curious george

we don't watch much tv in this house just b/c we're not that into it (okay, except the online shows i watch in the afternoon) & plus we don't have cable, so there's not much to watch! but this morning i felt like watching the today show while feeding amelia. since the election, i have to admit i enjoy the media frenzy over the obama's...there's finally a president that i don't mind hearing about! so i'm tuning into at least the news a bit more than i normally would. anyway, addy has never enjoyed watching tv either, probably b/c we don't have it on to get her used to it. but we have tried to get her to at least be interested for those times when i need 5 or 10 minutes to do something & the tv would be a great diversion... alas, she doesn't fall for it. she did watch 'dora the explorer' at my sister's (addy's uncle cal was so nice enough to "t-vo" [is that how it would be said?] the show & she has since pointed out dora whenever she sees her on anything like a cup or at a store).

so today when i turned the tv on, it was on the PBS station & curious george was on. i started to change the channel & then noticed that addy was interested. woah! so i kept it there & she watched the entire segment (about 2 minutes, but STILL!). one thing i noticed while watching the cartoon is that addy sounds eerily a lot like the monkey, george! & she does things like he does...i've put a link below of a segment with george taking food off of dinner plates to compost & addy loves to take non-trash items & put them in the trash & then we look everywhere for that item; sadly, it's happened more than once. so the link is to help everyone get an idea of what i'm talking about: listen to george making noises & bopping all over the place. that's my daughter, the monkey. love it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lX4IZ5Y22sw&feature=channel

and has anyone else ever noticed now that you have kids that you use more of your body? for example, i can now feed amelia a bottle, hold addy's snack, have my arm around addy, & turn pages all at the same time. i'm talking about using my pinky finger & such to do things like lifting things up with my toes (socks, books, sippy cups, burp cloths) or legs (addy, a ball, the boppy, closing a door or cupboard). sometimes when i go out i feel like a pack mule...diaper bag, purse (if diaper bag is too full for my things), bjorn on, maybe pushing a double stroller, usually a hat or jacket attached somewhere, & very possibly a sippy cup (that addy has accidentally dropped) carried by my pinky .

two friends (yea christine & holli!) have offered to babysit addy & amelia this saturday so wes & i can go OUT for our anniversary. hip hip hooray! but we are having a hard time figuring out what to do. you see, we are cheap! we do have a gift card to the amc theaters, but don't know of any good movies out right now. i have thought maybe a hike would be nice, but that may take too long (b/c we'd want to drive a few hours to get some non-central ohio scenery). we've just never been a dinner & a movie couple, but that seems to be the only options that we're finding. hhhhmmm....any ideas folks?

this morning

one of addy's favorite places to go is the polaris mall. NOT b/c she likes shopping. she despises shopping, which hopefully she keeps up through her teenage years! she loves the polaris mall b/c of the indoor playground! so we go there often b/c we live so close & it's just nice to get out of the house & not b/c i necessarily like shopping, either! we were there yesterday morning & then also today....it's a great place to go before it gets busy in the late morning.

this morning, some other mamas really got to me. i call them 'mama bears' ... the ones who hover over their kids making sure they don't do anything that could cause them any sort of enjoyment! even though their kids can walk & talk & run & slide on their own, they feel the need to help them do it. my philosophy is sort of a 'let them learn by natural consequences' & just let them figure it out themselves. it's a PLAYground...let them play!

so there were 3 'mama bears' hovering over their kids who were OLDER than addy. addy is sitting at the bottom of the slide doing her usual sit & stare & wiggle around & roll on the ground at the bottom of the slide. yes, she's blocking the slide, but if the mama bears weren't telling their kids not to go down the slide constantly, another kid would've already gone down the slide & probably run into her, not causing much pain or harm. even if they did cause harm, it's really addy's fault & she's pretty tough anyway. so then these mamas start telling addy 'can you move please, they want to go down the slide.' which probably made addy sit there longer b/c she was trying to focus on figuring out what they were saying! grr. i was about 30 seconds away from going over & nicely explaining that it's okay if their kid goes down the slide & lands on top of addy. lesson learned, right?

it just seems that all these hovering 'bear-like' parents are keeping kids from learning things on their own. learning about social interaction & natural consequences... hhhmmm... just had to post about it, maybe see what others think??!

addy's weekend w/ gram mum & pop-pop

this is an email from my mom telling us about addys' weekend with them. my parents felt for me & my sickness, so they offered to take addy for the weekend when they also were babysitting addy's twin cousins (girls, 18 months old) for a day...i asked her if she was crazy & she said 'yes' so i didn't argue! who can pass up that offer?!

