More Christa Stories (And Maybe an Abby Kate Story or Two)

Hello all!

We have been staying busy, continuing to enjoy the beautiful October weather! Christa and Abby Kate are at such fun ages right now - I am really having a blast with my girls, and have been enjoying some surprise hormone-induced energy for the last 4-5 weeks! I have accomplished many small projects that have needed to be done for some time, and I have a few more in mind - such as spray-painting some storage baskets and moving Christa's room to the guest bedroom so that we can make room for Baby J. We have a lot to get done to make things as easy as possible once the baby arrives, so I am hoping this energy will last at least a couple of more months.

We have been talking more about the baby with Christa, now that I am further along in the pregnancy. Christa loves to randomly say, "I have a baby in my tummy." The other day, Christa said, "I just have to go throw up because I have a baby in my tummy." She proceeded to go to the bathroom, cough into the toilet, and return a moment later saying, "I just tried." (Our popular potty-training phrase).

Christa also loves to play the, "maybe we can call the baby...." game. We have had many funny conversations on this topic, and I have heard suggestions ranging from "Baby William" to "Chick-a-Booty." She loves to say silly words that don't mean anything. About a week ago, I said to her, "If the baby is a boy, maybe we can call him Thomas." Christa replied, "NO! Let's have a girl!" As I was posting this humorous interaction on Facebook, Christa came up and said out of the blue, "You freak me out, Dad." I don't know where she picks up these things!

Abby Kate is learning a few tricks of her own, as well. She is now a pro-walker, and can keep up with Christa quite easily. They have started fighting over certain toys (mostly because Abby Kate usually wants to play with whatever Christa has - little sisters are pesky like that - love you, Alicia :) I try hard to strike a balance between teaching Christa to share and allowing her time and space to enjoy her toys without having to worry about Abby Kate moving them around. I have a feeling that we may be asking Santa for two of everything this year! At any rate, earlier today, as we were driving home from ballet, Christa decided to share her precious duck with Abby Kate, and promptly took it back. Abby Kate caught on like a little genius, and handed Christa her rabbit lovey, only to jerk it back when Christa reached out for it. This turned into quite the fun game!

In other news, the yellow blankie has been found! Cline spotted it behind the TV while he was standing upstairs, looking over the bannister 2 days after it went missing. Christa had tolerated Blankie's absence very well, but was so glad to see her little friend again. We had told her that Blankie went on vacation, and the first thing she said when Cline brought it back to her was, "Blankie is back from vacation!"

Well, I have a little 3 year old who needs my attention now, and I'm hoping to squeeze in a short rest this afternoon! Have a great day, and I'll try to post some new pictures soon!

Fall (and a little end-of-Summer) Fun!!

Alright, I'm finally getting around to posting the promised pictures! Enjoy :)

Go Dawgs!! This picture was taken during one of the first games, before we realized how awful the Dawgs were going to be this year. Oh well - we are loyal fans, and making plans to attend the GA/FL game!

The weather has been so beautiful lately, so we have been soaking in some outdoor time. The girls wanted to have a picnic not long ago, so we ate dinner in our driveway, and then went to play on the play set.

We had our first play date several weeks ago, without the child's mom present. Alyssa's mom had a baby about a month ago, so we brought Alyssa over to our house to play to give the new Mommy a break. Christa was fascinated by this concept and kept saying, "Alyssa is coming over, but her Mommy is not coming over." They spent most of the time at the diner, talking like little adults. Every time Cline or I would walk through the room, Christa would say, "I'm not talking to you; I'm talking to Alyssa." So cute!

"C" is for "Clocktower!" About 2 weeks ago, the letter of the week was "C." Her class took a field trip to the Clocktower and had a blast!

I got to go with her...

...and we ate Cookies and Colored with Chalk! Such a fun day!

Christa loves to bake! Here we are making brownies (from a box, of course)!

Abby Kate is walking like a champion now and loves to get around. I love that she can walk! Despite what many said, it has made life much easier, now that I can put her down when we go outside or out in public. Christa loves it when Abby Kate walks "to her."

My sweet girls! I hope they always love each other this much!

So proud of herself!

On Tuesday of this week we went to the Pumpkin Patch for story time. It was great, and Christa loved it. Ms. Wendy, from Kindermusik, led it, and Christa was so interactive.

Abby Kate enjoyed the pumpkins, too!

3 is a Fun Age!

Hey guys! I'm hoping to get some new pictures posted this week. For right now, though, I wanted to tell you about a couple of cute things that Christa has done/said lately. It is so easy for me to quickly post this stuff on Facebook, but I want a record of it here, too, since I plan to print this blog out as a keepsake one day.

