Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! It's 3:00 pm Christmas Eve and we are taking it easy. Poor Whitley is sick, along with my father. The flu caught Daddy and I just pray that is not what Whitley has. We are enjoying our visit despite sickness. The girls are so fun to watch as they discover different things about the holiday. Anna loves the Christmas tree and presents. She'll spend half and hour exploring that area. Whitley made mine and Doyl's Christmas by going around saying, "Jesus born. Jesus born this day. God." If she'll do it for the video camera I'll get it on here eventually. I did want to include a couple of photos of our visit. More to come later.

Here I Go...I think!

Keep in mind Anna will not be 6 months old until the 20th. This is her lastest stunt beginning on Saturday. She didn't keep it up for the camera, but I've seen her "inch worm" from the loveseat to the couch.

Grateful perspective

Anna and I had an adventure today. Doyl and I decided to buy the girls new car seats for Christmas, so Anna and I went to pick them up. In the parking lot of the baby store our car was t-boned on the passenger side. Anna and I are ok...we were on the driver side. We still have to talk to the insurance adjuster and see what we are going to do about transportation, but all of that is secondary. My baby and I are ok and if all we have to do is fix or replace a vehicle I will count myself blessed this Christmas.

Snow

Would somebody check a calendar for me? It is the end of November in TEXAS, right?! At the beginning of the week, we had temps in the 80s. Then a cold front came in and on Thanksgiving driving through Ft. Worth, we had snow! Then tonight, we had snow! Granted there's been no accumulation and it's suppose to be upper 50s tomorrow, but I haven't seen snow this early anywhere I've lived except Spokane. Global warming? Are we sure? In June, we barely made it to 80 degrees and now this. Could it just be the climate is on a cycle (say every 30-35 years) and now we're seeing the start of the cool down? Somebody make a note to check me on this in 2042. In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy some cooler weather and hope for several snowy play days with Whitley this winter.

Whose Chair Is It?

I'll let the video do most of the explanation, but you can see the answer to the question by who gets fed in the chair.

Now Anna's turn. Listen for Whitley. This is her new favorite thing.

Moving Update

OK, our housing has been settled. God is good! The situation we have found was completely ignitiated by Him. We would like to thank Andy and Cynthia Parker of Pageland for their generousity in making this happen. The short version is that we will be leasing a 2-story home with a 3 bedroom, 2 bath downstairs with an unfinished upstairs. The house is on an acre and a half lot in what I'm told is a nice neighborhood. The beauty of this is that after we move, if we decide we want to buy (and the bank doesn't laugh at us), we can purchase the house and finish out the upstairs as we are able. What that does to our move time is back us up 2 weeks. We will remain in Joy until the 17th then go to my parents' for 10-12 days before moving to Pageland. Again, thanks for your prayers.

We're Moving!

In case you have not heard, we are moving to Pageland, South Carolina! On Sunday, November 11th, Providence Baptist Church voted to bring Doyl as Minister to Students. Provided that our housing falls into place quickly, we will be moving on December 3rd. Thanks for all your prayers. We'll keep you posted as we prepare for this move.

Motherhood...Not for the Weak-stomached

If God were not the Creator of these precious little creatures He has entrusted to me and Doyl, I'd be suing someone for false advertising. They are so cute and cuddly. Their clothes and toys are soft and sweet. Everything associated with them is playful or delicate. So how can these powder-scented bundles be so "yucky"?

Now, I have a two year old so this is not some new revelation. I've just decided (since being so recently reminded) to comment on how disgusting motherhood can be. Before moving on, let me define "disgusting". I'm not talking a poopy diaper or spitting up some formula mixed with strained peas. I'm talking about messes that require everyone within 3 feet to immediately strip down and change clothes. I'm talking about smells that could bring in Homeland Security checking for chemical warfare or require HAZMAT for proper decontamination.

