"Where's the string, mom?" -- referring to the cord on my cell phone that I had plugged up to the charger.
"Take off the wrapper, mom." -- the strap on a new hand-me-down pair of shoes.
"chappers" -- Chapstick
"I don't WANT to get on the alligator!" -- refusing to board the elevator at the doctor's office.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
isn't she getting big?
I just love this picture. It captures a certain wistful expression that looks like a real 2 year old. She has a real mother's heart, too. :-( sniff, sniff. My baby girl is growing up.
Monday, December 08, 2008
the holly & the ivy
Well, the Christmas season is upon us. I've been Christmas shopping (mostly online) & Christmas crafting for a few weeks, but this weekend we did a bunch of FUN Christmas things, like put up our tree & our little village, hang the stockings, and watch Kate enjoy it all! There is simply nothing like seeing old traditions through new little eyes. Kate actually went out to pick up the tree with Josh. She came back home with a little branch & proudly informed me that this was HER Christmas tree. In a bit we saw another branch on the floor which I was informed was Momma's Christmas tree, and then when Dad brought in the *real* one. . . well, that was Dad's Christmas tree. What a cutie! She LOVED trimming the tree & wanted to play with each ornament. Josh has an ornament for each year of his growing up years, and many of them are really cute -- Snoopy, the Pokey Little Puppy, airplanes, firetrucks with mouse firemen. Kate got a real kick out of getting them out of their boxes & playing with each one before picking out a place on the tree for it. We're continuing the tradition of an ornament for Kate each year, and I had a lot of fun showing her the two ornaments that belong to her.
Saturday began with a bit of Christmas portrait taking. Our smiley, sweet little girl turned into Miss Sourpuss just in time for us to have the camera pointed at us. The whole morning she was so excited about taking pictures with "Lya, Lawren, Ben, Auntie Jen. . run out of breath. . continue the litany of family members." But, somehow, the unfamiliar surroundings & the chilly weather combined to make her ill at ease. Finally, some brilliant lady (Jen) remembered the candy she had brought & after scads of Smarties, Kate became a bit better performer. Oh well. Se la vie. We did get some good shots, thankfully! In fact, it was not just the smarties that affected our smiles, but some kerrazy antics by Auntie Jen & a moose. I think she had Josh & I giggling, too.
Saturday began with a bit of Christmas portrait taking. Our smiley, sweet little girl turned into Miss Sourpuss just in time for us to have the camera pointed at us. The whole morning she was so excited about taking pictures with "Lya, Lawren, Ben, Auntie Jen. . run out of breath. . continue the litany of family members." But, somehow, the unfamiliar surroundings & the chilly weather combined to make her ill at ease. Finally, some brilliant lady (Jen) remembered the candy she had brought & after scads of Smarties, Kate became a bit better performer. Oh well. Se la vie. We did get some good shots, thankfully! In fact, it was not just the smarties that affected our smiles, but some kerrazy antics by Auntie Jen & a moose. I think she had Josh & I giggling, too.
So, this is how the morning started off. . . mom & dad looking pretty nice, Kate looking inscrutably at the camera.
Post-smarties
One of the better shots -- all three of us actually smiling!
Also post smarties, but if you look carefully, the smartie actually showed up IN the picture!
Later that afternoon, Kate helping Dad fix the lights.
The Finished Product! Do you think I could have a tree up all year?
A little bonus footage: my belly. I'll admit, most of that bump is actually made up of unbuttoned pants, a bella band folded over twice, a T-shirt, and a wooly sweater! But, hey!
Friday, November 21, 2008
around the bend (almost 15 weeks)
Just wanted everyone to know that I think I've rounded a corner! As soon as I hit 14 weeks, there was a really big difference in the way I felt. I still may not feel perky the entire day, and I've had some nausea, but the feeling I have when I wake up in the morning is SOOO different. I feel that I can take on the day. I have energy. I no longer require a 3 hour nap in the afternoon. I have a little baby bump. I can't wear my pre-pregnancy button/zip pants anymore.
I'm so happy that my little "plan" worked. I feel better much earlier than I did last time through, and I think it's because I took those meds! Praise the Lord! I'm also MUCH more interested in food in general, and also have some REAL dislikes. I am still not up for cooking my meals, but I'm hoping to make it through next week & maybe be running at least half of my ship by then. (The food half).
Don't want to see or touch or smell: fish, apples (smell), gas from the grill being turned on, Soy Delicious ice cream, Frosted Mini-Wheats, several of the staple meals from "The Josh Meals" -- they are tasty, but my first trimester experience of them has tainted them for me.
