Ask Momma

I'm not really the kind of person who worries very often.  In general, I'm pretty calm about things, but there is one worry that can keep me up at night, if I let it.  Sometimes my thoughts turn morbid and I think about what would happen if something happened to me, or worse yet, if something happened to my husband or children.  I almost can't even type those words without feeling anxious.  I heard a quote a few weeks back that resonates with me and this issue, "Worrying is like praying for what you don't want."  It reminds me to get off that line of thinking whenever it creeps up, and to focus instead on telling God what I do want.

One thing I've discovered about myself is that I want my children to know the stories of our family.  Not just the cute and funny stories of their childhoods, although that is important to me, too.  But I'm talking about the stories of their parents.  The stories you think to ask once you're an adult.  After losing my dad in 2005, I can think of several stories I wish I'd have thought to ask him about before he passed away.  I've run across multiple experiences that made me wish I could ask my dad how he handled/would've handled the situation.  For these reasons, I want to write down our stories for our children so that many years from now, they will be able to read and share them with their families.

I'll label these posts 'Ask Momma'.  Which means that on the right hand side of my blog, you can click 'Ask Momma' to see the collection of these posts.  I'll post the first one soon titled: How did you and Daddy meet?  Check back soon to find out!

Fingers and Toes!

Gracie has been asking to paint her nails for weeks now. Tonight, we finally made time to make it happen. Gracie sat very still while Momma painted her nails with "pail nolish". She caught her mistake, but we both thought it was funny enough to repeat over and over again!

Here's the result!  Purple base coat, with teal polka dots, and silver glitter topcoat. I just love her little fingers and toes!  

By the way, for anyone who uses Piggy Polish... bathtime makes it start to peel within 30 minutes. So maybe we'll have to play nail salon again tomorrow!

Sleeping Beauty

Tonight Gracie asked if she could sleep with her princess skirt on. Why not?!  Our very own Sleeping Beauty. 

Night Terror?

Last night we got home late from our visit with Annabelle. Usually, we would have just put Gracie to bed right away, but because she got carsick on the way home, she needed a bath!  I know, ugh!  So by the time she was in bed, it was after 10:30. Putting her to bed late has never been a problem. Until last night, that is. It was the strangest experience I've had in awhile. 

We heard her crying in her room around 1:30. She doesn't do that often, but it's not terribly abnormal. Ryan went in to console her and returned after a minute or two. Usually, she calms down much faster than that, but he said he's not even sure she was awake. And she wouldn't tell him what was wrong. Then just a minute later she was crying again. This time I went in to give it a try and she totally looked awake. She was trying to stand up in her bed and crying and mumbling. So I picked her up and snuggled her, asking her what was wrong. She just stared at me and wouldn't answer. It sort of freaked me out. She's always so verbal, so this was totally out of character. After a few minutes of trying to get her to talk, I decided she probably wasn't awake.  I thought maybe waking her up would help her calm down so I carried her into the living room and turned on a light. She still seemed all confused and acted very strangely. Because I didn't know what else to do and because I was so so tired, I brought her into our bed so that I could keep an eye on her. It is the first time she's slept in bed with us since she was a newborn. That turned out to be a mistake because she flailed and mumbled for another 2-3 hours in our bed. No one got good rest!  Omgoodness, it was an awful, awful night's rest. 

This morning when she awoke in our bed, I asked her why she slept in Mommy and Daddy's bed. She had no clue and no recollection of any of it. So strange!

After googling 'night terrors' I'm pretty sure that's what she had. They say it's best to just try to console them, not wake them up, because waking them makes it worse and makes them scared and confused. Affirmative. I think that's what I accidentally did by taking her into the living room. They say it usually passes relatively quickly and the child resumes normal sleep. I sure hope so!  She actually did it again during her afternoon nap, but on a much lesser scale. I'm praying it doesn't happen again tonight. I don't like the feeling of helplessness. I could tell she was scared and was crying for help, but she couldn't see that we were right there with her.  It's probably how God feels when we take on our problems by ourselves. 