******The first Addy part [of the drive to meet wes tonight] was very happy - I showed her a barn and she started to sing "e-i-e-i-o".... so we sang that for a while. I sat with her in the back, and we ate and ate a whole big gulp cupful of cereal..... I woke her up to leave, so she was taken by surprise a little without a lot of time to stress. I showed her Chloe and Zoe's house while still in Cinnamon Lake, and for some reason she seems to call Scott [my brother] "Giliam", in all of the pictures, or some such derivative. So she said "Giliam" and nodded her head like Chloe & Zoe did all day yesterday every time they said a word they thought we should understand.

The other part - the terror of forgetting Little Bear, and then Popop pulling into one [gas] station with half of the pumps closed, then going to Goasis [gas station] and they had just had a major meltdown, so we left before it got ugly, and went back and waited at the half open ones...... I was a bit worried as I know Addy only has so many happy minutes in the car, and sadly, Wes probably got the tail end of that situation.

She seemed very happy when we parted, and nodded her head when I told her to give Griswold a big kiss for me. It was a very fun weekend - Addy seemed very happy yesterday with the twins, and very happy today to play with us, so it was fun. Only she didn't fall asleep for her nap until I went in at 2:30 finally and laid down with her and rubbed her back and face........ (I had put her down at 12:30) She looked very shocked when I walked into the room and said "ok, let's get into bed, Addy-girl".....

When popop put the gas nozzle in the car, she put her hands out and told me to be quiet with a look and said "kelicopter". It is all very funny. I asked her if she wanted to go home and see Amelia, and she looked very sorrowful and nodded her head emphatically yes. We hadn't mentioned it before, so I am not sure if she had thought anything more than that moment about it.

Tell her our house if very quiet tonight. (unless you count the very loud football game) ******

so that's the story of addy's weekend. the story of our weekend? well, i was coughing up a lung & half out of it, wes was mr. mama w/ amelia & also tried to put a headlight into "whitey" (my little white geo prizm from high school that we still drive 10 years later) & failed. wes does NOT fail on car & restoration issues, so this really peeved him & i could tell the rest of the weekend he was just trying to figure it out. no headlight put in yet (the battery is corroded over & he can't get to it, apparently.). what i wanted to do this weekend included going for a walk, going grocery shopping (wes did instead), going to target to buy a much needed shower cap (hey, i can barely get a shower every day let alone wash my hair daily), & baking cookies for addy's welcome home party (lasting 5 minutes) since she finally likes cookies. i accomplished none of those. instead, i watched the entire season so far of Bones online...i hate being sick (but i really like that show). i have been inside of this house since last wednesday afternoon; does going to a doctor even count as being out of the house, though? so if you don't count going to the doctor, it was last tuesday & that was only to take amelia to the pediatrician, so then it was last monday for a women's group lunch bunch picnic. tomorrow, i will hopefully get to go to target to buy my shower cap (i'm guessing addy either threw my last one away or put it down the laundry shoot, where it was then thrown away b/c i didn't realize what it was...or it's hiding somewhere under addy's bed or in her toy chest...hhhmmm).

