Answering the Call

One of our best friends, Lisa, (aka The Girls' Moma) is leaving tomorrow for a short term mission trip to New Orleans. While her girls stay with their grandparents in Texas, Lisa will head to Louisiana with some of the youth she helps shepherd at their church in Washington. They will be "mucking" houses in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans. Basically, they will be emptying the homes of all possessions and stripping everything back to the studs so the homeowners can start to rebuild. It's laboriously heartbreaking work. I'm so honored to have a friend who is willing to step out in faith and serve in a way she never imagined before. I'm a bit envious that I am not in a position to do the same. (I really don't think they let largely pregnant women handle hammers and deal with incessant mold.)

If you are interested in watching their progress, you can check out her blog: http://www.missionneworleans.blogspot.com/

Better yet, pray for them. We believe that not only with the Lord work in the lives of the people of New Orleans that they will be serving, but we trust He will be changing the lives of His servants as well.

We love you, Lis!

I Can't Believe We Forgot This One!

I have to add two things to the list of Padyn's commonly used phrases that I posted a few days ago. These, seriously, are the most common statements out of her mouth.

What's dat noise? (asked about just about everything she hears)
Where's Daddy?
To the second one, my response is always the same-"You know where daddy is."
To this I get one of three possible replies:
"Daddy's at work."
"Daddy's flying airplanes."
"Daddy's in I-r-and." (Ireland)

Hanging with Corinne and Elliot

On Friday, one of my best friends and former roommates from Davis came to visit for the day with her two kids, Corinne and Elliot. Corinne is two months older than Padyn, but so far advanced motor skill wise you'd think she was a year older. While Padyn is still hesitant to walk down the stairs, Corinne came barreling down with the baby doll stroller in her grasp. Then she went back up to get the play suitcase from Padyn who was standing at the top watching in fascination.

Elliot is nothing like his sister. At 9 months old, he is content to hang out and be mellow. He enjoyed simply playing with the same toy most of the day. He doesn't feel the need to move himself about the room in search of new adventures.

Padyn and Corinne love playing together and talk about each other often when apart. Yet, they do tend to quarrel as 2 year olds will. It usually entails one of them having something the other one thinks she wants. It is usually Padyn that ends up breaking down in a tantrum of tears. We spent much of the morning reminding them to use their words and say what it was they wanted. Padyn needed to be removed from situations a few times for just absolutely losing it over what to our eyes is nothing. But then, when you are 2, everything is a drama.


The highlight of the day was going to the park. Each girl did great and we had very little fighting. Occasionally they even played together and really enjoyed each other's company, like on the structure or the at the sand table. But the best was when Corinne decided she needed to strip down and take all her clothes off. This happened so fast that both Julie and I, who were sitting not 3 feet from her, failed to notice until her onesie was just about off her head. Pants, hat, shoes, socks, and sunglasses where already gone. Fortunately she still had on her diaper. When asked why she took off her clothes, Corinne claimed her shirt was dirty. Gotta love it. So, of course, Corinne then proceeded to play in the sand without her clothes on. While Padyn didn't want to join in the nakedness, she did find it very amusing to dump sand on Corinne while she was unclothed.

Most of the rest of the day was tame. The girls spent most of their time driving Padyn's baby doll stroller and suitcase around the coffee table or driving the cars around the "track" they made of the little foam alphabet. Playing various forms of ball was entertaining, as well as watching me make dinner standing up on their little chairs at the counter. Elliot was in love with Padyn's Little People garage and spent most of his time there, although he did manage to pull himself up on the coffee table a few times to check out the track the girls had made.

I have to say, I'm very proud of both girls. While the morning started out with many tears, the day ended with both of them being able to use their words to ask for things they wanted. It was very sweet and encouraging for the mommies to know our breath actually hadn't been wasted.

After dinner and a bath, Corinne and Elliot headed home with their Mommy and Daddy. Padyn is still asking where Corinne is and thinking she will see Baby Elliot everywhere we go.