Anyway, here's my adorable munchkin... just because!  

Baby Bath Time

Tonight we went over to what used to be Aunt B and Uncle Chad's house. Now it's Annabelle's house and Gracie only wants to do things that revolve around Annabelle. Things like hold her, feed her, change her, burp her, and did I mention HOLD her?  Nonstop, my baby-obsessed daughter asks nonstop if she can hold her. It's so sweet how much she adores Annabelle. She gently kisses her forehead and pats her booty when she cries. She's naturally intuitive with babies, which I find amazing.  

Tonight Aunt B asked Gracie if she'd like to help give Annabelle a bath. The answer of course was an excited 'YES!!' accompanied by a giant smile!  We both got to take part in the event, although my job was getting her dressed afterward. And like all newborns, that's her least favorite part!  It turns out that I'm not as fast at snaking skinny, yet surprisingly strong, arms through armholes as I used to be.  But good news, we all survived!  

The Best of Friends

I love the bond these two share. They have their own way of doing things and it works very well, as long as Momma stays out of it. Sometimes when I see them together, I get a picture of what the next couple of decades might look like for them. I hope their friendship stays strong till they're old and gray. How cute will that be?!

Here they are at ages 2 & 3. Mark my words, we will see more ornery faces like this in the future!  

Oh yes, the jammies. Both sleepers belong to Gracie. They're the jammies she has to match her Pajama Twin, Tianna. Tianna is the daughter of Meghan... my best friend growing up!  I bought them pink zebra jammies and Meghan bought them purple. And no, we did not plan that. We're just that close and that cool!  Today Kia and Gracie quite enjoyed being coordinating zebras. It was perfect because pink is Kia's favorite color and purple is Gracie's. A match made in heaven!

Bowling Fun!

We celebrated our friend Oliver's third birthday at Retro Bowl in Liberty tonight!  Gracie enjoyed bowling and eating pizza. She also liked playing a few video games in the arcade afterward.  Daddy played that claw game where you try to grab a toy. It was the first time I've ever been with someone who won!  He grabbed G a pink ball... but she was disappointed it wasn't purple. Do you know how hard it is to win on those things, kid?!  It was definitely a fun party!  

Chopsticks

We went out for a Japanese teppenyaki dinner... you know, where they cook the food in front of you and make the onion volcano?!  Well, if you don't know what I'm talking about, you really need to try it out. Anyway, it was Gracie's first experience with chopsticks. Fun!  She was pretty good with the kiddie sticks rubberbanded together. It was a good fine motor skill practice. Momma and Daddy opted for the forks!  

Part-Time

Here are a few reasons why I love working part-time!  It's heavenly. Even though I have to work tomorrow, my days at home are wonderful. 

Homemade Ice Cream

Early this afternoon, a cold front moved in and the temperatures dropped by several degrees throughout the day.  So why not take advantage of this cold weather and make ice cream, right?!  Well, we Weavers could eat ice cream everyday, so it's all the same to us!  

Ryan bought me the Kitchenaid Ice Cream Maker attachment for Christmas and I hadn't tried it out yet. Turns out, it's super super easy, quick, and yields tasty results. You just freeze the bowl for at least 15 hours, make and chill the cream mixture, then stir/mix for 30 minutes. It's that simple!  Today I used a modified recipe to cut the fat (only a little), but still maintain the flavor. 

1 cup whole milk

A pinch of salt

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups half and half (fattier version uses heavy cream)

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (we just used all the leftovers in the Halloween candy bowl)

And as I said, it tasted fabulous!  Gracie was my sous chef today. A good little helper!  She and her cousins (those of the ice cream eating age) thought it was a yummy treat!  Ryan also gave it his approval!  Definitely a success!  And I was even happier to find out that it doesn't make tons and tons of ice cream. Only about a quart, which is perfect for dessert for our little family for several nights, but not too much that we couldn't/shouldn't eat it all!  

Isn't she lovely?

She's a happy helper!  Her job was to open and break apart the candy!  

All finished!  Her exact words were, "Mmm!  It's so goooood!"  

