Lizzie's exclamations 5-23-11

Today has been a fun one for Lizzie quotes.

I always think to myself that I will write down all the funny and cute and smart things Lizzie says, but usually forget to. I guess Facebook has its place in some way for recording some of these things, but it really doesn't count. Let's face it; once a status update becomes old news of 22 hours ago (or if you're really popular, 3 hours ago), it is never heard from again.

Today Lizzie counted to ten without any coaching or prompting. She was in her high chair, minding her own business while I was getting ready to clean her up from lunch (rather, her pre-nap "I'm hungry" stalling routine cheese sandwich), when she started counting her fingers. "Two, fwee, fwee..." I almost stopped listening because she usually gets stuck at "fwee" like a broken record. But to my great surprise, she kept going. "Fo', fy, siss," I couldn't help it, I interrupted. "Wow, Lizzie! You counted to six!" She grinned up at me, then went back to her fingers. "Se'en," then moved to her other hand to finish, "Eight, nine, ten!"

Ten fingers. So what if she thinks the first seven of them are on her right hand. But at least she has ten in total!

While in the bath tub tonight, Lizzie was splashing up a storm with her toys. Once the waves subsided, her toys were floating in a spiral.

She started to exclaim, "Ring around rosie! Ring around rosie!" (Except she can't say her "R"s yet, so it was more along the lines of "wing wound wosie," which is kind of cuter.)

A few minutes later, she had her drenched washcloth draped over her head, dripping water down her face, thus, "Waning on you!" (Raining on you!)

Yes, "You" equals "me" and "Me" equals "Mommy". 'Cause that's how it makes sense in her head.

Unofficially

I took an unofficial break from pretty much all things blogs last week. I didn't write any. I only read a few (my Google reader had some 500 unread blogs that I sort of skimmed marked as read this past weekend). And I had a great week.

I've been getting up before 7 (most mornings) and having coffee, a good little quiet time, making something of a plan for the day, and usually doing a bit of exercise. Most mornings I can get all of this in before Lizzie wakes up. This is why I love it when my husband is on a routine that gets him up and out the door early in the morning, which also makes us ready to go to bed before midnight each night. All these things don't happen on a retail or unemployment schedule--or lack thereof.

Then during naptimes, I have been either getting in some reading or doing stuff around the house that needs to be done. Like de-cluttering. (Don't tell anyone but I actually borrowed and read through The Complete Idiot's Guide to Cleaning this week. I have 2 more weeks before I have to return it to the library, and I'm hoping I will actually implement at least some of it before taking it back.) But so far, I've just been trying to uncover the surfaces in our home. If I can find our furniture, I think I'll have a much better chance at maintaining a neat and peaceful home. At least for the next 2 months.

So, not much has been done in the realm of blogging.

However, I feel like it's a good time to give a brief update.

Lizzie is 23 months old. Almost 2. Sleeping in a big girl bed. Singing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" into a microphone. Parroting what she hears. Walking around the house with her shopping cart (with her baby doll or puppy dog sitting in the front basket), putting things into it, and saying, "Buy diss." She has cut the first of four of her 2-year molars, and seems to be working on the next one. She is mastering the art of manipulation by cuteness. She "helps" me sweep the floor, water the garden, and clean up. (The garden currently still has one cherry tomato, one cucumber, and now 4 (hopefully) lettuce seedlings.) She still can't say her "k" sounds. She says "wuv you" when she gives hugs. She seems to be catching on to the idea that she will be a big sister, and that there is a "bay-ee hiding" in Mommy's tummy.

Speaking of which, I am 32 weeks pregnant. There are only 8 weeks left to go, Lord willing. I'm really hoping there aren't 9 weeks left. I'll try not to complain about it too much, but I just have to say that I am still not the biggest fan of being pregnant. I had to break out the support hose on Sunday; it helped the insane swelling I've been having in my left foot/ankle/leg, but I'm not sure if it was worth it. Part of me would rather have swelling than wear nylons. I haven't taken a picture of my pregnant self in a while, though I know I should. If for no other reason than to see how my size compares to what I looked like at this point last time. I have a feeling I'm bigger.