Christa's First Prayer Requests

Fall is Football Season for our family! We didn't get to enjoy the season by actually going to football games last year, because Abby Kate was just a newborn, and we were adjusting to life with 2 kids. This year, however, we are making up for lost time. Both of my girls enjoy the football games (Darlington and the GA Bulldogs). Christa is quite the enthusiastic fan, excitedly yelling, "GO! GO!! GO!! GO!!" whenever a team is running down the field. She sometimes cheers for the wrong team, but cheers at the appropriate times, nonetheless :) Anyway, we were at a football game several weeks ago, and one of the players got injured during the game. Everyone got very quiet as we waited for the player to get up. As time passed by, Christa started asking questions about the player. "Is he hurt?" We explained that he was hurt and that we had to wait to see what happened. Eventually, the player got up and returned to his team. That night, as we were saying our bedtime prayers, Christa said, "talk about... I want you to talk about the football." Cline started off a little confused, but after talking to Christa for a minute more, she said she wanted Cline to pray for the injured football player. She requested this prayer the next night as well. Such a compassionate child!

Last week, we got out the Fall decorations. Christa is fascinated with pumpkins this year, so we have been talking about going to the pumpkin patch. One night, as we were saying our bedtime prayers, Christa also requested special prayers for the pumpkins. "I want you to talk about the pumpkins." We're almost getting the concept :)

Opposites

About a week ago, Cline and Christa somehow got into a discussion about opposites. Cline explained what opposites were, and Christa very quickly caught on to the idea. She can plainly tell you that the opposite of "hot" is "cold." The opposite of "boy" is "girl." The opposite of "big" is "little," etc. Lately, due to my frequent vomiting with the ingestion of meat, we have not been going through very many fast food drive-thrus. Last week, however, I was in a bit of a time crunch, trying to get to church on Sunday evening after waking the girls up from their naps. I had to feed them somehow, so we went to Wendy's, and I told Christa that she could get a happy meal. Christa replied very seriously, "I want a happy meal and a sad meal." I cracked up laughing, and she repeated this request several times. When we got her food, I said, "here's your happy meal." She said, "where's my sad meal?'' :) (I told her I had the sad meal, since I didn't get anything!)

Missing: Yellow Blankie

We found out I was pregnant with Christa in the Fall of 2006. Cline's twin brother and sister-in-law were due with their first child (and the first grandchild) in December of 2006. Trying to be considerate, and not steal any attention away from them, we waited until their baby was born to announce our happy news. We told my parents right before they left on a December trip to Breckenridge, Colorado. While they were there, my mother purchased a precious, yellow, Little Giraffe silk and velvet blankie for our new child. Breaking a few of the SIDS rules, I placed the blankie with Christa while she was sleeping, along with a now-much-loved yellow duck that she was also given before her birth. I quickly bought an identical duck, once I realized she was going to be so attached to it, so that we would have a spare. Despite several attempts, I have never been able to find an identical blankie, so we made do with the one. The rule has always been that she can sleep with duck and blankie in her bed, but she can only have them in her bed. Our second duck lives in the car, and can leave the car only when Christa is being left in a nursery or going to school. This arrangement has worked out wonderfully.

The night before last, Cline and I went out on a date and left the girls with a wonderful babysitter. Christa was napping when we left, but was awake when we returned home. We noticed that she had Abby Kate's pink blankies, but not her yellow one. We searched her bed, and then looked in every drawer, cubby, trash can, and behind every piece of furniture, as well as every other location that could possibly hide a small, silky blankie. After a solid hour of searching, and a couple of late-night phone calls to everyone who had seen Christa that day, we decided that we had looked everywhere we could. Christa fell asleep with Cline snuggling next to her. I frantically searched the internet for a replacement (and a spare this time), and I think I found them. We'll see if they arrive this week.

When blankie still didn't turn up yesterday, I decided to take Christa to a local boutique to see if we could find an acceptable "new" blankie to love. (I'm still hoping the original turns up somewhere - I have sentimental attachment to it!) After looking at several pink, blue, and green silky blankies, the nice lady at the store showed us a soft, cream colored (yellow :) blankie. Christa immediately grabbed the "yellow" blankie, and said she wanted that one. I showed her the other choices to make sure that was the one she wanted, and she curled up the end of the "yellow" blankie in her fist, letting the rest hang down, and said, "look, we can stick our thumb in our mouth like this," demonstrating that this new blankie worked just as well as the old one! It was pretty hilarious, and the nice ladies at the store laughed along with me. She has been very satisfied with her new yellow blankie, so far, and I am one relieved mommy!

Alright, I'm off to church for the evening. Have a great week, and check back for pictures in the next few days!

Abby Kate is One!

Hello all! We are doing well over here, and I thought I'd take a few minutes to update this blog. I am officially 12 weeks into the pregnancy, and had a great doctor's appointment on Tuesday. After one final sonogram (until the 20 week one) to follow up on our earlier complications, my doctor has "cleared" me of those complications, and we have every reason to expect that this pregnancy will continue normally until delivery. Praise God! I did not love those early scary moments, but it has been fun to get the frequent ultrasounds. We got to see our little gummy bear jumping around this last time, which was pretty cute!

