Thanksgiving Weekend Pictures

Grandpa G always does a great job of capturing Hailey and all of her "looks." Click here to see his collection of Thanksgiving pictures.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving. We enjoyed a delicious turkey, corn pudding, mashed potatoes, corn bread stuffing, etc, etc. It was quite a feast. I made the whole thing myself and learned some valuable lessons, like don't put too much heavy whipping cream in your mashed potatoes lest they try to become whipped cream and end up with a consistency resembling Elmer's Glue! Other than that, everything turned out very well including the turkey which was both moist and flavorful.

Hailey learned how to play her first board game, Candy Land, while wearing her Tinkerbell costume. I think she's got a way to go before she actually understands the rules. At this point, the gingerbread characters seem to move around the board with reckless abandon. It is good for practicing her colors though.

Today, we enjoyed a fun visit to the Georgia Aquarium. Now, I need a nap!

Impressive Gain

Just returned from the doctor's office. I gained 15 lbs in 8 weeks. That's pretty impressive for anyone! My midwife was not at all concerned about how quickly I gained. My appetite just really exploded for a few weeks, which is perfectly normal due to a growth spurt around 20 weeks. I think we're back to normal now, so I'm not expecting any other huge gains in the future. It was pretty funny though when I got on the scale and the nurse just kept pushing the little weight to the right. She was floored when she realized that I had gained 15 lbs, but she was thinking that was over only 4 weeks. Come on...I may have been a hungry hungry hippo, but that would be almost impossible

Another School Dilemma

It seems like just yesterday that I was whining about changing Hailey's school and how difficult it was. Well, here we go again. Our current school gave us about a month and a half notice that they are moving to a location that is completely inconvenient to our house or our work. Luckily another parent and I sniffed it out about 4 weeks ago, which means that I was able to get a jump start in looking for a new location. That's pretty important here where wait lists can range from six months to over a year. I spent an entire week's worth of lunch hours wandering around the city looking at daycare centers that ranged from having bars on the walls to being entirely green. Today, I went to a Montessori School. I always thought that I wanted to sent Hailey to Montessori, but this particular school only runs from 9-12. So, we would have to change our entire lives to accommodate it.

Ultimately, it came down to 2 schools that were near our offices. One is 90% white, is more expensive than we're paying now, and has a 6 month waiting list. The other is 90% African American, has one space available now and is $160 less than we are paying now. The curriculums are very similar and incorporate a lot of Montessori type aspects to them. Both have similar class sizes, beautiful locations, great playgrounds, etc. They are fairly equivalent in all ways but racial composition. So, it's a no brainer. We took the cheaper one with space. I think it's just a shame that in a city as diverse as ours, we still have relatively segregated day cares.

Hungry Hungry Hippo

Does anyone else remember that game? You would drop marbles onto the board and then control a little hippo head to try to eat up all of the marbles. If you tipped the board at all towards your hippo, all of the marbles would go sliding right towards its head. Well, that’s kind of how I feel at every meal these days. It’s almost like the table is tipped to my side and all of the food is sliding off into my mouth.

For the first 3-4 months of pregnancy, I really ate almost exactly like I did before I was pregnant. Then, all of a sudden in the past 3 weeks my appetite has come alive. I will get to the point in a meal where I’ll look down at my plate and think, based on past experience, that I should stop, but in reality that’s when I’m about half way finished. I pack lunches that used to fill me up and find that an hour later I need a snack. It’s ridiculous. I’m like a walking eating machine. I’m so afraid to weigh myself at home that I just pretend we have no scales. I’m going to go to the doctor next week and find that I’ve gained 25 lbs in a month!

I guess I should have accompanied this blog with a picture of my ever-expanding belly. Maybe I'll post one later for your entertainment.

Voting Saga

First some background... Lines to vote early in ga have been running 4-6 hours. That's not the oversensationalized news reports. That's actual people we know who voted. So, in my boy-scout like way, I decided that we were going to be prepared this election day. Polls opened at 7am. I planned to get there, Hailey and Luke in tow, by 6am with all of the equipment necessary to stand outside for the long haul. So, we go running up to the polling station with a stroller, camping chairs, blankets, breakfast, a bag of stuff for hailey and of course our IDs at 6:15am. A line has already formed but no worries... We are prepared. They pass out numbers at about 6:20 and we are numbers 97 & 98. About ten minutes later, they take 100 of us down to the game room of the rec center where they turn on Ratatouille (the movie) for us to watch. Of course, this is a wonderful surprise, but now Luke and I are the only goofballs carrying all of the aforementioned crap all over the rec center. The whole thing was so funny and such a clear indictment of my Type A personality. We ended up voting at about 7:30am. No problems. I let Hailey push the button which is illegal, but it didn't actually work when she pushed it so I did it myself...legally. Anyway, that's our voting story. We had a good time at an election party last night, and feel refreshed at the outcome.