Every once in a while I get concerned about giving birth again, but the other night, after seeing a video of a goat being born, I was considering that I was glad we deliver little, soft, human babies, rather than anything huge or with hooves. I'm pretty sure being a mother rhinoceros would be the worst thing ever. Most other babies don't grow their horns or antlers until they're older. Not so the rhinos.

My mom's book release party/signing went really well. Here are some pictures. It was a lot of fun, and it was a huge success, due largely to a fantastic turnout of friends from church.

I am strongly considering venturing out into a business. Ambitious, I know. Especially for someone who is expecting a second child, and is somewhat lazy. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of risk, and there could be a fair amount of profit, even if I do get off to a slow start. We're praying about it, but for the most part we have peace.

Well, it's been about half an hour of nap time consumed here, and I have some more decluttering to do before I can feel like I crossed off much of significance on my To Do list today.

This may unofficially be my only post of this week. And I am OK with that.

Sneaking

Do you have to hide your junk food from your children, too?

Disguised as coffee.  One day she will catch on.  Until then, it's all mine!

Calling All Mommy Bloggers

Today's nap time has been long-awaited.

We went to the doctor's office for our belated 15-month appointment (yes, she is almost 17 months old; there was an insurance kerfuffle, but it's fixed now so we're finally back on track) and had her royal highness checked out.  She's got a mild to moderate head cold.  Really?  That's all?  She does seem to be feeling better today, though

This week I've had some fun during the afternoon nap:

I went grocery shopping.
I made lots of lists.
Vacuumed.
Washed lots of dishes.
Got some reading in.
Had a few cups of coffee.
Visited more blogs than I can shake a stick at.
Paid the bills.
Made dinners.
Drafted blog posts for my busy days or ones in which my creativity flatlines.  (I have a few recipes I want to share with you soon!)

Today during this nap I have managed to:
Finish the laundry, clean the bathroom, help Sam practice his martial arts stick work, change and wash the sheets on the bed, have a brief but uninterrupted phone conversation with a friend, set up a linky tool (yay!), and compose a blog post!  And the girl is still sleeping--maybe I'll wake her up too early to get her out the door to an appointment more often!

I did want to show you this quick little Before and After:

Lizzie was starting to reach into the silverware drawer and remove anything she could reach.  The knives were in front.  Bad planning, Mommy.  Bad planning.  So a re-do was necessary, and I did it on Monday.

Yes, those are coffee grounds in the corner.  Don't ask.

All this was rattling inside the drawer.

Ta-da!  Now the knives and forks are safe from little fingers.

Have you accomplished anything that you'd like to tell about or show off?  Link up!

Here are the qualifiers for the Nap Time Warriors:

Just mention something you accomplished, whether leisure or labor, in an effort to use your time wisely.
Please link to a specific post on your blog at the linky tool below, and somewhere in your post, please link back to this site.
If you want to grab the button, please feel free to!  I'll try to create the tool this afternoon.
You don't have to have a napping child to participate.
If you're not a blogger, post in the comments.

Nap Time Warrior

I knew that naps were important before I had a baby. But I had no idea how crucial they are.

These days naps are my lifeline.

When that pink, cooing, eating, squawking, diaper-filling child arrived in our home, I took for granted how much she slept. Sure, the naps were not long, but they were often. The night time sleep was similar to napping, too. Short and sweet. It was all I could do to eat, sleep, take a million pictures of her tiny face, and shower during those early weeks.

Then we lived through a period in which she only napped for 35 minutes at a time. On the dot. It was enough to make me quite crazy. There was nothing of significance that could be accomplished in 35 minutes so I didn't even try. I cried a lot.

When I managed to settle her into taking two naps, I was elated. I had a schedule I could count on! She would nap for a total of 4 hours each day. Four whole hours. Finally, I could begin to pick up our home from the shambles it had become during the 35-minute nap period; and I even had time to relax.

Another hard spot came when she went to only one nap. I have to choose whether to take time for myself, or to get something useful done.

As I took an assessment of my days I realized that I do have a regular period daily in which I do not have a delightful little person on my leg clamoring for my full attention. There are hours available to me, if I will just take them.

This was highlighted by the words in Ephesians 5:8-17, specifically these two verses:

See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. (v.15-16, NKJV, italics mine)

It requires some discipline, and I believe it will require some accountability.