A Day in the Life of an Auntie

Today was a special day at our house because cousin Annabelle came for her first visit!  Gracie woke up excited to see her youngest cousin and was simply over the moon when she finally arrived!

The big girls got to hold Annabelle. Since sharing is Gracie's best skill just yet, getting Kianna to agree to hold her took some work. You see, Kia does everything in her power to keep Gracie happy. It's super sweet to watch... unless your Gracie's Momma and your trying to teach her to share. 

After Annabelle finished her bottle, Gracie was chomping at the bit to hold her. I told her she could hold Annabelle after she burped. While I was burping Annabelle, Gracie hit Kianna in the head on purpose. So when it was time to hold Annabelle, Gracie was in timeout. I asked Kia if she wanted to hold the baby, to which she replied, "Yes!!"  But then Gracie overheard and completely lost it. Crying and yelling!  So sweet little Kia backed away and explained that she didn't want to hold Annabelle after all. It took some convincing and explaining to both girls, but eventually Kia did take her turn. Although it was a short turn. Gracie calmed down and waited her turn. But sheesh!  I know she's only 2, but I'd really like her to get better at sharing. 

The morning went very smoothly, aside from that incident.  Annabelle was only here for a couple of hours, so there wasn't time for anything to go wrong. Natalie enjoyed playing in the cabinets while I held Annabelle in the Moby and got lunch ready. A super fun morning!  

Below are some pictures of my two littlest nieces. 

Trampoline Fun!

This afternoon we took advantage of the unseasonably warm weather. It was 61 degrees out, so Gracie and I invited ourselves over to the Hurt house to try out their new trampoline!  Santa delivered it to Kyle, Kia, and Natalie for Christmas. What a good guy!  

We had a super time bouncing around... and falling down, too. The kids enjoy playing "Popcorn" and "Ring Around the Rosie" altogether. Gracie kind of galloped around most of the time, but she started to get the hang of actually jumping. I'm sure she'll be a pro by this time next year!  I know many a nice days will be spent bouncing for years to come. I even told Kyle that I think he should have a 'sleep on the trampoline' night this summer.  Sounds like fun!

It turns out that jumping on a trampoline is just as fun as an adult as it was as a child... the only slight difference revolves around bladder control. Must be related to past pregnancies, but I'm not ashamed to admit that a tiny bit of tinkle slipped out once or twice. Eek!  I should probably do those Kegel exercises or whatever they're called. Makes me feel old!  Whatever!

Natalie

This little cutie is getting so big!  She's about the easiest baby around!  She's eating solids now and loves loves loves them!  She fusses when I don't get her bowl to the table fast enough and cries after the last bite. But this is what her face looks like mid-meal!  Love that tongue!

Caillou

Barney has ruled the TV in our house for over a year, but looks like Caillou might give that purple dinosaur a run for his money. Not sure which I prefer. 

Valentine's Day Decor

When we began putting our Christmas decorations away last week, I quickly realized that I needed some motivation for Gracie to put away all of her baby Jesus things. So I decided we'd put up Valentine's Day stuff... to entice her to part with her Christmas stuff. And... it worked!  We only have 1 Christmas nightlight, 1 play nativity set, and 3 books about Jesus' birth still out. Not too bad considering her love for all things Jesus. 

I didn't have much in the way of Valentine's Day decor, so a quick Hobby Lobby trip was in order. I only spent $40 total. Not too bad!  

I used an old strand of lights from the cake table at our wedding reception and added felt hearts to make Gracie's room more festive. The mantel is Hobby Lobby stuff paired with random items from around our house... including a picture from our wedding day. 

I still have mailboxes to make and some red candy to buy... but lucky for me, Valentine's Day is still a while away. Poor G asks every morning if it's Valentine's Day yet. She's got a long way to go!  

Gracie's Big Girl Bed

Even though we're still not completely done with Gracie's big girl room, I remembered that I forgot to post pictures of Gracie's big girl bed, the final (almost) product. Her daddy built it for her, with 'designs' drawn by me. It's super fun and very functional. 