Love and wish all my food tasted so good: fries, soups (I could eat soup every day, and almost have!), lemonade or limeade, Hershey's dark chocolate, coke (bad, I know!), chili, saltines (with soup, not really stand alone)
I'm so happy that my little "plan" worked. I feel better much earlier than I did last time through, and I think it's because I took those meds! Praise the Lord! I'm also MUCH more interested in food in general, and also have some REAL dislikes. I am still not up for cooking my meals, but I'm hoping to make it through next week & maybe be running at least half of my ship by then. (The food half).
Don't want to see or touch or smell: fish, apples (smell), gas from the grill being turned on, Soy Delicious ice cream, Frosted Mini-Wheats, several of the staple meals from "The Josh Meals" -- they are tasty, but my first trimester experience of them has tainted them for me.
Love and wish all my food tasted so good: fries, soups (I could eat soup every day, and almost have!), lemonade or limeade, Hershey's dark chocolate, coke (bad, I know!), chili, saltines (with soup, not really stand alone)
Thursday, November 13, 2008
is she ready or what?
per request, an update!
Although Kate showed a lot of interest at a young age in potty training, her momma took a complete break when she got pregnant, so Kate has made 0 progress on the potty. Never to this day has she peed in it (or anything else for that matter) & only twice in her life has she peed anywhere else. Both times she peeped on the bathroom floor after taking a shower. Talk about easy cleanup! For a number of reasons PLUS my own inability to do "training" of any sort, I concluded that although Kate's mind was interested in potty training, her body wasn't ready.
Fast forward to last week. I walked into her room to get her up from a nap & I found her totally naked from the waist down -- sleeping! I could NOT believe my eyes. She had taken off her pants & her soggy diaper during her usual downtime before she actually falls asleep & then fallen asleep buns up in the air! And, no accidents, either. Of course, I quickly woke her up & plunked a diaper on her.
Then, two days ago, I was in the shower when Kate decided that she wanted a shower too. So, she starts disrobing herself -- pants & diaper. These days just getting into the shower is a real feat, so I made a dumb-mommy decision to finish up my shower "in a hurry" & hope nothing bad happened. I told her, "Don't poop or pee on the floor." She was so delighted w/ the phrase "poop or pee," repeating it over & over again. She then informed me that she didn't want to pee (no comfort to me!). But, she survived until I finished shaving my legs & hopped out of the shower whisking her straight to the room for a fresh diaper! So, I think she might be ready, what do you think? Well, at least she can take off her clothes & diaper. That's supposed to be one of those "signs" you look for.
Me: I'm doing ok. I've started a regimen of powerful nausea blocking drugs, but am trying to keep it as low profile as possible. So, I try to take one per day, and skip any days where I feel reasonably well or don't NEED to feel well. I have another (cheaper) medicine to take in the evenings that makes me loooooooppyyy (so I don't like to take it) but has helped me out of a few rough nights. If all goes well, I have just enough of the daytime pills to make it up through Thanksgiving, when I can get a refill. I don't want to have to refill, mind you, but I've got to plan ahead. I feel very conflicted about taking these drugs, because as a mommy, I'm always worrying about how this might affect the baby, but I've tried to make a balanced choice. The thing is, even on these drugs, I still am not 100% better either, so it's a tangle! Signs for encouragement: I went grocery shopping on Saturday & I have made dinner twice this week. A-mazing! I also discovered at my last OBGYN visit that I may be B12 & Folate deficient which has as symptoms fatigue & nausea -- combined w/ pregnancy symptoms -- let's just say YOUCH. I never thought fatigue would be a "problem" for me. All you have to do is sleep it off, right? Wrong! It's that no amount of sleep is ever enough! And THAT can be a problem when you have an almost 2 year old who expects a non-somnolent human being to be her playmate or mommy.
So, to sum up: Kate (cute, trying on 2's for size, loves to play repetitive games, is REALLY getting into pretend, still is hit or miss on her colors, is thinking about her birthday a lot these days) Mom (tired, has cravings for lemonade/limeade (preferably from ChickfilA), also craves soup from Atlanta Bread Company, more tiredness, teaching still, watches Dancing w/ the Stars, throw in a few moments of hugging the toilet & watching the laundry pile up into mountains and you've got it!)
On the Josh front -- if you think of it, please pray about his job. This time period is pretty stressful for him. His company is in one of the hardest hit sectors in this "soft" economy & relies substantially on the banks for flow of capital (not so "flowy" since the credit crisis). The two factors combined make for a very unsure environment for him. This has really caused both of us to realize & state daily that it is God that's providing for us, not his company & not Josh's talent/hard work, so we can look at the past & know that he HAS provided for us & will continue providing for us in His own way!
Although Kate showed a lot of interest at a young age in potty training, her momma took a complete break when she got pregnant, so Kate has made 0 progress on the potty. Never to this day has she peed in it (or anything else for that matter) & only twice in her life has she peed anywhere else. Both times she peeped on the bathroom floor after taking a shower. Talk about easy cleanup! For a number of reasons PLUS my own inability to do "training" of any sort, I concluded that although Kate's mind was interested in potty training, her body wasn't ready.