Abby Kate turned one last Thursday, September 2!! We had a small, family party which was just right! I'm a little partied out for the summer - Cline, Christa, Abby Kate, and I all have summer birthdays, so I'm very happy the new baby is due in March! I don't think I could handle one more party to plan during the summer months! Here are some pictures from the party.

Happy Birthday Girl!

I found this outfit at a local store, and almost didn't get it because I already had a shirt for her. Then, I thought about what cute professional cake pictures that outfit would make, so I rushed back out and bought it. We'll see how those professional pictures turn out!

Getting ready to party!

Christa and I made the cake together. We have always done large parties for Christa, so I have always ordered a cake from a grocery store or baker. This time, I decided to try and make one myself, since we were having a small party. Christa loves to help me bake, so I thought it would be a fun mother-daughter activity. I was right! I didn't save any money, by the time I purchased all of the frosting, ingredients, cake pan, etc., but we had fun making it!

Abby Kate devoured an entire cupcake... and started in on a second one!

Christa had her first ballet practice on Tuesday. She is so excited to be a ballerina, and we were pleasantly surprised to find out that a good friend of ours is in her class!

Have a great week!

Hellooooo Out There!!

Just another quick update from my parent's computer. It's going to be a few weeks before I have great access to one again.... we need a computer, and my husband said something about being financially responsible.. doing appropriate research on big purchases... waiting until we've paid other bills... I don't know - I tuned him out after he firmly said we can't order one "today." It won't be too long though - I miss you guys!

We're doing well. Christa has transitioned herself to her big girl bed!!! She asked to sleep in it a few weeks ago, but kept getting up. So I braced myself for a painful move that would likely involve me sitting outside her door and physically placing her back in her bed hundreds of times. Until that time, though, the crib still suited all of us just fine. Then, last week, the night before her "school" pictures (and also a night Cline was conveniently working :), she insisted on sleeping in her big girl bed. I actually tried to talk her out of it - I wanted Cline to be there to reassure me she wasn't going to go tumbling down the stairs in the middle of the night or pull the office bookcase over on herself, or that whatever horrific image my mind conjured up wouldn't happen. I also wanted her to get a good night's sleep so she'd look great and cooperate for her pictures. I told her several times that we'd sleep in the crib a few more nights, and if she could nap in the big girl bed for a few days, I'd let her sleep in it at night. Well, Christa insisted that she wanted to sleep in the big girl bed that very night.

I decided to compromise with myself. I would put her in the big girl bed and explain to her that if she got up just one time, it was back to the crib. I didn't even bother grabbing the baby monitor - just put her in bed with her duck and blankie, and waited outside her door for the offense to occur, certain she'd be in her crib within 3 minutes. Actually.... 5 minutes passed.... then 10. No sign of Christa exiting her room. I started to panic because I hadn't put the baby monitor in her room, and how was I going to sleep "so far away from her" with her having so much freedom to roam about the house unsupervised???? After 30 minutes passed, I decided to risk this surprising progress and sneak the baby monitor into her new room. I don't know if she'd fallen asleep by then or not, but she was contentedly lying in her bed and gave me a big smile when she saw me. I told her I was so proud of her, that she was doing great, and I loved her. Then I went to my room where I got a great night's sleep, knowing the baby monitor would alert me if she woke up. The next morning, she was sound asleep in her big girl bed with many stuffed animals to keep her company. She's been sleeping there for naps and at night ever since!

If potty training is that easy, we're in great shape :) That is our next goal, hopefully to be tackled in the next 6 months.

Well, gotta run - have a great day!

My Firstborn

Hello all! I'm finally tackling this whole picture thing. Downloading and printing out 8 months worth of pictures is a lot of work! Note to self: print pictures every 3 months, to avoid this frustration! These birthday pictures are grainy - I'm not sure why. I'm hoping they print out clearer than they look here.

We had a Finding Nemo themed party for Christa. She had a blast playing with water toys and running around with friends. She sang Happy Birthday to herself and we had to blow out the candle a couple of times, because she loved that part so much. Sorry I'm almost 3 months late in posting these :)

More pictures to come - I'm doing this in shifts, so as not to overwhelm myself! Have a great day!