Last night my beautiful little baby threw up on me twice. Once that was out of her system, she felt better and smiled at me and Doyl (yes, he was up at this point). Her apology was sleeping until after 8 since she pulled me up for about 2 hours. I thought all was well and the disgusting was past until about 20 minutes ago when she experienced an explosion at the other end. Again, now that she feels better, is changed and her clothes are soaking (in hopes of being salvaged), she is playing contentedly on the floor next to me.

I've seen open heart surgeries on TV. I've seen all sorts of disgusting pictures in all of my nursing friends' textbooks. My husband has seen both natural childbirth and a cesarean. But, none of those ever caused me to go "uuuhhhhh" and nearly throw up myself. A poopy baby (not diaper, but baby with poop up her back) or the aftermath of baby vomit does. If you're a parent (especially a mom) I'm sure you're with me. However, we somehow manage to suppress our natural reaction, clean up the mess, and love on our precious baby...singing lullabies, stroking little heads and whispering soothing words in their tiny ears. Motherhood (or fatherhood)...It may not be for the weak-stomached, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Carrots!

Mommy gave me carrots tonight. They were different, but after the first couple of bites, I decided I liked them. The only problem was she waited until after I'd had most of my bottle and cereal to give them to me. I was soooo full. Maybe tomorrow I can have those first. Oh yeah...she said I didn't get as messy as my sister did her first try. I even wiped my own mouth!

Introducing the Exer-Saucer

We decided to try Anna in the exer-saucer tonight. She really liked it. She needs to develop some balance, but that won't take long. Of course, Whitley had to be right in the middle of it (or maybe behind it).

Where does it go?

The photo on the top is Whitley. The one on the bottom is Anna. Both were taken at about 20 weeks, respectively.

When I had been in Spokane about 2 years, I made a comment to Daddy that I couldn't believe I'd been out of college that long..."It seemed like only yesterday." He told me to wait until I was married and had kids. Then time would really fly. He wasn't lying! College still seems like only yesterday, though it was 10 years ago that I started my senior year. It's hard to believe that I'm nearly 32, married, and have 2 precious daughters. What's more, neither should be as big as they are.

Whitley has grown into a precocious 2 year old. She knows her colors, can count to five, surprises us by using sentences (when she wants to), and is learning her ABCs. If I'm cooking, she's usually right there and can give a pretty good play-by-play of what I'm doing. Today she even helped me unload the dishwasher by putting things where they go!

Anna, as you've seen on the video, is now mobile. She's eating rice cereal like a pro and ready, I believe, for the exer-saucer.

I really do try to savor ever moment with these darling girls. I know they won't be babies for long. In no time at all, they will be school girls and Doyl will be chasing off the boys.

Speaking of Doyl, it's also amazing to me that we will be celebrating our 5th anniversary next month. You know, there are times it seems as if I've known him always and others when I'm amazed we're not newly weds playing house. I wonder if it will still seem like this when our girls are moving us into the retirement home?!

I promise a more light-hearted entry next time. Thanks for reading.

Robin

My Backyard

Now that the cooler air has chased the fire ants in the ground, Whitley has her backyard back. We're having a blast in the backyard again. Whitley loves to just get out there and run. Isn't that little run cute?!

My Face

Whitley's known the parts of her face for quite a while, but this is just the first time we caught it on video.

Eeeeee!!!

Rolling Over

Anna is mobile now. She's 4 months old and has been rolling over for a month. She scoots and rolls anywhere she wants to go. As I watch her push up on her arms, I just have to wonder how soon she's going to start crawling.

Dancing Girl

This video was taken in August at Doyl's junior high reunion. I've been wanting to post this for a while, but couldn't figure out how to upload it. She's a dancing fool, but usually the video camera puts a damper on her moves. She is her Mama Dean's granddaughter!

Slides

Whitley loves to be outside and one of her favorite outside activities is playing on a slide. This was taken at Doyl's junior high reunion. She had a blast!

Figuring this out

Bear with me as I figure out how to post photos and videos to this space.