This is where the Nap Time Warrior comes in.

Weekend warriors are the folks who try to fit as much into their weekend as possible, be it sports, yard work, DIY projects, whatever they can do with a great burst of enthusiasm, and then go on with their routines the rest of the week.

I have brief spurts of time, a couple hours here, a couple hours there. But the key is that they are available to me, and I am responsible for how I use them.

Some days I will lace up my shoes, grin and bear it, and exercise. Other days I will use the time to prepare dinner. Still other days I will write a blog post or two, or make phone calls, or pay bills, or clean, or put away laundry. Some days I may only sit with a book and a cup of coffee and that will be how I choose to enjoy spoils of victory. And there will be the nap times that get frittered away. I hope to have fewer of those days.

What about you? What do you plan to do during the next nap?

And if you're not in the stage of having napping children, what do you do between getting home from work and eating dinner or going to bed? Or during your lunch hour?

Top 10 Favorite Board Books

With a 16-month-old who enjoys the sound of ripping paper, our accessible book collection is very sturdy.

Additionally, with a 16-month-old who likes repetition, our book repertoire is fairly consistent.
With no further ado, for Top Ten Tuesday, here are Our 10 Favorite Board Books:

1. Caps For Sale, Esphyr Slobodkina

We read this at least once a day. And at random moments Lizzie will smirk, shake her finger in the air, and say "tsz, tsz, tsz!" Caps For Sale is especially wonderful when your child is obsessed with hats, monkeys, or foot-stamping, as mine is.


2. Gossie, Olivier Dunrea
"Gossie is a small yellow gosling who likes to wear her bright red boots. Every day." You don't know anyone who likes to do the same thing Every Day, do you? A few weeks ago I had a revelation from this book; it still impacts my heart when I read it.

3. Gossie & Gertie, Olivier Dunrea

Gertie is Gossie's friend, who follows Gossie, but not all the time. The catchphrase, "Follow me!" is useful when I want Lizzie to come along. Following Mommy is more fun when she relates it to the story.

4. Hippos Go Berserk, Sandra Boynton

We have borrowed this from the library multiple times. It has actually taught Lizzie some counting. She counts to two, and points out the numbers on the page while I read it.

5. Girl of Mine, Jabari Asim

This is the sweetest book, and it elicits hugs and soft cuddles every time I read it to Lizzie. When rocking her before bed I can make her literally melt as I quote: "Giggly, wiggly, precious pearl. I'm so glad that you're my girl!" We have had it from the library for nearly 6 weeks now, and I'm sure we will have to buy it ourselves, because we can't just keep it on perpetual renewal.

6. The Wheels On the Bus
I really can't find any info on this specific book... it just has the very annoying song, which I have abbreviated, and the pages have flaps. It is terrible. But she loves it, so I can't hide it from her, can I?

7. Where Is Baby's Belly Button? Karen Katz

My aunt sent the "Lift the Flaps" collection of Karen Katz's books, and they have been a hit. Belly Buttons are fascinating at the moment, so we like this one. Sadly, several flaps have been exuberantly severed from their pages.

8. Baby's First Bible

There are few more precious things than having a toddler who can barely speak asking to read the book about Jesus (using ASL for Babies' "book" and "Jesus").

9. The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Eric Carle

Who can't love a caterpillar who eats one apple, two pears, three plums, four strawberries, five oranges, a sausage, a chocolate cake, a lollipop, swiss cheese, ice cream, a cupcake, a piece of cherry pie, a pickle, a slice of salami, and a piece of watermelon, then eats a green leaf and turns into a butterfly?

10. Pajama Time, Sandra Boynton

Sing-song rhythm, and it's all about getting pajamas on. "Jamma, jamma, jamma, jamma, P! J!" Anything that redirects toward bedtime is a winner in my book.

What are your favorites? They don't have to be board, they can be made of regular paper. You have to be very gentle with paper. No ripping. Very gentle.

In Which I Lock the Baby in the Truck

I thought the keys were in my pocket.

The morning started smoothly enough. It was a perfect, clear, sunny day--the kind that you wish were the norm every day of the year: chilly in the morning, and dazzlingly bright and warm by lunch time.