Guess who I am

Padyn has recently started pretending, which is a milestone for her age. It seems like this happened suddenly. One day she only played with concrete objects, and the next she told me she was a scary tiger who would make me tea. It's quite amazing and heartwarming to watch her pretend to wash her hands in her little kitchen sink, make food, or, like this evening, eat hamburger off of Daddy's shirt. It's also a bit of a break for Mommy because it means she's a bit more content to play by herself (only for about 3 minutes, but still.) I also now often hear her talking to herself while she's playing. She's usually quoting lines out of her favorite books (usually something from Berenstain Bears) or singing (Twinkle Twinkle, The Barney Song, or Old MacDonald.) But I think my favorite new thing she does is pretend to be a kitty. Every morning as we eat breakfast, she comes over and lies down in my lap and starts meowing. So we scratch the kitty's ears, back and tummy. Where ever did she learn this? We don't have a cat. She's never had a cat. She hardly sees cats in the neighborhood. It is very endearing, though. I'm trying to teach her to purr. Maybe we should get a cat.

Out of the mouth of babes (well, just one babe)

At 2 years, 4 months old, Padyn's current favorite sayings:

I have ideeah (I have an idea)
I did it!
I want....(fill in the blank)
Hey mom, whatcha doing?
Whatcha doin last night?
I busy mommy, weave (leave) me awone (alone). (Said usually because she is pooping)
Go to park, see our fends (friends)
I wanna danz (dance)
Are you happy mommy? (Usually asked when I'm upset with her for not obeying me)
Go to church? Dance, sing and clap?
I no want...
Let's do un (one) more time
Where's the u-udden paci? (Where's the other pacifier?)
I wanna play games (Usually something involving throwing or kicking the ball)
I love...
Naked baby time! (as she is getting undresed for the bath)

Words she often says that we worry about having to fix with speech therapy:
Yeths (yes)
u-udden (another one)
Damma and Dampa (Grandma and Grandpa)
Dover (Grover, from Seasame Street)

Other common utterances:
nigh-nigh
big girl __________(water, bed, cup, etc.)
paci (pacifier)

Final countdown

After being pregnant for nine months and in the home stretch, you start contemplating life without an alien in your belly. You can't think about what it will be like when you aren't pregnant anymore when, say, you are only 11 weeks, or even just starting your third trimester. It's just too painful to dwell on all that time you still have left to get fat. But now...now I have only a couple weeks left and I can actually allow myself to daydream about the day I no longer am pregnant. It's interesting what you start looking forward to. It's not the loss of excess weight, or lack of lower back pain. No, no. My fantasies are much simpler.

• Being able to tie my shoes with ease and comfort
• margaritas, wine, vodka tonics, and other such beverages (in moderation, of course)
• life without acid reflux
• a normal belly button
• bending over without my last meal threatening to come back up
• pants that stay up
• painting my own toenails
• no one dancing on my bladder
• did I mention the acid reflux?
• not having a large, dark pigmentation the shape of an upside down Texas on my forehead
• sleeping with just one pillow
• sleeping without waking up from my snoring
• sleeping on my stomach
• sleeping (yes, yes, this is still many months away)

I'm sure there are many more. These are just the ones I am fantasizing about today.

Playing with the New Camera

After months of debate, we finally broke down and got a new digital camera. LOVE IT! I'm so excited to have something that is fast, I can zoom, and that takes great pictures. Of course, I'm not very advanced with it yet. I basically know how to deal with the Auto mode. Eventually I'll read through the rest of the manual and figure out all the amazing things this puppy can do, but for now, I'm content to just play with it. Here's a few pics we took over the last few days.

Why are you still pointing that thing at me?
We got a newborn diaper in the mail from Huggies and Padyn thought it was a present for her. She was very excited to open it. Even if it was just a diaper.
Breakfast time
I'm not exactly sure what this look means, but I think it's cute.
Rock star at the park.

