Motherhood

“Muddy Soup” and Other Messes

Posted on by Amy
So, yesterday I mentioned that I was hoping for more messy outdoor time for my girls today.  They are such agreeable and thoughtful girls.  They found the one little remaining spot of standing water/mud, and they really delivered.
They jumped and stomped in the mud.  They splashed with sticks.

Miss got a little on her face, and freaked out momentarily, but recovered well when reminded to just wipe it on her sleeve.

Lass was largely unperturbed by all the mud she was getting on herself.  Once in a while she’d turn around and point, as if to say, “Hey, I think I’ve got something on my face!”

She also held up her hands a few times and said, “Wash?” though when informed that we couldn’t wash without going inside, she happily went right back to her puddle.

Miss was a little concerned by how dirty her sister was getting.  She said, “Let me see your face, Muddy Girl.”

Then Miss declared she was going to make “Muddy Soup.”  Her Daddy requested pepper and garlic in the soup, to which she declared she would add cream, butter, and sugar.  Yum.

We had a grand time and sure did make a mess today.  I have no problem with outside messes.  Outside, my girls can get as dirty as they want.  Who cares if the yard gets dirty or messy?  The only thing I have to bother with, generally, is their clothes, and those wash (yes, these did all come miraculously clean).  So I find it kind of odd that I struggle a little bit with indoor messes. I have to regularly remind myself to lighten up when we are doing things that are a bit messy inside.  Now, I don’t care about toys getting messy.  Our house looks like a tornado hit it every day until bedtime when Miss does her chores, one of which is cleaning up toys.  No.  Toy messes don’t bother me.  I tend to get a bit uptight about other kinds of messes.  Play Doh.  Paint. Glitter.  Etc.  I make myself tolerate these things and try really hard to embrace them.  And typically I find that when I do, I have tons of fun and realize the mess is no big deal.  Like tonight.

Miss tested me with indoor messy tonight before bed.  She decided to play with the plastic eggs that I have in an Easter basket on our counter.  Yes, I have Easter decor up in our house already.  I was afraid I wouldn’t put it out if I waited too long and Baby Sis arrived before I got it out.  So anyway, we have an assortment of Easter decorations around the house, one of which is a fairly large basket with plastic eggs in it.  Under the eggs is a whole bunch of that paper Easter grass stuff.  Miss decided to dump the whole basket out on the floor, multiple times.  That grass stuff was everywhere.  I started getting all antsy about it, but I took a deep breath and told myself to chill out.  Then Miss brought the “grass” up on the couch where I was sitting.  It was in my hair and her hair, stuck to our clothes, in my couch cushions, all over my rug in the family room and the floor in the kitchen.  But you know, once I started really playing with it with her, I stopped caring about the mess we were making.  Miss made “hair” and “hats” out of the grass.  We used strands of the grass to make mustaches and giggled while we tried to arrange our mouths so they would stay in place.  She made lots of “toys” for her Baby Sissy, which she lovingly constructed, described to me (“tiny ball,” “snake,” “thing to put her thumb through,” “headband,” “mustache,” etc.), and then placed on my belly.  It was precious.
I sometimes wish I could be like those moms who are totally laid back about all the different types of messes of childhood.  That I could get out the really good crafty stuff, like finger paints and glitter projects several times a week, instead of my more boring stuff like stickers and crayons.  But, I yam what I yam, and I do always try to grow and to stretch myself, like by telling myself to chill out when a relatively minor mess starts to make my heart flutter, my hands sweat, and my face flush (just kidding, I don’t get quite that freaked out about it).  I’m getting out the Play Doh and the dot markers more and getting ready for another painting day.  I’m really enjoying the girls’ increased interest in helping in the kitchen in spite of the increased messiness it brings.  Childhood is messy.  I love the outdoor messiness.  I’m working on bringing my outdoor attitude about it into the house.

I’m getting there.

