End of first month

The end of my first month of blogging and I'm truly enjoying it. I now know why a new weblog is created every second of every day, at least according to data collected back in April 2006.

This morning was my weekly "buddy stubble." The lady watching Katherine's age group asked if she was this quiet at home and of course I said a resounding NO. She said that Katherine didn't say a word the whole time she was in there. I should have known that the ride home was going to be talking-double-time to make up for 2 hours of silence.

Today was my mom's birthday, so we invited her over after nap time to make brownies. Katherine stood on top of the chair (to reach the counter easier) and helped Mer pour in the vegetable oil, break the eggs, measure out the water, mix the batter and pour it into the pan. She was also eager to help lick the bowl, with Mer's help. We cut out 3 brownies, added a candle to one and sang Happy Birthday to Mer. Simple celebrations mean so much more now.

Katherine seems to find random stuff I thought was tucked away because I didn't use it any more. Recently she found a little 3"x3" book called, "Mother to Son: Shared Wisdom from the Heart." I started reading through the "In the beginning" section and thought I'd share some of the quotes periodically in this and following posts as they pertain. It starts with:
The Five Keys:

1. Pray for him every day
2. Respect his father
3. Do everything in your power to create a peaceful home
4. Feed him love, morals, values, and integrity daily
5. Be a strong woman

I'd have to say the one that has been the most pertinent lately is, "Realize that from day one, he's wired to be self-reliant. Don't change that." I just told Jim tonight that Nathan won't let me comfort him like Katherine did. She would be just plum happy to let someone hold her all night, sleep inbetween us, be rocked to sleep, whatever meant constant contact. Not my little man. He doesn't want to be rocked or walked around for too long; he just gets figity. I think he might be cutting another tooth so last night at midnight when he was inconsolable, I tried bringing him into bed to cuddle him and calm him down after I tried rocking, walking, patting hiney, etc. Being in our bed meant play time which translates into: beat on daddy's head then laugh. Which leads to the other quote for today, "Accept the fact that boys and girls are different."

Tonight during reading time before bed, Katherine picked out a paragraph story about baby Jesus being born (her favorite bible story). The picture (shown on left) showed Mary holding baby Jesus and some shepherds. The story also told how Jesus was God's son and I went into a semi-age-appropriate story about how God was Jesus' REAL daddy and Joseph was Jesus' daddy on earth. I was so impressed with myself, I looked at Jim and said, "That was pretty good, huh?" So when Katherine looked at the picture and asked where Jesus' daddy was (she was looking for Joseph), I thought I might need to explain it a little clearer. My hesitation was too long and left an opening for her to declare: "Maybe he's at work."

Lunch Adventures

Nathan is finally getting old enough to take out a little more. His nap schedule has forced me to become more creative with where and when, but, it's still something a little different from the mundane-ness of the house.

Sooooooo, I decided to run some errands today. The kind that I can do while the munchkins are happily and safely strapped down in their seats and I remain in the comfort of my air-conditioned car. But, since we didn't leave until after Nathan woke up at 11:30, hunger pains were sure to play a part and I was ready for it (I thought). One of my errands was near a MacDonald's I've never been inside of, so my brave (or could be not-so-smart) self decided to take BOTH kids inside a restaurant I've never been inside of, BY MYSELF! Are you picking up on the foreshadowing?

It started to rain 2 minutes before we got there. I decided to get our food through the drive-thru then go inside (waiting in line inside was going to be too much). Katherine already had her mind set on going inside and I really didn't want to feed Nathan soupy baby food while teetering myself above him in the backseat. So we go through the drive-thru, get our food, and the rain stopped. Whoo hoo! Good sign.

I load up the purple-princess-dress-wearing little lady, the attach-to-the-table toddler seat, the over-packed diaper bag, the squirmy little boy strapped inside his car seat, two To-Go bags of food with drinks and we go inside. Put the little lady on her side of the bench, attach the toddler seat to the table, wipe down table with antibacterial wipes, take squirmy little boy out of the car seat and put him in the toddler seat, place Gerber stars in front of him, set out food for little lady and the straw to her apple juice falls on the ground. Uh Gross! I do the best mom-wipe-down of a 3-inch plastic straw possible; because going up to the counter to wait in line to ask for another straw with two children either waiting with parafanalia at the table or with me at the counter is TOTALLY out of the question.

Little lady proceeds to eat at her normal turtle pace, while I do my best to keep Nathan from licking the table or spreading his food-covered mouth of love all over the toddler seat that I really don't want to have to wash after only 2 uses. I somewhat successfully feed myself and Nathan, do my best to keep Katherine from causing the people in the booth behind her to slink down into their seats from Katherine's glaring stares of wonder, convince her to eat about 3/4 of her cheeseburger, all of her apples, too many of my french fries and keep all the trash neatly in a bag for easy throw-away.

