Vocal Stylings by Naomi

Naomi has started "talking" alot to us, to herself, to her toys. But the past few days she's started doing this growl all the time. It sounds alot like Hope's imitation of the wild pig races:) At first I thought she was mad about something when I heard her doing it. After I fed her last night, instead of burping and laying her head down like she usually does, she started growling- she was still growling to herself when I put her in her crib and left. What a goofball!

My Obedient Liitle Girl

We put Hope to bed about an hour ago. We could hear her in her room and assumed she was playing since she wasn't tired at bedtime. But I finally went up to check on her and see what she was doing. She'd been up there crying the whole time because we'd forgotten one step of the bedtime routine. (she's ALL about the routines) When I asked why she didn't come to the top of the stairs like she usually does if she needs something, she said "Well, daddy told me to stay in my room". I guess maybe we need to clarify the rules a little, but I was proud of her that even though she was upset, she obeyed what daddy had said. Her morning rule is she can't leave her room until I come get her. Even on Christmas day, when we woke up at nine in the morning, she was still in her bed, talking to her "guys" and "playing pretend" as she says. I know we still have a lot of years to mess up, but so far I think we've done an awfully good job rearing this little girl.

All I Want For Christmas....

All Hope really asked Santa for was a WishingFairy Dora and coloring books. Well, she got that and more! It looks like Toys R Us threw up in our living room. Not only did she get Dora and coloring books, she got an art easel, all kinds of paints and brushes and markers, books, puzzles, games, clothes, dora bedding, a leapfrog globe, Veggie movies, and a little piano. And guess what her favorite toy has been the past two days. Naomi's plastic snap-together beads that Santa brought. (And being the OCD child that she is, they have been color-coded and cannot be mixed together- I got in big trouble when I tried) We really didn't spend very much money on Hope this year because all the stuff we were going to get for her other people bought instead, but she had to have gotten $300 worth of presents. And instead of playing with any of it, she's playing with her little sister's classic, five-dollar toy. Let this be a lesson to me that more expensive is NOT better, and the things she sees on TV aren't really what she wants, regardless of what she tells me.

She actually does like her presents; she's just on overload. We had to force her to open most of her gifts- she wanted to play with each thing she opened instead of opening everything and then playing with them. I think I'm going to put some of them away and let her play with a couple toys at a time. She loves her "play-ano" and microphone. She's serenaded us quite a bit already- we videotaped a lovely rendition of Away in a Manger. There's a volume control on the piano, but not on the mic and she doesn't understand "Sing quitely", so I think it's going to be put in her playroom so she can sing as loudly as she wants. She's painted a few masterpieces already, but ran out of room on the fridge to hang them, so she had to stop. Santa put some Silly Putty in her stocking, and she learned the hard way that mixing red and green sillyputty isn't a good idea- she now has a lump of brown putty.

All in all, Hopey had a wonderful christmas. I'm going to have to clean out some of her old toys so there's space for the new ones in her playroom; now the problem is how to explain to her the concept of Goodwill...

For The Love of WalMart

I used to hate WalMart. I wouldn't go in the place unless forced. It's always crowded, and stupid people seem to congregate there. They're slow (we all know how well I tolerate slow people) and they stand in the middle of the aisle, so you can't go around them. Do they make their aisles narrow on purpose? It sure seems that way. But a couple of years ago, Dad and Phil'n'Bell both started telling me that they did all their grocery shopping at WalMart and that it was the cheapest place around. Since I'm all about the cheapies, I figured we'd give it a try. We'd go at times that weren't so crowded so I wouldn't have a hissy fit and leave, and although we didn't continue to shop there all the time, we did go occasionally and I didn't mind it when we needed to go there.

In Spokane, whenever we needed something and had to run to the store, we went to Albertson's cause it was one minute away. Well, now our store that's close is WalMart. It isn't one minute away, but probably three minutes. Last night I was there getting a few things and I got started thinking about how, if I hadn't gotten used to shopping there when we lived in Spokane, I would HATE the fact that I had to go to WalMart and that would be just one more reason to not exactly love Rockford. But, because God knew that I would live by WalMart, He allowed me to get used to it before we moved. So I walked through the store with a smile on my face, grateful for a God who gently changes my heart about little things, knowing that one day it would be a big thing to me.

GUESS WHO HAS TWO TOOTHERS!!

Sleeping Like a Baby

We've been working with Naomi, trying to get her to sleep better, and I think we're finally succeeding. We were so lucky with Hope, although we didn't know it at the time. But we also made some mistakes with her sleeping habits that we're trying to avoid making with Naomi.