Padyn vs. Her Baby Sister

I realize that I have written nothing about the new baby and this blog really is about both my girls, not just the one that happens to be outside my uterus. While I don't really know too much about Baby #2 yet, there are a few things I could tell you, especially concerning how different she is from her sister, Padyn, when she was in the womb.

• Baby d gets the hiccups all the time. I feel like drinking multiple glasses of water to make her stop. Padyn wasn't much of a hiccupper. Not even outside the womb.

• Baby d moves A LOT more than Padyn ever did. Hmmm...more hiccups and movement. Are we in for a more active child?
  

• I've gained much less weight all around with this pregnancy than with the first. I can still see my cheekbones and some definition in my arms. I can still wear my wedding ring without cutting off circulation in my finger.

• I'm currently 37 weeks pregnant. Padyn was born by now. I have no idea what this says about Baby d's personality.

We certainly are eager to meet the new one. Hopefully she'll decide to come out soon.

Her favorite pasttime.

Padyn loves to read. She is very much like her parents in this way. But sometimes I worry. She can be reading and I'll ask if she wants to go outside, paint, color, etc., and she will refuse. Even the park. And she loves the park. But because she is reading, she doesn't want to go. Do you think I need to worry?

Since she was such a good girl today while we were waiting for the oil to get changed in the car, I let her pick a new book. This one is a Seasame Street "Look and Find" book. It's similar to Where's Waldo, but what they are looking for are colors instead of Waldo.
We've had the book for a couple hours and we've already had to read it through at least six times.

And you know what she's doing right at this very moment? Reading in bed. She has to be awake from her nap. She's been in there a little over 3 hours. I haven't heard a peep from her yet. Because. She. Is. Reading.

Padyn's last few days

It's hard to get good pictures of Padyn lately, especially with our little digital camera that has no zoom and a very delayed "shutter." But it's also hard as she tries to smile every time I take a picture by saying, "Cheese." I end up with a squinty eyed, chin up, half smile picture. Not terribly attractive. And then there are the moments were she is just a defiant little picture taker. Here are a few over the last couple days. I think you'll see what I mean.




This one she actually posed for. I don't know what the sideways look and arm stance are supposed to signify, but she purposely struck this pose.
This one she refused to smile, yet she managed to get her lip stuck out.

Here again, refusing to smile, and I can see some lip.


Better, but notice the chin up, squinty eye thing going on. Not a terribly attractive look.




There we go! You didn't think I'd leave you without one good one, did you?

Dare we hope?

I wouldn't want to do anything that might jinx it, but I think we are finally over the stomach flu. Could it really be true? After a week of everyone having a turn at being sick, I'm making the decision today to take the towels off Padyn's bed, wash all the sheets, clean all the bathrooms and mop all the floors. Granted, we aren't 100% yet. Mommy and Daddy still can't eat much and Padyn gets extra cranky near her sleeping times. But she is back to one nap and a mostly regular meal schedule. We have been able to get out of the house for an hour at a stretch. The number of videos being asked for has lessened. We actually went to gymnastics yesterday and didn't have a total meltdown from being overly tired. I think we are there.

I don't believe in jinxing anyway.

Schedules

As an elementary school teacher, my daily schedule was essential to my survival. It was planned to the very last minute because we were always so concerned about fitting everything we needed to teach into the day. Now, as a stay at home mom, I still find myself driven by a schedule, but more so for my own sanity than to make sure we "fit everything in." When I am not scheduled I begin to feel disoriented and unproductive. So, it was a big shock this week to have our schedule completely blown up due to Padyn's illness. (Subsequently, mommy and daddy also got sick, but not as badly as Padyn. We didn't need all the towels.)

Just for fun, I thought I'd compare our normal daily schedule with the one dictated by the stomach flu.

