Required Reading

I have a ton of reading to get caught-up on. My nightstand is piled high with books and magazines. In no particular order:

1. The May issues of Southern Living, Family Fun, Simple Scrapbooks and Creating Keepsakes
2. The April issues of the above (well, Simple Scrapbooks is the March/April issue)
   
3. The March issues of the above
4. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
5. Mine are Spectacular by Lynn Schnurnberger and Janice Kaplan
6. The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown, Special Illustrated Edition
7. Lies Women Believe: And the Truth that Sets Them Free by Nancy Leigh DeMoss

You'd think after attending church with Nancy Leigh DeMoss for several years - at least when she's in my city to record her radio show (she calls Michigan home) - I'd have read her books. I've only read part of one - and it is in the basket *beside* my nightstand...we won't even get into the books and magazines in that basket - ones I've started and not finished yet. I started reading Nancy's book A Place of Quiet Rest when I was pregnant with Elizabeth. Since becoming a mother, my typical reading consists of things like:

1. Goodnight, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann
2. You Are My I Love You by Maryann Cusimano
3. Ten Tiny Fairies from the creators of Ten Little Ladybugs Apparently this book didn't have an author? What's up with that???? Anyway, our version of this book has the "light up" fairies in the back - ooooh, do the girls love that?!
   
4. Good Night, Sweet Butterflies: A Color Dreamland by Dawn Bentley; Heather Cahoon (Illustrator) I could recite this one in my sleep and frequently give it as a birthday gift to our girls' friends.
5. Mommy Hugs and Daddy Kisses by Anne Gutman, Georg Hallensleben I bought these books for Elizabeth for her first Easter. Over three years later, we still love them.

Things I can't wait to share with my girls:

1. All-of-a-Kind Family, More All-of-a-Kind Family, All-of-a-Kind Family Uptown, All-of-a-Kind Family Downtown, Ella of All-of-a-Kind Family - all by Sydney Taylor. Sweet books about a Jewish family living in Brooklyn in the 1930s.
   
2. Fifteen by Beverly Cleary Ah, a sweet "coming of age" book with none of the crassness of today's "coming of age" stories.
   
3. The Pink Maple House by Christine Noble Govan. And yeah, if you click on that link to Amazon you read the price correctly - $199.50. This book has been out of print since I was a child. My aunt worked in the juvenile literature department of the public library when she was in high school. When the children's librarian was culling through books she was going to get rid of, she pulled The Pink Maple House. My aunt had always loved the book so she asked if she could give it to me - the librarian agreed. I've had it since I was nine years old and I love it still. Such a sweet, innocent book.
   

Pictures, pictures, pictures!

Could I possibly be more proud? :::sniff::: my daughter in a mullet wig. Yep, that's what it's all about right there. I can die a happy woman. I just wish I'd gotten pictures of my *husband* in it! It was hilarious -- and it scared the hell out of our kids.


















Mmmm, is anything better than a Pebbles Flintstone ponytail and a chocolate chip cookie?!














"Hey, look! I remember playing with these things when I was in utero" I just love this baby girl!

Perfect Ten(th Percentile)

Annie's 4-month well-baby visit was this past Monday. To quote the pediatrician, "She's just petite and that's not a bad thing." She weighs 11 pounds 6 ounces (10th percentile), is 23 inches long (10th percentile) and her head measures in...you guessed it...the 10th percentile. Developmentally, she's hitting all her milestones.

She's found her feet. I looked at her on the changing table and she had a hold of them, just grinning. She looked just like the other two babies I've seen in that same position. I can't wait to take a picture of her laying there like that - just like the other two babies. I'll put all the photos together, along with a photo my mother-in-law took of my husband when *he* was a baby doing the same thing. I can hardly wait to see them together.

Katherine has finally decided - we're having a Dora-themed 2nd birthday party. I've printed and assembled invitations - 6" square lime green cardstock, 5.5" square hot pink cardstock, 5" square orange cardstock, 4.5" square white cardstock with the invite printed on them. So cute, even if I do say so myself.

I've been dreaming about Annie cutting teeth. Did last night and again today when I took the rare weekday nap (man, that was NICE). Dreamt she had a tooth actually through the gum. She's started the pre-teething drooling - so adding this on top of the reflux, we're going through the bibs!

Speaking of reflux - a friend of ours is a family doc and he got us 8 months worth of Prevacid Solutabs for her! Well, 8 months at the current dosage and I'm sure as she grows we'll have to increase that - but still. I am a major happy camper for that.