When Hope was a baby, one of us would lay down with her and snuggle her until she fell asleep. Then when she was a little older, I'd rock her and sing to her until she fell asleep and then put her in her crib. She finally got to where we could put her in her crib and she'd go to sleep at night, but we still had to lay down with her at naptime. But when she had pneumonia, we made the mistake of letting her sleep with us, and that started alot of sleep problems. I figured I'd be up checking on her anyway, so might as well have her in bed with me, right? Well, she never would go back to her bed. She had pneumonia in October, and in January she was still in our bed. She was a very active sleeper, and neither of us got decent sleep with her in bed with us, so finally I decided enough was enough. The problem was she didn't think enough was enough. She'd cry so hard when we put her in her crib that she'd make herself throw up. So I'd go in, clean her up, and put her in our bed, where she'd promptly go to sleep. I even put Zach's bed in our room thinking she'd sleep ok if she was right next to us. No luck- she had to be IN OUR BED. Finally one night, I laid there for forty-five minutes and listened to her scream and vomit, determined that that little girl was going to relearn to sleep by herself. That one night was horrible, but the next night she cried some but fell asleep fairly quickly, and that was the end of her sleeping issues. After that, we could just put her in her crib and she'd go to sleep. Even at nap time when she slept on our bed or Zach's bed, she'd stay put. We'd cover her up and tell her to go to sleep, and for the most part she would. Now I can just tell her to go upstairs and take a nap; I don't even have to supervise.

We haven't let Naomi sleep with us and have purposely tried to not snuggle her at bedtime and have her be dependent on us holding her to get to sleep. We'd put her pacifier in her mouth and turn on her music, and as long as the pacifier was in, she'd go to sleep. The problems came when the binky fell out- she could not get back to sleep unless we went back in and put the pacifier back in for her. Well, now, five months later, we have another little girl who needs our help to sleep. At this age, she should not be waking up three or four times a night to eat, so I decided it was time to do something about her too. I hate the "cry it out" idea, but I know it does work better than just about anything else.

Right now, Naomi is learning to sit up. Based on previous experience, I have no doubt that in learning to sit, she'll fall alot. Lord knows Hope did- there was the infamous fall off the counter, and she toppled over on cement floor a few times. There will be some hurt body parts and lots of tears. Does that mean I never give her the chance to sit by herself until I'm sure she won't fall? No. Do I hold her whenever she wants to sit up so she doesn't risk toppling over and shedding some tears? No. So why would I not let her practice sleeping on her own, knowing she'll cry some? I hate the sound of her crying, knowing it would be so easy for me to comfort her, but at some point she has to learn to sleep. Might as well be now.

For the past week, when it's nap time (and she now has scheduled naptimes) I take her up to her crib, turn on her music, and close the door. If she cries, then I go fold laundry so I can't hear her. At first she was rolling onto her stomach and squirming around, getting her legs stuck in the slats of the crib. So we put the bumper back in and put in a firm pillow, and lay her against the side of the crib so she can't go anywhere. The past few days, I've put her in there, and not heard a sound until she wakes up two hours later. Bedtime is now at six or seven, depending on when she woke up from her afternoon nap. I'll get up and feed her once a night, and otherwise she has to figure out how to get back to sleep by herself, and she is. In fact, last night she didn't even wake up except when her diaper leaked and her jammies were wet. I'm amazed at how well she's doing, and even though it's hard to listen when she cries, it feels so good to be consistent with her and know it's paying off.

Elmo's World

Last night David and Hope went to see Sesame Street Live. It was the Elmo Makes Music one- gee, elmo and music, do you think Hope liked it? They sang all the sesame street songs, and apparently Big Bird talked to her; he really made an announcement over the PA system, but whatever. David said she sat perfectly still with an amazed look on her face the whole time! She came home with a huge elmo balloon- he's the same size as her from her knees to her head. David said she really wanted one, but they were eight bucks, so he told her they were too expensive. But one of the other people from Swedish bought two for her friend's girls, and apperently the girls share a room and decided they didn't need two and gave one to Hope. She has carried the thing everywhere since she came home. She even had to take it to the bathroom with her last night. At first she was afraid to let go of it- I guess she remembers losing too many balloons to the vaulted ceilings in our old house, but we showed her that these ceilings are lower and it won't go too high. This morning she was up before David left for work, filling him in on what happened last night, just in case he forgot- she gave him a complete rundown of the story, and then did the same for me when I got up. She had to shove her elmo balloon in Naomi's face so she could see it. This morning on PBS there was a commercial for next year's Sesame Street Super Grover- she informed me that daddy was going to take her to that. He probably will, but to be on the safe side, I think we won't watch PBS for about a month before Super Grover gets here.