Fun Times

Hey guys! I know it's been a week since I've posted, and I kind of did that on purpose. We just got back from an eventful trip to Dallas, TX. I would have warned you, but I didn't want to post our departure on the internet, just in case there is anyone out there who might take that as an invitation to come raid our house or something. (Weird stalker person, if you are out there and you decide to intrude on our next vacation, could you focus on taking the living room furniture so I can get some new stuff with the insurance money?? :)

At any rate, we took a road trip to Dallas to see my sister and her husband who have lived there for 2 years, now. Christa followed in the footsteps of my sister by getting sick on Tuesday - the day before we were supposed to leave. (Alicia did this all the time when we were kids). Christa threw up for the first time ever on Tuesday, and ran a little fever that evening, but seemed to recover quickly. I called her doctor the next day morning, just to be sure we would be OK to leave, but the practice couldn't work her into the schedule. I got spoiled in Augusta with all of our doctors - we NEVER had a problem getting into see someone exactly when we wanted. Oh well - it's the price of living in a small town, I guess. Her doctor is great, anyway. Christa seemed fine, so we began our 800 mile trek. We broke the trip into two days, just to make life easier on everyone and arrived in Texas on Thursday evening. Just as we were getting ready to go to dinner, Christa started acting especially fussy, and although we were tempted to attribute the fussiness to the long trip, we took her temperature just to be sure. The fever was back - not high, but there, nonetheless. Cline generously offered to stay with her and eat room service at the hotel so that I could go eat some Tex-Mex with Alicia and Brandon. It was YUMMY, although in Texas, the queso is yellow - not white like it is here.

After dinner, we had a good night's rest, and Christa seemed good as new on Friday morning with no trace of a fever. Cline and I thought she might be cutting her 2 year molars, so Alicia and I took her to the mall, while Cline caught a work out. Later, we got sisterly pedicures while Cline and Christa napped at the hotel, and then we all went to a place called Texas de Brazil for dinner. It's a really neat all-you-can-eat Brazilian steakhouse where the staff bring various steaks/meats to your table all evening. Not a good place to go if you're on a diet... or pregnant and likely to throw up of you eat 1 bite too much :) It was also delicious, and I decided to forego the meat, and enjoy the salad bar. Cline gorged himself, and had his own bathroom time later on, but said it was totally worth it :)

Late Friday night, Christa woke up sicker than I have ever seen her. She was burning up and slept with Cline and I for the rest of the night. This is the first time she's slept in our bed since she was a newborn - she always prefers her own space! All she would do was lay her head on our shoulders, and just as we were thinking about taking her to the ER, even though it was 2 am, she got comfortable again and fell back to sleep. On Saturday, we did spend the day in the ER, since she still had a fever, although it was lower by that point. Luckily, our hotel was right across the interstate from a large children's hospital, and they were wonderful. We felt confident that Christa just had a virus, but by that point her fever had gone on for 5 days, and we were worried she might need antibiotics. Plus, we didn't want to head back home, get stuck in the middle of nowhere, and have her take a turn for the worse. So, Saturday was pretty rough for all of us, since the doctor agreed she needed a full work-up, just to be sure. All of her tests came back negative and we concluded that she did, in fact, have a virus, and we would be safe to travel home on Sunday. She's been fine ever since (knock on huge piece of wood), and seems back to her old self now.

We got home yesterday, and may hit the beach over the weekend or something, since we missed out on some of the fun activities. It was great to see Alicia and Brandon, though, and we were able to make the best of the trip, despite the challenges. They're coming this way for a visit in June, so, hopefully, we'll all be healthy and ready to have fun then! I took a few pictures, which I will post in the next day or so. For now I'm taking advantage of Cline's time off to unpack and do some Spring organizing. (I'm hoping someone else - i.e. a maid of some sort - will do the cleaning/scrubbing part as a Mother's Day present - hint, hint, Cline :)

Have a great day!

I Know... I'm a Slacker

But maybe some pictures will help make up for my lack of postings?? We have just been soooo busy lately, and when I'm not busy, I'm exhausted and resting. I've been meaning to post all week, and like most weeks, the time just got away from me.

Last weekend we traveled to Valdosta for the 4th annual Victory for Victoria Run. Victoria's family does this run every year to raise money for cancer research and families. This year, they collected toys for hospital patients and are giving all proceeds to help cancer families pay various expenses. It's a great event, and we're proud to be a part of it. Plus, it was nice to see Margaret Anne and meet her new pregnant belly! The weather was PERFECT, despite the snowy drive home the very next day! Saturday, the morning of the run, we were quite comfortable in light shirts and jeans. Cline ran the 5K and came in 1st in his age group and we think about 5th overall. Although he ran the thing so fast, I missed his big finish because I was entertaining Christa by the slide and bounce house. Christa and I walked the fun run, and Christa sat obediently in her stroller the whole time!! I make it through the whole thing and was quite proud of myself for walking so far at one time. I have really got to get back to the gym! (Seeing as how I put my membership on hold due to lack of use, I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon:) Anyway, enjoy the pictures.

This is Cline and Margaret Anne at the awards ceremony after the run.

In other news, I put Christa's hair in pigtails for the first time last week. It's almost long enough, but still too fine to hold very long. It was cute while it lasted.