Sweet Taters

I finally decided to pull up the sweet potatoes this morning. I've never grown them before so I had no idea what I was doing, but Hailey had a good time eating the last of the tomatoes. Here's a shot of the harvest and of Hailey digging away.

Halloween 2008

Hailey and Nana Trick or Treating

Kid's Party at the Square

Hailey and Kellen Prepping

Hailey Needs a Break

Hailey with Her Favorite Teacher

Hailey was Tinkerbell for Halloween. She could have been Belle or Ariel or Sleeping Beauty. It's really all the same fascination, but we went with Tinkerbell. The costume was a bit fluorescent, but she was adorable anyway, as you can see. I was dressed as a big oven and had my belly painted as a cinnamon bun, and Luke was a baker. It was pretty funny, and we received many compliments, but did not win the costume contest. Of course, we have zero pictures of that.

Drama

It’s funny how people react to the prospect of me having two girls. Mostly it’s with sympathy, sometimes laughter. For example, someone said to me today, “You are going to have a lot of drama in your life.” That was probably the best way that anyone thus far has summarized my fears, which is fitting since the person who said it has two young girls of his own.

Yes, I think that we probably are in for a lot of drama. In fact, when I think about two girls growing up together through the life phases, I start to get a little panicky right about when they hit adolescence. That’s pretty much the point at which I’m sure that they are going to hate me, break my heart, and Luke is going to become the sole parental figure in their lives. I’ve wallowed in the inevitability of this vision of the future for about a week now. Today, I just decided enough is enough. I need to see this as a challenge, not a certainty. I remember a while back I had heard a story on NPR about The Mother-Daughter Project. It’s a group that helps mothers form strong bonds with their daughters even before adolescence so that they can maintain a strong relationship through the toughest years. I probably need to buy their new book. Anyway, I feel renewed hope that just because I was a horrible, moody, cranky, unpleasant teenager, doesn’t mean that my girls have to be.

Oh, did I just say “my girls?” I guess I better get used to that phrase!

My Least Favorite Word

My least favorite word in the English language (if you can call it a word) is “huh.” It wasn’t always my least favorite word, but it has become such over the past week. Of course, this new status coincides with Hailey adopting it as her favorite word.

Now, before you start thinking that she has a hearing problem, let me assure you that she hears just fine when she wants to. For example, “Hailey, would you like a cookie?” “Yes, Mommy.” “Hailey, can you come over here and put on your shoes?” “Huh.” You see, she doesn’t have a hearing problem, she just has selective hearing.

I guess that she’s going to adopt favorite words that are worse than this in the future, but for now I’m just not going to play her little game. Even if she says it, I will not repeat myself even if I happen to be offering her something delicious. Ah, the beauty of trying to outsmart your kids.

It's a Girl!!!!

I can already feel my panic setting in...two girls! Oh the hormones, the dating, the makeup, the clothes, the attitudes, the ensuing boys! Does someone have a paper bag I can breathe into??? Maybe a Tums or two or five??? Well, I guess there's always boarding school.

In truth, Luke and I are thrilled. I'm hoping for a redhead. He's hoping for blue eyes. So, basically, we're having a brown eyed, brown haired girl for sure. As long as she's healthy and at least as happy as Hailey, we'll be ok.

We have pictures and video from the ultrasound this morning, but I couldn't be organized enough to actually post those. So, here's a post-ultrasound picture for you.

Pics from the Weekend

On our weekend hiking trip with the Scott's, Hailey experienced a number of firsts this weekend...

First Hike
First bite of marshmallows
First time in the North Carolina mountains.

Mommy also experienced a first...first time she thought she was going to have a heart attack while walking uphill!

Here are some pictures we took to commemorate the weekend. Click here to see more pictures from the weekend.

Log Your Vote

It's only 7 days until our 20 week ultrasound. Boy or Girl? Log your vote in the comments!

52 Questions

Alright, my friend Katie asked me to do this. I’m reluctantly obliging, but feel free to skip this one if you are not into the life and times of Alisa report. I think that I am supposed to ask three other bloggers to do this. It's probably part of some covert CIA operation to create an index of bloggers, Still, if you read this and you have your own blog, it’s your turn.

1. What time did you get up this morning?
6:40am

2. Diamonds or pearls?
Don’t really care because I don’t wear much jewelry. I guess diamonds since I own no pearls.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
Iron Man

4. What is your favorite TV show?
Probably Lost but my favorite TV time is football on Sundays when my husband, and I have cleverly figured out how to watch both of our favorite teams (Buffalo and Tennessee) on our laptops, the game of the week on our big tv, and our fantasy teams simultaneously. It’s multitasking at its best.