Roly Poly Naomi

Naomi figured out how to roll over quite a while ago, but she didn't do it much until the past few days. Now she rolls over as soon as you put her on the floor. The problem with that is she hates being on her tummy for more than thirty seconds and she can't roll back over onto her back. So this is our routine:
-I put Naomi on her blanket on the floor
-she rolls over instantly
-she waits a few seconds and then cries
-I turn her back over
-before I can resume what I was doing she's on her tummy again
I've told her to stop rolling over, but somehow she doesn't get it:) I'm thinking of putting pillows on both sides of her so she can't make it over. This morning she was crying in her crib and I just assumed she was on her tummy, so I finished what I was doing before I went in there. Well, she was on her tummy, but she'd somehow scooted around and backwards and had both legs stuck through the slats of the cribs. No wonder she was mad!

On a different note, we have at least a foot of snow that has fallen since last night. Aren't I excited. It's so deep that our patio chairs are covered up past the seats. Hope was telling me she wanted to build a snowman. I explained that snowman snow has to be wet so it will hold together, and it's so cold that this snow is too dry. She opened the curtain, looked outside, and said "Oh yes, you're right". I'm right!?! I guess there's a first time for everything:)

I See Expensive Taste in her Future

Today Hope says to me: "Mom, I'm very very hungry. Maybe we could go to Red Lobster?" What three-year-old asks to go to Red Lobster?!?

Silly Hope Things

You know that ketchup holder from grandma? Hope has decided it's Bob, and has to carry it everywhere with her. She even wanted to take it to show the doctor today- I vetoed that. People will think we're strange if my daughter carries around a plastic tomato.

Also this morning she decided to start in on the stool in her bathroom. Some days she just picks something to dwell on, and today it was the stool. Never mind that we've had it for two years. She asked who gave it to her. I told her I bought it at the store. She says "cause you thought I'd like it?" I said yes. She said "but it's not red" and walked off. As she was walking away I heard her say "this is terrible..." What a drama queen!

Is it really that hard??

David has a co-worker who kind of talks funny anyway, but she always pronounces Naomi's name "Nigh-omi". I just figured it's cause it's her. But Saturday we took Naomi to get her 3-month pictures, and the photographer said it the same way. I thought David said her name pretty clearly when she asked what her name was, so I couldn't figure out why she was mispronouncing it. Maybe I'm just smarter than most people:) but I think it's pretty easy. "NA-O-MI" Ok, I can see messing up the last syllable, but really, how can 'na' make a long 'i' sound? And I know Naomi isn't a common name, but I would think most people have at least heard it. Naomi Judd, Naomi Campbell, Naomi in the bible; it's not like I named her some made-up name. I had a patient once named Brede. Guess how his parents pronounced it. Brady. Now I can see not getting that one right. But come on, Naomi?!? Can you say, "Hooked on Phonics worked for me".

I like her; I like her not

The past two weeks Naomi has become a much more content baby. She's gotten to the point that she rarely cries; she was SO good during our trip to Spokane- cried just a little on the plane trips. While we were there, I remember thinking I was starting to really like my daughter. Before that, I hadn't really liked her much- all she did was demand my attention and deprive me of my sleep. I've also been reading about a member on a forum I check alot who just lost a daughter to SIDS- her baby was two weeks older than Naomi. So I've felt so bad for my ambivalence toward Naomi; so sorry for this poor woman who will forever wonder what would be if she'd just checked on her baby five minutes earlier; and so thankful for the fact that I'm not in her position when I so easily could be.

But then, just when I start to like her, she blows it. After crying alot today, she just spit up about 4 ounces of milk. She soaked me, the couch, and a receiving blanket. I spend almost two hours a day pumping since the kid is too lazy to suck effectively, and then she just throws it back up on me?!? We've discovered that she does better with enfamil's formula with rice starch added to it; if it weren't so dang expensive, I'd quit pumping and just let her have that. Hopefully by tomorrow I'll forget about the milk bath and like her again:)

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Today the high temperature in Rockford is supposed to be 40 degrees. Yes, that was the high, not the low. Right now it's 27 degrees and my back deck is covered in snow! If this was mid-November I might not be surprised, but snow!?! Sunday it was 75 and we were in t-shirts outside. Four days later it's snowing. I don't like this midwest weather!! Fortunately the cold is only supposed to last a couple days. When Hope saw the snow outside, she said "Oh, good, now Santa Claus is coming!"