oh my

medicine
so this week finds my body sick. first it was aching body. then terribly sore throat. then painful IUD insertion & cramping. then headache. then sinus infection. EGADS! but have no worries, friends, i am taking antibiotics & have made 'remember to take vitamins!' a priority, not an afterthought while lying in bed. & poor millie had her vaccines & had a very intense reaction for about 24 hours. i was ready to zoom her off to the ER, but infant tylenol finally helped enough to get her to finally sleep & eat again (it was a long 6 hours until then, however). by thursday, she was much better. modern medicine is good, actually, it's GREAT. yet sometimes it hurts. like vaccines that keep babies from getting terrible illnesses, but also make her scream in pain for hours & hours & swell her leg up to the size of a softball. (not to mention the slow nurse who took forever to give the shots! get it over with, already!). & things like IUD's, that may help our family stay at 4 (or 5 if you count the dog, as wes does) & keep me from going insane (which i would if i became pregnant again, there is no doubt about that one) but also make me feel pretty miserable for awhile...(then i read about some really nasty side effects so i am being very vigilant about tracking my reaction to this IUD loveliness). my mom put it pretty good: women will go through hell not to go through hell. ha!

good things
i AM a fan of martha stewart (& oprah) so i know what ' good things' are in her perspective (a nicely iced cake, crisp folded napkins, well organized pantry....), but here are some from my perspective: a husband tall enough to wipe off the cobweb from the ceiling by just reaching his arm. a toddler who will be entertained with just a diaper box. the sighs of a sleeping baby (ahh, you caught me, yes i rocked her to sleep almost the entire week...so much for the baby whisperer's advice!). a hubby who knows his way around the kitchen & is able to make dinner when i am sick. free online tv episodes so i can have my 40 minutes of put-my-feet-up relaxation, a la TV (i've found that reading makes me too tired right now, although i did just finish a book, the first since millie arrived). a hubby who is willing to get up with the kiddos at night so i can sleep. friends who understand how important date nights are by offering to babysit. other mamas going through the same thing offering support. a bible verse that just strikes me as 'this is what i need right now.' a comfortable bed that i love. eating ice cream with a sore throat.

an addy story
she has figured out how to open our freezer (we have a fridge w/ the freezer on the bottom). BIG oh no. & apparently she really likes straws also. so today i hear some rustling while i'm upstairs rocking amelia to sleep. i come down very quietly a few minutes later to spy on her. i see her emptying the freezer of all her favorite things: chicken nuggets, fish sticks, & an ice pack, but she also was holding & sucking on this frozen, half gone milkshake w/ the straw still in it (wes loves to just stick things like that back in the freezer, then NEVER finishes it! eerrr, drives me crazy). i decide to scare her, so i kindly said: "addy!" & she completely jumps in the air, sticks the milkshake back into the freezer, slams the freezer shut & then looks at me w/ her hands in the air. she gave me the most innocent 'where did all these other things come from?' look & said "hhmmmm, huh, hmmm" several times. i just find it hilarious that she thinks i didn't know what she was doing. she just cracks me up.

millie @ 10 weeks

picture of gram-mum & amelia, 11/1/08

today millie is 10 weeks! it has gone by fairly quickly, eh? she had her 2 month appointment this morning & is sleeping soundly after the round of immunizations. & YEA, the pediatrician had the oral rota virus vaccine, so millie is protected against that nastiness. we didn't get the lecture we anticipated over the belly sleeping & the ped is guessing her reflux will be getting better over the next 2 months, but she is still to take zantac until then.

our little amelia is not so little after all (okay, compared to addy at this age, she is ;o) she is 11.12 pounds (91st %) & 22.75 inches (85th%). we don't own a scale, so for everyone who is curious, you only get these statistics updates every few months. the ped is very impressed w/ her head control, as are we! hhmm, what else is mentionable? oh yeah, go obama?! i'm really glad i did a mail-in ballot. we will be staying up to get the poll results, but only until 9 p.m...sadly, sleep is my priority, not who is the next leader of the u.s.

& i'm really getting annoyed with this weather! i only have winter clothes that fit me right now, so this short sleeved, shorts/skirt weather is really upsetting! how many days can i wear the same shirt (before i smell like a walking spit -up stain)?? plus i really like cold weather, so stay cold, already! it should not be 70 degrees in november in ohio...

