Peaceful and Loving Afternoon Photoshoot

Today Michelle decided she wanted to be a model and let me take a bunch of pictures of her. I can't believe she let me keep taking shot after shot while she just smiled and looked on thoughtfully.

I don't know if these pictures even convey her beauty. Sometimes I sit there in awe of how beautiful, intelligent, and curious she is. How could we make something so perfect?
Even with messy hair and a runny nose, this child is just pure wonder.

 Charlie got a little jealous of the attention and jumped in some of the pictures. The lighting in the living room at that moment was just perfect and the two of them were so agreeable!

Such a nice, peaceful afternoon. I love how these pictures aren't forced or posed; they're natural, pure, and show how much we love each other. Look at those beautiful eyes in the nursing picture! Her whole face just says love.
 

SNOW!

I have always known something about myself. I am a mild weather kind of girl. Not too hot, not too cold, and I’m peachy. I’ve always told Michael I have no interest in staying anywhere it snows longer than a 1-2 day vacation. Fast forward to today, when I’m living at a house that’s covered in snow and ice…and I don’t hate it!

Michael warned me that it was going to snow, but I kept thinking it would just be a light sprinkling that wouldn’t stick. Boy was I wrong – the sky dumped 6 inches within hours and our house transformed into a freezing winter wonderland. 

Michelle loves it. Every time her eye catches the bright white landscape that is our backyard, she yells “SNOW!” which sounds more like ‘nnyo!” She loves watching the deer sleep in the snow in our yard, and danced in the falling snowflakes. She never cried when snow got in her Uggs, and laughed when I threw snow in the air above her head. 

Charlie actually liked the snow and ran like a madman all over the yard. He did start to whimper after about 45 minutes, but it was freezing and he doesn’t have snow boots ;-)

Michael’s been working in the snow, and his work truck is a rear wheel drive (the worst thing to drive in the snow), so he’s been driving my Subaru to work. Great for him - it’s the best car ever (Forester – with all-wheel drive), but not so great for us because we’ve been stranded during the day. It actually wasn’t too bad; I ended up online shopping and getting a ton of Xmas stuff out of the way. 

Today we got home from a weekend in the Bay Area to find the snow is melting. I’m sad to see it go, but happy that we’ll be able to safely drive around town without the threat of accident at every turn. I just wish we made a snowman when we had the chance!  

 

My Growing Baby

The house is quiet right now, so I thought it would be a good time to sneak in a blog and gush about my adorable daughter.

In a week and a half my sweet little baby will be 18 months old - that's one and a half! Where has the time gone?!

Michelle is getting smarter, braver, and tougher every single day. She amazes me with the words she knows, the actions she makes, and the cute things she shows us. Today she looped a purse strap around Charlie and walked him around the house. She's also started saying please and thank you, which sounds like "peas" and "teeek ooo". So polite!

We should just buy Charlie a saddle!

She's obsessed with books, animals, and climbing everything! But nothing more than babies and dolls.
For the past month or so, we can't go anywhere without Michelle bringing along her baby doll. It is an old hand-me-down Target brand doll from her cousin, and it's pretty beat up (more now than it was when she inherited it, that's for sure!). "Baby" comes in all of the stores, sits in Mish's highchair and stroller with her, and goes on adventures from Y back to the Bay Area. It's so cute, and so funny because we made it a point not to push any gender stereotypical toys on her, but she loves that baby doll! 

Getting ready to ride the train with Baby at Tilden Park in Berkeley

A few days ago we went to Oregon for the day. Mish was a trouper! After being in a Fred Meyer for over an hour though, she started to lose her patience. We let her play with this silly little toy bottle because of course she had her baby doll with her, and my amazing child put the bottle right in the dolls mouth and started making soothing sounds. How did she know that the bottle was for the baby? She's never taken a bottle and she's never seen a baby with a bottle. She's very observant. And she's loving. She met the next door neighbor (who is two days older than her) for the first time last week, and gave him a big hug after getting over her initial shyness! 

Mish feeding Baby, while cheap-o $2 baby watches hungrily

I can hear Michael reading a book to Michelle right now, and every now and then she'll let out a cheer or let out a quick jumble of words in her language (that we're still trying to learn). I think she's reading alongside her daddy. <3

Already excited about "big girl" stuff like matching toe nails.

How is it that she's growing up so quickly before my eyes, but I don't feel like I've aged a bit? 

Family Walk

Yesterday evening Michael and I took Michelle and Charlie on a walk through the hills in our neighborhood. We've been trying to incorporate more healthy living activities in with our everyday family activities, so this was really nice!

It never ceases to amaze us how gorgeous the hills (and subsequent views) are around our house.

There is a group of cows that likes to come down and hang out by the really nice houses on the hill, so we weren't too surprised when we came upon this beautiful lady:

Michelle was pretty excited when she noticed the cows! She actually started to fuss when we continued on with our walk. Lol, that kid of ours sure does love animals! She takes after her Papa!