David has decided, based on my last few posts I suppose, to implement a shift system for Naomi's sleep habits. Now I go to bed at 8 after I put Hope to bed. He stays up with Naomi until midnight, and then it's my turn to get up with her. Last night he put her in her swing around 10 and slept on the couch. At 2:30 I woke up and realized they were still downstairs- she'd slept so well in the swing that he didn't wake up when his shift was over:) I told you she loves that swing! So I got almost six hours of continuous sleep. I feel really good this morning, and thought I'd try to take a shower and go shopping at a few places today, but I'm not real sure I want to be out in this cold weather.

Yankees Suck

Yesterday David and I watched a GREAT baseball game. As a member-by-default of the RedSox nation, I had to be happy the yanks lost. It's so nice to watch those cocky jerks get their superiority complex batted out of them. Every time I see Jeter's smug smirk, I wish a bat would fly right into his pretty little mouth. So it was fun to watch a team that came from nowhere, with a 23-year-old pitcher I had only heard of because dad worked with one of his relatives, single-handedly silence the Yankee-lovers of the world.

What really got me, though, was after the game. One of the commentators said something about Joe Torre and the "dynasty years" of the 1990's. Dynasty years??? The yanks won the world series four times in five years. Ok, maybe that's not so bad. But they hadn't been in a world series game for 15 years before that. That's not a dynasty. It's a few good years. A dynasty is UCLA when John Wooden coached. They won the NCAA championship 10 times in 12 years; 7 of those championships were consecutive; and 40 years later they are still one of the top teams every single year. Granted, Lew Alcindor played for them a few of those championship years, but even Michael Jordan's college team only won once, and I think most people would admit that Mike is a little better than Kareem. So you can't say it was cause they had one great player. I really wanted to email the station and ask, exactly what is their definition of a dynasty? Cause I think it's a lot different than Webster's.

Beyond the yanks losing though, I really do love this time of year. I wouldn't say I live for October baseball like the commercials say, but I sure do enjoy it. I don't even care who's playing- it's just fun to watch a game. I remember the first time I really got in to baseball. It was the summer Hope was born, and I was home all the time with her. That year we got lucky with our cable "poverty package"- we had ESPN and FOX Sports. So six or seven nights of the week, there was a Mariners game on and I'd watch most of them, even when David wasn't around. The first weekend of October was sad because I really liked the M's that year and I wasn't going to be able to watch them anymore. So tonight, since the Yankees were kind enough to lose quickly rather than dragging it out, there are no baseball games on. And while most females wouldn't really care, I'm disappointed that I can't watch a game.

Sorry David

It seems I hurt David's feeling with my last post, because he's sitting here not talking to me after reading it. In his defense, he does have to get up for work and I don't. He can't go back to sleep easily and I can. And some weekend nights he has let me sleep the whole night and he even keeps Naomi downstairs and sleeps on the couch so they won't disturb me. So I certainly don't have it bad- he's a wonderful help with both girls, especially considering how involved (or non-involved) some fathers are. I was just crabby that day.

False Alarm

Why did I get excited about Naomi sleeping? She was back to her old self last night:( She fell asleep about 9:30; I went to bed at 10:30 and fed her some then thinking that she'd sleep till at least 2:30 or 3:00 with the extra food. Nope- she woke up at 11:30, 2:15, 5:30, and 7:30. The other day- monday maybe- she slept for six hours in her swing. SIX HOURS!!! Why, oh why can she not do that at night?

I'm the one that gets up with her at night because I fall right back asleep; once David wakes up it can take him hours to go to sleep again. So I thought I was being the great wife by getting up with her so he can sleep since he's the one who has to get up early for work. He'd even said several times lately that he's getting better about sleeping through her crying- he asks every morning how many times I had to get up and says he didn't even hear me. Well, yesterday he slipped up. He was just talking about work but mentioned something about how he'd told them I try so hard to be quiet but he wakes up every time I get up with her and doesn't go back to sleep for sometimes an hour afterward. Last night when he woke me up to tell me she was crying- what the heck is up with that??- I wanted to say, You're awake-and apparently you'll be awake for another hour- why don't you go feed her!

Never mind me- as Mandy used to say "Shishy soooo cabby!!"