I’m Just a Mom

Posted on by Amy

I had an ultrasound and doctor’s appointment today.  Baby Sis is still breech.  At 36 weeks.  This is not news to me.  Or to you, I suspect, since I have mentioned it recently.

If you’ve read here much you’re aware how much I dread the idea of having another c-section.  C-sections suck.  You can read a little bit about my thoughts on and experience with one here if you’re so inclined.  I know not everyone shares my feelings on c-sections.  Some people think they’re no big deal, and that’s fine.  It’s just that a c-section is a big deal to me.  When people here that Sis is breech and that I’m distressed about this and really worried about having another c-section, sometimes they say things like, “Well, just remember that having a healthy baby is the most important thing.”  I think this is a well-meaning comment, but you know what I really want to say when someone says this to me?  “Duh.”

Really.  I don’t need to be reminded that having a healthy baby is the most important thing.  I have thought about that every moment for the last 30-ish weeks, since I knew of little Sis’s existence.  I am very well aware of how lucky I am to have had two beautiful and perfect babies so far.  I know some people are not so fortunate.  I am a Mom. I put my children’s health and wellbeing above my own all the time.  I’m not complaining about this, and I’m not suggesting in any way that this makes me special.  It just makes me a Mom.  Every decision I make, every day, all day, takes into consideration the health and wellbeing of my kids.  That’s just what Moms do.  So yes, I know that having a healthy baby is the most important thing.  Please don’t feel that you need to tell me that.

However, if you say to me (which some people have), “Having a healthy baby is the only thing that really matters, right?”  I will say, definitively, “No.”  As I just said above, having a healthy baby is the very most important thing.  Yes.  But it is not the only thing that matters.  As a Mom, pretty much by definition I put my children before myself in almost all things.  Of course I’m not perfect.  I’m also not a martyr.  I’m just a Mom.  But I’m still an individual being.  I’m a person with feelings and wishes and fears, and I try not to feel guilty about my individual-ness.  I generally don’t feel guilty about the fact that I get a babysitter sometimes and get pedicures or have coffee with a friend and that I love dates with my husband and my book clubs.  I try not to feel guilty about the fact that I sometimes even check my email or surf other websites a little bit when I should probably be playing with my girls.  I try not to feel guilty about this, but you’ll notice I just typed “should.”  Mom-guilt is a powerful thing.  I don’t like it, and I try to stay away from it, but it does creep in from time to time.  And when someone says to me, “Of course having a healthy baby is the only thing that matters, right?,” I feel that Mom-guilt surfacing.  Like what I’m really being told is, “how dare you think about your own desires when going through the majorly huge event of birthing a child?  What kind of mother are you?”

Then I take a deep breath and stop myself from going there.  Some people might judge me because I feel so strongly about not wanting to have another c-section.  I have certainly felt judged at times with respect to this issue both now and when I was in the same situation with Lass and when I chose to have a VBAC with her.  People judge, and that’s okay.  Some people might just make comments like those above for lack of knowing what else to say.  That’s okay too.  At the end of the day, I have carried and nurtured this precious baby girl for eight months so far.  I think it’s natural for me to have a desire to be involved in her emergence into the world, rather than strapped to a table and relegated to the role of observer, which is what a c-section felt like to me.  So if I’m sometimes worried or distressed about Sis’s continued breech-ness, that’s okay.  Please try to refrain from telling me that I shouldn’t think about my own wishes and instead should only think about the health of my baby.  I think about the health of this baby and my two older girls every minute of every day.  Keeping the welfare of my children at the forefront of my mind and having my own feelings, thoughts, desires, opinions, and wishes are not mutually exclusive things.  I’m not less of a Mom for wanting things to work out the way my heart desires.  I’m just a Mom.

And for the record, if it turns out that this baby girl doesn’t flip and I do have to have another c-section, I will not be any less joyful about her birth.  I will cherish her and marvel over her and welcome her into our family with the happiest heart.  And, I will still be sad to have a c-section.  And that’s okay. It will not take away one bit of the celebration of a new, wonderful baby.

