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| From december 08 |
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| From december 08 |
sorry that first one is a little small. anyone whose email i have will be getting one emailed anyways. i haven't quite figured out yet how to work the picture function here in the best way yet.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
christmas cards 2008
well... in the interest of saving stamps, time, etc. but mainly stamps, the christmas card will be an e-card again this year. and there will be two of them! here they are:
sorry that first one is a little small. anyone whose email i have will be getting one emailed anyways. i haven't quite figured out yet how to work the picture function here in the best way yet.
sorry that first one is a little small. anyone whose email i have will be getting one emailed anyways. i haven't quite figured out yet how to work the picture function here in the best way yet.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
a blessed morning
this morning as we were praying before thomas left the house, sparrow said "pee! pee!" we had JUST asked her before we'd started praying if she had to go potty and she hadn't responded, so i whispered to her now that she would have to go by herself. she ran off in her footed pj's. i was a bit concerned about her ability to get them off in time, but resolved to stay with the prayer. but sure enough, a minute later she started to wail. she had not been able to loosen the button, and had peed all in her pajamas and undies and all over the bathroom floor. i had gotten a pretty good night's sleep, so i wasn't gonna trip too much. it was only pee. we'd clean it.
when thomas left, i resolved to give sparrow a bath so she could wash the pee off. i also planned to wash her hair, which is always an enormous challenge. but i was letting her play in the tub a little before we started that process. i had to tend to golden with something for a few minutes. it was rather quiet in the bathroom. finally i hear sparrow's voice cheerily coming from down the hall, asking me to come in there. i walk in and sparrow says "look, mama!" and points into the tub. whot! poop! she had made a whole loaf in the bath water! i quickly got her out and told her that that was not really an ok place to go poop. then i drained the water, scooped the poop out with paper towels, and cleaned the tub. then she got back in and we did the hair washing. and though i talked to her a lot about pooping and where it's supposed to be done, i can tell you that i was thinking about my great blessing in being a mom to these kids. i should be so lucky as to get to scoop their poop. here's jen and joseph who will forever feel the loss of their baby sarah, and here i am with not one, but two healthy girls. who am i to deserve this. i know i don't. and today that knowledge was with me as i wiped out that tub. on a tired day i might have yelled. but reading the sarah pages blog last night made me completely sober. i was a better mom today because of it.
when thomas left, i resolved to give sparrow a bath so she could wash the pee off. i also planned to wash her hair, which is always an enormous challenge. but i was letting her play in the tub a little before we started that process. i had to tend to golden with something for a few minutes. it was rather quiet in the bathroom. finally i hear sparrow's voice cheerily coming from down the hall, asking me to come in there. i walk in and sparrow says "look, mama!" and points into the tub. whot! poop! she had made a whole loaf in the bath water! i quickly got her out and told her that that was not really an ok place to go poop. then i drained the water, scooped the poop out with paper towels, and cleaned the tub. then she got back in and we did the hair washing. and though i talked to her a lot about pooping and where it's supposed to be done, i can tell you that i was thinking about my great blessing in being a mom to these kids. i should be so lucky as to get to scoop their poop. here's jen and joseph who will forever feel the loss of their baby sarah, and here i am with not one, but two healthy girls. who am i to deserve this. i know i don't. and today that knowledge was with me as i wiped out that tub. on a tired day i might have yelled. but reading the sarah pages blog last night made me completely sober. i was a better mom today because of it.
new and improved baby burping!
thomas and i discovered a new and improved baby-burping method the other week. why the need for such a thing, you ask. well. i was sitting around one day just thinkin' "hm, i wonder what it feels like to golden when i smack her back like this to burp her all the time!" because seriously, the nurses in the hospital will tell you, "don't be shy! don't be timid! give the kid a good solid whack!" i think one of them even laughed at me when i first tried to burp sparrow with nice, gentle taps. well here's news to the nurses and to every mother out there: getting hit on the spine by hard, bony hands is NO fun! it rattles your brain! try it on yourself.
so my innovative husband comes along and takes this information to the next level, creating a back-burping alternative. instead, you can use this very effective method: tap the baby--gently--on the side/back right about where their ribs end, near the stomach, but not on the front side of the belly. (if i had a scanner i would draw an illustration of exactly where and add the visual. perhaps i can do a video tomorrow!) this works so well that the baby usually burps huge burps in a matter of seconds. when thomas tried it on himself, it worked on him too! he wouldn't stop doing it and burping. anyways, the medical/social peeps are soooooo concerned about people shaking their babies (legitimately), and spankings (way too paranoid), yet they inoculate youngsters with poorly tested rabbit-brain, monkey kidney, formaldehyde vaccine cocktails and tell mothers to hit their babies on the back 8 times a day!
so my innovative husband comes along and takes this information to the next level, creating a back-burping alternative. instead, you can use this very effective method: tap the baby--gently--on the side/back right about where their ribs end, near the stomach, but not on the front side of the belly. (if i had a scanner i would draw an illustration of exactly where and add the visual. perhaps i can do a video tomorrow!) this works so well that the baby usually burps huge burps in a matter of seconds. when thomas tried it on himself, it worked on him too! he wouldn't stop doing it and burping. anyways, the medical/social peeps are soooooo concerned about people shaking their babies (legitimately), and spankings (way too paranoid), yet they inoculate youngsters with poorly tested rabbit-brain, monkey kidney, formaldehyde vaccine cocktails and tell mothers to hit their babies on the back 8 times a day!