I'm telling you, she's Bryn's kid

If I didn't know better, I'd say Bryn is Hope's mom. She's exactly like Bryn was at this age. Today on Dora, there was a pinata. Hope told me she was going to pretend to have her own pinata, so I watched her pretend to break it. Then things got a little nutso. She was showing me all the "stuff" in the pinata (imaginary, of course). There was candy, toys, suckers, and stickers. Then she started passing them out. Apparently, there were alot more people here than I realized- she had all sorts of friends sitting on the hearth that she'd take something over to. Even Shrek and princess Fiona got suckers.

Dad is concerned that she's not in preschool because she doesn't have anyone to play with. As I told him, she has all the playmates she needs right inside her little head! Right, Brynner?

She Did It!!!

Ok, so maybe she didn't completely sleep through the night, but Naomi only woke up once last night! Hopefully this is a trend that will continue for awhile:)

Don't Swallow!

In anticipation of our plane trip to Spokane, we're trying to teach Hope how to chew gum. I figure it's the best way to make sure her ears don't hurt on the plane. I remember when we flew to Seattle to go to Disneyland when I was five, uncle Ron took us to the airport and gave me and Mandy gum and told us to chew it; I had no idea why we were supposed to but I did because he said to. So last night at the store we got a few packs for her to practice with. David wanted to get her Juicy Fruit; why would mom never let us have that? It's not like its alcoholic or addictive; well, maybe it's addictive- she sure went through enough packs of it. I still say they should make JuicyFruit candy- that stuff tastes so good but the flavor lasts about two minutes and then it's time to spit it out and have another piece. Anyway, we got boring ole' sugar-free bubble gum flavor and came home to practice. I bet we looked like dorks sitting around the table watching each other chew gum. David reviewed the basics- chew but don't swallow it, no playing with it, and no putting it in your hair. Luckily, I made her bite off about a quarter of a stick at first. She chewed it several times and then swallowed it. So we went over the rules again and she had some more. This time she chewed it for quite a bit longer, but still swallowed it. Third time was a charm. She chewed it for about ten minutes and then we threw it away.
As soon as she came downstairs this morning she was bugging me for more gum. I told her she had to wait for David to come home, so the instant he walked in the door she was groping around on the counter trying to get a pack. She remembered the no-swallowing part, but forgot the don't play with it part. I caught her pulling it out of her mouth. So I expect that tomorrow will be gum-in-the-hair day. Oh well, I'm going to have Trish cut her hair some anyway; maybe I'll just have to cut parts of it a little early.

The Hope Show

This blog is becoming a list of silly things that little girl says, but there are so many things that are funny. She should have her own sitcom; some of the things I'd expect to see on a goofy comedy show. Last night for dinner I made parmesan-crusted tilapia, new potatoes, and ceasar salad- pretty good for me! At the table, Hope says "Dad, this is the best dinner ever!" (she says that every night). David told her she was talking to the wrong person and she needed to discuss that with mommy. So she says to me (you can see it coming, can't you) "Mommy,....Daddy made the best dinner ever."

Naomi continues to wake up three times a night. The doctor said friday that we have two to four more weeks of "purgatory" before she starts to sleep longer, but I think she still has a little bit of daytime/nighttime confusion. Maybe it's that I have more fun playing on the computer than taking care of her during the day. She'll sleep for four hours in her swing, wake up and eat, and sleep another three hours, but at night she can barely make it two or three hours at a stretch. I guess I'm going to have to make an effort to keep her up a little more during the day. And move her swing up to her bedroom:)

The things she picks up....

I really don't like that the people of the entertainment world make animated shows that really aren't appropriate for kids. It looks like a kids movie, but there's all sorts of adult humor in them. And Hope likes to watch anything animated. Lately it's been Fairly Odd Parents, Spongebob, and Jimmy Neutron, all of which I don't really like. But since she tends to watch tv in the basement and I don't want to go down there and change the channels for her, she watches whatever is on the Disney channel. Anyway, yesterday morning I was in bed with her and we were talking, and she says "Wait, I need to tell you two things." She holds up her first finger, then says "shut", holds up the second finger and finishes with "up". I know she could tell I was trying not to laugh as I was telling her that wasn't nice and not to say that again. She was smirking because she knew she'd said something funny-it was more the delivery that was funny. David said he saw that on something she was watching, so at least I know where she got it.

She doesn't watch VeggieTales as much as she used to, but she still listens to the CDs every night. So the other day when we bought a cucumber at the store, she said something about Larry the Cucumber. David cut up the cucumber for his salads and has been eating it for a few days. Last night when she wanted a bite of his dinner, he put in a piece of the cucumber. Being my kid, she can tell if there's the smallest bit of something that she doesn't like in what she's eating, so she spit out the piece of cucumber and said, "Larry doesn't taste very good!"