On a mission to find size 2T long sleeved shirts, I packed up Lizzie, the stroller, and a cup of Cheerios to hit one of the local thrift stores, where they have all clothes half off on Wednesday. Half off? Why don't I go there more often? I collected a handful of toddler shirts, pants, and a velveteen dress, plus a couple of kitchen accessories, paid for them with a $5 and two $1's, dropped the shopping bag in the truck, then walked to the big pet store chain in the same parking lot. The Guinea pigs were a hit, and we made friends with the kittens for adoption.

It was getting to be close to lunchtime, so we made our way back to the truck. I loaded Liz into the car seat, and hit the clicker, so all the peripheral doors would lock. Because it's safer that way. She was settled, was chowing down on her Cheerios, and I shut the door to throw the stroller in the back.

And then I froze.

There were the keys.

On the seat.

Inside the truck.

With my baby.

Who was happily chewing, smiling, and kicking her sneaker-clad feet. She held out the cup of Cheerios, offering them to me.

I smiled, waved, and pulled my cell phone out of my jeans' back pocket. Thank God I at least had the phone on my person. "It's OK, baby. Hi, honey!" I say, listening to the phone ring on the other end of the line. "Eat your Cheerios. Don't drop them!"

Maybe one of the doors wasn't all the way closed. I walked around the vehicle. Nope, they're all soundly latched.

Still no answer. I wave to Lizzie from the other side of the truck. "Pick up, pick up! Oh, please, Jesus! Make Sam pick up his phone!" Sam doesn't always hear or acknowledge his phone ringing.

Voicemail.

I hung up and dialed a second time, and he answered. "Sorry, my mom was talking to me--" I cut him off.

"I need you to come. I locked Lizzie in the truck."

"You lost Lizzie?!" Oh, thank God I didn't lose her!

"No, she's here, I locked her in the Suburban. I need you to come with a key."

"I'll be right there."

We live only about 5 minutes away from the shopping center where I was stuck, so I knew if we could all just avoid tears, everything will be OK.

Looking back, I'm glad no one called the authorities; I could have looked suspicious the way I was hovering outside a huge SUV, peering in the passenger window, and then nervously panning the parking lot and passing traffic. I think I freaked out the Hispanic girls getting back to their Beetle parked next to me. They loaded up their goods as quickly as they could, avoiding eye contact (not that I was trying to draw attention to myself in this embarrassing situation), and keeping a good distance from me.

L was completely oblivious. She was having a grand time. As long as she did not spill her entire open cup of Cheerios before her daddy showed up with a spare key, she would continue to be fine. But I worried, because I didn't want to have to try to console her from the other side of the locked door.

We played peek-a-boo. We blew kisses. We pointed at each other and laughed. She picked up individual Cheerios and held them out to me, as though I could bite them out of her fingers through the window. I commanded her to not drop them. We signed "I love you" (our version, anyway).

And then Lizzie signed "Jesus loves me" with the biggest pleased grin on her face. My heart stopped.

Little ones to Him belong, they are weak but He is strong. Over the past few days I had begun teaching her the song, but I didn't get a lot of feedback from her. "Strong" is Lizzie's favorite part of the song, because she flexes her arms and grunts, then laughs.

"That's right, baby, Jesus loves you. He's right there with you, even if Mama isn't in the truck with you." She was so happy, so content. So assured that she was safe. From that moment, our waiting was full of the peace of God.

Another few minutes passed before Sam pulled up, in full running gear, and we unlocked the truck. Rejoicing, I got in the car. I am thankful because though it was inconvenient, frustrating, and one of those really embarrassingly dumb moments, nothing traumatic happened; and I am also thankful because Sam had not left for his 3 mile run while I was out, which would have made his prompt assistance impossible. The rest of the day was uneventful; we drove home, had lunch, read stories, kept the laundry going.

And all afternoon, dwelling in my mind were the words, Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. Hebrews 13:5

Kitchens, Plastic and Real

This weekend we hit one of our favorite subdivision yard sale extravaganzas. If we had any particular goal in mind, it was to buy Lizzie a kitchen play set. And a baby monitor, since our video monitor took a dive off a bookshelf and didn't survive. No luck on the monitor.

However, we had success, and found a large kitchen set in great condition, with a ton of dishes, for $25!