Although, there was about 10 minutes worth of both Nathan and myself being done with eating while we watched and pursuaded little lady to continue eating instead of pressing her nose against the window to watch the passerbys, or quit figiting enough to fall out of her seat.
Ah ha! I'll entice her with the Happy Meal toy. I open it up and proceeded to play with it all the while telling her to finish up so she can hold it. The acorn attached to the squirrell then goes shooting across the table, down onto her bench and under my bench so far back that I can't reach it, not even with my generic Croc flip-flops taken off and used as a reaching tool.

Fine, we'll wait while she continues to eat, and eat, and eat. It seemed like 43 minutes, but was more like 4 that passed and she proudly and loudly proclaimed, "Mommy, I'm done!" Hallelujah, we're outta here. "But what about my acorn?" she asked. Without making this story any longer, I couldn't convince her that we didn't need it, so little lady, in the purple princess dress proceeded to crawl under the bench seat to retrieve her squirrell's acorn. Do I even need to go into detail concerning the cleanliness of the floor under my seat? I'll save the typing.

By this time, squirmy boy, who's been strapped into the car seat so I could fold up the toddler seat, is starting to get fussy and loud. I break out the antibacterial wipes and give Katherine a trucker's bath right there in MacDonald's. Our trash bag was filled to the top with our food wrappings and a total of 12 wipes. It was time for us to leave.

My overflowing muscle-bulging arms (I wish) were unavailable so my voice had to be the only tool to direct little lady where she needed to go. Being 3 and all, she has no clue that taller people are waiting for her to get out of the way so they can continue on with their daily lives, and it's all so much more interesting than mommy's voice barking out commands. Our departure, even though it was from the table literally closest to the door, was almost as eventful as our stay. A kind young man, probably without child, held open the door for the muscle-bulging, arm-filled mother with two kids squirming and not listening to her anyway. I thanked him and we walked 10 feet to our car. Yep, we got that lucky to park in the absolute closest spot also. It took what seemed like forever in the 90 degree heat to load up everything and finally sit down in the A/C, then sigh. Then Katherine asked, "Mommy, where we going to next?"

I now remember why we don't go inside to eat, just the three of us.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Nathan is cutting more teeth which means sleep has become optional; at least for him and me.

This one would fall under the category of "What are they thinking of at 3 years old?": One of our errands was to return a movie. Katherine asked what it was about and I explained that a man was looking for a girlfriend.
Katherine: And she has 2 legs?
Mommy: Uh, yes, she has 2 legs.
K: But 4 would work. She could have 4 legs to walk.

Scattered Sunday

"Today is ALL about Father's Day, Daddy" was one of the proclamations made by little lady this morning. Jim told me what she said, then he said, "I don't know what you've been telling her about today, but she thinks it's some huge deal." The weird part was that all I said was at the breakfast table, "Katherine, did you know that today is Father's Day?" That was it! I hadn't talked about it throughout the week, or the day before, nothing. I was kind of bummed about having to work on his thesis for Father's Day instead of doing something fun, so I just didn't bring it up. Guess she just knew how big of a deal it is supposed to be.

I don't know how many other mothers do this, or if it's even cute to the strangers we come into contact with, but I truly enjoy letting her wear her purple princess dress on short, one-stop trips. When her and I made our weekly Sunday evening trek to Subway, I let her keep on her dress AND the princess shoes (even though they are hard to walk in). It's so cute and gets lots of smiles from mostly any-age moms. It won't be long before she really cares about whether or not she's fashionable. What's a purple, sequin, glitter-covered dress if it's not shown off? Watch out Subway, we're coming back next week!

One interesting trait that is surfacing in both munchkins is their eyes. When Katherine was little, she had the biggest, brightest, beautiful, blue eyes that I loved to gaze into.









(Above) Here she is at 7 months old, a little upset that I'd put her in a pumpkin outfit for Halloween, but hanging in there.









(Above) Nathan at 8 months old. Do you notice a similarity also? The shape, color, bridge of their noses, eyelashes, lines under their eyes. I thought they looked similar. I LOVE Katherine's eyes and look forward to seeing what Nathan's will look like in a year or two.

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there. God has given you the drive and talent to not only love your family but also provide for them, and for that we are thankful. God bless you.

An open letter to Katherine

My Dearest Katherine,

Every night I check in on you and your brother before heading to bed. Last night you looked so sweet and peaceful lying there. Your fine blonde hair was lying tussled against your cheeks, you were cuddling Big Bear and Cathy Bear and all the blankets you insist on being covered with caused the formation of little wet hairs around your forehead. You looked so happy, serene, still, peaceful.

