March 29, 2010

"I'm Sure I'm Perfect"

The Boogie makes us laugh all.the.time with the things she says. Her latest thing is to call everyone her best friend. I love that, especially since I get to be one of those BFFs. "Where's my best friend Daddy?" she'll ask. "Oh, my Honey, you're my best friend." MIL and FIL were away for the weekend and after church yesterday the Boogie wanted to know, "Where's my best friend Mommom?" She asked where her Poppop was, too, but sadly he does not seem to fall into the "best friend" category. Sorry, Poppop.

As the Boogie chattered away nonstop in the back seat yesterday we heard this: "I'm sure I'm perfect." She then continued on in her random comments and observations, not stopping to dwell on her positivity of her own perfection. But we were tickled by it.

She notices everything and we have to be very careful about the words and phrases that we use. Recently we explained that the word "stupid" is not nice and that we don't (read: shouldn't) say it. She has done pretty well with that -- much better than her parents who have had the word "stupid" in our vocabulary for much longer than she has. (Not that we say it all the time ... but often enough!) Yesterday it slipped out of my mouth. I immediately berated myself and hoped she didn't hear me but right away I heard her little voice from the backseat, "Honey, did you say 'stupid'?" Argh. There is no getting anything past her.

On Saturday we took her to a different branch of the library than the one we usually go to. This one had lots of fun toys and she had a wonderful time and didn't want to leave. That night when we prayed with her before bed she wanted to pray first. Her prayers are usually a lot of unintelligible mumbling but this one consisted of "Dear Jesus, thank you we go to a new liberry, a different liberry, and play with toys" and so on. It was so cute. I love listening to her pray!

March 24, 2010

Spring AT LAST!

I can't remember ever looking forward to spring more fervently, and it is finally here. To make it even sweeter, last week was amazingly gorgeous with sunny warm days. The Boogie played outside as much as possible during the week, and on Saturday we drove with My Man's parents to Lancaster County, PA to sample the buffet at Shady Maple -- I had never been there before but just about everyone who has raves about it. We arrived close to the end of breakfast but it was still packed with people and there was so much food! It was really good and I ate and ate and ate way more than I should have. We checked out the gift shop, the home goods store (like an old-fashioned drygoods store with everything from toys to tools to fabric to books), and a local craft warehouse, and spent some time driving around the countryside. The Boogie was so good the whole time and talked repeatedly about how we went to "Shamy Naple."  I took my camera but didn't take any pictures -- MIL got this one of me and the Boogie in the back seat on the way home
We were exhausted from all that eating!

SIL1 rented a carpet cleaner and let me use it yesterday to clean our living room carpet. Oh my. It was bad, folks. The only reason I'm writing about it is because this is my journal to help me remember events, important and not so important. Otherwise I would never tell you about my dirty living room carpet ... Tonight after the carpet was finally dry My Man moved the furniture back in and did some rearranging for me. I'm not entirely sure if I like it the new way -- I need to let it "gel" for a few days before deciding to leave it or put it back the way it was.

Nothing new is going on with Baby Sister. I go back to the doctor tomorrow and have a feeling he'll want me to start coming every week now. I'm 35 weeks now and it occurred to me yesterday that if I deliver two weeks early we'll have a baby three weeks from now! The thought sort of put me in panic mode since, though I've been working on getting things ready, I don't feel nearly ready enough. On the other hand, if I go much past my due date we might not have a baby for almost seven more weeks ... and at this point that seems like a reeeeeally long time. I am a list person and I made some "to do before baby comes" lists today and that made me feel better. It's the little things, you know?

Meanwhile, back at the ranch ... no, not really. But typing the word "meanwhile" made me think of the phrase "back at the ranch" in my head and then I had to look it up to see where it originated ... what? Your brain doesn't work that way? Maybe I just need to go to bed.

Well, as I was saying, meanwhile my mom has purchased her tickets to come after Baby Sister arrives! We are very excited to see her. Whenever the subject of Lela visiting comes up, the Boogie goes on a tangent about going with Lela to see the animals (at the zoo) and watch the bird moo-bie. She is convinced that Lela already loves the bird moo-bie. We don't bother trying to explain that Lela hasn't even seen the bird moo-bie ... there's only so much that the almost-3-year-old brain can comprehend.