Now a colorful plastic "Country Kitchen" is in the dining room, in view of the real kitchen.

Liz is in love. She pretends to microwave a cup, pushing the buttons, closing the door, pushing the buttons again, removing the cup, then pretending to drink out of it. Then she giggles. And we giggle. Watching her pretend play is amazing. Her imitations are exaggerated, and almost exact. That girl wants to be just like me.

Humbling thought.

At least both kitchens are clean. I know they're clean, because I used Clorox wipes on them. The real one and the plastic one. Now I have two kitchens to pick up before bed every night. Or at least more dishes to put where they belong. I may have to implement a chore for Lizzie after dinner.

Recently I did a complete ceiling-to-floor cleaning of the kitchen. The last time I did that was during my 2nd trimester, and I have a 16-month-old child. The Clorox wipes are as close as it has gotten to thoroughly clean in a long time. If I had absolutely no pride, I would have taken "before" and "after" photos, but I only took one "after" photo of what I'm the most pleased with.

You know how those odd cooking staples like oil, vinegar, and all the things that get too close to the stove somehow have a film of grease, then the countertop gets all gunky, and so does anything that touches the gunky countertop?

And you know that one huge platter you have that you only use for Thanksgiving? The one that takes up half a cupboard?

Well, I repurposed the platter, and gave all the bottles a place to live. Isn't it pretty? It makes me happy.


Back to this weekend. To make room for the new kitchen set, I cleared the dining room table and took out a leaf. This means we have a clean dining room, too. It means we can eat without pushing papers and crayons and contact lens cases and batteries and scissors and power tools to the far end in order to find a place to set our plates.

The office is taking shape. There are no more papers on the floor. We vacuumed it. Yes, that's a big deal around here. Why, yes, we don't have company over very often. Why do you ask?

L's closet has only clothes in it that she can grow into. All her smaller clothes are in the attic. Next I will go through her toys. Slowly but surely I am making my way through the house. One day it will be clean; maybe even free of excess clutter.

Not free of clutter. Free of excess clutter. And I can live with that.

What project are you working on, what result are you happy with, or what do you hope to accomplish this month?

I'm linking up with the Moms' 30 Minute Blog Challenge at Steady Mom's blog today. I love the concept, and could stand to do this more than only on Tuesdays!

The 15 month update

Today Lizzie is 1.25 years old. To be honest, she has never been more fun.

Here are a few things that amuse and delight us about who she is right now.

I love how she can follow directions. She throws her diaper in the trash, puts the Goldfish she dumped onto the carpet back into the bowl, gives the animals kisses, is gentle when we tell her to be, and helps me water the tomato plant.

She is the only person I've ever known under the age of 2 who is completely capable of blowing her nose. If you hand her a tissue and tell her, "Blow your nose," she will actually do it, and wipe it until something comes out! Sometimes she does it voluntarily if she has a little something in there that needs wiping--usually on your shirt, of course.

When cuddling, it is mandatory to have all the necessary equipment: Boppy pillow, striped pillow to lean back on, blanket, baby doll (or soft toy of choice), and snack and/or sippy cup. Lamp must be turned on. Parent is optional.

Coasters are very important. All drinks must be on something, whether it is a book, a napkin, a magazine, or a post-it note, it can't just be on a bare tabletop.

Last week I taught her how to play "Ring Around the Rosie" and she loves it. What I love about this game is that while it's fun for her to play it holding hands and dancing in a circle, she can play it the lazy-parent way: I sit on the floor and sing while she runs circles around me until "we all fall down!"

When playing with a phone, she says "Ha!" (hi) and holds the phone between her ear and her shoulder. Apparently she watches us too closely.

Coloring is a new favorite pastime, and she has taken to holding a pen, pencil, crayon as close to the tip as she can, clearly imitating the way I write.

Because we have recently subscribed to Netflix, with unlimited access to shows and movies online, she has learned that by pushing the correct buttons on the remotes, she can access her favorite shows: Barney and Thomas. If it sings, dances, chuffs, or whistles, she loves it. I know it's not the best thing in the world, but sometimes I just want her to sit quietly and eat her snack, and Thomas the Train is the only thing that will accomplish that.