My natural clock encourages me to stay up late so I decided to watch you for a while and pray. I prayed for everything related to you I could possibly think of. For me to be a good mom and wife, to have patience, to show you unconditional love, teach you about your heavenly father and how to care and love for others, to put others first, for your first day of school (for me and you), to give you wisdom even as a child, to encourage you to enjoy learning and for the sinful struggles we're not even aware of yet. I prayed for your future husband, for your pre-teenage years, for your relationship with your brother, for your continued health and happines and most importantly for you to desire pleasing God.

Lately, throughout the day, you randomly tell me you love me, and those are the best moments of my day - every day. You are the sweetest girl; happy, animated and a natural-born cuddler. Your smile coupled with your big bright blue eyes is heart-melting.

You have changed so much in the last year. Everyday, you seemed to have left a little part of your babyhood behind.

You have developed a love of dancing, mostly in your purple princess dress every day to any music that's fun. And you enjoy dancing for Nathan, just to make him laugh.

You love every single one of your babies and play with them equally: Sophie, Emma, Octopus, Kristen, Baby Alive (Natalie), Gwen, Nannette, Peyton, Calista and Dora. You dress them, change their diaper, wipe their hineys, feed them, burp them, push them around in the stroller and grocery cart and insist on taking one of them with us at least once a week. You have started declaring that you are a mommy, to your babies of course. And then you'll look at me and ask, "Am I a good Mommy, Mommy?"

Your mis-pronounced words are still cute and I don't try to correct. You'll figure it out one day and I'll probably cry. I've started going to a "buddy stubble" (that would be a bible study, of course).

You still enjoy my nicknames for you: Punkin, Sweet Pea, Sugar Plum and my favorite Sunshine.

My funny faces still make you laugh and so far I'm enjoyable to be around. I still know all the answers and when needed, you willingly let me help.

You are the queen of specificity. You’re not really a diva about it. Yet. You are so very detailed. Your dainty little fingers managed to screw in a microscopic screw with a tiny-size screwdriver most men would fumble with. You enjoy writing out lists and carrying around a checkbook. You are the big helper for whoever is grocery shopping because you'll mark the items off the list, and you sit still.

Each Sunday, you go through about 4-5 dresses until you find something that works. I know that you're looking for the dress that twirls the highest and prettiest. Then it's coordinating hair bows, socks, shoes, whatever. You’re quite the fashionista! I hope you'll teach me some fashion sense one day. I am enjoying getting back into touch with my girly side. It was lost for a while.

I have really enjoyed watching you interact with your brother. You are so kind to him (most of the time) and are very careful to share with him. You love to tickle him, play peek-a-boo, make him laugh and carefully drag him across the floor by his feet. He is fascinated by you. You love him so much, and you tell him all the time. I hope your relationship with him continues to flourish, although I know there will be rocky times.

This Fall, you will be heading to preschool, too. This time last year, I could not have let you go. You were not ready. You were so clingy and needy; you were a baby still not quite sure what a new baby coming into our household soon would mean. But now? Now, you don’t need me quite as much and you’re excited about becoming a big girl and starting school.

Becoming a big girl seems to have happened overnight. It can’t have been three whole years, yet. Has it? Already? I remember your entrance into this world so vividly. I remember holding you as an infant, trying to make you fall asleep by sheer will alone. We chose to err on the side of caution so you got away with a lot. That's okay, though. We were learning also.

When I watched you last night, your tiny little body seemed much bigger than that of a three-year-old. You are growing up so fast and I enjoy it but also mourn it. It is what you're supposed to do and are doing so well. But the precious moments I try to cherish are ever so fleeting. Your great-grandmother would say the days are long, but the years are short. And three and a half years has passed faster than the blink of your beautiful long-eyelashed-eyes.

I love you precious, more than you'll ever know. God has blessed you. You are His.

~Mommy

The 'B' Chores List

I ventured out today during morning naptime to run some errands. Something I haven't done in about 3 weeks, and I remember why. As I was writing out my list of places we needed to visit (thankfully all of them were accessible from the car window), I noticed a trend. Most of them started with the letter "B" and those that didn't couldn't easily be changed to fit the theme. Soooooo, the 'yes-I-tried-early-childhood-education-for-2-semesters' mom decided to make a lesson out of it for my pre-schooler. She loves "writing" out lists of places to go and things to buy, so I made her her own list. "The 'B' Chores" List:























And because I am aware that she really can't read yet, my artwork was to make up for that milestone not being met. We had to get gas at the BP Station, pick up Kayla and Micah from the Baptist church, the mermaid picture next to Blockbuster is because we were returning The Little Mermaid II and our house was the final stop (that's a tree with 2 swings in it). We also talked about her bringing her baby, bear and bottle, things being blue, saying bye-bye, etc. It was probably more fun for me than her, but I enjoyed it. She was probably thinking, "Mom, I already know what the letter b looks like and what words start with b, can you give me some credit here?" The scratches through the boxes were her marking off each stop as we completed it. (I'm sure subconsciously it's a ploy to teach her to create and rely on lists and become as OCD-dependent as me. Oh well.)