Sunday, December 7, 2008
golden the smiley and other short tales
golden is an amazingly smiley and sweet baby. she has wide cheeks and it just kills me when i look across the room and she is beaming at me for no reason. she learned to roll over about 2 weeks ago or so, onto her belly. by now she has even rolled herself back a few times. anyways, at first she didn't so much like being on her belly, but she felt the urge to move, so she would roll anyways. then she'd be stuck on her belly and would start to complain a little. now that she can lift herself up with her arms a bit more it is loads more fun. she just stares at everything and smiles. she loves to stare at sparrow in her activities. i just can't believe how mellow she is. at naptime today i put her in her pack-n-play and sparrow in the crib, and told them both to go to sleep. neither of them did, but they were both very quiet, and i must have slept for about half an hour. when i got up, golden was turned all about with her head on the foot end of the pack-n-play, but she was all shiny and happy and sweet!!! m, i want to eat her all up!
we took the girls to the sb museum today. i told sparrow that when we woke up, we would go see picasso. i told her who he was and everything, and she said "he was a man" and "he was a daddy." all true. anyways, she remembered after the nap, because when i asked her to tell daddy what we were gonna see today she whispered "picasso." it was the last day of an exhibit of "picasso on paper," and sundays is free. i was really excited to get to go see it. there was also a gorgeous chagall with the red horse; i think that is one of the museum's permanent pieces, which is SO COOL! i love it. i wanted a shot of me and golden and the chagall, so i stood in front of it with her and took it myself. i love those kinds of pictures, and i was not at all embarrassed to do it, but soon enough someone came along who offered to take the pic. for me so i let them take one too. then i felt a little embarrassed. hee hee! but i do love art.
here are sparrow and thomas with one of the picassos:
here is golden with picasso:
golden and me with the chagall! sorry about the blur in all of these, they didn't allow flash in the museum.
more detail on the horse head
we took the girls to the sb museum today. i told sparrow that when we woke up, we would go see picasso. i told her who he was and everything, and she said "he was a man" and "he was a daddy." all true. anyways, she remembered after the nap, because when i asked her to tell daddy what we were gonna see today she whispered "picasso." it was the last day of an exhibit of "picasso on paper," and sundays is free. i was really excited to get to go see it. there was also a gorgeous chagall with the red horse; i think that is one of the museum's permanent pieces, which is SO COOL! i love it. i wanted a shot of me and golden and the chagall, so i stood in front of it with her and took it myself. i love those kinds of pictures, and i was not at all embarrassed to do it, but soon enough someone came along who offered to take the pic. for me so i let them take one too. then i felt a little embarrassed. hee hee! but i do love art.
here are sparrow and thomas with one of the picassos:
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| From december 08 |
here is golden with picasso:
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| From december 08 |
golden and me with the chagall! sorry about the blur in all of these, they didn't allow flash in the museum.
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| From december 08 |
more detail on the horse head
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| From december 08 |
the cage
sparrow's favorite toy at the moment is the laundry basket. she goes under the empty basket and says, "you're in a pet store!" she pretends to be a lion or tiger. yesterday she spent 20 straight minutes in "the cage!" she insisted on going in there at nap time. i told her that when she changed her mind about sleeping in the cage, she could come out and get in her bed, but she would have to tuck herself in because i was going to sleep now. and i dozed off. but i was still aware of her little shuffles and sounds 20 minutes later. i realized she hadn't changed her mind, and yet she couldn't fall asleep because she was too cramped, and i couldn't properly fall asleep because she was stirring! HA! i had her get into her bed at that point, shaking my head in confounded awe over her cage-endurance!