Friends

I'm sitting here watching an episode of Friends I've never seen! I didn't think one of those existed. It's one of the last ones; it's pretty stupid, but it's friends- you gotta love it. David is in Chicago tonight for a training thing, so its just me and the girlies. We went outside earlier; it's getting cooler earlier so it was comfortable to be out there. Hope kicked around her soccer ball and I sat on the deck with Naomi and tried to read a book. I think I got about seven paragraphs read in half an hour. It's tough to keep Naomi jiggled around and read a book at the same time. How can the batteries go out in her swing and her bouncy seat on the same day?? But it felt so nice out there. I wish Naomi would've gone to sleep and it wouldn't have gotten dark- I would've stayed out there for a long time. I think that was the first time since we've been here that I actually enjoyed the weather.

I'm so lucky

Tonight I'm being reminded of how lucky I am to have my family. Naomi has had intestinal issues the past few days and is having lots of crying episodes because her tummy hurts. So as I sit here typing this, David is on the floor playing with her and dealing with the crying. Not because I have to make dinner or do housework or anything urgent- I'm playing on the internet for heavens' sake- but because he called home twice today and knows she's been crying alot and he figured I needed a break. Not too many husbands that I know of would want to come home from work, go out and do yardwork, cook dinner because it was grilled chicken and the grill is his department, mop the kitchen floor, and then, rather than sit on the couch and relax, will sit on the floor and entertain a noisy, fussy, at times screaming infant. I remember when I was working and David stayed home with Hope, I'd come home and David would want me to take care of her because he'd been with her all day and was tired and wanted a break. I resented it because I figured I'd been at work all day and wanted a break too, and dealing with Hope wasn't my version of a break:) Maybe because we've both been in the other's shoes we understand both sides, but right now I'm very thankful for such a considerate, thoughtful spouse.

Today I'm also thankful for Hopey. Some days I love her but I'm not thankful for her, but today wasn't one of them. I had a chiropractor appointment and had to take the girls, and instead of the whining and do-it-my-way attitude that has become the norm, she sat on the chair and was perfect. She asked a few questions in a sweet voice and ate her M&M's. She entertained herself at the store, and didn't even throw much of a fit when she found a toy she wanted and I said no. David brought Hope a cookie home from work, and she'd been sitting at the table eating it. After a few minutes she came into the family room with two pieces and said "I want to share with you guys". One piece of her cookie was for me and one for David. I have a tough time sharing my desserts with her when she asks for a bite, and yet my three-year-old does it because she wants to, not because anyone asked. Maybe tomorrow she'll be back to being miss sassypants, but today made me feel like somewhere in there was the sweet girl I hope she's becoming.

Bye Bye Didi

Bryn came to visit last week, so Hope has had an attentive audience for the last few days. She did lots of interpretive dancing, got her hair put in french braids every day, and enjoyed not having to share any attention with Naomi, but she was NOT on her best behavior. My sister probably thinks I forgot to unpack my parenting skills after our move. Sassy, whiny, and uncooperative describes her attitude the past few days. But today we sat and waited for Bryn's airport shuttle to leave, me crying because Bryn was leaving and Hope crying because she wanted to get on the bus with her Didi. I didn't think it would help matters if I told her I wanted to too.

Dancing Queen

This morning Brooks and Dunn were on the Today show, so of course I had it turned up over Naomi's swing music. You know how the people in the audience are- hands up waving and yelling, and since there was music, clapping too. So pretty soon I look over and Hope is standing there with her hands up waving them around like the people on TV. Now she's swaying back and forth saying "C'mon guys, dance with me" and grabbed a huge stuffed animal and is dancing with him. I really need to just run the video camera all the time- I'd win several times on America's funniest videos.

The First Bite

Saturday we went to Amy's house for dinner and I was in charge of dessert. I decided I'd make that cream cheese-cool whip-pistachio pudding thing mom used to make. I haven't had it since she died- I'm not even sure I'd had it for a few years before that- she didn't make it all that often. As I was making it I was telling David how it was all of our favorite dessert and how we'd had it in various forms at every sports awards banquet, National Honor Society reception, lasagna dinner, and fundraiser that Valley Christian ever had. And also as I'm making it I'm hoping it's as good as mom used to make it. I've always been sad that I'll never taste her Chex mix again. I can't make it the same as she did; Bryn can't either. I made a few batches for comfort food after I had my miscarriage, and I remember crying because it wasn't as good, and that was one more reason to miss her. That was one thing that I completely associate with mom- that stinkin' chex mix- and I don't even really like to eat it anymore because it's not the same.