Normal Routine
7:30am Wake-up happy, reading to herself
8am Eat breakfast
9am Get dressed, some PBS, read books
10am Out and about-shopping, mother's group playgroup, library, gymnastics, etc.
12pm Lunch
1pm Nap
3:30pm Snack
4-5:30pm Playing, mommy tutoring, visiting friends, park, etc.
6pm Video while mommy makes dinner
6:30-8pm Dinner, bath, books, bedtime


Flu Routine
7am (or earlier) Wake-up crying/screaming
7:15am Two bites of toast
7:30 Videos
9am Asking for a nap
11am Wake-up crying, demanding food she can't/won't eat
11:30 More videos, intermittent crying
2pm Asking for another nap
4pm Wake-up crying, demanding food she will take one bite of then demand something else
4:30pm More videos, half asleep on mommy
6:30pm Crying, asking to go nigh-nigh


Of course, the flu routine also includes such favorites as waking up screaming in the middle of the night, cleaning up vomit and diarrhea, doing lots of laundry, and a highly unhappy, unreasonable two year old.

There is one bonus to the flu routine that I don't normally get with the normal one-lots and lots of cuddling with my lovable two year old. I just wish it wasn't due to her feeling miserable.


Post Script
I do realize that the "New Baby Routine" will more closely resemble the "Flu Routine" than the "Normal Routine." I just would like a couple more weeks of "Normal Routine" before our world is turned upside down again.

Pathetic little girl

On Saturday, Padyn came down with her first ever bout of the stomach flu. I won't go into detail, but let's just say almost every towel we own was pulled into service at some point over the last 48 hours. Yesterday she ran a fever and wanted to sleep all day long. When she wasn't sleeping, she was watching videos. There are really only so many Baby Einstein videos that one mommy can take in a day! Today she seems to be on the mend, but she is still listless and lethargic. It just breaks my heart to watch my little girl so sad. This morning she told me, "No happy, mommy." That makes two of us, baby.

Fun with Coley and Jalyn

Last week, Coley, Jalyn and their moma came to visit for a few days. Coley is Padyn's best friend who unfortunately lives in Washington State. Coley is 2 and 9 months (5 months older than Padyn) and Jalyn is 9 months old. The girls had a great time together playing, singing, dancing, and going on outings. Coley got Padyn excited about using the potty and Padyn convinced Coley to try a few new foods. Of course there was the occasional "No, mine!" and tantrums over toys and mommies, but otherwise it was a wonderful week. The went home two days ago and we still miss them!

singing or screaming?

Jalyn wanting in on the action

fun at the park

best friends (notice the matching dresses)

the girls and their moma

Coley was so excited she was yelling at the bat rays. Both girls look like they are going to jump into the tank.

"fishing" at the aquarium

3 in a car-unfortunately, you can't see Jalyn, but she's there

Entering the Blogging World

Well, here we are. After months and months of hemming and hawing about starting a blog, I decided it would be wise to do it before the second kid enters the world. And of course, it helped that The Girls' Moma was here this week to help me get started. I can only remember about half of what she taught me, but at least I can figure out how to post an entry.

But enough of that. This blog is really about our two baby girls and the joy they bring us. Baby Girl #2 is set to pop in the next few weeks. Since Padyn was 3 weeks early, we are preparing ourselves for another early showing. Watch her be late. I don't know if my back could take that. Regardless, she will be here soon and Padyn is very excited to be a big sister. At least she thinks she is. I'm sure once she realizes the new one isn't leaving, she'll rethink this whole big sister thing.

Day with the Fishies

Today we took Padyn, Coley and Jalyn to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. All 3 girls had a great time, although Padyn wasn't too keen on the deep water tank. It was a little too dark and the sharks were a little too big.

They did dig the penguin exhibit, which is where this picture is taken. I think Coley and Padyn are in an egg shell of some sort in this picture. It was impossible to get them to look at the camera at the same time. The girls also loved the jellyfish, octopus, sea otters and the sea turtles. The Mommies enjoyed themselves, too.