March 18, 2010

A Lovely Surprise

Before the Boogie was born our church threw me a huge baby shower. Lots of ladies were there and I got so many beautiful (and practical!) gifts for the Boogie. Our church typically only throws a baby shower for the first baby born to a family while they attend, so I wasn't expecting anything at.all. this time around -- it never crossed my mind. A couple of weeks ago I caught wind of something ... I tried to pump My Man for information but all he would say was "I won't tell you anything." I was surprised that anything at all was going on and strongly suspected a diaper sprinkle (an informal get-together where everyone brings diapers for the new baby.) However I was totally blown away when the other night at our ladies meeting I was presented with a VERY generous Visa gift card that everyone had contributed to! It was totally unexpected and so very very generous ... what an incredible blessing!

March 14, 2010

First Haircut

It sounds like something you would take your little baby to have, right? A young toddler or something. But the Boogie is almost 3 and I finally took her to get her hair cut yesterday. And would you believe that these are the only two pictures I took?
I didn't even remember to take a "before" picture of the back. All that was taken off was the very bottom, and it was shaped around a little bit. It doesn't really look that different. The Boogie did great. I hyped it up beforehand so she was excited. She loved wearing the animal cape. My hairdresser was nice enough to save the little clippings for me ...
... and now I don't know what to do with them. Tape them into the Boogie's baby book? It's the kind of thing that I feel like I should keep but just don't know what to do with ...

Yesterday the Boogie gave me a hug and told me "Oh, my Honey, you're my best friend." Those are words that warm this mama's heart. :)

Tonight in the car on the way home from church she whined, "My tummy hurts. I'm hungry."
"Okay," I said, "we'll go home and then have some dinner. What would you like?"
She thought for a minute. "Um, chicken!"
"I'm sorry, sweetie, we don't have any chicken," I said. "Is there something else you would like?"
She thought for another minute. "Daddy make eggs?"
"Yes! We do have eggs. I can make you some eggs."
"No, Daddy make eggs," she insisted.
I guess my eggs aren't good enough.

We had a really terrible windy rainy storm yesterday which flooded the church basement and took out the electricity. As of today there was still no electricity which meant that shop vacs couldn't be used to get the water out. We had our services anyway -- it was chilly but do-able. Good thing daylight savings time started today so we were able to finish up the evening service before it got too dark. I was in the nursery and there is a baby doll in there who cries when she is squeezed. Her cheeks also light up which isn't very noticeable in the daylight, but when it is dark her glowing red cheeks are positively creepy. I had to confiscate her and put her in the other room because she was creeping me out!

Despite the storm we managed to run some errands after the haircut. We got new cell phones and I finally have a QWERTY keypad for texting! It is nice but definitely takes some getting used to. It takes me three times as long as it used to to write a message. I think I'm getting the hang of it, though. I gave the Boogie my camera to keep her occupied in the car while we were stuck in terrible traffic. Here are some of the results:

And the feet pictures always crack me up:

Tonight she carefully sorted her letters by color:
Smart little girl!

March 12, 2010

It's Almost Spring!

It's the countdown: 8 days to go!

We had some really beautiful weather and last weekend we took a trip to the zoo with BIL/SIL1 and BIL/SIL2 and their kiddos. These were the only pictures I took! With their pass, BIL/SIL1 were able to get all the kids onto the train and carousel for a ride.
The Boogie, as you know, is obsessed with Thomas and Friends, so to ride on a "train" was sheer delight.
Can you see them? Wait, I'll zoom in.
The Boogie thought that was great fun, too. It was chilly that day but not too cold to keep us from enjoying ourselves! We watched a little animated show in the aviary and for the next several days all the Boogie could talk about was the "bird moo-bie" and taking her Lela to see it when Lela comes to visit.