And oh, we are very much looking forward to her arrival.  Over the past weekend at one point Miss began handing me all of the baby toys she could find and asking if I thought “Baby Sissy” would like each of them.  She talked about how she would play with her Baby Sissy and how much Baby Sissy would love her and what she would like about each of the toys.  Today, we used face paint crayons to draw a picture for Baby Sissy.

I pointed out to Miss a place on  my belly where you could see Sis moving, and she was amazed.  I told her “Baby Sissy is saying, ‘who’s out there poking me?'” and she got a big kick out of that.  She kept asking, “What else is Baby Sissy saying?”

She colored very intently right where she had seen her sister move.

Notice the concentration of blue just above and to the right of my (kind of disturbingly huge, sorry) belly button.  That’s where Miss could see Sis moving.  It’s also right where her head is.

Happily preparing to welcome home this little one soon.

I Have a Princess Issue

Posted on by Amy
When I first learned that Miss was a girl, I was so excited. I had all sorts of thoughts about being a mom to a little girl. Things I wanted to teach her and show her. I remember some family members teasing that she would be “such a princess” and having a yucky gut reaction to that statement. I guess I’ve always had a little bit of a negative feeling towards the “Princess Attitude.” That’s how I think of the attitude of some girls and women that they are entitled to things, that the don’t have to work hard, that they’re better than others, that they can’t get dirty or play rough or do things for themselves, that they’re helpless but that others are obligated to help them, that the most important things in life are having fancy things and having others cater to their whims, etc. I’ve known people like this. I do not want my girls to be like this. This is my “Princess Issue” and what I reacted to negatively in my gut when others teased that my daughter would be a princess.
However, somewhere along the line, my dislike of the “Princess Attitude” turned into an aversion to all things “Princess.” Part of this is that I really don’t like how absurdly commercialized the “Disney Princess” brand has become. Everywhere you look the Disney gals are plastered on toys and books, clothing and everything else. So my reaction was to not buy anything for Miss or Lass with these girls on it. I started feeling annoyed with Snow White, who, let’s face it, is pretty vapid and not too smart (what kind of a dummy would take anything to eat from that scary old woman??). I scorned Sleeping Beauty. I admit I don’t remember the whole story, but didn’t she just sleep through it and look pretty until some guy came along and kissed her? Puh-lease. I even avoided Cinderella and Belle, who at least had a little gumption in their stories. But, over time I started realizing I was being a little extreme. I was trying to avoid the annoying overly-commercialized “Disney Princess” junk, but in doing so I lost something.

I was missing out on the fun part of playing princess with my little girls and reading them the stories that the Disney movies were based on. I almost even forgot that the stories didn’t originate with Walt Disney and in fact are very old and rich tales, told by many different authors, probably most notably the Brothers Grimm. The problem is, these days it’s not easy to find an old version of these fairy tales. I’d even settle for the Little Golden Book version of them, which are based on the Disney movie versions of the stories and are what I remember having as a little girl. The last time I looked in the book section of Target they didn’t even have any Little Golden Books and the princess story book they did have was some weird compilation of spin off-tales of each of the characters. Not what I was looking for.
My point is that I have had to remind myself from time to time that “princess” does not equal “Princess Attitude.” My girls are not prissy. They’re not afraid to get dirty or play rough. We try to teach them to be the opposite of the attitude I described above. I’m not worried that they’ll develop the attitude, so I probably ought to lighten up on the anti-princess campaign around here. Okay, I don’t really have a campaign, I just tend to avoid Disney Princess crap, which is mostly what is out there for princess stuff.