5. What do you usually have for breakfast?
Depends on how I’m feeling and how much time I have. During the week I’ve stepped it up to an egg and cheese English muffin because the plain English muffin with peanut butter wasn’t cutting it any more. Plus, I eat a second breakfast of a cereal bar and hot chocolate around 9:30am. What?!?!? I’m eating for two!

6. What is your middle name?
Catherine

7. What food do you dislike?
beets, spicy stuff

8. What is your favorite CD at moment?
Who listens to CDs anymore? It’s NPR or Hailey’s Music Class songs (if she insists)

9. What kind of car do you drive?
Nissan Murano

10. Favorite Sandwich?
The sandwich from the movie Spanglish. Look it up if you don’t know what I’m talking about.

11. What characteristic do you despise?
Irrationality…is that a characteristic?

12. Favorite item of clothing?
Whatever non-maternity clothes I can still fit into.

13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go?
Anywhere in Europe

14. Favorite brand of clothing?
Like I shop by brand! Whatever is on sale.

15. Where would you retire to?
Are you kidding? With the economy as it is, we will never afford to retire. We just wrote a check for $700 billion dollars!

16. What was your most recent memorable birthday?

Spending my 30^th in Italy with my family.

17. Favorite sport to watch?
Football…see previous answer

18. When is your birthday?
October 26, 1977

19. Are you a morning person or night?
Neither, but I am a witch in the morning.

20. What is your shoe size?
8

21. Pets?
Josie – Dog; Anubis – Cat

22. Any new and exciting news you would like to share with us???
I’m pretty sure that I’ve shared it all.

23. What did you want to be when you were little?
Teacher

24. How are you today?
It’s Monday. I’m tired, but I feel good.

25. What is your favorite candy?
Reese’s Cups – chocolate and peanut butter, what could be better???

26. What is your favorite flower?
Right now it’s vincas because they are the only thing in my yard that survived the drought.

27. What is a day on your calendar you are looking forward to?
Oct 21^st because we find out the sex of the baby. Oct 22^nd I take a full day CPR class.

28. What is your full name?
Alisa Catherine Hamilton. I’m slowly getting over my bitterness of having to lose Palmisano. I recently asked Luke if we could name the baby Hamilton Palmisano if it was a boy. He wasn’t too keen on the idea.

29. What are you listening to right now?
The girl in the cube next to me typing.

30. What was the last thing you ate?
Chicken cheese steak with fries

31. Do you wish on stars?
No

32. If you were a crayon what color would you be?
Green

33. How is the weather right now?
Sunny and warm. Hasn’t rained her in probably a month

34. The first person you spoke to on the phone today?
Husband because I left my lunch in the car this morning.

35. Favorite soft drink?
Coke in a bottle

36. Favorite Restaurant?
Sake Japanese restaurant in Nashville

37. Real Hair Color?
Red

38. What was your favorite toy as a child?
Dollhouse

39. Summer or winter?
Spring or Fall

40. Hugs or kisses?
Hugs

41. Chocolate or vanilla?
Chocolate

42. Coffee or tea?
Tea – Decaff please; I’m growing a human here.

43. When was the last time you cried?
Probably the last time I saw something sad on TV (commercials count)

44. What is under your bed?
Wrapping paper, file folders, my fire proof safe, and a cat

45. What did you do last night?
Went to the zoo and out to dinner

46. What are you afraid of?
Snakes, spiders, cockroaches, crowds, and strangers

47. Salty or sweet?
Depends on the day, hour, minute that we’re talking about.

48. How many keys on your key ring?
One + 4 on the detachable part

49. How many years at your current job?
1.5 years

50. Favorite day of the week?
Friday

51. How many places have you lived in?
4

52. Do you make friends easy? No. Maybe. I don’t know, you tell me!

Funny Exchanges

Hailey: "Mommy, my poopie hurts."
Mommy: "You mean your bum hurts?"
Hailey: "My bum hurts."
Mommy: "Why does you bum hurt?"
Hailey: "My bum hurts, kiss it better."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hailey: "Where's Mommy?"
Nana: "She's downstairs sweeping."
Hailey: "I go wake her up."

NBH Update

Remember last pregnancy when I was detailing every single development - both mine and Hailey’s. This time around I actually have to calculate the week every time someone asks. It's 17, by the way. What I do know for sure is that we are now down to 19 days until we find out if it’s a boy or a girl!

We had a doctor’s appointment earlier this week. The heartbeat sounded good. I think that it still sounded way slower than Hailey’s, but it was at 150 beats per minute. If you go according to the old wives tale, 150 would mean that it’s a girl. Well, 19 days until we find out either way.