The next day after the morning service we made a special trip to Sears to get a new toy ... I mean, tool ... for me. Our tax refund was quite a bit nicer than we'd hoped so we were able to replace our bagless upright Bissell with this:
I am a happy woman, I tell you. A very happy woman. There is a hard-floor attachment. I can vacuum my hard floors. It's kind of sad that something like that would make me so happy, but it does. You have no idea.

As I said, we've had some beautiful weather. I've tried to take the Boogie outside to play as much as possible. On Tuesday while sitting in the backyard at 52 a bird pooped on me. Right on my protruding pregnant belly. I don't have photographic evidence, but I do have witnesses. Gross, right? But also kind of funny. I have been informed that having a bird poop on you is supposed to bring good luck, so I guess that makes me AND Baby Sister lucky!

This morning the Boogie came up to me like this:
And if you wonder where she gets her weirdness from, well, look no further:
Yes, he made this himself. No, I will not be going anywhere with him while he is wearing it.

Here I am tonight at 33 weeks:
Baby Sister is very squirmy and wiggly. She often startles me with her sudden movements, just like the Boogie did. Sometimes I think she is trying to make her escape through my side. Only 7 weeks until my due date! Suddenly it seems very soon.

March 4, 2010

Oh My ... Look!

There isn't very much that we need for Baby Sister. We have a ton of clothes from the Boogie and they're all the right season. We have a car seat and a crib (two cribs, in fact), lots of blankets and sheets and wash cloths, and plenty of baby toys. There were two things that I really wanted, however: a baby swing, and a glider-rocker for nursing. I planned to look on Craigslist for both items as my due date got closer. Last fall I got the swing (and it does work -- we tried it out with Toto, H-Man's little brother) and look what I found when I got home from work last night!
Isn't it bee-you-tee-ful? It's from my boss! He is such a great guy. When the Boogie was born he gave us her car seat with the matching stroller (we still use the stroller and the car seat will be used again for Baby Sister) and now this! My office manager MA picked it out and ordered it and had it shipped to 52, and My Man assembled it when he got home from work yesterday. It is exactly what I would have picked out myself. It fits me perfectly and is so comfy. I just love it.

March 2, 2010

Something New To Love

For me it is this:
How have I never discovered this deliciousness before? Oh so good. So good. So so so good. Mmmmm ...

For the Boogie it is this:
We gave her a piece of gum last night for the first time. At first she wasn't sure what to do with it -- she nibbled tiny bits off the stick and swallowed them. But then she got the hang of it and now she loves it. I hope we haven't created a problem, an addict like my sister who would go around church asking people for gum when she was about four years old. It does make her breath smell good, though!

March 1, 2010

Spring Is Coming

Today is March 1. The first day of spring is March 20. While I know that it technically being spring does not necessarily mean spring-like weather, it is encouraging to me that an end to winter is in sight ... I am really looking forward to leaves on the trees and fresh green grass and flowers and birds singing and being able to open my windows!

The Boogie is playing restaurant on my bed. "Look, Honey, I gots some food!" I asked her what she is serving. "Carrots and cuncumbers and walamelons and sugar and pretzels!" All part of a well-balanced diet, of course. Yesterday I asked her what she wanted for lunch and she said, "Hot dog and cuncumber and mustard." This kid loves cucumbers. LOVES them.

I think yesterday was the peak of her cold. There was a lot of coughing and sneezing -- like, a LOT. Neither My Man nor I could stay home from church with her because I had to teach Sunday school and he has to usher and work the sound system, so we took her with us and he kept her in the office during Sunday school. After Sunday school I brought her home and we took it easy for the rest of the day. Mid-afternoon My Man drove up to Newark to pick up his parents -- they went to Milwaukee for a conference and were supposed to come home on Friday, but due to the snowstorm their flight was canceled and they were stuck there until yesterday. While he was gone I attempted to get the Boogie to nap. Her bed is still a "tent" and I had to go into her room several times to take away toys and remind her to lay down and be quiet. She finally did fall asleep ... like this:
Seriously, how do they sleep like this? How can they fall asleep over their food and in car seats and in weird positions in bed? I don't understand it. It's cute, though.

Now she has lined up all the pillows from my bed down the hallway and is walking on them "across the river." Lovely. Good thing I just mopped ...