When Miss’s flower girl dress came a few weeks ago and I took her to have it fitted, I mentioned to her that it was her “princess dress” and she looked just like a beautiful princess, and so on. When we went to pick it up the other day I almost cried it was so adorable on her. She twirled and pranced in front of the gazillion mirrors in the David’s Bridal alterations fitting room. She even ran into one of the mirrors because there were so many they confused her! She didn’t want to take the dress off, and it made me smile that she loved it so much. She doesn’t really have a super interest in being a princess, since I’ve not really gone there with the princess stuff. She hasn’t seen the movies. She only has one toy (a purse) with Snow White on it. She’s played with some stickers of the Disney princesses and she has a plate and bowl with pictures of them, but that’s about it. I really would like to read her the fairy tales though. And yes, eventually we will watch the movies too.

I hope that my girls will be well-rounded. Maybe partly tom-boy and partly girly-girl. Or whatever the heck they want. They can play swords, they can play princess, they can play warrior princess with swords, whatever.

I think my job is just to let them try all sorts of things, from making mud pies to baking real pies, playing kick ball to playing dress up, and everything in between. They’ll let me know what they love and that will make me happy.

Summer Lovin’

Posted on by Amy
I love the smell of my babies in the summer. Sunscreen mixed with chlorine, a little bit of dirt and little girl sweat. . . Heaven. We have been busy here living summer. That’s what people do here in the North Country. After such a long winter this year we are trying to wring every last drop of summer-ness out of the few days of beautiful weather we have had so far. This weekend has been packed with the farmer’s market, two trips to the pool, and making the most of life outside – grilling and eating and lots of playing.
Tonight we had a jam session on the front stoop.

Miss had been collecting rocks from our front landscaping and asking my husband and I which ones were our “faybwits” (favorites). We were sorting and admiring rocks so much my hubby decided to grab his guitar and make up a song about Miss and her favorite rock. Notice in the photo above, his favorite rock sitting on his knee. She requested the song over and over, even after he had moved on to more well-known tunes.
These days are magical. Funny sayings from Miss. First assisted steps from Lass using the lion walker (featured here). Getting soaked at the water table. Miss dancing the most adorable wiggle to her daddy’s guitar music. Exchanging glances and laughs with my husband as we watch our amazing girls. When I stop and soak it in it makes my nose tickle and my eyes tingle and my heart squeeze with happiness. I love summer and the opportunities it brings for moments like these with my girls and their Daddy.
Note – My computer is “in the shop” again, because I am having trouble accessing all the photos I restored after my hard drive was replaced. Hence, my lack of blogging. Hopefully I will be back in full swing again very soon.
And I’d like to note that the recent lack of posts about our “Chopped” adventures has been due to my husband’s work in creating a list of ingredients to draw from, as I will now be doing two surprise ingredients each week. The list is now completed enough to pick from it (though it is a work in progress), the ingredients have been drawn, and my next challenge is to use shrimp and cheddar cheese. Immediately what came to my mind was Shrimp and Grits, so I’m going with that. I’ll post the recipe and let you know how it goes later this week. What would you make??

I’m Getting Up Now

Posted on by Amy

When I started as a prison psychologist, I had to go to the same two-week training that the federal government makes all correctional workers go through. Among other things, I learned self defense, spent a lot of time on the firing range, had physical fitness tests, and learned lots about how to prevent and handle a “major disturbance,” which is prison staff lingo for a riot. I remember one instructor saying something like, “We have the control in our institutions because the inmates let us have control. There are way more of them than us, and they could take control at any time. We will always get it back, but don’t forget that they could take it.” I heard this idea several times in various trainings I went to over the years. I think the purpose of saying this was to stress to us that our control was fragile and we needed to exert it with respect, lest our residents decide they weren’t gonna take it anymore.