Fast forward to last week. I walked into her room to get her up from a nap & I found her totally naked from the waist down -- sleeping! I could NOT believe my eyes. She had taken off her pants & her soggy diaper during her usual downtime before she actually falls asleep & then fallen asleep buns up in the air! And, no accidents, either. Of course, I quickly woke her up & plunked a diaper on her.
Then, two days ago, I was in the shower when Kate decided that she wanted a shower too. So, she starts disrobing herself -- pants & diaper. These days just getting into the shower is a real feat, so I made a dumb-mommy decision to finish up my shower "in a hurry" & hope nothing bad happened. I told her, "Don't poop or pee on the floor." She was so delighted w/ the phrase "poop or pee," repeating it over & over again. She then informed me that she didn't want to pee (no comfort to me!). But, she survived until I finished shaving my legs & hopped out of the shower whisking her straight to the room for a fresh diaper! So, I think she might be ready, what do you think? Well, at least she can take off her clothes & diaper. That's supposed to be one of those "signs" you look for.
Me: I'm doing ok. I've started a regimen of powerful nausea blocking drugs, but am trying to keep it as low profile as possible. So, I try to take one per day, and skip any days where I feel reasonably well or don't NEED to feel well. I have another (cheaper) medicine to take in the evenings that makes me loooooooppyyy (so I don't like to take it) but has helped me out of a few rough nights. If all goes well, I have just enough of the daytime pills to make it up through Thanksgiving, when I can get a refill. I don't want to have to refill, mind you, but I've got to plan ahead. I feel very conflicted about taking these drugs, because as a mommy, I'm always worrying about how this might affect the baby, but I've tried to make a balanced choice. The thing is, even on these drugs, I still am not 100% better either, so it's a tangle! Signs for encouragement: I went grocery shopping on Saturday & I have made dinner twice this week. A-mazing! I also discovered at my last OBGYN visit that I may be B12 & Folate deficient which has as symptoms fatigue & nausea -- combined w/ pregnancy symptoms -- let's just say YOUCH. I never thought fatigue would be a "problem" for me. All you have to do is sleep it off, right? Wrong! It's that no amount of sleep is ever enough! And THAT can be a problem when you have an almost 2 year old who expects a non-somnolent human being to be her playmate or mommy.
So, to sum up: Kate (cute, trying on 2's for size, loves to play repetitive games, is REALLY getting into pretend, still is hit or miss on her colors, is thinking about her birthday a lot these days) Mom (tired, has cravings for lemonade/limeade (preferably from ChickfilA), also craves soup from Atlanta Bread Company, more tiredness, teaching still, watches Dancing w/ the Stars, throw in a few moments of hugging the toilet & watching the laundry pile up into mountains and you've got it!)
On the Josh front -- if you think of it, please pray about his job. This time period is pretty stressful for him. His company is in one of the hardest hit sectors in this "soft" economy & relies substantially on the banks for flow of capital (not so "flowy" since the credit crisis). The two factors combined make for a very unsure environment for him. This has really caused both of us to realize & state daily that it is God that's providing for us, not his company & not Josh's talent/hard work, so we can look at the past & know that he HAS provided for us & will continue providing for us in His own way!
Saturday, November 01, 2008
dress up
Friday evening started off inauspiciously -- Kate did not want to wear her bunny costume. She had tried it on the night before & even shown everybody at school earlier that day. I felt like a horrible mom bribing her child to wear a costume she didn't want to wear. I'm glad I did though, because the evening ended up being quite chilly & her bunny outfit certainly did the trick! It took her awhile before she warmed up to the crowds. Her favorite things were jumping with Lydia & the cupcake she won at the cake walk. All the girls looked adorable in their costumes, of course.
A shy bunny
The proud princess
One of the funniest pics of the night -- Laurie is giving the best smile! (Note the cupcake)
Not so great of Gracie, but I had to let you see Kate doing her "bunny face."
Bunny got into the jumping when she caught up with her big cousin! It's amazing how much braver she is around Lydia.
Kate saw this & said, "Laurie-boo!" She was a precious ladybug!
3 out of 4 and that ain't bad!
I took some meds that morning & amazingly felt well enough to go & participate. Praise the Lord!
A shy bunny
The proud princess
One of the funniest pics of the night -- Laurie is giving the best smile! (Note the cupcake)
Not so great of Gracie, but I had to let you see Kate doing her "bunny face."
Bunny got into the jumping when she caught up with her big cousin! It's amazing how much braver she is around Lydia.
Kate saw this & said, "Laurie-boo!" She was a precious ladybug!
3 out of 4 and that ain't bad!
I took some meds that morning & amazingly felt well enough to go & participate. Praise the Lord!
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