Alaina's Prayers

Alaina is getting quite good at praying before meals.  She prays unprompted before lunch every day, and she'll often cheerfully pray before dinner too.  In typical toddler fashion, she prays the same thing every time:

"Thank you Jesus for this food, Amen."

However, lately she'll sometimes pray this:

"Thank you Jesus for this food, Amen.  For the girls to settle down, Amen."

And I say Amen to that.

Quick 5

A shout-out to my brother-in-law Nick, who said that reading this quick 5 is the highlight of his Friday, along with going to Chick-fil-a for lunch.  I am privileged to have this blog mentioned in the same conversation as Chick-fil-a.

1.  It's official.  We have had a full week of Joya not needing that middle of the night feeding.  On Saturday or Sunday she woke up once in the middle of the night, but only because she busted out of her swaddler.  She hates that.  All I had to do was pin her arms down and wrap her up tight again, and she went right back to sleep.  Now the only thing that seems to be waking me up in the night is my walnut-sized bladder.  But even that's only once.  I can handle it.

2.  Alaina had a dental check-up this week.  No cavities, but the dentist could tell that she is a thumb-sucker.  He said nothing was urgent about it, but he could just tell.  As far as I can tell, she only sucks her thumb when she's going to sleep at naps and at night.  I'm hoping she'll just one day give it up altogether on her own, and I won't have to do anything drastic with her.  She also still does not have her two-year-old molars, but the dentist said that was fine.  Why do they call them two-year-old molars then?  And I didn't get a pic of her prizes, but Jill let her pick out two.  And gave her two stickers.  Sheesh.

She refused to lay back in the chair, so the talented Jill had to clean her teeth sitting up like this.

3.  On a dental-related note, I loved working at Holly Dental.  I love that I take Alaina there, because those ladies care when they see us.  I actually missed most of Alaina's cleaning (which really only took about five minutes) because I was catching up with all the girls I used to work with.  I had Joya in the Snuggli, and they all wanted to see her.  I even chatted with a hygienist who came to work after I left to have Alaina, but who I would have been friends with if we had worked there at the same time.  She cleans Lee's teeth, so we feel like we know her.  And while I don't necessarily miss working, I do miss all those ladies. 

4.  Most of the boxes are now unpacked or simply stored in our basement.  So our house is fully functioning.  However, the only room I truly have completely decorated is Alaina's.  The rest I am slowly decorating.  But right now Alaina's room is my favorite room because it is completely done.

The only thing missing is some curtains on the window, which will happen by next week.  The blinds are junk and don't really close tight, and it is getting to be pretty bright in the morning, so I will be buying some curtains to help keep the room a little darker.

5.  Alaina loves to sit up on her bed and look out that window.  Yesterday, as I was changing diapers after their afternoon naps, all the kids came home from school.  Since our building sits near the entrance, all the kids who go to the elementary school walk past our house to go or come from school.  Alaina jumped up to look out the window and said, "Look, it's all my friends!  There's DeeDee and BeeBo and TaTee..."  She was giving them nonsense names, but she was naming them, nonetheless.  She is going to love school.

Well, goodbye February.  See you next year.

Big Sister is Hilarious

Quick 5

Well, another week under our belts.

1.  I forgot two very important things from my Valentine's Day post.  First were the little treats I bought for Alaina: small heart-shaped sugar cookies from the King Soopers bakery.  I've eaten most of them myself.  And second, we participated in Qdoba's Valentine promotion: give someone a smooch at the cash register and get a BOGO.  Lee had been racking his brain the whole week before trying to figure out how to get in on this.  But Joya's doctor's appointment was on Monday, and so we wouldn't be able to meet him for lunch.  I don't know why neither of us considered dinner, but one of his co-workers basically told him to stop whining about it and take me there for dinner.  So he came home a bit early and we swung over there to get some to bring home.  Yes, we kissed in front of the register guy.  And I got a free burrito. 

2.  It has taken me awhile to get used to the fact that our living room is on the ground floor.  Cars and kids are going by the front of our place all the time, and it took me by surprise each time I saw a flash of something through the window.  I guess a year and a few months of living on the third floor where the only thing out the window were birds can do that do you. 