I really don't know how she has learned this so quickly, but she has perfected The Bedtime Stall. Somehow it takes 45 minutes to do what should take 15. As soon as she's done with her bath, there's a burst of energy and a sudden need to read Gossie & Gertie 4 times in a row, and a new diaper, and another drink, and to kiss the cat, and kiss the other cat, and kiss the dog, and kiss the cats again, and eat more Cheerios, and read another book. Oh, and have the last milk of the night.

Lizzie's vocabulary is growing daily. We taught her signs for things so she could communicate before the verbal capacity was fully developed. She knows how to tell us: more, eat, milk, all done, kitty, hurt, change (diaper), swing, book, bath or wash, up, and fan (i.e., spinning around and around). She waves "hi" and "bye" and blows kisses. When something is missing, she puts her hands up as though asking, "where did it go?" or shrugging like, "I don't know." When something hurts, she tells us, and then it's greatly improved when we kiss it. It's also pretty amazing how well she can communicate by pointing and using her vast assortment of the "heh" sound.

Verbally she says or imitates about one new word every day. However, just because she has said it once, doesn't mean she will say it again any time in the next few weeks. But so far her vocabulary includes:
Mama
Daddy
Hi (Hah - so southern)
Hurt (huh)
Here (hee - when giving something to us)
Hat (Ha')
Hot (while blowing)
Help (he'p or heh) (obviously she has her "h" sounds down)
Outside (usually accompanied by a pair of shoes and yelling "ou-sigh!")
Goldfish (go-fish!)
Fish
Bubble
Shoes (Zooz, Soos or Zeus)
Shirt (Sir')
Lizzie (Zizzie)
Kick
Kiss
I love you (ah wuv oo, or ah wuv Mama/Daddy)
Shae (for Shae and her sister Addie)
Cat (Ca')
Bath
Yucky
Dog
Bob (Bob the Builder or Bob the Tomato, or dog)
Up
Apple (Abbo or Abpo)
Apple Juice (Abpo Du)
Gossie (her favorite character in the books by Olivier Dunrea)
Grandma ('Ama)
Elephant (Effant or Effan')
Chicken ("bock, bock" = what chickens say. Can refer to the animal or the meat. She has ordered chicken before by going to the refrigerator and saying, "bock, bock, bock"!)

Her favorite foods are:
grapes (quartered; in fact if they are too big, she gives them back to me to cut smaller)
chicken ("bock, bock")
apple juice
apples (which she eats peeled and whole)
beans & rice
chicken & rice
vegetables & rice ... anything with rice is usually a hit
strawberries, but she gets a terrible rash when she eats them :( no more strawberries for her this summer; maybe next year.
Goldfish. Duh!
cheese
ice cream
yogurt
frozen peas, frozen green beans (long ones she can gnaw on until they're mutilated, then give back)
popsicles

Socially she's really great. She is so well-behaved. On Saturday she was going all day long; first my parents came and babysat her all morning while Sam and I went out. Time with the grandparents is always great stimulation. Then when we got home, we scooped her up and took her to a birthday party for one of her friends turning 2. Then when she was starting to lose it there, we went home, at which point she got her second wind while Sam and I were wiped out. Then we got invited to another friend's birthday party (this one is also her friend, but she turned 16), and brought the delirious child to yet another party. With no nap! (I take that back; she fell asleep in the car for 15 minutes on the way to the first party.) It was almost 10 PM when we got home finally, and she never gave us any trouble! When she finally did fall asleep nursing (for the first time in months), I managed to change her diaper, put on her pajamas, and put her in the bed without her giving more than a sigh. The poor kid was out! I think we're finally recovered from this weekend now that it's Wednesday.

Right now my favorite thing that Lizzie does, though, is give hugs. When she wants or needs comfort, she comes up to me and gives me a hug. Wraps her arms around my neck or shoulders and pats my back--pat, pat, pat. I hold and kiss her and she just hugs and sighs. And when she was little we were worried she wasn't affectionate because she wouldn't hold still. I love that little girl. She's growing up so quickly.

Where have I been?

Well, I've been here, but have not had time to write anything for a while.

So, the coffee pot is still funky, so I am using the French press exclusively, which is actually the easiest way to make coffee for one.