So I made the dessert just like the recipe said and couldn't wait to try it. The first bite of it was heaven. It tasted exactly right. Isn't it weird how your brain can remember a taste? I knew it tasted just like moms. After mom died, when I'd first wake up in the mornings there was that second or two before I'd remember that she was gone. Well, for just a second, mom wasn't dead and she'd made our favorite dessert again. At least that's how it tasted. Oh, and everyone loved it!

Dinner (sans les enfants)

David's mom offered to stay home with the girls tonight so David and I could go out to dinner by ourselves. We went to TGIFridays since we hadn't ever been there. It was pretty good. We, of course, ran errands after dinner- God forbid we didn't do something productive! It was nice to have some time alone with David and be able to talk without a three-year-old interrupting to tell us something of great importance to no one but her. It wasn't bad being away from Naomi because she doesn't really interact at this point, but the whole time I missed being with Hope. It's pretty pathetic that I can't leave the house for two hours without wishing she was with us.

Regret

I know we couldn't stay in Spokane. I know that. David couldn't have gotten a job right out of school there. I didn't want to work full time anymore. And if I hadn't left, Dr. Stewart might not have made the changes she did. But right now I'm really wishing there was a way we could've stayed.

I've known for several weeks that Dr. Stewart had decided to sell her practice and leave Spokane. Maybe that's what made me think about my patients so much and miss so many of them. I don't think a day goes by that something doesn't remind me of one of them. I worry about their reactions when they find out; I worry that some of them are going to feel abandoned- Ted left, I left, now Dr. Stewart leaves! A few of them who were SO adamant about only seeing Dorothy aren't going to know what to do. Sounds dramatic, but true. I know that with Dr. Frampton buying the practice they'll be in great hands, and maybe they'll be a little more comfortable since she was part of the practice before. But now that Heather is in charge and wants to be open five days a week, and the new hygienist only works three days a week, there's an opening for a hygienist two days a week. Just the schedule I would consider working...

The whole point of moving was to leave the winters. I'm quite certain we didn't do that by moving here. I'm getting the impression that Rockford is just Spokane with humidity. Same size, same amenities, same atmosphere. I know we couldn't have stayed, but with my ideal work situation having been created, I wish there was a way it could've worked.

There's another job opening in Tucson. Why am I still checking?

Freudian Slip

So David is trying to teach Hope the Oscar Meier song- he's sure they'll want her on the commercials if she can just learn it. So after singing it together, he had her sing it by herself. Her opening line was: "Oh, I wish I had a weiner..." I think we need to work a little more on the song.

Not a good sign

I think it signals a problem when you're so tired, you fall asleep while operating a breat pump. Yesterday David noticed I'd been upstairs pumping for over half an hour so he came up to check on me. Yep, I was fast asleep, both funnels still attached- that's some strong suction. At least I didn't lose any milk during my nap:-)

And it's not bad enough that I have a two-week-old waking up every two or three hours at night. Now Hope has started waking up at least once during the night, crying about something- usually the fact that she's kicked off her sheet and is cold- with a heat index during the day of 110 degrees, this kid thinks she's cold. Last night I woke up at 12:00, 3:00, and 5:00 with Naomi, and 4:00 with Hope. I'm thinking of finding an overnight daycare.

Blissful Naps

Three days this week I've gotten Naomi to take a nap when Hope takes hers, so I've taken short naps with them. Even though I'm half awake listening for Hope to get out of bed or for Naomi to start crying, I've slept for forty-five minutes or so. Unfortunately, we wake up shortly before David gets home from work, so once we are up there's lots of quick clean-ups. Hope isn't so cooperative for that, but she's gotten the idea that daddy's happier if the house is clean, so she helps a little. Even with the hurriedness afterwards, naps are heavenly!

Weighty Issues

So yesterday I had a doctors appointment to check my incision and make sure I was healing ok, and of course they had to weigh me. It was pretty nice to have the scale stop on exactly the same weight as my first OB appointment back in December. Not that I can honestly say I've lost all the weight I gained while I was prego, cause I did gain some before that appointment thanks to our Las Vegas trip and a few batches of Chex mix. My stomach still looks like a saggy ol' butt instead of a stomach, but still- 10 days and basically all the weight gone. Now it's just trying to get from this weight to one that I actually would want to weigh- I'm sure that won't be as easy or as fast:(

Playing favorites

She's only a week old, and already Naomi has a favorite person- her brother. If David or I hold her, she's squirmy and sqeaky, but if Zach has her, the kid will sleep for hours. Now if only he'd change her diapers... He even volunteered one night to stay up with her so I could sleep for awhile. He stayed up till 1:30 or 2:00am watching tv and kept her in her bouncer, and dealt with her when she'd start fussing. It wasn't like I felt well-rested afterwards, but it was awfully nice of him.