There are actually 3 beds. The one on the right is where G sleeps. Kia sleeps up high on the left. And there is another bed behind the curtain on the left, a sort of trundle bed. There's also a super fun hide-out under Kia's bed for the kids to play in. They very much enjoy giggling and hiding in the hide-out. Fun!

We just have to put a final coat of paint on the bed, but I'm waiting for spring do we can open windows for that. 

Super Saturday

We had a great time today as a family, and really didn't do anything out of the ordinary. We ran errands together early this afternoon and Gracie particularly enjoyed swinging between Mommy and Daddy as we walked into stores. When we got home Daddy built a fire... everyone's favorite!  We watched the Chiefs game, well Daddy did, at least. I made potato soup in the crock pot and we all worked to take down our Christmas decorations. Then Gracie and I began decorating for Valentine's Day.  I'm working on something fun for her bedroom and a creative love note mailbox idea, too. So I'll post pictures soon!  

Here's a picture of me and my girl!  

Silly Gracie!

I'm telling you what, Gracie is hilarious!  She's got a great sense of humor for one thing, but she also has this way about her that is just plain funny. You know people like that, I'm sure. The way she holds her mouth, or the way she puts words together... it just gets me giggling. Here are two recent examples. 

She has this thing about vacuum cleaners. It's a love/hate relationship. She doesn't want me to vacuum because she's afraid I'll "get her" with it. But at the same time, she's obsessed with the vacuum, both my real one and her play toy.  Tonight I was vacuuming downstairs, and by the way she calls it vak-in-you-min (she is notorious for adding extra syllables, right Natalawie?!). So she gets out her toy vacuum and walks behind me, doing everything I do. Pulling out the wand, moving toys out of the way, stepping on her vacuum to engage the brushes (I didn't know her vacuum had that feature!). And then, before bed when I asked her what song she wanted me to sing, she replied, "Sing the one about me and you vakinyoumin."  Oh yeah, everyone knows that one, G!  She's a nut!  And in case you didn't know, I have discovered I'm very talented at making up songs about regular mundane activities. They usually rhyme and everything. I'm serious!

So the next funny Gracie thing might be something you have to experience to see the humor. I'm not sure. But it revolves around the Sound of Music. The Carrie Underwood live version was on TV the week after Thanksgiving. And my daughter and neice and nephew loved it. We DVR'd it and fast-forwarded to their favorite songs a thousand times. But then our DVR deleted it to open up space. Annoying!  So Ryan and I actually bought the poor acting, fabulous singing Carrie Underwood version at Walmart for our darling daughter. But the very next night, ABC Family showed the original Sound of Music, which G refers to as "the old vizzion" and we DVR'd it. She then informed us that the old vizzion is her favorite.  Which is only a half truth because she never watches the longer more drawn out scenes that make the original like four hours long. She really just likes the puppet show during Lonely Goatherd. She knows all the words to most of the songs by now because we have the soundtrack in the car. So then just a few days ago, I showed her a VHS recording of the Sound of Music production my summer Adventure Club kids put on back in 2003. It's hard to hear and see and the actors are 6-10 years old. And now that has become her favorite vizzion. But that version has also led to some confusion for G. She now assumes that at some point in her life, in everyone's life, that she will be in her own vizzion of the Sound of Music. She's decided that she will be Leisl and practices 16 Going on 17 in the bathtub at night (except she says 16 going on 18). She asks who I want to be and Daddy. Tonight before bed she asked who Piper (a new friend) wants to be and shared that, "Kia wants to be a pink Leisl, but I told her there's only a blue Leisl.  I told her she could be Gretl, and someone could carry her to bed!"  This is what I'm talking about. The stuff that comes out of her mouth just kills me. I have to stifle my laughter sometimes because it makes her self-conscious when I find her hilariously funny!  But she's seriously witty and thoughtful with really good delivery and timing.  It's so funny!  

So anyway, if my daughter asks you who you are/were/want to be in the Sound of Music, humor her and reply with something logical... Captain Von Trapp, Maria, Marta, Louisa, or Freidrick.