Saturday, December 6, 2008
tree decorating adventures
today was such a lovely day; the family got to go get a christmas tree at home depot. sparrow and i were REALLY excited and were chanting "christmas tree! christmas tree! we want a christmas tree!" in the car as we waited for thomas to join us. thomas ended up picking out one of the all-tied-up ones without us even looking at it; we were going in faith. and it turned out perfect! it has the gorgeous A-line that you want, with a nice, full bottom. tonight as we decorated it, i was half encouraging sparrow to get involved, half directing her with "NO!"s because she really wanted to throw the globes around and such. she was in complete christmas glee and was jumping around in a fairy dress while vigorously swinging around her crazy purple swirl/bell ornament that she had picked out at the store. this ornament is huge and i don't believe any of the branches on our douglas fir can actually support it, but nevermind. i had told her i would let her pick one out and that is what she chose. i like the tree decorated in just white and red, so it was quite the exercise in restraint for me not to direct her to the red ornaments and say, "no, pick one out from heeeeeere."
well, purple ornament in hand and bouncing around with her dad, she was laughing vigorously until suddenly she began to shriek and jump, crying, "hurt! hurt!" and clutching her bum. wot! we realized she hadn't put her panties back on after going potty last time around, and that she had scooted onto a pine needle! thomas got it off her and showed her what it was, but she made no change in her behavior and kept screaming "hurt, hurt!" and dancing about. i thought there might be a spider in her dress or something, so we took it off, and finding nothing unusual on her body, i realized i had to check the butt again. sure enough, in the anal cavity there was another pine needle, stuck perfectly straight in! i extracted it at last, which required some precision. immediately sparrow returned to her happy play as thomas and i continued to chuckle. naked toddlers and pine needles are evidently a dangerous mix. panties back on, the evening continued in peace, harmony, and the glow of twinkling little lights.
well, purple ornament in hand and bouncing around with her dad, she was laughing vigorously until suddenly she began to shriek and jump, crying, "hurt! hurt!" and clutching her bum. wot! we realized she hadn't put her panties back on after going potty last time around, and that she had scooted onto a pine needle! thomas got it off her and showed her what it was, but she made no change in her behavior and kept screaming "hurt, hurt!" and dancing about. i thought there might be a spider in her dress or something, so we took it off, and finding nothing unusual on her body, i realized i had to check the butt again. sure enough, in the anal cavity there was another pine needle, stuck perfectly straight in! i extracted it at last, which required some precision. immediately sparrow returned to her happy play as thomas and i continued to chuckle. naked toddlers and pine needles are evidently a dangerous mix. panties back on, the evening continued in peace, harmony, and the glow of twinkling little lights.
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| From december 08 |
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| From december 08 |
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
we're gonna die!
11/17 at chase palm park.
at chase palm park the other day, a little boy about sparrow's age was playing with a jeep. he was really friendly and kept on coming over to our blanket and running his jeep in sparrow's "space." i could tell she was slightly put off by his outgoing behavior, and i used the opportunity to try to teach her to respond kindly and engage with the lad. after awhile, she decided to talk to him. she bent over, looked into his face, and said enthusiastically, "we're gonna die!"
ha! i couldn't help laughing. we'd had a conversation about dying that morning--i was telling her all about heaven and how all things must eventually die. well evidently the kid had had some concept of death, too, because he looked a little worried, and said, "...no we're not!" then he ran off and didn't come back.
isn't it interesting that he had been introduced to the concept of death but didn't know it was going to happen to him. and he obviously didn't know that there could be a good side to death. i want my children to be acquainted with the idea of redemption in death: eternity with the Lord. yes, it is sad and unnatural, as our spirits obviously "know" that we were not made to die. and yet, the sooner kids grasp the reality of it, and the glory for christians on the other side, the better. these girls have to grow up to be warriors in a difficult world. we are not to raise them in expectation of a comfortable, easy life. kingdom-minded. i think that was sparrow's first attempt to spread the gospel! i am sure as time goes on she will learn to soften the approach.
at chase palm park the other day, a little boy about sparrow's age was playing with a jeep. he was really friendly and kept on coming over to our blanket and running his jeep in sparrow's "space." i could tell she was slightly put off by his outgoing behavior, and i used the opportunity to try to teach her to respond kindly and engage with the lad. after awhile, she decided to talk to him. she bent over, looked into his face, and said enthusiastically, "we're gonna die!"
ha! i couldn't help laughing. we'd had a conversation about dying that morning--i was telling her all about heaven and how all things must eventually die. well evidently the kid had had some concept of death, too, because he looked a little worried, and said, "...no we're not!" then he ran off and didn't come back.
isn't it interesting that he had been introduced to the concept of death but didn't know it was going to happen to him. and he obviously didn't know that there could be a good side to death. i want my children to be acquainted with the idea of redemption in death: eternity with the Lord. yes, it is sad and unnatural, as our spirits obviously "know" that we were not made to die. and yet, the sooner kids grasp the reality of it, and the glory for christians on the other side, the better. these girls have to grow up to be warriors in a difficult world. we are not to raise them in expectation of a comfortable, easy life. kingdom-minded. i think that was sparrow's first attempt to spread the gospel! i am sure as time goes on she will learn to soften the approach.
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