This morning started early, but miraculously Elizabeth is asleep again and has been for nearly an hour. Because of this, I have had a chance to have a quiet time (without interruption by a nursing child) and actually enjoy my aforementioned coffee. I also set aside 2.5 oz of milk for later. I am currently watching "The Doctors" on TV. It's my favorite show, and the only thing on TV before 8 PM that I can tolerate. I am well on my way to being a true suburban housewife; I have a Suburban, watch one show in the mornings, and clip coupons. All I need is soccer practice and a couple of twin sweater sets.

An amazing thing happened last night - I put E to bed at about 9:30/9:45, and she slept until 6:10 when Sam was rushing to get out the door for work! That is just over 8 hours! She did stir at 4, with some gas, but I waited to see if it would turn into a real cry. When she woke up again, I honestly thought it was a continuation of the same fussy moment, but it was actually 2 hours later.

Last week I had the joy of hosting my best friend, Michelle, from out of state for 5 days. It was wonderful to have her with me, and to catch up with her. We had not been together for 1-1/2 years, and that was only at a conference, so we didn't have the same time together that we normally do - chatting on the couch till all hours of the night, laughing at the silly things and sighing at the profound things we say, and watching girl movies.

Michelle is so refreshing to me; her heart is so pure toward the Lord, and she is so involved in serving in whatever way she is directed. We had loads of fun together, and we had one good, long heart-to-heart from about 11 till 1 the last evening she was here.

Next week Sam's parents will be here for a week. We'll take the opportunity while they're here to have our baby dedication at church. Hopefully we will make it on time to church that day. :)

Elizabeth is awake, so now I will go rescue her....

Coffee Break

Literally.

I'm having coffee (mostly decaf) and just finished breakfast. The dogs are sprawled on the floor, out cold, and E is still sleeping. It's been 5 hours, and I woke up naturally for the first time in probably a week.

Daily I go back and forth between being completely overwhelmed by the responsibilities of mothering an infant, and feeling so privileged and joyful to care for her, and that I have it half way under control. It usually depends greatly on whether I've 1) had enough sleep, 2) had a meal recently, and 3) had any form of quiet time; if any of those are in the negative, it's not a good day.

Well, it was a short-lived coffee break, but it was better than nothing. Sounds like E is awake and probably has a diaper to take care of before the first marathon feeding session of the day.

Two Weeks

I can't believe she's 2 weeks old.
Here she is posing like a glamor girl.

She also slept pretty much through the night last night--from 1 until 8 AM. In fact, I had to wake her up this morning. After I took a shower, had a quiet time, and ate breakfast. Amazing. Had we not prayed over her sleep, I'm sure she wouldn't have left us peacefully alone for so long.

E is stirring from her nap now, and I am almost done eating lunch.
I kind of can't wait for her to get up so I can feed her again, because I'm watching The Sound of Music while I feed her, and I'd forgotten how much fun that movie is. I did watch a whole bunch of it while she was not eating, but I am figuring that's almost as restful as a nap, so it's completely justifiable.

Camp of Champions Mississippi started this week, and it has been especially on my heart this year. Maybe it's because I'm at home this summer and not distracted by work. They're almost done playing kickball and will head to the cafeteria in just a few minutes. I have that schedule so memorized....

Sam was saying last night how the only thing he doesn't really like about camp is the full week of sleep deprivation, but since now our lives run on about as much sleep as what we got at camp, we'd probably do far better than we ever had. In fact, if we slept for 6 hours straight, we may actually be more rested than at home.

Phone call... I'm off.

Everyday miracles

If it weren't enough that we miraculously have this beautiful little girl in our family, we are also so aware of the presence of God in our daily life--because we need Him.

Here are a few examples of heavenly intervention when nothing we could do would be sufficient:

On our 2nd day home from the hospital, Elizabeth had not had a bowel movement in almost 24 hours. Possibly over, but we couldn't remember. So we prayed. Sam was holding her about an hour later when he heard what sounded "like a gunshot" coming from her tush. There it was.

We've been having some difficulty with her latching on to nurse, and without going into all of it, one evening we were sitting there struggling, and Sam felt led to command her to latch on. Next thing we knew, she was nursing happily. It's still not smooth sailing in this regard, but we're still working on it and she's doing just fine.