The naps, oh yeah. Nathan managed to fight long and hard against a 20 minute nap while driving around, which meant he took an early and short afternoon nap and needed a nap before supper time; causing me to drive around another 10 minutes before introducing sleepy-head to a restaurant full of unsuspecting victims.

I've chosen to find some positives with him not sleeping when I want him to: when he wakes early in the afternoon and sister is still sleeping, him and I get great one on one time. We wrestle, tickle, crawl together, get the mail, inspect grass blades, swing and laugh lots. He enjoys exploring with few string attached (I've learned to close the bathroom door). He's certainly not afraid to leave the room I'm in in search of something more exciting. He gets a good hour or two of my undivided attention which is much harder for #2. So, all in all, I'm thankful that the good Lord has provided sleep in spurts when it's needed the most. Blogging usually happens late at night or during the half hour or so both kids are napping so my sleep is sporadic at best.

One of the highlights of my week was getting to spend time with my neice and nephew, Kayla and Micah. They came to visit a couple times this week for lunch, VBS at my mom's church is just down the road, and their visits were very pleasant and reminded me of how thankful I am for them. They're 9.5 and almost 7 and they're both VERY good with Katherine and Nathan. They've had practice with their sister who's almost 2 and it shows. I don't get to spend that much time with them so they were appreciated visits.

Girl's Night Out

Katherine and I had a Girls Night Out (GNO), which consisted of us going to Lowe's (needed floor cleaner) and Wal-Mart. We're simple folk, really. My lean-mean fruit-and-veggie eating machine declared that all she wanted for supper was a banana. And she would have been just fine eating A banana for supper. I declare. Jim started off the eventful evening with telling Katherine that since we were having a GNO, him, Nathan and George (the cat) were going to have a boy's night out and party. Her look was indescribable. So then he asked why we weren't taking Gracie since she's a girl also and her response, "Because Gracie doesn't have a car seat." How's that for being practical?

It was storming fiercely when we left so we had fun listing all the things the rain was falling on: cars, trees, flowers, grass, trucks, signs, branches, power lines, houses, windows, mailboxes, etc. She looked at her window and commented on ALL the raindrops, then said, "I can't count that far." But then quickly changed her mind and declared there were ten.

To spice up tomorrow a little bit during brother's nap, I wanted to buy a craft kit that we could do in about, oh, 5 minutes. So the end of our browsing through Wal-Mart was looking for this craft kit. Now mind you, she'd been so excited about us going out together that her voice was a couple notches louder than normal. She's not usually loud, but when excited, she can be. So she was officially excited and there were numerous times throughout the store that I had mentioned to please keep her voice down. She predictably asked where we were going next and I told her the arts and crafts aisle. Well, Katherine heard "craps" aisle and started the 20 questions in her loud voice.
K: Mommy, why we going to the craps aisle? What's craps? What you do with craps? Do I have craps? We made butterfly craps before? I don't remember. Oh, the purple and yellow one, yeah, I love that one. I really want to buy some more craps, Mommy.
And as you can guess, I got very tickled. So tickled, I couldn't correct her before the 20 questions at 100 decibels continued. I had to stop the cart and her from walking any further with her proud proclamations, and sheepishly avoided making eye contact with other mothers scoping for other "craps."

We finished off our excursion with 2 York peppermint patties, which I reluctantly let her hold all by herself in the back seat (she did marvelous). It was so simple, yet so joyful and one of those everyday moments that I wish I could store away forever.

I've been working on teaching her that she can talk to Jesus anytime. When she's playing, in the bathtub, in the car, before sleeping and eating, by herself, anytime. So on the way home she complained about the barely-there boo-boo that had just popped up from her shoes rubbing her. And her comment to me was,
K: Mommy, can we pray for it?
M: Of course we can honey.
(We're in the drive-thru at Taco Bell waiting for my husband's midnight snack)
M: I'll close my eyes and you pray.
K: Dear Jesus, please heal the boo-boo on my feet. Amen.
Wow! From the mouth of babes. He is here to heal all our boo-boos, anytime. I couldn't be more proud of her and her budding relationship with Christ.