3.  This weather has lured Lee into a false sense of spring.  He asked me the other day if I was ready to grill, and then if I was taking the girls out to play in our backyard.  It's been nice, but not that nice.  And I keep reminding him that March is the snowiest month in Colorado.  That has always irked me, because by March I am ready for spring, and it always feel like winter hits us the hardest.

4.  Yet another story in our potty-training saga: I'm sure I've completely screwed up Alaina by now.  She probably will never be potty-trained due to my inconsistency.  The latest thing is how Alaina asks me quite often to "go to the brafroom."  A couple times I told her to go herself.  It's pretty cute the way she takes off her pants and her diaper.  However, whenever we go she sits on the potty and says the "tinkle is stuck." Or she just toots and calls it done.  So sometimes when she asks to go, I simply tell her to hold it, knowing it will be a fruitless waste of time and knowing that she'll forget about it in approximately two minutes anyway.  Have I ever  mentioned how much I hate this part of child-rearing?  I try not to use the word hate, but it's the only valid one here.

5.  Joya is definitely becoming a real live baby.  But I forgot that four months is the age where they are finally awake to the world, but can't really do anything about it.  She doesn't have the motor skills to play, so she gets frustrated quite often.  So now, when she's awake, I really have to be on hand to entertain her.  I'm hoping she gets her skills soon.  She'll be happier for it.

That's a wrap.  See you next week, folks.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I. Love. Valentine's Day.  Always have.  The pink and the red and the hearts just make me happy in this dreary month.  And this year, Valentine's Day has lasted almost a full week.  I can't remember it lasting that long ever.

It started on Saturday the 5th when Lee arranged for the Gilletts to watch the girls while we went out to dinner.  It was a surprise to me; I had no idea he was setting it up.  Anyway, the girls ate dinner over there while Lee and I went to Outback.  I'm sure you all know that I am a steak and potatoes kind of girl, so this meal spoke to my very soul.

Alaina was supposed to take Valentines to her MOPPETS class last Tuesday, but Tuesday was the day that was super snowy and cold.  I didn't want to take my babies out in that, especially when it took Lee about an hour to get to work that day.  So we stayed home.  However, Alaina had fun giving Valentines to her dear friends Hayley, Macy and Avery (and Miss Leah) at church yesterday.

We got two Valentines in the mail during the week for Alaina from her grammy and grandma.  She's been carrying them around all week.

Then, last Friday, Lee surprised me with a present.  An actual, honest-to-goodness Valentine's present.

Chocolate covered strawberries and bananas from Edible Arrangements.  Holy cow.  They were amazing.  I think chocolate covered fruit from Edible Arrangements has become my new favorite luxury, bumping pedicures from the top spot.

Yesterday we participated in our favorite Valentine's Day tradition:

That, my friends, is a heart-shaped pizza from Papa Murphy's.  We love that little special they have every year.  And it's even more amazing to me that Lee fully supports this tradition, since the only tradition he EVER wants to participate in is the tradition he has of never having traditions.  Alaina loved it too.

In other news, today was Joya's four-month check-up.  She now weighs 13 pounds and 7 ounces.  I am a terrible mommy for not getting how long she is, but the good doctor did tell me that she is still in the 95th percentile for height.  She's a tall girl.  I'm busting out the 6-month clothes, simply because I need things to cover her arms and legs.  The doctor also said that if she didn't know us, if she had just seen Joya from across the room, she would have thought that Joya was six months old, because of how she holds herself and puts things in her mouth.  Joya passed the exam with smiles and flying colors, until they stuck her legs with her shots.  But don't worry.  She was back to giggling at Alaina before too long.

It's been a good day.

Quick 5

Hmm.  Not quite sure where this quick 5 is going to come from today.

1.  I changed Joya's schedule this week, and it actually went pretty well.  I'm feeding her every four hours instead of every three.  She doesn't really seem to notice.  Switching to a four hour schedule has synced up Alaina and Joya's afternoon naps, and I love that.  I now have a full two hours to myself in the afternoon.  And Joya hardly cries when going down for naps now, since I'm keeping her up for at least two hours at a time, rather than just the one hour at a time.  We're still adjusting a bit, but I think this new normal will feel normal shortly.

