me the green toes are cute, and not as Jolly Green Giant as they appear at the moment.  Definitely do not tell me that 30-year old mothers shouldn't wear green toenail polish. 

Even if it may or may not be true.