On the XY chromosome homefront, Jim and I both believe that Nathan is probably cutting another tooth. His fussiness has returned; but alas, we'll have to wait for the proof once more. He got so tickled by his sister this afternoon. She had on "the" purple dress and was twirling (because what's a dress if it doesn't twirl?). He pulled himself up on the couch and giggled uncontrollably while watching her; so much that his knees gave way many times and plopped on his hiney. It was all too much to take, and they stopped once I got the video camera out, of course. I can see a fascination with the Dora potty seat forming. Does anyone know of any medicine to calm gag reflexes? Guess I 'll have to be the bathroom door monitor until we get this under control.

Lemonade anyone?

Well, this week was meant for me to make lemonade, I guess. The good news is that Nathan's fussiness from teething is better, Katherine has learned that there are consequences for emptying the bookshelf without putting the books back and my husband has still found a way to tolerate me when I'm in a bad mood. The bad news: It will take at least $5000 to fix just the pool and I did not pass the National Surveying Exam. I could go on and on about the negatives concerning my exam, because the devil has had soooo much fun planting horrible thoughts in my head. So I won't, I'll remind myself of the positives attached to this license-receiving endeavor:

• I passed 3 of 4 tests the first time I took them
• The guy sitting next to me in April was taking it for the 5th time; my next try will only be the 3rd
• It's only $120 to take the test
• I only have to re-take the portion I didn't pass
• God has a plan and he knows the desires of my heart (and my skill level)

When I lost my job in January, I chose to look at it as a blessing. I was going to stay home with our children, which is what I wanted the whole time. Jim and I were just forced into it. I still consider it a blessing (even when the days are bad). So this, I've decided, is just another way that God's almighty plan is taking a path that I never would have chosen. But, is better than anything I could have ever planned myself. I might not understand it, but I trust Him.

It gave me the opportunity to explain to Katherine that sometimes Mommy's have bad days too, and when Nathan pulls my hair, it hurts just as bad. She was a real trooper this afternoon, since I got the results in the mail. Nathan, on the other hand, decided to "reward" me with taking a late AM nap and a 20 minute PM nap. I'm afraid he truly takes after his father, who wasn't and still isn't a big fan of napping. Oh well. He laughs hysterically when I gum his ribs, throw him in the air, play peek-a-boo, poof air in his face and has decided that crawling EVERYWHERE is his newest passion. Gonna have to buy some cheapy pants to protect his knees from the tile floors. He's seriously on the move.

Better rest up for tomorrow. There's no telling what it will bring.

p.s. On one of the other blogs I follow, I found this paragraph describing a woman and her husband in the kitchen and thought it was hilarious enough to share. I've switched the names and some of the traits around, but you'll get the idea:

"Whenever Jim and I are in the kitchen it's like this dueling dance of power. He's the cook and I'm just basically a hack that fakes her way through a meal. However, our approach to cooking sometimes reveals our approach to life and our levels of optimism about the world around us.
For example, he's a recipe skimmer, basically he actually comprehends the recipe the first time he reads it and his cooking-intuition is 99% right. I'm a recipe studier, analyzer, follower (to a fault) which has not worked in my favor. His attention span is long when it comes to cooking. He's fast and adept and flings food around while he's stirring. I am slow and agonizing, taking twice as long to do everything, frequently do it the hard way and always keep everything inside the pan. He does not wash as he goes. I take too long washing, inevitably messing up something cooking because I wasn't paying attention to the food. I assume it's all going to work out fine, and it usually doesn't; he's certain it will and it does."

A beer commercial day

I know that most mothers go through the old Michelob beer commercial's slogan, "Some days are better than others," and the last couple of days fit that slogan for me. I was just thankful to make it to naptime. Maybe I should drink one also.

My precious little lady has REALLY been stretching the mommy limits when it comes to how serious she thinks I am when I tell her to do or not do something. Last night, after repeated threats for weeks prior, I caught her using both hands to "clear" off the bookshelf in her room. I caught her when about 2/3 of the top shelf was completed and in a moment of not thinking I yelled, "What the hell are you doing?" Not good. I know I am a broken person. I'm sure that one will come back later on. She received her well thought-out and calmly implemented punishment and soon there was crying, wailing, slobbery/snotty bubbles, drama, etc. She pulled out the full arsenal. One of those moments when you question whether or not the punishment was worth it. (We've been at this for 2 weeks now, yes it was worth it). But what shocked me was 15 minutes later, I walked back through the hall and noticed that she had completed her original goal. More perplexed than mad, I calmly explained to her that she was disobeying and there would be another punishment after she finished getting ready for bed. Well, bed-time ritual completed and 15 minutes later she looked mortified that I had remembered the punishment. The drama continued. Again, the well thought-out, calmly implemented punishment ensued and an age appropriate discussion followed with lots of love and hugs and kisses.