Michael and Charlie were less interested in the cows, but still let Michelle and me swoon and coo at the beautiful lady! 

Towards the end of the walk, Charlie started to get tired, and even had to be encouraged to keep up with us. Silly pup; I swear, he's been super down lately and has been digging like crazy, so this walk was much needed!

I really hope we take another long walk through the hills soon; it was a perfect evening. 

Life last month!

May was a fun month in the Bergman house! Michelle went to her cousin Nichole's 1st birthday party at Children's Fairyland and had fun playing on rides, seeing animals, and exploring. 

Then my sister Nikki showed the world how awesome she is and graduated college cum laude! She graduated while raising a family, keeping up a social life, and volunteering in her daughters' classrooms! 

. 

We also finished with the backyard (already posted about that!!), and Michelle gained independence by being allowed to run free on the grass with Charlie. It helped Charlie to learn how to be a little more gentle with Mish. 

Hugs <3

Lastly, and I'm posting this sans-pictures, Michael and I each lost about 6-7% of our body weight through diet change. This translates to 12 lbs for me and 22 lbs for Michael! We still have a long way to go, but it's exciting to see progress after all of our hard (and healthy!) work. 

Cats and babies. HELP!

I don't know about you, but I don't think it's safe for a pregnant chick to run around the house, screaming at a cat, and getting herself all worked up into a sweaty, breathless mess. However, for me, this is a weekly routine.
 My cats are jerks. Plain and simple. I have to keep the nursery closed up at all times because my cats are obsessed with that room. Baxter likes to sleep in Michelle's crib. Zooey likes to steal her toy/clothes/small objects and chew them up and hide them throughout the house.

Call me crazy, but I think it's ridiculous to tiptoe around animals. Every website I've researched either employs two philosophies. The first is from cat-advice websites. They suggest I buy a throne and crown, and bow down to my evil cat; regardless of his actions. But honestly, they suggest I jump through hoops to keep doors closed (I don't want to! The paint smell still hasn't gone away and we painted months ago! It needs air!), put foil on everything, buy my cats new expensive toys (why? They like to steal my cheap stuff anyways..), and make sure my baby knows that the cats are boss. Um no. I'm boss. I'm the queen ruler of this house, and no one dictates my life. So that option is scratched.

Option two is the advice I get from baby-advice websites. Half the people say similar things, like getting nets to put over cribs, or foil in bassinets. But, then half of the people say toss the cat out on his ass or re-home. Yeah, that's not an option either. I don't know about other pet owners, but I love my animals (despite their desire to be evil dicks) and I took on a commitment to care for them. Putting them outside isn't an option either, as we live across from a big field. Our neighbors warned us against letting small pets outside for too long, as coyotes are a problem? Um, scary! To re-home Baxter would kill him. I'm not exaggerating; Baxter would have to be put to sleep if we brought him to a shelter. He can't even go to the vet without the vet and vet-techs all crying and begging for us to come rescue them. He ONLY likes Michael and me. So, I'd literally be killing him if I re-homed him. Zooey could be re-homed, but my cats are so attached to each other and I couldn't stand the depression it would cause. It's annoying, really.

So, what are my options? Put up with their bulls**t, scream at them on a weekly basis like a banshee, and get my heart rate up by chasing them around with a knife? Or rip my heart out of my chest and become a meat-eating animal hater who would put two cats out in the cold? Hey, I'm pregnant, I'm allowed to be dramatic.

HELP!
I need sound, solid advice. Should I set up booby traps? Should I put tacks in a sheet and lay it in the crib? Should I set up a motion-detecting robot that will shoot lasers at them when they come in contact with baby stuff? :(

Pets, cramps, and rambles

What is with the lower abdomen cramping? My pregnancy app on my iPod says it's my uterus growing, but isn't the baby just the size of a sesame seed? Shoot, I may look 20 weeks (hey, I'm chubby!) but this kid is still forming it's heart. It's teeny!
Is it too early to start thinking about the nursery? I already know I want to paint it a pale yellow/beige and hang this cute ass flag/banner/pennant my mom and I made for my wedding. I'd like to sew a quilt to match, but I pretty much fail at sewing. Maybe my mom will help me out :)

I'm a little worried about the cats and the baby. Baxter HATES babies and children and other small creatures, Zooey is a hording thief who pees on beds, and Charlie is still in his puppy stages where he will lick the heck out of a kid. Aye yi yi. It's gonna work out..I'm sure.
Speaking of crazy pets, wanna see pictures of mine? Too bad; here they are!

This is the crazy Charlie! He just turned one, so he's still a puppy :)

And these two devils are our cats, Baxter (left) and Zooey (right). We used to call them brother and sister until they fell in incestuous love; so now they are an old married couple. Ha.





My awesome older sister is on her way over to hang out and get some presents from our trip, so she's about to find out! I am excited to tell her!!!! <3

*Update*
My sister came by and I told her! She was so happy that she cried!! <3 I love my family. So, Nikki, if you are now reading this, hi! And, welcome to my baby-making blog!