5 years

in a few weeks (november 15th!) wes & i will celebrate our 5th anniversary (6th, if you count the year we met, dated, & were engaged). over this past year i read an article saying that year 5 is the new year 7...meaning, it used to be that a good percentage of married couples divorced at year 7. somehow it was the breaking point. but now recent trends are showing that year 5 is when more divorces are occurring. so we made it over the hump! (*not that i didn't think we would*)

we met almost exactly one year before our wedding day...we made it fit perfectly into the columbus vineyard's requirements of dating 6 months & engaged 6 months (& we also made it through their pre-marital stuff...we were off the charts on compatibility! our dear friend holli always gave us the inner scoop on things b/c she was the 'marriage & family' admin at the time). we also met at columbus vineyard...we haven't shared this story with that many people, but i've decided that we will now. b/c looking back, i realize it's worth telling.

so wes & i were both going through a few years of not dating anyone (well, a few for more, about a year for him, a-hem) just b/c we thought the other gender sucked pretty much. ;o) & b/c we felt that god was telling us to do this, to be single for awhile & enjoy our friends & our church & we used that time to grow closer to god as well. how handy! vineyard columbus likes to have conferences on many things, one of them that i was looking forward to was "doing what jesus did" w/ don williams as the main speaker (a fan favorite preacher). so i signed up for all 3 nights, as did wes, starting on thursday. i was with my other dear friend christine mcqueary & we sat in one spot, then we moved b/c i just felt like sitting in another spot for some reason (okay, vineyard columbus is HUGE, it seats about 2,000 & the church has at least 6,500 members the last i knew, plus hundreds more who attend each of the 3 services). so worship started & i saw this really cute but sorta hairy guy walk in & he caught my eye, but i was like 'nope, don't even worry about it' & kept on singing. then i HEARD god say, like he was sitting next to me & talking like any other person would, "turn around, your husband is sitting behind you." seriously. so i thought i was probably going crazy or making this up & just kept singing lalalla. another minute later, i heard it again, the same thing. so then i started to feel god's presence strongly & knew that this was for real. then i start to think that there's probably some really weirdo guy or a really old man sitting behind me, so i turn to peek, using the trick of pretending to look for someone else. classy. it was the same near-hairy guy who had walked in late! he was sitting directly behind me! (hint: it was wes).

little did i know, but he had taken a very holy approach to the me also; he noticed my bright blue underwear & thought i was cute. blue underwear....i can't help that i hate belts. but other than that, wes had no idea what was going on in my mind. the only thing he knew was that i was the girl with the blue underwear that he thought was pretty cute.

i talked to christine on the way home & she was ecstatic & happy & i really just wanted to cry. it was overwhelming & i had no idea what to think about it. so i did what a lot of people would do: i called my mom! she said that the only way to find out if this is really god speaking to me is to go talk to him & maybe even ask him out. hhmmm...

so the next night (friday) i went early to the conference, hoping to see him before...& i was freaking out. almost the entire night went on before i saw him sitting with another woman across the sanctuary. i was relieved & terrified thinking that he already had a girlfriend, holy crap, what is god doing to me? but we saw each other & sort of gave a look to each other, like 'hey that's you & it's me, we sat by each other last night....' so i leave that night totally weirded out. no sleep sort of night...

the next morning, i go & don't see him at all during the morning session. someone prayed for me to give me peace over the whole situation. it worked & in the afternoon session i saw him sitting with a bunch of high schoolers (what?!) in the church cafe. so i do this stupid half wave as i was walking by him & he looks at me like 'hhmm, hello? are you waving to me?' & i feel totally stupid! so the afternoon session is over & i see where he's sitting & my sister sat with me & was checking him out the entire time. but she talks me into going over to him & talking to him. i am one of the most shy people you will ever meet, so for me to approach someone i don't even know, especially a guy, is overcoming a lot of emotions. but i did it. i stood behind him for almost 3 minutes while he gabbed away with this teenage (again, why the teen? i soon learned that wes worked with the youth ministry; ah it all makes sense now) & then his friend says 'hey wes, there's someone here to talk to you...' b/c i had probably not made a iota of noise while standing 2 feet behind him. i forget exactly what i said, but it involved, 'hi, you sat behind me the other night & i keep seeing you this weekend & i just wanted to say hi...' i originally went over there intending to ask him out, but while talking to him, god again told me plain as day that i was not to ask him out. so i didn't. after we talked about ignorant things for 10 minutes, he finally NERVOUSLY said 'would you like to go out sometime?' b/c he now says that he realized that i wasn't going to ask him out. i said yes & gave him my number...he called me that tuesday & we made a date for the next sunday....