Potty-training Hope

Late June 2006- Poor little Hopey- I've damaged her for life and I'll catch her getting up at 4am to make her bed and then sleep on the covers:( The other day she peed all over the carpet two minutes after she told me she didn't have to go to the bathroom. Needless to say there was some yelling and name calling. So today I heard her in the bathroom saying something about "its ok I get it", so I went to check on her. She'd gotten to the bathroom but then couldn't get the seat up in time and peed on the floor, so she went back in the kitchen and got a dishtowel and was trying to wipe up the pee herself so I wouldn't get mad at her. It was so cute but I felt so bad. I suppose that won't be the only time I'll feel bad about something I've done to her:(

Naomi Jill

Despite the fact that absolutely nothing went according to plan, Naomi is here and doing great! She was born Friday the 14th at 8:49pm.
Thursday when I went to the doctor, they told me that some of my test results had come back abnormal. I'd had too much amniotic fluid, so they did some tests to figure out why, and it turned out that somehow I'd gotten infected with cytomegalovirus. Cytomegalovirus is a fairly harmless virus that most people have had and don't know it since it really doesn't even cause symptoms. The only time its a problem is if you get infected while you're pregnant- the virus can cause problems with the fetus. So my doctor and one of the specialists at the hospital decided I needed to be induced to reduce the chances of the baby being harmed.
Numerous drugs and 26 hours of trying to induce didn't work- my contractions even got less intense once they put me on Pitocin! David and I were finally so frustrated that things were going nowhere that we decided to have a C-section. Part of me felt bad that I was choosing surgery instead of just waiting, but as it turned out I'm so thankful we chose what we did. Naomi had her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck two times, and there was so much extra fluid that the doctor said she didn't think she could've dropped into position to be born.
Hope and Zach went out of town with David's sister for the weekend, so David and I got alot of one-on-one time with Naomi until we came home from the hospital Monday. She seems so tiny- she weighed just over 7 pounds, but she's so light you can hardly tell you're holding anything. Hope is a little over-excited to help and is so concerned when the baby cries- I'm sure in a few days she'll ignore her completely. Zach isn't nearly as worried this time as he was with Hope; he's already holding her alot- with Hope he was too afraid he was going to "break her". He will be so much help with Hope and for me- I can't do much of anything after the surgery, although I feel better already than I did after Hope. I hope I'm not jinxing myself by thinking the C-section was easier than natural birth:)

Ok, Bryn, here you go. I'm finally going to start this blog since you went to all the trouble to set it up for me. But since I'm also very unimaginative and tired, the first couple things I put in here are going to be the mass emails I sent everyone already. That way they're saved somewhere other than my mailbox, and I can make you happy and not have to come up with anything myself:)

Well, we're finally getting fairly settled here in Rockford. We got here June 18th and stayed with David's sister Amy and her family for a few days before we closed on our house here. We did alot of "getting moved" stuff during those days- getting a bank account open, setting up utilities, getting doctors established, etc. We closed on the house on the 21st and borrowed an air mattress from Amy and Andre so we could stay there- not too comfy, but we were too excited to not stay in our own house! Andre was shocked that I'd let David buy a house I hadn't seen, but for some reason I wasn't that nervous about it and I absolutely love this house! I'm so glad this is the one we got- even though we are further from Amy, we're close to David's work and in a great area of town. There's every store we could want within 10 minutes, so we did alot of grocery and house-stuff shopping until our belongings got here that Friday. Unloading our stuff was SO much easier than loading! David and I did half of it ourselves- all the little loose stuff that wasn't too heavy. Amy and Andre and the kids came over that evening and helped us finish. Andre and David got the furniture all unloaded and Amy, Taylor, and Dakota got all the boxes out. I think the kids almost enjoyed carting the boxes everywhere- they were such a big help! McKenna helped by keeping Hope occupied on the swingset:) David and I were amazed- nothing got broken in the move! A few of the couches got little rips in the fabric, but nowhere conspicuous.
We spent the next few days getting things unpacked and shopping for more furniture. We were actually very lucky to find most of what we needed. Now we're just waiting on delivery. I'll get some pictures of the house on here as soon as we get things organized and put away.