I'm still feeling better and tolerating 1st trimester fatigue. I've gotten used to the throwing up and am almost ready to just let myself eat whatever I want, since it doesn't seem to matter anyway. Christa is talking more and more every day. Last night, my mom and I took her to Chili's where she proceeded to chew on their ketchup bottle. I told her, "no, don't eat that, it's dirty." She replied, "no, dirty!" She cracks us up every day.

Well, that's all for now! Maybe if I don't promise to post again soon, I will actually post again soon :) Have a great day!

Because Ali and Anonymous Asked...

Hello all!! We are, as usual, doing well. Things have, as usual, been busier than I'd anticipated, and we're getting excited and ready for Christmas starting this week! I've already been looking through catalogs for toys for Christa, and I can't wait to get her a few "big girl" things now that she's leaving the baby phase (which makes me very sad, but I can at least appreciate the silver lining). I wanted to get her a matching stool and toy box - something really girly or kiddish and preferably wooden, painted, and something we'll have for years and years. But I can't find anything that I really like, and I'm thinking that she may still smash her fingers in a toy box, so maybe I'll wait for next year on that one. My other idea is a book rack. One Step Ahead has a really neat one that holds lots of books and has some toddler-friendly toy bins underneath it. That may be more age-appropriate for this year. But I'm also tempted by the tricycles with parent handles and plastic kitchen sets, so who knows what we'll end up getting her? I love that her birthday is in June, so about the time she starts out-growing her toys, she gets more from family and friends! We're definitely at that point now - her toy bins are still full of teethers and rattles. What are you guys thinking of getting your kids this year??
Christa is definitely keeping us busy these days. She's decided she only needs one nap each day and wants to walk all over the house when she's awake. I thought I had a handle on some sort of cleaning system, but that's all been scrapped since I spend most of the day chasing her around and telling her to quit eating paper and cardboard. She is quite funny when she does something she knows she's not supposed to do, and then looks straight at me with a devious smile, waiting for my response. Her favorite "rebellions" are eating her books and pushing the buttons on the phone or remote-control. She also thinks it's hilarious to run away from us once she's been "caught."
Speaking of Christa, I need some advice. She still takes her milk from a bottle, and this bothers me. The good news is that she's been drinking water out of a straw cup since she was 9 or 10 months old, so she's not opposed to the concept. She still doesn't like juice, although she's developed a fondness for Mommy's coke :) But she's so particular in that she refuses to drink her milk from anything but a bottle. I've tried sippy-cups, straw cups, 3-stage trainers, and have run out of ideas. I've let the whole bottle thing go on a little longer than I'd planned because she was at the bottom of her percentile for so long in the weight category, and I didn't want her to miss out on the calories and nutrients from the milk. She's now in the 50th percentile on weight and nearly 18 months old, so I'd like to pull the plug on the bottle soon, but so far my efforts have only led to her not drinking much milk. Any suggestions on this??
Well, Ali and Anonymous, I hope I kept you busy for at least a few minutes. If you really need some entertainment, I have a whole house that needs to be cleaned and a whole yard that needs to be raked!! If neither of those things appeal to you, I am looking for some Christmas-shopping buddies, if you're interested :)
Have a great day, everyone!

Christa is 15 Months!!

Hello all!! Just a quick post, and since I've had a lot of words in my posts lately, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. My little girl is a big 15-month-old and getting more strong-willed by the second! She's still refusing to walk, but I'm convinced that one of these days she's going to give it a try.

One quick reminder to eat at Chili's tomorrow if you can (and take-out does count, to answer an e-mail question). I've got 10 or so in my group so far and a few maybes, so we're looking forward to a fun meal. Thanks so much to everyone who is participating!

****Update**** This just in... WE HAVE A WALKER!!! Christa took her first steps at approximately 8:20 p.m. I decided to try a new family game called "Learn to Walk," and it worked, apparently!! Cline happened to be home, so he was thrilled to see it! I got video, but don't have the cable to get it on the computer - sorry, M.A.

My Own Little Houdini

Last week, I turned the kitchen corner to find Christa in here:


Hmmm... I'd thought she was innocently playing with the Tupperware. Oh well. I strategically arranged my lower cabinets with the expectation that her curiosity would grow as she learned to get around better. No worries. Especially about those stairs. Because I- smug, prepared supermom - had anticipated that the day might come when my child was no longer restricted to the den where I instructed her to play, and had a sturdy gate custom ordered and installed to accommodate our unusual banister.

As you can see here:


So you can imagine my surprise when it took all of about 15 seconds for my sweet baby girl to figure this out:


And then this:

And then, this:

And then I really wanted to nominate myself for mother-of-the-year, when I looked up from vaccuming and saw this:

Seriously - I don't know how she can fit through that space! She's like a cockroach! (I'm sure THAT comment just sealed the deal for my nomination for mother of the year!)

Houston, we have a problem...

Christa's First Birthday Party!!

All ready to party!!