I know this is "normal" activity and I'm beginning to start the list of "Mommy's Rite of Passage":

1. lack of sleep
2. feelings of guilt (after noticing a tooth has come in, questioning punishments and weighing battles, cleaning vs. playing, who to attend to first)
3. potty training
4. leaving child with babysitter

So far, I laugh when I hear terrible twos because they were a piece of cake with Katherine. Her will and opinion has entered the scene now and the threes look like they're going to be much more difficult.

She heard me say today, "No, Nathan. You can't put on lip gloss because you're not old enough." One of those that sounds perfectly appropriate in context but absolutely ridiculous right after you say it. I'm sure he won't be able to do lots now because he's not old enough. I'll get back with you on that.

Gracie and Me

I just finished watching the movie "Marley and Me" and I've had a heart-to-heart with myself concerning my attitude towards Gracie. Since Katherine came home from the hospital, Gracie has acted like the begrudged
--> used-to-be only child. She hasn't made the effort I wanted her to to accept the newest members of our family. So, for over three years I've been disappointed.
I know you've heard stories about how labs are so good with kids. They're interested in this new little different-smelling person that's come home from the hospital. They're very protective of the baby; won't let new people get too close. They let kids lay all over them and pull fur when learning how to stand. They carefully play with new-walking babies, so as not to knock them over. They want to sleep in children's rooms, next to or in their beds. They are eager to run and play with older kids when given a chance to go outside. You've heard all those stories too, right?

Well, I did and I'm afraid it poisoned my expectations for our dog. Gracie hid in the closet for two weeks when we brought Katherine home. She smelled her a couple of times and wasn't interested. She was not protective of her and would leave the room if Katherine would start crawling her way. She was horrible at getting up abruptly and knocking over the "eager walker" and had/has no desire to sleep anywhere but in our room or the living room. And when there is outside play, she's more interested in what mom and dad's play could be like, more than playing with Katherine (who is finally able to and wants to run around with her now). The fur, don't get me started on the insane amounts of fur.

So I was faced with a cross-roads tonight. Do I continue to harbor resentment that this dog has not been the kid-friendly dog I dreamed of or do I accept her for her not-interested-in-little-people faults and lovingly encourage her and our children to interact? Well, you know the answer to that.

She is 6.5 years old and showing signs of slowing down. She's already on a medicine required every other day and is getting "ailments" associated with age. I think this movie was good for me, tonight. She's been a good dog and great practice for me to put aside my expectations for two little humans training to become adults.























She can't be that bad of a dog. Not many of them would behave long enough to get their picture taken my their weird mother AND keep the outfit on.

One from the archives

Today for lunch my mom came to visit. As we were talking in the kitchen, Katherine had very quietly pulled her rocking chair into the kitchen and was rocking in it. But to add some shock value, she had her Cabbage Patch Kid (Baby Peyton) hiked up under her shirt and was breastfeeding her. My reaction was more like: that's sweet! My mom's reaction was more along the lines of "does she do that in public?" And my answer would be, not yet.

Since I'm using this blog as my version of a journal, I've got a story from the archives:
When Katherine was 18 months, she was getting pretty good at signing. At home she was fluent with the words: more, thank-you, milk, stars and a couple others I've forgotten (perfect reason to journal). One day I went through the drive-through at McDonald's. The lady handed me my drink and noticed cutie-patootie sitting in the back seat so she handed me some type of toy to give to her. 'What a perfect opportunity to practice 'thank-you' on strangers' I thought, so I turned around facing the back seat, gave Katherine the toy and told her to thank the kind lady while signing the word thank-you (it's supposed to look like the picture on left). I looked back at the lady and told her, "My daughter is learning sign language and she's telling you thank you." There was this awful look of horror on the lady's face and some disgust as she looked in the back seat then looked at me. I then turned around to find my daughter with her hand up to her mouth/chin but with only ONE finger up! Yup, you guessed it, the middle finger. There were some rapid explanations spewing from my mouth and correct hand gestures, but nothing was more effective than driving off. We practiced a little bit more at home on that one before trying it out on anyone else.























Katherine at 18 months old.