2.  I did our taxes this week.  And I must admit that I kind of enjoy that process.  TurboTax makes it so easy, and I love watching the little green number get bigger.  The birth of Joya really made that number jump.  I know I shouldn't get excited, since that is actually money that the government owes us and it seems like we shouldn't have had to pay it in the first place, but there is still an element of feeling like you're getting free money.

3.  Tuesday was our big snow day.  Wednesday we went to the library and it was an absolute ZOO.  Remind me to not go the day after a big snow storm.

4.  I've launched back into the world of Ebay to find summer clothes for my growing toddler.  Gone are the days of 2T clothes.  Hopefully it won't take too long to score a box of 3T spring/summer duds.

5.  Next week will be my first week back on worship team since September.  I'm really nervous about it.  Not the singing...the leaving of a four-month-old in the nursery from 6:30-9:00pm, and then again on Sunday from 7:00am-noon.  This is one of those times where every ten minutes I literally have to tell myself to relax and go with the flow.  I'm sure she'll be fine.  And if she's not, then she'll get used to it.  I guess the worst thing that could happen is that I have to pull myself out for the week.  I'm looking forward to getting involved again, but I'm not looking forward to it at the same time.  It's just one of those things that I simply need to pull the trigger on.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!  May your day be filled with pink and red.

Ah, Imitation

A little while ago, I was holding and playing with Joya, and Alaina came up with her baby doll and bottle.

"This is my sister, Baby Naomi," she said.  I oohed and ahhed appropriately.  Then she said, "I'm going to feed her.  Give me some space."

Hmm.  She must have heard that a time or two herself.

Quick 5

It's been a weird week, and I'm not sure I would have remembered that it was Friday, if it weren't for Becky's quick 5.  But I'm back on track now.

1.  I think I found the ultimate way to end the "Why?" game.  Alaina is in it to win it when it comes to that game.  You know how it goes...we'll be watching Baby Einstein and she'll ask:
"What's that Mommy?" 
I'll say, "It's a seahorse." 
She says, "Why Mommy, why?"
Then I say, "Why Alaina, why?"
She'll say, "A-cause."
And then it ends.  So now when she asks me why, I usually ask her why right back, and then we can move on.

2.  Because of the cold, cold weather, Lee worked from home two days this week.  It was an interesting experience.  I definitely loved having him around for my sanity.  It was nice to interact with an adult periodically through the day.  However, he is just not used to being around Alaina so much.  And her noise.  At one point I had to tell him that she really wasn't being excessively noisy; she was just being a two-year-old girl.  But I did try to keep her quieter, since he was working and was on the phone every once in awhile.  And Alaina was a little confused on Thursday when he went back to the office.  But it is nice that he has that option when the weather is bad.

3.  Here is how we spent much of Tuesday, the coldest day this week:

The blankets and space heater and DVD player were our friends.

4.  We've met our neighbors.  Last week sometime, during dinner, we heard a knock on our door.  It was our neighbors to the left.  Valerie and her two kids, Brittany and Brandon, just wanted to say hi.  These are the same kids that Alaina was chatting with through the window last Friday.  Then last night Laura, our neighbor to the right, knocked on our door because Lee had shoveled her driveway and walk.  We really share a driveway with her and her husband, so it would be silly just to shovel our side, but she appreciated it anyway.  It was so nice to meet them.  We never got the names of any of our neighbors at the old place. 

5.  Next week Alaina is going to give out her first Valentines.  Since it is the only meeting before Valentine's Day, we were given a list of the kids in her room.  She has no idea what it is all about, but I'm terribly excited, since I love Valentine's Day.  She picked out her Valentines yesterday...Disney Princesses, of course.  I told her that was very predictable of her and she said, "Yeah!"

Well, have a good weekend, kids.  Hope you all have fun enjoying the Superbowl with all the food and commercials that surround it.