Mimi and Grandpa brought the guest of honor to the party, so Mommy could have time to set up.

The guests are watching a video of Christa's first year.

Ready for cake!! She didn't get into it much, but it was fun to try!

Happy girl!

Christa is still loving all of her new gifts! And her slacker mother still has not sent out one single thank you note! I will post pictures soon of her enjoying some of her new toys for those of you who I have "no thank you note pacts" with :) For the rest of you, I will get them sent before her next birthday... I hope!

Our Week in Quiz Form

***Note: while reading the following questions and answers, please recognize that some of the statements are "slightly" exaggerated for humor.... other statements are minimized so that I seem less crazy than I actually am***

1. Your taxes come back and GOOD NEWS - you're getting a bigger refund than you expected. You:
a. make arrangements to invest the money in a solid CD
b. set the money aside to pay the upcoming mortgage on your new house during the month and a half you won't have any income due to your husband's job change
c. use the money to pay the upcoming credit card bill that will be higher than normal due to your addiction to paying other people to take pictures of your child
d. research charities that could use the extra dollars
e. think to yourself, "ehhh.. lets forget about our ability to pay our bills this month" and proceed to go eat dinner at the Japanese steakhouse

answer: e

2. Your husband is due for a "vacation month" in his rigorous and grueling residency for the month of March. What was supposed to be a relaxed "do as much or as little as you want to" experience is now going to require 90 plus hours of activities. You learn this information 3 days prior to the rotation beginning. Your response is:
a. realize that the situation stinks, but acknowledge that it probably is a good educational opportunity and might provide some needed skills during your husband's last few months of formal training
b. prayerfully consider your negative attitude about this last minute change of plans and focus on the potential benefits
c. respectfully admit that many of these "new" activities have actually been a requirement all along, and the fact that they weren't enforced before now does not change the fact that the right and responsible thing to do is to cheerfully complete the assigned tasks
d. mentally reflect on how lucky you and your husband are to have leaders who are so involved with the quality of your husband's education that they are willing to spend all of their own, personal, spare time constantly thinking up more stuff for him to do
e. resist the urge to curse and throw things while discussing with your husband how unreasonable it is to drastically change things up in the middle of the year on 72 hours notice. point out how unfair it is that some residents aren't having to do this extra work since they've already done this rotation, and if he'd only been lucky enough to have done it earlier, it wouldn't be an issue for us; proceed in this mature fashion to express your anger at the many unexpected and arguably unfair changes this training program has thrown at both of you. breathe a sigh of relief that the program leaders only have 4 more months to rule your lives and say a quick prayer that your weekend and vacation plans won't be ruined for the month

answer: e

3. Your child will be 8 months old in 2 days and is neither sitting up well nor making an effort to crawl. You:
a. recognize that each child develops at a different pace, and just because the kid you babysit for has been crawling since she was 6 months old doesn't mean your child has to be doing it that early
b. remind yourself that her doctor said she looked great a mere few weeks ago, and it is highly unlikely that anything concerning has changed since then
c. observe that she *can* actually sit up just fine; she just chooses not to most of the time, and appreciate the fact that you don't have to constantly chase her around just yet
d. say a quick prayer that everything is alright and increase her floor time so she can perfect her skills
e. grill all of your friends about how old their babies were when they started crawling and repeatedly ask your medically knowledgeable husband about all of the various illnesses that could cause such delays; proceed to worry for a day and a half that your child has an incurable disease of some sort; finally, consult your trusty "What To Expect the First Year" book where you immediately discover that your daughter is not only right on track with her milestones, but she is actually excelling in several of them

answer: e

4. After 6 months of trying, you FINALLY lost 4 or 5 pounds after a vicious stomach bug weeks ago. You:
a. take advantage of your shrunken stomach and motivational boost and make an effort to eat less so that you can continue your weight loss
b. step up your working out efforts to continue the trend
c. integrate healthier, low-calorie foods into your diet
d. substitute water for the unhealthy amounts of soda you drink
e. increase your number of daily meals and snacks; take home 7 pieces of leftover cake from a friend's birthday party and eat them all within 2 days; begin a new routine of eating a candy bar at least once a day; feel sick all over again when you realize that you wasted a perfectly good weight loss opportunity and are on the verge of gaining even more weight

answer: e

5. Your talented but overpriced photographer is offering "Mommy and Me" and "Daddy and Me" sessions in a week and a half. Your child hates getting her picture made, and you just purchased 6 pages worth of pictures for her baby album. You:
a. vow to have a family picture made along with her 1 year portraits
b. research alternative studios for a cheaper "Mommy and Me" session
c. ask a friend to take your picture together in the 70 degree, sunny, February weather with your nice new camera that you just got back from the Canon repair shop
d. tell yourself that your child is only going to be a baby once; that this is your first little girl and you'd envisioned a sweet picture of the two of you all along; that you haven't yet regretted a single penny you've spent on her pictures; that you do have that extra tax money coming after all; that you'll only buy one print for the wall, so it really won't be that expensive since they're not charging a sitting fee, all the while knowing that's a flat out lie and you'll likely end up with a regularly priced package; that your husband happens to be off the day they're doing this promotion, and what are the odds of that happening??? so it must be fate telling you that you need to have these pictures made
e. go get the friend who recommended this photographer to you in the first place and who's already paid for her own "Mommy and Me" session to validate the reasons listed in answer d and promptly schedule your appointment so as to get a good time slot