She also has this cute ritual every morning when she takes her vitamin. I bought the Publix brand vitamins which are in the shapes of animals. When I hand it to her she says the animal on one side, then says the animal on the other side (which is always the same). Then, while examining the indentions around the sides, top and bottom of the vitamin, she says 'ladder' four times. So EVERY morning, depending on the animal, she stands still holding the vitamin in her hands and turns it around and around and I hear, "lion, lion, ladder, ladder, ladder, ladder." I would say she might have some quirky habits; again, must get that from her father. :)

The good news on the home front is: they've starting to sleep in past 7:00! Whoo hoo! This morning at 6:30, Katherine called from her bedroom, "Mommy, I'm awake!" and my response, "But it's only 6:30, go back to sleep." I don't think she did because there were an additional 53 books strewn across her floor. At least she was quiet. I woke up about an hour later to her singing while sitting on the pot, "The B.I.B.L.E., yes that's the book for me." Nathan has figured out that crying anywhere between 5 and 6:30 in the morning does no good. Nobody is going to rescue him, so he just goes back to sleep. His crawling has become very fast also. I think I got the first sign of him wanting to crawl away from me.

I've been dog-sitting for a neighbor this week, and they were so kind to let us use their pool. My munchkins have LOVED it. Katherine has become very comfortable with jumping in, going under and swimming all around by herself with just arm swimmies on. She's doing very well. Nathan loves to splash the water in front of him, then look around at whoever just put all that water on his face. He prefers me holding him and not the cute little floaty made for 8 month olds. He also keeps wanting to put his face in. I'm not ready for that yet, nor am I correctly trained in underwater swim lessons for children or kid CPR. He'll have to put his daredevil-ness aside for a little bit.

You can take the girl out of Sparr...

Boy, were we red-necking it out this evening in suburban SE Ocala! After supper the little lady decided that she wanted to play in the back yard where the kiddie pool, playhouse and toddler steps/slide are. OK, we've got about half an hour before munchkin man will get fussy. Within 5 minutes, here was the scene:

• Gracie (the dog) was eating poop.
• Katherine was in nothing but her white undies splashing in the filthy pool that hadn't been cleaned in about a week.
• Nathan was on his hands and knees playing in the mud created by Katherine's overflow, and trying to eat it of course.
• My feet and legs were very dirty (go ahead and laugh, that's big for me).

And it ended with the munchkins getting hosed off and walking in the house in their birthday suits.






















But all of it was our family's version of a close-to-perfect evening (Daddy was unfortunately working late). Katherine's laughter was continuous and priceless (you know, the kind of laughter that conjures feelings you wish you could bottle up and keep forever), the dog and cat were playing nicely with each other, the birds were literally singing and I enjoyed watching my little man be a boy (his sister wouldn't have liked playing in the mud and still doesn't). Funny how stuff like that meant nothing 10 years ago.

Katherine on Questions:
I remember when Nathan was 10 days old, Katherine started the endless questions that seemed to never end. Today's car ride had about 5 minutes worth of those, the kind you can't finish answering before another one starts. Here were some of them:
Why he a man?
What did he say?
Why you tell him that mommy?
What you give him mommy? (I was buying a sweet tea at McDonald's)
Why she a lady?
What she say?
Why you thirtsy?
What's a condo?
Can we stay in the Heltel again? (See pronunciations below)
What are all these buildings? (She wants to know what each building is for)
Why are those kids in the bus?
Where they going?
Why that kid standing up?
Why that bus red?
Why there 2 red buses?
Why that bus behind us?

Katherine on Why:
It was soon after she began the endless questions 7 months ago that I realized there are 3 different meanings for the word "why." Bet most of you didn't know this.

1. The "why" we're most familiar with: the reason for something happening. "Why are those kids in the bus?" "They're going somewhere honey." And she's happy with that.
2. The "why" that prolongs the conversation. After a string of about 15 "why" answers, I finally get to, "Because that's how Jesus wanted it" and about half the time, she's satisfied. I've even tried anticipating what the next 4 or 5 questions will be and explaining them before she can ask. Doesn't work.
3. The "why" that questions my authority. My least favorite. "I told you not to do that." "Mommy, why?" with a gleam in her eye and a smirk on her face. Which then leads to the ultimate mom answer that everyone swore off saying to their kids when they were little, "BECAUSE I SAID SO, THAT'S WHY!"

Katherine on pronunciations:
I thought I'd also keep a running list of her cute pronunciations at this age:
Publix = Pugalix
Hamburger = Hangaber
Blanket = Blankalie
Yes = Yeth
Chair = Chayuh (same with all words that rhyme; hair, bear, etc.)
Hotel = Heltel

A couple days ago she asked, "Mommy, can I call you Mom." I was sad for about a second until she asked, "Mommy, can I call you Dad." Thank goodness, I don't think we're to the Mom label yet.

(All these pictures were taken previously with the disposable camera. Thank goodness it was disposable because I would have thrown it away anyway.