Major baby fever going on here - I know it's because Annie is getting older. But I'm having it **bad**. By the way, did I ever tell y'all that it was "breastfed baby going through a growth spurt" kind of late? It was. :) Brad said, "Phew, I need at least a year." So do I, honey. So do I. He needs it emotionally. I need it emotionally and physically!

Why I co-sleep

A picture paints a thousand words.

Language barrier

Elizabeth came up to me a few minutes ago and was absolutely horrifed.

"Mommy! Annie just "God-blessed-you" on my arm!!"
"What?"
"Annie. Just. God-blessed-you. On. My. Arm. G-whoa-se!"

Ah! I get it. Annie sneezed on Elizabeth's arm. And it's gross.

My new wallpaper

I liked this layout so much, I decided to make it my new desktop wallpaper - well, modified to fit my monitor and without all the extra journaling (lyrics). It makes me smile.


Background and chipboard flower: Robin Cabana (Monica paper pack & element set); Font: Susie's Hand

Four years later

Four years ago today I was laying on a table in an exam room talking about going to Community Bakery to buy a dozen chocolate covered donuts after what I'd just been through. Cheryl was cleaning the room and I said, "Cheryl, I'll be out of town next month when we need to do this again. So, let's take off the month of May and do it again in June." Brad was watching the clock.

Cheryl just laughed and said, "Now, don't get in too big of a hurry. You may be calling me in two weeks telling me I got you pregnant."

Little did we know, 2 weeks later I would be calling her telling her she got me pregnant. The IUI where I conceived Elizabeth was four years ago today. It is amazing that four years later, as I type this, I am nursing my third child. If you had told me this in 2002, I would have laughed at you. Yeah, right - after over nine years of infertility, I'm suddenly going to be unable to stop getting pregnant. Yeah. Right. Get over yourself.

But, that is exactly what has happened. And I'm so glad it did.

I know I said I was going to bed

Here it is - 2:30a.m. and I'm awake. That's what I get for going to bed at 8:30 (again - 2nd time this week...maybe I do need to buy that pregnancy test...)

I decided to play with some of my digital scrapbook stuff. And for some reason, I had this song playing in the background. I am *not* a big Celine Dion fan; however, I've always loved this song - it is one of my "mommy" songs and reminds me of when I was pregnant with Katherine. So, I decided these lyric are perfect for a layout. And here it is. I love it. I love the fonts, love the kit, love the pictures, love the lyric as the journaling - everything just "clicks" for me on this one.

















Background & "pretty" element: Robin Cabana, Monica paper pack & Elements (Scrapdish); Fonts: Susie's Hand and Century Gothic

Okay, I lied...

I didn't test this weekend. I didn't even *buy* a test with all the shopping I did. Went to Target and Wal-Mart - didn't even think about it. I think this is "breastfed baby went through a growth spurt" late. (I know that should actually be hyphenated, but give me a break, it's 1:00a.m. and I'm being lazy)

But I did buy Elizabeth a new car seat, which she loves. The fabric is denim with pink floral accents - she's thrilled with it. And I bought two egg dyeing kits (one Disney Princess, the other glitter) and some plastic eggs for the Easter egg hunt at my parents' house. Bought a bunch of other crap, but I'm sure you don't care about my Target/Wal-Mart SuperCenter list. Comment if you do...I'll list it. Okay, no I won't.

Oh, I did buy a book for the girls on my trip to Barnes & Noble - well, really for me - You Are My I Love You by Maryann K Cusimano illustrated by Satomi Ichikawa. I love the opening lines of the book: "I am your parent; you are my child. I am your quiet place; you are my wild." Reminds me of Katherine. And the closing: "I am your lullaby; you are my peekaboo. I am your good-night kiss; you are my I love you." :::sniff::: Sappy and sweet but not in the stalkerish way of Love You Forever. That book used to make me cry until I realized "this mom has issues". Though the part of it that makes me cry now is how the son sings to his mother on her deathbed and then goes home and sings to his baby girl -- that part is sweet. The other sappy, make-me-cry-about-how-much-I-love-my-kids book is Guess How Much I Love You. The words "Little Nutbrown Hare" come out of my mouth and I'm immediately crying. For those unfamiliar with the book "Little Nutbrown Hare" are the first three words in the book.