Fast forward seven-ish years to a day in the life of me, The Mom, the one with the “control,” and Miss, The Toddler, the one who generally goes along and lets me have control because life flows better that way. The one who decided yesterday that she wasn’t gonna take it anymore and went into all out riot mode. Yes folks. My 2’7″, 26-pound 2 year old brought me to my knees yesterday.
Remember my post from the other day when I said potty training was going so well? Remember how I said I firmly believe you can’t force a child to go to the bathroom? Well. My daughter firmly proved me right yesterday. And I never even tried to force her to go to the bathroom. I just tried to get her to not go on the floor. Or on her little chair in her room. Or on the couch. Yesterday was not my best day as Mommy, and Miss decided to seize control of things by controlling what she could – her bladder. Yes, potty training worked very well. Miss does know when she has to go and she is able to tell me. She had been doing this very well all week. One thing she had not been doing at all was napping. So after five days without a nap, we were both tired and a bit frayed. She had an accident yesterday because she did not tell me she had to go. Throughout the entire training process up to that point I had been super positive and upbeat, even with accidents. “Next time just make sure you tell Mommy when you have to go so we can keep those underwear dry, okay?” Well, yesterday I had a not-so-wonderful Mommy Moment and I scolded her for her accident. Nothing too awful, but I definitely used a stern voice and told her that she was supposed to tell me when she had to go and not pee-pee on the floor. I think I gave an exasperated sigh or two. I did manage to regroup fairly quickly and then in my more upbeat voice repeat the usual reminder to tell me when she has to go the next time. But apparently she was not all that forgiving of my moment of testiness. From that point forward, she was in control and letting me know it. She refused to go to the bathroom when I took her in to let her try. I never pushed the issue, but did try to get her to go a few times in an attempt to stop the madness that had begun. She wouldn’t even sit when I’d take her into the bathroom, but then would go moments later in a less favorable spot. She wasn’t giving an inch. Suffice it to say, she had many accidents throughout the afternoon. I was trying so hard not to get into a power struggle with her, which was ironic, given that I had absolutely no power with this issue at all.



Things did improve somewhat right before bed, but by that time I was a wreck. I was berating myself for being the most horrible mother ever, and thinking I had ruined all the hard work we had done on the potty training by scolding her and that I had perhaps scarred her for life as all sorts of Freudian theories came to mind. And yes, this is a bit of an exaggeration, but not much. Just ask my mom, who I called near tears while chugging a glass of wine within minutes of putting Miss to bed. Or my husband who wasn’t able to get home until late last night and came in to find me grumpy and tearful and asking him to go get me ice cream (he did).
Of course, at the end of the day, when your toddler takes you down, you just have to get back up. By the time I went to bed, with the help of my husband, my mom, some wine, and some ice cream, I was feeling much better. I went to bed hopeful that yesterday would just be a bump in the road and that today would be a huge improvement. And of course it was. Miss had only one accident. She was happy to go on her potty and glowed at the praise she received. I was going to leave her with our babysitter so I could go grocery shopping this afternoon. I desperately needed to get some groceries and had wanted to go yesterday after her non-nap, but she refused to go to the bathroom, and I wasn’t willing to take her out in public with a full bladder with the way things were going yesterday. So today I thought I’d just avoid any problems and let her stay with our babysitter, whom she loves. But as I was getting ready to go she said, “I want to go store too. Pwease Mommy. I not get my pants all wet.” Well, that just melted my heart and so of course I let her come along. We had a great time. And when we got back, wonder of wonders, Miss finally took a nap! Oh halle-freaking-lujiah!!! All the world looks so much brighter on this side of a nap.



There are days when being a Mom just kicks the crap out of you. I really believe that there isn’t any more important job. Therefore, when things don’t go right, when I screw up, my feelings of inadequacy and guilt are greatly magnified. I question myself and feel like a failure. No one can make a mother of a two-year-old feel more impotent than that two-year-old. But amazingly, even when she is being a stinker and I’m at the end of my rope, the girl is sweet and loving and brightens my world. Just when I feel like I want to go crawl under my covers and stay there, she will say something like this comment from yesterday, “Lass so sweet, Lass so cute,” and then when I ask her if she’s cute say, “No, I not cute. I pwetty.” My girls make me laugh. They make me smile. They make my heart swell until it feels like it’s going to burst. Sometimes they make me want to pull my hair out. Always they make me want to be a better Mom. Even yesterday. Hell, especially yesterday! I’m not perfect, and sometimes I totally suck at this Mom thing, but in the words of that instructor, I “always get it back.” I guess that’s just what moms do. We do our best for our kids and sometimes we totally lose it. But we always get it back.