Sunday School Support

For those of you who have found every excuse in the book to not take your little ones to Sunday School, please read on...

There is no amount of academic knowledge your child can impress you with that will beat their version of the bible story and lesson that they learned in Sunday School. So much of our culture is focused on pushing just the academics. Don't get me wrong, I am a HUGE advocate of a good education and making learning fun. But, in my opinion, more importantly is making sure their heart is growing to know and desire God's will. More mornings than not it has been harder to get two kids ready for Sunday School and my little man doesn't make it any easier (it's his nap time of course). But every single time, when Katherine tells me about what she's learned, I am reminded of how worth it it was. She has a WONDERFUL teacher that makes it fun and memorable. I am so thankful for her and the opportunity for Katherine to learn on her own level.

Did I happen to mention how much teething can disrupt a household? Maybe I'll get into that when I'm in a better mood. Like say, in a couple of years.

No pics this time. I have to go buy a camera some time soon.

That explains it!

Well, yesterday's find explained a lot: Nathan is cutting 2 teeth on the bottom. All within about 10 days, he started crawling really well, was pulling up and cut 2 teeth. What's next, "Mom, can I have the car keys?"























One other important milestone I wanted to add was this must be the age that boys start showing they're boys. At 7 months, he's just been rougher than Katherine ever was. Obviously nothing drastic yet, but certainly different.
















After watching Sleeping Beauty the other day, my little lady asked me, "Mommy, when Daddy gets home, can he be my prince?" As I attempted to not show the little tear collecting in the corner of my eye, she then followed it up with, "And then can he make all my dreams come true?" So this made me wonder, when do I have "the talk" with her. You know, the one about how fairy tales are just that. Just because the girl finds a man to marry doesn't mean the story ends with happily ever after. Oh you thought I meant THAT talk. Oh please. She's still learning how to hold a crayon correctly.























Thanks also to Uncle Willet and Aunt Josie for the purple dress-up dress. She wants to wear it every day and absolutely loves it. I'll probably have to cut it off of her one day.

Bananas and Attitude

Ahhh, Thursday. One day closer to the weekend. Which in my case means absolutely nothing because my husband is writing his thesis. I guess it does mean I might get to help him write and/or format also. Please pray for his continued momentum and his attitude to remain positive. Mine too, I guess.

As much as I don't like to admit it, my husband is probably right about this one thing: Nathan does not do well if I take him anywhere during his normal nap times. Which means I'm confined to the house between 9-11 and 1-4 because he likes his bed or a quiet, moving car. How's that for feeling entrapped. I know that it's just a season, but it still stinks. Katherine used to stay asleep in the car seat after I'd put her in the shopping cart and push her around for an hour. On the brighter side, he is eating solid foods much better, though. He doesn't make the face that resembles swallowing poison/how-could-you-do-this-to-me-mom when I give him a minute piece of an over-ripe, mushy banana.

Katherine has taken a serious interest in reading books lately. She will choose to do that (with my help) over riding her tricycle, playing in the kiddie pool, coloring, and most of her other favorites. TV still trumps though. I didn't grow up enjoying to read so I'm trying to keep it fun for her. Her little sense of humor is also starting to really develop. Today, while eating breakfast, she said, "Mommy, after I eat this, I'll eat this, then this, then this, then.....I'm gonna eat.....the CHAIR!" Belly laughs then followed and most of the other furniture items in the dining room were included. I've also got a glimpse into the pre-teen years, I think. She has figured out how to answer me almost valley-girl-ish, which for me means including the word, "uh" before every answer or comment, severe inflection for each word and each word pronounced definitively. Does that make sense? I guess the easier way to describe it would be to say that it has ATTITUDE. Hello! She's 3! Not 13! And it's not just me that gets it, it's brother, the dog, the cat, the lizards running across the sidewalk, the trash truck driver-man, other cars on the road, "Uh, mommy. Why don't you beep beep at them and tell them to move over?" She hasn't started school yet and hangs out with kids mostly younger than her. She must have heard her father talk like that.

























This picture is old but shows how sweet and innocent she can look and be. I've been taking pictures with a disposable camera since Easter and have put my 5-year-long dream of buying an SLR on hold. Having something is better than nothing right now so bring on the point and shoot. God knows the desire of my heart and when the timing is right, it will happen.

And one more thing. This blog-thing I've started may seem a little personal at times and there's a reason for that. I've been suffering from a slight case of mommy-guilt for not taking more pictures, journaling, etc. for my two adorable children and this is my answer. I type much better and faster than I write and it forces me to download pictures more often than once a year. It is my goal to print these posts out and put them in a book for my children to look at later, when they're interested. So please, be discreet with who you forward this website to. I certainly will be.