picture from the blizzard weekend in february, when i told him the skinny on our future.

in feburary (we met in november) i finally broke down & told him what had originally happened, (i couldn't hold it in any longer) that god told me he was my future husband, etc. which freaked him out a bit, but he agreed it was right on, that he was already thinking that was our direction. we were engaged in may & married in november. what a year it was, my friends! so now you know the real story. i don't know why we always just tell people, even good friends, the general idea: we met at church. that sounds so boring compared to the real deal. i've had very few times in my life when i hear god speak to me that plainly, but i know that's what it would took at that time for either of us to take the plunge & talk to each other. god knows us better than anyone, eh?

dah-dah...shhhh

that was what addy was saying when the first picture was taken. it's a slow whisper & it usually means she hears something in the distant. when she does it, my mama heart beats a bit stronger, it's that entertaining.

i love autumn; the warm colors, cool & even rainy weather, rib-sticking food, clothes & hats & sweaters, & even the wonderful smell of crunchy, dying leaves. every year i hunt around for the perfect hat for adeline & now amelia. it's discouraging & inspiring all at once b/c i know once i find it, i am very ecstatic, but it usually takes me at least a week or two & many many stores to find IT (like that commercial...the 'it' thing). here is addy in her hat. amelia's is light pink, grey, & off white stripes w/ two bunny-like pom poms. A-DORABLE. i don't know why i get such a kick out of hats. just do.

amelia's spike this morning...this is "au natur-al" ladies & gents! & look how happy she is. she's finally starting to give us her smiles & giggles on a more consistent basis. so far, mid-morning is her best part of the day. i love her little smiles, as does addy, who is holding her in this picture. she also has a tendency to stick her tongue out a lot, so delicious.

i think changing millie's diapers from now on will not happen when addy is awake. this is what i found after changing a diaper this afternoon: addy with her fingers in the desitin tub, smearing it on her face & licking it. this is the second time she's eaten desitin! why!? where does she come up with these ideas? it's not like it even smells enticing...really, it goes on her bottom. (i called the pediatrician just to make sure i know what to look for in case she gets sick from some butt-ish particles from the tub-o-desitin). i'm not a leash type of parent, but these past few weeks have been changing my mind a bit ;o)

OKAY. something has changed since i put a cloth diaper on addy. this is from amelia today...it's just a ball under her! help! the other ones fit better, so i think this is just a bit too big right now. she even wore one through nap time & didn't get wet (thanks christine!), so i may be out to find more of those & less of these (one similar to this leaked within 2 minutes...ugh, i already have enough laundry to do!). so she is literally lifted off the bed from the diaper. what is wrong here?

this week i have been concentrating on making this better by thinking more positively. letting things go, like expectations for amelia, addy, wes, & i (& even griswold...i guess he is a dog, he can't help that he sheds...) & focus on the good things. the smiles & the eating desitin times. this seems to be a recurring theme for me. i guess i'm realizing that i get stressed out when i lack sleep. so i'm using some of my social work intervention background to calm us all down a bit more. & i think it's working...until today & i was confronted with severe dysfunction from two medical offices, but i won't discuss that today. b/c it's all negative & i'm not going to go there. nope. what was that mantra from the 'psycho-social-rehabilitation-er' days?? your thoughts become your actions, your actions become your ____ (i forget the end, i'm sure i'll remember it at 3 a.m.) but it surmises that your thought are what start it all. then i thought of the saying 'if mama's not happy, no body's happy' & i want my family happy! so here's to a realistically happy family. *clink* your glasses.