answer: d and e

Check back Thursday - it's Christa's 8 month birthday, and I'll post some pictures of her with my good camera that I am oh so glad to have back. Have a great day!

Christa is 7 Months and other random topics!

Loving her jumper

New favorite face (she copies Cline and I when we make that face)

Enjoying a visit from Harbin and Catherine (Kimberly's kids)!

Alright, so I'm unwinding. I just returned home from yet another traumatic attempt at getting pictures made. Maybe God is trying to teach me a lesson - that professional pictures, in the grand scheme of things, are not all that important, and that the world will not actually end if we don't get that "perfect" picture every time. We did manage to come through this session without any head injuries, so that alone made it better than last week. And we did get some good "classic" pictures of her sitting up. But she was nervous and screamed through a lot of it, so we didn't get any great, toothy smiles. Oh well. Maybe next time.
She is officially 7 months old today. She's getting to be a bit more squirmy - wants to lean all over the place when I carry her. She's a lot of fun, but I hope she'll go back to just letting me hold her once in a while. I'll post some more pictures later - she's recovering from her morning with a nap. She is doing really well sitting up, and is enjoying eating bread bits, crackers, and Eggo waffles in addition to her puree diet. She might be an Asian food lover like her dad. We went to Aunt Bethany's baby shower yesterday, and they had a Korean rice-bread dish. I think it's called "puffed rice." It's kind of like a rice cake, but really light and airy so it just dissolves in your mouth. Christa LOVED it so much that the nice girl who brought it sent us home with a bag, since it's not easy to find.
As I was surfing the internet a moment ago, in my own attempt to relax, I was inspired with a random topic. Today's question is, "am I the only one who's getting sick of all the tabloids combining Hollywood couple's names?" It all started with "Bennifer" which I'll admit I thought was kind of cute. Then came "Brangelina" which I still think is dumb. Then "Tomkat" - seriously?? The latest is "Brohan" - Lindsey Lohan and Somebody Brody?? Actually, you don't even have to be a couple to get a combo-name - tmz.com consistently refers to Lindsey Lohan as "LiLo." It just seems like overkill, and I'm tired of rolling my eyes at these stupid nicknames. (And this IS a major deal in the grand scheme of things:)

My So-Called Week

Hello all! We've had a fun and relaxing week. Christa and I got to spend the long weekend with Mimi here in Augusta. We had a very fun time playing with Christa's toys, going out to eat, and doing some post-holiday shopping. On Sunday night, I thought it would be a fun idea to rent a girlie movie with my mom, as Cline was working an evening shift, and there's just not a lot to choose from on TV right now with the writer's strike. I'd recently seen a special on Julia Roberts, where they showed some clips from her movie Closer. I'd never seen Closer and was intrigued, even though I had no idea what it was about. I only knew that it had Julia Roberts and Natalie Portman in it, so it couldn't be terrible, right? Um... not right. DO NOT WATCH THIS MOVIE WITH YOUR MOTHER OR ANY OTHER PERSON WITH EARS. If you've seen it, you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, I really can't elaborate because this is a G-rated space. I also can not, in good conscience, tell you to go see it for yourself. So let me just say that the content was so embarrassing, we had to turn it off halfway through, and that's 4 dollars and an hour of my life I will never get back.
On Monday, we had a disastrous experience at the portrait studio. I took Christa in for her 6 month shots. My job was pretty simple - sit by Christa and make sure she didn't fall over while she was trying to sit up. Apparently I understood that to mean "do nothing as I watched her fall over and smack her head on the hard floor." She was fine after a few minutes of Mommy cuddling her and promising to buy her anything she wanted, but she (understandably) was not interested in posing for pictures after that. I felt awful - I might literally go crazy (if I haven't already by then) when she actually gets hurt doing something one day. At any rate, her 6 month pictures will now be 7 month pictures when we take them next week. Oh well.
Well, that about covers things. I'll be spending this next week getting our tax information together - look for what is sure to be a riveting post about that:)

Random Thoughts: Toy Story

Hello friends! My house is finally together again. Not a lot of news to report this week. I've mostly been reading about, listening to, and watching the election coverage, being the huge dork educated citizen that I am. It is taking every ounce of willpower I have to not write a lengthy post detailing my wise opinions on the issues at hand. For the time being I will stick to lighter, more pleasant topics... such as the warm weather and teaching Christa to sit up. She has finally embraced her Bumbo seat and will tripod for a few seconds. She has 6 month pictures scheduled in a couple of weeks, and I'd love it if she were sitting up by then. If not, that's OK too; I'm in no hurry for her to grow up.