Well Yes, I AM that Mom

Posted on by Amy
A few weeks ago, when we were visiting my parents for Christmas, my brother came over with his kids and noticed that I had the girls in matching outfits. He said something like, “Matching outfits? You’re not that mom, are you?”
Well, yes. Yes I am. I mean, isn’t dressing my girls in matching outfits one of the super fun perks of having two girls only 18 months apart??

When I found out that Lass was going to be a girl, matching outfits for them was one of the things I looked forward to. Seriously, what could be cuter?
I don’t dress them in matching outfits all the time. Not even most of the time, though I do try to at least coordinate their outfits most days. And if they’re not coordinating, I at least like what they’re wearing not to clash.
Now, honestly, I’m not in the least offended by my bro’s comment. He just likes to give me a hard time about whatever. But the statement was the perfect setup for a blog post featuring their new matching outfits from Santa.
You can’t see the outfits too much here, but this kiss was just too precious not to post.
And hugs.
Adorable, right?


And I had to buy the other colorway for these sweaters as well.

Whoopsie-doozy! (That’s what Miss says when she slips, drops something, falls, etc.)
Miss was so cute reading to her sister.
Lass is really listening too!
Honestly, I love dressing them alike. I won’t do it always. There will come a point when they’re too old to be dressed in matching outfits. But for now while they’re little? Yeah, I’m that mom.
A side note: I’m trying to change up the look of my blog a little bit, so forgive the messiness as I try to figure it out. Thanks for reading!

Reflecting and Anticipating

Posted on by Amy
The coming of a new year is a time when I like to reflect and take stock of my life. I like to look back over the last year, think about where I’ve been, evaluate where I am, and plan where I want to go in the year to come. The past year was full of so much joy for our family. Big, beautiful, exultant highs. And a few lows too.

We had a great loss in our family.
But we also had three beautiful additions. First my brother’s baby girl, who will turn one in a few days. Then my brother-in-law and his wife had their lovely daughter.

And then of course, our beautiful Lass.


There were many changes and exciting times in 2010. We traveled far.
And we hunkered down at home.


We (reluctantly) dipped toes in the ocean,

played in the lake,

and spent countless hours splashing in our local pool.

We have upgraded some of our equipment.


And we have grown so much. All of us.
My first baby girl

has become a big girl.

And we had another baby girl.

Our little teeny tiny (well, 10+ pounder)
is getting so big. She was 16 lbs at her 4-month appointment yesterday.
She has the most wonderful little personality,
and we think she’s getting teeth!


I have so much to cherish from 2010 and to try to pack away forever in my memory. I am filling up baby books (yes, even for Lass, though everyone laughed at me when I mentioned doing a baby book for baby #2) with notes, photos, stats, and anecdotes. I’m writing down the funny things Miss says. Like how she says “bonnet” for “bottom,” “eemoop” for “oatmeal,” and “beenah” for “banana.” I am trying to finish (okay, start) photo books for both girls. I don’t want to forget a moment. I loved 2010. 2010 was just full to bursting with goodness and love and warm fuzzies all over the place.
I am eagerly anticipating 2011. There is so much to look forward to. A trip to Arizona to visit treasured friends. A second birthday (yikes!!). A trip to Florida to see my beloved Grandpa C and Grandma B. Hopefully a trip to visit my Auntie and Unka sometime this spring. Lots of other family time, play dates, and making new friends. I’m planning to run this race in July, and am trying hard to get in shape enough to do it. There are all sorts of firsts to look forward to again, like first steps, first words, first foods, and of course another first birthday (wasn’t Miss’s first birthday just yesterday??). And my hubby and I agree, that we would like to grow our family by at least one more little soul, so maybe 2011 will bring another tiny bundle our way. I have so much to be happy about and to look forward to, as does any parent of wonderful little people. Happy New Year.