As for me, I’m feeling fine except for a few fall allergies. Of course, I hate taking medicine when I’m pregnant so I suffered with the runny nose, watery eyes, sinus pressure, and sneezing for about 2 weeks. When I finally went to the doctor, she told me that I could have been taking Claritin all along. Great…thanks!

Smell the Roses

Taking a walk with a 2-year-old can be a little like plucking each hair off of your arm as slowly and deliberately as possible but in no order whatsoever. As best I can gather, here are the top 10 requirements for any 2-year-old walking excursion:

1. Do not walk in a straight line
2. Do not walk at an even pace
3. Do not walk at a pace resembling anything faster than a small turtle
4. Do not pass by an interesting object without stopping to touch it
5. Do not pass by a flower without stopping to smell it
6. Do not pass by a grate without bending down to see where it leads
7. Do not pass by a grate without dropping a stone down to confirm where it leads
8. Do not pass by a strange dog without trying to pet it
9. Do not pass by a bug without inspecting and then being deathly frightened by it
10. Do not forget to say what color the sky is, what the weather is like, or what color you are wearing
11. (10.5) Do not forget to repeat the same phrase from step 10 over and over for the duration of the walk.
    

I would say that on a typical 2-year-old walk, you need to at least quadruple the time that it would take an average adult to walk the same distance. For example, going to the park near our house should be a 2 minute walk. It can take 15-20 minutes if Hailey walks the whole thing. I allow for extra time because we are still refusing to hold Mommy’s hand when crossing the street which happens to be one of Mommy’s only requirements. Plus, maintaining all of these requirements simultaneously during a walk is quite tasking on Mommy, although they are absolutely no problem for the 2-year-old.

Regardless of how excruciatingly slow the walking process can be, it can be really fun to see the world through Hailey’s eyes. I’m trying very hard to have less anxiety related to time, so walks with Hailey really test my ability to stop and smell the roses myself. It's a good exercise for all of us.

LA Looks

Our little world traveler just returned from LA where she was spending time with friends and watching her cousins play in the AVP Manhattan Beach tournament. She spent about 3 days at the beach, but I believe that her favorite part of the trip was shopping. Shockingly, the thing that her mother hates to do the most brings Hailey endless joy. These pics are just a few of the things that she had to try on during our short shopping trip one day. She was in heaven. I guess we need to invest in some dress up clothes soon!

The Balloon Saga

Two weekends ago Hailey received a red and a blue balloon at a birthday party that we attended. She loves balloons so she had a good time with them until they ran out of air. They proceeded to sit on the floor of my garage, half-deflated. On Tuesday (garbage day), I threw them into the big trash can without deflating them because, let’s face it, I’m lazy. As we are getting into the car to go to school, the trash man arrived and Hailey saw him take the balloons out of the trash can and put them in the truck. You would have thought that he had thrown her blankie in that truck. She was completely traumatized. For 20 minutes on the way into school, we had to listen to “Where my balloons go?” “Why balloons in truck?” “Why man take balloons?” “I want balloons.” Honestly, it was non-stop. There was no subject that could supersede the ever important balloon conversation. There was no song that could be sung to make the balloons go away. I was, at that moment, the worst Mommy in the world.

However, I would like to say that I redeemed myself in a big big way. That afternoon I stopped by this little shop in my building on my way out of work. They hang balloons outside of their door every day. I’ve often seen them deflating their balloons at the end of the day. I went in and asked the lady if I could have the balloons instead of her throwing them away. She was so happy to give them to me. But here’s the kicker…I had to carry those stupid balloons (a red and a blue one) 10 blocks downtown to get to Hailey’s school. What an idiot I must have looked like! Regardless, the balloons were safely delivered to our precious angel who talked about them the whole way home and then proceeded to forget about them after about 10 minutes in the house. Ah the joys of motherhood!

Green Beans and Broccoli

Like most parents, I think that I am the most fortunate Mommy in the world. Every day, I could think of a new reason why I’m the luckiest Mommy, but here’s my reason for today – my daughter eats green things. It’s true! The child loves green beans. She knows how to clean them and put them in the bowl. The other night we cleaned a huge batch of beans and cooked them up. She ate mostly beans for dinner. Poor Luke didn’t even get any! Same thing last night with broccoli. She would just keep eating vegetables if we didn’t insist that she eat other things. She’s some kind of bizzarro child.

Of course, I don’t take her vegetable-eating for granted (or even think that it will last forever). That’s why I’m writing to remember these fun times when we don’t have to fight at the dinner table because let’s face it, those days are probably not far off.