With the arrival of a daughter we are also very aware of how not in control of our lives we actually are, and how the only way to live is with our lives thrown on the mercy and faithfulness of God.

This post is for Erin O

Since midnight so far today I have fed this girl approximately 6 times, and changed her about 12 times. She is incredibly efficient and can make 2 dirty diapers out of only 1 feeding. If only we could find some way to capitalize on this.

I did manage to eat breakfast, and I am trying to eat lunch. I have washed my face and I did brush my teeth once today. I have let the dogs out 2 or 3 times each. I got the mail. I checked facebook about 5 times. I got the bath mat that is finally dry out of the dryer and put it on the bathroom floor.

E is sitting in her rocking seat next to me, with a diaper that I know is dirty, but I really want to finish eating my lunch before starting the next round of feeding/changing/napping.

Sam should be home from work soon, and then he will play with E while I take a shower, which may be the highlight of my day.

Baby Stuff

Look at all the cool things we got at a consignment sale a few weeks ago! I know, it's rather old news, but I am so thrilled by the deals we got that even if it's a little late in coming, I'm still excited about it.
The picture below shows what we bought for a grand total of $108!

The most expensive thing we purchased was the toddler-sized set of yellow loveseat and chair. They were a whole $25. Sam saw them immediately after we made our initial ($42) purchase and were loading up the car. He said, "Hey, you have to see these cute little chairs...." The next thing we knew, we had another $66 worth of stuff and went through the checkout line again!
We could barely fit all this loot into the back seat and trunk of my car - and my car has a lot of space! It took Sam and I and a guy who worked there to engineer it into allowing the doors to close.

We brought home:
A loveseat/chair set (fairly good condition - I might try to find a way to clean it, or cover it again with additional fabric. The cats love it, though.)
A Boppy pillow
A bouncy seat (with vibration and music, and it works!)
A bath tub and little hammock to fit in it - but the hammock wasn't made for that tub, so I picked up a different one at another sale the following weekend.
A mirror to see a rear-facing carseat from the front seat.
A "mail cart" push toy/walker for when she's older. Steph's boy loves his, so I was happy to find one for just a couple of dollars.
A shopping-cart cover (that colorful thing in the middle)
An exersaucer
A Baby Bjorn (for only $4!)
A Snuggli (picked up a 2nd carrier for another prego friend)
A (working!) swing
A lamp (works!)
5 books (2 for me, 3 for baby)
9 onsies
8 hats (Sam went crazy picking out hats; he has a very low resistance to cute)
2 sizes of neck wings (for neck support in car seat, swing, etc.)

Last weekend I hit another sale, where I spent only $32, and bought 24 items - basically as much as I could physically carry, because I forgot to bring a laundry basket or a bag or anything to tote my loot along with me. Half of it was maternity clothing for me, and the other half was clothing for her. I picked up a couple baggies of toys, and a couple of books as well. The most expensive thing I bought was a little blue dress for her, for a whopping $2.50!

At first we were not going to buy any baby things until after the shower, but we realized that it will be better to purchase some things inexpensively, to be able to take the less urgent or less important things off our registry, so that it may be more likely for people to go together on our big items (car seat and stroller, and play pen/bassinette especially).

Earlier this week I washed all the baby clothes that I'd bought and been given so far - it took me 3 loads (one was purely pink) to wash them all! I also washed everything removable from the seats, swings, etc., that could be washed. Now they are all put away, sorted into sizes in my little Ikea boxes.

And I still have 2 weeks 'till my shower!

Registering

Today (if we get around to it), we will finally go to Babies 'R' Us and do our in-store baby registry. We have been researching all the big things, and have them pretty well nailed down (stroller, car seat, high chair, bedding, etc.), but for all the little stuff, we are going to wander the store like a couple of deer in headlights with one of those little guns. I'm sure we'll have a blast - as long as I have lunch first.

I've been feeling a tad bit under the weather the last few days, with a runny or stuffy nose, but at least it's nothing worse. I can deal with it.

Anyways, that's the update for the day; check out the 2 posts below, because they're kind of more fun than this one.

Oh, yeah, while we're visiting, I want to ask you ... those of you who are moms, what do you remember having for your babies that were, in your opinion, the greatest thing since sliced bread?