Traditions

Posted on by Amy
I love holiday traditions. Love them. Every year I decorate my tree on the day after Thanksgiving. While doing it, I listen to Johnny Mathis Christmas music, which is what my mom and I listened to always at Christmas time when I was a kid, particularly when we were making no-bake cookies (her specialty back then). I allow my hubby to put on some Charlie Brown Christmas too, since that’s his traditional holiday music, and we rock around the Christmas tree. We eat creamed eggs on my family’s Christmas morning and my mom and I watch “Heidi.”
Last night we opened our home gifts, since we’re leaving for the Farm tonight. My hubby and I opened our gifts for each other and Miss opened the gifts for her and Lass that are too big to take with us to be from Santa tomorrow night, like her easel for her learning tower and the big paper pads and box of art supplies that go with it. We also opened the traditional gifts for the girls.

Last year, I started the tradition of giving Miss an ornament every year. I gave her a silver rocking horse ornament with a plaque signifying her first christmas. I got a matching one for Lass this year. Miss’s ornament this year is a little snow-baby-type thing, holding a baby that says “I’m the Big Sister.” I will continue to get the girls each an ornament every year, relating to something we did during the year.
I got the idea for a new tradition I started this year from my dearest Auntie (she also does the ornament tradition for my cousins, so maybe I got that idea from her too?). My mom told me about it and I thought it was the coolest idea. My Auntie gets each of my cousins a children’s book every year for Christmas that relates to something significant that happened in their life that year. So, not only do my cousins have all these cool books from her that commemorate their lives and contain a note from my aunt, when they have kids they will have a great start on a fabulous library for their little ones! I love this idea so much I had to start it with my girls, and I even gave Miss a book for last year. For last year I got her the beautiful book “On the Night You Were Born.”

Her book for this year is “Big Sister.”
And she opened Lass’s book, “On the Day You Were Born.”
I am so excited about the idea of getting an ornament and a book for my girls for each year. My favorite part of it is the note I wrote inside each of the books. I hope they will love these books always. This year I also started two other traditions. I will give the girls new jammies to wear on Christmas Eve (you can see these in my last post) and also will try to get a picture of them with Santa. This year, I was not terribly successful with this second tradition, despite trying twice. On my first attempt, I took the girls to a craft show where they had a Santa. Miss was very interested in Santa, but did not want to get close to him. She was so timid, I didn’t try to push her too much to sit on his lap by herself, so I just sat next to Santa with both of the girls on my lap.
Then when we were visiting my parents last week I took Miss and Lass to the story time at the library (my mom is the children’s librarian). They had a Santa come to story time and give gifts to the kids.
Miss was still kind of shy, but I thought I’d let her try to sit on his lap. Okay, I didn’t really let her try, I picked her up and plunked her on his lap just long enough to get this photo.
That Santa sure does look enthused! Tonight we leave for the farm. Some traditions for my husband’s family include having oyster stew and chili on Christmas Eve and having Santa come, as described in my last post. Tradition makes me feel nostalgic and warm and fuzzy. I’m sure my girls and I will continue to add other traditions in years to come. Perhaps making and decorating Christmas cookies will be one. That’s my project with Miss for today!

The Christmas Tree

Posted on by Amy
Miss’s first look at the Christmas tree.

It wasn’t decorated yet, except for the lights and garland
and the bow on top.
But she was so fascinated by it. She kept touching the lights and blowing on them, like she thought they were candles.
Then I pulled out the ornaments we got at Hobby Lobby the other day, along with all our other ornaments, and the fun really began.
Check this out:

When we first started decorating she was saying “Tick-a-teek” when she looked at the tree, which is how she says “Trick or Treat!” So we corrected her that it is now time for Christmas and said “Christmas tree” to her a few times. Well, shortly thereafter, she started saying “Kiss tee” for “Christmas tree.” But as you can hear in the video I thought she was saying she wanted to kiss something. Duh. But anyway, I’m was so happy that we caught her on video saying “I yuv a snowmin!” because that is one of my favorite things to hear her say, “I yuuv it!” that I don’t care if I sound like a doofus in the video.
It was so much fun to let her help decorate the tree. Most of my ornaments have a story behind them. They are the ornaments that were on our tree when I was little, or they were made by someone I love, or given to me by someone I love. I told Miss the story of many ornaments as we put them on. “Your Great-Grandma B made this one,” “Auntie and Unka gave that one to Mommy,” “Grandma gave this to you for Christmas last year,” etc. She seemed to have a blast helping with the ornaments and just kept wanting to get more and more. This morning she was just as excited by the tree.
She repeatedly touched all the ornaments and went from one side of the tree to the other saying, “Touch snowmin,” “Touch Sinta,” “Touch sharky” (sparkly – this is what she calls the old-school styrofoam-ball-with-sequins ornaments that my mom and aunts made in the 70s), “Touch Pulo” (Pluto), etc. And she commanded me to touch each ornament she named after she did.
I fear that I could get into a rut this month of posting nothing but “Oh-my-gosh-it-was-so-amazing/awesome/wonderful-to-see-Miss-do-this-holiday-related thing-for-the-first-time” gushing posts. I guess I’ll call this fair warning, because it’s likely to end up that way. I just get all teary every time I see Christmas through her eyes. And it’s pretty cool. So I’m going to write about it, and probably gush some too. And then I’ll probably do it again next year when Lass is old enough to start to understand all of this for the first time. Hell, I’m getting teared up just thinking about it. Motherhood never ceases to amaze me.

3 months!!

Posted on by Amy
Somebody is three whole months old today!!!

I can’t believe it. The past three months have flown by. But then, it seems like our Lass has always been here. She’s such a good and happy baby. She’s growing so fast and doing lots of new things. She’s enjoying tummy time a bit more and has great head control.

She likes “playing” with toys. I guess the better way to say it is that she notices toys, follows them with her eyes, smiles in response to them, and grabs them too.
She’s a real Momma’s girl.

She can sit in the Bumbo for a bit longer now. She loves to be sitting up and watching the world around her. In the photo below she is staring at something Miss is doing.
She likes her play mat and reaches up for the toys all the time now.
She loves to suck on the first two or three fingers of her right hand. But she still won’t take a bottle!! I think I’m now on my sixth different type of bottle to try with her. This is completely my fault, as I didn’t start trying to give her a bottle until my best “window” of opportunity was past. Shoot. At least her feedings have spaced out a bit. She has stayed with the babysitter so I could go do my first evaluation since she’s been born, and it went well.
She was sleeping through the night for several weeks (I mean really sleeping through the night, from like 8 to 8). Then I moved her from her little snuggly inclined bed, which we had her in because of some suspected reflux, into her crib, and she started waking twice a night for a few nights. Now she is going to bed at about the same time as her sister (7-7:30pm) and she’s back to waking only once, usually around 5:30 am (though last night it was at 1:30!!). I’m hoping she’ll gradually get back to the 12-hour sleep stretches, but even as it is, I can’t complain. I guess I should say that she’s sleeping through the night and waking up really early, but then going right back to sleep for several hours, which isn’t too bad! She’s starting to get on a bit of a nap schedule, which is great because she is starting to take longer naps in the afternoon at the same time Miss does (right now)!! Woohoo!!
I love every different facial expression she makes. My hubby says she looks like me.


She has started giggling and she smiles a lot.


She is such a joy and we are soaking up every minute of these first few months. I have found that I’m able to really enjoy her more easily that I did Miss. That is definitely not meant to sound as though I didn’t completely enjoy Miss’s early months, but I was soooo much more nervous about everything with her because it was all new. Seriously. Everything. Having a second baby has allowed (forced?) me to relax a bit, which has helped me to just revel in her babyness and to love every day with both of my girls more than I ever thought would be possible. I don’t know what job could possibly be better than this one I’ve been blessed to be able to do full time.