Even though you're not going to be privy to my political wisdom (unless you call me on the phone, in which case I will happily talk your ear off about it), I will share my thoughts on yet another worldly topic that I think is especially fitting with Christmas having just passed. Today's topic is: Why do you need the jaws of life to open children's toys? I spent more time ripping apart cardboard, untangling wire, and throwing things against the wall in frustration the week after Christmas than I ever could have imagined. Every single toy had thick wire in a bazillion different places, permanently attaching the toy that I needed to keep to the cardboard I wanted to throw away. And each wire, once it was untangled, failed to fit through the microscopic plastic holes on the toy that it must have been magically inserted through. Furthermore, there was thick, clear plastic that I also wanted to throw away that was affixed to the toy in such a way that scissors, knives, and super-human strength were no match. Why do companies do this to parents? I understand the concept of preserving the quality and appearance of toys and preventing small parts from somehow getting out of the packaging before purchase. But isn't there a happy medium between a paper sack and a restraint system suitable for a crash test dummy? Just my two cents.

I'll post some pictures next time. I just got my first set of prints back from Wal-Mart, and although the pictures are good, the background is much much darker than it appears on the viewfinder and computer. I'm hoping this is a printing issue. As always, I welcome any insight into this situation. Have a great week!

Christa is 6 months!

Cousin Maggie Beth, Aunt Bethany, and Christa on Maggie Beth's 1st birthday!

Getting ready to go see Lights of the South

Having a small, family Christmas in Augusta


(I will post more pictures later. I went to download them, and realized my new battery is dead, so it's charging. Apparently, my laptop doesn't have a card reader, so I have to install some software to download from the new camera. Here are a few from my Kodak until I get a chance to do that)


Hello again. Well I've obviously been wasting my time! I spend hours creating the perfect post and get maybe 1 comment. I hurriedly throw something up there about how I don't have time to post, and get 3 comments on the first day!! LOL! Well, I'm writing anyway, even though I know that all 5 of you who read this blog just come for the pictures :) I guess I'll start with our Christmas! God smiled on us and worked it out for Cline to have Christmas off, even though he had the last 2 years off. So, we went to Rome for a very fun, but hectic few days. We learned that Chas and Bethany (Cline's twin and wife) are having a little boy! We are very excited, as this will be the first grandson for the Jacksons. (We have 2 girls so far - Christa and cousin Maggie Beth). A funny thing happened while we were home. Christa sucks her thumb pretty much constantly now. Even when I'm feeding her baby food, she sucks her thumb in between bites. I have a feeling we may be in for some dental work later on... At any rate, she spent our time in Rome sucking her thumb as usual. Her cousin, Maggie Beth, who is 1 year old and a pacifier baby, must have noticed this because our last night there, Maggie Beth started sucking her thumb, much to her parents dismay. It was hilarious to see her "copy" Christa and to think of my child being a "bad influence" at 6 months of age. (Sorry about that, Chas and Bethany:)

My favorite gift for Christmas was my Canon Digital Rebel. The majority of people I polled recommended it, and said I couldn't go wrong. They were correct. We saved a few bucks and got the 8 megapixel, and I am very pleased so far (except for that dead battery I just discovered - we did use it a lot over the weekend, so I'll hold off on ordering a spare). It is sooooo much easier to catch Christa's cute facial expressions - it takes 3 pictures per second! Christa's favorite gifts so far are a Mother Goose book (I read all 120 pages to her yesterday, and she just listened and looked at the pictures), some rubber blocks, and a Sesame Street pop-up-singing thing. She is starting to interact more with her toys, but shows little interest in learning to sit up by herself. I am not worried about this - she's always been a laid back baby who is perfectly content to sit in a bouncer and suck her thumb all day. She's getting stronger for sure, but every time I try to sit her up, she just rolls to the floor after about 2 seconds (if I haven't mentioned it before, she has her mother's lack of patience and persistence:) She also got lots of adorable clothes (she'll be wearing LOTS of pink for the next six months, but I love pink, so that's OK) and other toys we can't wait to play with.


Since we got home, I've been very busy finding room for all of our gifts and catching up on the laundry. It's always nice to go to Rome, but there's a ton to do when I get back, especially at Christmas time. We're definitely looking forward to next year when we can just enjoy being with our families without the hassle of traveling. It was nice to run into Shanda at Longhorn while we were there - Gracie is too precious - I can't wait to get to know her better :)


Well, that's about it for now. I'll post some more Christmas pictures and Christa's 6 month photo later this evening. Have a great day!