We went to the park to celebrate Eric J.'s 19th birthday - his actual birthday was 2 weeks ago but his parents and younger siblings were skiing (spring break). We met his roommate and his girlfriend. When he introduce me to his roommate he said, "She's been our babysitter for years." I was nursing Annie at the time and said, "Yeah, I started keeping Eric when he was about this size" which caused the massive wave of nostalgia to sweep over me. My gosh. My young charge is 19, in college (and kicking butt - he's doing so great), dating...when did I get so old?! Of course, Elizabeth clung to him when she wasn't playing on the playground equipment. She absolutely adores Eric; and now that we only see him three or four times a year, she seems to glow when she does get to spend time with him. It is so neat to see him with my kids - and I remember how my heart used to burst when I was with him when he was Elizabeth's age. Bill & Diane were telling someone about our relationship with their kids and I remember saying, "I cannot imagine loving my own kids more. I'm sure I will, if I ever have any, but I can't imagine it." Eric and his siblings prepared me for becoming a parent in very practical aspects: bathing, feeding, getting them to sleep, calming them when fussy, potty training, dealing with a defiant toddler, handling questions about sex (yes, that was a fun conversation). The things they did not prepare me for: my heart walking around outside my body and all the anxiety that goes along with parenting. Oh, and labor, c-sections and breastfeeding - the "J" kids didn't prepare me for that. Obviously. ;)

Everybody take a deep breath

Repeat after me...it'll be okay...I'll test this weekend...it'll be okay...I don't think I am...it'll be okay. Y'all are crackin' me up! Of course, I'll let you know. And no, Robin, he doesn't read my blog. He doesn't even know what a blog is! My next-door-neighbor, however, does read my blog -- so Amy, if you're reading...shhhhhhhh, don't tell Brad. I don't think I could handle being widowed.

On a totally different note. I did some more digital scrapbook shopping the other night. I won a gift certificate from Scrapdish and poof! it was gone. I picked up several more Robin Cabana paper packs and element packs. I love Robin's stuff...shoot, I love Robin herself! I bought Cozy Paper Pack, Flair Paper Pack & Elements Set, Monica Element Pack, (oops, I thought I bought the paper pack, too... back to Scrapdish to buy more stuff), and Funky Chicas. Fun, fun, fun. Now to find time to scrap with it. It's not like I don't have a ton of pictures.

I was going to blog something else but I forgot what it was so I don't guess it was very earth shattering, huh? I had a real Diet Coke for the first time in about a year. OMG, so good. And, if you haven't tried Coke Blak -- well, it tastes like Coke with coffee in it. I'm so accustomed to Diet Coke that I found it a bit too sweet for my taste. But for $5.98 a four-pack...well, it's not THAT good.

I want some cake.

Oh, I almost forgot

Remember how he didn't care that I was fertile?

Think he'll care that I'm late?

We're going to go with the "breastfeeding baby going through a growth spurt will make a momma irregular" line of thought until I get dizzy, have hot flashes and start feeling nauseous. ("We" being me and the mouse in my pocket. I'm not about to tell him. He'll have a heart attack and die.)

I want my hour back

Pass the cheese, I'm about to whine. I hate, hate, hate this time of year. Losing that hour always throws me into a tailspin. I've not been to bed before 3:45a.m. since Saturday night. Meanwhile, my children have done relatively beautifully in adjusting - no trouble getting them into bed on time. Keeping them there, is another story.

Annie is actually going to sleep an hour earlier each night - she's ready to be in her bed by 8:00 at the latest, though she is still waking in the middle of the night to nurse thanks to the growth spurt. Katherine is cutting her eye teeth (FINALLY - she's 23 months old!!!) and she's waking at around 2a.m. every morning. She wants to rock-rock, then she wants "Daddy's bed to snuggle". I put her in bed with us and she wants to sing or talk. Um, no...it's time to sleep. Elizabeth has taken to sleeping on her floor. She gives specific instructions that we are not to move her to her bed. She's in her bed now of her own will.

I am nursing a migraine thanks to stress, lack of sleep and allergies all combined to knock me on my behind all at once. A nice cool pillow in a dark room sounds like a version of heaven on earth right now. I think I'll go to bed. Yes, it's 2a.m. whooo-hooo, I'm getting in bed "early"! I hope my kids sleep late in the morning!

Marcia, Marcia, Marcia

I saw this on Jeanine's blog and couldn't resist...

You Are Marcia Brady

Confident yet kind. Popular yet down to earth. You're a total dream girl. You've got the total package - no wonder everyone's a little jealous of you.

What Brady Are You?

Yeah, riiiiiight. I'm such a dream girl. Can you see me rolling my eyes from there? Total package? If the package is a full diaper, you bet.